Author: Trent Meikle

We feel as if we’ve stepped back in time what with the daily load shedding updates from Eskom. This time, however, we come bearing good news. After four days of non-stop power cuts, spanning Stages 2-6, Eskom has finally suspended load shedding, ending this week-long nightmare. For now, at least. “Following the recovery of the generation capacity and replenishment of emergency reserves, load shedding will be suspended at 5:00 AM,” the power utility wrote in a post on X during the early hours of Wednesday morning. Eskom followed through on its promise, halting power cuts at 05h00 on the morning…

Google may have removed its vow to never use artificial intelligence (AI) for warfare, but hey – at least we’re getting some free coding help out of it. Right? Google Cloud announced today that its code-optimised Gemini Code Assist tool is adding a free version for individual developers who need a hand in the coding department. Like the premium model, it’s kitted out with the Gemini 2.0 model to ensure the “quality of AI-generated recommendations” is “better than ever before,” Gemini Code Assist for individuals landed globally today as part of a public preview, targeting students, start-ups, and even full-blown…

Microsoft is a lot of things, but stupid is not one of them. When the Windows maker hit Microsoft 365 subscribers with a massive price hike that turned a lot of people off, that wasn’t the end of the story. The company is now testing a free version of its Office productivity suite on Windows riddled with the industry stand-by: ads. Heading to the Office? Here’s an ad Those unable to stomach the hike or ditch the service out of principle might be more willing to eat the ads in exchange for a working version of Office locally. Beebom was the…

Don’t feel too bad if Eskom spoiled your evening plans to watch IGN’s ID@Xbox livestream event last night. The stream was privy to hundreds, if not thousands, of frantic Hollow Knight fans just begging for a glimpse of Silksong, alongside a couple of indie titles, a new trailer for Lies of P, and arguably the biggest news of the night: Balatro is coming to Game Pass. What are you still doing here? https://youtu.be/3tUJdI3AO9I Now there’s no excuse to not dip your toes into the wonderfully weird pixelated world that is Balatro. If you missed out on LocalThunk’s GOTY-worthy sensation that was released a little over a year…

Following the recent implementation of load shedding Stages 3, 6, and 4 (in that order) over the weekend, Eskom has finally relented. Stage 2 has made a triumphant return, significantly easing the strain placed on South Africa’s residents. We’re not out of the woods yet – but Eskom’s comments on the subject are certainly encouraging. Don’t get Stage 2 fright “This decision follows the successful recovery of eight out of ten generation units and the restoration of 3,808MW from units that tripped over the weekend, with an additional 1,146MW expected to be recovered overnight,” the power utility said in a…

February has proven to be a whirlwind of emotions when it comes to the impending petrol price adjustment in March 2025, which tends to take place on the first Wednesday of any given month. At first, it was believed that all motorists would be hit with a sizeable hike before the outlook brightened to shine on SA’s diesel drivers. Now, the Central Energy Fund (CEF) has published another daily predictive snapshot that raised our spirits further. We’re not out of the woods yet. According to the CEF’s latest figures (captured 21 February), petrol drivers are still expected to pay a…

Between all the hustle and bustle that was Eskom’s load shedding schedule this past weekend, we found some time to play on the PS5 – and it wasn’t quite the smooth experience we’ve come to expect. After spending roughly 45 minutes with God of War: Ragnarök we began to notice some serious stuttering every few seconds. Not ideal. We didn’t think much of it at the time. Being hooked up to LG’s fantastic OLED evo 55CS3 and experiencing no issues with the superb Astro Bot, we believed that we were the problem. Before long, we were plunged into darkness which took further…

A “purely technical” weekend of load shedding There we were – enjoying the fruits of a lazy, gaming-filled weekend when Eskom, SA’s supposed electricity provider saw fit to introduce Stage 3 load shedding, before only hours later implementing the devastating Stage 6 to ruin what little of the weekend we had left. The extended power cuts didn’t last long, however, before Eskom knocked the country back down to Stage 4 in the early hours of Monday, 24 February. The sudden return to form for Eskom is due to “multiple unit trips at Camden Power Station,” Eskom said in a post…

Anyone who doesn’t pull a face at the thought of going for a run is probably already familiar with Strava. But did you know that Strava has developed its very own AI, falling under the banner of ‘Athlete Intelligence’? It’s been locked in a beta state since last October, but now it’s finally stable enough for mass consumption. Yup, even you. You will, of course, need a subscription to Strava before you can take advantage of Strava’s AI, which “analyzes and summarizes key takeaways from subscribers.” If you did have access to the beta, you’ll notice that Strava is a…

It’s been more than 13 years since Bethesda returned to the world of The Elder Scrolls, with a whole bunch of… stuff in between, including at least as many re-releases of Skyrim in that time. We know that The Elder Scrolls VI is real, and now the leaks are really starting to pick up. According to known tipster eXtas1s (via Reddit), Bethesda’s sequel to the wildly popular Skyrim will be The Elder Scrolls VI: Hammerfell. eXtas1s’ source appears to be coming from a colleague of his, who offered a whole lot more information about the direction Bethesda will take for the…