Author: Trent Meikle

Have you ever wanted to ask questions about the Earth, with no judgment? Moreover, would you rather get those answers from an actual, verifiable scientist, or some hallucinatory AI-powered chatbot? The latter, obviously. Earth Copilot, built using Microsoft’s AI tech and NASA’s, uh, knowledge, in a new partnership, does just that. Down to Earth AI https://youtu.be/YJs6kU4BtR4 As handy as an on-call scientist would be, it just isn’t feasible, even if NASA weren’t operating on over 100 petabytes of data. Instead, NASA will incorporate Microsoft’s AI into its data repository, supplying all the geospatial data necessary. But as NASA mentions in…

Remember Threads? Meta’s overly ambitious retort to Twitter X? No? Well, it won’t be picking up many more users once it eventually weaves ads into the mix – set to debut in early 2025 according to a report from The Information (via The Verge). Losing the thread What was once one of the very few redeeming qualities of the platform is going away soon. We’ve known this much for months since Instagram head, Adam Mosseri confirmed in a Thread that “We definitely plan to bring ads to Threads,” in April. It was more a question of when our (the royal ‘our’)…

Medical aid, we can all agree, is a necessary evil (except perhaps for the folks working in the industry and even then…). It’s a malicious system that prices itself out of reach from most, and profits off the few. Discovery Health wants to change the narrative with the launch of ‘Active Smart’ – its most “affordable” scheme to date. Sure, affordability is subjective, but Discovery’s planned entry fee of R1,350/m certainly is an attractive offering, even if you aren’t familiar with the offerings. Aimed at “young professionals” and “new entrants”, the Active Smart tier “delivers a tailored solution, meeting these…

We’re nearly halfway through November, which can only mean one thing: it’s time to take a look at what’s in store for petrol prices this December. After a fairly rough month, money-wise, for motorists, which felt the sting of minor increases across the board for both petrol and diesel, the Central Energy Fund (CEF) has some good news, and some not-so-good news. According to a fresh report from the state-owned energy company, captured 12 November, it looks like diesel drivers will bear the brunt of the increase, while petrol drivers may escape unscathed. Neither we, nor the CEF can guarantee…

If you happened to miss Toby Shapshak’s conversation with Andy Capostagno before the Boks’ took on Scotland last night, or worse, the game itself, fear not. DStv, the sole supplier of legal South African rugby, has announced new “customer experience enhancements,” starting with a 24-hour rewind ability and cloud PVR recording. It may not help you catch last night’s game, but it sure means you won’t miss the Boks’ next game against England. Taking a DStv Stream https://youtu.be/2rnO3fU5Pf8 It’s worth mentioning that these new features are headed to DStv Stream customers, improving upon the current ‘Watch from Start’ functionality and…

No surprises here Despite the years-long production drought in the early COVID days and an unwavering price point, the PS5 is considered a real money-maker. Not long after the release of the PS5 Pro, Sony has finally revealed its figures for the original console at an earnings briefing. As of the end of Q2 2024, Sony’s current-gen console has sold 65.5 million units, not even considering the big holiday push expected this December. Surprisingly, it’s a million or so units short of last year’s figures for the same period. Sony isn’t stressed. Despite the minute drop, revenue is up by…

We were a little sceptical about Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions (we’re dropping the ‘Harry Potter’ from here on out) when it was first announced. That might have something to do with the disappointing lack of Quidditch in Hogwarts Legacy – cut so that Quidditch Champions could live on as this separate, R560 title. It didn’t help that the consensus appeared to be less-than-stellar where Quidditch Champions was concerned, noting a distinct lack of the magic from the books. We’ll be the first to let you know that Quidditch Champions is far from perfect, sure it’s easily the most fun we’ve had playing a sports…

The Nintendo Switch, like the wife in Pixar’s Up, has had a good, long (really long) life, but it’s time to move on – leaving room for a younger, fresher Nintendo Switch to breathe some life back into us, the consumer. That hasn’t happened yet, but Nintendo inches closer to an official announcement by the day. It has now mentioned the “Successor to the Nintendo Switch” on two separate occasions. The first was a tweet by Nintendo’s president Shuntaro Furukawa confirming an announcement was on the way, sometime before March 2025. Yesterday, Furukawa finally remembering his X.com password, returned to…

Sony PlayStation has finally loosened its grip on the PS5 Pro embargo, meaning that many videos unboxing the staggeringly expensive R19,500 console have hit the internet without reprimand. Digital Foundry has also obliged. This isn’t just about catching a first, proper glimpse of the still-hideous console, but about confirming those specs Sony was a bit hesitant to reveal in the build-up to its release. Real Pros read the manual https://youtu.be/xfUyi-Nfyuc As expected, the unboxing didn’t deliver many surprises. It still rocks up in the same white box Sony has used for years including HDMI and USB-C cables, and a single DualSense…

We’ve all done it. No matter how invested you may be in the third-season finale of Lost, life somehow gets in the way and the rest of the adventure falls away, forever. Getting back into the series is nigh impossible without a full-scale rewatch to clue you up on the intricacies being woven, but who has the time? Exactly. What you need is an X-Ray. Prime Video’s new AI feature aims to catch you up without the rewatch. No more excuses Called ‘X-Ray Recaps’, the idea is to use generative artificial intelligence to fill you in on whatever series you’re…