News
Facebook tweaks 2-factor authentication so you don’t have to give up your phone number
If, like some Facebook users, you’ve opted not to turn on two-factor authentication for your Facebook account because you’re concerned about what the social network will do with your phone number, we’ve got some good news for you. Securing the thing you use to keep up with your family (or potential romantic partners) no longer requires that you give up your digits to do so. Faceb...[Read More]
Facebook has deleted a quarter of user total in account clean up but electioneering has moved
Facebook has disabled a staggering 583-million fake accounts in the first quarter of this year as the social network tries to rebuild its shattered reputation from the Cambridge Analytica saga and resultant fallout about how lax its took its users privacy. Over half a billion fake accounts is a eye-watering number by any measure, but even more so because it represents about a quarter of Facebooks ...[Read More]
Versions of Han Solo’s blaster exist – and they’re more powerful than real lightsabers would be
People who think physics is boring couldn’t be more wrong. It can explain everything from spooky interactions on the tiny scale of atoms and particles to how the entire universe behaves. As if that wasn’t enough, it can also be used to assess how realistic futuristic technology in science fiction is. My area of expertise – plasma physics – can explain many aspects of both lightsabers and the Death...[Read More]
Paid your traffic fines online? Check to see if your information has been compromised
Another day, another bundle of information leaked out onto the internet. The latest is the personal information of some 934,000 South African drivers, who could potentially have had their data compromised after it was found on a publicly-accessible web server. According to website iAfrikan, which has been working with haveibeenpwned founder and security expert Troy Hunt, some 934,000 South African...[Read More]
Looking for your FPS story fix? Battlefield V will have you covered
A small minority of gamers took exception to Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII‘s decision to do away with the traditional single-player campaign in order to try something a little different. Those players can instead look to Battlefield V if they’re feeling a gaping void that only a single-player section in a largely multiplayer game can fill — EA and DICE are keeping their campaign i...[Read More]
Acer announces its top-end Intel-powered Predator Helios 500 gaming notebook
Acer, at an event in New York yesterday, revealed the devices that we can expect to see from the company for the next few months. Leading the pack, in performance as well as (probable) pricing is Acer’s new high-end Intel-toting gaming notebook flagship, the Predator Helios 500. An evolution of the Predator Helios 300 which launched last year — yes, even here in South Africa — th...[Read More]
LG unveils G7 smartphone in South Africa with pricing starting at R14,000
Three weeks after the global announcement of its new flagship, LG‘s finally confirmed the G7 ThinQ handset will be coming to South Africa. Like the G6 and G5 before it, the G7’s secondary rear camera goes wide rather than telephoto — as favoured by most of its rivals — and, like the G6, the two sensors are 16MP. We’ve always liked LG’s wide-angle secondary shoot...[Read More]
Debunking the 6 biggest myths about technology addiction
How concerned should people be about the psychological effects of screen time? Balancing technology use with other aspects of daily life seems reasonable, but there is a lot of conflicting advice about where that balance should be. Much of the discussion is framed around fighting “addiction” to technology. But to me, that resembles a moral panic, giving voice to scary claims based on weak data. Fo...[Read More]
Got great blockchain ideas? Tari Labs wants to help you build the things you love
The word “blockchain” tends to conjure images of cryptocurrencies and the volatility that comes with them, leaving many regular Joes (and Jills) wary. But blockchain technology has myriad other applications. One of them is managing things like digital assets — think concert tickets, in-game purchases and other digitally scarce commodities. Three visionaries are building a blockch...[Read More]
The five readers heading to Solo: A Star Wars Story with Stuff are…
Oh man, this was one of the roughest competitions Stuff has run in a long, long time. We’ve never wanted to give everybody the prize more than we wanted to today. Just like a deca-Highlander, though, there can be only ten. In the shape of five sets of double tickets to Solo: A Star Wars Story, that is. No swords (or light sabers) are involved. And those five sets of tickets have now got home...[Read More]
Apple’s iPhone XI is due soon: Here’s what we know so far
We’ve heard rumours about multiple sizes and different screen resolutions, but what exactly does Apple have up its collective sleeve for their 2018 device? Will it be the iPhone XI? The iPhone 11? The iPhone X2, just for the fun of it, because who needs an iPhone 9? We aren’t sure what it’ll be called yet – but we have heard loads about what might be on the horizon, hardware-wise. The ...[Read More]
Level up your Nintendo Switch: Grab these essentials to make Ninty’s best even better
Nintendo’s Switch console was a huge hit last year, turning out to be impressive enough to take away Stuff‘s coveted Gadget of the Year 2017 award at this year’s awards ceremony. The console is good. It’s very good. But, and it almost hurts to say this, it could be better. But that’s only because there’s an impressive lot of extras out one year on, a collection ...[Read More]