LATEST NEWS

Omicron – what we know so far and what you need to know Now we all know that this was not how anyone wanted to learn the Greek alphabet (if you wanted to learn it at all that is), however it seems that as long as COVID-19 continues to mutate, the more familiar with the Greek lettering system we are likely to become. The latest letter and corresponding variant to land on our radar is Omicron – one of 2021’s top mispronounced words too. To recap how we got here, the World Health Organisation, in consultation with some of the world’s leading health regulatory authorities; decided that for public consumption it makes sense to have names that are easier for the public to [...]

Everlasting energy? Ever scroll through your Instagram stories and watch the 5am clubbers who have already had a run, a workout, and a coffee and seemingly solved the world’s problems all before you’ve wiped the sleep out of your eyes and rolled out of bed? Ever wondered – how do they do it and what they must take in order to resemble Energizer bunnies? There are many people who fall on either side of the energy ‘have and have-nots’ spectrum, and some who straddle both and take turns being an early riser or an over sleeper – which may people would attribute to lifestyle and energy levels, which to be fair often impact one another too. Everything we do in life requires some [...]

Auto-translation Ear-buds – not only an African-first, but a world first According to Ethnologue, a widely acknowledged linguistic web authority, there are over 7000 spoken languages in the world today, actually 7,139 to be exact. This is a mind boggling figure considering that most of us only grow up to speak one or two, let alone three or more. Just as in the natural world, languages too can become endangered when the communities that speak them or pass them on diminish in size and generationally the language and its lexicon are not passed on to the next generation. Ethnologue notes that nearly 40% of the world’s 7139 languages now classify as endangered, which generally means there are 1000 people or less who still [...]

Facebook’s ‘Meta-morphosis’ One of the biggest brand names in the world –Facebook- has made a bold move and opted to rebrand and rename itself Meta. This is as part of the company’s commitment and strategy to build what it calls a ‘metaverse’, which is “composite universe melding online, virtual and augmented worlds that people can seamlessly traverse.” The company now known as Meta boasts a shiny new logo of a slightly off-centre infinity sign, and will be the new umbrella company that all its Apps including Facebook (which will retain its name), Instagram and Whatsapp will all fall under. Why the change many people are asking? As the Facebook name and logo, although having come under fire frequently as of late, are still [...]

African ambitious Africa is an ambitious continent that is certainly on the rise in many ways. While some economies have stagnated due to the pandemic, there is still a lot of promise for many of Africa’s major cities as these are home to the dominant financial hubs. Multinationals as well as local businesses, organisations and entrepreneurs have invested in the various emerging markets in the hopes that while there is risk in doing so, there is certainly opportunity too.  Africa’s potential largely lay in its absolute wealth of natural resources; however there are many industries that are taking the forefront in terms of piquing of international investors’ interest. Unsurprisingly at this stage, in terms of the rankings based on the findings in AfrAsia [...]

SA’s Digital Vaccination Certificate and what it means for us In exciting news, South Africa’s Covid-19 vaccine certificate system has officially been launched by our Department of Health. Why is this important you may ask? Well, for those who have been vaccinated locally as part of the Covid-19 vaccination drive, you would have received a paper vaccination certificate that contains details of your vaccination, corresponding vaccination reference code and dates of the first and second vaccination if you have had the Pfizer vaccination which requires two doses, or the Johnson & Johnson vaccine which only requires a single shot. Having a paper certificate as well as a vaccination reference number is all good and well for now, however that paper certificate is one [...]