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  Is there a fifth force of nature? Up until now, there have been four clearly defined forces of nature, namely: Gravity, the weak force, electromagnetism and the strong force. Essentially these are the forces that govern all that happens in the universe as physical forces form a part of every action that we perform. If we break them down, gravity is probably the term that we come across the most often and therefore is the most familiar as a concept – but how often do we really think about the role gravity plays in our lives every day? To give a quick science lesson recap: Sir Isaac Newton was the first to put forward the idea of gravitational forces. Today we define [...]

  TikTok’s local musician remuneration plan Now we all know that royalties in South Africa’s music scene are a contentious issue, especially where the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is involved. For the creatives in the music industry to capitalize on their hard work – this is how it happens. Music creators are “entitled to royalties” every time their music is played or used. This is how musicians sustainably look to earn an income in addition to the direct and indirect sales of their music or compositions.  Southern African Music Rights Organisation and Composers Authors otherwise known as SAMRO is a local organisation that allows music creators to apply to become members and music users to apply for licenses through them. This in turn [...]

  Promising Productivity through Pomodoro A decrease in productivity has been a well-documented pandemic-era side-effect – this may have something to do with the fact that we have spent the past year living in various stages of collective trauma, having all undoubtedly been affected in different ways by COVID-19 and the impact it’s had across the board on a global scale. In an effort to counteract the drop in productivity levels, particularly in those who have had to transition from an office environment to a makeshift ‘coffice’ (coffee-shop office) or home office and all the new and inevitable distractions that tend to come with these. So what is one to do when the when the distractions creep into view and the productivity levels [...]

  Carrying out qualitative research under lockdown – Practical and ethical considerations How can qualitative researchers collect data during social-distancing measures? Adam Jowett outlines several techniques researchers can use to collect data without face-to-face contact with participants. Bringing together a number of previous studies, he also suggests such techniques have their own methodological advantages and disadvantages and that while these techniques may appear particularly apt during the coronavirus crisis, researchers should take time to reflect on ethical issues before re-designing their studies READ MORE Adam Jowett April 20th, 2020  

  Birdwatch has its eye on you Misinformation is rife across social media (and the internet as a whole), and it’s something that’s arguably been exacerbated by Covid-19 and our reliance on social and digital sources of news. However, as you well know – just because it’s on social media or the internet, doesn’t mean that it’s true, accurate or factual in anyway. So how are social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram coming to the party in order to ensure that they are contributing positively to the eradication of misinformation, rather than purely providing a platform for it to flourish uninhibited? Twitter is one of the world’s most well utilised social networking sites, defined by its ‘blow-by-blow’ messaging otherwise known as [...]

  The ‘right to disconnect’ from your emails E-mails have become synonymous with the workplace, with our definition of productivity, and as of late, a meaningful way to engage, communicate or collaborate with colleagues and clients alike. It has also become a metric in terms of how we quantify our levels of productivity as well as ensuring that our respective bosses are able to see ‘just how busy’ we really are. But, is this a true indication of all of these things, or is it just a way to quell any feelings of work place inadequacies, or a way to avoid the phone while still connecting with others? It’s hard to imagine a time before emails, or an office environment where faxes were [...]