Lists
The 30 Best Albums of 2020
After a deluge of canceled or delayed tours, drive-in experiments, Bandcamp Fridays and bedroom livestreams, we’re finally here. Yay? It’s hard to celebrate much of anything in 2020. But one encouraging sign from the music industry has been the number of artists innovating on the fly — figuring out ways to sustain their careers through the madness. And as fans, at least we’ve had new albums to help us process our continuing semi-apocalypse. Having (mercifully) reached the end of this awful year, we have even more perspective on the functionality of a great record. The 30 we’ve assembled here have prompted us to dance, helped us grieve, made us laugh, or even just allowed us to escape into a transportive riff or soundscape. We assume they did the same for the artists themselves. Let us reme...
8 Online Safety Tips for the Holiday Season
The holiday season is a bonanza for criminals who see multiple opportunities to catch unwary shoppers, particularly online. We’ve long been attracted to the convenience of online shopping, and the pandemic’s lockdowns have galvanised our enthusiasm. Global digital commerce has grown by 71%, according to Salesforce’s Global Shopping Index, and in South Africa, the Consumer Pulse survey found that 30% of people shopped online in June. Cybercriminals know this. So to prepare for the holidays, here are eight tips and tricks to look out for: 1. If it’s too good to be true: This is rule number one to avoid online scams. Criminals will try to lure you with something free, such as fake vouchers or discount offers, special offers on limited quantities of a sought-after product, or inducing you to p...
Apple Unveils Top 10 Best Apps of 2020
Apple has revealed its ‘Best of 2020’ app chart which ranks its most important apps of the year. According to the tech giant, these apps have proved to be essential for making life easier, healthier, and more connected in 2020. “This year, more than ever before, some of our most creative and connected moments happened in apps. This was thanks to the amazing work of developers who introduced fresh, helpful app experiences throughout the year,” says Apple Fellow, Phil Schiller. “Around the world, we saw remarkable efforts from so many developers, and these Best of 2020 winners are outstanding examples of that innovation. From helping us stay fit and mindful, to keeping our children’s education on track, to helping fight hunger, their impact was meaningful to so many of us.” Here are Apple’s ...
35 Great Songs You Probably Didn’t Hear in the Last 35 Years
SPIN has always highlighted the under-heralded, but an uncountable number of amazing songs have fallen through the cracks since the publication’s 1985 launch. It’s hard to scratch the surface in a list of this size, but consider this chronological mixtape a fun attempt. Many of these selections are personal — cherished, semi-obscure tracks that deserve a bigger audience. But in order to cast a wide net, we solicited suggestions from friends, fellow music journalists and musicians (including Sparks and Modest Mouse), who helped make this round-up deeper and more eclectic than it would have been otherwise. From lo-fi pop to hi-fi prog, here are 35 gems you probably missed over the last 35 years. – Ryan Reed Mazarati – “Strawberry Lover” (1986) This Minneapolis funk band is still ...
The 35 Greatest Concerts of the Last 35 Years
We know, we know — the best concert of all-time is your friend’s obscure indie-punk band playing a sweaty neighborhood basement back in ‘94. We admit that one slipped through the cracks. Maybe it’s a fool’s errand, but this list is our attempt to narrow down three and a half decades of worthy live music events — legendary festivals, headlining tours from major artists, one-off stage collaborations, multimedia spectacles — into an eclectic and satisfying blend. – Ryan Reed 35. Heilung at Castlefest (8/5/2017) CREDIT: Gonzales Photo/PYMCA/Avalon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Music-related viral clips tend to be silly and easily digestible, like the dude riding a skateboard to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” while sipping on Ocean Spray. So it’s heartening that Heilung’s debut l...
5 Things Organisations should Consider before Migrating to the Cloud
Sourced from PC Mag Cloud computing has been adopted by 77% of South African businesses, with the most popular application being the backing up of data. The benefits for those that do embrace cloud include reduced IT costs, faster speed-to-market, better service levels, and cloud as an enabler of the digital business. Additionally, the imperative to embrace cloud computing has never been higher. The recently released 4th annual Salesforce State of the Connected Customer report shows that South African consumers expect the majority of their interactions with business this year to be online. Further, 84% of South African customers say that COVID-19 has elevated their expectation of businesses digital capabilities. In other words, businesses need to be digital, and to be digital – they n...
Ballon d’Or winners if Messi and Ronaldo didn’t exist
Ballon d’Or winners if Messi and Ronaldo didn’t exist – originally posted on Sportslens.com The Ballon d’Or is one of the most prestigious individual awards in the world. Many of the greats have scooped the prize following some of the best years of their career. The last decade has seen two of the game’s titans fight it out for this award. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the scene, winning the Ballon d’Or an incredible 11 times out of the last 12, and are again amongst the forerunners to win the 2021 Ballon d’Or edition. Realistically, very few players have really stood a chance up against these two. But what if they weren’t around? Who would be our players of the year then? Let’s have a look. 2008 – Fernando Tor...
Unpacking Trends in the Future of Work
Almost nine out of ten leaders (88%) at large enterprises in South Africa expect they will adopt a more hybrid way of working permanently – according to Microsoft’s newly launched Work Reworked research. The study found that flexible ways of working are here to stay with many leaders focused on driving a culture of innovation. While South African employees still see value in working from a main office at least some of the time; findings show that on average, people would now like to spend just less than half (42%) of their time outside of the traditional office setting. In fact, people still see the time spent in the office as a powerful way to maintain bonds with their colleagues. A more permanent change around ways of working is already evident, with a healthy majority (82%) of com...
5 Ways Technology could Enhance PPP Projects
Sourced from TTEC.com The South African economy is expected to contract by up to 7.2%, reports Finance Minister Tito Mboweni. He says this will be “the largest contraction in 90 years”. And it’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has played a massive role in exacerbating the issue. According to the World Bank Blog, now is the time to prepare for public-private partnerships (PPPs) as these could play an increasingly important role in reshaping South Africa’s post-pandemic economy. Tumi Moleke, Head of the PPP Unit at Treasury, believes “the timing is perfect to mobilise the utilisation of the PPP model, and it is now paramount to deliver economic growth for the public interest.” What exactly are PPPs? /* custom css */ .tdi_3_1a1.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_1a...
5 Disruptive Technology Predictions for 2021
Disruptive technologies are accelerating society’s digital transformation journey. In a recent report, NTT revealed five trends that hold promise to help local organisations unpack their postures with regards to safety and security, support sustainable growth and reduced environmental loads: All-photonics networks (APNs) will power global communications: APNs will enable end-to-end, information transmission between the terminal and the server and will allow us to operate an ultra-low power-intensive sustainable communications environment. This particular trend will influence the local market over the long term as networks overcome legacy infrastructure and regulatory constraints. Cognitive Foundation (CF) technology will connect and control everything: the centralised management and agile ...
7 Cybersecurity Predictions for 2021
COVID-19 will continue to be a key focus for organizations’ IT and security teams, says cybersecurity solutions company Check Point. “The pandemic derailed business-as-usual for virtually every organization, forcing them to set aside their existing business and strategic plans, and quickly pivot to delivering secure remote connectivity at massive scale for their workforces,” says Pankaj Bhula: Check Point’s EMEA Regional Director. “Security teams also had to deal with escalating threats to their new cloud deployments, as hackers sought to take advantage of the pandemic’s disruption: 71% of security professionals reported an increase in cyber-threats since lockdowns started,” “One of the few predictable things about cyber-security is that threat actors will always seek to take advanta...
9 Ways to Avoid being Scammed Online this Black Friday
Black Friday 2020 could be bigger online than in-store this year, thanks to concerns about the risk of COVID-19 in crowded shops, and an increase in the number of people now comfortable with shopping online. But for first-time online shoppers and those who might forget caution in their quest for a bargain, online shopping could be more lucrative for criminals than it is for consumers this Black Friday. Cybercriminals and old-fashioned fraudsters can take advantage of unwary shoppers in several ways: by getting access to their bank card details to steal money; by using personal information to commit fraud and theft; or simply by accepting payment for goods they don’t deliver. To avoid disappointment, theft and fraud, here are nine tips for safer online shopping this Black Friday: Make sure ...
