Author: The Conversation

by Zahraa McDonald, University of Johannesburg The COVID-19 pandemic could be the catalyst for action to address the consequences of inequalities in South Africa’s education system. This is because measures taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus are unearthing a wide range of systemic problems right across the education landscape – from water shortages to bad sanitation and overcrowding. Over the past two and a half decades the legacies of apartheid have slowly emerged. But never at the scale – or with the impact – inflicted by COVID-19. One example is basic water and sanitary infrastructure. The schools built…

by Steve Reid The National Health Insurance (NHI) has become an idealistic concept known as “imaginary”. It’s become the idea onto which all South Africa’s aspirations for healthcare have been projected. The dream of a system that is fairer, less divided and more efficient. It’s even been called “pie in the sky”. It’s clear that some version of the NHI is going to happen regardless of anyone’s opinion. And its success or failure will be determined by the extent to which all South Africans contribute to it. The NHI is a financing system that will make sure that all South…

Here’s a guide to getting rid of “junk” apps and ensuring your kids develop healthy tech habits both in term time and during the school holidays.

The impact of the Internet on the newspaper industry has been starkly highlighted by a graph released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. It shows how employment in that industry in the US has declined by 60% over the past 25 years, from 458,000 in 1990 to 183,000 in March 2016. This statistic reflects the decline both in the number of newspapers and the shift to reducing the number of journalists and other staff required to produce increasingly digital output from a newsroom. From 1990 to 2014, nearly 300 newspapers closed in the US. What the data also shows…

Smart homes, an aspect of the Internet of Things, offer the promise of improved energy efficiency and control over home security. Integrating various devices together can offer users easy programming of many devices around the home, including appliances, cameras and alarm sensors. Several systems can handle this type of task, such as Samsung SmartThings, Google Brillo/Weave, Apple HomeKit, Allseen Alljoyn and Amazon Alexa. By Earlence Fernandes But there are also security risks. Smart home technology systems can leave owners vulnerable to serious threats, such as arson, blackmail, theft and extortion. Current security research has focused on individual devices, and how they…

E-cigarettes and other vaping products are on track to out-sell cigarettes by the end of 2023. And more and more young people are trying e-cigarettes. So what do you need to know about them? Are they less harmful than using cigarettes or other burned tobacco products? What are e-cigarettes? First, they are not burned tobacco products. Most often, they contain nicotine solutions that are heated to make a vapor (hence the terms vape or vaping), and they’re usually powered by batteries. Some look like cigarettes and others can resemble flashlights. The first e-cigarettes were not produced by cigarette companies, but…