Author: Van Lee Chigwada
Can technology save Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwe has a lot of problems, from food security, service delivery, transportation and more. Can technology address some of these problems?
Is online learning working?
Education, like all the other sectors, has been affected by the pandemic. Online learning has been accelerated at a scale that before COVID-19 many would have thought was in the distant future.
So it raises the question, is online education working?
Apple, the iPhone and the BatteryGate
Battery & CPU throttling and being phased out of the update ecosystem, one of the many ways Apple & other smartphone makers get you to upgrade.
The online Dead Mans’ Switch
It’s not something that everyone wants to think about but we have to consider what happens to our online presence we are no longer around.
Meet Sika, the app to dial a barber or hairdresser from your home
Alistair Holmes spent a few months at home during that lockdown that left everyone who could not forge a letter of passage stranded at home. After a while, he started looking like Chewbacca and the ladies did not like that (his mom obviously). Now, with his barber locked down on the other end of the […]
Upgrading to Android 11 will break your favourite apps
Google engineers are sometimes like your mother cleaning your room unsolicited. You swear you left your magazines (let’s just call them National Geographic mags but we both know they aren’t) under your pillow. The spot was perfect, quick access for when you need to use them. Now comes the tricky part. You cannot ask your […]
The top mobile phone brands in Zimbabwe – reloaded
In 2015, Techzim did a pool survey of the top mobile phone brands in Zimbabwe. Some of the data was also obtained from Statcounter. The data was collected by non-Zimbabweans hence some felt it was not comprehensive or a true representation of the local market. Welcome to the Top Mobile Phone brands in Zimbabwe – […]
The U.S. Govt sues Google & why you should care
A history lesson In 1998, The United States Government took Microsoft to court. It was the Govt’s case that Microsoft was using its dominant position in the tech industry to force Internet Explorer down our throats, while also stifling competition from Netscape Navigator. The verdict came back in favour of Netscape, although it was too […]
The law does not subscribe to likes and retweets
There’s been a flurry of online campaigns lately to get certain organisations to act in a way that appeases social media. The one that got my particular attention as an entrepreneur is the one against Impala Car Rentals. Word got out that Impala Car Rentals (ICR) rented our a car to individuals who proceeded to […]
Parents, please parent your babies on social media
South African courts are currently hearing a case between Facebook and a thirteen year old teen. The 13 year old girl is suing Facebook to release information of someone who bullied her on the social platform. Facebook has openly declared that should the court ask for it, they will help in any way they can […]
Big Tech needs regulation and why you should care
Four of the biggest tech companies in the world were dragged before American Congress recently to testify on abuse of their power with regards to anti-trust. Well this sounds American so why should any of us care when we have our own problems at home? I will give you a tip, you can become geo-independent […]
Duplicating business models from global brands in Zimbabwe
Innovation. Disruption. Original. These are some of the buzzwords in the entrepreneurship arena that every player wishes to be associated with. There have been several new ideas that came in and shook up their respective industries from Apple with the first most adopted graphical user interface computer to Uber destroying the taxi industry in several […]
Recruiting and managing I.T. staff the right way
Techzim is expanding into Logistics and looking to on-board new delivery truck drivers. Suitable candidates must hold a clean class one drivers’ license. The drivers will also be required to possess motor-mechanic skills as they will be responsible for servicing and maintaining the vehicles they drive. They will also load and off-load the cargo they […]
WhatsApp has ruined the way we communicate
There is no denying that WhatsApp has connected us on a global scale and revolutionised the way we communicate. The instant messaging platform allows us to tap into social events we may have not been able to. During last year’s family Christmas gathering, my brother in law in France had a very long video chat […]
The cost of 1GB mobile data around the world
Everyone is thinking it, we may as well be the first to answer the question: When I leave Zimbabwe, which country has the cheapest mobile data packages I can buy? (Disclaimer: Techzim is patriotic, it’s right there in the name.) We decided to look at the average mobile data prices from around our little blue […]
EcoCash & banks can’t magically create balances
A friend brought up a question recently, can’t a software developer at EcoCash just create a balance in their account. Then, said developer can go buy a shiny new Lamborghini Gallardo LP460? (I may be adding a bit of sweetening but you get the point). A soccer analogy Let us talk about soccer for a […]
The doomed cybersecurity effort
The cyber security bill has been the talk of the nation for a while now. People are already misinterpreting several parts of it, as is common with legislation. Our focus today is not on the bill and its contents but rather the doomed nature of it all in the global scope of information technology and […]
Protecting your WhatsApp Account from Hacks
There are times when humanity makes you want to give up on life and go live with animals surviving on berries. As a tech-guru (I will be calling myself that today), I have been asked by married men to hack into the WhatApp accounts of their girlfriends. Not spouses, but girlfriends. I know your brain […]
Zimsec exam papers for Sale and other online scams you should look out for
Times are hard in Zimbabwe and people are trying to hustle by any means necessary. The gullible shall be taken advantage of by the sly and cunning. Zimbabweans have become experienced in creating value out of nothing, from the street vendors selling forex, to the WhatsApp groups reselling Econet e-learning data bundles for a ZWL$50.00 […]