Category: Software Development
ZIMRA & HIT sign deal to develop software that will maximise tax collection
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, (ZIMRA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) that will see the latter develop software that will help the taxman further maximise revenue collection. “The prime objectives of the MoU are to provide a broad base for cooperation with the intention of mobilising domestic revenue […]
OneDrive will stop syncing files for users on Windows 7 & 8 in March 2022
Users who are still using Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 will no longer be able to sync files automatically with OneDrive starting from March next year. In order to focus resources on new technologies and operating systems, and to provide users with the most up-to-date and secure experience, beginning January 1, 2022, updates will no […]
Local startup now allows you to register a domain on WhatsApp
Late last month we reported on a local startup called Resellme that was opening the domain registration and web hosting game to anyone who felt those services aligned with their core product offering. So for instance a digital marketing company could become a Resellme agent and offer a full website service package with Resellme dealing […]
Propertybook’s quiet disruption of real estate through the cloud & other services
The property market has become something of the wild west in the last decade or so. This is in part due to the popularity of social media marketing and housing groups which have brought with them bogus agents making people pay ridiculous fees just to view properties or even downright fleecing people of their money. […]
Adobe’s PDF Editor is finally available as a Chrome extension
Dealing with PDFs can be a hassle sometimes especially if you want to make a quick correction or copy text. The established way of doing it was by downloading the document and then opening Adobe’s Acrobat to make the amendment. Well, it looks like after what seems like an age, calls for this feature (and […]
How to install the latest npm on Ubuntu 20.04
Not so long ago the only thing I needed to learn in order to create plugins for my blogs was PHP. I could farm out the JavaScript and CSS parts of development to freelancers. With the recent versions of WordPress however, more and more code is in JavaScript so I decided to learn JavaScript deeply. […]
Gwinyai Nyatsoka: CTO for a US tech firm who wants to teach local devs how to do the same remotely
Gwinyai Nyatsoka is a Zimbabwean developer who made it big teaching on Udemy a few years back. When he shared his earnings, the total came to around US$20K, since that time he has become the Chief Technical Officer at Cobbles, a US-based software development firm. I recently had a conversation with Gwinyai Nyastoka about his […]
Local startup creates a platform that allows anyone to start a domain registry & web hosting business
More and more businesses are making their services available beyond physical stores and social media to the wider internet because of the pandemic. No one wants to be left behind and more importantly, businesses don’t want their domain to be taken by someone else. Buying a domain (and web hosting) is relatively easy in Zimbabwe […]
Google is bringing a privacy feature from Android 11 to older versions
One of the really cool things that came on Android 11 was a feature that automatically reset app permissions. The feature works by revoking or auto-resetting the permissions of apps that haven’t been used in a while. When you use that app again, it will then need to ask you to authorise access to various […]
Android 12 might be coming in October
Various versions of Android 12’s beta have been available since the mobile operating system was announced back in May. The final version of the OS, however, has taken far longer to come out than those that have come before it. There is some news to a release date, according to Mishaal Rahman, Editor-in-Chief of XDA, […]
Google search on desktop finally adds dark mode, what took so long?
I don’t know what it is, but light text on a dark background just does it for me. As the dark mode fever has really reached fever pitch in the past couple of years, I’ve been one happy bunny. Sometimes called night mode, this option of displaying content on a screen is my go to […]
This awesome new tool will soon turn everyone into a programmer
Generally, if you want computers to do something useful you have to create a computer program. This typically means learning one of the many computing languages out there. These range from low-level languages such as assembling code to high-level languages such as Python and JavaScript. Now you can add a new language to that continually […]
WordPress 5.8 is out and it comes with WebP and more
Recently the folks behind WordPress released this year’s second major release of WordPress for this year – WordPress 5.8. And it comes with an awesome surprise that I gushed about a few weeks ago. This release now natively supports WebP. As I said in the earlier article this is huge. Just to recap WebP is […]
Google is ditching the APK format for apps on the Play Store
Google has announced that it is moving away from the popular APK format on the Play Store starting August this year. The new format will be App Bundles (.aab) which the company rolled out a couple of years ago. “Since we launched the Android App Bundle in May 2018, we’ve seen our developer community embrace this new […]
Windows 11: The good, the bad and the meh…
Microsoft is launching the next generation of the Windows (11) operating system, tomorrow the 24th of June 2021. We browsed the internet to see what was being said about it and here are our thoughts. You can play or download the podcast with the link below: NB: Techzim is now zero-rated for text-based content. However, for embedded […]
The upcoming version of WordPress will support WebP
I don’t often write about WordPress, the popular CMS (content management system) that powers both Techzim and all the sites I work with but today I decided to make an exception as I couldn’t contain my excitement. The next coming version of WordPress, version 5.8 which is coming out on 20 July, will have native […]
Setting up the perfect web-development environment using docker and ZOL
I have to admit I am as far from winning the world’s best web-developer as it gets, but I give it my best. And also I mostly develop for myself apart from the very rare and little WordPress PHP snippets I have shared with my even more technologically inept friends. Recently though I found myself […]
I have been running an eLearning site for six years, here are the lessons I have learned
Here are some lessons about venturing into the elearning space a developer or someone who is looking to start a service over the many platforms available.
Zambian creates programming platform for African languages
Zambian Matthews Chishinji has created a programming language called Hawking that allows almost all Africans to code in their native language.
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 […]
Africa Esports Championship calls on African developers to participate in Game Showcase event
Africa Esports Championship (AEC) recently announced that they are hosting the Africa Games Showcase Invitation. The event is being organised in partnership with LudiqueWorks. AEC and LudiqueWorks are inviting video game developers and studios to submit their developed games for the showcase which is aimed to “spotlight, highlight and celebrate” video games being developed on […]
MTNs Chenosis platform seeks to solve Africa’s API problem
Earlier this month, MTN announced the launch of Chenosis. This is an independent API marketplace built to enable developers and businesses across Africa. It will aggregate open APIs making it easy for developers and interested parties discover and make use of these APIs. APIs??? For the uninitiated, we will need to explain what an API […]
UN calls for interested parties to build access to info platform for women
UN Women Zimbabwe is looking for innovative solutions to persistent societal and economic challenges that are disrupting participation of women in decisions that affect their lives. As such UN Women Zimbabwe aims to support an ideathon that is expected to result in a viable and workable web-based platform that facilitates access to information as well […]
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 […]
Slack Connect is looking to replace email
Slack has a new product called Slack Connect. The angle is to provide businesses and organisations with a secure and productive way to communicate. They are looking to replace email as the primary way in which organisations communicate. “Designed to replace email, Slack Connect extends channel-based messaging to everyone you work with—inside and outside your […]
Amazon Honeycode, a web and mobile app builder with no code
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched Amazon Honeycode. A platform, in beta, that allows almost anyone in a business to build a custom web or mobile app without having any prior coding knowledge. “Most teams rely on their IT Departments for new apps. Many IT departments don’t have the staff or capacity to build all […]
Video: Apple & Google installed a COVID-19 tracker in everyone’s phone
In a bid to fight the spread of COVID-19, Google and Apple partnered up to add a COVID-19 contact tracing feature into Android and iOS. Here is how you can find it as well as how it will work. Quick NetOne, Econet, And Telecel Airtime Recharge Number to recharge: Airtime amount ($): EcoCash or OneMoney […]