“The right of self-defence is the first law of nature.” (St. George Tucker, Blackstone's Commentaries, 1803) South Africa’s chronically high crime rates have left many of us wondering what the limits are when defending ourselves and our families from criminals. What weapons does the law allow us to carry, what permissions do we need [...]
“If you didn’t hear it from the horse’s mouth, it came from the other end of the horse.” (Anon) The rapid rise of AI is hard to ignore. DeepSeek’s AI assistant, only launched on 10 January this year, has grown to rival ChatGPT in popularity, making it the most widely used AI language model at [...]
“O, I do not like that paying back.” (Falstaff, in Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part I) A standard clause in loan agreements, suretyships and the like is the “certificate of balance” or “COB” clause. Typically, it will read something like this (but normally with a lot more verbiage, and bear in mind that every lender has [...]
“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing… If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” (Groucho Marx) We’ve all had this experience – meal over, relaxed and happy, you call for the bill and decide to reward your friendly and helpful waitron with a good tip. Only to find, on checking the [...]
“Only in our dreams are we free; the rest of the time we need wages.” (Terry Pratchett) Retrenching employees can be an expensive business. You’ll have to pay each employee a minimum of one week’s pay for each completed year of ongoing service, and that total liability can add up alarmingly. A recent Labour Court [...]
“Landlords grow rich in their sleep” (John Stuart Mill) Earning passive income as a landlord is an attractive proposition which can generate substantial wealth, but before you rush into anything be sure to know exactly what you are doing. “From homeowner to landlord: how to make it work” on Tech4Law shares six important steps on ensuring that [...]
With our loadshedding woes unlikely to go anywhere soon, more and more property owners are looking to solar power as an alternative to relying on Eskom. Just be careful that you don’t fall foul of your insurers in the process. “Rules homeowners should know before installing solar power” on MyBroadband lists four technical regulations to be particularly [...]
As pandemic restrictions ease around the world, many businesses forced by lockdown to “go remote” are torn between returning to office and keeping everyone working remotely. An increasing number are opting for one or other hybrid model, which can come with major benefits but also major challenges. One of those challenges is the risk of [...]
We all know how vital it is to use strong passwords online, but for a sobering look at just how quickly the “average” cybercriminal can hack any that aren’t up to scratch, go to Hive Systems’ article “Are your passwords in the Green?” here. Their “Time it takes a hacker to brute force your password in [...]
“Here’s how to expand your mind’s abilities to get more done”Boosting productivity is one of the fundamentals of success in both our personal and our professional lives. “Get more done in less time” is the perfect strategy for making the most of everything we do, but how to go about it in practice? Our challenge [...]
