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Weird Wide Web: Holograms, doorbells and a turbo snail

All of your essential tech and social media news for the week in one byte-sized portion.

WELCOME TO THE WEIRD Wide Web – where we take a look at the week’s best offerings in tech and social media news.

App of the week

Here’s a handy app for the uber paranoid among you. The DoorBot, a doorbell camera, now transmits audio and video feed to your smartphone or tablet over a Wi-Fi network whenever someone rings your doorbell, Business Insider reports. They can’t see or hear you unless you choose to use your audio feed to talk to them so you can avoid door-to-door salespeople, nosy neighbours or the entire world if you like.

It’s currently only available in the US but we can live in hope that someday we can all completely close ourselves off from society too.

(Image: TeamChristieStreet/YouTube)

Online TV series of the week

David Fincher’s House of Cards has been the talk of the online town since it was launched (only) on Netflix and now the company has announced it will produce a new animated series, AP reported this week. The series will be based on DreamWorks’ upcoming movie, “Turbo,” which is about an adorable snail who gets the power of super speed after getting in a freak accident. We’re excited.

(Video: DreamworksAnimation/YouTube)

Closest thing to a real-life hologram of the week

We’re getting so close to being able to mimic everything that ever happened in Star Trek. We’re not quite at the holodeck level yet but the U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi is still pretty impressive. Users wear virtual reality goggles that overlay the image of an avatar on a green clad robot which they can then interact with, TechCrunch reported.

(Video: pinktentacle3/YouTube)

Throwback to the 90s app of the week

Remember those hours and hours you spent tirelessly caring for your Tamagotchi back in the day? Well soon you may have a chance to relive that, on your table or smartphone. The Tamogitchi L.I.F.E app launched in the US and Canada for Android phones on Thursday. It has everything your old Tamagotchi has with some neat new features including the ability to share every single thing you do with your pet with all your Facebook friends. Fingers crossed, we’ll get it soon.

(Image: Google Play Store)

Read all previous Weird Wide Webs>

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4 Comments
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    Mute Jake Kelly
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 1:13 PM

    Well maybe the reporter just couldn’t keep a straight face

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    Mute Attilio
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 7:23 PM

    @Jake Kelly: lol!

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    Mute GO GREEN
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 12:34 PM

    More important he has burned down millions acres of the Amazon over 100% increase on last year and this will impact our climate the world over and still EU imports beef from Brazil.

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    Mute UCC Social Democrats Society
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 3:50 PM

    @GO GREEN: yep – which is curious, considering that Beef could be supplied by the Irish Market, 1. Reducing the EU’s carbon footprint, 2. Supporting a fellow EU Nation’s Economy, 3. Securing fiscal security for Irish Beef Farmers, & finally, 4. Not compromising on quality of food for a marginally cheaper product, to the detriment of EU Jobs (Irish Beef Farmers).

    Can you think of more reasons to support EU Industries? Write them below!

    If you’re unhappy with beef imports into the EU from Brasil, you know what to do! Raise your concerns with your MEP.

    https://www.whoismytd.com/

    Here, you’ll find the link to the contact details for your constituency’s MEP – put them to work!

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    Mute Ebeneezer Goode
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 12:20 PM

    Disgusting behaviour from a head of state. Politics really is the gutter these days.

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    Mute Monty Donotno
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 12:29 PM

    @Ebeneezer Goode: reflection of harder times to come with protectionist nationalist parties getting into power everywhere.

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    Mute Dom Layzell
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 1:22 PM

    @Monty Donotno: “getting into power everywhere” Monty, that has to be a contender for the sweeping statement of the year prize!

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    Mute Ebeneezer Goode
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 3:25 PM

    @Dom Layzell: Dom, doesn’t it bother you that this sort of behaviour from politicians has been linked with a rise in hate crimes? It feeds it, it encourages it, it gives it oxygen.

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    Mute Still-Not-News
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 12:45 PM

    How would he know?

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    Mute UCC Social Democrats Society
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 2:33 PM

    LGBT+ people deserve to live happy lives free from prejudice. For that to happen, we must all step up to help bring #homophobia, #biphobia and #transphobia to an end.

    If you see it, #call #It #Out

    https://callitout.ie/

    29
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    Mute Colm Curran
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 2:47 PM

    @UCC Social Democrats Society: respect for all phobias

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    Mute NPC4452347
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 3:11 PM

    @UCC Social Democrats Society: #Arachnophobia, when you see a spider #Call #It #Out

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    Mute UCC Social Democrats Society
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 3:41 PM

    @NPC4452347: are human rights a joke to you x

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    Mute TamuMassif2019
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 5:50 PM

    @UCC Social Democrats Society: Hay everyone gets stick, if your fat or skinny, tall or small, blond or red haired, you get stick and all normally from the exact same people? But there are some who are emotionally immature sociopaths who confuse pure psych hatred with banter but I think PC correctness might be fuelling the right wing in society due in part to snowflakes being over sensitive. But all the nuts are copying Trump as that might make them re-electable, not due to the crazy stuff they say but by being able to make headlines all the time? Hay Capt Chainsaw said to a woman reporter who was gay that he could cure her of it, it doesn’t mean he believes what he says but he knows that those who shout enough end up getting what they want and that is popularity???

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    Mute Barry Doyle
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 5:53 PM

    @UCC Social Democrats Society: the worst are the biphobes! They’re disgracefully cis-normative. Hope they rot in their unsafe spaces.

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    Mute Dean
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 6:16 PM

    Projection, much?

    That was a very odd and irrelevant response.

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    Mute TamuMassif2019
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    Dec 22nd 2019, 5:42 PM

    Where did Captain Chainsaw keep it? lol.

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