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Weird Wide Web: Lazy parenting, optimum charging and your next Netflix binge

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.

Lazy parenting solution of the week

If you’re looking for another machine to raise your kids for you, this new invention is right up your street. The Sparkup will take over your bedtime story reading role even using your own voice so it’s almost like you’re really there, Gizmodo reports.

(SparkupReader/YouTube)

Google tour of the week

If you’ve never been to the top of the Eiffel Tower, Google has come up with a way for you to do so from the comfort of your own home or even on your phone while you commute. This week, it announced a new Street View panorama and while we accept that it’s not quite the same as being there, it’s still pretty cool.

(Image: Google)

Battery charging tool of the week

(Image: The Practical Meter/Kickstarter)

Did you know that not all USB chargers will boost your battery power at the same speed? This nifty tool will tell you how high the charging speed is for each computer or laptop your smartphone or tablet is hooked up to. The creators have also developed charging cables that allow your devices to always accept max power. They’ve already far exceed their target on Kickstarter so people have obviously recognised how useful this gadget could be.

Never forget a face app of the week

It’s always an awkward situation, waking up after a great night out and getting a text from someone you met the night before but not being able to remember what they look like. Save yourself the embarrassment of having to ask your friends if that guy/girl you met the night before was any sort of a looker with NumberSnap. TechCrunch reports this app will solve the problem by taking a photo of the person as they put their number in your phone. We admit, it is a bit sneaky, but if they never know then it’s not a problem is it…?

Netflix binge of the week

(Image: Ester Vargas/Flickr)

We doubt you’re watching much TV anyway in this good weather but let’s be honest, it won’t last the whole summer. So what should you next be binge-watching on Netflix when the rain returns and you’re tucked up under a duvet with a six-pack of Hunky Doreys? Take Buzzfeed’s quiz to find out…

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Michelle Hennessy
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