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WELCOME TO THE Weird Wide Web – where we take a look at the week’s best offerings in tech and social media news.
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)
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)
(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.
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…?
(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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A good story. It is nice to see support being given in time of need.
@daniel you have no idea what your talking about, this one of the worst years ever seen for animals dieing just from starvation. Suicide is also becoming a factor in some remote parts of the country as well. Was talking to a driver from a knackery yesterday and said he had never seen anything as bad before. So try to get educated before you give your moronic ignorant opinion next time
No problem in sending kids to school hungry how about setting the extra cost of fodder against free milk for primary schools for a year
No Farmers kids going hungry.
I wouldn’t worry Sean, I doubt very very much you are footing the bill for anything!
PRSI Vat Vhi commercial rates household tax must fund my own pension must pay privately for lighting and sewage and general maintenance of the estate where I live ya you are right spud I pay nothing at all
It’s not ‘No animals should die of starvation’. It’s ‘No farmers will go broke’. The animals won’t die as a result of this shortage. They’ll still find enough to survive. All that matters is that the farmers get a good price at the mart and that they’re able to last until next year.
It’s equally (if not more) important that the farmers are supported, but it makes it sound better if the welfare of the animals is the only thing on his mind. All this PR spin is driving me nuts! It’s all we’ve gotten out of this crowd since they came into power.
Come visit my farm and ill show u animals starving to death, good initiative but a month to six weeks late
@Daniel – animals are dying from lack of fodder and farmers are broke some at complete rock bottom, it’s not as simple as animals finding enough to eat and surviving anyway. Do you realise how much a cow or horse can eat in one day? My family are lucky as my dad got hay & silage last year but we are still struggling and have neighbours in much worse situations who would love the cows to be able to ‘find enough to survive’, this is a great scheme and will hopefully help people out but it will take a long time for farmers to recoup the costs of this winter
Animals won’t die from this shortage?? Animals have died! Fallen animal call outs are up 20% this winter over previous winters. The problem now is the majority of cows are milking so they have high energy demand to produce the milk and if you think that the cows of the country can produce milk by foraging in ditches then you’re deluded.
However I agree there is a lot of PR but their point would be why do it and not tell people.
Daniel, I can see from your profile you are the cannon fodder of the 21st century, stuck in some over priced semidetached house, stuck to your sky box as the government has to figure what the hell to do with your type. Fortunately from your profile you are just white noise gutter snipe and on this occasion very very silly.
As for the rest of your type, there is no one starving in this country, no one that is, that is willing to accept help
Not having enough money is one thing, watching animals suffer and not being able to help can push you over the edge.
Thank god there is a minster that understand this disaster farmers are in!
@Daniel you obviously do not have a clue what you are talking about.There are no profits,Livestock are starving and farmers are using their last bit of money to buy fodder for months now as the grass cut last year was not enough because it was a terrible summer.Cattle are dying of starvation and farmers and going hungry themselves to keep cattle alive.
Good man Simon!
Another re election vote secured there so.
I agree to help these farmers but what about the old people who can’t afford fuel and the disabled people locked in their homes because they took the mobility allowance away.Do they not deserve help?
‘No animals should die of starvation’
I agree. Members of Fine Gael should always start the day with a warm meal inside them.
Meanwhile in Cyberspace > http://youtu.be/LZ73Hy7ob-A …
Journal, could you find out what parts of the country the fodder is helping farmers? Only heard of it being delivered to southern counties!
No animal should die of starvation but at the same time the government are starting to starve its people. My god FG are some waste of space.
And as a country, are we not over quota re milk production and in line for a super-levy fine? Should the dairy industry not manage themselves better, instead of over-producing/over stocking to get the big slice of the post-quota bonanza they all are hoping for! But the Farmer can ALWAYS rely on the handout! No handout for the town dweller/non-farmer in mortgage arrears though! Only threats and letters!…oh, and wonderful new legislation comin’ down the track!! Jesus Wept!
You are a clown mcmurphy!! A clown! The letters will still come to the farmers alright, all losses will have to be accounted for no doubt there, this is relief from a horrible situation that nobody in there right mind would ever care to find them selfs in. The biggest loss you will probably find yourself in is having to fork out an extra 20cent at Mc Donald’s for your quater pounder
You get your water pumped into your house for free, your sewage taken away and processed for free.
Rural dwellers either drill a well or get access to a local water scheme where supply is never certain,
they have septic tanks or equivalent to process thier waste which needs to be maintained and is in the process of been taxed for.
No we are not over quota as a country, we were close last year but this year so far production is down 33% due to the grass.
Who is paying the cost of this extra fodder?
The IRA.
If you would like to continue eating Irish beef, lamb, chicken etc for the next two years, we all are. Don’t worry, when divided out among the whole population it’ll only be a euro or two each. And thousands of animals will be spared death by starvation. But why let that get in the way of a good moan eh?
Jaysus ya can’t ask a simple question without getting red-thumbed. Curious as to whether the IFA or the Dept of Agriculture are covering this. Thanks for the answers…I guess
Alan, yeah the IFA, FBD and Farmers Journal, along with a few other Irish Financial institutions have put in to pay for the cost of importing fodder.
Your question as hood as implied that you don’t want to pay for it or you wouldn’t have asked the question. A horse died yesterday in castledermot due to starvation as the owner wouldn’t bother his arse asking for fodder or didnt want to declare he had horses in the first place. The local residents watched this animal starve over the last month. Happening all around the country
Thanks Darren
Load of bull, taxpayer helping out farmers again.
Fodder is sold to farmers at cost price.
And what would you know, any idea ware your food comes from?
A few million to an industry in crisis that is the corner stone of the regrowth of Ireland and you’re complaining??
You try and think what would happen if farmers got rid of their animals and entered the more conventional workforce or emigrated.
that comment was directed at TheIrishBrain
@ Cormac Ryan
Farmers would have to sign on like all other people in receipt of payments from the government.
The same people that subsidise the food on your table!
No farmers, akl imorted food. Thunk horsemeat scandal, Brain. We need our farmers and far more than we need our bankers.
Farmers wouldn’t be eligible for dole payments as they are self employed.
The amount of views expressed here by people who simply do not understand the irish agriculture industry is staggering. A very recent report only a few weeks ago by a UCD professor showed that for every €1 of direct support given to farmers, €4 is generated in the economy. Coupled with the fact that the industry is playing a pivotal role in our export led economic recovery and providing over 300,000 fulltime and countless other part-time jobs, you should not underestimate the value of the Irish agriculture industry to our economy.
Aside from this, subsidies are paid to Irish farmers to ensure both animals and the environment are treated correctly and animals are reared in such a way as to ensure they enter the food chain in proper condition I.e free from chemicals and drugs etc. for the safety of consumers. If you think farmers should not get financial support then you are essentially a free trade supporter and you want your food from any country in any condition with absolutely no traceability – potentially the horsemeat scandal right across the board.
What is happening now with the fodder crisis is heartbreaking. I heard of a farmer whose cows were starving, he had run out of credit with his feed supplier and the bank could not lend him anymore money. His cows were dying of starvation and he could do nothing. In desperation he went out and shot all his cows and then turned the gun on himself.
The recent weather was and is unprecedented. Nobody could have seen this coming
Interesting. Any of that actually taxable?
Glad 1 government t d has a conscience
Unseasonably cold winter?
What a catch phrase …….. No Animal will DIE…… Dohhhhhhh….is that not what they breed them for ?…….. It should read….. No underweight animal will die….. P.S. what about the kids….
Ya might keep reading William, there you missed ‘from starvation’ !
Well done minister.
Ah i see, that’s why they pay the politicians so well..
We live in a country that sends kids to school hungry but pulls out all the stops when cows go hungry. WTF?
@John How are they pulling out all stops??This has been going on for months and its too late for alot of farmers.No children should go hungry but does that mean thousands of people livelihoods should be left to die off either.
Sweet Jesus, show me a child that is starving in this country! A child that has not been neglected by its piers that is!
We have the fattest kids in Europe for crying out loud!!!
Intervened with the banks indeed! Bankers are going to listen to this idiot, are they?
Of course its all taxable! Farmers pay income tax and every other tax, levy and charge that non farmers pay
Just shows how inept Irish farmers are.
Is it just me or is it ironic to say no animal should have to starve to death when they are only being bred and fed to go and have their throats slit while still the cow version of a teenager, or a bolt put through their brain or whatever, for human consumption???!!!
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