Sideswipe: January 18: Low maintenance pet

A pretend pet. Photo / Supplied

For those who aren't fully ready to take care of a pet, this adorable — and only mildly creepy — headless robot pet will make the perfect companion, giving the solace and attention you seek, but without the commitment of picking up poop. Petit Qoobo calmly rests in your space as you go about your day-to-day life. Its tail is able to wag 80 different ways in reaction to your voice or touch — if it gets "startled" by loud sounds it will frantically swish its tail. The robot cushion even has a little "heartbeat" for a sense of closeness as you keep it close to you. It is deliberately headless because its creators want you to view the pet in a way you resonate with. Some may see a cat, while others envision a dog or rabbit.

Relatively worst first date

I went on a lovely date with someone I met online. Had a great time. After we finished dinner, she discovered over 15 missed calls from her family. Apparently, her mum did a Google search on me. Surprise! She found out that we were actually cousins.

You do what...?

Photo / Supplied

Modern first world problems

1. When you spend so long looking for something to watch on Netflix, that your dinner gets cold.
2. When you have too many chips for your dip ... but if you open another dip, you will have too much dip for your chips.
3. When you have to go all the way upstairs to get your laptop charger.
4. When you crack your iPad screen because you dropped your iPhone on it.
5. When your smartphone changes "lol" to "LOL" making you sound more amused than you actually are.
6. When it's been 5 seconds and your password reset email still hasn't arrived.
7. When none of your three wiper speeds are proportional to the amount of rain you're in.
8. When you forget to take your phone with you when you go to poop and you are bored the entire time.
9. When the headlights of the SUV behind you hurts your eyes when you're in your Ferrari.
10. When you're late for your 2.30pm tee-off because your Tesla is in the middle of a software update.
11. When you buy a basil plant to have fresh basil but you feel bad tearing off the leaves so now it's just another plant in the house.