Today is a rainy day in SF. As I was waking I thought I heard rain drops, so I asked, “Alexa, is it raining?” I was expecting the usual stock weather response that I’ve been getting for years. This time Alexa simply replied, “Yes, it is raining.”
This is a first. Next I want to see how much Alexa is able to adapt to unique requests. I could ask, “Alexa, will I need an umbrella tonight?” This would requiring connecting me to my location and umbrella to rain along with time of day. The stock response has just used the address set with my Echo device and responded with the forecast for the whole day. Connecting these dots from a spoken request would truly be a big step forward. #Alexa
I’ve started testing out alternatives to #Spotify as they’re putting their prices up yet again! £20pm for Family plan now. 🙄
I’ve started with #AppleMusic as I had a 2-month free trial, but the Windows app is trash. It keeps telling me playback has stopped on another device. It wasn’t playing on another device in the first place. Also songs just randomly stops playing or starts from the beginning again. 🤦♂️
No crossfade feature on mobile or playlist based playback features e.g. Rain Sounds playlist by Tidal doesn’t crossfade tracks which makes it jarring to play whilst going to sleep.
Despite the better audio quality, I’m not sure I can make the switch to Tidal.
As the "AI" race heats up, those of us who operate servers are going to be getting hit from more and more bots speed crawling our sites like the bad old days... that never really left.
I do hate it when tech companies come up with “improvements” to their systems. Some time ago, I created a Books List on my #Alexa to keep a note of books or authors I’d like to read when I had time to purchase them. It was easy to ask Alexa what was on the list to refresh my memory of books to search for.
But Amazon must have “improved” their system, so now when I ask what is on my Books List, Alexa reads me the titles in my #Kindle library. If I wanted to know that, I’d ask what books were in my Kindle library. Now, to check my Books List, I need to open the app and type the question into the app to see the list. This is not always very convenient.
I was going to create a new List called Library, but I thought she might simply repeat my Kindle Library again, so I’ve now got a list called Bookshelf. That seems to work. At least, it does for the moment. No doubt #Amazon will break it before too long.
I do seem to spend far too much time battling against #Technology in my attempts to make life easier.
"After quizzing these companies about data practices, I learned that most are sharing what’s happening in my home with Amazon, too. Our data is the price of entry for devices that want to integrate with Alexa. Amazon’s not only eavesdropping — it’s tracking everything happening in your home."
#GeoffreyAFowler, 'Alexa has been eavesdropping on you this whole time'
We have to ask ourselves, are they doing this to "save #Alexa" from when it was called a financial failure in 2023 or are they doing this because they believe it solves a real need people have?
Wenn du blöde genug warst, für einen nicht funktionierenden "KI"-Abhörapparat zu bezahlen und den auch noch in dein Schlafzimmer zu stellen, dann bist du bestimmt auch blöd genug, da noch ein Bezahl-Abo für abzuschließen!1!!
This whole thing started because my family would always leave lights on and lose their keys…
Now the lights turn themselves on and off, all doors are now keyless, I have control over ALL of it, I know exactly what we are consuming at any given moment, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of what this amazing software can do!
I will buy NO smart home device that isn’t #HomeAssistant compatible.
Forget #HomeKit. Forget #Google. Forget #Alexa. If you’ve got a little tech know-how, get this.
Alexa Noone (famososefamosasdetodososramos.blogspot.com) Portuguese
Alexa Noone