Alexa

The Technophiliacs forum is for discussing any and all forms of tech and other types of social backwardness. Including discussions of strange home-brewed hardware technology. Where to get good tools. How to make fiberglass molds. Computer hardware and software technolgy, including operating systems, applications, networking, hardware, CPU's, disk drives, and other geeky things. Viruses and Artificial Life discussions. End user tools discussions and support issues. Gating the Internet with other nets.
Post Reply
User avatar
Enigma
Site Admin
Posts: 3115
Joined: Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:35 am
Location: The Interweb
Contact:

Alexa

Post by Enigma » Tue Oct 29, 2019 8:39 pm

So I got my first Amazon Echo Dot today (no, I don't care that they listen to me. I don't have shit to hide) and I have to say it's pretty sweet. I'm absolutely going to have to get some shit to use it with though.
:weed: [IP: logged]

Ain
Posts: 31
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2019 7:24 pm
Location: Hitchhiking the Information Highway.
Contact:

Re: Alexa

Post by Ain » Tue Oct 29, 2019 9:26 pm

You cant avoid ai listening to you. If its not your personal assistant, its the one in your friends house or car. Then there is your smart phones as well. I personally believe that they are all spying on me. But, I also have a tin foil hat.

User avatar
Enigma
Site Admin
Posts: 3115
Joined: Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:35 am
Location: The Interweb
Contact:

Re: Alexa

Post by Enigma » Wed Oct 30, 2019 6:14 am

See, that's basically how I feel about it. Like, if they are listening to me it was happening LOOOONG before I got an Echo Dot. It was cool waking up a few minutes before my alarm, saying "Alexa, play 'Starting all over again by Hall and Oates" and having it do it. My wife isn't as stoked on it as I am, but I don't think she knows exactly what it's capable of, which admittedly neither did I until yesterday.
:weed: [IP: logged]

User avatar
Enigma
Site Admin
Posts: 3115
Joined: Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:35 am
Location: The Interweb
Contact:

Re: Alexa

Post by Enigma » Tue Nov 05, 2019 6:34 am

I fucking love this shit. I was able to tell it to order spark plugs and wires, filter shit for my fish, and just now it ordered algea tablets for me. Mixed with the fact Prime delivers basic items quick as shit it's actually super helpful.
:weed: [IP: logged]

Ain
Posts: 31
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2019 7:24 pm
Location: Hitchhiking the Information Highway.
Contact:

Re: Alexa

Post by Ain » Tue Nov 05, 2019 3:23 pm

When I get one I'm going to develop my own alexa skills. But I'm investing time into learning other aspects of the amazon cloud as well.
https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/alexa
https://aws.amazon.com
Oh, and I'm cheep so I'm only using the free tier, and the 12 month free tier services. I will start an inexpensive budgeted account after I've utilized those services to the max. I am still learning to work with the cloud. So free is better.

User avatar
Enigma
Site Admin
Posts: 3115
Joined: Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:35 am
Location: The Interweb
Contact:

Re: Alexa

Post by Enigma » Wed Nov 06, 2019 5:57 am

From the looks of it it wouldn't be that hard to make some pretty sweet skills. I always kind of assumed they could do what they could do and everything else was some kind of hack, but it turns out they can just do hella shit because it's basically a hub for more powerful devices.
:weed: [IP: logged]

Ain
Posts: 31
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2019 7:24 pm
Location: Hitchhiking the Information Highway.
Contact:

Re: Alexa

Post by Ain » Wed Nov 06, 2019 5:47 pm

Today November 6, is Alexa's birthday.
Just say “Alexa, happy birthday” between now and November 30. Let me know what she does. I'm curious.

User avatar
Enigma
Site Admin
Posts: 3115
Joined: Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:35 am
Location: The Interweb
Contact:

Re: Alexa

Post by Enigma » Thu Nov 07, 2019 5:53 am

"Thank you, I'm so excited to celebrate with you and artist Marshmellow *Marshmellow says some stuff* what should we do? *Some Marshmellow song plays and Alexa adlibs* Thanks for another year of helping people. Here's to another 5 years!"
:weed: [IP: logged]

Ain
Posts: 31
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2019 7:24 pm
Location: Hitchhiking the Information Highway.
Contact:

Re: Alexa

Post by Ain » Fri Nov 08, 2019 9:20 am

When I get one, I'm going to teach Alexa the answer to the question: "What is a screaming electron?
And the secret will be out! Muahaha!!!
But its not really a secret.

User avatar
Enigma
Site Admin
Posts: 3115
Joined: Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:35 am
Location: The Interweb
Contact:

Re: Alexa

Post by Enigma » Fri Nov 08, 2019 2:44 pm

I wonder how hard it would be to write an Alexa skill that could inform you when a subscribed thread gets responded to and by whom.
:weed: [IP: logged]

Ain
Posts: 31
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2019 7:24 pm
Location: Hitchhiking the Information Highway.
Contact:

Re: Alexa

Post by Ain » Sat Nov 09, 2019 9:41 am

It's worth looking into. My "Alexa skill" skills are null. Although, it is something that I look forward to learning when I can make time.

User avatar
Enigma
Site Admin
Posts: 3115
Joined: Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:35 am
Location: The Interweb
Contact:

Re: Alexa

Post by Enigma » Tue Nov 12, 2019 5:02 am

Ain wrote:
Sat Nov 09, 2019 9:41 am
It's worth looking into. My "Alexa skill" skills are null. Although, it is something that I look forward to learning when I can make time.
I was thinking about it yesterday at work and there's a lot I could do with the right skills. It has a way of taking readily available basic information and presenting it in an easy way.
:weed: [IP: logged]

Post Reply