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Anybody else have an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot ?

GKL

GKL

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Anybody else have an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot ?

We just today got a couple of the Amazon Echo Dots that use the Alexa artificial intelligence and it is really neat !

I'm a "gadget" nerd, my wife is more practical minded, but when I told her how we could put our collection of gospel music in the Amazon "cloud" and easily play any specific song by simply asking Alexa to play that title she was convinced as it is so much easier than hunting thru your CD collection or hunting thru all your music files manually on a computer to find a specific song you're looking for. (being a minister she especially likes that feature)

You can ask Alexa questions, get your commute time between two points, ask the current temperature, ask it to wake you up a certain time, read Kindle books, turn lights and things on and off if you get some "smart" plugs and lights, and do many other things.

Alexa has thousands of skills to choose from and you can enable the ones you want to use, some of the Alexa skills I have enabled so far are: Weather, BBC news, AP news, Jeopardy, Roast Master (funny insult generator), Twenty Questions, Worlds Best Knock Knock Jokes, Short Bedtime Story, Ambient Noise: Thunderstorm Sound.

.......now maybe they can develop an Alexa skill that would tell you all the best places to do metal detecting hunts in your area ! :laughing::laughing::laughing:
 
Thats a pretty neat concept , idea, or reality. But , I personally try to stay away of to much of this technology stuff . That cloud thing, what is it ? where is it ? who is watching it ? who is watching me ? I don't know , the whole thing is just a little sketchy to me. Other than that , good luck with it.
 
new toy

May be you can incorporate it in research for good sites in your area. Such as list of all parks in your area, Park regulations , history of all towns in a 20 mile area, Old records showing bank or train robberies ,train wreaks,floods,fires etc.
 
Just bear in mind that you voluntarily installed big brother in your home. He or she is listening and recording 24x7x365, not just when you speak their name. Carefully read the terms of service for these neat toys and you may think twice about it. Just sayin'.
 
Toewe said:
Just bear in mind that you voluntarily installed big brother in your home. He or she is listening and recording 24x7x365, not just when you speak their name. Carefully read the terms of service for these neat toys and you may think twice about it. Just sayin'.
Click to expand...

I heard a news report of I believe a little girl talking to her mother and they were talking about toys or something for gifts and the thing ordered everything it overheard them talking about. Packages started being delivered like 2 days later and the just kept coming, along with credit card charges.

Hold on....here's the real story: https://www.google.com/amp/www.cbsn...dollhouse-cookies-with-amazon-echo-dot-alexa/

And then people watching the news report as well:
https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcs...n-Echo-to-Buy-Dollhouses-410162975.html?amp=y

So it is really listening to you...or anyone else, and charging you. :laughing:
 
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hawgdawg said:
Thats a pretty neat concept , idea, or reality. But , I personally try to stay away of to much of this technology stuff . That cloud thing, what is it ? where is it ? who is watching it ? who is watching me ? I don't know , the whole thing is just a little sketchy to me. Other than that , good luck with it.
Click to expand...

Toewe said:
Just bear in mind that you voluntarily installed big brother in your home. He or she is listening and recording 24x7x365, not just when you speak their name. Carefully read the terms of service for these neat toys and you may think twice about it. Just sayin'.
Click to expand...

I really do know what you all are saying and I really do appreciate the concern, (and I am aware of the history of big brother, which I would love to expound on, but I'll leave it at that so as not to get into political history which is not allowed on the forum) but likely the only way anyone might be invisible to big brother is to live completely off the grid, as it has been shown that it is possible for those with the technology to listen in thru your cell phone unless the battery is taken out, and how many people take their battery out after every call ? not me :roll:

Is your smartphone listening to you?
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35639549

So since it is unlikely I will live off the grid or take my cell phone battery out constantly, I might as well enjoy other technology too :yes:

For those unfamiliar with the Amazon Echo Dot here is a link - https://www.amazon.com/All-New-Amazon-Echo-Dot-Add-Alexa-To-Any-Room/dp/B01DFKC2SO/

It really is a neat bit of tech !
 
MrNovice said:
I heard a news report of I believe a little girl talking to her mother and they were talking about toys or something for gifts and the thing ordered everything it overheard them talking about. Packages started being delivered like 2 days later and the just kept coming, along with credit card charges.

Hold on....here's the real story: https://www.google.com/amp/www.cbsn...dollhouse-cookies-with-amazon-echo-dot-alexa/

And then people watching the news report as well:
https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcs...n-Echo-to-Buy-Dollhouses-410162975.html?amp=y

So it is really listening to you...or anyone else, and charging you. :laughing:
Click to expand...

I heard about that before, so when I got our Echo Dots today I added a 4 digit code and Alexa requires you to say the code before it will finalize any perceived order, so that way you can't accidently order something.
 
davidlhyde63366 said:
May be you can incorporate it in research for good sites in your area. Such as list of all parks in your area, Park regulations , history of all towns in a 20 mile area, Old records showing bank or train robberies ,train wreaks,floods,fires etc.
Click to expand...

I'll have to research and see what info it can provide that might be of such help.

I know you can say "Alexa, Wikipedia (subject)" and it will read what Wikipedia info is available on various subjects.
 
Coming back from a hunt with a handful of coins, you could ask, "whats the value of a 1916 D dime", hands free, instant answer. Next coin please.

You could ask, "what ghost towns are in a 25 mi radius". Then ask for GPS coordinates for said town. Instant answer.

Possibilities are endless, just by speaking to it, from information to music, it will even read to you while you are doing other tasks.

As far as spying on you, pfft, you're on a device right aren't you?
 
5 mile said:
Coming back from a hunt with a handful of coins, you could ask, "whats the value of a 1916 D dime", hands free, instant answer. Next coin please.

You could ask, "what ghost towns are in a 25 mi radius". Then ask for GPS coordinates for said town. Instant answer.

Possibilities are endless, from information to music, it will even read to you while you are doing other tasks.

As far as spying you, pfft, you're on a device right aren't you?
Click to expand...

Yep, you're right, computers use microphones too ! :yes:

Thanks for the neat ideas about asking coin values, GPS, sounds like you might have an Echo yourself.

I know about the reading ability, sometimes it's hard to read for extended periods, but easier to be able to listen to a book being read, and nice to be able to do other things at the same time.
 
GroundSweeper said:
No idea what a dot or echo is, but I may get a firestick some day.
Click to expand...

Here is detailed info on what an Echo Dot is -

https://www.amazon.com/All-New-Amazon-Echo-Dot-Add-Alexa-To-Any-Room/dp/B01DFKC2SO/

First they came out with the Echo, then later the Echo Dot which is more compact but does the same things for a much lower price.

I'm glad I waited till now to get one as not only did the price go down from when the Dot first came out, it is now a 2nd generation model.
 
All the Fire tablets have Alexa now, I believe the Fire Stick does as well. Your Android phones have their own version with, "Ok Google". And then there's Siri. I've seen her have a bad attitude.
I've recently started using the OK Google thing, it really is pretty awesome. You ask it questions and it says the answer to you as well as giving you a google results page. I like being able to just say, "Ok Google, navigate to the nearest White Castle." And 8 minutes later I'm eating 8 little cheeseburgers. I also like being able to send a text just by telling my phone to do it... But I think it's stupid that you can't do that when the navigation is running!

It seems like all of the futuristic stories about this kind of technology are tales of dystopia.
 
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