Echo dot gizmo

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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27572
    I like the Alexa thing. Whenever you go to someone's house that has one, you can say "Alexa, add dildoes to the shopping basket". 
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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  • I've got one and as mentioned above it great if you have a spotify account, you can ask it random questions or get it to read you stories.

    It's not so good with Scottish accents, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orD-e_W6Pic
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  • boogiemanboogieman Frets: 12314
    My bro in law has got one of the Alexa things. He’s got it next to his tv so every time an ad comes on that mentions Alexa, it gets confused and says “sorry, I didn’t understand that”. 
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  • JerkMoansJerkMoans Frets: 8774
    Inactivist Lefty Lawyer
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  • BabonesBabones Frets: 1204
    Sporky said:
    I like the Alexa thing. Whenever you go to someone's house that has one, you can say "Alexa, add dildoes to the shopping basket". 
    Yup, that's what I do. Followed by "Alexa, read back the shopping list" for a long chortle.
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  • SnapSnap Frets: 6256

    I have one, got it in one of the sales for 20 quid or something. Its alright, I use it for radio and music. It is paired to my AV system, which is neat, so I can listen to 6 Music nice and loud. I also use it for weather, news, music, cinema listings, gigs etc. I had this grand idea of controlling the whole house (whatever that means) with it, but that hasn't happened. Yet. I have just got a few Arlo cameras, which I will get round to setting up, and have great plans for Alexa domination of that. Which again, I am sure, will be a great let down.

    Had this masterplan to control the lights, heating etc etc with it. However, I quickly realised that its just as easy, and lot cheaper to (guess what its amazing this) program my heating via the thermostat (who'd have thunk?) and actually switch the lights on by hand!

    I could probably use it for Amazon stuff, and Kindle, but I just can't be arsed really, when I can see it all on my ipad, and there is less danger of accidentally ordering load of stuff I don't need, want, especially when fuelled by alcohol.

    Hey Alexa, buy me a new hifi etc etc....

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  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12255
    One thing worth noting you can disable its ability to purchase via your amazon acct, my autistic son would have spent us into oblivion if he could have bought stuff by telling alexa to get it!
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  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    I wouldn't want something in my house that is constantly listening (even if it's only for me to say 'Alexa'). Scary devices.
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  • KilgoreKilgore Frets: 8599
    JezWynd said:
    I wouldn't want something in my house that is constantly listening (even if it's only for me to say 'Alexa'). Scary devices.
    Exactly.

     I've got a wife to do that.
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  • MyrandaMyranda Frets: 2940
    Sporky said:
    I like the Alexa thing. Whenever you go to someone's house that has one, you can say "Alexa, add dildoes to the shopping basket". 
    Friend at uni did his industry placement with IBM who were working on some voice control AI stuff, so they bought a bunch of Alexa devices and had team members using them (on the IBM Amazon account)... he popped into the uni lab where I was doing my placement with an Echo and we were playing around with things before we worked out you could tell it to buy silly things "Alexa, buy heroine" for instance results both in "I could not find Heroine, would you like to add heroine to the IBM business account" and "Alexa STOP, NO NO STOP STOP!!!"... also, "Alexa, buy prostitutes" has a similar result.. then a red faced student frantically unplugs it 

    Not sure I have a use-case for an Alexa based thing myself - I like the idea of using it to voice control my PC and have my PC connected to decent a DAC & Amp and also with all my dvds/blurays ripped to a big NAS and have all my media accessible by voice command - but music on the Echo stuff is done through the Amazon app and will output from the device, and video done the way I'd like requires multiple separate programs - which aren't part of the Echo so probably an update to one might cause all the others to stop working... that doesn't sound ideal. And then to have Amazon listen to everything you think and try to steal you soul... 

    ewal said:

    Oh and Alexa is my mum's name, not some fecking Amazon sales bot.
    See, I thought Alexa was a name, but having typed it several times and each time Google put red wiggly lines under it. So apparently all the Alexas out there have been misspelling their own name it should be "Alex a" ... Thanks Google.
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  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12255
    JezWynd said:
    I wouldn't want something in my house that is constantly listening (even if it's only for me to say 'Alexa'). Scary devices.
    Make sure you have a code for when planning to bring down the authorities or she'll rat you up.  I get the general point but there is nothing said in my house worth listening I can tell you : )
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  • MyrandaMyranda Frets: 2940
    munckee said:
    JezWynd said:
    I wouldn't want something in my house that is constantly listening (even if it's only for me to say 'Alexa'). Scary devices.
    Make sure you have a code for when planning to bring down the authorities or she'll rat you up.  I get the general point but there is nothing said in my house worth listening I can tell you : )
    Are you sure you've never discussed the sort of things that could be monetised? Perhaps you once mentioned a preference for Persil over Daz? Maybe you once mentioned that you might like a new toaster?

    Suddenly Persil and Toasters are everywhere you look.

    Perhaps a minor thing, but how about you talk about your  food preferences then some day apply for health insurance and they say "No, data we bought from Amazon indicates you like bad food so we can't insure you" or apply for a job "sorry, the owner is Vegan and you've been eating meat recently" 

    Once upon a time the fear was you'd say something illegal, but the future is showing that totally innocuous things can make changes around us. Big data is worth a lot - so your opinions are worth listening to.

    Of course on a technical level Alexa is meant to only be actively listening after you say "Alexa" prior to that it's ignoring you (according to their own information, but who knows if that might change via an online update)
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  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    Myranda said:

    Of course on a technical level Alexa is meant to only be actively listening after you say "Alexa" prior to that it's ignoring you (according to their own information, but who knows if that might change via an online update)
    Exactly right. I can think of a host of situations in which the trigger is altered for fun, malice or money. Getting people to accept a listening device in their homes is the first step on a very slippery slope.
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  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12255
    I get the concerns but its no difference to the internet basing adverts on what you click on or look up, if you think about it too much you will end up talking in codes and wearing tin foil hats so your brain waves can't be intercepted.
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27572
    That doesn't work any more - they've changed tin foil so that it now acts as an antenna, not a shield. 
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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  • ewalewal Frets: 2558
    I work for a Council IT service. Some bright spark has decided we should develop an Alexa skill which allows citizens to ask what the Council office hours are, school holidays etc, the business case being to "reduce avoidable contact". What utter bollocks! The effort required to build and train the skill, especially for it to have sufficient knowledge to be useful is very significant. Add to that the proprietary nature of the development environment meaning that the AI is not re-usable, the still very limited market share (in comparison to a plain old web browser), and the fact we are effectively freely promoting Amazon by offering an Alexa skill - it appears to me to be a huge waste of time and resources.I think we should focus our time and effort on tried and tested communications channels instead.

    However, I am ignored when I voice these concerns... I've reached the conclusion that all we care about is looking innovative to our peers rather than actually providing a useful service. A vanity project... All style over substance... Digital transformation in a nutshell...

    Whatever happened to common sense? I think I'm getting too old and grumpy to do this job...
    The Scrambler-EE Walk soundcloud experience
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  • sev112sev112 Frets: 2739
    Of course almost all of us has had a listening device in our pockets and at home for a lot longer than Alexa has been about 

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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    sev112 said:
    Of course almost all of us has had a listening device in our pockets and at home for a lot longer than Alexa has been about 

    I thought tissues were supposed to catch and kill bugs.
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27572
    I thought he meant stethoscopes.
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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  • sev112sev112 Frets: 2739
    Phones ? They do much more than Alexa ever can.
    they are listening and transmitting all the time ....
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