Amazon Echo Club - Page 260

wodin · 08-15-2019, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tarana

Sadly, my central a/c broke yesterday and the repair guy said it is unfixable, so I think my options for fun gadgets will be on hold until sometime next year. Fortunately, we are nearly past the hot season (maybe another week or two). I have a fan.

September is nice in your neck of the woods.

CRussel · 08-15-2019, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wodin

September is nice in your neck of the woods.

We could let them borrow a quote from their northern neighbour, Manitoba. "The best part about winter in Manitoba?...

(wait for it...)

It slows down the mosquitoes."

wodin · 08-15-2019, 03:32 PM

Back when my family in Wisconsin were still living, I tried to visit about once per year. I usually tried to time it for mid September. It was beautiful then, the fall foliage was just getting started, the squirrels were busy hiding their winter stores, the mosquitoes were nearly done for the year. Along with early June, it's the best time of the year there.

Unfortunately, my mother was inconsiderate enough to pass in February.

If I never see snow and ice again it'll be too soon.

OtinG · 08-15-2019, 04:16 PM

Tarana should consider it a blessing that she doesn’t live in my neck of the woods of north Texas where we are having 110°+ heat indexes nearly every day, and frequently over 115°! I basically live in hell during the summers.

If the AC goes out this time of year, you go to a motel or relative’s house until it gets fixed. When you go grocery shopping the food gets cooked by the time you get back home!

mlewis78 · 08-23-2019, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OtinG

I'm not sure, but my best guess is that the Echo devices made by Amazon now are almost exclsively designed as AC plugin devices and not considered to be portable. The one exception I can think of is the one designed to connect with a car stereo. The only portable model, the Tap, is now discontinued. So I assume the only time you are asked to set up a time zone is when the Echo device is initially set up in your home/office.

You can change the time zone manually via the Alexa app:
Select the Devices tab at bottom-right of screen --> select Echo & Alexa button at upper-left of screen --> select your device --> scroll down and select Time Zone.

If your Alexa device is a 3rd party device, then check with its manufacturer.

Thank you. I haven't been here on here in over a week, so I am just seeing this now And thanks to others who also offered this advice. I think I had looked at the app but didn't look in the right place to selected a different time zone. I won't be going away again for a while, but this is good to know.

mlewis78 · 08-23-2019, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

You can always just ask the time in Salt Lake City...

I did that often. When I set the alarm to wake up, I used Eastern time. On this trip I kept EDT on my mind more than on any other I've been on.

I also asked for Salt Lake City weather forecast often.

OtinG · 08-23-2019, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlewis78

Thank you. I haven't been here on here in over a week, so I am just seeing this now And thanks to others who also offered this advice. I think I had looked at the app but didn't look in the right place to selected a different time zone. I won't be going away again for a while, but this is good to know.

Unfortunately the Amazon Alexa app is poorly organized and constantly in flux, so it is often difficult to find the setting one is looking for.

cc_in_oh · 08-23-2019, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OtinG

Unfortunately the Amazon Alexa app is poorly organized and constantly in flux, so it is often difficult to find the setting one is looking for.

Wouldn't the app change your whole account anyway? You really just want each portable device to be location-aware.

ApK · 08-23-2019, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

Wouldn't the app change your whole account anyway? You really just want each portable device to be location-aware.

The app can do anything it's designed to do*. And it's designed to offer per-device settings for many things, as the "select your device" part of Otin's instructions suggested.

ApK

*except for when it's broken and doesn't work as designed, but that's another issue.

DiapDealer · 08-23-2019, 11:50 AM

No matter how much phlegm I tried to hawk up on the "h", I regret to inform everyone that it appears to be impossible to get Alexa to watch "Harrow on Hulu" as opposed to watching "Arrow on Hulu." I know you'll all be heartbroken over it.

cc_in_oh · 08-23-2019, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

No matter how much phlegm I tried to hawk up on the "h", I regret to inform everyone that it appears to be impossible to get Alexa to watch "Harrow on Hulu" as opposed to watching "Arrow on Hulu." I know you'll all be heartbroken over it.

Maybe there's a Cockney skill to address that?

In any case, it can't play the song "John Wayne in a Mansion" either...

DiapDealer · 08-23-2019, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

Maybe there's a Cockney skill to address that?

You have not warmed the cockles of Ioan Gruffudd's Welsh heart (nor his Australian costars').

OtinG · 08-24-2019, 11:31 AM

Alexa has a long way to go before she achieves the level of a pre-kindergartner child in language skills. She still gets über confused. I wouldn't use that word "über" with her though as you might have an Uber driver come to your house expecting to drive you someplace.

Something I find really annoying is that you will have trouble with her and turning on/off lights if you use the word "light" in the names for multiple devices. For example, name your LED bulbs something like "Living Room Light", "Bedroom Light", "Hallway Light", and "Bathroom Light". If you do, you will likely encounter her confusion on many occasions as she pauses, thinks, then asks for clarification of which "... Light" to turn on/off. The word "Room" is another bad choice if used for multiple Group names like "Living Room", "Bedroom", "Bathroom", etc. She will definitely get confused if you use the same basic name for a Group and a Device. For example, have the device "Bath Light" assigned to the Group "Bathroom". The command, "Turn on Bath Light" should only turn on the one device named "Bath Light", but it will sometimes result in all devices within the Group "Bathroom" being turned on. So they have a long ways to go to get that sorted out in some logical manner. Trouble is they often get close to resolving many issues, but then they make other changes and the problems return, sometimes worse than they were before.

ApK · 08-24-2019, 11:42 AM

Note if you have several lights with "light" in the name, you can just use the first part (if that's any more distinct).
For example, I have lights called "sink light" and "door light" but we can tell Alexa "turn on sink" or "turn on door.". In some cases it reduces ambiguity.

OtinG · 08-24-2019, 12:19 PM

I had to dumb down my bathroom light for that to work. I originaly tried setting up a group thusly:

Group: "Bathroom"
Devices: "Bath Light" and "Bedroom Lamp"

Convenient to turn on/off those devices for middle of night trip to bathroom. But it often had issues. So I finally ended up with this:

Group: "Restroom"
Devices: "Bath" and "Lamp"

"Lamp" is only used with the one LED bulb, so no issue there. With the Group and Device names all distinctly different, I have fewer issues, although I still have a few on occasion. Trial and error, mostly error, have helped get the Group names and Device names working with fewer issues throughout my house. We have basically had to deconstruct (reverse engineer) whatever logic the Alexa designers used then formulate our own set of rules that work with their logic.

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08-15-2019, 03:32 PM	#3888
wodin Illiterate Posts: 10,279 Karma: 37848716 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: The Sandwich Isles Device: Samsung Galaxy S10+, Microsoft Surface Pro	Back when my family in Wisconsin were still living, I tried to visit about once per year. I usually tried to time it for mid September. It was beautiful then, the fall foliage was just getting started, the squirrels were busy hiding their winter stores, the mosquitoes were nearly done for the year. Along with early June, it's the best time of the year there. Unfortunately, my mother was inconsiderate enough to pass in February. If I never see snow and ice again it'll be too soon.

08-15-2019, 04:16 PM	#3889
OtinG Old Gadget Guy Posts: 1,913 Karma: 6854865 Join Date: Jun 2018 Device: Oasis 3, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPad mini 6, iPad Air 2020, Alexa Devices	Tarana should consider it a blessing that she doesn’t live in my neck of the woods of north Texas where we are having 110°+ heat indexes nearly every day, and frequently over 115°! I basically live in hell during the summers. If the AC goes out this time of year, you go to a motel or relative’s house until it gets fixed. When you go grocery shopping the food gets cooked by the time you get back home!

08-23-2019, 11:50 AM	#3895
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,680 Karma: 205039118 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	No matter how much phlegm I tried to hawk up on the "h", I regret to inform everyone that it appears to be impossible to get Alexa to watch "Harrow on Hulu" as opposed to watching "Arrow on Hulu." I know you'll all be heartbroken over it.

08-24-2019, 11:31 AM	#3898
OtinG Old Gadget Guy Posts: 1,913 Karma: 6854865 Join Date: Jun 2018 Device: Oasis 3, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPad mini 6, iPad Air 2020, Alexa Devices	Alexa has a long way to go before she achieves the level of a pre-kindergartner child in language skills. She still gets über confused. I wouldn't use that word "über" with her though as you might have an Uber driver come to your house expecting to drive you someplace. Something I find really annoying is that you will have trouble with her and turning on/off lights if you use the word "light" in the names for multiple devices. For example, name your LED bulbs something like "Living Room Light", "Bedroom Light", "Hallway Light", and "Bathroom Light". If you do, you will likely encounter her confusion on many occasions as she pauses, thinks, then asks for clarification of which "... Light" to turn on/off. The word "Room" is another bad choice if used for multiple Group names like "Living Room", "Bedroom", "Bathroom", etc. She will definitely get confused if you use the same basic name for a Group and a Device. For example, have the device "Bath Light" assigned to the Group "Bathroom". The command, "Turn on Bath Light" should only turn on the one device named "Bath Light", but it will sometimes result in all devices within the Group "Bathroom" being turned on. So they have a long ways to go to get that sorted out in some logical manner. Trouble is they often get close to resolving many issues, but then they make other changes and the problems return, sometimes worse than they were before.

08-24-2019, 11:42 AM	#3899
ApK Award-Winning Participant Posts: 7,390 Karma: 68329346 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ, USA Device: Kindle	Note if you have several lights with "light" in the name, you can just use the first part (if that's any more distinct). For example, I have lights called "sink light" and "door light" but we can tell Alexa "turn on sink" or "turn on door.". In some cases it reduces ambiguity.

08-24-2019, 12:19 PM	#3900
OtinG Old Gadget Guy Posts: 1,913 Karma: 6854865 Join Date: Jun 2018 Device: Oasis 3, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPad mini 6, iPad Air 2020, Alexa Devices	I had to dumb down my bathroom light for that to work. I originaly tried setting up a group thusly: Group: "Bathroom" Devices: "Bath Light" and "Bedroom Lamp" Convenient to turn on/off those devices for middle of night trip to bathroom. But it often had issues. So I finally ended up with this: Group: "Restroom" Devices: "Bath" and "Lamp" "Lamp" is only used with the one LED bulb, so no issue there. With the Group and Device names all distinctly different, I have fewer issues, although I still have a few on occasion. Trial and error, mostly error, have helped get the Group names and Device names working with fewer issues throughout my house. We have basically had to deconstruct (reverse engineer) whatever logic the Alexa designers used then formulate our own set of rules that work with their logic.