Amazon Echo Club

[ApK]

Have I been spelling "Ay" wrong?
I like the "A" for "Affirmative" way.

Originally Posted by OtinG

BTW, “bubba” is often used in a derogatory manner to basically imply a person is a lazy bum and/or not very intelligent. That’s probably just a regional thing though. I’m not sure why it is used like that, but it often is.

So, it's basically a racial slur invoking a stereotype of white males, but since apparently it's not PC to care about white males, it's still acceptable.

Originally Posted by OtinG

Probably so in most of the country, but not in Texas

Maybe not in your circles, but my wife's family is 4+ generations deep in and around Dallas, and they and thiers all call their brothers Bubba, as a term of endearment, not an insult.
They use it for thier actual brothers, not for friends and strangers like 'pardner.'


As for the rest of the country, I can only tell you that here in the suburbs of NJ, I don't run into the natural use of the word in the wild very much.

As an imported word, I've heard it both ways: as Gus Grissom and my wife use it, and as in "what's with Bubba, over there, driving that lawn-mower on the freeway?"

[wodin]

These 10 Amazon Alexa skills are more weird than useful

[OtinG]

Gotta wonder about those who use Ambient Sounds' Snoring skill. And the Cat Food skill probably wouldn't work with my cats. They tend to totally ignore 99% of what they hear over TV, radio, Alexa, etc.

But seriously, about 99% of the Alexa skill suggestions we receive from Amazon in their emails are about skills I would never care to use. I don't even bother to read those emails any more.

[ApK]

For those with multiple Dots or Echos: Is there a way to check on timers set on one device by voice from another device?

From other rooms, I can't seem to do something like say "Alexa, how much time is on the timer in the kitchen" but I can say stuff like "Alexa, lower the volume in the kitchen."

Currently, I seem to be limited to checking with the app, or actually walking to the other room, like a Neanderthal.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by ApK

...
Currently, I seem to be limited to checking with the app, or actually walking to the other room, like a Neanderthal.

What? I didn't think Neanderthals had other rooms.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by ApK

For those with multiple Dots or Echos: Is there a way to check on timers set on one device by voice from another device?

From other rooms, I can't seem to do something like say "Alexa, how much time is on the timer in the kitchen" but I can say stuff like "Alexa, lower the volume in the kitchen."

Currently, I seem to be limited to checking with the app, or actually walking to the other room, like a Neanderthal.

Not that I know of, but I rarely use reminders. When I do it is always a one time reminder for an hour or so later like a reminder to go check the washer or dryer. I never set up any repetitive reminders. But I have noticed it only reminds me via the Alexa device on which I set up the reminder.

[ApK]

To be clear, I'm asking about active timers, not reminders. I rarely use reminders either, and when I do, I'm mostly concerned with getting them on my phone.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by wodin

What? I didn't think Neanderthals had other rooms.

You never heard of a man cave?

That's the room where they kept a cooler of Rolling Rock, and listened to their Stones albums.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by ApK

To be clear, I'm asking about active timers, not reminders. I rarely use reminders either, and when I do, I'm mostly concerned with getting them on my phone.

Sorry, I misread that as reminders. At any rate apparently timers, reminders, and alarms don’t work over multiple echos. Too bad because that would be a good feature to have.

[Tarana]

Actually, I would like both timers and reminders to occur on multiple Echos, but it would have to be an on/off feature as it wouldn't be all that useful in OTHER households. Example: If my Mom is in the bedroom or bathroom and her 'Take your Pills' reminder goes off in the living room, where she normally would be, she never hears the reminder, so only 60% chance she will take her pills before noon. I am currently solving that problem by putting the reminder on both Echos. Doesn't help though if she happens to go out to get the mail when the reminders go off, but that's a bridge I haven't figured out yet.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Actually, I would like both timers and reminders to occur on multiple Echos, but it would have to be an on/off feature as it wouldn't be all that useful in OTHER households. Example: If my Mom is in the bedroom or bathroom and her 'Take your Pills' reminder goes off in the living room, where she normally would be, she never hears the reminder, so only 60% chance she will take her pills before noon. I am currently solving that problem by putting the reminder on both Echos. Doesn't help though if she happens to go out to get the mail when the reminders go off, but that's a bridge I haven't figured out yet.

The best way might be if Amazon would allow the use of Groups for reminders and alarms so that you could create a Group, for example Mom's Meds, and assign the appropriate Echo devices to the Mom's Meds group, then set the Mom's Meds group as the focus of that particular alarm/reminder. For example, "Alexa, remind Mom to take [specific] meds at [time] on Mom's Meds group." Then when the reminder was voiced it would be voiced over all the Echo devices assigned to the Mom's Meds group, and only those specific Echo devices.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Actually, I would like both timers and reminders to occur on multiple Echos, but it would have to be an on/off feature as it wouldn't be all that useful in OTHER households. Example: If my Mom is in the bedroom or bathroom and her 'Take your Pills' reminder goes off in the living room, where she normally would be, she never hears the reminder, so only 60% chance she will take her pills before noon. I am currently solving that problem by putting the reminder on both Echos. Doesn't help though if she happens to go out to get the mail when the reminders go off, but that's a bridge I haven't figured out yet.

While I'd like it to be smarter and have multiple-room reminders, the good thing for me is that reminders also go to my phone. So I see them regardless. But hey, Alexa should be smart enough to know what room I'm in, and give me my reminders in that room. (But let's face it, this is very early days for this technology. )

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by CRussel

While I'd like it to be smarter and have multiple-room reminders, the good thing for me is that reminders also go to my phone. So I see them regardless. But hey, Alexa should be smart enough to know what room I'm in, and give me my reminders in that room. (But let's face it, this is very early days for this technology. )

I used the Alexa app on my iPad last night to set a reminder for watching Apple’s “It’s Show Time” event this morning. Using the Alexa app you can select which device on which to have the reminder voiced, plus you can type the text of the reminder. It worked.

As you mentioned, the reminder can be displayed on a smartphone or tablet running the Alexa app.

[wodin]

Here we go, Alexa’s chief scientist thinks the assistant needs a robot body to understand the world. Company hopes to start testing bots in homes later this year

[OtinG]

They should probably focus on getting her to be able to respond properly to verbal commands/questions before they even think about turning her into Rosie from the TV show “The Jetsons”! Let us hope they don’t let Tesla design her battery pack. No one wants their house to burn down because Rosie has a melt down, literally.