Amazon Echo Club

[ApK]

Originally Posted by wodin

I still fondly recall the cheery "You have mail!" announcement when my modem finally stopped squealing at me.

That's "You've got mail!"

Don't make me send Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan over there to remind you!

[wodin]

Yea, that's right. K for the correction.

[OtinG]

What I remember about AOL was their creepy instant messaging service. We used an instant messaging service at IBM in Austin, so I knew what it was, but at IBM we knew everyone on our team, and they were the only people allowed to send us IMs. And for the record, many of us team leads forbade the use of IMs because they became more of a nuisance than a help. AOL made it possible for just about anyone else on AOL to send you an IM. It was a sign of the creepy feature in Facebook to come. Hated it then, still hate it now. But in AOL, members could see when you were online, so they knew if you were ignoring them, which occasionally led to some testy IMs from those being ignored. (A stalkers's paradise was born.) At least with Facebook you can block unwanted people from sending you IMs. As I recall, in AOL you didn't just get a notice/flag for new IMs, a IM box popped up in front of whatever you were viewing, forcing you to deal with it right then!

I do remember being so happy to ditch AOL for a local service provider when support for Macs finally arrived in my city. It was nice to be able to mimic them with some strange sounds followed by a last "Goodbye" MFs!

[drjd]

6 unusual Alexa skills you should try on your Amazon Echo.

[OtinG]

[Sarcasm Alert]

Although I don't think it would be a good idea to give your medical history to total strangers like the owners of Dr. AI, or any other Alexa skill, how bad could it be? After all, we who live in the USA have the 3rd best healthcare system in North America. Oh wait, that means 3rd out of 3...

[/Sarcasm Alert]

Dr. AI will likely not have your vital signs nor you medical history. However, my typical annual and semi-annual physical exams go like this.

1. A medical tech (not a real nurse, not even close) checks my vital signs.
2. Medical tech asks same annoying questions required by my insurance company designed to see if I'm suicidal or have other symptoms they might not want to cover.
3. Doc comes in several minutes later. Shakes my hand. Quickly listens to my heart and lungs with stethoscope.
4. Doc sits at computer station and asks his usual questions about whether I’m still taking all my meds, how I feel, etc.
5. Doc types in a bunch of stuff on the computer while pretending to listen to me. Mostly he is making sure to check all the key checkboxes on the insurance forms so he can get paid the most and purchase a bigger mansion.
6. Doc says he will see me in another 6 months.
7. Lab tech draws blood and gathers a urine sample.
8. I go home fairly clueless to any findings and totally clueless to the lab results which take a couple of weeks to get, and then they are written for medical staff, not a lay person, so no clue if they are really OK, really good, or maybe I should be writing my will.

[John F]

Originally Posted by OtinG

[Sarcasm Alert]

Although I don't think it would be a good idea to give your medical history to total strangers like the owners of Dr. AI, or any other Alexa skill, how bad could it be? After all, we who live in the USA have the 3rd best healthcare system in North America. Oh wait, that means 3rd out of 3...

[/Sarcasm Alert]

Dr. AI will likely not have your vital signs nor you medical history. However, my typical annual and semi-annual physical exams go like this.

1. A medical tech (not a real nurse, not even close) checks my vital signs.
2. Medical tech asks same annoying questions required by my insurance company designed to see if I'm suicidal or have other symptoms they might not want to cover.
3. Doc comes in several minutes later. Shakes my hand. Quickly listens to my heart and lungs with stethoscope.
4. Doc sits at computer station and asks his usual questions about whether I’m still taking all my meds, how I feel, etc.
5. Doc types in a bunch of stuff on the computer while pretending to listen to me. Mostly he is making sure to check all the key checkboxes on the insurance forms so he can get paid the most and purchase a bigger mansion.
6. Doc says he will see me in another 6 months.
7. Lab tech draws blood and gathers a urine sample.
8. I go home fairly clueless to any findings and totally clueless to the lab results which take a couple of weeks to get, and then they are written for medical staff, not a lay person, so no clue if they are really OK, really good, or maybe I should be writing my will.

Are you on a plan that doesn't let you pick your doctor?

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by John F

Are you on a plan that doesn't let you pick your doctor?

I can choose my doctor, but every friend and relative I have say the exact same thing about their doctors. You simply don’t get an old fashioned physical checkup anymore. The doctors today spend about 5 to 10 minutes with each patient. They no longer look in your ears, nose, and throat. Unless you specifically mention a problem, you get a quick stethoscope to the chest and back, and that is it. Changing doctors isn’t going to change that, and it isn’t going to change the fact that modern USA doctors are little more than pill pushers getting bonuses from Big Pharma while trying their best to get the most payout from Big Insurance. They rely instead on the lab tests. They are a very different type of doctor from the ones from a few decades ago. And their skill sets seem to be less than the doctors had a few decades ago.

[John F]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I can choose my doctor, but every friend and relative I have say the exact same thing about their doctors. You simply don’t get an old fashioned physical checkup anymore. The doctors today spend about 5 to 10 minutes with each patient. They no longer look in your ears, nose, and throat. Unless you specifically mention a problem, you get a quick stethoscope to the chest and back, and that is it. Changing doctors isn’t going to change that, and it isn’t going to change the fact that modern USA doctors are little more than pill pushers getting bonuses from Big Pharma while trying their best to get the most payout from Big Insurance. They rely instead on the lab tests. They are a very different type of doctor from the ones from a few decades ago. And their skill sets seem to be less than the doctors had a few decades ago.

I agree, I always get the feeling that my visit is time constrained, but I do like my doctor.

I don't see anything wrong with techs doing something the doctor doesn't need to do.

I do get a yearly wellness exam, which seems like a step down from an old physical, and I am fine with that. My doctor does seem to do more: looks in my ears and mouth, makes sure I have my immunizations, bend and cough, hits the knees, asks about ongoing conditions, recommends new shots (like shingles), ...

In the end, I'm guessing I get what I pay for: I am getting a "free" wellness exam, if I want a full physical, I will have to pay for it.

[CRussel]

I have never felt like I was getting the "bum's rush" from my doctor. He schedules a minimum of 15 minutes per patient, knowing that some will be really quick (prescription renewals, etc.) and some will take longer. And every couple of years, or upon request, he does a physical, including a full blood workup. Oh, and I don't pay for any of that, of course, since this is Canada.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I have never felt like I was getting the "bum's rush" from my doctor. He schedules a minimum of 15 minutes per patient, knowing that some will be really quick (prescription renewals, etc.) and some will take longer. And every couple of years, or upon request, he does a physical, including a full blood workup. Oh, and I don't pay for any of that, of course, since this is Canada.

Based on what I’ve heard and read, I think the healthcare in Canada, and most other 1st world nations, is much better than we have here in the USA. It used to be fairly good here, decades ago when I was young. But over the past 50 years or so it has morphed into a mess. The doctors may be decent people, mine are, but the healthcare system here is rotten to the core and does very little to catch diseases like cancer until it is way too late.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by wodin

I still fondly recall the cheery "You have mail!" announcement when my modem finally stopped squealing at me.

I do too. I was one of the early members - not quite charter but close. AOL was great when it was Mac only. Once PC was added, it went downhill, originally because of the huge increase in jerks, but also service deterioration. I was a homework tutor for a couple of years. Eventually quit in 1996 or so when they started jacking the fees up.

[Tarana]

Found out today that Amazon has added the free audiobook for Echo owners again. This month it is "Call of the Wild" by Jack London in advance of the Harrison Ford movie (which is very different from the book, btw). Performed by Pablo Schreiber. Nice narration voice. It's not very long - under 4 hours.

[mlewis78]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Found out today that Amazon has added the free audiobook for Echo owners again. This month it is "Call of the Wild" by Jack London in advance of the Harrison Ford movie (which is very different from the book, btw). Performed by Pablo Schreiber. Nice narration voice. It's not very long - under 4 hours.

When will this be available for free? I asked my Echo and it didn't know. I asked her what audio books were free and she named some that I had looked at that were not free (cost is 1 credit).

I looked up Call of the Wild and each audio book version is 1 credit for now.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

When will this be available for free? I asked my Echo and it didn't know. I asked her what audio books were free and she named some that I had looked at that were not free (cost is 1 credit).

I looked up Call of the Wild and each audio book version is 1 credit for now.

It's free for me.

Just say: "Alexa, what's free from Audible?"


Note: these "free monthly" selections are streaming only on Alexa-enabled devices. If you want to download them, you'll have to buy them.

[mlewis78]

I bought the Echo Show 5 in December and used it in the bedroom for two months. Had to move it, because the screen kept coming back on during the night. I told it "Alexa, turn off the screen" so many times and got sick of having to do that. I use ocean sounds on it to sleep. If I I turn the sound up or down, the screen comes back on. Then I realized that the screen was coming back on just because I was using it for the sounds. I need it dark in the room. I put the Tap back in the bedroom. What a relief.

Now, when I use the Show 5 in the living room as bluetooth with my laptop, it keeps announcing when I bring up a new page that it is playing from laptop ________ even if it is not playing anything. I have the original echo in the living room but use mostly now with bluetooth connection to the fire tv. My TV set sound doesn't work with it any more.