Amazon Echo Club

[John F]

Originally Posted by OtinG

Yes I meant the free trial of Prime Music Unlimited. ...

You're almost there: "Amazon Music Unlimited"

... I should have been more specific. Last year they were including a free 3 month trial with some of the Echos bought during Prime Day and BF and some other occasions as well. I think it was a single device trial membership. I got that when I bought my Echo Plus 2 and also when I bought my Echo Show 5.

There is currently an option for a 6 month free trial*. I'm guessing it was there when I purchased mine and I missed it.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I FINALLY set up the smart plug I bought on Black Friday more than a year ago. I set up routines to turn my Christmas lights on and off at specified times--at least I hope I did; we'll see if they go on when they're supposed to this evening!

I did the same thing, plus on and off phrases: "merry Christmas" and "bah humbug".

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by John F

I did the same thing, plus on and off phrases: "merry Christmas" and "bah humbug".

[Catlady]

My routines actually worked! Yay, me!

I like Alexa so much more when I don't have to talk to her.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Catlady

My routines actually worked! Yay, me!

I like Alexa so much more when I don't have to talk to her.

I feel that way about most people.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by Catlady

My routines actually worked! Yay, me!

I like Alexa so much more when I don't have to talk to her.

Originally Posted by ApK

I feel that way about most people.

I have several Kasa LED bulbs and I much prefer using the Kasa widget on my iPhone XR or my iPad mini 5 to quickly control them through widget buttons for Alexa scenes. Much easier and faster and more accurate than arguing with Alexa!

My Echo Plus 2nd generation decided to go deaf yesterday. It has always heard fine and worked well, but now I have to yell the wake word several times. I guess the bozo programmers at Amazon must have updated the FW. Seems like whenever FW gets updated problems soon follow...

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I have several Kasa LED bulbs and I much prefer using the Kasa widget on my iPhone XR or my iPad mini 5 to quickly control them through widget buttons for Alexa scenes. Much easier and faster and more accurate than arguing with Alexa!

I have a Wemo smart plug that I control through the Wemo app. I agree, it's so much simpler than trying to jump through hoops with Alexa.

[tubemonkey]

Something to consider:


7 Alexa Features You Need To Turn OFF Right NOW

[ApK]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Something to consider:]

His concerns about Sidewalk are ignorance-based paranoid foolishness.
Is it likely there will be some sort of Sidewalk exploit? Sure.
Is it a certainty that there are already numerous wifi and other home networking security flaws being exploited? Absolutely. So If he's that concerned about "a stranger outside his house" accessing his network, then don't have wifi. In fact, don't have a network with Internet access.
He says he's not a hacker. Clearly.

Honestly, if you like the idea of Sidewalk (say, for the reasons he gave that he likes it) and you are choosing to have Amazon-controlled Internet connected listening data gathering devices in your home, then get over it, and use the the features that are of value to you.

If I were to place a bet, I'd bet that a feature like Sidewalk, that is purpose-built to share a small, limited bit of connectivity while expressly keeping it closed off from other uses for privacy and security, is probably the LAST part of your home network you need to have privacy or security concerns about.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by ApK

His concerns about Sidewalk are ignorance-based paranoid foolishness.
Is it likely there will be some sort of Sidewalk exploit? Sure.
Is it a certainty that there are already numerous wifi and other home networking security flaws being exploited? Absolutely. So If he's that concerned about "a stranger outside his house" accessing his network, then don't have wifi. In fact, don't have a network with Internet access.
He says he's not a hacker. Clearly.

Honestly, if you like the idea of Sidewalk (say, for the reasons he gave that he likes it) and you are choosing to have Amazon-controlled Internet connected listening data gathering devices in your home, then get over it, and use the the features that are of value to you.

If I were to place a bet, I'd bet that a feature like Sidewalk, that is purpose-built to share a small, limited bit of connectivity while expressly keeping it closed off from other uses for privacy and security, is probably the LAST part of your home network you need to have privacy or security concerns about.

Personally I thought he did a decent job of saying if Sidewalk appeals to you use it, otherwise turn it off it isn't something you want to partake in. I turned it off. I did so not because I think Amazon is devious. I turned it off because I don’t need it and I think the Amazon programmers are morons. They repeatedly screw up device firmware, so why should I trust them to make Sidewalk secure?

[ApK]

Originally Posted by OtinG

Personally I thought he did a decent job of saying if Sidewalk appeals to you use it, otherwise turn it off it isn't something you want to partake in.

Aside from the understandable click-bait title and the fact that he started of by saying something like "This is the first and most important thing you should turn off," I did not hear him say that. I heard him say he liked the "idea" of what it could do but the evil hackers lurking in front of his house with a secret back door he's sure they have make it a must-turn-off boogeyman.

I turned it off. I did so not because I think Amazon is devious. I turned it off because I don’t need it and I think the Amazon programmers are morons. They repeatedly screw up device firmware, so why should I trust them to make Sidewalk secure?

You seem to be, like me, rightfully suspicious of everything, just maybe slightly more so toward some things, like Amazon.

Actually I can see myself turning into you...when I get old.

[tubemonkey]

As to Alexa, I disable all services (cam, mic, notifications, etc) I'm not using, which is pretty much everything. I turn the mic on long enough to set timers, alarms, or infrequent requests and then turn it off again.

To get music and OTR shows, I use the touch screen capability of my Show 5 to access my most used stations. For Spotify, I use my phone or laptop and send the sound to my Show 5. For audiobooks, I listen on my phone.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

As to Alexa, I disable all services (cam, mic, notifications, etc) I'm not using, which is pretty much everything. I turn the mic on long enough to set timers, alarms, or infrequent requests and then turn it off again.

To get music and OTR shows, I use the touch screen capability of my Show 5 to access my most used stations. For Spotify, I use my phone or laptop and send the sound to my Show 5. For audiobooks, I listen on my phone.

Your phone? The smart audio/video gps-enabled tracking device that you voluntarily carry around at all times?
( That's a paraphrase from a Ryan George video: https://youtu.be/Qn8dMQJlDZE)

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by ApK

You seem to be, like me, rightfully suspicious of everything, just maybe slightly more so toward some things, like Amazon.

Actually I can see myself turning into you...when I get old.

No doubt I have turned into a grumpy old man of sorts. But that is neither here nor there. With age comes wisdom, but also impatience.

Ultimately I trust some companies more than others. I spent over 25 years in the high tech industry, so I’m no stranger to it. And I’ve spent a large number of years as a customer to companies like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, etc.

I trust Apple more with securing my data because they have shown that as a high priority of theirs. They have a great track record of trying their best to secure my private data. They seem to have competent people and they seem to have the desire to truly protect my privacy and my data. They even told the US and European governments to piss off when they wanted to look at customer data! But anything can be hacked given enough time. Yet I have more confidence in Apple to thwart those hacks more than I do for those other three companies combined. If I was interested in a feature like Sidewalk, I would trust Apple to make it work. But I don't have any need for Sidewalk at all.

Amazon likely does want to have a secure system and protect my privacy and my data. I have no reason to think they are secretly data mining our data. However, Amazon has a very poor record of being able to maintain FW on their devices that isn't flaky. That leaves me feeling that they are not competent enough in security either. I trust them to be concerned about protecting my data, I just don't think they have the competence to carry it out as well as Apple. Sidewalk I fear, will likely be both hackable and flaky.

I don't deal much with Microsoft any more, so I really don't know if I trust them that much or not. I think their heart, like Amazon's, is likely in the right place, and I certainly think they have much more competence, so they are likely closer to being like Apple in security than like Amazon.

Google, well they likely have the competence to secure my data, but I seriously doubt they will do so as well as I would like. Google has a long and nasty record of being one of the worst data mining companies. With Google, they will sell my data to the highest bidder. And though they are competent enough to be able to lock down the security, I doubt they ever will. I have no trust in Google at all.

[Catlady]

Help! I was trying to get my Dots to play an album I purchased from Amazon, using the Alexa app. But to browse my albums, the app tells me to open the Amazon Music app, and when I do that, the music plays on the device, not on my Dots. If I don't open the Amazon Music app, only the first song on the album plays with the Alexa app (and I'm only seeing the handful of recently played albums). What am I doing wrong? Can't I browse my purchased albums/songs if I want something specific?

I wanted to use the app after being unsuccessful with voice commands (I couldn't get Alexa to understand "everywhere" and "shuffle"; I was getting one or the other).

Any advice is appreciated!