Alexa / Home AI chat

funky

funky

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Do you have an Alexa or equivalent? If so what do you use her for?

I finally gave in and decided to get one, mainly just so I could have a speaker connected to my music in the kitchen for when I’m cooking. I’ve started chatting to her about shopping lists and stuff which is FUN but I haven’t quite got into the habit of using her for my diary and general planning - doesn’t feel intuitive yet.

just curious what other things you’ve found she’s useful for. I can’t get my head around connecting her to things like the central heating and shit like that yet. Baby steps.

she tells me the weather and things like that. But so far she’s not giving me much more than I can get from picking up my phone and going to Google.
 
I only use it for the radio and in the last week it’s stopped working completely. It will play 3 seconds of radio and go quiet. Anyone had this? How do I fix it it’s so annoying.
 
Love mine. Use it 99% for music, but she's also wired up to some lamps and sometimes we ask to play a TV show just for fun (as we also have an Amazon firestick and she's attached to that).

We also have an Echo Show which is the same but with a screen. This was mostly useful for calls during lockdown, especially with my grandad who struggled with Zoom and can't hear well on the phone so in-person calls on this was much better. We still use it for that but less now.

I don't bother with shopping lists and Amazon baskets etc. To me that's just another pointless step.

They are far from perfect though! My hugest foible is that you can't change the music volume and her voice volume independently of each other. I'm sure, controlling the volume through her and through my phone gets her wires crossed and she ends up blaring music while whispering any instructions. It's really infuriating.
 
Lucille said:
I only use it for the radio and in the last week it’s stopped working completely. It will play 3 seconds of radio and go quiet. Anyone had this? How do I fix it it’s so annoying.
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Mine recently has started repeating my instruction back to me, "Playing Album XYZ from Spotify", but then nothing, sometimes I have to prompt it a few times. It's only on voice commands, and seems quite common looking on google. Annoying.
 
Oh the linking to Amazon Fire thing - help please

I set it up through my phone and the Alexa app is telling me that it’s found the stick, but when I tell Alexa to connect she’s saying she hasn’t found it :angry: I’m not sure what to do. I’d love her to play the audio of stuff I’m watching if I nip in to make a cuppa and don’t have to pause things...

Obviously I wouldn’t do that if I was watching a movie or episode for the first time. I’m not a SAVAGE!
 
funky said:
Oh the linking to Amazon Fire thing - help please

I set it up through my phone and the Alexa app is telling me that it’s found the stick, but when I tell Alexa to connect she’s saying she hasn’t found it :angry: I’m not sure what to do. I’d love her to play the audio of stuff I’m watching if I nip in to make a cuppa and don’t have to pause things...

Obviously I wouldn’t do that if I was watching a movie or episode for the first time. I’m not a SAVAGE!
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Oh, the Amazon Alexa app is a bit dodgy! I don't really have any advice except unplug it and try it again. (Or get an Iguana to be in charge of all that)
 
I do need an iguana sometimes :(

my ex was great with all this shit. He bought the very early version of it YEARS ago and had everything hooked up to an iPad which was set on his wall. I was like, what is this SORCERY
 
We have a Google home device in every room, and its main use is for playing music throughout the house and controlling the lights. I'll be getting a Nest to hook it into the heating, and eventually I want smart blinds too.

I don't take full advantage of the reminders/shopping list etc that I really should, but that's more that I was scatty brained (:horny:) before I got these things, so I just haven't changed.
 
Tisch said:
Another HOT TIP: If you're watching Schitt's Creek or Rupaul's Drag Race AS5 you might want to rename "Alexa" to something else till you're done. :D
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LOVING the way Alexa thinks you have the same voice as RuPaul.
 
I have one in living room and bedroom. Mainly use it for the music or if I’ve a random query that has come into my head randomly such as wondering what the population of Honduras is.
 
Part of my resistance I think is my sadness that I just don’t need a traditional stereo system any more. I mean I’ve long since gotten rid of the one I had with a CASSETTE PLAYER (ironically trendy again) but I’ve kept (flat packed) all my CDs and can’t part with my CD player for that reason. I do still pop a CD on now and again (to keep the art of the album alive) but instant access to music on AI means you can listen to albums as much as playlists whenever you want.

the MONEY I spent on physical albums though.:(
 
I have Sonos’d the entire flat up and it’s wonderful. I get my Alexa through (some of) those.

Have it play the sound of the ocean or thunder whilst you’re falling asleep (appreciate perhaps not in the kitchen…), I like playing Pointless and Trivia Hero most days, shopping lists are good and better if you sync up with online shopping deliveries. Love a podcast or audiobook whilst cooking too.
 
And yes, it’s well annoying working with someone called Alexis who gets mentioned in lots of Zoom calls, let’s just say that…
 
Use my Alexa mainly for music and asking questions about the weather. Got one for my mum and she absolutely loves it for the radio as she could never work out how to use the digital one she had before.

It is most annoying when watching TV in the living room where a character in a film or show starts talking to their Alexa and mine responds. There was an episode of Motherland where one character was yelling “Alexa, who farted?” and “Alexa, order me an Uber” - thankfully I didn’t have it linked to my Uber account because it bloody well tried!

Song Quiz is a fun game to play by the way.
 
I have Alexas throughout the flat. Mainly use them for controlling lights, kitchen timers, listening to radio, and checking the weather forecast on the way out.
 
We have one in the kitchen, it's for music and timers.

Got one in the office too for music and so I can shout ARBEIT MACHT FREI at the staff while I'm out buying lunch
 
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I have a Google home in the kitchen, but only because I got it for free thanks to my Spotify account.

I use it for playing music, turning off two lights off and on, and asking stupid questions.

I'm not really bought into the concept entirely.
 
I only have the one that comes built into the Fire Stick and she is USELESS. You give her a programme name and she brings up the £3.99 Prime version instead of the free BBC/All 4/whatever version. PISS OFF ALEXA

The Pointless game and the other music quiz were fun for about a week though
 
Kate said:
I only have the one that comes built into the Fire Stick and she is USELESS. You give her a programme name and she brings up the £3.99 Prime version instead of the free BBC/All 4/whatever version. PISS OFF ALEXA

The Pointless game and the other music quiz were fun for about a week though
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:D Worth EVERY PENNY!
 
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