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Alexa, Go Away

With the massive proliferation of Amazon Echo / Alexa devices, Amazon found a gaping hole by which to get their hardware into people’s houses. For years Amazon has generally released shoddy, commodity (AKA crap) they sell at a loss in order to get you to use their services more. The Echo was a hit, mostly…Continue readingAlexa, Go Away

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Yell Poop, Make Money

Leave it to kids and a weird set of circumstances to become an income stream for musicians out there. A fascinating story from Katie Notopoulos at Buzz Feed wherein people who make silly songs are earning streaming income by kids yelling “Poop” at Alexa. With the proliferation of Echo devices putting Alexa in many homes,…Continue readingYell Poop, Make Money

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Self-Hacked

Academic researchers have discovered that if you get within close enough proximity, you can “hack” an Amazon Alexa device to execute commands the owner may not want. I put the word hack in quotes because this is less of a security failure and more of a “that’s how this thing works” way that the Echo…Continue readingSelf-Hacked

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Alexa Anyone

Amazon’s runaway success with Alexa and the Echo devices “she” lives in is quite obvious. As someone who owned an original Echo back when you needed an invite to buy it, I can remember the awe in how good the voice recognition was. The time it took to understand a question, send it to the…Continue readingAlexa Anyone

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Echo Show 15 is Too Amazon-ey

Amazon dropped a deluge of new tech and among them is the cool-looking Echo Show 15. It’s a framed display that mounts to the wall and shows you information you may find relevant. You can see to-do lists, a calendar, or even smart home controls. It’ll also recognize people via its camera and play music…Continue readingEcho Show 15 is Too Amazon-ey