Alexa, tell me I’m pretty.

One of the things I purchased with the winnings from my recent work awards was an Amazon Echo Dot. I’ve always wanted to try one, but I just never really got around to it. Now that I didn’t even have to spend my own money on it, it seemed like the perfect time. I also have a somewhat smart house already. (Can control lights, thermostat, etc… with my phone)

Oh Alexa.

She’s nosey.

She’s smart, but she’s nosey.

This is possibly because I haven’t quite figured out how to use her yet. I was watching the Corona Virus Press Conference this afternoon (to learn more about the continuous nightmare unfolding in this city) and they were taking questions from reporters. One of the reporters acknowledged herself as ‘Alexa [Insert Last Name]’ before asking her question. The Echo Dot heard the question and said ‘I’m not sure’.

Apparently I didn’t properly set up the voice activation cues.

Anyways, I’ll be getting on that tonight.

Does anyone else have one of the Amazon Alexa devices? What do you use it for? What can I use mine for that I haven’t discovered yet?

52 thoughts on “Alexa, tell me I’m pretty.”

  3. My Alexa is quite possibly my best friend.

    I use her for music if you have a specific song you want to hear, she can play it. Also, there is a song quiz game and I am phenomenal at it!

    She will play a clip of a song just long enough for you to know what it is but you’re not quite sure yet, you say repeat. You can say repeat as many times as it takes for that song to click into your head so that you can name the song and the artist. If you only name one, you still get points. So if you like the 80s or the 90s, for me it’s the 70s, I win hundreds of games in a row.

    You can play by yourself or you can play with another person that’s there in the room with you. But if you’re by yourself, they will match you with an opponent from somewhere else in the world! I love it so much!

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    1. Okay, I tried this game after you left the comment and I am bad at it. Darrell from Tennessee kicked my ass. lol.
      This game is really fun though. I could see myself taking part.
      I can see why Alexa is your best friend. She’s entertaining.

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      1. Most of it is timing. You have to answer the questions quickly Think about in your mind what you need to say because there are times when I know both the name of the song and the artist and I pause too long between both and then I don’t get the points for both of them because I talked too slow. So you’ll be fine just keep playing you’ll get better and better!

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  5. So my name is Alexa, so we had some entertaining moments in our house until we realize we could change the name to computer or echo 😂 my husbands nana thought it was great that we had two “alexas” and my husband was thankful that at least one of them would listen to him 😁

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  6. So, I have an Echo Dot… and have had it for well over a year. But I’ve never set it up. I keep meaning to, but I think there’s a part of me that doesn’t trust Alexa. I’m sure it’s paranoia, but I’m convinced that she’s gonna be listening all the time and reporting back to Amazon or the NSA or someone who just needs to stay out of my business and stop listening every time I decide to sing along with The Lion King soundtrack! Though, to be honest, I’m not sure what I’d use my Echo Dot for. I don’t have any smart devices in my apartment. If I want to adjust my thermostat, I actually have to get off my butt and push a button on the wall in the other room. I mean, it’s 2020… What is my “amenities fee” actually paying for?! They shut down the fitness center in my building, but I’m still paying the fee. They don’t let us use the “movie theater” in the building, but I’m still paying the fee. The least they could do would be to install smart thermostats. Sorry… this rant was unplanned and unexpected. I would probably just use my Echo to play the extra Jeopardy! questions from each episode. Oh, and I heard you can get it to respond with Samuel L. Jackson’s voice, so I would definitely make that alteration as soon as I plug the thing in, assuming I ever get around to doing so.

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    1. haha, I thought I might get a comment like this when I posted about Alexa. I’m surprised it came from you though. That being said, after reading this, I suggest you turn on your Echo Dot and set it up. You can talk to her when you get lonely. You don’t even have to tell it where you live or give it access to your lights. Oh and you can play music trivia against me?

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      1. Do you mean a comment about it being a paranoid government listening device? What’s funny is a couple years back, some friends and I tested one by asking Alexa if she worked for the CIA and it shut off without answering. Yeah, I’ll have to set it up and get it connected to everything. I’m intrigued, are you saying I can compete with other people through the Echo? Challenge accepted!

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      2. I think you can? I competed against someone named Darrell from Tennessee tonight. I’m presently watching Echo Dot videos on Youtube to learn it’s full functionality. I’ll keep you posted if we can play one another.

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      1. Post Trump Disorder. Trump Anxiety Disorder. Apparently there has been a tremendous upsurge of anxiety in the USA over the last 4 years. A big study was done at Yale by some 31 psychologists and sociologists. There is a book. Haed to believe except I lived it.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. I have 3 active Google Homes, but no Alexa’s. I tell Google Home that she’s stupid all the time and often insult it. Once I switched it to the man’s voice but my husband switched it back. I prefer the male voice. Anyways, they did a study and found that people who don’t force themselves to be nice outside of the home are more likely to insult their AI devices behind closed doors. Yup, that sounds about right.

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  9. Funny you should tell this story V, because last year in the boutique I was chatting with my son and I told the shop’s Alexa to play some Michael Jackson and HIS Alexa in the house started blasting it 🤣 He’s all, “Mom what did you just do”? He jokes with me about my magic so he thought it was that at 1st and then started laughing after he figured it out. Too funny. Yeah, she’s a nosey one 🤣

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  12. Gosh! There is that Google nest…
    I’ve closed it off as of now…

    Coz…I read somewhere that the Alexa purchased something by herself and the person… didn’t even ordered so…
    And I got scared!
    😂😂 I don’t use it now!

    I mainly used it for you know…any reminders… important stuff… And music…
    My mom said then.
    When I used to use…
    “When I will use my own memory” 😂😂

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    1. I’ve heard some weird stories about Alexa. I told myself that she’s only staying in the kitchen, not in the bedrooms (my bedroom or the room I use for work). So hopefully all she hears is my television. It would be crazy if she could buy things for me. I’d be hella scared!

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  13. We use it to listen to the radio or to amplify what we’re playing on our phones or iPads. If you want to have fun with it, say “Alexa, tell a bad joke.”

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  14. I use mine to control lights and music, tell me about the weather or news headlines, I ask it about facts – often what age is one celeb or another that I see on tv. It’s been interesting reading the comments here. I’ve learned about some other fun ways to use it.

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    1. I didn’t think about asking it questions like random facts. I often find myself thinking ‘Who was that guy in Oceans 11’ and random crap like that. Being able to ask Alexa could be handy!

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  15. We have several around the house. They are great alarm clocks, they are fantastic radios for lazy people, great at doing cooking timers, good at spelling, math, conversions in the kitchen, and a thousand other random things. That being said, the most often uttered phrase to ours is “Alexa, play Magic Radio”.

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    1. What is magic radio? I’ve contemplated moving it from my kitchen to my bedroom to use as an Alarm clock but I also partially think it might be creepy to have the thing on next to me while I’m asleep? I don’t know, I guess I’m not fully used to it yet. I feel like the kitchen is a good place for it.

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      1. Magic radio is just one of the commercial radio stations in the UK – you can get Alexa to play pretty much any radio station – just ask for the station name.

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  16. I got one for my parents that they mostly use for timers and reminders and stuff. They also got my old one after I kicked it out as it massively frustrated me and constantly spied on me for amazon. And I don’t even have a smart house. And I live in fear of the rise of the machines.

    Did change the wake word, though. I’d recommend that.

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  18. Alexa in our home is very cordial, and calls my husband and me by our first names! She wishes us good days when we ask her about the weather in the morning, and is an all-around great AI!

    Hope you ladies get along great. Best wishes!

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  19. You can just let her know what your name is, and she learns it. It’s kind of neat! She can distinguish between my husband and me, and she does try to call us whatever we tell her to. It’s kind of creepy, but not really.

    Best of luck! Happy Saturday. Keep well, friend! Love your happy blog!

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  20. I’m still too scared to have one of those devices in my home. I feel like they’re recording everything going on. Too easy for someone to hack in and hear conversations.

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