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I’ve developed an amazing ability called “turning on the radio before I start cooking”.
They're "Skills" grandad. 😉
Threads like this never cease to amaze me. The number of people who feel it necessary to wade in and proudly tell you how they don't use something and they're not interested in it.
It's weird, it'd be like me jumping into football threads going "well, I don't get it, it's just a bunch of blokes kicking a ball about, I did that when I was twelve!" Are they that stuck for something to do?
Well done, have a biscuit, mind the door doesn't hit you in the arse on your way out.
You can plug an Alexa in to an amplifier so you get the smart function and to use your speakers too. Given that you can often pick up an echo dot for £20, that’s a cheap way of getting the best of both worlds.
Can you? I thought the Echo Dot only had audio in, you need a full-sized Echo for output?
Why can’t they just leave shit alone!!?!
As someone else posited, I wouldn't be surprised if it's the BBC rather than Amazon who has changed something.
Can you? I thought the Echo Dot only had audio in, you need a full-sized Echo for output?
You can with my Mk1 echo dot at least, just use a 3.5mm cable. I have exactly that in the garage
Having now ventured down to the kitchen for a spot of lunch (Greek flatbread mock ham and cheese "pizza", yum) mine seems to be working now...I'm now joined by Ed Stourton's dulcet tones for 'world at one' news.
I've concluded I no longer respond well to change, and definitely not at 6am 😉
Mine also working now, must have been a glitch in the matrix
Threads like this never cease to amaze me. The number of people who feel it necessary to wade in and proudly tell you how they don’t use something and they’re not interested in it.
For me it was in reaction to another thread where people were extolling the virtues of this tech and how it made life easier. Now we find a load of grumpy folk who couldn't get their fix of old folks radio this morning via their faultless and easy bit of tech
I find the techno addicts on here funny especially when defending their tech.
Two principles I follow KISS and Reduce . reuse, recycle Alexa breaks both of them!
So the reason for my post cougar was I find the techo nerds funny
I noticed this the other day.
"Alexa, play BBC 6 music" Does not work
"Alexa, play 6 music" does work.
Maybe there's some sort of Tory infiltration of the algorithm.
Anyway - I'm off to smash some looms
You can with my Mk1 echo dot at least, just use a 3.5mm cable. I have exactly that in the garage
Hm. I'll have a play. Ta.
I was about to buy a apple homepod mini when I found the BBC have blocked direct playing of BBC radio stations on it. you can do it through the BBC sounds app but not natively.
short sighted if they are rolling this across amazon/google as well. .
For me it was in reaction to another thread where people were extolling the virtues of this tech and how it made life easier. Now we find a load of grumpy folk who couldn’t get their fix of old folks radio this morning via their faultless and easy bit of tech
Thing is, on balance, the new tech (I find) is MUCH more useful, than it is faulty.
Granted, at times my smart lights (well, the hub that controls them) drops out, and i have to go to the light switch to turn them on/off. Cue a bit of ribbing from my OH/TJ etc (they ARE separate people, BTW!) about "how rubbish the smart lights are and an actual switch is MUCH better"...
But when new tech jsut works (like it does 98% of the time) we forget about it... we forget we don't need to get out from under the comfy duvet to turn off the hallway light that was left on..we forget that I can turn all the lights off, but drop my kid's room light to 10% with a mere whisper... we forget that "no - i dind't leave the lights on all day.. they turn on when I get within 50m of the house but ONLY when it's dark outside...AUTOMATICALLY" etc etc....
Anyway...back in ya cage grandpa!!!
DrP
I was about to buy a apple homepod mini when I found the BBC have blocked direct playing of BBC radio stations on it. you can do it through the BBC sounds app but not natively.
short sighted if they are rolling this across amazon/google as well. .
You can create an automation on your iPhone so that it will play via Siri.
I was a grumpy old skeptic about smart assistants till recently. Dipped my toe in before Christmas via the Google route with a pair of Nest audio smart speakers, a Nest mini speaker and a handful of smart bulbs and plugs. It's brill.
Best things,
Shopping list - at the very moment you realise you're out of brown sauce, bog roll or chain lube, instead of trying (and failing) to remember, or hunting for a pen and paper, just say it out loud and it's on my list, which the wife shares so it's on her phone too.
Remembering where you put stuff. 'Hey Google, remember that I put my spare key behind the baked beans' - months later 'hey google where did I put my spare key'? Crucial at my forgetful stage of life!
Broadcasts - Asking my wife in the kitchen if there's 'any chance of a brew'? when I'm in the garage - or her telling me tea is ready.
Timer - 'hey google start 15 minute timer' - for baking, Covid tests, coffee brewing or whatever. Especially handy when cooking so you don't have to fumble for your phone when your hands are covered in butter or whatever.
Schedules - 'Hey Google goodnight' - switches the lights off, switches our electric blankets off (don't judge me), asks if we want an alarm, plays relaxing music 'til we fall asleep. 'Hey Google good morning' lights on, tells me the weather and any appointments I have, plays the BBC news headlines, switches the kettle on.
All the obvious stuff too such as playing Spotify, podcasts, remembering birthdays, finding out when local shops close, what time TV progs start etc.
Yes, there are less techy and lazy ways to do all this stuff, but it is convenient and fun. I haven't got a Nest thermostat yet, but that's on the list. Having it switch the heating and lights off every time we leave the house is a potential eco benefit to slightly assuage my guilt at buying more 'stuff'.
Only slight fly in the ointment is Sonos have just won a patent infringement case against Google. I have my 2 Nest audios linked as a Stereo pair. It's no longer possible to change the volume using voice commands. You can do the speakers individually, but not the pair together. No biggie.
Any other smart home functions I'm missing?
Any other smart home functions I’m missing?
Yale do a nest enabled door lock. You can also have a nest doorbell, and smoke alarms, and cameras.
We have a nest thermostat, it's been pretty good. If it's a bit chilly I can turn the heating on using my phone while I'm sat on the bog.
If it’s a bit chilly I can turn the heating on using my phone while I’m sat on the bog.
Now you're talking! What a time to be alive!
You can plug an Alexa in to an amplifier so you get the smart function and to use your speakers too. Given that you can often pick up an echo dot for £20, that’s a cheap way of getting the best of both worlds.
A brand new Echo Flex is only £10 and has a 3.5mm aux output.
A brand new Echo Flex is only £10 and has a 3.5mm aux output
Grab it quick, it's been discontinued.
As for the likes of TJ - KISS is fine if it works for you. Towards the end, my bedridden mum liked to use Alexa for a number of things and they all made life simpler for her. I also used it to "drop-in" on her so we could talk through other stuff without her having to find/hold the phone. After she died I used them to setup a number of security routines to help keep her house secure.
As for the comments such as;
"I switch the radio/lights on before I start cooking".... With Alexa I can do all of that with 'dirty hands' as well as change channels or play a podcast instead and also change the volume while cooking.
"I look at the clock".... Last night I had about seven different timers running simultaneously for things like stirring the paella, adding the Garlic/prawns, turning the meat over (prepping for today as a separate dish) and getting the champagne out of the freezer before it froze.
I agree with Cougar. Don't knock it until you have tried it 😉
I’ve developed an amazing ability called “turning on the radio before I start cooking”.
Which as long as you don't want to change volume or station, works perfectly well. The google mini really came into its own when I was re-decorating, and could make voice commands from the top of a ladder.
One thing I can't work out though: I have a pair of powered speakers which sound good when receiving bluetooth directly from my phone (eg BBC Sounds or Spotify) but bloody awful when doing the same from a google mini. Any ideas?
Schedules – ‘Hey Google goodnight’ – switches the lights off, switches our electric blankets off (don’t judge me), asks if we want an alarm, plays relaxing music ’til we fall asleep. ‘Hey Google good morning’ lights on, tells me the weather and any appointments I have, plays the BBC news headlines, switches the kettle on.
This is what the loom-smashers* are missing.
It's not just 1:1 analogous with a light switch. I've not yet set it back up as everything's changed since moving, but in the old place I had "Alexa, goodnight" and it'd shutdown the house bar my bedroom light dimmed to 10%. "Alexa, telly" would turn on the TV, turn off the main lights, switch on the ambient lighting. And so on and so forth.
(* - that made I larf, well played.)
Some other routines we have.
Christmas lights coming on when commanded and off again at 10pm. That involved a range of plugs in and out of the house and worked well.
At Halloween I also got a ring camera to act as a motion sensor, activating witch cackling sounds when someone came up the garden path. Auto on at sunset and off at 9pm.
Alexa, goodbye turns off all the kids lights and music. I haven't bothered with it turning Hive off yet but I'll amend the routine in due course.
I find the best thing is shopping lists and timers in the kitchen.
Oh, also "dinnertime" etc works ok.
For all the moaners, did you know you can buy bread pre-sliced these days?
This is what the loom-smashers* are missing.
None of that is the slightest interest to me. Half of those things I don't want to do and the rest are accomplished without having to talk to anything or think. I can look at the clock onmy wall and know how long stuff has to cook, I can remeber what i want from the shop
For all the moaners, did you know you can buy bread pre-sliced these days?
yes and its all shit plastic chorlywood baking process tasteless sponge. I have finally found a local source of non chorleywood bread and it so much nicer. sliced bread is shit
How much does all this shit cost? You need smart bulbs or switches, a smart thermostat, and a effing machine to listen and I would have to speak in an english accent ( dagnamitt - i already have the accent)
I mean who wants to talk to a machine before the first cup of coffee?
I dunno Tj,
when my wife is entering the final stages of tense negotiations with the boys over something only a 3 year old can get wound up by, I walk into the kitchen and say Alexa good morning and he/she/they/it reply with good morning, give me a fact for that day hopefully with a bad pun then give me my 'flash briefing '(news) .
Then life returns to normal and a hungry 3 year old walks through to the kitchen an 11month old crawls through and tries to climb up the drawers.
Are these things not inherently crap?
What real benefit do they offer over say physically turning on a radio or googling whatever it is you want to know on your phone?
Honestly never understood these things. Our reliance on technology (because we’re too bloody lazy to physically do anything ourselves) could come to bite us in the arse.
I’ve got a radio alarm clock that’s programmed to come on with 6Music at 5am, and a DAB radio in the kitchen and another in the windowsill in the lounge, both tuned to 6Music. If I want the radio on, I push one button. I don’t have any ‘smart’ audio devices, I’ve seen how many times a friend of of mine has to ask Alexa to play something, with increasing frustration every time it doesn’t do what she wants.
If I had a smart speaker, I’d be playing directly from my phone, I can’t imagine actual asking the bloody thing to play something that I can access from my phone.
I find the best thing is shopping lists and timers in the kitchen.
I don't think anyone's mentioned this yet but I've found that for shopping lists all you need is "add" as the keyword. "Alexa, add bread." There's a setting where she'll run on for a second after a command so you can go "add bread, add milk, add pot noodles".
None of that is the slightest interest to me.
Yet, here you are.
None of that is the slightest interest to me.
Fine. Don't get one. Why are you even on this thread?
There are a great many things I could buy but I don't because I don't want them. Maybe I should find a thread on those and start telling everyone?
because its funny - see the comment about sliced bread? I'm not the only loom smasher on here.
.
A curious thread 😁, going back to the beginning. We (only) have a couple of Sonos speakers in the kitchen and haven't managed much other than playing radio stations and timers, so the thread is illuminating.
We had this problem start a month or so ago, when I altered our Plusnet router (splitting the 2 bands). When I re-setup the speakers a week or so later, the Alexa function would not play Radio4 for my OH (absolute 80s is enough for me). I had assumed it was linked to a rights issue spat, as that came up when I googled it.
I swapped to Google assistant and that has been equally painful. At one point it would play Radio 4 extra instead.
Is one smart Google / Alexa assistant easier than the other ?
Checked this morning and our Echo works with me just saying "play radio 4" or "play 6music"
It does play the "BBC sounds" jingle before the station comes on though so maybe I enabled a skill while ago or something, I don't really remember.
But anyway, you should be able to tweak something so you can just say the easier phrase each time.
Google assistant works fine by just saying 'hey Google, radio 4' (or 2, 6 or whatever.). No need to even say 'play' or 'BBC'.
I’ve found that for shopping lists all you need is “add” as the keyword. “Alexa, add bread.” There’s a setting where she’ll run on for a second after a command so you can go “add bread, add milk, add pot noodles”.
Ooo, that's useful! Thanks @Cougar.
Do you know if it can cope with putting sliced bread on the list? 😏
There's probably merit in an "Alexa Top Tips" thread.
I mean who wants to talk to a machine before the first cup of coffee?
Set up a routine in advance and it will prepare the coffee for you at the time you want it (different times for different days) without you having to say a word to it.... you won't even have to say "thanks"...and that last bit sounds like a clincher for a grumpy bugger like you 😉
Errmmmm - that means I have to have some sort of coffee thing that is both "smart" and set up the night before - how can I leave my artisan beans ground that long 🙂
that means I have to have some sort of coffee thing that is both “smart”
Nope - A smart plug for a few of your Scottish Pounds will convert any regular machine
and set up the night before
Nope - Set up once and connect to your pressurised Pure Scottish Mineral water feed and you are good to go
how can I leave my artisan beans ground that long
OK, you got me there... I don't drink coffee so don't know how to answer that 😀