My husband, the luddite, had a great time playing obscure music on Christmas morning. And we’ve used it for weather and news, etc.
But what are your favorite Alexa skills that we might be missing?
And are there any ones that would be particularly useful during the college research/application process?
Not about college, but you can buy some Alexa required discount items on Amazon;
https://www.amazon.com/b?node=16924218011
https://slickdeals.net/newsearch.php?src=SearchBarV2&q=alexa&searcharea=deals&searchin=first
I love the smart plugs–“Alexa, turn on/off Christmas tree”, “Alexa, turn on/off lamp”
I use Alexa for timers when cooking and love to ask for a joke.
We like to get Alexa talking snark. D20 is the best at this because she tries to get Alexa to do her pre cal homework.
We like to play Jeopardy on ours. You get one new question for the 12 categories they used that day on the show - no Final Jeopardy though.
We already have the Christmas tree on a dumb timer - maybe I’ll upgrade for next year.
And we have no lamps on wall plugs except for two small bedside lamps. What else would I use plugs for? Maybe stereo or TV? Trying to figure that out…
Otherwise, I guess we gotta buy expensive bulbs. I do see the advantage in being able to turn on a room scheme. Anyone like one brand of bulbs over another? I hate to have to buy a bridge or whatever; was hoping to be able to control everything just through Alexa.
I do like the intercom ability - so we could avoid shrieking for the kids to come for dinner - but obv. would need to buy another device for that to work.
@tutumom2001 - how do you get Alexa to be snarky?? And how much homework help is it?
I’d like to know how to get Alexa snarky too just because it’s hilarious when it happens.
Gatormama–no floor lamps, no table lamp in living room, no lamp on kitchen island? Hook it to a bedroom lamp.
It’ll work anywhere though.
Example:
I make a trail through the house.
We have Alexa in living room and a Dot in the bedroom (they work the same but Echo (big Alexa) has better speakers)… We have lamps smart plugged in each room. So we walk in a dark house and I yell, "Alexa! Turn on lamp one (every plug is named something different–you pick)! And I walk up stairs to a lit room. Then before bed I say, "Alexa, turn on “lamp two” and the bedroom lights up. Then I can walk into bedroom and say “Alexa, turn OFF lamp one” and the living room light goes off. Then I can crawl into bed and say “Alexa,turn off lamp two”. Lights go dark.
and then “Alexa, tell me a story!” (very fun)
I just got one for Hanukkah. I love the grocery list. I also like that I can play most of my podcasts and Sirius stations.
I like asking Alexa how she is feeling today.
Just asked Alexa how she was feeling. Cracked me up!
The skill we use most is OurGroceries, because we both use that app on our phones and use Alexa to add to the lists.
We got one, too! My husband figured it out pretty quickly. I’m still learning what I want to do with it besides music and weather. It’s pretty fun.
Have a child named Alexa. Refuse to change the wake word of the Echo It makes you aware of how often you talk about your child when she is away at school.
Ask her to play Jeopardy. We do this as a family all the time.
Ask for News.
Enable the Tonight Show and listen to the monologue.
@gouf78 - seriously, nope. We have spots or pendant lights over the counter in the kitchen & spots/ceiling fan light in the living room, a chandelier with only wax candles in the DR (and electric-light sconces for, you know, actual light) … no plug-in lamps anywhere…
All bedroom lighting everywhere is hardwired…the nightstand lights are right next to our hands when we want to turn them on and off. Seems overkill to use them just for that.
Google things you can do. We finally got one- 2nd gen and it is H’s toy. I have a list of things H has emailed me (funny how you can be within talking distance rooms and have your own space, computer…). Nice for him to just ask for BBC or NPR news etc.
I also don’t see the need for turning on/off lights et al. Do see it as an easy info/radio/music source.
I have both an Echo and now a Dot. My 7 year old grandson was visiting me – he lives out of state so it’s been a while since he has visited my house. He got an interesting reaction by repeatedly saying, “Alexa… you’re fired!”
I use Alexa for setting timers, reminders, alarms and streaming media – either music or my local NPR station. Grandson had some problems because he was asking for specific songs, and then not getting the version of the song he wanted – but I’m not particular. I’ll just say, “play music” and the response will be “here’s something you might like”… and that’s fine with me…or I might say, “play jazz” or “play something soothing.”
Also sometimes I have her add things to my Amazon cart. (but not buy things – I like to review orders myself so I don’t see unexpected charges – but adding it to my cart is a reminder for the next time I log in).
Alexa lives on my kitchen counter, and she’s always playing music via Pandora for me…“Alexa, Play Trans Siberian Orchestar on Pandora”
It’s so funny, I always find myself adding “please.”
"Alexa play music from Hamilton "
“Alexa play music from Book of Mormon”
Both bought from iTunes
"Alexa NPR news " which is just brief update
"Alexa play relaxation music " needed often these days
We have had the Echo since it first came out. It is actually quite useful. We have all our outdoor lights hooked up, so we can tell it to turn the path lights on or off. My husbands office is in another building on our property so he has his office lights programmed to work remotely. I tell it to play NOR when I come from the car into the house. Yes, it can do all kinds of useful things, but you need someone techy who can hook it all up. Luckily, my husband can do that.
The kids and I refused to call an inanimate object by a human name, so in our house it’s just called Amazon.
example
D20: “Alexa, simplify the following equation ___________”
Alexa: “I’m sorry but I don’t do homework.”
“Here’s what Alexa users asked most over the holidays”
“Alexa, how do I make a Manhattan?”
http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Here-s-what-Alexa-users-asked-most-over-the-12455852.php