Month: May 2018

Shhh…Alexa is listening (and she can’t keep a secret)!

Amazon Echo

We’ve heard about her creepy laugh, but this may be the first reported instance of her tattling on her masters family. In what Amazon calls an “unlikely but possible” string of events one Echo device recorded a family’s private conversation and sent recording to contact.

Apparently, the device interpreted a word in the background conversation as ‘Alexa,’ prompting her to wakeup and take notice. She then it interpreted the ensuing words in the conversation as a send message.

Alexa’s query, ‘To whom? ‘ went unheard among the conversants, and she (Alexa) interpreted a word among in the conversation as the name of a saved family contact. Asking for confirmation (‘ ________, right?’) she interpreted, among the following words, a confirming, ‘right.’

Then did what she believes was told to do.

Amazon’s statement : “As unlikely as this string of events is, we are evaluating options to make this case even less likely.“

Find Your Phone using Google

*updated May ’18

Lost your android phone? You can have your phone send out a Here I am! ring, or lock the device with an “If found, please return” message.

To Locate your Android Phone

  1. Go to https://www.google.com/android/find.
    Note: you will be prompted to log into your Google account.
  2. Your phone’s locationlocation-icon-png-14will appear highlighted.
  3. Select preferred option(s):
    a. Click Ring to have your phone ring.
    b. Click Lock to secure your phone with a message and callback number.
    c. Click Erase to wipe your personal data.

Cheers!

hɔuᴉnb

Related posts:

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Google Maps Lets You Choose Your Car🚗

iOS users, now you can swap that boring blue Nav arrow for a flashy red sport car or a sensible pickup truck.

What? no Go Karts?

New icons on Google Maps iOS

To Select Your Vehicle in Google Maps 

  1. Launch Google Maps, and start navigation.
  2. Tap the Nav arrow. The Choose Vehicle pane will appear.
  3. Select preferred vehicle and enjoy that new car smell!

Cheers!

quincy

Related Posts:

Managing Your Android Phone and other Devices

The Android Manager is accessed through the Play Store. Use this site to rename your devices (e.g., phones, tablets, wearables) or remove a lost device from the Play Store list.

To Managing Your Android Phones

  1. Go to https://play.google.com.
    Note: you will need to be logged into your Google account.
  2. Click the Gear icon googlesettingsgear.  Your Devices will appear under My Devices.
  3. Click to rename device.
  4. Uncheck ‘Show in Menus’ to hide device to apps (i.e., Google Play).
  5. Click Update.

Cheers!

hɔuᴉnb

Related posts:

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Finding Nemo, the underwater Drone

Having surpassed it’s Kickstarter goal, NEMO, the underwater drone, may be coming to a watering hole near you.

nemo

This underwater drone (and competitors like it) seems to be marketed towards two groups: the first are the wannabee Scuba enthusiasts, who don’t want to get wet. The second are those weekend anglers who find fishing too taxing and unpredictable (because sitting in a boat and waiting is already arduous enough).

Cheers!

quincy

Related Posts:

Honest Test – 200 Wallets

Would you return a lost wallet?

Mark Rober‘s lost a wallet was never returned to him (it’s happened to us all, at sometime). This event sent him on a mission to query the nature of people; are people more likely to return a wallet if they’re

  • wealthy/poor
  • male/female
  • rural/urban
  • etc.

So he enlisted some strangers across the country to conduct a pseudo-scientific experiment, dropping 200 wallets and measuring the return rate.

His results surprised him so I won’t add any spoilers. The video is well shot, short and his delivery is quick, and lively*.

 

 

 

 

*I thought about posting this on my personal page, but I really liked his fun-and-scientific explanation (make science fun,people!) so here it is.

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