well, for the people that need MOTORIZED BLINDS with Remote Control, it prolly is... that darn mouse is just so hard to move and click anymore, pretty soon they won't be strong enough to scratch their own butt
Posted on 01/08/2017 3:36:09 AM PST by markomalley
Shh! you may want to turn down your television set because Alexa the internet-connected home assistant device may be listening.
The Amazon Echo system which does everything from getting your weather report to ordering more laundry detergent can also do some things you don’t want it to.
When it comes to answering those tough questions or getting that extra help around the house, Alexa, the voice service that powers Amazon Echo is just a voice-command away.
Meyali Sanchez helps sell the system at Best Buy and even uses it at home.
“She is kind of like my little right hand. So for example if we’re cooking we like to try new recipes, once a week we like to try something new,” she said.
Alexa adapts to speech patterns and vocabulary. She can control your music and video library, set an alarm, control the thermostat, and even turn off the lights and its keeping local retail stores busy.
The device is convenient, but it’s also raising concerns over security and privacy.
“These devices don’t recognize your specific voice and so then we have the situations where you have a guest staying or you have a child who is talking and accidentally order something because the device isn’t aware that it’s a child versus a parent,” said Stephen Cobb, senior security researcher for ESET North America.
Which is exactly what happened today during CW6 in the morning when Jim Patton and Lynda Martin were talking about a child who accidentally bought a dollhouse and four pounds of cookies
“I love the little girl, saying ‘Alexa ordered me a dollhouse,’” said Patton.
As soon as Patton said that, viewers all over San Diego started complaining their echo devices had tried to order doll houses. It’s a common problem experts say can be avoided.
“All of these devices which record the internet of things will have some sort of website control, some sort of setting, sometimes the setting is on the device that is communicating. So you need to go into these settings and look at what they are, and what you can change,” said Cobb.
Cobb says the Federal Trade Commission is already looking into voice-command devices and toys to make sure the technology is safe and secure. For now, he recommends do your research to keep your personal information controlled and protected.
“Down the road the technology will be more sophisticated where it will be able to identify certain individuals and register people can access it,” he said.
Amazon says shopping settings can be managed via its Alexa app, including turning off voice purchasing and creating a confirmation code before any order.
The company also says any “accidental” physical orders can be returned for free.
My granddaughter thought it would be good for her great grandfather who has recently lost his eyesight and had been using an IPad.
But I’m getting to the disabled part. We just got the thing, I’ve not learned how to use it well, doesn’t know a lot of simple stuff. Ask it who did a song, you might get the right answer. A lot of I don’t know answers. Lot like google voice only you don’t have to use your cell phone. To many steps to use the features to turn on lights and stuff. It can read Kindle books for you. Good idea for vision impaired, and that is where I’m heading fast. Don’t know if it will resume were it left off reading like Kindle does, that I blow up as large as I can.
If I want a pizza I just txt my son, he manages the Papa John’s 2 miles away and he sends one over Free.
Already have a complete surround sound stereo system, hubby is a music geek. Now having it turn the heat or AC up in the car would be nice, you’d not have to take your eyes off the road. But I sure wouldn’t want it tracking my driving habits that can be hacked. Or pass words.
Thanks man. I didn’t know that existed. I shall look it up
Heck, I heard the pioneers couldn’t even get The Food Network!
Don’t know how they did it.
And God knows there was NO reception on The Mayflower.
Big Brother is watching you.
And the idiots are inviting him right into their own homes.
Stay on top of your eye doc visits!! Mother had astigmatism surgery that first doctor missed last year.
Read your profile. My mom lost pop after 29 years. She was only 49 and now she’s 84. Didn’t make sense to me staying single the rest of her life. Her choice.
I’m glad you found someone.
Keep working with that thing and enjoying the pizza :)
It is great for the elderly and disabled.....
We’ve ordered it my our 90 year old MIL
“And God knows there was NO reception on The Mayflower.”
Surely they had a safe space on board the Mayflower...?
Good!
I first learned about the use for disabled when I was reading reviews on Amazon.
Guy was talking about his brother who’d been paralyzed from MS for thirty years and now had a sense of freedom.
If that doesn’t touch a person, they’re stone cold!
I wish your MIL the best with it.
ROFL!!!
Can you imagine how badly you’d get the #### kicked out of you if you mentioned that on the voyage over!!
“Ethan called me a derisive name and I need a space where I feel safe on the boat from hurtful people.”
“Bottom left corner with the rats. Good luck.”
Most Smart TVs have voice activated controls, so they too are listening all of the time. It will be hard to get away from this if one really wants to, unless they forgo all technology.
I have an Alexa and love it, and disabled the voice ordering ability after I read about this incident.
I used to laugh when I read Revelations about people choosing to get the Mark of the Beaat. “Nobody would be that stupid!,” I’d remark. “Who couldn’t see that coming?”
Well, today we have an army of nimrods willing to tattoo and pierce even their private parts, open up their personal details on Facebook and put all their transactions on debit cards. And now they can blab into a “personal assistant” that will rat them out to FedGov should it ever be necessary. Their phones get to track their whereabouts 24/7.
Today, Alexa has to be asked to order a dollhouse. Tomorrow, it may be prompted by just a specific audible tone sent by your phone. We are becoming a nation of lemmings.
What makes you think that these Bezos/WaPo designed devices are listening only to your questions and product orders, but not also your political remarks, racial or gender biases, admissions of prior misdeeds, etc? Is that far fetched nowadays, with silicon valley slime like Zuckerberg spending half his time schmoozing with obama, merkel, etc?
I think people should leave their communication “tools” sitting next to a conservative talk show station when not in use. I also believe it’s the politicians who will rue the day devices started listening.
well, for the people that need MOTORIZED BLINDS with Remote Control, it prolly is... that darn mouse is just so hard to move and click anymore, pretty soon they won't be strong enough to scratch their own butt
I sure hope so. They are working on driver-less cars without steering wheels and foot pedals..
With a touch-screen, one doesn’t even have to move a mouse.
I’d forgotten about the motorized blinds. I raise and lower mine by hand.
I don’t see the need for driverless cars. There are already other modes of transportation where you don’t have to drive.
Btw, who is responsible for the auto insurance for a driverless car? If there are no user controls, how could the user be responsible for the accident? Wouldn’t that make the auto companies liable for mishaps?
i hear the ads on FOX-XM and just shake my head...
I’m interested in ads because of what they suggest about the audience. For example, when I found myself watching daytime cable tv “reality” shows at my mother’s, the ads were either for contraceptive drugs and devices or for class-action lawsuits against the makers of contraceptive drugs and devices.
When my son was listening to Sean Hannity the other day, the ads were for indebtedness relief services or addiction treatment.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.