Earlier quoted context omitted.
Try setting it to "amazon" and then watch a video about AWS or something similar. "Echo" is the 'safest' one for me.
Echo is also a name...
But he isn’t complaining...
Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?
111–120 of 153 posts
Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
Has she considered changing the name on the tag, just at work? Just put "Jane" or something generic, or "Sarah" so it sounds similar. But yeah, it unfair that she has to be the one to change.
I almost never give my correct name for informal use (I am not a waiter, but for coffee orders and the like). Gives me a marginal amount of privacy (I mean, who cares) and makes it less likely my name will be mispronounced/misspelt with my coffee order. If I were in a service job with a name tag I would definitely not use my real name.
I take the opposite route, my name is everywhere. (See username)
The wisdom of that choice however may be questioned freely.
Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?
#113Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I asked, but somehow she didn’t feel like changing her name. That's nuts. It's just a bit of paperwork!
It's rather offensive that it has become paperwork. It's your own name after all -- if you want to change it that shouldn't be anybody else's business. It used to work that way in California until the 9/11 hysteria swept the country.
I worked with a guy in Hawaii who decided to give himself the nickname “Red”
It was silly, but it worked for him I guess.
(I believe it was from a movie He liked)
Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's rather offensive that it has become paperwork. It's your own name after all -- if you want to change it that shouldn't be anybody else's business. It used to work that way in California until the 9/11 hysteria swept the country.
This seems staggeringly unlikely. If you want to change what people in everyday life call you, then yes, that's not paperwork, that's just a polite request/conversation with various people (and, hopefully, they respect it). If you want to change the name by which organizations, including the government, refer to you, then that is _by definition_ paperwork. I simply don't believe that you could have done that without…
> What am I misunderstanding?
Some hyperbole on my part, sorry. I really meant "official name changes, getting permission from courts etc").
About 30 years ago I married and my wife and I changed our names significantly. California marriage licenses don't mention married names at all. At the time the name law was "you may use any name you want, but may not use your name to commit fraud". Here's what I remember we did, I remember being surprised at how easy it was:
Went to the DMV and said "I want a different name on my DL". Filled out a DL application, handed over the old one and they sent me a new one. No proof of anything required. No birth cert or anything else.
Visited my (small) bank, told them I'd changed my name, showed them the DL and they changed it.
Called the credit card companies and said "please send me my cards in a different name." I recently checked my credit rating and the old name does appear in the "also known as" section (as well as various typos of it and my new name).
Went to the Social security office and they did want to look at my old SS card and my new DL. But that was all -- filled out the "order a replacement card" form and it came in my new name.
I went to the consulate of my (small) country and told them I wanted a different name. I did hand over my marriage license but as it was silent on the topic it didn't help. The consul called my mother who confirmed the change. The consul said "I could hear her eyes rolling through the phone". But they issued me a new passport, which I have renewed several times at different consulates in different countries without issue. Note: had I done this back home I don't think I would have gotten away with it. There the name change is complicated and they issue you a whole new birth certificate!
My wife went to the consulate of her (large and bureaucratic) country. At the time a change like we wanted was not even legal. But as we'd married in the USA they just accepted it as a "local law" change and issued her a new passport which she has also renewed several times without issue.
I never changed the name on my green card and have never had a problem even though it doesn't match my passport. My (now ex) wife's green card was issued in the name in her passport and no proof was ever asked to link the name change, though she may have submitted the marriage license.
We did this all casually over a year or so, though used our new names immediately. There was no rush, and back then people rarely asked for ID anyway so I don't remember anyone ever noticing that I had documents in different names (e.g. CC and DL).
Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?
#116Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?
#117May be a correlation can be made with Siri. Has the number of people named Siri (if any) gone up? From an ethical point I wonder the true affect of using a name that already exists in society. I do see the effect it has as it is intended to be more human-like.
The same as why you might name your dog George. Should there be robot-like names.
Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
I almost never give my correct name for informal use (I am not a waiter, but for coffee orders and the like). Gives me a marginal amount of privacy (I mean, who cares) and makes it less likely my name will be mispronounced/misspelt with my coffee order. If I were in a service job with a name tag I would definitely not use my real name.
I take the opposite route, my name is everywhere. (See username) The wisdom of that choice however may be questioned freely.
I have a name that is easy to pronounce but hard to spell correctly, so it's easier to give a more common name, than making people struggle and explain how to spell it.
Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?
#119Sure, it first ruined the name Amazon.
Re: Has Amazon Ruined the Name Alexa?
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Imagine your own name being used as a term for ridicule or poking fun. You mean like "a John"? Or "Dick"? Or "a big Charlie"? These things are old as sin, stuff like this will probably exist forever. Forbid it as much as you want, it will always come back one way or another. Or is the problem that now they "trend female", whereas they historically trended male? I have a pretty simple name, but because it was used i…
The odd thing, is that every single Dick I've known, real name was actually Richard. People are weird. My bother in law has one of those names which is is a "joke" and it doesn't seem to bother him in the least. My Sister OTOH, I don't think I actually knew his full name until I was attending their wedding.
> The odd thing, is that every single Dick I've known, real name was actually Richard.
Dick is short for Richard - like Bill and William, or Bob and Robert. It goes Richard -> Rick -> Dick.
Unless what you meant was every single unpleasant person you've known was named Richard.