Very interesting device. I just fear that they will lock it down' like it's the 90's and would come with no open API. And then of course the security stuff... but that's everywhere now ...
Amazon Echo
491–500 of 746 posts
Re: Amazon Echo
#492Earlier quoted context omitted.
But why not use "Echo" as the wakeup word, or name the product "Alexa", then? I'm not considering the iPhone/Siri example the same. Siri came much later after iPhone and is not the primary mode of iPhone operation.
Probably because "echo" is too common of a sound as a component of other words.
Example?
Re: Amazon Echo
#493Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly. I don't actually carry a phone these days and people think I'm crazy. Personally I just don't want to be available all the time but it has certain privacy advantages.
How do you possibly live? I joke! In all seriousness, did you find your concentration improved as you didn't feel the desire to constantly check for text messages or emails?
Well I was in emotional, physical pain and panic like (I assume) a crack addict for a couple of weeks. It was horrid.
Then I was sitting down reading a book (Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card) and realised I'd blown 4 hours on it rather than doing any work. Rushed and grabbed the laptop and nothing was broken, on fire and no one had emailed me. Then I did a two hour coding binge. Did more on that day than any other and it has just got better and better.
Concentration has improved as has tolerance and patience. I also read a lot more because I have the time to.
I'm only posting on here because I'm waiting for compile cycles :)
Re: Amazon Echo
#494Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do have control over my laptop, the NSA or Amazon would have to actively hack me in order go get to that mic and luckily I'm not worth it anyways. In order for someone (the NSA?) to track a phone and do whatever they need to do, they need to have a warrant and what-not. That's like deliberately sending all your living-room conversations (yours and your family's) online for analysis for God-knows-what purpose. You t…
There are two basic ways for the NSA to snoop on you using this device. 1. Listen to the internet traffic 2. Install malware to listen to everything For #1, the Echo only sends conversations preceded by it's keyword. But since the alternatives to the commands you're telling Echo involve the internet anyways, what's the difference? IOW, asking echo for the weather sends the same basic information to the NSA that pulli…
3. Modify the hardware at the manufacturer to make it easier to snoop on without the user being aware.[1]
[1] http://www.infoworld.com/article/2608141/internet-privacy/sn...
Re: Amazon Echo
#495Earlier quoted context omitted.
This was my train of thought as well, but it ended in me researching mini bluetooth speakers and buying one of those instead. The features enabled by Echo are kind of cool and all, but I don't think I'd use them at all and the security stuff is obviously enough of a concern to make me think twice. It wonder why they didn't try to add a wifi kill-switch kind of thing for the paranoid who would just use it for a blue-t…
there's a button on top to turn the listening feature off
Which actually activates the stream-to-NSA feature /paranoia.
Re: Amazon Echo
#496Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's no way this thing has the power to do adequate voice recognition on device for arbitray speakers and queries, even given a limited domain. It's sending everything to Amazon for processing. The only thing it probably recognizes by itself is "Alexa."
Right, so it sends the commands that you give it only after it recognizes a pre-programmed word. It will likely not send up casual conversation surrounding the command, as there would not be a non-nefarious reason to do that.
False positives... But yeah they're probably rare. The real risk is that it could be hacked or national security lettered to listen permanently. The FBI has form in this regard.
Re: Amazon Echo
#497Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks for dragging me in to this. This is an even better example of the point I was trying to make, yet you're still doing this bland dismissal. You should really stop and think about the privacy implications of this technology for a few minutes.
Thanks, I didn't realize there were privacy implications. How did I miss that. I think I slept through the hundreds of Snowden posts to HN. Now would it be possible not to turn every post like this into an NSA warning? I'll make my own choices from here.
> Now would it be possible not to turn every post like this into an NSA warning?
Sure, right after the need for an NSA warning on all of these things stops being necessary.
Re: Amazon Echo
#498Watch the promo video again and pretend it's the first few minutes of a horror movie. A package arrives on the front porch. The family brings it in and opens it. It's Alexa. It's "for everyone," says Father. The next few days are blissful. Alexa integrates herself into the family. She is indispensable. How did they ever get by without her? Father rushes in from the backyard, "Alexa, how tall is Mt. Everest?" Alexa an…
Hah. After reading this, I really kind of want Amazon to release a version of this that looks like HAL. They should embrace their dark side.
"Hal" would be an excellent name. You can name it yourself, so...
Re: Amazon Echo
#499Earlier quoted context omitted.
> People carry around a GPS tracking device with a mic and camera built-in. They use it to post their entire lives on social networks. And they're worried about privacy. i think people who are worried about privacy are not the people who are broadcasting their entire lives on social networks
By that argument, those people won't buy the Amazon Echo either, so what's the problem?
The people who don't broadcast their lives on social media are also concerned about what happens to the people who do.
Because they are not psycopaths.
well, generally speaking.
Re: Amazon Echo
#500Watch the promo video again and pretend it's the first few minutes of a horror movie. A package arrives on the front porch. The family brings it in and opens it. It's Alexa. It's "for everyone," says Father. The next few days are blissful. Alexa integrates herself into the family. She is indispensable. How did they ever get by without her? Father rushes in from the backyard, "Alexa, how tall is Mt. Everest?" Alexa an…
beautiful :')