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Amazon Echo

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Re: Amazon Echo

#731

Post by spaetzel »

mwarkentin wrote: post #403
jwallaceparker wrote: post #343

Watch 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…

Reminds me of Blinky: http://vimeo.com/21216091 "Will you be my frieeend?"

"No problem!"

Re: Amazon Echo

#732

Post by macavity23 »

runeks wrote: post #429
bryanlarsen wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The NSA could also do the same thing to a phone.

Or a laptop, or an iPad, or anything with a microphone on, really.

Phones, laptops & ipads don't have microphones designed specifically to pick up conversations from the other side of the room...

Re: Amazon Echo

#733

Post by rks_1975 »

jwallaceparker wrote: post #343

Watch 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…

That was nicely written.

Re: Amazon Echo

#734

Post by mrinterweb »

Couldn't a similar technology be developed for any bluetooth speaker paired to a phone? Most bluetooth speakers also have a microphone, so software running on the phone could listen for a wakeup word (a la "Ok Google"). Then just tie into siri or Google search?

Re: Amazon Echo

#735

Post by Karunamon »

grey-area wrote: post #558
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #541

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Daniel Ellsberg [Pentagon Papers whistle-blower]: "Somebody told me that they can listen to what we're saying by my having this cellphone {waves what looks like iPhone} even though it's turned off." William Binney [ex-NSA]: "Yes. [... goes off on a tangent about data analysis] He doesn't really mention it. Indeed the vid is considering electronic communications and information which is put in to the public sphere. Ot…

Only, IMO, if it's already been designed in and you can hide the power usage (and data-store usage). That quote was about this Amazon device anyway, which doesn't have power usage or data usage requirements that would be noticed by the average user if recording was only for significant audio. You've jumped from there to cell phones. The access is blanket given warrants like the FISA verizon one, and there's nothing t…

I'm not suggesting that cell phones or this device are all constantly recording what we do and transmitting direct to the NSA right now

Thank you for the clarification, and I apologize if my tone earlier was excessively acerbic - the angle you just mentioned appears to be an undertone surrounding this discussion.

but that they could in a targeted manner be used to do so if someone became of interest

Here's where we diverge: This is an argument that can be applied to any internet-connected device, anywhere, anytime. We're dealing with a group of people that have proven themselves adept at twisting a device's programming to their own ends.

So: Why is this so special? Why are so many people sitting here in this thread slagging on this particular internet-connected mic when most of us carry one with us and work in front of one every single day?

I'm sure I'm not alone in growing weary of hearing the constant "NSA!!" bogeyman brought up anytime a new device featuring a microphone comes out. There's no new information here, no interesting discussion, just the same usual "X might do Y" scaremongering. With the previous paragraph in mind, these concerns ring hypocritical in addition to just hollow.

Re: Amazon Echo

#736

Post by puredemo »

joezydeco wrote: post #713
puredemo wrote: post #544

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ecological

If the recognition algorithm works the way I believe it does, it's looking for silence before the keyword, indicating it's the start of a question and "Alexa" is the subject: e.g. "Alexa, how many people live in Germany?" and not "I should talk to Alexa about ordering ten new televisions." Can't think of a lot of sentences that start with "ecological".

yeah, I was half joking.

That being said, I think you can name the echo whatever you want. Maybe the people in the commercial just chose "Alexa"

Re: Amazon Echo

#737

Post by Houshalter »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #697
mamikonyana wrote: post #519

Earlier quoted context omitted.

from the video: "..it only hears you when you use the wake word we chose..", so you can definitely chose "Computer" as your wake word

Isn't this patently false? If it's not listening how can it hear the wake word?

Xbox and google now do the same thing. As I understand it all the sound is filtered locally for the keyword. If it's detected, then it starts recording and sends the audio to a server to be processed.

Re: Amazon Echo

#738

Post by joezydeco »

puredemo wrote: post #736
joezydeco wrote: post #713

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the recognition algorithm works the way I believe it does, it's looking for silence before the keyword, indicating it's the start of a question and "Alexa" is the subject: e.g. "Alexa, how many people live in Germany?" and not "I should talk to Alexa about ordering ten new televisions." Can't think of a lot of sentences that start with "ecological".

yeah, I was half joking. That being said, I think you can name the echo whatever you want. Maybe the people in the commercial just chose "Alexa"

The system default is "Alexa". Says so right on the web page.

Re: Amazon Echo

#739

Post by anilshanbhag »

anilshanbhag wrote: post #529
chatmasta wrote: post #87

This "internet-of-things" trend coincides unfortunately with the "dragnet surveillance" trend. With every new product launch from a "cloud company," I increasingly feel as if I'm reading the tombstone of modern society. The selling point behind these devices is convenience, but at the cost of security. I don't think I need to explain to HN why an always-on, internet connected voice recording device is something to ke…

I feel the general the fear about "dragnet surveillance" is misplaced and uncalled for. As long as you haven't done anything wrong, hearing your conversations should be a total waste of time for whoever made the effort to do so. There are 100 million+ people in America, don't think people from NSA will waste their time on going over family conversations of every family.

Seems like lot of people dislike my view of things but each person is entitled to his view. Don't think it deserved so many downvotes. > What if the government mistakenly determines that based on your pattern of activities, you're likely to engage in a criminal act? What if it denies you the right to fly? What if the government thinks your financial transactions look odd—even if you've done nothing wrong—and freezes your accounts? - Being a CS grad student, I can say when people build models for these things - they are uber careful. Again i would term this a pessimistic view of world. They might interrogate you but the chance of this is 1 in million. They will not just cut you out like you describe.

> What if the government doesn't protect your information with adequate security, and an identity thief obtains it and uses it to defraud you? Even if you have nothing to hide, the government can cause you a lot of harm. It comes down to whether you trust your government. The government is here to protect its people, not screw them up.

Re: Amazon Echo

#740

Post by minot »

spaetzel wrote: post #731
mwarkentin wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of Blinky: http://vimeo.com/21216091 "Will you be my frieeend?"

"No problem!"

> "No problem!"

I feel indifferent about the parents. Perhaps the writers and directors wanted me to feel that way. I feel absolutely no sympathy for the kid. I am clearly unfit to be a parent.

I am just sad for the dog.

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