A new Amazon Alexa Echo voice command improvement now makes it easier to string together a series of commands without repeating "Alexa" over and over again. The back-to-back commands will need to right after each other AND you must turn on (off by default) the Follow-Up Mode under settings in the Alexa app.
After switching ON each Echo device on your network from the list of devices under Settings, you can then string requests together without getting Alexa’s attention each time (you need to activate each device you want to use in Follow-Up Mode). My test was simply to switch on an off a couple of house lights and to play a favorite Pandora station. Everything worked smoothly … almost as if I created a Group command (but that’s another feature – "Alexa, turn on all lights" … after you put your sunglasses on – HA!)
*** Currently you cannot use the Follow-Up Mode while PLAYING audio or music.
It was a crisp and cold night for March in Cincinnati and with a pitch black sky at 6 AM (after the Daylight Savings time change), the Waning Crescent Moon (see Lunar Phase) gave me a chance to see if my Lumix GX8 and 100-300mm lens was up to the task.
I’ve tried still photos several times before (other cameras) but this was the first attempt photographing the moonat night in video. I’ve heard sensors do a better job with video than still photo (photo right).
Anyway, the video below is a very short clip (it was cold) … and it is still a tad bit fuzzy full screen, but far better than my experience of trying to take long or short exposed still photos of the moon (and even harder with an iPhone!)
Enjoyed the opportunity to ask questions and exchange thoughts with a Twitter management group working on improving online #health (safety/abuse).The live Periscopechat was a way for Twitter operate as transparently as possible. They will be opening an RFP process(request for proposal) from academia and the community. Twitter along with most of Silicon Valley is aware they their immediate community has an innate "progressive" bias which has come under attack this past year. Politics and issues bring out abuse by users, some far more dangerous than others. They seem sincere about welcoming questions, thoughts and ideas and what to rapidly address the "health of the community," has they refer to it. Hopefully those of us that use Twitter as a "newsfeed" and appreciate having an exchange with others can be helpful in refining Twitter without draconian measure — a recent "broad based banning" was not received well, especially by conservatives.
On an investment note, solid a few shares of TWTR close to $36 as it became a "double" for me on Wednesday this past week even though I’m still confident Twitter is on the right track (nothing wrong with booking a little profit).
We’re committing to helping increase the collective health, openness, and civility of public conversation around the world, and to hold ourselves publicly accountable toward progress. By measuring our contribution to the overall health of the public conversation, we believe we can more holistically approach and measure our impact on the world for years to come.
Encore lost her slip last year at Harbortown Marina when I haul for some TLC during hurricane season in 2017 and I was glad Daniel our dockmaster made room for us last month when we relaunched. It’s great to have Encore is back in the water, but I miss the quieter dock we had previously. I’ve been hoping that as the snowbirds headed back north that we could move nearer to our previous location … so as long as we could maintain at least 5 foot of water (Encore’s draft and questionable on B-dock).
Earlier in the week, I received an email from Daniel who thinks B-26 will be opening up in April and thought we might want to move there. So, I’m planning to grab it … even if it is further from the showers, bathroom and lounge … and hopefully can modify my contract to save a few dollars (Brenda will be happier too, since she was upset I gave up our previous dock). I know you are reading, so what do you think, Mark?
The long time investigative correspondent for CBS, Sharyl Attkisson did an excellent job of “fairly” building a timeline in the “Collusion against Trump” details on her website. If you really want to understand what we know so far regarding the Russian connections, it is worth at least skimming the points below.
On the other side, evidence has emerged in the past year that makes it clear there were organized efforts to collude against candidate Donald Trump–and then President Trump. For example:
Anti-Russian Ukrainians allegedly helped coordinate and execute a campaign against Trump in partnership with the Democratic National Committee and news reporters.
A Yemen-born ex-British spy reportedly delivered political opposition research against Trump to reporters, Sen. John McCain, and the FBI; the latter of which used the material–in part–to obtain wiretaps against one or more Trump-related associates.
There were orchestrated leaks of anti-Trump information and allegations to the press, including by ex-FBI Director James Comey.
The U.S. intel community allegedly engaged in questionable surveillance practices and politically-motivated “unmaskings” of U.S. citizens, including Trump officials.
Alleged conflicts of interests have surfaced regarding FBI officials who cleared Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified information and who investigated Trump’s alleged Russia ties.
But it’s not so easy to find a timeline pertinent to the investigations into these events.
The back-to-back commands will need to right after each other AND you must turn on (off by default) the Follow-Up Mode under settings in the Alexa app.
