{"id":1347,"slug":"alexa","name":"Alexa","type":"concept","created_at":"2026-08-08T04:41:28.897271+00:00","hidden":0,"aliases":[],"episodes":[{"id":"a910b628-9c9f-4134-873d-de54549505ef","slug":"s17e03-personality-a-rule-about-designing-games","subject":"s17e03: Personality; A Rule about Designing Games","title":"Personality; A Rule about Designing Games","publish_date":"2024-01-10T19:07:12.193546+00:00","year":2024,"month":1,"season":17,"episode":3,"episode_label":"s17e03","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s17e03-personality-a-rule-about-designing-games/","is_premium":0,"word_count":1998,"context":" … always been an ambition of agents, and one that in the original Echo/<mark>Alexa</mark>’s case turned out to not actually be that useful, because in general people … ","reading_minutes":10},{"id":"57fd54db-3330-45db-9df6-786f0a8d9f56","slug":"s14e11-to-help-you-best-id-need-to-know-you","subject":"s14e11: To help you best, I'd need to know you","title":"To help you best, I'd need to know you","publish_date":"2023-01-27T20:05:00.756213+00:00","year":2023,"month":1,"season":14,"episode":11,"episode_label":"s14e11","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s14e11-to-help-you-best-id-need-to-know-you/","is_premium":0,"word_count":882,"context":" … But\neven then\nwe'd have to come to grips with the tradeoff being\nif you want <mark>Alexa</mark> or Siri to be more useful\nthen it would have … ","reading_minutes":4},{"id":"03015154-0252-45ec-a445-e7538b73f53b","slug":"s14e02-it-was-only-a-receipt-its-a-social-problem","subject":"s14e02: It was only a receipt; It's a social problem, not a technology problem; Stupid smart lights","title":"It was only a receipt; It's a social problem, not a technology problem; Stupid smart lights","publish_date":"2023-01-03T22:59:16.412000+00:00","year":2023,"month":1,"season":14,"episode":2,"episode_label":"s14e02","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s14e02-it-was-only-a-receipt-its-a-social-problem/","is_premium":0,"word_count":833,"context":" … It was one of those <mark>Alexa</mark> nightlights[^<mark>alexa</mark>], no microphone, controllable only by talking to something that does have a microphone and is backed into Amazon's billions … ","reading_minutes":4},{"id":"6f1588cb-96da-465d-b279-0abd1ce274f4","slug":"s12e55-its-a-trombone-a-midi-controller-and-a","subject":"s12e55: It's a trombone, a midi controller, and a videogame controller...","title":"It's a trombone, a midi controller, and a videogame controller...","publish_date":"2022-09-22T21:44:54.435569+00:00","year":2022,"month":9,"season":12,"episode":55,"episode_label":"s12e55","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s12e55-its-a-trombone-a-midi-controller-and-a/","is_premium":0,"word_count":865,"context":" … I completely missed that\n<mark>Alexa</mark> has been running on custom Amazon silicon\nsince at least November 2020. I was going to say \"<mark>Alexa</mark>'s non-corporeal existence\" but … ","reading_minutes":4},{"id":"8497a532-9970-42bd-acd5-41fa11ec6b37","slug":"s12e47-domestication","subject":"s12e47: Domestication","title":"Domestication","publish_date":"2022-08-08T23:15:42.341749+00:00","year":2022,"month":8,"season":12,"episode":47,"episode_label":"s12e47","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s12e47-domestication/","is_premium":0,"word_count":1546,"context":" … Let <mark>Alexa</mark> do the busy work for you.\n\nAre you busy and overwhelmed? <mark>Alexa</mark> is here to help. You can use <mark>Alexa</mark> Routines to automate every day tasks … ","reading_minutes":8},{"id":"bd550ce7-121d-4212-92ce-e6740a9291d6","slug":"s12e27-just-put-dr-ian-malcolm-on-our-tombstone","subject":"s12e27: Just Put Dr. Ian Malcolm On Our Tombstone Already","title":"Just Put Dr. Ian Malcolm On Our Tombstone Already","publish_date":"2022-06-23T23:35:55.414513+00:00","year":2022,"month":6,"season":12,"episode":27,"episode_label":"s12e27","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s12e27-just-put-dr-ian-malcolm-on-our-tombstone/","is_premium":0,"word_count":1439,"context":" … 1.0 Some Things That Caught My Attention\n\nWhat is the point of OpenAI, again?\n\nYesterday I very briefly linked to Amazon's demo of <mark>Alexa</mark> mimicking voices … ","reading_minutes":7},{"id":"2a6623ed-51d1-44e5-864e-42c38c680ae8","slug":"s11e10-you-wont-believe-these-10-jira-tricks","subject":"s11e10: You Won't Believe These 10 Jira Tricks","title":"You Won't Believe These 10 Jira Tricks","publish_date":"2022-03-07T17:19:19.669248+00:00","year":2022,"month":3,"season":11,"episode":10,"episode_label":"s11e10","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s11e10-you-wont-believe-these-10-jira-tricks/","is_premium":0,"word_count":1552,"context":" … I say: \"<mark>Alexa</mark>, play the album Eternal Golden Braid by the band https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gödel,_Escher,_Bach\n[3]\nfrom Amazon Music\".\n\nThat's not a … ","reading_minutes":8},{"id":"8b99c42f-61fb-48fa-b1e8-c501c30c9e1d","slug":"s09e06-three-things","subject":"s09e06: Three Things","title":"Three Things","publish_date":"2021-03-11T16:51:26.092000+00:00","year":2021,"month":3,"season":9,"episode":6,"episode_label":"s09e06","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s09e06-three-things/","is_premium":0,"word_count":3343,"context":" … 1.0 Some things that caught my attention\nA Little Printer…\nOn February 18, 2021, Amazon launched “\nSmart Sticky Note Printer\n, Works With <mark>Alexa</mark>, A Day 1 Editions … ","reading_minutes":17},{"id":"fc9d4e37-28cd-4441-b68e-28a5a720b8ea","slug":"s08e23-the-defensive-patent-pool","subject":"s08e23: The Defensive Patent Pool","title":"The Defensive Patent Pool","publish_date":"2020-11-08T02:11:11.553000+00:00","year":2020,"month":11,"season":8,"episode":23,"episode_label":"s08e23","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s08e23-the-defensive-patent-pool/","is_premium":0,"word_count":1739,"context":" … Are you there, <mark>Alexa</mark>? It’s me, Dan.\nIt started when I saw a\ntweet\nfrom\nLilly Irani\na professor at the University of California San Diego’s … ","reading_minutes":9},{"id":"d3c76051-e1c1-4560-823d-dffbda246749","slug":"s08e16-whats-the-egot-for-technology-and-arts","subject":"s08e16: What's the EGOT for Technology and Arts?","title":"What's the EGOT for Technology and Arts?","publish_date":"2020-07-01T22:30:21.788000+00:00","year":2020,"month":7,"season":8,"episode":16,"episode_label":"s08e16","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s08e16-whats-the-egot-for-technology-and-arts/","is_premium":0,"word_count":2680,"context":" … Ars Technica reported on an unpublished paper that identified “\nmore than 1,000 sequences that incorrectly trigger smart speakers\n”, like <mark>Alexa</mark> waking up when it hears words like … ","reading_minutes":13},{"id":"d08e98d8-9b08-4849-b1eb-4f57d0ba947b","slug":"s08e02-software-from-trauma-or-fingers-crossed","subject":"s08e02: Software from trauma, or, fingers crossed the only blockchain episode of 2020","title":"Software from trauma, or, fingers crossed the only blockchain episode of 2020","publish_date":"2020-01-12T23:45:08.456000+00:00","year":2020,"month":1,"season":8,"episode":2,"episode_label":"s08e02","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s08e02-software-from-trauma-or-fingers-crossed/","is_premium":0,"word_count":2957,"context":" … Local advertiser: “<mark>Alexa</mark>, show me the front door.”\n<mark>Alexa</mark>: OK, I can show you 10,000 front doors in the Portland Metro area. What would you like to … ","reading_minutes":15},{"id":"6bde3a7a-1c84-46b7-a6ed-effb89a56cce","slug":"s08e01-learning-the-world","subject":"s08e01: Learning the world","title":"Learning the world","publish_date":"2020-01-03T23:54:18.013000+00:00","year":2020,"month":1,"season":8,"episode":1,"episode_label":"s08e01","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s08e01-learning-the-world/","is_premium":0,"word_count":1369,"context":" … I bring <mark>Alexa</mark> Answers up with a heavy sigh (here’s its\nFAQ\n) because it’s got all the tropes of gamification, and I use that word in … ","reading_minutes":7},{"id":"2115bdd9-5f82-4837-bc59-8ac3eba0e711","slug":"s07e27-tattletales-or-ok-google-what-do-you-have","subject":"s07e27: Tattletales, or, OK Google, what do you have on me?","title":"Tattletales, or, OK Google, what do you have on me?","publish_date":"2019-12-18T00:51:08.725000+00:00","year":2019,"month":12,"season":7,"episode":27,"episode_label":"s07e27","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s07e27-tattletales-or-ok-google-what-do-you-have/","is_premium":0,"word_count":3671,"context":" … There’s the related point, which is that an Echo presents itself as <mark>Alexa</mark>. You deal with <mark>Alexa</mark>-the-interface, not really Echo-the-object. And <mark>Alexa</mark> defaults … ","reading_minutes":18},{"id":"6ab47a23-5e70-46f3-9f85-3847343abd30","slug":"s07e16-with-the-word-police-on-it","subject":"s07e16: “With the word POLICE on it”","title":"“With the word POLICE on it”","publish_date":"2019-10-24T00:25:33.342000+00:00","year":2019,"month":10,"season":7,"episode":16,"episode_label":"s07e16","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s07e16-with-the-word-police-on-it/","is_premium":0,"word_count":2903,"context":" … new game\nHey Robot\n(via many people), a sort of Taboo but with <mark>Alexa</mark>/Google, is, well, genius because of how it will get people to interact with … ","reading_minutes":15},{"id":"7c222532-d5c7-43f4-bfa2-1a155d826c8f","slug":"s07extra01-stop-using-nouns","subject":"s07extra01: Stop Using Nouns","title":"Stop Using Nouns","publish_date":"2019-09-27T21:27:59.422000+00:00","year":2019,"month":9,"season":7,"episode":1,"episode_label":"s07extra01","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s07extra01-stop-using-nouns/","is_premium":1,"word_count":1413,"context":" … more Echo/<mark>Alexa</mark> Kids stuff! A nightlight and a new Echo Dot Kids, and a thing that would be cool to 10 year old me, which is\n<mark>Alexa</mark> … ","reading_minutes":7},{"id":"8e9ca93c-5ac5-4125-8b51-c24288fafc27","slug":"s06e06-change-your-organization-or-change-your","subject":"s06e06: Change your organization, or change your organization","title":"Change your organization, or change your organization","publish_date":"2018-08-31T00:00:00+00:00","year":2018,"month":8,"season":6,"episode":6,"episode_label":"s06e06","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s06e06-change-your-organization-or-change-your/","is_premium":0,"word_count":1642,"context":" … Anyway, the idea that people in the Potterverse would yell at portraits in the same way that we yell at <mark>Alexa</mark> and Siri and, uh, OK Google, was … ","reading_minutes":8},{"id":"9c121618-e2a3-4f3c-a539-77388bd4cb78","slug":"s06e02-as-at-batman-i-want-a-batcomputer-so-that","subject":"s06e02: As at Batman, I want a Batcomputer so that I can remain unchallenged as The World’s Greatest Detective","title":"As at Batman, I want a Batcomputer so that I can remain unchallenged as The World’s Greatest Detective","publish_date":"2018-08-18T00:00:00+00:00","year":2018,"month":8,"season":6,"episode":2,"episode_label":"s06e02","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s06e02-as-at-batman-i-want-a-batcomputer-so-that/","is_premium":0,"word_count":2384,"context":" … UI assistants (Siri, <mark>Alexa</mark>) and now enough time has passed that there’s actual academic research! Here’s the University of Washington press release,\n<mark>Alexa</mark>, be my friend … ","reading_minutes":12},{"id":"4c9c5797-c38e-4cec-a362-c6f2910e26fa","slug":"s5e11-things-that-have-caught-my-attention","subject":"s5e11: Things That Have Caught My Attention","title":"Things That Have Caught My Attention","publish_date":"2018-05-04T00:00:00+00:00","year":2018,"month":5,"season":5,"episode":11,"episode_label":"s05e11","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s5e11-things-that-have-caught-my-attention/","is_premium":0,"word_count":2294,"context":" … There are now enough <mark>Alexa</mark> (plural?) out there that the phenomenon of \"the funny things kids say to <mark>Alexa</mark>\" is pretty well documented as well as the earlier … ","reading_minutes":11},{"id":"20b542cd-2cb0-48b3-972a-889a659dd2d2","slug":"s5e07-acquisition-and-ingest-mode-dial-for-a-wide","subject":"s5e07: Acquisition and ingest mode, dial for a wide spread","title":"Acquisition and ingest mode, dial for a wide spread","publish_date":"2018-03-20T00:00:00+00:00","year":2018,"month":3,"season":5,"episode":7,"episode_label":"s05e07","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s5e07-acquisition-and-ingest-mode-dial-for-a-wide/","is_premium":0,"word_count":2103,"context":" … But then, the realization that <mark>Alexa</mark> does a just-about-bad-enough job of playing music, or adding things to lists! I mean yes, it's certainly easier … ","reading_minutes":11},{"id":"deb2d677-f4c6-403b-8387-e11725ec77a1","slug":"s5e05-nobody-expects-the-hiatus-newsletter","subject":"s5e05: Nobody expects the hiatus newsletter","title":"Nobody expects the hiatus newsletter","publish_date":"2018-01-13T00:00:00+00:00","year":2018,"month":1,"season":5,"episode":5,"episode_label":"s05e05","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s5e05-nobody-expects-the-hiatus-newsletter/","is_premium":0,"word_count":3091,"context":" … that are now a) “smart”, b) connected to the internet and c) thusly <mark>Alexa</mark>/Cortana/Siri/Google-enabled. Oh and I guess maybe Bixby too?\n\n\n\nSo just from … ","reading_minutes":15},{"id":"58cd9393-f09a-4ba6-9e19-7134fcac102a","slug":"s4e09-earl-grey-hot-again-probably","subject":"s4e09: Earl Grey, Hot (again, probably)","title":"Earl Grey, Hot (again, probably)","publish_date":"2017-03-22T00:00:00+00:00","year":2017,"month":3,"season":4,"episode":9,"episode_label":"s04e09","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s4e09-earl-grey-hot-again-probably/","is_premium":0,"word_count":1141,"context":" … this is exactly why talking to <mark>Alexa</mark> is sufficiently infuriating as well as helpful.\n\n\n\nIn this way, it's infuriating when <mark>Alexa</mark> definitely understands the request (in our … ","reading_minutes":6},{"id":"8cf35d59-1b51-4f72-978b-67bbe67967a2","slug":"s3e28-something-is-better-than-nothing","subject":"s3e28: Something is better than nothing","title":"Something is better than nothing","publish_date":"2016-10-19T00:00:00+00:00","year":2016,"month":10,"season":3,"episode":28,"episode_label":"s03e28","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s3e28-something-is-better-than-nothing/","is_premium":0,"word_count":2215,"context":" … Rest easy, your 386/486SX will never talk back to you once more, with feeling.\n\n\n\n* Somewhere Amazon has data on how many preschoolers are talking to <mark>Alexa</mark>. I … ","reading_minutes":11},{"id":"8b966964-b319-4e2b-b596-891747a49759","slug":"s3e13-they-should-have-sent-a-poet","subject":"s3e13: They Should Have Sent A Poet","title":"They Should Have Sent A Poet","publish_date":"2016-04-18T00:00:00+00:00","year":2016,"month":4,"season":3,"episode":13,"episode_label":"s03e13","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s3e13-they-should-have-sent-a-poet/","is_premium":0,"word_count":2684,"context":" … some point, someone somewhere is hiring MFAs or whoever to write for Siri, <mark>Alexa</mark>, Cortana and the next wave of platform-powered Bots. At places like Apple, I … ","reading_minutes":13},{"id":"27ae59b3-a787-4a06-8574-f1626d21eb8c","slug":"s3e07-patterns-in-the-noise","subject":"s3e07: Patterns in the noise","title":"Patterns in the noise","publish_date":"2016-04-01T00:00:00+00:00","year":2016,"month":4,"season":3,"episode":7,"episode_label":"s03e07","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s3e07-patterns-in-the-noise/","is_premium":0,"word_count":940,"context":" … is this examination as to whether it's OK to use Amazon's <mark>Alexa</mark>/Echo during Shabbos[4], which is a REALLY GOOD AND INTERESTING ARTICLE and took … ","reading_minutes":5},{"id":"16122423-bd28-4a14-abad-f6e692a96a1d","slug":"s3e06-portions-of-this-consciousness-are-copyright","subject":"s3e06: Portions Of This Consciousness Are Copyright","title":"Portions Of This Consciousness Are Copyright","publish_date":"2016-03-31T00:00:00+00:00","year":2016,"month":3,"season":3,"episode":6,"episode_label":"s03e06","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s3e06-portions-of-this-consciousness-are-copyright/","is_premium":0,"word_count":1499,"context":" … Siri, Cortana and <mark>Alexa</mark> and the so-far unnamed \"OK Google\" are all (mostly, modulo some internationalisation) female/women, never mind the \"bitchin'\" voice[11] designed to grab … ","reading_minutes":7},{"id":"6293c390-7264-49eb-be9a-ff0b8b89002a","slug":"s2e30-politeness","subject":"s2e30: Politeness","title":"Politeness","publish_date":"2015-12-18T00:00:00+00:00","year":2015,"month":12,"season":2,"episode":30,"episode_label":"s02e30","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s2e30-politeness/","is_premium":0,"word_count":696,"context":" … I've written about this before in terms of how social interactions with agents/characters/personalities/services like Siri, Google and <mark>Alexa</mark> are *designed*, because we have to … ","reading_minutes":3},{"id":"fe5ace9a-65d4-470e-96c0-b1c733bf4cc7","slug":"s2e14-what-youll-reap-foo-thoughts-the-next","subject":"s2e14: What You'll Reap; Foo Thoughts; The Next Generation","title":"What You'll Reap; Foo Thoughts; The Next Generation","publish_date":"2015-08-04T00:00:00+00:00","year":2015,"month":8,"season":2,"episode":14,"episode_label":"s02e14","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/s2e14-what-youll-reap-foo-thoughts-the-next/","is_premium":0,"word_count":1814,"context":" … As Hammersley points out, <mark>Alexa</mark> doesn't say thank you. She just, well, \"meets your user need\". So Hammersley ends up being progressively more curt and abrupt and … ","reading_minutes":9},{"id":"eadc0c79-8c58-4974-a57e-80ed9bba2d08","slug":"episode-one-hundred-and-eighty-four-our-crap","subject":"Episode One Hundred and Eighty Four: Our Crap Connected Future; Oh My God More Advertising; Echo","title":"Our Crap Connected Future; Oh My God More Advertising; Echo","publish_date":"2014-11-07T00:00:00+00:00","year":2014,"month":11,"season":null,"episode":184,"episode_label":"episode 184","canonical_url":"https://newsletter.danhon.com/archive/episode-one-hundred-and-eighty-four-our-crap/","is_premium":0,"word_count":2265,"context":" … I mean, \"<mark>ALEXA</mark>, GIVE ME MY FLASH NEWS BRIEFING\" - is that something that Tech dad programmed into <mark>Alexa</mark> so he could be all GIVE ME MY FLASH NEWS … ","reading_minutes":11}]}