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Let The Right One In (NOT Alexa)

We have Alexas, Alexi, Alexuses! all around the house, including the bedroom. If anyone is monitoring my conversations then I find the thought of them listening into me and Mrs Girth’s bedroom antics quite amusing!
 
I'm unable to mute entirely the 'calls' volume on my tablet, I guess because Google/Huawei fancy a snoop on me. Don't and won't ever use any 'digital assistants' as I find the concept irritating in the extreme.

As I only ever really use it to play daft games whilst relaxing listening to audiobooks in bed, they are going to think I endlessly talk about Romano-British history, Regency shenanigins, castles, the Tudors and other (not) so very interesting topics. If I get targetted ads for trebuchets or ox-ploughs, then I'll know they've been listening in o_O
 
My friend was woken in the small hours by the sound of a male voice downstairs- she lives alone . She recalled that her sone had left an air rifle in his old room so being a fiesty gal, she slipped her dressing gown on, grabbed the gun and crept down stairs. She now realised there were two men talking softly, she flung the door open and switched on the lights, to discover the TV on with a late night chat show.

Alexa had switched the TV on, presumable she got bored.
 
Alexa issues have have even become a topic for lawyers - especially those working from home under pandemic conditions.
Lawyers Practicing at Home Should Remember Alexa Is Listening

Among the ethical dilemmas posed by attorneys working from home full time due to Covid-19: what to do with Alexa or other voice activated devices that could impinge upon attorney-client confidentiality?

Devices like Alexa or Google Home present “low-level” risks for confidentiality breaches, said speakers at an online ethics panel Saturday at the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers’ annual meeting.

It’s a concern because they’re always listening to know when you say something to prompt it, said Brian S. Faughnan, a lawyer with Lewis Thomason in Memphis.

To be safe, fellow panelist Joseph A. Corsmeier, a solo practitioner in Palm Harbor, Fla. recommended unplugging voice-prompted smart devices when they’re not being used.

What to do with smart devices is just part of the challenges - and opportunities - technology presents to lawyers working from home during the pandemic. ...

SOURCE: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-la...er-alexa-is-listening?context=search&index=26
 
No Alexa round here, nor do I use the Siri on my iPhone, but since we have all manner of games consoles I suspect somebody may be carrying out surveillance on us somehow. They're in for a very boring listen...
 
The thing is most of our day to day lives are unimportant to them, what they are listening for is key words in order to target you, a experiment needs to be carried out for those like me who have an Alexa (or two) mention some random products and see if they appear on your Amazon account
 
Just got a weird one!

Was on a phone call yesterday and it was really bad quality. Have had crackling issues before and I think it is actually my phone. So one thought that went through my mind was I should try out some other phones I have around the place to see if the problem is the phone or the line. And if it is the phone then I may have to buy another one. This all took plae in my mind. No mention to anyone.

This morning I get an email from Amazon with some phone recommendations...
 
I got an Echo Dot for Christmas. It's still sitting on the shelf as, despite hours and hours ('Installation is simple and takes five minutes' my arse) of persuasion, it still will not connect to the wi fi.

I only want it to play podcasts and my audio books when I'm doing stuff around the house. I'll just carry on using my phone with the volume turned up to MAX then.
 
I got an Echo Dot for Christmas. It's still sitting on the shelf as, despite hours and hours ('Installation is simple and takes five minutes' my arse) of persuasion, it still will not connect to the wi fi.

I only want it to play podcasts and my audio books when I'm doing stuff around the house. I'll just carry on using my phone with the volume turned up to MAX then.
It might be something to do with your wifi router. How old is it? What wifi generation is it? Where is it in relation to the Echo Dot?
Also... is the Echo Dot fully charged up before you attempt to connect?
Before you get started, make sure your Echo is plugged in. It may not be fully charged, and you do not want it to die during the setup process. Wait until the light ring on the top of the Echo turns orange before proceeding.
 
I got an Echo Dot for Christmas. It's still sitting on the shelf as, despite hours and hours ('Installation is simple and takes five minutes' my arse) of persuasion, it still will not connect to the wi fi.

I only want it to play podcasts and my audio books when I'm doing stuff around the house. I'll just carry on using my phone with the volume turned up to MAX then.
Here’s my advice. Get a baseball bat and smash it to pieces. Put the pieces in a blender and reduce to an ‘Eavesdropper Smoothie’.

Here’s a thought. Get some bluetooth wireless earphones if you want to listen to podcasts while carrying on doing your stuff.
 
It might be something to do with your wifi router. How old is it? What wifi generation is it? Where is it in relation to the Echo Dot?
Also... is the Echo Dot fully charged up before you attempt to connect?
Before you get started, make sure your Echo is plugged in. It may not be fully charged, and you do not want it to die during the setup process. Wait until the light ring on the top of the Echo turns orange before proceeding.
Yep, we're pretty techie here and we followed all the instructions. Wi fi router is new, it's a mobile router which I thought was the problem, but apparently not, they can run an Echo perfectly well. It's within 30 ft of the Echo but the Echo just doesn't want to talk to it.
 
Yep, we're pretty techie here and we followed all the instructions. Wi fi router is new, it's a mobile router which I thought was the problem, but apparently not, they can run an Echo perfectly well. It's within 30 ft of the Echo but the Echo just doesn't want to talk to it.
Analogue Boy's suggestion would definitely seem to apply.
 
Can't play baseball because of covid anyway. Have to enjoy isolated indoor sports for now. Bash away!
 
I got an Echo Dot for Christmas. It's still sitting on the shelf as, despite hours and hours ('Installation is simple and takes five minutes' my arse) of persuasion, it still will not connect to the wi fi.

I only want it to play podcasts and my audio books when I'm doing stuff around the house. I'll just carry on using my phone with the volume turned up to MAX then.

Just get yourself a comfy set of wireless headphones/ear buds.
 
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Just get yourself a comfy set of wireless headphones/ear buds.
I should do. We had another bash at the Alexa at the weekend and it looks as though my mobile hub is insufficient and I will need a proper router to work it. I have fought a rearguard action against having one, but for a couple of other reasons it looks as though Virgin may be getting my custom very shortly.
 
I should do. We had another bash at the Alexa at the weekend and it looks as though my mobile hub is insufficient and I will need a proper router to work it. I have fought a rearguard action against having one, but for a couple of other reasons it looks as though Virgin may be getting my custom very shortly.
Dont do it, shes not worth it Darren! :p
 
I was just walking to the supermarket, while listening to music on my phone. I heard some beep-sounds and realized the emergency dialpad had been turned on. It hasn't happened before. It could be I had managed to press it in my pocket, but the song that was playing was called 911 and featured some lyrics about emergencies. I wonder if it might have been a case of the apps snooping on each other.
 
I was just walking to the supermarket, while listening to music on my phone. I heard some beep-sounds and realized the emergency dialpad had been turned on. It hasn't happened before. It could be I had managed to press it in my pocket, but the song that was playing was called 911 and featured some lyrics about emergencies. I wonder if it might have been a case of the apps snooping on each other.

Do the lyrics include the actual word 'nine-one-one' at all? That might have been enough to trigger the voice activation.
 
I recently had an experience that left me with no doubt that our mobile phones are listening to us. I’ll have to be quite vague in what I post about it though, for reasons that should be obvious.

I was recently cited for jury service at a Sheriff Court. In Scotland at the moment jury trials are being held with only the Sheriff, the lawyers, the witnesses and the accused person present in the courtroom; the jury sits socially distanced at a ‘remote jury centre’ in an Odeon cinema screen in a different town which is linked to the court by a live video stream. I was unlucky enough to be selected to actually serve on a jury so sat through a trial where the name of the accused woman was mentioned many times over the course of the four days. I was never in the same room - or even the same town - as the accused woman and until the first day I had never seen or heard of her before (obviously, or I wouldn’t have been allowed to be on the jury). Her address was given as a town in another county which I haven’t visited for several years.

My phone was switched on and in my pocket throughout the trial but, due to dire warnings and watchful security, I didn’t use it or even look at it at all when I was in the jury centre. We were also warned many times over the course of the trial not to attempt to look up anyone connected with the case on social media under threat of jail for contempt of court

I have a Facebook account which I use only for Groups related to my hobby. I don’t have many friends on there and haven’t added a new friend in probably the last three or four years. I went on Facebook the day the trial finished and guess who was number one in the ‘people you may know’ box? It was, of course, the accused woman. Ever since then she pops up there every time I go on Facebook.

Now I’m shitting bricks in case somehow the court finds out about it and I am up before the Sheriff myself thanks to Android always listening and Facebook’s inscrutable algorithm.
 
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