Google found a place in my Home

Google Home

I’ve had an Amazon Echo (Alexa) in my house for quite a while.  One of “Alexa’s” biggest disappointments is her lack of knowledge.  Often, after hearing Alexa say “I’m sorry, I don’t understand the question you asked.”, I found myself turning to Google on my phone for the answer. The Google Home is an Echo-like assistant for your home that has the knowledge base of Google behind it.  I can also control my IoT devices like […]

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Watering your lawn using Rachio Smart Sprinkers

Rachio

Upgrading my “dumb sprinkers” to Rachio’s smart spinklers was a great thing for me to do.  Here are the 4 reasons why: 1 – It’s Easy to Program It is so much easier to use a computer or smartphone to program the timers and/or control the sprinklers.  It’s fast, simple and I can do it from anywhere. 2 – It Knows More than I do The Rachio timer is connected to the internet so it knows when it is […]

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The Amazing Amazon Echo

The Amazon Echo was quite a surprise when it was released in late 2014.  A smart speaker/virtual assistant that works with your voice.  Even though it’s a pretty cool device, it took a while to gain popularity.  This was partly because it wasn’t available to the general public for the first 6-months or so. I’ve grown to really love it.  The array of mics around the top of the Echo allows the device to know where […]

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WeMo Light Switch by Belkin

About 6 months ago, I installed WeMo light switches in my house.  These switches allow you to control your lights a number of new ways: Using your Smartphone Set to a Timer Using your Computer Using your Voice with help by the Amazon Echo or other service Old fashion way using your finger on the switch For the most part, they work great.  They connect to your home network through your Wifi connection. There are […]

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