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(Continued from page 7) added for the desired date and time. And just as
you would expect, when you look at your calen-
Again, to stop the alarm tones, just say dar, on your smartphone or computer, you will
“Alexa, Stop.” see the new appointment. And of course, you
can delete items using Alexa. And, you still have
· Another nice feature built into Alexa is
the ability to create and maintain a To- complete control over the calendar with your
Do list and a Shopping list. To add an computer or smartphone.
item to the ToDo list just say, “Alexa Home automation is another area where Alexa
Add “Item name” to the ToDo list, like can be very useful. Home automation can take
“Alexa add Check the Oil” to the ToDo the form of controlling lights, locks, thermostats,
list. And similarly, to add something to and a security system. To accomplish these
the Shopping list, just say “Alexa, add types of tasks, an appropriate Alexa compatible
“Food name” to the Shopping list, like device and a “skill” for that device will have to be
“Alexa, add Butter to the Shopping list.” set up. But, once these things are in place, Alexa
After you make either of these requests, (as well as your smartphone) can control those
Alexa will respond and indicate that the devices. I set up a tp-link, Alexa compatible, LED
item has been added to the requested light and obtained the tp-link skill, and once set
list. Creating a list is all well and good, up I was able to control the light just by saying
but the nice benefit here is that when “Alexa turn on (or off) the living room lamp”.
you look at the Alexa App on your (Very cool, sure beats the old X-10 control sys-
smartphone, your Shopping and ToDo tem.) Maybe an Amazon Echo or a Google Home
lists are there and immediately updated. can help you with some of your daily activities.
So, now your shopping list is available
the next time you are at the food store,
and your ToDo list is available when
you get to Home Depot parking lot and Basic iPhone Skills
wonder why you drove there.
By Jim Cerny, Forum Leader, Sarasota Technol-
Another feature I found useful was the ability ogy User Group, Florida
to check and maintain my calendar. Alexa can
be set up to use many calendars, including the November 2017 issue, Sarasota Monitor
Google Calendar. Once the calendar is set up, www.thestug.org
you can inquire about the activities on your
calendar just by saying “Alexa, what is on my jimcerny123 (at) aol.com
calendar for today,” or “Alexa what is on my
calendar for the next two days.” (Alexa can re- The iPad by Apple is becoming more and more
port the activities on your calendar for today, popular. It is really a full computer that is easily
tomorrow, or even four days from now, but will portable and so helpful for many every-day
not report activities that happened in the past.) tasks, communication, entertainment, etc. Hav-
You can even add items to your calendar just ing taught many iPad classes, here is a list of
by saying “Alexa add “Appointment” to my cal- the BASIC skills every iPad user should know. If
endar,” like “Alexa, Add “Dentist next Tuesday you would like more information on any of these,
at 10 in the morning” to my calendar.” Alexa
will respond that the appointment has been
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