Alexa News: How to make Alexa talk faster or slower via The Ambient

Nice feature to help those of us who need more time or wish Alexa would hurry up and say something already! (LAUGH) — Douglas

 

Is Alexa rushing or dragging? Amazon has made it possible to adjust how fast its voice assistant talks.

The new feature is now available in the US, with a global rollout TBD. It will make Alexa work better for many, but particularly those who are hard of hearing and would like to have Alexa speak more slowly.

Read How to make Alexa talk faster or slower via The Ambient

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Revealing the Hidden Beauty of Common Components via IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News

As we’ve remarked in these pages before, oftentimes some of the best engineering around is invisible, hidden inside black boxes of one sort or the other. If the black box is sufficiently important in some way, professional forensic and reverse engineers can be employed to crack it open and reveal its secrets. But what about more humble items, such as the apparently unremarkable components that make up everyday electronics? Who cares enough to take the trouble to look inside them?

Eric Schlaepfer does. To the delight of a growing following, in March of this year, Schlaepfer started posting to his @TubeTimeUS twitter accountmagnified cross sections of capacitors, cables, LEDs, transistors, and more, usually with accompanying annotations.

Read Revealing the Hidden Beauty of Common Components via IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News

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Opensource Ornithopter Prototype. Arduino Powered and Remote Controlled. via Instructables

This instruction is a story about how I made an ornithopter prototype.

For those who do not know, an ornithopter is a machine designed to achieve flight by flapping wings like a real bird. The idea was to create an ornithopter from scratch, to control it remotely, and of course to make it fly.

Please do not judge; I'm not the professional of the aircraft industry. So, not everything works as I would like, but it still does.

Instead of photos, this instruction prevails by graphic schemes. The real result can be seen in a multi-series video on the Youtube channel. If you enjoy this guide, subscribe to the channel.

The instruction will be corrected and supplemented with material over time. The ornithopter will also be improved.

Read Opensource Ornithopter Prototype. Arduino Powered and Remote Controlled. via Instructables

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An interesting link found among my daily reading

Historical Technology Books: Light science for leisure hours. A series of familiar essays on scientific subjects, natural phenomena, &c. by Richard A. (Richard Anthony) Proctor (1871) - 24 in a series

Technology isn't just computers, networks and phones. Technology has always been part of the human experience. All of our ancestors have looked for ways to help them survive and do less work for more gain. Archive.org has a host of old technology books (from mid-19th to mid-20th Century) available in many formats and on a host of topics. Many of the technologies discussed within these books are being put to use again these days in the back to the land" and homesteading movements. You might even find something that could address one of your own garden or farm issues but has been lost to time and history. Enjoy! --Douglas

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Historical Technology Books: Light science for leisure hours. A series of familiar essays on scientific subjects, natural phenomena, &c. by Richard A. (Richard Anthony) Proctor ((1871) - 24 in a series

Available in PDF, Text, JPG formats, and more

PREFACE.

THE Essays in the present volume have been selected from my contributions to serial literature during the past three or four years. Although I have for some time been urged to publish such a volume, I think I should not have ventured to do so but for the kindness with which my " Other "Worlds " and " The Sun " have been received, both by the press and the public.

In preparing these Essays, my chief object has been to present scientific truths in a light and readable form clearly and simply, but with an exact adherence to the facts as I see them. I have followed here and always the rule of trying to explain my meaning precisely as I should wish others to explain, to myself, matters with which I was unfamiliar. Hence I have avoided that excessive simplicity which some seem to consider absolutely essential in scientific essays intended for general perusal, but which is often even more perplexing than a too technical style. The chief rule I have followed, in order to make my descriptions clear, lias been to endeavor to make eacli sentence bear one meaning, and one only. Speaking as a reader, and especially as a reader of scientific books, I venture to express an earnest wish that this simple rule were never infringed, even to meet the requirements of style.

It will hardly be necessary to mention that several of the shorter Essays are rather intended to amuse than to instruct.

The Essay on the influence which marriage has been supposed to exert on the death-rate is the one referred to by Mr. Darwin at page 176 (vol. i.) of his "Descent of Man."

This and the other Essays from the Daily News are selected from a large number of articles which I wrote in the years 1868-'TO. It was by my kind friend Mr. Walker, formerly editor of the Daily News, that I was first urged to collect my Essays into a volume. I have to thank the proprietors and the present editor of the Daily News, and the proprietors and editors of the other journals from which the present series has been selected, for freely according me permission to reprint these Essays.

RICHARD A. PROCTOR.

LONDON, May, 1871.

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† Available from the LA Public Library

Alexa News: Free Audible Books Each Month Via Alexa

Alexa News: Free Audible Books Each Month Via Alexa

Audible, being part of Amazon itself, offers a free audio book each month via Alexa.

You don’t need an Echo device, though. You can access it using the Amazon app on your phone, too.

This month’s selection is Life of Pi by Yann Martel.

You Alexa device will remember your location in the book and also give you statistics of how many hours remain in the audio.

To access your free audiobook each month, say

Alexa, What’s free from Audible?

Enjoy!

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An interesting link found among my daily reading

Star Wars MX Cherry Keycaps via Adafruit Industries

Loved printing the Low Poly Space Toys by @Flowalistik and @Hatsyflatsy. Enough to turn them into keycaps for my office mechanical keyboard. Now I want to share them with you.

Read Star Wars MX Cherry Keycaps via Adafruit Industries

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An interesting link found among my daily reading

Building a Raspberry Pi security camera with OpenCV via PyImageSearch

In this tutorial, you will learn how to build a Raspberry Pi security camera using OpenCV and computer vision. The Pi security camera will be IoT capable, making it possible for our Raspberry Pi to to send TXT/MMS message notifications, images, and video clips when the security camera is triggered.

Back in my undergrad years, I had an obsession with hummus. Hummus and pita/vegetables were my lunch of choice.

I loved it.

I lived on it.

And I was very protective of my hummus — college kids are notorious for raiding each other’s fridges and stealing each other’s food. No one was to touch my hummus.

But — I was a victim of such hummus theft on more than one occasion…and I never forgot it!

Read Building a Raspberry Pi security camera with OpenCV via PyImageSearch

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
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An interesting link found among my daily reading

Finally, An Open Source Multimeter via hack a day

For his Hackaday Prize entry, [Martin] is building an Open Source Multimeter that can measure voltage, current, and power. It’s an amazing build, and you too can build one yourself.

The features for this multimeter consist of voltage mode with a range of +/-6V and +/-60V. There’s a current mode, basically the same as voltage, with a range of +/-60 mA and +/-500mA. Unlike our bright yellow Fluke, there’s also a power mode that measures voltage and current at the same time, with all four combinations of ranges available. There’s a continuity test that sounds a buzzer when the resistance is below 50 Ω, and a component test mode that measures resistors, caps, and diodes. There’s a fully isolated USB interface capable of receiving commands and transmitting data, a real-time clock, and in the future there might be frequency measurement.

Read Finally, An Open Source Multimeter via hack a day

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!

---

An interesting link found among my daily reading

Historical Technology Books: Physico-mechanical experiments on various subjects, containing an account of several surprizing phaenomena touching light and electricity. (1709) - 23 in a series

Technology isn't just computers, networks and phones. Technology has always been part of the human experience. All of our ancestors have looked for ways to help them survive and do less work for more gain. Archive.org has a host of old technology books (from mid-19th to mid-20th Century) available in many formats and on a host of topics. Many of the technologies discussed within these books are being put to use again these days in the back to the land" and homesteading movements. You might even find something that could address one of your own garden or farm issues but has been lost to time and history. Enjoy! --Douglas

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Historical Technology Books: Physico-mechanical experiments on various subjects, containing an account of several surprizing phaenomena touching light and electricity. (1709) - 23 in a series

Available in PDF, Text, JPG formats, and more

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Issue 20 — HackSpace magazine is here! via Adafruit Industries

Maker perfection is a journey not a destination. We’re all permanent students, and there’s always more to learn, so we’ve pulled together 50 of our top maker tips in this issue to help you be a better maker. Whether you’re a programmer who dabbles in metalwork, a crafter who likes to add electronics to builds or a woodworker who needs some new inspiration, there’s something  here to make you a better maker.

Read Issue 20 — HackSpace magazine is here! #Making #Makers @HackSpaceMag via Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers!

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An interesting link found among my daily reading