Just before I close my eyes for the night, I ask Alexa to remind me of something the next day. In the past, this was frustrating because the next day, I’d be in another room and couldn’t hear her.

But here’s a trick. Since I have two devices with Alexa inside, all I have to do is tell my Echo Dot in the bedroom to let my Echo Show answer me in the living room.

To test it, I closed the door to the bedroom so the Alexa in the living room couldn’t hear me. Then I said to Dot:  “Alexa, remind me on the Echo Show.” “What’s the reminder?” she said. “helicopter,” I said. “What time?” she said. “9 a.m.,” I said. Sure enough, the next day my Echo Show in the living room dutifully reminded me to investigate the helicopter that’s been hovering outside my window lately. But if you want to do this too, be sure you call each device by the name listed in your Alexa app. To check the name, or change it, open the Alexa app on your phone, tap “Devices,” then tap your specific device. Finally, tap the gear icon, and “edit name.”

Here’s another Alexa trick: Let the same music or podcast flow through all of your Alexa devices at once, filling your home with sound. To set it up, open the Alexa app, tap “Devices,” then tap the plus sign. Now tap “combine speakers,” and “multi-room music.” Tap each of your Alexa devices to create a group. Next, choose a group name or invent one. I tapped “custom” and named mine “All Devices.” Now when I say: “Alexa play music on All Devices,” I get music everywhere. If I want to specify a Spotify playlist, I say: “Alexa play music on All Devices on Spotify.”

For more Alexa marvels, see the CNET article “The Best Tricks you can Do with Two or More Amazon Alexa Devices.”

Quantum TVs

Just when you thought you’d never have to buy another TV, a new version comes along to tempt you. The “Quantum Dot ElectroLuminescence” or QDEL arrives in 2026.

But why is a quantum TV superior? According to Google AI, quantum processors use artificial intelligence to turn a lower definition picture into 4K or 8K.  According to ArsTechnica, QDEL pixels in quantum dot displays make their own light and turn off completely. This makes for richer contrasts, and blacker blacks. They’re also supposed to last longer than OLED TVs, since unlike OLEDs, they don’t use the kind of materials that cause burn-in.

The Future of Fast Food?

Steve Ellis, founder of the Chipotle restaurant chain, recently started Kernel, a New York restaurant that uses a robotic arm to place partially-cooked meals, delivered by bicycle couriers, into the oven. The robot arm can even figure out which meals to prioritize, just like a human would.  Ellis says the robot saves so much money that he can pay his order takers $25 an hour.  The company has already raised $36 million in funding from several venture capital firms and plans to expand nationwide. According to ZDnet, PitchBook classifies it as a robotics company valued at $100 million.

The Wow Department

“Internet Cables Undersea and Deep Repair Ships.”  Search on that phrase to see a beautifully illustrated explanation of what keeps our internet going. Ninety-nine percent of the world’s emails, bank transfers, videos and other data are protected by a small fleet of ships that spring into action whenever the undersea cables are damaged. According to theVerge, there are about 800,000 miles of these cables crisscrossing the Earth’s ocean, representing nearly 600 different systems. Typically, the ship operators don’t know the cause of the damage, yet they respond quickly to keep you connected.

Recipes from ChatGPT

You can give ChatGPT precise criteria for a recipe and get great results. I just typed: “Give me a mango salsa recipe that’s vegan, oil free, sugar free and salt free,” and got a terrific result. I also got a great buffalo sauce recipe to go with a great buffalo cauliflower recipe.

THE END OF DVDS?

Target is phasing out the sale of DVDs. Starting next year, you’ll only be able to buy them before the holidays and whenever a blockbuster is released. At other times, you’ll have to get them from the Target website or elsewhere online.

This news made me want to rush out to Target and buy one, since the kids who visit me tend to watch the same movie over and over, and streaming can be more expensive. For example, it would cost $20 to buy the film “Oppenheimer” in the streaming version, but $16 to buy the DVD.

BestBuy is also phasing out DVDs. When I looked up “DVD movies” on their site, I saw only two titles left. Hooray for DVDs at the library.

Internut

The world’s largest polymer 3D printer, the “Factory of the Future,” can print objects 96 feet long, 32 feet wide and 18 feet high. It prints up to 500 pounds an hour. Located at the University of Maine, this AI factory is expected to make submarines and other maritime vessels for the federal government, but it can also make houses. According to Engadget, most of the materials are recyclable, so they can be ground up and run through the mill again.

Filed under: AI, DVD, Internet, Internuts, robots, science, TV