Eight odd tricks to try with your Amazon Echo 八個你一定要在Amazon Echo試試看的小把戲

The Amazon Echo is full of surprises. Since it was launched in 2014, the voice-controlled virtual assistant gadget has picked up steam and turned into a helpful home companion.亞馬遜（Amazon）的產品Echo處處充滿驚喜，自從它在2014年上市以來，這個聲控的虛擬助手小玩意兒迅速發展，並變成一個有用的家庭小幫手。



The speaker and its built-in assistant, Alexa, started as a pretty cool way to play music, get traffic or news info, and buy items from Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) without using your hands. Since then, the Echo has quietly rolled out a ton of new, sometimes quirky, abilities.
這個揚聲器和它內建的助手Alexa，用一個非常炫的方式去播放音樂、播報交通或新聞資訊，另外還有在亞馬遜買東西，也不需要用到你的雙手，從那時候開始，Echo就默默的推出很多新的、多變的功能。



It takes a bit of set-up to make the Echo shine. Many of the coolest tasks are made possible by integrations with third party tools and services through apps called "skills." To start using a skill, open the Echo mobile app and turn it on. The DIY automation tool IFTTT (If this then that) has almost 150 recipes for doing even more with third-party gadgets and apps.
要讓Echo發揮作用，它需要做一些設定，很多最炫的任務都是藉由第三方工具和透過APP提供的服務「Skills」功能，要開始使用一個Skill，把Echo的手機APP打開，並把Skills功能打開，這個DIY的自動工具IFTTT有將近150個食譜來執行甚至更多的第三方工具和APP。

Do some light banking做些少量的銀行業務

If your bank is Capital One (COF), you can ask Alexa for current information on your accounts using the new Capital One skill. Turn it on in the Echo app and connect to your checking, savings or credit card accounts. Ask Alexa for a balance, most recent transaction, or when your credit card payment is due. If it's tomorrow, go ahead and say "Alexa, ask Capital One to pay my credit card bill."
如果你用的銀行是第一資本公司（Capital One），你可以問Alexa目前你的帳戶使用第一資本Skill新功能的資訊，在Echo的APP裡打開它，並連線到你的活存、儲蓄或是信用卡戶頭，有沒有收支平衡、最近的交易或是如果你的信用卡繳費期限到期了你都可以問Alexa，如果到期日就是明天，你可以接著說「Alexa，跟第一資本說我要付我的信用卡帳單。」

Have Alexa read you a bedtime story讓Alexa幫你讀床邊故事



The Echo can read your Kindle books out loud in Alexa's usual voice. It automatically knows what books you've bought through Amazon, and where you left off reading it last on your Kindle or smartphone. If Alexa's robotic monotone is distracting for long tomes, you can try listening to a real audiobook instead. When you're done, don't forget to tell Alexa "Goodnight."
Echo可以用Alexa正常的聲音朗誦你的Kindle電子書，它自動就會知道你透過亞馬遜有買什麼書，還有你上次用Kindle或智慧型手機讀到哪裡。如果Alexa機器人單調的聲音會使你一直分心，你可以換聽一個真的有聲書試試。當你書讀完以後，別忘記要跟Alexa說晚安。

Get organized with your favorite apps

用你最喜歡的apps來整理


A personal favorite, you can yell reminders or add items to your shopping list as soon as they pop into your head. Unfortunately, the official Echo app is still clunky to use. An alternative is to use an IFTTT to automatically import your to-dos and to-buys to the much better apps. There are recipes to import lists to Todoist, Wunderlist, iOS Reminders, Evernote, Google Calendar, and more.
我個人的最愛，只要你一想起什麼，你可以對提醒APP大喊或是增加一些項目到你的採購清單。另一個使用IFTTT的替代方案是，自動載入你的待辦事項跟待買到一個更好的APP裡。有一些食譜讓你可以載入清單到Todoist、Wunderlisst 和iOS的Reminders、Evernote、Google行事曆和更多APP。


Control your smart home

控制你的智慧居家




You don't need a smart home to find the Echo useful, but it does make the technology way more enjoyable to use if you already have it. The Echo works with SmartThings and Wink connected home products, as well as a number of other smart gadgets like doorbells, thermostats, and plugs. In a few weeks, it will finally work with the most popular connected home gadget: the Nest. You can already control Nest products through Echo using IFTTT, but in a few weeks Amazon is adding an official integration so you can say "Alexa, set the thermostat to 70 degrees."
你不用一定要有一個智慧居家，才能發現Echo的好用之處，但它確實可以讓你更享受的方法使用科技，如果你已經用有智慧居家。Echo透過智慧家居物聯網平台SmartThings和Wink來與家裡的產品和其他很多的智慧小東西連線，像是門鈴、恆溫器和消防栓。好幾週內，它將會可以與目前最受歡迎的家庭產品the Nest做連線，目前你已經可以透過Echo使用IFTTT來控制Nest的產品，但是在幾週內，亞馬遜會增家一項正式的整合功能，所以你可以說「Alexa，把恆溫器調到70度。」


Get in shape用來塑身


The 7-Minute Workout skill is pretty self-explanatory. Turn it on and ask Alexa to boss you around like a personal trainer for, you guessed it, 7 minutes.

七分鐘運動（The 7-Minute Workout）的功能很容易懂，把它打開，然後要求Alexa像個私人教練來監督你，你想的沒錯，訓練時間七分鐘。

Play a choose your own adventure game

玩一場自己選擇的冒險遊戲


Say "Alexa, open the magic door" and begin playing an old school adventure game on a high-tech gadget. Enable the Magic Door skill in the Echo app and then use your imagination to navigate its world of gnomes and treasures in far away lands. If that sounds lonely, try Starlanes, a complex multiplayer online game where you can work with others to take over distant stars for your corporation.
說「Alexa，打開魔術之門」然後開始在一個高科技設備上，玩一個復古的冒險遊戲，讓Echo APP中的Magic Door skill功能啟動，然後用你的想像力來航向它在遙遠小島上的小矮人和寶藏的世界，如果這聽起來很孤單，試試看Starlanes，一個複雜、多玩家的線上遊戲，你可以和其他人並肩作戰，透過你們的合作佔領遙遠的星星。


Dude, where's my car?

嘿，兄弟，我的車在哪？



Ask Alexa all about your car. This requires the Automatic adapter ($100), a little gizmo that hooks into your car and tracks things like your vehicle's location, engine status, and gas levels. There's also an Echo app for a similar device called the Mojio. If you find your car but it's out of gas, ask Alexa to order you an Uber.
問Alexa你的車，這需要Automatic品牌的轉接器（100美元），一個掛在你車裡面的小玩意兒，可以追蹤一些事情，像是你的車的位置、引擎狀況和油量；也有一個Echo的APP有搭配類似的設備Mojio，如果你找到你的車，但是沒油了，叫Alexa幫你叫一輛Uber吧。


Get help in the kitchen

在廚房也需要幫忙




There is no big name recipe app just yet -- hurry up, Epicurious! -- but there are a few ways the Echo makes a great sous chef. First and most importantly, it can set timers. If your hands are dripping in cake batter or fish guts (hopefully not both), the last thing you want to do it touch your smartphone to set a timer. The Echo can set multiple timers and tell you how much time is left on each, all sans hands. Turn on CookBook in skills for step-by-step cooking instructions.
After a hard day working out, getting stuff done, and playing games, tell Alexa to play some classical music on Spotify (finally) and ask The Bartender app how to make an Old Fashioned.
目前還沒有一個眾所皆知的食譜app——腳步加快！Epicurious!（一個著名的美食網站，也有發展自己的app）——但是Echo有很多方法可以成為你的副廚，第一也是最重要的是，它可以幫忙計時，如果你的雙手都浸泡在糊糊的蛋糕裡或是魚的內臟中（希望不是

同時兩種），而你最後想做的事是碰你的智慧型手機來定時，Echo可以幫忙設定多個計時器，然後告訴你每一個還有多久的時間，全都不用手操做。然後按照說明打開CookBook的skill功能，在一天的努力之後，把東西都做完，然後玩遊戲、最後再叫Alexa用Spotify播些古典音樂，然後問The Bartender APP要怎麼樣調古老雞尾酒（Old Fashioned）

原文網址：http://goo.gl/cTF2O8

這個網誌中的熱門文章

China opens former nuclear plant to tourism 中國前核電廠 對外開放觀光

圖片
China 816 Nuclear Military Plant is a decommissioned Cold War era plutonium and weapons processing facility buried in the Chongqing mountains 中國 816 核工廠是深埋在重慶山底下，於冷戰時期生產原料鈽及武器的廢棄工廠。 China 816 – Now open to tourists, the China 816 Nuclear Military Plant is a decommissioned Cold War-era plutonium and weapons processing facility buried in the Chongqing mountains 中國 816 核工廠 - 現在開放遊客參觀，中國 816 核工廠是深埋在重慶山底下，於冷戰時期生產原料鈽及武器的廢棄工廠。 Nuclear backdrop – Visitors first enter a concrete cavern the size of a football field. Walls display images of atomic weapons, plutonium processing and a fiery orange atomic mushroom cloud 核能的背景 - 遊客首先會進入猶如足球場大的混凝土洞穴。牆上展示著許多圖片，包含原子武器、原料鈽生產及橘色炙熱的原子蕈狀雲。 Radioactive hues – Avant-garde green lighting in several areas highlights where radioactive processing occurred. Anything that might have been radioactive is encased in protective glass 輻射般的色調 - 前衛的綠色光束打在各處，凸顯出輻射處理的過程。任何可能有輻射的東西都封在防護玻璃裡。 Reactor meters – Visitors to China 816 Nuclear Milit
繼續閱讀

Sky show: How to see the northern lights in Iceland 天空秀：要如何在冰島看到極光

圖片
(CNN) Seeing the northern lights is a pinnacle life experience. 看極光是一個巔峰的人生體驗。 And watching the ever-shifting lights flicker in the sky above mountains, glaciers and vast lava fields is particularly breathtaking. 而看著這 在山、冰川和廣大觀瀾湖上空中 不停變換 閃爍 的光線， 特別讓人屏息。 In Iceland, the aurora borealis attracts everyone from professional photographers to travelers that have the phenomenon on their list of things to do before they kick it. 在冰島， 極光吸引了各種人，從專家學者到攝影師到遊客，在他們來之前，他們的必看清單上都有這項特殊景觀。 You'll have the best chance of seeing the night lights when it's cold and dark outside and the aurora activity is high. 在室外很冷又很暗的時候，是你看極光的最佳時機，可以看到極光在高空中閃爍。 The cold isn't a factor but the sky has to be clear, which it usually is on extremely cold nights. 冷並不是一個影響因素， 重要的是天空必須晴朗無雲，而通常都會是在非常冷的夜晚。 The phenomenon is caused by solar winds, which push electronic particles to collide with molecules of atmospheric gases that cause an emission of bright light. 極光現象是由 太陽風，推動 電 子微粒與大氣氣體分子碰撞 ，而
繼續閱讀

French election 2017: The economic challenge 2017法國總統大選：經濟挑戰

圖片
As French voters go to the polls to elect a new president, the country's relationship with the European Union, immigration and terrorism will all be important themes. 當法國選民參加投票選出新總統時，重要的主題將會是其國家與歐盟的關係、移民和恐怖組織。 But there is always an economic context that will feature as a major consideration for many voters. 但經濟環境也總是會成為選民的主要考量。 context 上下文、景況、環境、背景、語境 And whoever eventually walks into the Elysee Palace will face some difficult, even intractable challenges. 而不管最後是誰登入愛麗舍宮，都將面臨一些困難，甚至可說是棘手的挑戰。  intractable不聽話的、倔強的、棘手的 The big picture is an economy with a high standard of living and high productivity but some persistent problems. （法國經濟）整體來說是高生活標準及高生產力的經濟，但卻有持續性的問題。 The issue that stands out is unemployment. Close to three million people who want to work and are looking for a job don't have one. The unemployment rate is 10%. 最引人注目的議題就是失業，有將近三百萬人有工作意願且正在尋找，卻還沒有工作，其失業率為10%。 It's not as bad as some eurozone neighbours, but it is above average for the region an
繼續閱讀