One year with Alexa

Having used Amazon’s Alexa now for over a year, and also integrated it with Samsung’s SmartThings, my Sonos, and a Harmony Hub (attempted), I thought now would be a good point to review how well it handles my daily Use Cases.

Let’s start with what I have in the apartment. My Apartment has two Amazon Echo Dots, each located so that you are within earshot from all but the farthest reaches of the apartment. The Smart Home devices I have connected in some manner to the Echo, include Phillips Hue bulbs, A Logitech Harmony Hub, one Sonos Play 1 (non Alexa), And a Samsung SmartThings Hub connecting up motion sensors, temperature sensors, light sensors, open and close sensors and integrated with the Hue Hub, Sonos and Harmony.

Now for Alexa. After one year what do I find most annoying? Well a few things irk both my partner and me. Probably the worst is the fact that Alexa fails to understand us at least 20-30% of the time. My understanding when I purchased the Echo was that Alexa was a learning AI, which also as time passed learnt specifics around your pronunciation. Truthfully I cannot say I have seen evidence of this. Especially considering that 90% of the time we use the same commands over and over again. The use case for turning on and controlling lighting becomes useless when you need to repeat the command three times, making it simpler to pick up your phone or walk to a switch! In fact it got so annoying that I have purchased Hue switches and placed them around the apartment. Second most annoying is that the commands are very specific. Having coded a helper function for SmartThings and Alexa I see that the command structure is very rigid. Not really “fuzzy” or intelligent. For example unless you tell (i.e. Code or Configure) Alexa to understand, that Guest Bedroom Lights are the same as Guest Room Lights, she will not for example ask you if the device is not found if you actually meant something similar and then add that to her vocabulary. On the contrary she just says device is not found (or something to that effect)… over and over again. So you have to go in and code or configure every permutation.

I also find the skills very annoying. I don’t want to ask Alexa to ask or tell another helper to do something. For example, I coded a helper skill to provide more integration with SmartThings than the standard Skill allows. I called this helper skill “Gideon”. Now when I want Gideon to do something I have to say something like “Alexa, tell Gideon it’s Bedtime”. If I just said “Alexa it’s Bedtime” she would not understand. Or I have to say something like “Alexa, ask ‘skill x’ to do ‘y’”. This is just not convenient, in my world, from a Smart Home AI.

Skills are another thing, there are loads and loads out there, but I am yet to find more than a handful of much use. Most are just play things, a little fun that gets very boring after a while, or the ones that could potentially be good have so much missing that they just become annoying. Logitech’s Skill for its Harmony Hub is one such skill. Annoying beyond words the last time I tried it. One a completely separate thread, I will review the Harmony Hub later, but in my view it is useless – do not waste your money on it. Especially to integrate with Alexa. It needs specific devices to make the use case work well and due to limitations I find I use it 0%.

Alexa also uses Bing as the search engine, and comparing using Google Assistant and Alex and asking a straight forward question, Google Assistant responds and Alexa just does not know. An example I used was “Alexa/ Google what are the opening times for Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen”. I think the search and answer capability that Alexa has is very very limited.

So what about as a speaker, well I have a Dot. I find the music underwhelming and not something I want to listen to. Maybe I have gotten used to my Sonos, but I wouldn’t want to use it apart from maybe in a smaller room. So speaker wise for music not a go.

After one year, would I buy another? No, probably not. It is a novelty. But for daily use it is not there yet and I think one being the cost it is, and having at least a couple strewn around I would rather spend that money on something more useful and pleasurable. 

Amsterdam Summarised

This post is mainly for my friends and colleagues who every now and then approach me for advice for their Amsterdam visit. I keep losing this text and have finally decided to post it here and keep it updated as much as possible in one place online. This is the latest update from late in 2019...ENJOY! 😊

Transport....

• From the Airport there is a train directly into the Amsterdam Central Station. You can buy tickets just as you come out of arrivals. The Airport and Train Station are in the same complex. The busstation outside also has a number of buses going to the Center especially to Leidseplein
• You can also grab a Taxi from the taxi stand directly outside the airport. Cost is around 40-50 Euros roughly.
• If you are planning on seeing a load of museums the iAmsterdam Card (unlimited public transport in Amsterdam, Free entrance to some of the key Museums and attractions in Amsterdam & discount to the Rijks Museum) may be a better option than single metro tickets. http://www.iamsterdam.com/en-GB/experience/deals/i-amsterdam-city-card

What you gotta see and do... ** are my recommendations

• Rijksmuseum**
• Van Gogh Museum**
• If you like Modern Art the Stadelijk Museum** (this and the above three are all in the Museumplein area)
• Anne Frank Museum** – If you haven’t already done so then get the tickets online otherwise you’ll be queuing for ages!
• Canal Cruise. I prefer the evening cruise. Amsterdam is more beautiful when the lights are on. They also do Cheese and Wine cruises in the evening**
• Alternate to Canal Cruises is to rent a boat and cruise around yourself. They have row, paddle and electric motor boats for rent in the Center** – Google for best options
• Red Light District (also the Black light district next to it – Transgender/ Transvestite equivalent)... not such a fantactic place and there is much nicer stuff in Amsterdam. Avoid the Casa Rosa sex show as this is very touristy and really not worth the money they ask.. most are not. If you have to experience one then probably the Banana Bar is your best bet, but I have not been here in a very very long time.
• The Sex Museum on the Dam
• The Vodka Museum also on the Dam
• Have a Pannenkoeken** (there’s a good place in Leidseplein just opposite the Marriot) by the bridge leading to Leidsplein
• If you want to spend a shit load of money shopping go to PC Hoofdstraat (Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc) You can see the Amsterdam “It” crowd here. There are some nice little Cafe’s here too.
• If you are around on Sunday there’s a flea market on Sunday Morning at the Waterlooplein**
• Near the Rijkmuseum there is a huge IAMSTERDAM sign.. fun to climb on and take pictures – I think it is still there
• The Floating Flower Market**
• The Jordan Area is a cool area to just walk around in**
• The Nine Streets area** - lots of cool little shops and places to eat
• The Artis Zoo and Micropia (cool place)**
• Amsterdam EYE** – Across the bay from Central Station. A free 5 minute Ferry ride. Café’s on the other side. Nice view and the Amsterdam Eye Tower. This area is growing and the old industrial area at the next ferry stop is starting to get lots of trendy bars and restaurants popping up.
• There is a replica of the huge Floating Chinese Restaurant (from Hong Kong) in Amsterdam. It’s actually quite large even though not the same size as the one in HK.
• The Dinning in the Dark experience** in Amsterdam is pretty cool and actually affordable compared to the one in Copenhagen (though probably not as posh as the one in CPH).

Eating...

There are hundreds of fantastic places to eat and drink in Amsterdam and the Netherlands at reasonable prices . These are a few on my favourites. Most of these you will need reservations as they get packed.

• Bazar - Never been here but head it is pretty good. Not Gourmet Michelin but good.
• Ctaste (Dining in the dark) - A fraction of the cost of the equivalent in Copenhagen and still a really great experience.
• Foodhallen - A tendy cool food hall with loads of stalls for different types of food and bars (For those who know Copenhagen, it's a little similar to Paper Island).
• Sazankan **- A very cool and fantastic Teppanyaki close to Amsterdam Zuid. They have a sparkling Sake here which I highly recommend. Michelin starred place. I personally love the place
• Cafe Cuba - A very cool, laid back bar in the center of Amsterdam serving good beer and Cocktails. My go to bar in the center.
• 'T Loosje - Another cool "Brown" Cafe (or pub) in the center near to Cafe Cuba. More traditional Dutch I would say than Cafe Cuba. Good Food and Drinks. Nice atmosphere.
• Moeders Restaurant ** - This is a very unusual restaurant serving traditional Dutch food. Great. One of my favourites in Amsterdam.
• GlouGlou Wine Bar ** - A fantastic Wine Bar in Amsterdam and there is a really good ice cream parlour just opposite.

The area of the Pijpe in Amesterdam also has really interesting restaurants and a google will give you a list of the latest recommendations.

Best places for clubbing...

• Leidseplein
• Little Buddha (Smaller version of the Buddha Bar)
• Hard Rock Café
• Holland Casino
• Bubbles (cool bar with a lot of locals around)
• Bunch of Touristy Restaurants and bars around the area
• Rembrandtsplein
• There a whole load of night clubs in this square. All are busy and open at least till 05:30. I know from experience 😜
•  Nieuw Maarkt Area (take the Metro stop of the same name (1 stop before central station). 
• Loads of Café’s and bars here. Cool area
• Waterlooplein Area
• Also cool for loads of small café’s and bars – you can walk from Nieuw Maarkt.

Shopping..

unusual and cool shops in the area of The Nine Streets - De Negen Straatjes. http://www.theninestreets.com/

For a smoke and a “Coffee Shop”..

Abraxas close to Spui Straat. Avoid the normal Damrak Touristy Area (this is still touristy but not lik the ones directly around the Dam. If you want a good souvenir Bong go further down Spui Straat and avoid the central touristy areas.

Day Trips...

I would really recommend Utrecht. Especially in summer - I love this city. Loads and loads of cafes, bars and restaurants, nice and compact. A smaller version of Amsterdam, relaxed and not so touristy.

DON’Ts;

• Go to any food places to eat on Damrak or on the Dam. Very Touristy, mediocre food, expensive comparatively and generally they can be full of Rats and Dirty. that being said restaurants or café’s that have a cats around inside are much better… there is a reason they have the cat and in the areas near the Canals with food around it it is very difficult to not attract rats.Especially in the older buildings.
• Watch your wallets and be smart – usual stuff, no alleys, etc.
• I would recommend getting away from the usual Dam Area and Red Light area, where all the UK Stag and Hen crowd go to – you just get very loud drunk people in these places.

Anything else just drop me a question :-)

2018 Mission for Copenhagen...

It's been over one year now in Copenhagen. And looking back at my blog it strikes me that as I came here I rushed headlong into a very negative mindset about the country and city. I have begun to think that perhaps I am creating some of the depression and dreariness myself, with my set views from the past. A recent discussion with my Partner heightened that awareness and got me thinking more.

I looked back beyond the point we moved to Copenhagen, where, by chance, six months earlier we had visited for a long weekend break. At that time we loved it, and even commented we would love to live and experience the city for more time. So what changed between that experience and this past year?

I've analysed it a little and have come up with these points that were driving what we liked so much and triggered us to consider Copenhagen as a temporary residence (if I take obvious job and financial factors out of the equation);

• First & Foremost, we were on a vacation and had that "holiday" mindset. Which meant we were probably not looking at things like cost, living locations and other things that get to you over time.
• We loved the fact that Copenhagen was compact and that the public transport was so easy (i.e. read Metro running 24/7 from our hotel to the center). We ignored the other parts of the public transport system.
• We loved the Bike culture.
• For the most part we ignored the weather as we were determined to make the most of a long weekend and Spring is not the worst time of year of course. 
• Before we arrived we made it a point to have researched and have a list of all the places and things we wanted to do that weekend. This meant we never were short of things to do.
• We loved to friendliness we perceived from people at Bars, Cafe's and Restaurants we visited and the fact that English was widely spoken.

There are more, but I consider these to be the main reasons we found Copenhagen fun and considered it as a place to visit for longer. Having taken each one of these, I then, together with my partner sat down and came up with a plan to see if we could replicate this to some extent over the coming year in order to change our experience. So this is the plan we came up with;

• Most important, let's change our mindset. Let's try and make this as close to a long term working holiday as is possible. We accepted that given the costs in Denmark it's never going to be possible on our income to complete through financial caution to the wind, but we also thought it is important to save to do this at least once a month to some extent. But other things in our mindset we could work on for sure. For example accepting the weather is crappy and just living with it.
• There were things we loved about the place so let's leverage on those. As an example the Bike culture, so let's cycle more even in the cold. The friendliness, let's seek out those places where we find that and get more of it (whilst also accepting that generally Danes are very reserved and socially introverted).
• The weather is a big downer here during Winter. Which brings you into depression also for Autumn and Spring. Grey, Raining, Damp, Cold, with a very few hours of daylight - miserable in a word. So we decided, "let's try and recreate how we ignored that on vacation". Let's research, plan and find interesting things for us to see and do every weekend so we have a list of things to get through in the next year. We found time whilst working to do this for a vacation so why not now?!

My (our) hope is that by changing our attitude that perhaps 2018 will be more fulfilling and fruitful in Copenhagen and that we will truly get a sense for the city and have experienced far more than if we remained in our past mindset. 

Stay with me on this journey as I try to document how we get by and I'm adding a new Label for Travel so I can provide some reviews of key places either touristy or hidden.

One Year in Copenhagen

Actually one year and two months! I seem to have lapsed on writing up blog posts after the first few. It suddenly got fantastically busy at work and, truthfully, I was just downright lazy to log in.

So after one year how do I feel? Still as dejected? Well not really. But am I happy here? I can't say I truly am. Generally moving around and living in various countries I tended to find that the first six months were when I went through all of my negativity and depression. At the six or seven month point I tended to hit the "Wall" and then the other side would be more accepting and what was left of any negativity determined if I would be able to remain and make that country "home". When it comes to Copenhagen I have to admit that even after one year there are still things that irk me and  which I can not get over.

The cost is one thing which just annoys me to no end. Even your standard Europe wide chains (for example Zara) are 15-20% more expensive in Denmark. Recently we bought a Jumper from Desigual which costed 30 Euros more than the same thing in Netherlands on the same day! The cost of going out, drinks, in fact most everything. Even to the extent that their very own Lego is cheaper to buy elsewhere is just for me a considerable negative of this country. I understand the standard argument about wages being higher, taxes, social security, etc, etc. And I agree there is something there - but I don't think they have found the right balance. Wages are pretty fair in the Netherlands as is Social Welfare and the services and goods are not near as expensive. So my view is that there is something not quite right.

I also can not get past the seeming unfriendliness of most people. Maybe it is the weather, but I can't help but feel there is a slight touch of xenophobia in the air despite the ardent struggle to be so very correct and accepting. And then there is the weather which the entire year has depressed me and my partner beyond belief and with Copenhagen being anything but a flight "hub" getting out of here to someplace less depressing costs an arm and a leg comparatively.

It's not all bad though. The few real summer days that there were, we did enjoy going around here and there. There can be quite some things to do here, if you have the funds to spare.

Let's see what 2018 will hold for me in Copenhagen. Perhaps it will be the year the city and the country grows on me..... 

Three Month in... Copenhagen Transport

A month and a half on (at least it was when I started writing this 😏) and I feel that I am starting to find my feet. So I thought I would write about my experiences and exploits regarding travel in Copenhagen.

DOT Terminal

First and most important – Never, ever and I mean NEVER get onto the busses from the rear door. Unless of course you enjoy being screamed at by an irate driver in Danish! The front door is for boarding the bus, past the watchful eye of the driver, and the rear doors are for exiting. You either buy a ticket or check-in when entering using your DOT travel card. When exiting you Check Out at the terminal near the exit.

DOT Card

If you are arriving in Copenhagen I would suggest that you buy an anonymous travel card from one of the machines – the machines are easy to use, have English as an option on the front screen and can be found at every station to allow you to also recharge your DOT card. There is also one at the Copenhagen Airport and if you plan to be in Copenhagen for more than a couple of days it may actually be cheaper to get one of these than single tickets or the Copenhagen Card and the machine is generally empty whilst the machines for single tickets and the cashiers can have queues a mile long!

Check In

Check Out

The Anonymous card is basically a non personalised travel card which can be reloaded and used in all public transport around Copenhagen and greater Copenhagen. This is the easiest card to get without a Danish CPR number (Danish Social Security Number). Once you get a CPR, you can get a personalised card which learns your most common travel patterns and gives you discounts on the trips and also allows you to travel with a lower minimum balance on the card.

The key thing to remember with the travel cards is to always check in and out at the end of your journey or when changing mode of transport. If you don’t check out you will get a penalty charged the next time you try to check in. And if you don’t check in you risk getting a heavy fine if caught by random inspections. It’s just not worth the risk so pay and don’t abuse the trust system!

When checking out you only need to do this at the end of your journey on Metro’s so for example if you check in at the airport change at Christianshavn and finally end your journey at say Bella Center, then you only need to check in at the airport and check out at Bella Center. If however at Christianshavn you switch to the Bus or Water Bus, then you will need to check out at Christianshavn and check in again on the Bus or Water Bus and check out again at the end. Same if you change busses. As long as you check out and in again within 30 minutes it appears to treat the journey as one continuous trip and you don’t get charged for two trips. The cost of a trip only seems to be bumped as you move across zones. I still haven’t figured out if there is a standard unified zone system for all public transport, but each has the zone transitions cleared marked for the route you ae taking on maps in the stations, stops and on the metros and busses. Most communication is in Danish and English so not that difficult for us expats and tourists.

Generally public transport is good frequent, clean and reasonably priced. A single trip within a zone is 17 DKK. I generally pay 22 DKK to the airport and from the center that is about a 20-30 minute trip by Metros. The metro system in Copenhagen is fantastic in my view. 24/7/365 with stoppages late at night for maintenance but well planned and communicated generally. They also run between every 2-5 minutes apart and 5-10 minutes apart on Sundays and late at night and on holidays.

So far that is what I can figure out. If anyone has any further advice please feel free to add!

Alexa, how useful are you?

Cool little gadget…. A lot of hype. And not sure how much value it still adds… but at 50 Sterling Pounds it is a cool little gadget. And I do like my gadgets.

So why do I say I’m not sure how much value it adds? Well for one thing, voice recognition is good but still has quite a few faults. Especially if your accent is not quite American or proper English orr one of the dialects they have obviously trained Alexa for. So my accent is a mixture of various accents from all over the world. I enunciate, but sometimes I don’t pronounce certain words exactly as Alexa would expect… and off she goes doing something else.

Another bug bear I have is that Amazon have chosen to use Bing as the search engine of choice and sometimes the simplest things I can ask “Ok Google”, Alexa has trouble finding. This is seriously frustrating knowing that the answer is there from Google and if I was to move away from Alexa it would most likely be for this reason mainly if Googles offering comes to Europe soon.

Saying this Alexa still is a pretty cool toy J

Her integration skills with a lot of home automation gadgets is pretty good though limited for the key ones I use such as Smartthings and the Sonos. For example I would really like to be able to ask Alexa if the front door is closed and for her to check with Smartthings and respond. Or for me to ask “Alexa, are all the windows closed” or “Alexa, are lights in the Living room still on” or “Alexa, is the TV in my sons room still on”. And at the moment all you can do is ask to turn stuff on and off. Sonos integration is also limited and via IFTTT and Smartthings, but I hear this may change soon.

So hopefully in this year there will be more skills added that will make the Echo Dots I have more than just cool toys.

Samsung's Smartthings after eight months

It’s been nearing 8 months now since I first installed Smartthings in my home in the Netherlands. It’s not perfect by any means but it’s been sufficiently good that I’ve bought a second hub and components for my apartment in Copenhagen.

I guess that means it must be reasonable from my perspective.

The biggest positives I have found with the Smartthings system have been the ease of set-up and the fact that it works with a bunch of the most common smart components.

At home in the Netherlands I have almost every light fixture now moved to the Phillips Hue system and Smartthings so far plays well with this. I’ve also integrated open close sensors from Samsung themselves, Fibaro motion and smoke sensors and motion sensors from Aeontec. There’s a smart plug from Belkin and the Sonos system is also attached and connected up and along with a Siren I can hook up a fairly nice alarm system to give any would be intruder quite a fright.

The apartment in Copenhagen is a little smaller and I’ve include Hue here with just a couple of sensors. But what I have started to use more and more in Copenhagen is the Amazon Echo (Alexa) connected to Smartthings.

Alexa, works with Smartthings but probably the most frustrating things with this is that the voice recognition really uses correct and proper enunciation or using standard names for things – which have obviously been provided more input and variety of pronunciations. For example Alexa will understand almost every time if I say “Alexa turn on the living room lights”. However if I say “Alexa, turn on Mr. Skinny” she won’t understand 50% of the time. So giving your lights and appliances fun names is a little tricky.

Saying that though, I still like the combination and possibilities and have started to experiment adding IFTTT to the mix.

I still think there are quite a few things that Smartthings could do to make integration much better. Especially with appliances such as the Sonos or Robot Vacuums. But saying that there are quite a few user created device handlers from the Smartthings Community that add significant amounts of added functionality to some components. So though officially supported these device handlers and the community is on good reason I stay with Smartthings. For those not comfortable with messing around with device handlers and the like it still offers a good core basic solution I feel for automating your home and when you put it together with systems such as Hue and the Echo is really at this stage pretty good.

I’m still continuing to experiment and add to my installation and plan to integrate a Logitech Harmony Hub, Arlo Pro and trying to figure out a way to establish some sort of Miro Presence Detection so I can start including automation rules for such things as I’m up and about but my partner is still in bed so wake her up in 30 minutes :-D

Will try hard to keep everyone updated on progress here…. but I see I am falling behind on various aspects of my blog,… especially on the promised insights into my move to Copenhagen!