Quick point

Not so much a throwback to my one word answer posts, but I do want to make a quick point about all my "seemingly negative" / "questionable" remarks regarding the Amazon Echo / Dot etc.

I want to try to "clear the air" and be as transparent as I can without making people scratch their heads even further.

I feel that the issue with the security / drive by challenge is mainly because I live in a community where the condos are in clumps of 4, but the buildings are in units of 12. It sounds confusing, but there is an upstairs unit and a downstairs unit, and each set of buildings has six downstairs units and six upstairs.

We're in close quarters with each other without stepping on each other. For example, my bedroom looks immediately out to my direct upstairs neighbor's front door. I can also see one of my downstairs neighbor's front door via the shared walkway for the upstairs unit. On the other side of my house, the guest room window looks out to my front door walkway and my other immediate neighbor's front door (to the right). ** see added pictures at the end of this post to not be so "huh?" **

Therefore, being so close together, I can see my neighbors' wifi sprays all the time, and this being a Comcast monopoly internet provided community, the xfinitywifi spray is a popular accessory... not that everyone doesn't have their own special name attached to their router... but every other unit has the added xfinity spray (not to be confused with the residents by one of the gates that use "flame_thrower", "worm_virus" and a couple other scare tactic names).

So, with some full time residents living next to renters, who could be living next to whatever wants to move into a unit, any person at any time can attach themselves to a "secure" network. Or try to make the attempt. Plus, if you don't use your own private network and just figure the regular Comcast (xfinitywifi) network works great, you can do that too. I've heard people have the ability to latch on to other networks if they know what they're doing, so it makes it worrisome.

*grabs tin foil*


Anyway, we've got a lot of people coming and going in the community some days, and to have a streaming device on a secure network with the ability to be turned on by someone passing by, is not something I want to try. I know it's rare to have that happen, but my luck says otherwise and I don't want to chance it. I know people who have the virtual assistants and love them to death, but this technology is not for me right now. Like I said the other day, if this one security detail gets worked out and I find I all of a sudden have a need for it, I'll be more than happy to purchase it and try it out. Until that happens, I am going to stick with my Roku and catch up on past seasons of new shows.

If anyone has tried any of the virtual assistants and have an opinion they want to share with the class, please feel free to leave a comment below and post your remarks!

Be good to yourselves.

Cheers;

Porch and front door of upstairs neighbor.
View from my bedroom window.

Porch of upstairs neighbor leading to shared walkway.
View from my bedroom window.

Front door area of downstairs neighbor.
View from my bedroom window.

The shared walkway leading to my front door and my other neighbor's front door.
View from guest room window.