And he's watching you watch him.
I got an email from Roku regarding their new smart home appliances.
Gone are the days where you could get the streaming players and TVs.
Now you can buy a light bulb and camera:
The crazy thing is the email linked directly to Amazon and they don't mince words - the first image says "Available at Amazon".
Which only means they're trying to be a top dog competing with the A to Z retailer in a new way. Considering all the stuff already under the Amazon Smart Home umbrella, it would only be a matter of time before some other reputable business jumped in the same circus tent and tried to get more clients.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Roku 3 and will use it until it dies and then I'll get whatever upgrade is available. But I also like being able to randomly ask the hockey puck (we have a Dot) a question. She's connected to the hall lamp (via a smart plug), so now we have a better timer connected, rather than having to figure out why the analog timer has crapped out again. At least when it's connected to the internet, we know that sunset will turn the light on and it'll shut off at 10.
The power of technology?
It's the power of something. I've been listening to new podcasts lately.
To show not everyone is on the Amazon platform, I'm going to run down the list of serials I've buzzed through:
* King of the Egg Cream, which is only available for purchase on Amazon as an album and it's not in a podcast form via the site. If you want a better stream option, it's available from Realm and because I use Apple Podcasts as my streaming service, I listened to it in the Fruit Phone. It definitely brings you back to your family roots if you're of the NY Jew ilk. I listened to it for the 1920s radio telecast theme. Also because it has a pretty cool cast.
Apple says this story is "Based on the incredible true story of Harry Dolowich, who grew up poor in New York City during the Great Depression and got rich hatching a scheme to take over the one industry that wasn't already controlled by the Mob -- the chocolate syrup industry. Harry's ambition, charm and gift of gab can only take him so far when it turns out being a syrup racketeer ain't as sweet as it sounds. With a killer cast, including Justin Bartha, Lewis Black, Ari Graynor, Michael Stuhlbarg, Bobby Cannavale, Melanie Lynskey, Jason Ritter and narrated by Richard Kind, King Of The Egg Cream is a crime story, love story and distinctly American story, all packed into ten funny, fizzy and delicious episodes. Created by Justin Bartha, Emil Stern and Sigmund Stern".
* It Makes A Sound, which is not available on Amazon.
Apple says "Deirdre Gardner finds a lost cassette tape from 1992 in an attic and embarks on a quest to revive the sound of a generation. A serial fiction musical podcast about what we remember, and what we forget. #rememberWimFaros".
It's okay, kind of weird though. Music train wreck you want to hear the ending of. It's a Night Vale Presents podcast, so it feels the same forced concept as Welcome to Night Vale did for me (even though I stopped partially thru Night Vale, I intend on trying it again).
* Dreadtime Stories. Another Realm podcast that is available on Amazon.
Amazon says: "Dreadtime Stories is a horror podcast hosted by Malcolm McDowell, featuring fully-dramatized audio dramas written by top writers, including Max Allan Collins ("Road to Perdition") and featuring celebrity guest stars. Each 45-minute horror story has new characters with recurrent elements of nail-biting suspense, shocking violence, and dark humor. The series was co-created by Carl Amari, Tom DeFeo and Max Allan Collins and produced/directed by Carl Amari."
It's okay; I liked 12 Ghosts better with McDowell voicing.
"Every five minutes, a transplant candidate dies while waiting for a compatible heart, liver, or kidney. Imagine a technology that could provide those life-saving transplant organs for a high price, and imagine what a company would do to monopolize that technology. On a remote island in Lake Superior, a team of geneticists has unlocked this holy grail of medicine. By reverse-engineering thousands of genomes, they dial back the evolutionary clock to re-create the progenitor of all mammals. The method? Illegal. The result? An AI-designed animal whose organs can be safely transplanted into any person. There's just one problem: these "ancestors" are not the docile herd animals the scientists envisioned. Instead, the project spawns something big, something evil … something very, very hungry. As creators become prey in an ultimate battle for survival, the research team must fight for their lives — even while government agents close in to shut the project down, and the deep-pocketed company backing this research reveals its own cold-blooded agenda"
It sounds better than it was. They ended it oddly and the author voicing everything made it hard to follow. It's basically an audio book on a podcast platform. Could have been better with a small cast with no sound effects and a better ending.
"Equal parts "Mad Max" and "The Stand," this post apocalyptic saga is set in a world 15 years after the collapse of the world as we know it. A brother and sister grow up in rural Maine and unwittingly embark on a adventure to save the City from the religious zealots and ruthless military fight for control over the fallen world. An epic serialized audio drama adventure with 30+ actors, cinematic sound design and original music".
I'm sorry, but it kinda sucked. They had way too many character stories they were trying to combine into one show. There was a disconnect somewhere and I don't know where it was.
* The Black Tapes is a Pacific North West Stories production on Amazon. I think PNWS is an NPR affiliate, based on the blocking of the font.
Amazon says: " The Black Tapes is a weekly podcast from the creators of Pacific Northwest Stories, and is hosted by Alex Reagan. The Black Tapes Podcast is a serialized docudrama about one journalist's search for truth, her subject's mysterious past, and the literal and figurative ghosts that haunt them both. Do you believe?"
It's definitely an investigative journalism podcast and there was some struggle in parts of it. I'm on the fence with it.
* Undertow is a Realm production on Amazon. Multiple seasons equal multiple cover art. Current season is The Harrowing, which I haven't listened to yet. Prior seasons deal in and around Maine. I had some grand laughs at it, for being not a comedy ("Undertow is Realm’s premier horror podcast channel, showcasing original works of elevated audio horror").
* Low Life, another Realm production on Amazon. I started this last night at the gym. I'm 2 episodes in.
"This horror-comedy features a chupacabra exterminator and a marine biology student who become unlikely allies while solving a monstrous murder. Ever since the Florida swamps went feral a few years back, Brad Marlin has been killing chupacabras. But on a standard house call for a student new to the area, things go horribly wrong. Brad’s coworker is murdered, and not, Brad suspects, by the standard sucker they’ve all gotten used to. A new monster is in their midst. But there’s more than one secret hiding in the swamp: a missing millionaire’s daughter, a top-secret government project, and a radical environmental justice group all collide to give this twisty mystery an explosive conclusion."
Because I've started new series, I've shirked my listening responsibilities and haven't listened to anything that I've been actively playing, so I'm about 5 months behind for the following:
* Lore
Not to be confused with other podcasts I've put on my list because they sound good. I will comment on those when I start them.
Hopefully I remember.
In the interim, it's storming, so I reckon I better be off the computer.
Stay dry,
Cheers;
