Curious_Canid

Thank you! That was very useful.

My sister lives in Alaska. The locals say that you can tell if you're in grizzly territory by checking any bear poop you find. If it contains bells and smell like bear spray, you know there are grizzlies nearby.

Polar bears will most likely hunt you, even if they don't immediately attack. They are terrifyingly good at it.

NWS is a great resource, but there are a startling number of other organizations that collect weather data.

I appreciate that. :-D

I appreciate the suggestion. I have thought about it, but part of what I wanted, like the original poster, was more localized information. NWS is great for overall data, but it doesn't get down to precise locations.

Oh, yeah. Not only did they take it away from all Android users, they also killed the API that let other apps access it. I wrote an open-source tool that made Dark Sky data available to Wear OS watch faces. It worked beautifully for several years, until Apple killed it.

The worst of it is that was my second attempt. An earlier version of the same tool worked with Weather Underground data. Then IBM bought it, changed the API completely, and priced it so that only business could afford it.

I haven't had the heart to try a third time.

Sorry, every once in a while I'm overcome with the need to whine about it.

Take a look at the suggestions in this article: https://www.lifewire.com/stop-alexa-from-listening-5121012

If you disable the microphone, except when you want to use it, that should severely limit what it can do. If you also set the option that tells Amazon not to keep any of your recordings that should keep you fairly safe.

The caveat is that Amazon can decide to cheat at any time. They have repeatedly lied about what information that acquire, how long they retain it, and what they do with it. At the moment, they don't seem to be cheating on the Echo functions, but that could change at any time with an invisible firmware update. There isn't anything you can do about this except to be aware of the possibility.

It is definitely worth using the privacy options they offer, even if they aren't enforced through hardware.

This seems like a useful tool. Thanks!

Do you honestly think that Trump would be better? Have you read what he has to say about this subject?

I'm disgusted with Biden too, but sometimes choosing between the lesser of two evils is the responsible thing to do. Ethical choices are often the most difficult. One-topic voting is almost never ethical. The ultimate results do matter.

The world would be a happier place if everyone did.

I agree with your sentiments, but I do not think you're right about the legal responsibilities. There are several terrible court precedents, going back to the time of Henry Ford, that establish draconian requirements for those running a corporation. The laws dealing with incorporation need to be rewritten, for many reasons, but with the power corporations currently have over our political process that is not likely to happen.

I would argue that unfettered capitalism generally rewards the least humane management and the worst people.