Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

Luxury life or just normal?

Mittwoch, April 5th, 2017

​Today, in the early morning I left my house and saw, that the light was still on. So, I stood in front of the house and was thinking, if I would like to go back and switch off the lights. After some seconds, I realize that my wireless network is still available and so I use my mobile to control the light – Yes, there is an Windows 10 universal app for Philips Hue running on Windows Phone and Windows Desktop. Not an original, but it is nice too.

I am starting to like the Hue system more and more. I switch on the light when I am still in the bed, so I can go safely into the bath room. Normally I ask Alexa to witch off the lights when I am leaving, but I can still do it in front of the house with the app or over the internet whereever I am on the Philips Hue website. I already know that there a nice workflows in IFTT. Maybe in Microsoft Flow there are some rules for hue too. I will check.

On my way in the office I was dreaming about controling the light in the office with an app on the standard client. Maybe also the temperature, air condition and jalousie. Science fiction? In the new Microsoft in Munich it is reality. Maybe it could be realize at the new campus of my company too…

Trying to understand Sway

Sonntag, April 2nd, 2017

I only wanted to know how many free space my mailbox has, but I clicked on Docs.com and was in new world, because many things on this site has to be done with Sway.

I remembered that I saw Sway two years ago and … gave up. But now I wanted to understand this tool. For me Sway seems to be something between Powerpoint and a small content management system. I am not sure if you need an Office 365 subscription, but if you want to find out, go to https://sway.com
You can add cards if you want to add content and organize it in your Sway.
While you are working with the elements and properties of the cards, your Sway grews up and starts to live.
I am not sure, if Sway could replace PowerPoint presenstations in a company. One problem might be, that you can not store your sways on your local drive. You need an internet connection while showing your presentation. On the other side sharing and working together is easy
I will give Sway a chance for one of the next presenstations…
If you would like to see more Sways and tutorials, you can visit https://docs.com/Sway

I do not need Alexa

Freitag, März 31st, 2017

I do not know any real reason, why I should have Alexa in my house. At the moment I have two echo dots, because she did not understand me, when I was in the kitchen.

The first day I tested every question that comes in my mind. Sometimes her answer were disappointing, sometimes a surprise and often correct. A few days later I found out that she is very expensive. Not the dots itself, but the things around her. Because answering questions is not a good reason for Alexa, I was searching for an additional job. I bought Phillips Hue… And now she switch on and off some lights in the house. I really fear, that I will replace each light bulb. But first I need a good idea to prevent me from clicking the traditional switch. A sheet of paper with tesa looks not so nice.

Now I am waiting for the standalone Cortana device (because I am still a Windows 10 fan with a Lumia 950XL)