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Internet made the radio star
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andi*pandi
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Mar 1, 2022, 04:16 PM
 
For those who never or are avoiding Spotify, don't want to give Bezos/Amazon yet more money, and find Pandora's ads extremely irritating... what else is there?

Local Emerson College radio:
https://wers.org/

The revenant of Boston's WFNX alternative radio, Indie617:
http://player.listenlive.co/35471

Our local library has a membership here, and the playlists are good for discovering new stuff or just when I'm sick of my own 90s playlists. Bonus: legal downloads.
https://www.freegalmusic.com/home

Just discovered this, Radio Paradise:
https://radioparadise.com/player

Last resort: actual radio.
     
subego
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Mar 1, 2022, 04:25 PM
 
Unless you need it on every device, a Pandora sub is pretty cheap. $5 per month per client.

I only have it subbed on my HTPC. For mobile I just deal with the ads.


Full disclosure: I really love Pandora, so I don’t mind giving them some scratch for the effort.
     
Thorzdad
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Mar 1, 2022, 04:33 PM
 
Pandora’s ads aren’t a deal-breaker for me. Hell, they come far less often than on actual radio. I’ve found a ton of new-to-me artists on Pandora.

There’s a very eclectic community station down here that I like to listen to. WITT. I think it’s available on the TuneIn app, too.
     
andi*pandi  (op)
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Mar 1, 2022, 04:42 PM
 
My main use of Pandora was as a "going to sleep music" app. So having soothing music be interrupted by screeching ads was not cool. Maybe I should give it another shot.

Amazon music has acceptable sleepy stations/playlists and no ads... as long as I keep giving Bezos his $. This year going up $30? Eep.
     
MacNNFamous
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Mar 1, 2022, 05:40 PM
 
indieshuffle. 100% free, no ads, find the latest hottest stuff. Great website, fantastic app, great playlists, etc.

https://www.indieshuffle.com/

Soundcloud. Same as above, only... not as curated. More crap to sift through, though the 'hot' playlists are usually on point.
     
Laminar
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Mar 2, 2022, 09:49 AM
 
Originally Posted by andi*pandi View Post
My main use of Pandora was as a "going to sleep music" app. So having soothing music be interrupted by screeching ads was not cool. Maybe I should give it another shot.

Amazon music has acceptable sleepy stations/playlists and no ads... as long as I keep giving Bezos his $. This year going up $30? Eep.
I'm ready to move on from Alexa and ditch Prime.

I've specifically turned notifications off. In the last couple of months, it's started glowing yellow to give me notifications. I can't turn notifications any further off, but I still get notifications.

When I try to listen a song, I fully expect to get lectured about how that song is only available on Amazon Music Unlimited. Lots of popular songs I've listened to before have been moved to Unlimited, in order to further neuter the Prime music service.

Even when I ask for a song or artist that is in Prime, before it plays the music, I get a lecture about how "for 90 million songs and blah blah blah pay Jeff Bezos more money."

I have "Brief Mode" enabled for voice responses so that when I ask for a light to be turned on or off, it responds with a simple "doo-doo" sound instead of having to listen to Alexa's stupid voice say, "Okay" every time I try to adjust the luminance in the room. Just yesterday, even though "Brief Mode" is definitely turned on, she returned to responding, "Okay." I can't turn Brief Mode any more on, I don't want to hear her stupid voice.

What are my other voice options? Homepod Mini? Google Home? I probably have 10 smart outlets and a couple smart bulbs I need to work with it. The bulbs advertise compatibility with Google Home, but not specifically HomeKit. I'd prefer Apple over Google for privacy, but blowing $500 to replace our three Echo devices and all of the plugs and bulbs and everything is a pain.

Thoughts?
     
MacNNFamous
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Mar 2, 2022, 12:17 PM
 
Don't use voice options, use an app on your phone.

And don't use pandora/spotify, use soundcloud/indieshuffle. NO ADS. 100% FREE!
     
Laminar
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Mar 2, 2022, 02:45 PM
 
An app on my phone is more work than just turning the light off manually.
     
MacNNFamous
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Mar 2, 2022, 03:29 PM
 
So do that....
     
subego
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Mar 2, 2022, 05:34 PM
 
I probably can’t help, but what protocol do the bulbs/outlets use?

Like, for example, Hue bulbs use “Zigbee”.
     
andi*pandi  (op)
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Mar 2, 2022, 07:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous View Post
indieshuffle. 100% free, no ads, find the latest hottest stuff. Great website, fantastic app, great playlists, etc.
https://www.indieshuffle.com/
I'm not normally one for techno/synth, but this does work for work.
https://www.indieshuffle.com/playlis...ocus-playlist/

Laminar, my SO is sus of any voicebots so we are in the dark ages over here with no alexa or hey google. Sounds annoying.
     
subego
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Mar 2, 2022, 07:51 PM
 
The only real issue I’ve had with Alexa is Amazon broke the hack I was using to control my existing home automation system. It was a hack though, so I couldn’t really complain. It’s since been integrated into my HA software and works great.

So, I’m not having any of these problems, but I’m not using any of the native services except for time, weather, and the calculator.
     
Laminar
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Mar 3, 2022, 09:10 AM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I probably can’t help, but what protocol do the bulbs/outlets use?

Like, for example, Hue bulbs use “Zigbee”.
They're on wifi directly and initially configured through the "Smart Life" app, at which point Alexa can recognize them.
     
Laminar
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Jul 11, 2023, 10:32 AM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
I'm ready to move on from Alexa and ditch Prime.
The process has started. Wife got a new job with more WFH than she was previously doing, so we repurposed the downstairs guest bedroom (read: dumping room for junk) into a full-fledged office. I got her a HomePod and I bought a three pack of Nanoleaf smart bulbs for the lamps. Her previous WFH location was the front room of our house, with a full view of the outdoors and the ability to see who was coming and going, plus being able to be there for package deliveries and other stuff.

We've resisted the doorbell camera game until now. I went ahead and got the Logitech Circle View Wired Video Doorbell, maybe the only Homekit-compatible doorbell? It was in stock at the local Apple store so I grabbed one. Installation was easy - getting the old doorbell off and using the oscillating power tool to slot the door trim to fit the bigger camera body was the hardest part. Now the new doorbell rings on her Homepod and her phone and she can see who's at the door from the Home app. Its image recognition is good, it will pick out cars, people, animals and mark each recorded instance as such.



It has dropped wifi connection a couple of times which is a bit disappointing. It has nearly line-of-sight to my Eero repeater, which is only 20-30 feet away, and the main router isn't much further than that, though it is through the floor. My phone has a VERY strong signal at the doorbell location. It's also not perfect about getting recordings - it recorded my son sitting on the chair on the front porch, but it completely missed the nanny driving up, parking, and coming inside.

We'll see how it works out long term.
     
   
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