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New Alexa Blueprints Let Users Make Custom Skills Without Knowing Any Code (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Amazon just released a new way for Alexa users to customize their experience with the virtual assistant. New Alexa Skill Blueprints allow you to create your own personalized Alexa skills, even if you don't know how to code. These "blueprints" act as templates for making questions, responses, trivia games, narrative stories, and other skills with customizable answers unique to each user. Amazon already has a number of resources for developers to make the new skills they want, but until now, users have had to work within the confines of pre-made Alexa skills. Currently, more than 20 templates are available on the new Alexa Skill Blueprints website, all ready for Alexa users to personalize with their own content. Any blueprint-made skills you make will show up on the "Skills You've Made" section of the blueprints website. While these skills will exist for your Amazon account until you delete them, they aren't posted to the general Alexa Skills score, so strangers will not have access to your couple's trivia game that's personalized for you, your spouse, and your best coupled friends.
Apparently, it's there word for configurable macros because this is just a fill in the blank tool.
You mean the home automation devices? It means creating an action or set of actions that a user might want to create.
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
"Alexa, stop spying on me."
You are welcome on my lawn.
Just because you don't have to understand enough to produce a source file that gets compiled, linked, and then run does NOT mean you are not engaged in "programming" something.
Teaching Alexa a skill REQUIRES that you understand the necessary sequence required to convey to the device what you are asking it to do. IF you don't follow the sequence, Alexa won't do what you want. Alexa is going to just give you a crash course in how to program it any time it isn't sure what you want. This isn't all that different than what I do all day... write code, compile code, deal with the errors if any, link and run to see if it works... The only difference is you are just talking and the repertoire Alexa understands is extremely limited.
SO I'm calling bullhokey... You may not know going in how Alexa has to be programed, but if you try, Alexa will TRAIN you how to program, then accept your program once you understand how to say it.
Are there any limitations? /s
The first skill I'd create would be "Privacy"
Probably the second would be "Alexa?" Order me some blackjack and hookers.
Don't be silly. You can't order blackjack. :-)
More seriously... Did you know there are smartphone controlled vibrators? So it's only a matter of time before those can be controlled by Alexa too. How's that going to play out in bed? "Alexa. Set vibrator #3 to pulse-mode 2, change vibrator #1 to continuous-mode and vibrator #2 to manual - and reorder Tide pods."
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
skills.
All I know is that I already have a lot of programmers working for me who don't know how any code.