Alexa Skills

Dedicated to sharing Amazon Skills, Accessories, etc.

(created Tue. Feb. 7, 2017, updated Wed. Feb. 7, 2018)

Alexa is the name of the voice you use to interact with Amazon’s devices, including the Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, and others. Alexa is also being integrated into, Amazon Music, Amazon shopping and more.

This site exists to share:

-a little background about Alexa and the Amazon devices
-links to some of the more impressive skills (apps) we’ve found
-links to the Alexa skills that we have created created
-thoughts on a small number of accessories

Some of the better Alexa Skills we’ve found:

-Moon Man STL - Shannonisms
So funny!

“Moon Man gives you a random "Shannonism", a quote from St. Louis Cardinals broadcaster, Mike Shannon.

“Ask Moon Man for a Shannonism, a quote, or What did Mike Shannon Say?

“Quotes provided by: www.Shannonisms.com

“Disclaimer: This skill is in no way endorsed by or affiliated with broadcaster Mike Shannon, the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, Major League Baseball, KMOX, or any other entity related to the personality of Mike Shannon.”

https://www.amazon.com/HuntX-Moon-Man-STL-Shannonisms/dp/B075WMNP98/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-skills&ie=UTF8&qid=1518094488&sr=1-1&keywords=shannonisms

-Inconceivable Quotes (“The Princess Bride”)
“For fans of the classic film The Princess Bride, this skill is an unofficial tribute to the film and its many "inconceivable" quotes.”
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N56RJHQ

-Baseball Skit (Abbott & Costello’s “Who’s On First”...)
“Entertain your friends by participating in the classic "Whos On First?" comedy dialog.
Alexa will play the part of Bud Abbott while you say the Lou Costello lines.
At any point you can ask Alexa for your next lines, or you can open the Alexa app and read the lines displayed in the app.
If you have two Alexa devices, like an Echo and a Dot, then you can have them perform the skit together while you and your friends roll on the floor laughing.”
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E0GJQFO

Recommendation... use this site to have all your parts ready (you can both try being both Abbott one time and Costello the next time):
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/humor4.shtml

You can also watch this YouTube of the skit
Abbott & Costello Who's On First
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTcRRaXV-fg

-Jeopardy!

Originally this game asked you one question from each of six categories... and you could play once per day. You played the Jeopardy round and if you missed a day you missed a day.

In November, 2017, they updated the game... it now has both Jeopardy and Double Jeopardy rounds... one question from two groups of six categories, and if you have Amazon Prime then you get the second set of six questions. These are nice improvements. This is a good game to play as a family.

“Did you know that every Jeopardy! category has an “extra” 6th clue? Now you can play those clues on Alexa! With a single voice command, test your knowledge with new clues every weekday. Step up to the podium and play the same categories you saw on the latest episode! Play a wide range of categories including sports, pop culture, travel, world history, and much more! Get the true Jeopardy! experience now as you respond, just like contestants on the show!

“Prime Members get a free subscription to Double Jeopardy! with 6 extra clues every weekday. Just say “Alexa, open Jeopardy” and play to get started. Double Jeopardy! is $1.99 per month without a Prime membership.

“Celebrate over 30 seasons of America’s Favorite Quiz Show®—enable the skill and play today!

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-Pictures-Television-Jeopardy/dp/B019G0M2WS/ref=sr_1_1?s=amazon-devices&ie=UTF8&qid=1511855339&sr=8-1&keywords=jeopardy+skill

-Teen Jeopardy!

“Now on Alexa, from America’s Favorite Quiz Show®, show off your knowledge playing Teen Jeopardy! with 12 free weekly clues released every Friday or try the monthly packs of 50 clues! The monthly clue packs offer even greater challenges; covering a rotation of topics like science, literature, or geography. And, it's all written specifically for teens and families. Get the true Jeopardy! experience as you respond just like contestants in the Teen Tournament!

“Monthly clue packs are available for only $0.99 for Prime members or $1.99 without a Prime membership.

“Celebrate over 30 seasons of Jeopardy! — enable the skill and play today!”

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-Pictures-Television-Teen-Jeopardy/dp/B073R3CHWQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-skills&ie=UTF8&qid=1518094765&sr=1-2&keywords=jeopardy

-Amazing Word Master Game
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017OBSCOS

-National Geographic Geo Quiz

“Using the voice command: "Alexa, Play Geo Quiz," you can put your geography knowledge to the test.

“Only your first try counts, but you can repeat the questions as many times as you'd like each day for practice.

“Six new questions are released every day!”

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=geoquiz+skill

-Saint of the Day

“Learn about the catholic saint of the day brought to you by Franciscan Media. The information is free and in the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi.”

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M5GE382

-EWTN’s Catholic News Feed

“Catholic News from EWTN News Nightly, with Lauren Ashburn”

https://www.amazon.com/EWTN-Global-Catholic-Network-News/dp/B06XH2RD52/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511857612&sr=8-1&keywords=ewtn+skill

-The Pope’s Daily Tweet

“Have Alexa read Pope Francis' most recent tweet! The skill reads off the most recent tweet posted from the @Pontifex Twitter account.”

https://www.amazon.com/JLinn-LLC-Popes-Daily-Tweet/dp/B06XYZBTDW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-skills&ie=UTF8&qid=1518095350&sr=1-1&keywords=pope+tweet&dpID=61fs6JYp88L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

-SpaceFlight Insider

For your flash briefing.

Learn about upcoming rocket launches.

This can be especially helpful in understanding when SpaceX will next be launching, at which time you can quickly add a reminder in your phone to watch the launch on their webcast.

https://www.amazon.com/Ultic-Web-Solutions-LLC-SpaceFlight/dp/B074YGK72H/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-skills&ie=UTF8&qid=1518095036&sr=1-1&keywords=space+flight+insider&dpID=61abepSNXrL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

-Fox News
“Get the latest audio news from Fox News and Fox Business now on Alexa. Stay up to date on the 2016 Election or listen to the latest celebrity gossip. Fox News and Fox Business keep you in the know.”

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M5EIW2D

-President Trump’s Tweets

1) President Tweets
“This is just a goofy Alexa Skill that can either read back Donald Trump's latest tweet or tell you a random tweet from Donald Trump. It is not intended as support or endorsement of Donald Trump. This skill is only for novelty purposes.”
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N8OOFJ1

&

2) FanDailyTrumpTweet
“This fan skill will tell you the last tweet from Trump as well as the most retweeted, replied and liked tweets. Ask alexa about the most recent tweet if you want to get the last one. You can also ask alexa about the most retweeted recent tweet, the most liked recent tweet and the most replied recent tweet. Alexa will also tell you number of retweets, likes or replies for it.”
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MT481SN

While not officially a skill, IFTTT / If This Then That, has many different Alexa applets, like...

... the one that adds to a Google Docs spreadsheet the song name and album of all the songs Alexa plays (via her, not from a phone via bluetooth):

https://ifttt.com/applets/298147p-keep-a-google-spreadsheet-of-the-songs-you-listen-to-on-alexa

You just use their apps to find their helpful tools, and activate the on your phone.

See the full list of IFTTT Alexa applets at:

https://ifttt.com/search/alexa

More about IFTTT:

IFTTT is a free web-based service that people use to create chains of simple conditional statements, called applets. An applet is triggered by changes that occur within other web services such as Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.[4] IFTTT is an initialism for If This Then That.[5]

Typical applets might:

•Send an e-mail message if the IFTTT user tweets using a certain hashtag
•Copy a photo on Facebook to a user's archive if someone tags (identifies) the user in that photo

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IFTTT