VanVooren Alexa Skills
Dedicated to sharing Amazon Skills, Accessories, etc.
(created Tue. Feb. 7, 2017, updated Tue. June. 19, 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:
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-a little background about Alexa and the Amazon devices
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-share links to some of the more impressive skills (apps) we’ve found
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-share links to the Alexa skills we’ve created,
so you can use them -
-thoughts on a small number of accessories
Similar to how smartphones have apps, Alexa has skills.
Everyone in our family has created at least one Alexa skill.
Links to our VanVooren skills are below.
You can activate them by talking with Alexa or via this amazon page for Twice Energy Productions.
The skills we have created are all “fact skills,” in which Alexa reads you a random fun fact from the list we created.
We look to create some more sophisticated skills as time allow.
We also share links to Amazon’s templates, so you can make your own skills.
Divine Mercy Alexa skill.
Click “Divine Mercy”
or say “Alexa, Enable Divine Mercy.”
Then say “Alexa, Ask Divine Mercy.”
Our Lady of Fatima Alexa skill.
Click “Our Lady of Fatima”
or say “Alexa, Enable Our Lady of Fatima.”
Then say “Alexa, Ask Our Lady of Fatima.”
Teams of Our Lady Alexa skill.
Click “Teams of Our Lady”
or say “Alexa, Enable Teams of Our Lady.”
Then say “Alexa, Ask Teams of Our Lady.”
Teams of Our Lady Alexa skill.
Click “Teams Magnificat”
or say “Alexa, Enable Teams Magnificat.”
Then say “Alexa, Ask Teams Magnificat.”
Note: This skill was originally called “Teams of Our Lady Magnificat.”
Since that was the same as the skill that informs you about the “Teams of Our Lady” couples prayer group, Alexa could not effectively distinguish and would not start this prayer, but almost always started “Teams of Our Lady” informational skill instead. So this was renamed to “Teams Magnificat.”
Divine Office Magnificat Alexa skill.
Click “Divine Office Magnificat”
or say “Alexa, Enable Divine Office Magnificat.”
Then say “Alexa, Ask Divine Office Magnificat.”
Note: This is the US / American translation of Mary’s Magnificat, as the Teams Magnificat is a translation of a translation and is not “conversational English.”
Jupiter Facts, by Abby:
Click “Jupiter Facts”
or say “Alexa, Enable Jupiter Facts.”
Then say “Alexa, Ask Jupiter Facts.”
General Car Facts, by Matt:
Click “General Car Facts“
or say “Alexa, Enable General Car Facts.”
Then say “Alexa, Ask General Car Facts.”
Alex Morgan Facts, by Abby
Click “Alex Morgan Facts”
or say “Alexa, Enable Alex Morgan Facts.”
Then say “Alexa, Ask Alex Morgan Facts.”
Great Lakes State Fact (Michigan), by Ann Marie:
Click “Great Lakes State Fact”
or say “Alexa, Enable Great Lakes State Fact.”
Then say “Alexa, Ask Great Lakes Fact.”
Click “Space Flight Fun Facts”
or say “Alexa, Enable Space Flight Fun Facts.”
Then say “Alexa, Ask Space Flight Fun Facts.”
We create d our Alexa skills using the name “Twice Energy Productions.”
(The equation for Kinetic Energy is E = 1/2 MV^2, rewritten as 2E = MV^2):
What prompted us to create an Alexa skill?
As we were getting used to using Alexa, I realized that one of the more interesting things Alexa could do for us is let the kids ask “what’s for lunch” at school on any given day.
After a couple searches, I found that someone had done just that - they made a skill that tells you what school is serving for lunch that day.
I then found that Amazon has a site dedicated to developing Alexa skills.
Some of the links Amazon has created, to...
... provide people an overview of creating:
https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit
https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit/alexa-skill-quick-start-tutorial
(this is more of a 5-minute overview of the steps you need to take to create a skill... you won’t necessarily create a skill in 5 minutes, but after you make one or two, you should be able to create skills in 10-15 minutes.)
... provide templates helping you create a new Alexa skill:
&
https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit/alexa-skills-developer-training
And then I saw that, in early 2017, Amazon was encouraging people to create Alexa skills by offering t-shirts to developers whose skills were published by March 31. They have since changed their incentives, but the link is still:
https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit/alexa-developer-skill-promotion
...
We then discovered a Game Quiz template, that helps you create a Game Show... Alexa asks a question, you answer, and Alexa confirms right or wrong. Sounds like fun... and it is... like the game Jeopardy! J6
https://www.amazon.com/Sony-Pictures-Television-Jeopardy-J6/dp/B019G0M2WS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-skills&ie=UTF8&qid=1486455252&sr=1-1&keywords=jeopardy
And while that isn’t incredibly complicated, I/we needed to start with something a bit simpler... the Fact template.
In short, create a list of fun facts, type them in a list, and ask Alexa about the fun fact, and she will state the fun facts.
Then I needed to determine... what facts to start with???
Well...
Abby and a classmate created a poster about the planet Jupiter a couple months before then...
... and the poster has 14 facts on it about the largest planet in our solar system... “just the right amount we need!”
So Abby and I worked to create Jupiter Facts, using the Fact Skill template:
https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/content/fact-skill-1
And that became our family’s first published Alexa skill!
After that, Ann Marie created one about Michigan, Matt created one about Cars, and I made one about Space Flight, inspired by SpaceX’s historic reuse of a launch booster, etc.
And that meant that each of us earned an Alexa t-shirt! We succeeded!
Then, later the next week...
At Church, we were working on a few things for Easter, and the Sunday after Easter, which is Divine Mercy Sunday. That led to an inspiration... create a Fact Skill that shares more about Divine Mercy Sunday, St. Faustina, the devotion, and some of what Jesus shares... that His Mercy is available for every single person.
And that led me to create the Divine Mercy Alexa skill.
And, Ann Marie and I teamed up to create the Our Lady of Fatima Alexa skill.
And we’ve crated others, too.
Amazon shares that you can create skills in under an hour. That’s true, likely after you create your first skill... but the first skill may take a bit longer.
We have seen that...
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-the first skill may take 2-3 hours
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-later skills can be done even more quickly... the list of facts takes as long as you can create a list; the rest can take 10-15 minutes. The list has this format:
'<first fact>.',
'<next facts>.',
...
'<last fact>” (note... no comma)
Fact Skill Template
https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/content/fact-skill-1
VanVooren.US Alexa Pages
