AWS IoT Button

Another impulse buy.  Amazon has hundreds of Dash Buttons for ordering products like Tide, Bounty, Charmin, and even Slim Jim's with a push of a button, but just released a programmable Dash Button for tech geeks to get started with the "Internet of Things (IoT)" using Amazon Web Services (AWS). No clue what I'll do with it yet, but was just too cool to pass up.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C7WE5WM

Google Duo

Are you in a mixed technology relationship like I am (wife:iPhone, me:Android) and missing out on video calling?  Google aims to fix that with its new, dead simple, person-to-person, cross-platform Duo app. I really like that it integrates into my contacts so I don't have yet another set to maintain.

https://duo.google.com/

Google Speech Recognition API

Google provides a speech-to-text API (Application Programming Interface), currently in beta, which you can test out at the link below.

The API supports 80 languages, including things like,whatever that might be.

The cost, after the first 60 minutes free (I love free), is 2.4 cents per minute of speech.

https://cloud.google.com/speech/

Convert PDF and Photos to Text

The text below was scanned into a PDF, which I put on my Google Drive. But I wanted to make some changes for a future post, so I needed to make it a text document. So simple. I just right-clicked the PDF, selected Open with ... Google Docs and presto chango, Google worked its magic and I had a text document. Results vary, but I had maybe 3 or 4 changes to correct conversions it got wrong, way better than typing the two pages from scratch.

https://support.google.com/drive/answer/176692

Hasselback Chicken

Easy, fast and delicious.  What else can a man ask for?

The Hasselback chicken recipe at the following link is just a good starting point. This time I didn't have spinach, so I used some fresh-picked basil from the herb garden.  I also didn't have Pepper Jack cheese, so I used some Habanero and Parmesan instead.  Ten minutes of prep and twenty minutes in the oven.

The first picture is before the cheese on top and the baking, showing the basil inserted into the slices in the chicken, then sprinkled with the bread crumbs and Cajun seasoning, and each sitting in its own aluminum foil "boat".  The second picture is the finished product, to which I added some time under the broiler for a crispier finish.

http://www.food.com/recipe/hasselback-chicken-cajun-with-pepper-jack-spinach-510429

RadBeacon Dot

Measuring in with a 1 1/8" diameter, this beacon broadcasts a Low-Energy Bluetooth signal that smartphones can detect for a few dozen meters.  This is the kind of technology that requires imagination to put to use.  So perhaps you would put one in every hospital room and your medical app could keep track of where all your doctors and nurses are located.  Any use where knowing your location is useful, particularly indoors where GPS is useless, could be a winner.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JJ4P864

            

Plumeria

Our plumeria, after about 4-5 years, is really taking off during this extra-hot summer. This plant started out as a stick (literally) in a small pot of soil. Really looked pathetic. Could not have imagined it would grow into this beauty. I'm hoping that it flowers as the days get cooler, as their fragrance is awesome.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumeria

Hey Siri

This link contains a nice reference to the hundreds of things that you can ask Siri, such as "When is the sunset in Dayton Ohio?", "How many calories in a bagel?" and "What type of Pokémon is Pikachu?".  Towards the bottom there are some questions that elicit funny responses such as "What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?".

https://hey-siri.io/

Pesto Chicken

Last Sunday's dinner was the highlight of the week, one of those dishes where you just want to wolf it down but force yourself to slow down to extend the delight.  It was the first time my wife made this, but we both will guarantee it's not the last.

http://www.food.com/recipe/pesto-chicken-171167

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/13937/pesto/

LibreOffice 5.2

A shiny new release of LibreOffice Office Suite is now available.  The usual set of improved features and better compatibility with Microsoft Office document formats.  LibreOffice is Open Source and 100% free (I love free).  Installed this morning on my Mac.

https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2016/08/03/libreoffice-5-2-fresh-released-for-windows-mac-os-and-gnulinux/