Have a whopper of a conversation with a smart speaker
Published 1:30 am Sunday, December 3, 2017
1. Malty balls
Americans have Whoppers and the British have Maltesers.
Well, now we have them, too.
Sold at discount stores and supermarkets, the Brit version has chocolate that is creamier and less waxy.
Look for the cute red box that flips open and reads: “Beware of impending crunch … Here comes delicious. Ready your tongue.”
Also sold in buckets.
2. Fishy trees
Adopt A Stream Foundation’s “Holiday Trees for Salmon” at the Northwest Stream Center is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, Dec. 6-24. Selection of live 3 to 5 foot ($40 to $60) Sitka spruce, Western red cedar and Douglas fir trees that are in pots.
After the holidays, all trees returned to the center will be planted next to local streams helping out next year’s salmon runs.
The center is in McCollum Park, 600 128th St. SE, Everett. During December, admission is free to the 20-acre forest and wetland complex which has a half-mile trail, trout stream exhibit and an elevated nature trail that is about 3-feet above the forest floor and surrounding wetlands.
More at www.streamkeeper.org.
3. Know-it-alls
Need a personal assistant to answers your questions, give the weather, set timers or spell onomatopoeia?
That’s the $80 question.
Smart speakers are hot this holiday. Amazon Echo, known as “Alexa,” and Google Home are neck-in-neck at the top.
These gadgets not only play music and make calls, the bad boys also control a home’s smart lights and thermostat. That is, if your devices are equipped with smart plugs in the first place.
Oh, yeah, that detail.
Google Home lets you call anyone in your contacts and beyond. Even Santa.
More at www.amazon.com and https://store.google.com.
Got a smart speaker? Tell us about it for an upcoming Herald story at abrown@heraldnet.com. Or have your speaker give us a jingle at 425-339-3443.
— Andrea Brown, Herald writer
