2019-09-01_Computer_Shopper

LETTERS

6 SEPTEMBER 2019 |COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE 379

Letters

It’s allverywellhavingmultiplepassword-protectedbackupsof yourprecious

files,but what happensifyou take thepasswordtothe gravewithyou?

[email protected]

Hueandcry

Iread your piece on Alexa (Shopper

378) with interest as Ihad recently

boughtaPhilips Hue hub and lights.

Ihad been trying to get the Alexa app to

turn on lights while Iwas out and turn them

off again at specifictimes, withoutsuccess.

Ihad done everythingyou detailedin your

article,and it only works if the Alexa app is

open on my phone and not while the phone

is in sleep mode or while I’m out.

Itried the Philips Hue app,and that works

as expected. Ican set the lights to turn on

and then off at specifictimes while I’m away.

Ican controlthe lights using the Alexa

app and by voice while I’m at home,but

surely the Alexa app shouldbe able to

replicatethe Philips Hue app as Alexa is

linked to the Philips account?

NeilPackwood

Alexa Routines work in the cloud, so they

shouldn’t need your phone turned on or the

app open. We’ve tested with our phone turned

completely off and timed Routines did work.

The issue is more likely down to the fact

that Alexa communicates with smart devices

throughthe cloud. So when you ask Alexa to

turn on your Hue lights using your voice,the

messageis sent up to the cloud, throughto

the Hue cloud servers,down to your Hue

Bridge and, finally,tothe actual light bulbs.

This can cause some problemswhere the

signal doesn’t get through,which is what we

suspectis happeninghere.

Switchingto theHueappwillbemorereliable,

as you’ll reduce the numberof communication

steps. Also check out the free Yonomi app

(www .yonomi.co), which lets you createRoutines

across multiplesmart home devices, and you

can even use its Routines with Alexa.

Deathduties

KayEwbank makes a

valid point about diverse,

multiplebackupsforyour

photos and valuable files

(Ka y’sCorner,Shopper378).

However,Ithink it is a

four-step process,not three:

3. Have three copies of your data


4. The copies shouldbe in at least two
   separateplaces


5. At least one copyshould be stored in a
   differentlocation

+1. Tell someonethe locationsand any

passwordsneededto access them

Starletter

Dividedwe

shouldn’tstand

Ihopeevery reader

took amoment to

reflect on Mel Croucher’s

touching article (‘The Great

Digital Divide’,Shopper377).

It is harrowingto ponder

the sense of exclusionand

downrightfear those on

the wrong side of the divide must

experience.All tooeasily,though,we

can think it doesn’t concernus, that

‘it won’t happento me’.

Back in the 1970s, Ihelped afriend with

his school projecton the lives of buskers.

We toured the London Undergroundin

search of buskers,and came

intocontact with many

homelesspeople.What

stuck in my mind was that

most of these peoplehad

come from ‘normal’

backgrounds,but adivorce,

loss of employment,amental

health issue or the like had

led to an uncontrollable

downwardspiral.

The digital divide can only worsenan

alreadyterrible issue.Itcould come out of

the blue to affect any one of us, and it

shouldconcernus all.

Thank you forsuch athoughtfularticle.

AlanThomas

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e last step covers the keeling-

ov er-dead aspect and lets

someonein the family retrieve

the photos and so on. In this

digital age,there is areal risk

that recordswill die with

the personas there is no

shoeboxof picturesto find in

he bottom of awardrobe.

MartinLines

Driveinstructor

With reference to the questionposed

by RonHawkes (Help file378) –how to

move files created in one GoogleDrive

accountto adifferentone –the best wayof

carryingout his requestis simply to install

and set up MultCloud(www .multcloud.com).

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