Do you guys know if Alexa can register a custom user said word that is no a AMAZON.Something, now that AMAZON.literal (which was a catch all for any word) is deprecated.
For example for a skill like "wikipedia". Whereby I want to be able to say "Hey alexa, wikipedia {word}" without having to have a custom slot type with all words on wikipedia. Would that be possible ?
That is a common concern, so Amazon published this blog post to address it:
Why a Custom Slot is the Literal Solution (November 25, 2016)
https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/Tx3IHSFQSUF3RQP/Why-a-Custom-Slot-is-the-Literal-Solution
Related
I've created a skill with an intent containing a custom slot.
I've defined the custom slot and have added various examples.
One of the examples is a branch name which is not pronounced correctly by Alexa.
Is there a way to define the pronunciation of a custom slot example?
For example, can we change the pronunciation of backpack (if it were a brand name)?
All you can do is change the spelling of the word to better match the pronunciation that you want to match.
To clarify a bit more what Tom said, all you can do to help Alexa understand what Alexa hears in slots as shown in your example is provide additional spellings.
To help what Alexa says though, you can use SSML such as the "say-as" tag.
I know that Google Dictionary was discontinued in 2011, but the dictionary information and definitions are still available through google search results:
Does anyone know whether this information can be accessed through the Custom Search API or the Translate API?
I found this related question (but sadly without a satisfying answer).
I also needed Google Dictionary API for my project, it was not present so I decided to create one.
I scrapped the WebPage for the url https://www.google.com/#q=define+term where term is any word you want to get meaning of, and created the API, you can find it here Google Dictionary API.
How to use
The basic syntax of a URL request to the API is shown below:
https://api.dictionaryapi.dev/api/v2/entries/<--language_code-->/<--word-->
As an example, to get definition of English word hello, you can send request to:
https://api.dictionaryapi.dev/api/v2/entries/en/hello
The API also provides other meanings of the word, example sentences, and synonyms, if any.
If you want me to include any other details, please comment and I will happily extend the API to cover your needs.
In case you wish to see the code, it is on github.
Google Dictionary's content is licenced from Oxford Dictionaries' Lexico. Their API can be accessed from here.
Note their free access platform ("prototype") has a number of limitations:
1000 requests per month
Limited data access
Limited request rate
It doesn't look promising from the API Explorer
https://developers.google.com/apis-explorer/#search/dictionary/
I am creating in which a user can say an address (for further processing). An address can be anything from "New York" to "123 First Avenue Washington" to "Seattle Harbor". Basically like something you can enter at Google Maps - it will recognize more or less everything :)
So now of course comes the problem on how to create a custom slot for this? LITERAL is deprecated PLUS I am working on a German language skill.
Should I actually try to fill the 50,000 lines I got available for a custom skill with as many enumerations of addresses as I can come up with? I'm afraid that even if I go down that road, Alexa will still try to map any input that's not in that list to one that is - and thereby rendering my skill a bit mood :(
Thanks for any advise!
As you suggest, using a custom slot with 50K sample addresses wouldn't really work. Something as complicated as an address really needs a built-in slot type, and there is one for US skills:
https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/docs/built-in-intent-ref/slot-type-reference#postaladdress
But you noted that you are targeting a German language skill and as far as I know there isn't a German language or address version of the above built-in slot yet.
The fact that they have done it for US suggests that they will add it for Germany at some point, but counting on that is risky, of course, so you are in a difficult position. In the mean-time I would suggest you go to the feature request space and add a request for a German version of the above:
I am attempting to make a skill which can select files, Unfortunately the AMAZON.LITERAL type is being deprecated and I need to update my skill to a custom skill type. I already have code that generates keywords for selectable files, is there a way to overwrite or append the custom skill keywords automatically with each invocation? Or at least a way to trick Alexa into collecting semi free form speech?
Is there a way to update the custom skill keywords (the custom slot value item list) with each invocation?
No. For each custom slot you must specify a static list when you define your skill. (Here's a feature request to make the list dynamic.
Or at least a way to trick Alexa into collecting semi free form speech?
Sort of. In response to developer's dissapointment about the loss of the literal type Amazon has recently been emphasizing that the list of items you supply for the custom slot is just a guide, and that the custom slot can still act a fair bit like the literal slot. See this blog post for details...
Why a Custom Slot is the Literal Solution
I wondered if anyone can give an example of a professional use of RSS/Atom feeds in a company product. Does anyone use feeds for other things than updating news?
For example, did you create a product that gives results as RSS/Atom feeds? Like price listings or current inventory, or maybe dates of training lessons?
Or am I thinking in a wrong way of use cases for RSS/Atom feeds anyway?
edit #abyx has a really good example of a somewhat unexpected use of RSS as a way to get debug information from program transactions. I like the idea of this process. This is the type of use I was thinking of - besides publishing search results or last changes (like mediawiki)
Some of my team's new systems generate RSS feeds that the developers syndicate.
These feeds push out events that interest the developers at certain times and the information is controlled using different loggers. Thus when debugging you can get the debugging feed, when you want to see completed transactions you go to the transactions feeds etc.
This allows all the developers to get the information they want in a comfortable way and without any need to mess a lot with configuration. If you don't want to get it there's no need to remove yourself from a mailing list or edit a configuration file - simply remove the feed and be done with it.
Very cool, and the idea was stolen from Pragmatic Project Automation.
Most of the digital libraries uses RSS/ATOM to display their search/results, data update, according to the OAI-PMH protocol
With our internal TRAC server, I'm subscribed to the timeline view for each project that I work on. It's great for keeping track of checkins and bug tickets. This is pretty exclusive to a developer position though.
I also am subscribed to the recent changes for our installation of MediaWiki that we use for our intranet. That way it's easy to see if documents that I need have been changed, or if there's new policies etc.
Our website has a news page that I wrote an RSS feed for as well. While you mentioned that you weren't really interested in recent news, it is nice to keep up with our press releases.
I have seen RSS used to syndicate gas prices from a service for a specific zip code.
there are many examples. Here are a couple.
SharePoint provides RSS feeds from its lists.
Many faceted navigation products allow you to get an RSS feed based on a selected filter. For example, you can navigate to view 24" LCD Monitors on newegg.com and then get an RSS feed of that view.
Mantis bug tracker includes RSS feeds although I wish they were more configurable. Also we use MediaWiki for documentation which has all sorts of RSS Feeds including a per page watch, and recent changes.
I just added RSS feeds to the ticketing system I use at work (TicketDesk) and that feature should be in the next release of the product.
It's nice because it basically provides me a custom search view of outstanding trouble tickets or work requests that comes to me rather then me having to go to the application. It also allows users to get feeds of issues they may be interested in, but not require them to get emails on each update.
I'm looking at implementing an RSS feed for calls for service that our agency takes, to provide the administrators a quick and easy way to see what has been going on.
Atom feed documents and Atom entry documents are used as the representation format for RESTful web services that follow the Atom Publication Protocol (AtomPub).
I personally have used syndication feeds to expose a sub-set of the Windows Event Log information so that I could subscribe and be notified of critical events on a server.
immobilienscout24
they use RSS feeds for updates on your search.