 Good morning and welcome to this week's edition of Encompass Live. I am your host, Krista Porter here at the Nebraska Library Commission. Encompass Live is the commission's weekly webinar series where we cover a variety of topics that may be of interest to libraries. We broadcast the show live every Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. central time, but if you're unable to join us on Wednesdays, that's fine. We do record the show every week as we are doing today, and that will be posted and available to you to watch at your convenience. I'll show you at the end of today's show where you can access all of our archives. Both the live show and the recordings are free and open to anyone to watch, so please do share far and wide anywhere and everywhere that you think people might be interested in any of the topics we have on our show. For those of you not from Nebraska, the Nebraska Library Commission is the state agency for libraries, similar to a state library in other states. So we provide services and training and resources to all types of libraries in Nebraska. So you will find shows on Encompass Live for all types of libraries, public, academic, K-12, corrections, museums, archives, anything and everything. Our only criteria is that it is something to do with libraries, something cool that libraries are doing. We bring in guest speakers from across the state, across the country to talk about what they're doing in their libraries. Some resources or services that we think might be of interest to libraries. In addition to having our guest speakers, we also sometimes have Nebraska Library Commission staff talk about resources and things that we offer here through the Library Commission. And that is what we have today. There we go. I was checking my screen here. The last Wednesday of every month for us is a pre-suite tech day. Every last Wednesday is Amanda Sweet, who is the Technology Innovation Librarian here at the Nebraska Library Commission. Good morning, Amanda. Good morning. She joins us the last Wednesday of every month to talk about things techie. So if you are a tech person or you're interested in that kind of thing, this is definitely a show for you to be here for. And today, she is going to talk about agency or smart home resources for librarians. A lot of us are at home a lot more lately and maybe using some of these resources. Alexa, Google, et cetera. And she's going to tell us how we can do that for ourselves and for our patrons. So I would just hand it over to you, Amanda, to take it away. So I've been kind of fascinated by smart homes since for several years now. But I never really had an incredible reason to kind of go all into creating one. And to tell you the truth, this time I didn't actually build a full, full smart home. It's not really integrated into the wiring. It's not it's basically taking my dad's old dumb appliances and making them smart with a new little switch or a gadget. So I'll describe kind of what a smart home means in this context. Kind of the different levels of smart home that you can have and why you would actually want to do it. And then I'll do a I'll give you a walkthrough of how I did the setup and give you a demonstration of the software that it runs through. So you get a feel for how this is actually operated and controlled by the user. And then I'll give kind of an overview of the recommended devices. How you want to match a device to the problems that people are actually facing so that it's actually useful and doesn't just sit on a shelf a lot. And then I'll talk about the in so the skills with Alexa are basically that it's like an app that you can download. And so you activate a skill and then it does like a little specific subset of a task. So an example would be there's an ask my buddy skill that I activated that is for emergency response. So you can say ask my buddy to call for help and it'll send over it'll call out your emergency contact listing. So my brother and my cell for my dad's emergency contact listing. So if he falls and says that then we'd get a call and we also get an automated text. And it does actually come from the same phone number. So my brother actually set a separate ringtone for it. He hopes he never hears that ringtone, but he would. They would catch your attention. Yeah, yeah. And you mentioned at the beginning about. This isn't about rewiring your house. Yeah, because that I think is when you talk about when you hear the phrase smart home, you think this is going to be so much work and so much to do. And I don't have the the knowledge, the money to hire someone else to do it, but you don't really have to. And this is like level one smart home. If you don't want to rip apart your walls, which my dad refused to do. Like he's not going to do that. But so this is level one and I'll describe what level two is. So then I'll go over privacy and security because with all things tech, that's a thing. One of the biggest barriers for people to launch into smart home devices are privacy security concerns. So I'll go over some of those and how we kind of overcame them or decided not to use certain things, but decided to use certain things. And then I'll go over some different ways that you can use this in your own library to help out your patrons. All right, so a smart home is basically controlling different devices by voice activation or a tap of your button on your phone. So some examples on here, this little icon is for a thermostat. Usually the thermostat is actually wired into your house, so I did not use this one. But some like my one of my friends apartment building actually automatically builds in smart tech into their thermostat. So if you do live in a newer house, ask them if it's compatible with Alexa, it probably is and you might actually already have this and not know it. And then there's also energy saving and so energy saving would be like smart air conditioners so you can set it to not run after a certain period of time. You can set it to you can control it while you're not at home and you can also it tracks and measures your the amount of energy that you use so that you can know your own energy consumption. Some dumb some dumb air conditioners already do this, but this just automates it and the air conditioner that I found was like $235, but I got it on sale. So it's it's something to look into if that's something that you want. Smart bulbs is another thing that I put into my dad's house. There are color changing bulbs and there are regular bulbs and he didn't care about color changing bulbs. We just got the regular ones. They were cheaper, but Personally, I like the colored ones because you can do regular or you can make your room blue. The smart fridge is you can monitor the food that actually goes into your refrigerator. You can sync it up to a grocery shopping list. So your refrigerator can actually tell you when you're out of stuff and then it'll automate a list that's on your smart phone so you can access it from everywhere. I also didn't bother with the smart fridge. It's expensive and I can just look in the fridge. Then there's a smart entertainment system. So that would be your smart TV, a smart display and there are smart speakers and a sound bar that are available. My dad didn't have the smart TV. He didn't really have the budget at the moment to upgrade to it, but I did connect his Roku device to his dumb TV. And he can now turn on his TV using his voice and he can also do basic channel changes and volume with it. So that is still something with the Roku device that you can connect to your old dumb TV as long as it has a USB port in it. And he's going to upgrade to a smart TV when he feels like it. But when he upgrades to the smart TV, he can do a whole lot more with integrating his phone to the apps inside of his TV. There are also washing machines and there's just a mess of stuff. There's the home security system and there are also smart locks. I did not go anywhere near the smart locks because I read too many stories about them getting hacked into and I don't trust that aspect of technology yet. Maybe one day I will, but I didn't want that on there. I did do the smart cameras though. So there are indoor and outdoor security cameras and there's also the ring doorbell. The ring doorbell is helpful if you have mobility issues because it'll set up a camera on the front side of your door. And it's either motion activated or there's a button that you can press just like a regular doorbell. And then you can press a button on your phone and say, hold on just a minute, it'll be there pretty soon. That's really helpful because when you're mobility impaired or newly mobility impaired, it will take you a lot longer to get to the door. And a lot of times the person at the door will leave before you can get there. If you have to sign for a package, that's extra bad. And the reason that I decided to do that to rig that system up is because my dad was ordering medical supplies and you had to sign for him and he couldn't make it to the door. So that ring doorbell was basically a little video icon that popped up that said, I'm on the way, don't leave. And they didn't. So when you're trying to explore the list of options that are available for a smart home and decide what you actually need, consider what your day actually looks like and what the day of your patrons actually looks like or anyone who's interested in doing this. What do you do when you wake up in the morning? How do you, what kind of timers do you set when you're trying to cook breakfast in the morning? What are the daily activities that you do? How do you have to schedule things? And what are your major concerns in life that you're trying to figure out and overcome obstacles for? And a good kind of sheet to go through is, so there is a user experience sheet that I use a lot. I call it a day in the life. And let me bring this up here on my computer screen. And the day in the life is basically going to take you through the different stages of a day so that you can. We don't really think about this very often about the little tiny processes that get difficult or can be difficult throughout a day. And here it is. So this is a day in the life. It's basically just the little things. You get up, go to work, pick up groceries, make dinner, maybe take a class or two for upskilling, settle down just to do nothing at all, and then make a plan for tomorrow and go to bed. That's kind of your, the basic average everyday life. This might look different for a retiree. It might look different for a recent college graduate. But you can fill this out for whoever you are trying to help or for yourself if you're trying to think about a smart home. How does this relate to actual smart home technology? You want to pay attention to what you're doing. Pay attention to your life concerns and then pay attention to the different technology that you use on an everyday basis. And you can find out if you can integrate your existing technology with the smart home technology that you're getting. An example would be the scheduling software. So if you are using project management software, or if you try to schedule out your day, your existing system work with the device that you are trying to choose to set reminders for yourself. So if you say, Alexa set a reminder for me to... What's the reminder for? That was my actual Alexa. I do have Alexa open and she does think that I want a reminder right now, but I don't. When should I remind you? Alexa stop. So when you have your list of what you actually do on a day to day basis, then you can start matching this to the technology. So this is what I did for my dad. He was concerned about falls because he had just recently lost his leg. So I set up the emergency alert with call my buddy. And then there were also some light switches and the plug and the air conditioner was hard to reach. So what he used to do was he would walk over, he would unplug and replug in the air conditioner every time he would want to use it. I did mention the smart air conditioner that actually integrates into... The air conditioner itself actually talks to Alexa and Alexa stop. You might need to unplug your Alexa. I have it running on my PC just for the demonstration. Normally I don't have it open. I just use it on my phone, but you get used to it. Yeah, especially also when we have Google at our house and when it responds to the TV and there's a commercial for it, you know, where they're demonstrating how it works and like, no, no, it's that. So there's two stages to what you can do with an air conditioner. You can either use a smart plug, which will act as a simple on off situation. That is what I used as kind of a stop gap. Because he didn't want that air conditioner right away, but he did want it later. So for now I got a smart plug, which was about $15. And then you plug the plug into a regular outlet, plug the air conditioner into that plug, and then you program in your Alexa device Alexa stop. And then she'll be able to tell it to turn on or off without actually having to physically walk over to the air conditioner. And you can also set different appointments and calendar reminders, which is incredibly helpful. You can say, Alexa set a reminder to go to the store. When should I remind you 3pm. Okay, I'll remind you at 3pm. By the way, when your reminder rings, you can snooze it by saying remind me again in 15 minutes. Alexa stop. Alexa Alexa. And so you can do that with appointments you can do with reminders you can set up your entire work calendar through that. And if you don't feel like using the audio commands you can actually go into the app and set up your schedule there and it will still verbally remind you, which is incredibly helpful. And I already covered the accepting packages via video I did a little about home entertainment. You can also use a drop in, I don't want to actually use the drop in command because my dad will hear me on the speaker. I actually synced up my Alexa I'm in Nebraska my dad's in Wisconsin. And I synced up this device in my room with my dad's devices. So he can actually drop in on me in Nebraska from Wisconsin if you wanted to. And that's kind of like another emergency stop gap or, or basically just a phone call. And I can also drop in on his place, if I had wanted to. I don't, because I usually just call if I want to, but it's also just kind of like a nice emergency thing, or one time he actually got locked out of his house because he did a pickup to the grocery store. And he had a friend over at the time but he had also left his. He wasn't able to act his friend wasn't able to hear him in the house. So, my dad dropped in on me, I dropped in on one of the smart speakers, and then my friends, my dad's friend was able to go let my dad in the door, which is a very weird, weird day. But it worked. And being able to control lighting from a smartphone was incredibly helpful, or just using verbal commands I again won't demonstrate the verbal commands because it will actually control a light bulb in my dad's living room. And I didn't tell him that I was doing this session today. So, you can easily control it just by saying, Alexa, turn on Alexa stop. Sure. What do you want to turn on Alexa stop. And then he would just say like living room like Alexa stop. I'm not quite sure how to help you with that. I know Alexa, you'll learn. I don't know that Alexa stop. For Alexa. Yeah. So that mainly happened because I kept verbally interrupting myself will try and to give the command. And if you don't do that, or if you give a different command than what has been programmed into it. She'll say something like I don't understand you. But let's mosey on here. So I put in a YouTube video for how to build a smart home. This will go into a lot more detail from an expert level home builder or home smart home builder. Who will tell you a whole lot more about this than I could ever possibly dream to. This is a useful video to watch if you want to figure out the internet capabilities that are required if you want to actually start a smart home. And it'll also tell give a written diagram and a whiteboard about how these pieces actually work together. And some of the different options and range of options that you can use. And it'll it'll tell you more information about how the system actually works behind the scenes. And what you might want to do. And the CNET article is going to come in handy. If you want to compare your own wifi signal against the devices that you actually want to use. It'll go dig deeper into the difference between a 2.4 gigahertz internet connection and a 5 gig gigahertz internet connection. Because there are some devices that only work on a 2.4 connection and others that will work on with either connection. So as smart homes get upgraded over time and as the devices change over time, you're going to run into listings that say works with only 2.4. And if you don't notice that or if it's not clearly labeled when you start to try to sync it up to your own smart home device system, it won't work. So that is one thing that I've run into in a lot of the forums is people who have upgraded to a different internet or have or are connected through the 5 gigahertz internet. They don't always realize that they're using that kind of internet. They're just told the download upload speed. And then it doesn't connect the end. So that is why I also put in a troubleshooting guide for being able to navigate those kind of internet connection issues and how you might be able to change that on your router switch. And it makes life a whole lot easier if you already have access to those resources. It's also cheaper too. And so Tom's guide I put in here and I'll just actually click this open here. So Tom's smarter home guide will kind of give you the rundown of all the different major device categories that are available. And it gives a recommended top pick. And if I had actually seen this article before I chose the light bulbs for my dad's place, I maybe would have done it. But I wound up with singled light bulbs by default. So I call that a win. And it'll also give you a rundown of the different smart speaker types that are available. And it will also kind of give a comparison about what you might want to choose and for what I used Amazon suite with my dad. And I use Google at home. And that's mainly so that the two systems don't fight with each other because we did set it up so that my Alexa works with my Alexa stop. So she who she who shall not be named works with my dad's devices. And Google works with the devices that I have in my home here in Nebraska. And they don't fight now. And the smart plug I already talked about this is just a visual of what it looks like apparently this person is using it to control the lights and the Christmas tree. My brother actually did that this year. That's pretty slick. Yeah. And actually this is the model he used to I wonder if he used that article. This home security cameras. I use a Google Nest at home. And my dad. I'm pretty sure we got him. Let me check. So yeah, he uses the ring video doorbell three plus. There are cheaper options than this one, but this one was just. It was on sale. We didn't actually pay that. It's good we even find deals like that. We actually at my house just installed a month ago the wise ones there your last option there. Yeah. And I have my friend uses the wise cam for a terrarium tank. Oh, yeah. So and he also gave me the download for so I downloaded the wise cam on my phone. So every so often I look at his red eyed tree frog through the terrarium camera. Right, it's all it's all on. Yeah, you can go and check it online and see, you know, check up on things. Yeah, we have the app on our phones, both of us do myself and my husband so whenever there's movement front or back of our house. And one thing when only problem we have with it in our backyard, apparently, right where the camera happens to be where it places where we have a garage and back door there is also where squirrels like to come over the fence. And yeah, when the camera goes off, it's like squirrel. But that's okay you just watch the video and delete it. I think it like a really awesome picture of a frog mid hop from motion capture that was pretty cool. And so if you do actually want to be able to try out some of the different devices or if you want to do a patron checkout system so that people can try out these devices before and make sure that they're compatible with their home internet service before actually getting them. That is one actually pretty good way of testing out your trying this out on the library is just let people try it out. And especially things like the smart plug which are actually pretty cheap. And there are different levels of this. So you can get the these are actually for a single outlet this two pack, but they also make entire strips of them so you can get like a six pack of outlets and set up different programming to control each different system. And now is probably a good time so I'll show you what this looks like in the app and then I'll run through the process of what it actually took to get it set up to look like that in the app. So this is what's been talking to us all the time. So this is the. I'm going to open up the smart home section. So these are the devices that my dad uses apparently most often. Mostly the light bulbs and he uses the different living room dots, but these two dots are connected to the different skills like that. Call my buddy thing that I talked about that will kind of and that is actually what makes these most useful otherwise it's just like a little round speaker set on a shelf. But the skills are what makes this worth it. And they can also be grouped into different rooms. So these are currently grouped into a bedroom and a living room. And there are living room devices that are on I could actually manually turn them off from the device I won't because that would be rude. But it would basically just be a click of this button just to turn off all the living room lights if you had wanted to. And you can also control either individual lights or groupings of lights. And let me see if I can access the routines on here. So in your settings if you don't want she who shall not be named to be the wake word that tells Alexa. There she is. Alexa stop. You can actually change that wake word so that she is not talking so you can turn it off so that you can say she who shall not be named without her listening and waking up, and you would just toggle that off. You can also customize the different sounds that are made you can customize shortcut keys. And what I was hoping I could get on here is the actual routines on here. I scheduled the routines on my smartphone the smartphone app actually looks different. But the smartphone app will actually let you put in different routines that will, it basically lets you program the phrasing that you would say to make Alexa do a thing. She didn't say anything. So that would basically be the turn on living room bulb one turn on living room bulb to turn off all living room lights. And that would be the routines that you would program in there. And I didn't dive into all of the different options on here because my dad did customize some stuff for himself. And it's also routed in through two separate login accounts. So this is the login that goes through my email address, but we also synced up his email address to the Amazon Prime account. So he's also synced in his overdrive account he synced in some of his ebook audio book Kindle. And he synced in just a variety of different entertainment options that are logged in specifically through his account because I didn't want to sync it to my overdrive because I didn't want to get him confused. So I put my overdrive through Google. And that kind of straightened it out so that they don't fight with each other. And you can there other the way to get around that if you do want two people to be able to access their own individual overdrive using the same device is you would actually want to set up a routine that says, Dad's overdrive or Amanda's overdrive, and you would need to specify that whenever you access overdrive so that it would open up the right one. It's basically just programming. That's all it is. How did I get these connected so that it basically just looks like a button that you press on a screen like this. Oh, I went out of order here. So there is a one time setup, which is the steps that are in green on here. You would just download that Amazon app. And it looks like that little blue round circle thing that I had opened before. And you sync up your email to that Amazon account. And then you would train the voice recognition system. And all of this is a step by step automated process that's built into the app itself. And when you start adding different devices and hardware, you would follow through these steps in orange. All the devices like the single smart bulb app, they ask you to download their device specific app. You connect that app, you connect the device through the device specific app. In this case it would be the smart bulb being connected through the single app. And then you connect to the single app to the Amazon app. And then you can set up the commands directly in the Amazon app. So this is step this is staged out in about three different steps, but in actuality this only takes about maybe 10 minutes to do. And so within the single smart bulb app, it's actually a step by step direction that will say walk over like take the light bulb, walk over to your lamp plug in the smart bulb. Turn off and turn on your switch about 10 times until the bulb starts blinking. When the bulb starts blinking, press the button on your app because the bulbs now in connect mode. Then this connects the smart bulb in through your app. And then it asks you what kind of commands you want to give it. You can either give it commands through the singled app or push it over to the Amazon app and connect it that way. And so now your everyday controls. This is what this is what it would look like when you actually have it loaded in and then it just a button or verbal phrase that you use to command. So this is all just a one time thing for each different device you add. This is a one time thing that is only done once in your smart home career smart home experience. It's a once in a lifetime. And if you do want multiple people to be able to use the smart home app, whether it's Google or Amazon, you would actually want to train each different voice into the system. Otherwise, it doesn't recognize the verbal nuances and quite the right way. So one thing about that with the Amazon one because I know with the Google that we have, we each had to do it myself and my husband. And sometimes I don't know if there's updates or breaks the connection, but every now and then it forgets who I am. And I have to redo the voice recognition. It always knows him. But sometimes like I'll tell it to I think one of the things you can do is lists. We use it for our grocery list. Yeah, just can add to we say, okay, Google, add bread to the list. Okay, Google, add milk to list. And sometimes she forgets and says, I'm sorry, I don't know what you want me to do to me. So that has to be for never forget why if it had an update and then now it needs to have it redone. And it also could be the way that you're holding on the phone during the voice profile, like how close you were to it. And if you program if you did the voice part of profile through the smart device or if you did it through your smart phone. It may sound different to them to the device. And it also could just be deep voice versus higher voice. That's also been kind of a thing like sometimes I'll recognize my dad's voice better than mine and part of me wonders if that just like a deeper voice not deeper voice thing. It recognizes some things like I can we use it for a timer for cooking, you know, please set a timer for 20 minutes or whatever. And I always recognize that it's when it has to do things that are much more like this kind of thing connecting to other apps and or doing things like adding some lists like it's got to do something really more complex. It kind of has a little hiccup sometimes. And phrasing can also do it to the directly program phrase, like automatically works pretty much every time. So if you're hair off, it'll usually work, but it'll also, it also has to pick up what you actually mean over time. Like every so often Alexa will say, did you want me to, and it's actually clarifying it so that it can train itself to be able to recognize it without having to ask later. They learn. Right. They're just good like that. I think it's a basic setup, I think, someone wants to know how much setup, can I do remotely. My mom has Alexa but I haven't bought any light bulbs for her or any of the actual things like. Oh, I actually so I can. That is actually why I set up the system that I did so that I do have an external Alexa device here. Alexa stop. Because, because I have that system, I can set up all my dad's devices from here. Nice. Okay. So all he has to do is he doesn't even have to have the single app open he doesn't have to have the Amazon app open I can log into him both remotely from here in Nebraska. All I have to do is walk over to the light bulb all walk over to the actual light bulb or lamp. Do the little flip thing so that it goes into that pairing mode. Basically just turn it off turn it on until it starts blinking. Once it's at that stage I can do everything from my end. And the same thing with the pretty much any device works like that. If you have the Alexa app that's downloaded Alexa stop, and it's downloaded onto your phone. Then you can control it from wherever you are and set up things from wherever you are. It just the physical device that needs to be put in, but that's just plugging a light bulb. I actually want to try any of the things that I just talked about. I do have a list of the tutorials that I use to be able to do all of the things for all of the devices that I mentioned. So this is Amazon has really really really good instructions. It's really visual friendly. It has a video option and a step by step instruction. And the device the software itself will also give you kind of like a really good step by step that says do this hit next when you're done do this hit next when you're done. You can do a diagram of exactly what you need. And it also has embedded troubleshooting. So, pretty much if you run into a problem. There's already someone else who ran into that problem, and Amazon put in a link to fix it. Let me close these. So this will help you get started here. And this wise cam is the one where you want to check your device connection, because before you actually choose any devices. Double check internet. Because if you have that five gigahertz instead of the 2.4 that a lot of these devices are standardized with, you'll be in for a world of hurt. So that is why I put in the troubleshooting. So this is actually what helped my brother. Figure out that Wi Fi issue. The pop sigh. So when your Wi Fi actually doesn't get along. This will describe why it goes into why that compatibility doesn't work. And there are 2 ways that you can use this. My brother actually just went into the system and fix it himself because he was more comfortable doing that. If you are not comfortable doing that this will help you understand the problem so that you can communicate it to your internet service provider. And once they're able to understand that problem, and you can even give them this article to read, then they can actually go in and try to fix it for you. There are 2 ways that you can try to use this for either you, your library or the patrons who are trying to use some of these devices. And I've also put in how to update the actual Wi Fi settings on your Echo device, which is something that I ran into in my dad's old phone. So if you are using an older phone and you don't feel like updating like he didn't, then this is an option. And so this is an example of what to look for in compatibility settings when you are trying to find out which devices you can and cannot use with your system. So a lot of times it will. So Echo devices, the smart speaker itself can actually connect via either network, but then you want to be able to check the compatibility of this network with the actual devices you're using. And this is kind of like this is something that your internet service provider will understand, but you don't actually need to do a ton with this is the most important part that I found anyway. So I will also go over basic planning. So I gave you kind of the rundown of the Amazon and Google systems that I actually chose to use. But if you have any questions from patrons or questions yourself about the general planning process and testing for capability. I put in kind of a step by step of what you actually want to do to plan and start implementing your smart home system. And I put in Wi-Fi capability first, and then I put in a selection of the brand. The major players in the smart home system or Amazon, Google and Apple right now Cortana used to be trying to get into the game, but they recently just pulled the plug and stopped trying. So I don't put that on there anymore. And then I gave the reminder to check your brand compatibility make sure that your actual device will work with the system that you were trying to use. So I chose Amazon and Google because they work with Android iPhone and Windows. I completely ignored Apple because I'm not an Apple user. And it also and my dad's not an Apple user. So even if you are an Apple user if you are trying to use this system with an older relative or parent who is not an Apple user. Don't even bother trying it because you will also be in a world hurt. And make that list of criteria if you remember that day in the life activity that I talked about. Because that day in the life activity will help you figure out the different ways and reasons that you would use the smart home. And if you can't think of any reasons that you would really, really, really need to use it maybe not need it. And then it'll also help you choose the devices like the mobility issues that my dad was running into. We ran through kind of a step by step and kind of figured out the different pain points he was having and chose devices that would help him with those pain points. And that can also be true with pretty much any demographic that you're using. And then I also chose skills based upon that all of those smart home 101 articles they include a list of different skill options that are recommended on those devices. And you can choose and curate the skills based upon that day in the life so that you are matching what you are downloading with what you actually need. And let me see here. So, if you want to start doing a little bit more with your smart home later on. Remember I did mention that there are two different levels of smart home. And before I dive into this I will ask if there are any smart home questions about planning about implementing it about what I chose and what did didn't work. Yeah, go ahead and type in any other questions you have about any of this smart home stuff or any of the devices and apps. You have some particular situation you want to ask about, or if any of you have done this yourself and you want to share anything you've learned definitely type into the questions section. And, and smart home devices have been around forever. I mean, I'd be surprised if a ton of people didn't already have this. All right, so while you're thinking about that or if you just don't have any questions at the moment. I'll go over kind of the next stage of what I've been planning for a smart home. So smart blinds are next on the list. And that is mostly because my dad likes to open close the blinds a lot but the blind the little rod to close the blinds or is kind of like tucked around the corner behind a chair. And so the smart blinds is basically just automates it. So it'll you can automate it to open a little bit you can open it fully you can slide them completely open. So that's next on the docket. I didn't even know that smart blinds existed until I started really deeply looking for it. But they actually kind of come in handy. I don't care about them from like for myself in my house, but for him they're incredibly useful. And so if you are a heavy. We have a couple of questions that have come in now if you want to grab them before we. Yeah, yeah. Let's see here. Have you discovered any smart devices or apps that help with elderly people with dementia or Alzheimer's. Oh, the shopping list is definitely coming in handy. I my dad doesn't have dementia, but I do have some relatives that do. And so that is actually a really good reminder. You can also set an app that will record your own stories. So one of the biggest concerns with dementia patients is they feel like they're losing themselves. And they feel like they are, they're not going to be able to pass on their stories in the same way or pass on their history. And they also want that physical reminder of who they are and that connection. So just a recording app to record the stories. And that's kind of just the peace of mind that shows. You don't even if you don't have the hand dexterity to be able to physically write it. Or you don't have the dexterity to type it anymore. Just speaking it and sharing it out over the cloud is. Invaluable. This is oral history projects. Yeah. Yeah. And. Oh, there are a couple others, but I'm, I can't think of them right now. But again, that day in the life thing actually helps a lot. If I did that day in the life for a dementia patient. Or if I partnered with a retirement home or work through that, I'd be able to think a lot more things. Yes, that makes you go through what they need to do each day and then see what would help. Yeah. And then there are other concerns like the trend knowing the concerns and what matters to people in that time will help choose that technology. And that's one of those examples is the daily activity probably wouldn't uncover the need for a storytelling app or a recorder app. But the concerns in life does. My question is about having a second home. I'm considering these options for a second home that is often left empty. Do you think smart home solutions would work well in this kind of situation. Yes. Yeah. So, in that case, you would probably want to focus on the security cameras and setting up an external system so that you can monitor all of them on your phone. So those security cameras, they have an alternative option where you can record footage and be able to view it at any time. And that cloud storage usually stores a certain number of gigabytes at a time. So you'd want to check that contracting before you were to sign on to anything. There are also ways that you can store it locally and that'll reduce costs. I also want to look into a smart thermostat system, whether it is wired into your home or if it's just a separate temperature and humidity sensor. And that will help with worries about floodings and worries about different leakages that might happen in the house. So you can put one in a basement if it's applicable or you can put it into any location if you're carved into a side of a mountain or if you're carved into like, if you have any water issues are near a floodplain that is just peace of mind that is helpful. You can install that thermostat and it'll test the, you can set alerts on your humidity sensor so that if the humidity rises above a certain percentage level. When the humidity rises over that percentage level, it usually means that there is a heavy concentration of water. If it's not raining, it usually means that it's a flood. Right. That can be good also for things like when we just had that recent polar vortex cold in February where you might, you know, worrying about pipes freezing that you're not if that is where your home is. I don't know if so it's somewhere with extreme weather conditions, and if you can control the temperature in the house or something and realize normally or not there this is what it's at and it's fine, but we know this weather is doing something crazy. Let's bump it up to accommodate. Good much. Great. All right and the last one here we have so far. I'd like to do a class at our library to demonstrate to older adults. Any suggestions you have and I know you do this sometimes. Any suggestions for a lesson plan or maybe a passive petting zoo demonstration. So if you did want to do something like that. I would actually recommend starting out with the day in the life activity and just find out what matters to people. Not collectively as a group because when you do it individually, sometimes people don't think about everything like that but when you're sharing ideas and the collective. You think of a lot more things. And then you also get a lot more comfortable with the idea of actually using the technology when you make the direct connection between what you are facing and what it actually this technology. There are three, they're kind of two to three phases that I would use in preparing like preparing yourself for this kind of lesson plan and preparing materials for that kind of lesson plan. I would start out by as the librarian doing the background research to find out which major smart home devices are available. And then print out and keep a list of those smart devices and kind of a mini description of what each of those devices are. And that is kind of your own personal cheat sheet reference sheet, so that when you start doing the actual activity plan. While people are running through their day in the life you can start making jotting down notes to yourself that says, this is what people are facing put a little big bright star. That's the tech that will actually help solve that problem. And so I would do that background research for the devices and the skills that are available. And then I would put a big giant whiteboard up or put a virtual or like put like a projector screen up that puts a table of the problem on the left hand side, and the tech that helps on the right hand side. And then I would tap and have it available, pull out the actual piece of technology, and show how it works, and let people start playing around with it and interacting with it. Because that that activity will probably only take about maybe 1015 minutes, but actually using it kind of pushes people over the top. I could actually write down that lesson plan, but it is fantastic thank you. Good ideas. That's the question that we have at the moment. So you can go ahead but definitely everybody type in any other questions comments thoughts you have. And so while you were thinking about that I will talk about some of the privacy security concerns and why I did or didn't use some of that technology. Namely, what I'm looking at is smart locks. So the smart lock is, it is basically kind of like a deadbolt that you would replace your regular door handle with this smart lock and it turns into like a keypad that you can use to get in, or you can activate your lock from your phone. This sounds awesome in theory. And there are a lot of low mobility people who have used this system because you can set in permissions or you can give a temporary key code for an hour or two to a visiting nurse or a care provider. So that they can just go in and just then they would just let you know I'm here and I let myself in you don't have to get up or let me in. So on the surface, it is incredibly helpful. When you dig into the privacy security, I started running into articles about ways that hackers have found to hack into the system and unlock a smart lock from their own phone. And it's mostly because the person who set up the smart lock didn't have a VPN setup that VPN is that extra layer of security that will make it so that no one else can really hack into your system. So for most of the devices that I talked about, there is an extra layer of VPN security that's built in well it's an extra layer of security not necessarily VPN, but it will kind of overcome those hacking options but from like a different level. So the levels of security would be you have your own personal at home security which would be your virus protection malware protection that's on your actual computer system. It would be a VPN that would be that extra layer of security so that people it makes it a lot harder to hack into a system. So that would be your personal level, then on the secondary level would be the actual security that is built into the device itself. So, in the case of that, like a security camera or a smart lock, there would be a set of systems that's loaded into the device itself and the software that that device is connected to. So the privacy security that is at that layer will depend on how often and how frequently you update the software that's connected to that security whenever there's a software update there's usually a security update that goes with it. That's true of all your home software like Microsoft Word your internet browser, anything you use has software updates and security updates that kind of walk hand in hand. That is still true with your smart devices. So anything you learned about privacy security for the web applies to that device to. So if you don't update any of your software on your devices. You can run into those security that's where hackers can start getting into it. So that is like your second layer of security. Your third layer of security is kind of like the umbrella layer that would be like internet service provider and the providers that are providing that device itself. So there I put in an article a link to an article that will tell a lot more about privacy and security and what you might actually need to use. Let me get over to this. Oh, here. Privacy and smart device confusion. So this article from box kind of gives an overview of what people think is true about privacy and smart devices and what actually happens in real life. This is kind of like a good comparison article of what you might want to start watching out for and what makes it worth using these smart home devices. The reason that I chose the devices that I did is because my brother was able to set up that layer of security and like a personal level. So because that layer of security was that VPN layer was there. A lot of those problems disappeared. And because my brother is comfortable with doing that, or if you have access to someone who's comfortable doing that, or you're willing to learn yourself. That's kind of a good way to do it. Or just read these smart device privacy security articles and know what to watch out for because you're already facing all these problems just by using a computer every day. All right, so I will just wrap up with a little overview of how you might be able to use this in your library. Again, you can maybe buy around to these devices and allow them for patron checkout. That's kind of like the probably one of the better ways to do it. And I do have the Google version of these kit of these devices that are available through the tech kits if you're in Nebraska libraries on the, if you're in a Nebraska library. I'm, again, not sure about when I can actually start checking those out, but one day. For low mobility and to reach the older demographic, you can also start distributing smart devices via bookmobile or in person drop off. And you can also provide installation assistance and training if you're comfortable doing that. And as reflected by the question that we got earlier workshops and info sessions are just kind of awesome. And there's kind of a variety of different ways. So we're at 1106 right now. So I will wrap up with that. And unless we have any questions. Yeah, if anybody has any other questions you want to ask Amanda about setting up your smart home with your smart library. So if you're allowing these devices out, these definitely could be somewhere yet for people to try and try before you buy type things. I like that idea. Libraries lend out all sorts of equipment and devices. Nowadays, this would definitely be a good way to, you know, don't, don't have to go all in if you're not sure how to use it. And if it would work for you in your situation. So automate your library lights to which is kind of you know, and actually someone does have a question that she does want to know. Do you know the library that uses a smart device. Yeah, I'm doing So the American Library Association has already gone over different ways that libraries can start turning into a smart library. They've done that in small rural libraries. They've done it in giant libraries. They've done it in pretty much everywhere. The most common ways are automating the lighting system. And you can also add something into your depending on how you have your walk in door set up, you can automate a counter and automatically count the number of people who enter and exit the building. And that is like your library use number. Nice. And there's also privacy security cameras. If you happen to have a lower number of staff resources like you if you're a solo librarian. There are times when you have to be behind the counter but you also need to be like out in the stacks helping someone or directing someone. So you can use that ring doorbell and put the ring doorbell at the front desk. So that people can ring it and then you're you can be out in the stacks holding a phone saying I'll be over there in about five minutes or is there a quick question that you want to ask from right here. Nice. Yeah. And if you do go that route with the ring doorbell, there is a different way to connect it. I would actually recommend using the Google system instead of the Amazon system for that, because you can set up the Google Nest doorbell. They actually call it something else now, but it's the same thing. You can set it up and you can set it up to a power adapter and plug it into a wall socket instead of wearing it into a doorbell system. Oh, so that is how you'd want to use that for the on your desk or something. Yeah, your information desk or your front desk. Sure. Otherwise the standard doorbell system asks you to wire it in but that just lets you get around that. Yeah. And there's a motley assortment of other ways, but it's already almost 1110. Yeah. Yeah, that's okay. All right. Yeah. Any other last minute, desperate questions you want to ask Amanda, get them typed in and she'll answer them for you now. Her slides here, as you can see their Google slides, she will be sending me the link for that and it will be available to you with the archive. When the recording goes up so you have links that all of those uses all those different resources that were linked out there. You'll see you'll be able to click on all of those. I will put the slides into the chat here. So if you had any pressing linking needs. Cool. All right, so it's in the chat as well or you're waiting till the recording is ready which should be some time tomorrow I'll send you all an email when the recording is up and ready and you'll have a link right to this on her and the Google slides and all those hot links there available for you to click on. It doesn't look like anybody's got anything they're asking right now so I am going to pull presenter control back to my screen. And I also in the chat I put in my email address because I don't think I put in the slide. For questions. All right, got switched to my screen now. All right, great. So that was pretty good. We ran a little few minutes over not a big deal. We usually do so that's okay. So yes, that will wrap it up for today's show. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I think we can have a lot of people working on their getting more smart phone smart homes. And more smart libraries out there and be some time we'll see if there'll be a library who's gone all in on this we can get to come on the show and talk about more about what they've done in their library we'll see. This is true. All right, so that will wrap it up for today's show. This is our Encompass Live website. If you just Google Encompass Live you find us. And right here underneath is a list is a link to our archives, which I have open over here this is where today's recording will be at the top of the list here. Most recent one at the top. There'll be a link to the show video on our YouTube channel and link to Amanda's Google Slides. And while we're here I'll show you you can search the show archives you want to search box right here at the top for any topic you might be interested in any presenters. We want to look up Amanda and find some of our previous pretty sweet tech shows. You can do that. And I'll show you you can search all of our show archives or just the most recent 12 months you have something very current. That is because this is our full show archives and I'm not going to scroll all the way down. But Encompass Live premiered in January 2009. So we have over 10 years worth of show archives here. And we'll keep them up here. But if you want to have something recent you might want to limit that your search or just pay attention to when you watch a recording to the original broadcast date. Some shows the information may stand the test of time like book reviews or things like that. But some things may become old now dated and you may have products and services may have changed completely. Websites might not work anymore. Links may be broken. Some services or products may not exist at all anymore. So just pay attention as you're watching our archives to the original broadcast date that is on every one of them. But we are librarians. We do archive and keep things for historical purposes. So as long as we have a place to host them as we are now at YouTube, we will keep them there on the website. We also do have a Facebook page. You can see I've got links here and links everywhere. We have our Facebook page over here. If you do like to use Facebook, give us a like. We post reminders about the show. Here's a reminder to log in to today's show. When the recordings of previous shows are available. Any updates, new things being added to the schedule. We also post onto Twitter and Instagram, which we're able to use the hashtag and comp live little abbreviation there. So you can also search for things there as well. And here is our schedule coming up. We do do this every week and I'm working on finalizing some things for earlier in April dates. So you should see more of those filling in. But you may want to pay attention to when the next time Amanda is going to be with us. As I said at the beginning of the show, she's here at the last Wednesday of every month. And next month, on April 28th, she will be coming back to join us to talk about the most recent computers and libraries conference. Computers and libraries is usually a conference that's in the DC area in the spring last year and this year it's gone virtual, of course, due to the pandemic. And she attended. I'm not sure did you present this year as well. No, I presented last year and probably next year, but. I missed the application deadline this year. Yeah, but you can talk about what she some cool things that she saw at computers and libraries so definitely sign up for next week show and any of our other shows that we get these filled in here. Someone did ask and I'm going to read share the link to the slides. So they dropped out and back in. I've shared the link to the slides and the questions and I'm going to reshare it into the chat to have multiple places here where you can get this. So the links should be there. We will also as I said they'll be available right when I do the recording as well. The archive page will have a link to it to see if we will get to them there. It should be done by the end of the day tomorrow at the latest. And that wraps up for today. Thank you everybody for joining us this morning. Thank you for being here with again. We'll see you in a month. And hopefully we'll see you guys on another episode of this live. Bye bye.