Todd's Tuesday Technology Tips #13: How to Make Siri Pronounce Things Properly

If you are like me, you probably have fun listening to Siri speak.  She is pretty amazing, actually with the new iOS7 you can make Siri be a 'He' if you like.  One of the features that is the most interesting is that you can teach Siri how to pronounce a name if she doesn't get it right the first time.  Here are the instructions for how to do this.

1.  Activate Siri.
2.  Say, "That's not how you pronounce Burleson."
3.  Next, Siri will ask you to pronounce the first name. Once you’re finished, you’ll need to select a proper pronunciation.
4.  Finally, Siri will ask you to pronounce the contact’s last name. After you’ve selected the proper pronunciation for the first and last name, Siri will confirm what you’ve selected by saying the name again. In the future, Siri should have no problem pronouncing the name correctly. Keep in mind, you’ll need to perform this action for each contact if you wish to change its pronunciation.

Here is a terrific video from http://appadvice.com that shows these steps:

Todd's Tuesday Tech Tip #12: How to use your iPhone as a Wireless Hot Spot!

Have you upgraded to the new iOS 7 on your iPhone?

If you haven't, today's tip might convince you to do so.

Have you ever been somewhere that did not have wifi and wish you could get on the net?  Have you ever, like me, been stuck in a sweaty gym for hours while your kiddo practices Tae Kwon Do or other athletic or academic activity?  Have you ever needed to grab a file from your Google Drive to work on at your laptop, but have no connectivity?  Ever been somewhere and just wanted to use the larger screen of your laptop or iPad?  

Guess what?  There is a free, fun way to do so.

One of the 'hidden features' of iOS7 is the ability to turn your phone into a 'router' which will allow you to connect your other devices to the internet.

Of course you have to have a data plan, but if you have an iPhone, you most likely do.  

Here's how to do it:

1.  Open your settings.

2.  Turn on "Personal Hotspot"

3.  I set a password for my Hotspot, just to keep others from jumping on and slowing down my data.

4.  Go back to your device and check on the wireless connections that are nearby, choose your wifi hotspot.

5.  That's it!

6.  I suggest turning it off when you are done with it; it will save battery life.

Now, you can access the internet, much like what you do in your own network.

I've noticed that when I try to stream videos, etc from Netflix or Hulu Plus that they are a bit slow using the hotspot.  I usually try to open the video, pause it and allow it to 'buffer' or load a bit.  Then, when I start viewing the video it streams a lot more smoothly.

Pretty awesome right?

Hope you find this and other tips useful.  Don't forget, there is a whole blog in which you can view tips from last year and every tip I've written this year as well.

Here's the link to that blog:  

Have a great week!