Featured in The Week
My column for Wirecutter was featured in The Week’s new Parenting Newsletter.
How to Fight Cabin Fever With Family-Friendly Alexa Games - Wirecutter
In this new normal, as we all try to squeeze our work life, school life, and home life into one big communal life (in one very small space), reliable ways to keep the kids occupied and at peace are as valuable as jumbo-size rolls of toilet paper. Our discovery: Amazon’s Alexa happens to have dozens of voice-based games built in (many of them really good; some not so much), and so it is a terrific tool for keeping the kids entertained without resorting to more screen time. To launch one of these games, just ask Alexa to open or play them by name (no need to install a Skill, as you did in the past).
The Best Smart Garage-Door Controller | The Wirecutter
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How to Survive the End of Works With Nest - Wirecutter.com
We recommend several Nest products at Wirecutter, along with many devices that work with them, and that integration is often crucial to how people use their devices. But the recent news that Google is folding Nest into its smart-home ecosystem and creating Google Nest means that major changes—some good, some painful—are coming. Here is what you need to know about these changes and what steps you can take.
Read the full post here.
The Best Smart Thermostat: Reviews by Wirecutter | A New York Times Company
My newest update to my Best Smart Thermostat guide for Wirecutter.
The Best Smart Sprinkler Controller - Wirecutter | A New York Times Company
After spending two months with six smart irrigation controllers in a sunny South Carolina yard, we’re confident the Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller (Generation 2) is the best choice for most people with an in-ground sprinkler system. Any smart controller will save you water and money compared with a simple timer, but the Rachio is the best of the ones we tested.
Read the full guide here.
How Smart-Home Technology Can Help During a Natural Disaster | The Wirecutter
When I talk to nontechie friends about my smart home, the reaction is usually a polite, bewildered smile. Occasionally, however, something catches their attention, because it relates to a personal need. Whether that’s getting a Wi-Fi camera for checking in on elderly parents, or painlessly dismissing an annoying false smoke alarm with a swipe of a finger, the appeal of the smart home for most people lies in individual situations. While smart things make life more convenient every day, I recently learned the hard way that coping with a natural disaster can be one of the most effective uses of smart-home technology.
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The Best Smart Smoke Alarm | The Wirecutter
It’s hard to overstate the importance of having functioning, reliable smoke detectors in your home. From 2007 through 2011, almost a quarter of all home fire-related deaths in the US occurred in homes with nonworking smoke alarms. While any functioning smoke alarm will alert you to problems if you’re at home, a smart alarm can alert you anywhere your smartphone has an Internet connection. For our tests, a former firefighter installed every currently available smart smoke alarm in her own home, both hardwired versions and battery-powered models, to find the best one for keeping you informed about your house’s status, whether you’re home or away. After mounting them to ceilings and walls, blowing smoke at them, fiddling with their batteries and accompanying apps, and generally pushing their buttons, we found that the second-generation Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm is the best smart smoke alarm.
Read the full article here.