Live Out Your 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' Dreams With Amazon Echo Update

People walking around with tablet computers, talking to the thin air and waiting for information...this was my kitchen on Monday night. But twenty years ago, the only place you could find such wonders was as part of the future envisioned by the creators of Star Trek: The Next Generation. With the activation word "Computer," Picard (the greatest starship captain ever) and his crew could access and command their ship's LCARS system. Now, if you own an Amazon Echo device, you can bring that bit of the future back to your kitchen. Hot." Doesn't get you an instant cup of tea. Find your device in the list and select it. Scroll down a bit until you find the Wake Word setting. Select Computer from the menu, click Done, and you're good to go. It might take a couple of minutes for the change to propagate down to your Echo. Now, the next time you want to find out what the weather is, order a fresh supply of paper towels, or listen to an audio book, you can bark "Computer!" in your best fake accent and have your Echo respond. It's a little Easter Egg for those sci-fi nerds among us; but it's one that's greatly appreciated. Just don't expect anything to appear when you say "Computer.