What can you say to Siri in iOS 6?

What can you say to Siri in iOS 6?:
Last year, Steve Sande and I put together a "What can you say to Siri" post that proved to be hugely popular. We'd been working on "Talking to Siri: Learning the Language of Apple's Intelligent Assistant", which we initially self-pubbed as an e-book, and then later moved to QUE publishing.
We're now working on the second edition of "Talking to Siri" and thought we'd update our original post for iOS 6. A lot of people are now using Siri and Siri-related features.
Siri is available on the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5, the new third generation iPad, and the fifth generation iPod touch. Dictation-only support also appears in OS X Mountain Lion. There's a lot of Siri going around.
As we work on our update, we thought we'd share the following Apple-supplied examples for using Siri. It's only a partial list, but it gives a great flavor of what Siri can do.
Standout new features include the sports, movies and restaurant categories recently announced by Apple. But there's a lot more too.
Siri now supports arbitrary relationships. You can say "Megan Lavey-Heaton is my favorite comics author" and Siri will add that relationship. You can launch applications by saying "Launch Angry Birds" and post to Twitter and Facebook by voice. Siri also now lets you dismiss her (or him) by voice. Say "Goodbye Siri" and Siri will close the interaction window.
The examples that follow below only scratch the surface of what you can do with Siri. We're having a ton of fun discovering all Siri's new improved capabilities. Keep your eyes peeled over the next few months as Steve and I share new favorite tricks and tips as we work on our update.
Have you found some great new Siri features? Share them in the comments!
ASKING ABOUT CONTACTS

• 
  What's Emily's address?
• 
  What is Susan Park's phone number?
• 
  When is my wife's birthday?
• 
  Show Lindsey's home email address
• 
  What's my brother's work address?

FINDING CONTACTS

• 
  Show Brian Conway
• 
  Find people named Park
• 
  Who is Jimmy Patrick?

ESTABLISHING RELATIONSHIPS

• 
  My mom is Susan Park
• 
  Jimmy Patrick is my brother
• 
  Call my brother at work

APP LAUNCHING

• 
  Open Photos
• 
  Play Infinity Blade II

ADDING EVENTS

• 
  Set up a meeting at 9
• 
  Set up a meeting with Jimmy at 9
• 
  Meet with Emily at noon
• 
  Set up a meeting about hiring tomorrow at 9am
• 
  New appointment with Susan Park Friday at 3
• 
  Schedule a planning meeting at 8:30 today in the boardroom

CHANGING EVENTS

• 
  Move my 3pm meeting to 4:30
• 
  Reschedule my appointment with Dr. Patrick to next Monday at 9am
• 
  Add Emily to my meeting with Brian
• 
  Cancel the budget review meeting

ASKING ABOUT EVENTS

• 
  What does the rest of my day look like?
• 
  What's on my calendar for Friday?
• 
  When is my next appointment?
• 
  When am I meeting with Jimmy?
• 
  Where is my next meeting?

USING ALARMS

• 
  Wake me up tomorrow at 7am
• 
  Set an alarm for 6:30am
• 
  Wake me up in 8 hours
• 
  Change my 6:30 alarm to 6:45
• 
  Turn off my 6:30 alarm
• 
  Delete my 7:30 alarm

CLOCK

• 
  What time is it in Berlin?
• 
  What is today's date?
• 
  What's the date this Saturday?

TIMER

• 
  Set the timer for ten minutes
• 
  Show the timer
• 
  Pause the timer
• 
  Resume
• 
  Reset the timer
• 
  Stop it

SENDING EMAIL

• 
  Email Emily about the trip
• 
  Email Lindsey about the change in plans
• 
  New email to Susan Park
• 
  Mail Dad about the rent check
• 
  Email Dr. Patrick and say I got the forms, thanks
• 
  Mail Emily and Brian about the party and say I had a great time

CHECKING EMAIL

• 
  Check email
• 
  Any new email from Jimmy today?
• 
  Show new mail about the lease
• 
  Show the email from Emily yesterday

RESPONDING TO EMAIL

• 
  Reply Dear Susan sorry about the late payment
• 
  Call him at work

FACETIME

• 
  FaceTime Brian
• 
  Make a FaceTime call to Susan Park

FACEBOOK

• 
  Post to Facebook headed to the new Pixar movie
• 
  Write on my wall just landed in San Jose!

FIND MY FRIENDS

• 
  Where's Brian?
• 
  Where is my sister?
• 
  Is my wife at home?
• 
  Where are all my friends?
• 
  Who is here?
• 
  Who is near me?
• 
  Let me know when Jimmy leaves home
• 
  Let Susan know when I leave work

LOCKSCREEN READING

• 
  Read my notifications
• 
  Do I have any new messages?

MAPS

• 
  Show me the Golden Gate Bridge
• 
  Show me a map of 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino California

LOCAL BUSINESSES

• 
  Find coffee near me
• 
  Where's the nearest coffee shop?
• 
  Find a gas station near work

NAVIGATION

• 
  How do I get home?
• 
  Directions to my dad's work
• 
  Get me directions from San Francisco to Santa Barbara
• 
  What's my next turn?
• 
  Are we there yet?
• 
  What's my ETA?
• 
  Find a florist along my current route

MAPS

• 
  Show me the Golden Gate Bridge
• 
  Show me a map of 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino California

LOCAL BUSINESSES

• 
  Find coffee near me
• 
  Where's the nearest coffee shop?
• 
  Find a gas station near work

NAVIGATION

• 
  How do I get home?
• 
  Directions to my dad's work
• 
  Get me directions from San Francisco to Santa Barbara

SENDING MESSAGES

• 
  Tell Susan I'll be right there
• 
  Send a message to Brian Conway
• 
  Send a message to Emily saying how about tomorrow
• 
  Tell Lindsey the show was great
• 
  Send a message to Susan on her mobile saying I'll be late
• 
  Send a message to 408 555 1212
• 
  Text Brian and Emily where are you?

READING MESSAGE ALERTS

• 
  Read my new messages
• 
  Read it again

RESPONDING TO MESSAGES

• 
  Reply that's great news
• 
  Tell him I'll be there in 10 minutes
• 
  Call her

SEARCHING FOR MOVIE INFORMATION

• 
  Find Disney movies
• 
  What comedies are playing?
• 
  Who starred in Tron Legacy?
• 
  Who directed Finding Nemo?
• 
  What is Toy Story 3 rated?

FINDING MOVIE SHOWTIMES

• 
  I want to see the new Pixar movie
• 
  What's playing at the movies tomorrow?
• 
  What's playing at Main Street Cinema

FINDING MOVIE THEATERS

• 
  Find some movie theaters near my office

READING MOVIE REVIEWS

• 
  Show me the reviews for Toy Story 3

MAJOR MOVIE AWARDS

• 
  Which movie won Best Picture in 1983?

MUSIC

• 
  Play Walk by Foo Fighters
• 
  Play Little Broken Hearts shuffled
• 
  Play Norah Jones
• 
  Play some blues
• 
  Play my party mix
• 
  Shuffle my roadtrip playlist
• 
  Play
• 
  Pause
• 
  Skip

NOTES

• 
  Note that I spent $12 on lunch
• 
  Note to self: check out that new Norah Jones album
• 
  Find my meeting notes
• 
  Show me my notes from June 25

PHONE

• 
  Call Brian
• 
  Call Emily's mobile
• 
  Call Susan on her work phone
• 
  Call 408 555 1212
• 
  Call home
• 
  FaceTime Emily

REMINDERS

• 
  Add artichokes to my grocery list
• 
  Add skydiving to my bucket list
• 
  Remind me to call mom
• 
  Remind me to call my mom when I get home
• 
  Remember to take an umbrella
• 
  Remind me take my medicine at 6am tomorrow
• 
  Remind me to pick up flowers when I leave here
• 
  Remind me when I leave to call Brian
• 
  Remind me to finish the report by 6
• 
  Victor Agreda is my hairdresser
• 
  Kelly Guimont is my colleague

SEARCHING FOR RESTAURANTS

• 
  Find some burger joints in Baltimore
• 
  Good Mexican restaurants around here

RESERVATIONS

• 
  Table for four in Palo Alto tonight
• 
  Make a reservation at a romantic Italian restaurant tonight at 7pm

RESTAURANT REVIEWS

• 
  Show me the reviews for Seven Hills in San Francisco

SCORES

• 
  Did the Giants win?
• 
  How did Kansas City do?
• 
  What was the score the last time the Tigers played the Red Sox?
• 
  Show me the football scores from last night

GAME SCHEDULES

• 
  When do the Giants play next?
• 
  When is the Boston Red Sox's first game of the season?
• 
  Show me the schedule for baseball

PLAYER INFORMATION

• 
  Who has the highest slugging percentage?
• 
  Who has the most home runs on the Giants?
• 
  Who has the most goals in soccer?
• 
  Which quarterback has the most passing yards

TEAM INFORMATION

• 
  Show me the roster for the Dodgers
• 
  Who is pitching for the Miami Marlins this season?
• 
  Is anyone on the Red Sox injured?

STOCKS

• 
  What's Apple's stock price?
• 
  What is Apple's PE ratio?
• 
  What did Yahoo close at today?
• 
  How is the Nikkei doing?
• 
  How are the markets doing?
• 
  What is the Dow at?

TWITTER

• 
  Post to Twitter another beautiful day in Cupertino
• 
  Tweet with my location great concert
• 
  Tweet meeting up with Brian Conway for lunch today
• 
  Tweet the new iPad looks insanely great! hashtag Apple Keynote

WEATHER

• 
  What's the weather for today?
• 
  What's the weather for tomorrow?
• 
  Will it rain in Cupertino this week?
• 
  Check next week's forecast for Burlington
• 
  What's the forecast for this evening?
• 
  How's the weather in Tampa right now?
• 
  How hot will it be in Palm Springs this weekend?
• 
  What's the high for Anchorage on Thursday?
• 
  What's the temperature outside?
• 
  How windy is it out there?
• 
  When is sunrise in Paris?

WEB SEARCH

• 
  Search the web for polar bears
• 
  Search for vegetarian pasta recipes
• 
  Search the web for best cable plans
• 
  Search Wikipedia for Abraham Lincoln
• 
  Bing Foo Fighters (We know, we know. Sorry.)

WOLFRAM ALPHA

• 
  What does repartee mean?
• 
  How many calories in a bagel?
• 
  What is an 18% tip on $86.74 for four people?
• 
  Who's buried in Grant's tomb?
• 
  How long do dogs live?
• 
  What is the Gossamer Condor?
• 
  What's the square root of 128?
• 
  How many dollars is €45?
• 
  How many days until Christmas?
• 
  How far away is the Sun?
• 
  When is the next solar eclipse?
• 
  Show me the Orion constellation
• 
  What's the population of Jamaica?
• 
  How high is Mt. Everest?
• 
  How deep is the Atlantic ocean?
• 
  What's the price of gasoline in Chicago?

What can you say to Siri in iOS 6? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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10 Windows 8 apps for IT workers

10 Windows 8 apps for IT workers:

When you look at the app offerings from Microsoft's Windows Store, the bulk is made up of programs targeting a casual audience. Games seem to be popular, for instance, making up a fifth of all apps currently listed in the store. While there is nothing wrong with playing a game of solitaire during a break or wait period, it doesn't help Microsoft sell the operating system to a professional audience.
Digging deeper, however, you will find decent apps that IT workers will come to love if they take the plunge and decide to work with apps under Windows 8. There is certainly no need for that unless the system is running Windows RT, as desktop programs provide you with a similar, and often even a better, feature set than store apps at the moment.
There are options to work with desktop and Start screen apps side by side, for instance, if you are using a dual-monitor setup at work. You can display the Windows desktop on the first monitor, and one or two apps on the second, or snap an app to the side of the monitor to have it in sight all the time while working on the desktop or with another app.
The following selection of apps is available in the store of the Windows 8 RTM release. Some may also be available for previous releases of Windows 8 as well.
Remote Desktop conveniently displays all recent remote desktop connections on its start page with a screenshot of the last activity. To connect to a previously accessed location you only need to click on it to do so, provided it is displayed under recent locations on the start page. Plus, you get easy switching, copying and pasting between RDC sessions and more. The app has its issues though, from only remembering five connections to display issues if you run it side by side with another app. All in all though this has to be one of the best remote desktop apps for tablet devices.

Alternatives: Teamviewer or enabling remote desktop support on the system.
Live Reader is a full screen RSS feed reader for Windows 8. It ships with a selection of feeds and options to add feeds by URL or by searching for them. Import of OPML files is unfortunately not supported, nor is syncing with Google Reader or comparable services.
Zentoni Reader is an alternative for Google Reader users who want to sync their feeds with the Windows 8 application.
Both apps have in common that they do not display notifications or headlines on the Start screen. Updates are only displayed when the app is open.

Alternatives: Google Reader, RSS Owl or Great News
Trackage keeps track of packages from various services such as FedEx, UPS or the US Postal Service. The app displays estimated delivery dates, the status of each package and the delivery service used on the main page. Custom names can be added to all packages for easier identification.
You can pin important deliveries directly to the Windows 8 Start screen to have an eye on them all the time. The downside is that it will work best for US shipping services so that people from outside the United States won't benefit from it that much (unless they get deliveries from US shipping services regularly).

Alternatives: Shipping service websites or third party services such as Pack Track.
Translate is a free translation app for the Modern user interface. You can attach it to the screen to use while you are working in another app or on the desktop, or access it directly to use it full screen. The app supports a few dozen languages.

Alternatives: Google Translate or Bing Translator
EventBoard keeps track of conferences in the United States and abroad. Each conference is highlighted with a logo, location, date and description. A click downloads the schedule to the computer. Here you see sessions, speakers and descriptions, with options to retrieve additional information about a session with another click.
You can furthermore pin sessions to the Start screen of the operating system or add them to the my agenda page.

Alternatives: The Conference Calendar
Mind8 is a basic mind mapping application for Windows 8. You can use it to create mind maps and pin them to the Start screen. Mind maps are limited to nodes and bi-directional connectors, which limits the use of the application somewhat, as you can't add other symbols, descriptors or different colors to it.

Alternatives: FreeMind (Java desktop app) or Bubbl.us (online)
Wikipedia is the go-to resource for many Internet users. You can use the app as a fullscreen program, or attach it to a side of the screen to use it side by side with another Modern UI app or the desktop of the operating system. You can search Wikipedia using the operating system's Charms Menu.

Alternatives: Open Wikipedia in a web browser.
Tube.fm: if you are allowed to listen to music while you are working, you may enjoy an Internet radio app such as Tuba.fm. You can use it to access genre or artist stations, with the later working similar to what Pandora is offering.
Selection, diversity and quality is quite good. This is one of the apps that keeps on running in the background if you do not close it with Alt-F4, the drag and drop gesture or via the task manager.

Alternatives: Desktop music players like Aimp.
Never Late is an alarm and timer app that you can run side by side with other apps. Alarms can be configured to run regularly or only once. Notifications are automatically displayed on the desktop so that you are informed of events even if the alarm and timer app is not open.

Alternatives: Free Alarm Clock for the desktop.
HE Base Converter converts decimal numbers to bases from 2 to 26. It is easy to use and can be attached to the side of the screen to have in reach while working with another app.

Alternatives: Base Number Converter (online service)
The store is currently very limited when it comes to apps that increase the productivity of computer users. This is likely going to change with the general availability of the Windows 8 operating system later this year. Windows RT users may find the store apps helpful, while desktop users likely will prefer to use desktop apps or online services instead.
What's your take on the current availability of apps in Windows 8?

20 Google Search Shortcuts to Hone Your Google-Fu [Google Search]

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Hidden behind Google's search box are a slew of shortcuts leading to so-called "OneBox" results that provide awesome tools and display helpful information quickly and directly. You might think you know them all, but a few are more hidden than others. More »

Write Your Resume Like a Recruiter to Boost Your Chances of Getting Hired [Job Search]

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