Virtual assistants —are they listening in?

You may have one of these handy personal electronic tools in your home or office. We do. And it’s been a mild concern for some time. Alexa, an Amazon creation (Siri is an Apple version of the same genre), has become rather intrusive, annoying even.

We have been getting the distinct feeling that “she” is listening. Why? Because with some disturbing frequency the device speaks for no apparent reason. It’s creepy. Off-putting. Alexa points out that it’s bedtime precisely at 8:58 p.m. every night, no exceptions. We have to presume that this occurs even when the house is empty.

We’ve never requested that “she” provide such an evening alert. We have no idea how or why the machine came up with that heads-up. We don’t typically retire at the time of night anyway.

We’ve never asked for Alexa’s help in this regard. “She” simply does it on “her” own. It’s spooky. Strange.

There’s more. Every now and then, the ethereal female voice with a cultured British accent blurts out other morsels without being asked. They are not threatening. But they are bizarre. We try to tell the voice to be quiet. It doesn’t always work. Alexa is nothing if not persistent and seemingly quite strict.  

THIS ISSUE WON’T GO AWAY: It was probably inevitable. By joining a lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association, a female San Jose State University volleyball player has brought more attention to a controversy that shows no sign of abating any time soon. If anything, it’s growing.

The athlete in question is protesting the presence of a biological male, who identifies as female, on the Spartans’ women’s volleyball team. The alleged issue: The biological male is too big and strong and poses a danger to other players, who are biological females.

In a related matter, several San Jose State opponents have forfeited volleyball matches to the Spartans over the past several weeks for what amounts to the same reason: unfair competition.

As we have pointed out in the past, the irony of this situation is that the NCAA, among other sports organizations (including the California Interscholastic Federation, the umbrella outfit governing the state’s prep sports), touts its devotion to the tenets of Title IX; that’s the federal law that mandates equal and fair competitive opportunities for female athletes in the United States.

When will sanity — and adherence to the original intent of the federal rule — prevail in the athletic realm? Not soon, it seems. Eventually, the court system is going to have to decide.

ANOTHER EX-BEARCAT PASSES: As news spread of the unfortunate demise of actor/singer Kris Kristofferson at age 88 in Hawaii late last month, the family of another San Mateo High School alum and ex-football player, Jerry Kunz, a Kristofferson teammate in the early 1950s, reached out to the Daily Journal to note that, sadly, Jerry passed away within two days of Kris. Kunz was 89. He founded the Bay Area Paving Company. He was also a successful real estate investor and a dedicated community benefactor. He supported a number of causes here on the Peninsula. A Rotarian, he was an ex-board member of the Peninsula Hospital Foundation and a significant donor to that Burlingame institution as it grew to serve patients north of what was then Mills Memorial Hospital in San Mateo.

A COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE MOVE: Unhappy Millbrae residents who oppose a San Mateo County Board of Supervisors’ proposal to convert the city’s La Quinta Inn into a shelter for a segment of the local homeless population might be well-advised to focus their attention on the supervisors rather than the hotel itself (although money for any deal seems sparse now). Conducting a press conference/protest last week in front of a business you prefer to function as it is seems counterproductive, an incentive for potential hotel visitors to avoid it. What are we missing here?

John Horgan, who has been writing about San Mateo County’s ins and outs since 1963, beginning modestly at the long-gone Burlingame Advance Star, can be contacted by email at johnhorganmedia@gmail.com.