I thought maybe I could do it. I tried hard. I watched many YouTube videos and read many online articles. But today, one week after my Amazon Dot arrived, I decided enough.

I am talking about programming my Alexa, using JavaScript to make original games from scratch.

Yes, there are a few game templates available online such as facts, quizzes and trivia. And I have been able to create games by changing the question-and-answer parameters on the templates. But I really had hoped to learn enough code to write my own programs, start to finish.

I would like to hire a tutor to sit with me, and teach me how to do programming. That would be something I would pay for. For now, though, I will take a break.

The good news is I did learn quite a bit.

I learned how to use the Amazon Developer portal and Github to create intents and sample utterances. I learned how to access the Amazon Web Service to call a corresponding lambda function, which is the main code written in JavaScript.

I learned how to use the Atom code editor to save a variety of my projects, and to copy-and-paste lines of code into the Amazon Skills Kit.

The benefit of giving up tonight is that maybe I’ll stay in bed long enough to get that good night’s sleep I havebeen missing.

Hey, by modifying an existing fact program, I made a game that I’m going to use a lot. It accesses my favorite Jewish sages. I copied and pasted sections of articles from Wikipedia into the program. So when I say “Alexa, open Our Sages,” I can hear randomly presented facts about those illustrious bible commentators.  I might even publish that program one day, so all Alexa users will have access to it.

I also made a cute program for my granddaughter. She can ask Alexa, “Alexa, ask Sofia the First what she would like to do.”  The answer she might receive is, “Sally, Sofia the First says she would love to play with you. And she says that her favorite colors are pink and purple, too.”

In my spare time, I have been reading about and learning to use, many of the readily available Alexa skills programs. My favorite program?  Alexa, tell me a joke.

Alexa, say good night

“Good night, readers.”

Mr. Ebsen may be contacted at robertzebsen@gmail.com