http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-et-tivo17nov17,0,927837.story?coll=la-home-headline

It is really scary that TiVo collects information "second by second" on every viewer's habits. And it was able to detect and report a 180% increase in playbacks of Janet Jackson's "Wardrobe Malfunction".

First of all, if it was a malfunction, Janet would have covered up lots more quickly. She casually looked down and then looked away and then even later she covered up. She knew she was flashing the audience and in my humble opinion, it was planned and premeditated.

Now back to the rant on TiVo. If I recorded the game and watched it 2 days later, would it still report my replays? When does it report these things? Does it report during the night when it calls home on the phone to download the latest program listings?

I don't have a TiVo, but my satelite "Dish" receiver has the PVR function built into it. I wonder if Dish reports my viewing habits too? Maybe it is time to re-read my contract.
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RunnerBiker ¿
"Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip." - Will Rogers

Quote:

wonder if Dish reports my viewing habits too?

Oh, yeah. The dish PVRs audit your viewing habits as well. From what I understand, they don't report back the level of detail that TiVo does, but they come close.

Actually, all of the Satellite IRDs (integrated receiver/decoders) now track your viewing habits, even the ones that aren't PVRs. I consider this a real invasion of privacy. Many people refuse to connect their IRDs to a phone line for that reason.

Quote:

If I recorded the game and watched it 2 days later, would it still report my replays? When does it report these things? Does it report during the night when it calls home on the phone to download the latest program listings?

It reports most all of your viewing habits, not just live rewinds. The amont of info reported varies depending on IRD model. They report back from once or twice a day to a couple of times a week, depending on usage. They get the guide data from the satellite, not the phone line. The phone line is only for reporting back your PPV orders and viewing habits.

They can't force you to stay connected a phone line but will give you a hard time if you disconnect it. They call you up after a while and ask what is wrong and if you refuse to reconnect, they will disable your "PPV Order by remote" and you will be forced to call or go to their website to purchase a movie or special event. That's a much better option than having them track your every move though.

More and more people nowadays have cell phones only and don't even have land based phone line.

I think we will see this trend continue so they have a real problem there.
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"Linux is more than an OS, it's a state of mind."

Hey, hey, I've got that beat. I had cable disconnected, don't have a dish, and wouldn't have one if they gave it to me and the service was free! The propaganda machine in my house is only powered up for the race, or to watch personally owned videos.

I guess they have a ball tracking my internet activity to weather records and information, military and defense dept. sites, Upstate forums and a software development board or two, and of course some sporadic, non-definitive search activity. If they want to learn anything about me they need to read my posts! That'd probably cause them real concern!

Oh yeah, since I usually email politicians my no holds barred thoughts anyway, they don't even need to track my activity, all they need to do is read their own email!
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Proud Nationalist

Discovery and TLC are excellent, especially for the kids. I know I like 'em. Old classic movies are pretty cool on AMC and TCM as well. I hate going to the video store...

I guess you miss a few of the races that aren't on broadcast TV?

Anyway, the big thing is that by March, TiVo is going to put static ADs up on your screen when you fast forward.

What a crock!!

I'd throw my PVR in the trash if I had to look at ADs when I wanted to fast forward. Commercial skip is the best feature of the whole unit!!

The Senate is expected to vote on the Intellectual Property Protection Bill in this lame-duck session. The bill has a provision to prohibit technology that skips commercials during a DVD or televised movie aand some point to a provision would make it a crime to fast-forward through a commercial.

This is going way to far!!

The standards in the proposed bill are far too vague, and could include material stored on computers and shared on networks. The bill is a departure from existing copyright principles and could have a number of unforeseen consequences. Example: use of innovative music sharing feature of Apple’s popular and legal iTunes program would be made a crime.

This will never fly.

Dish Network execs say they have no plans to remove the commercial skip button or to display ADs.
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"Linux is more than an OS, it's a state of mind."








Last edited by Gadget Wizard on Mon Nov 22, 2004 6:25 pm; edited 2 times in total

Gadget Wizard wrote:

Seriously though. Discovery and TLC are excellent, especially for the kids. I know I like 'em. Old classic movies are pretty cool on AMC and TCM as well. I hate going to the video store...

We watch lots of old movies on TCM. We used to watch lots of movies on AMC too, but they went commercial about 3 years ago, and we haven't watch 10 movies there since.

Similarily, TLC and the Discover Channel were my favorites, but now they offer more "reality" programming with trading spaces and monster house, and less and less science and technology. I can't remember the last time I watched TLC.

My new favorite is the History Channel, although they lean a little to heavily on the military, but even some of that is interesting, especially when they focus on the technology side.

Probably the biggest disappointment is the Animal Channel. I really hoped it would focus on animals, but more often than not, it will have complete junk like the Animal Psychic. Good Grief.
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RunnerBiker ¿
"Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip." - Will Rogers

Last edited by RunnerBiker on Sat Nov 20, 2004 8:58 am; edited 1 time in total

Yeah, it was sad when they moved AMC to a commercial channel. :sad3

I rarely see anything I like on the History Channel, but sometimes do. I use to call it "The Hitler Channel" because they seemed to have a morbid obsession with the guy.

I agree that the reality craze has gone too far on the supposed "educational" channels although for some reason, I"m facinated by Monster Garage and American Chopper. I guess it's just fun to see someone build a bike out of nothing or turn a piece of junk into a hot rod.

I also like the astronomy/comology shows although they aren't as detailed as I'd like. They are educational though and tend to present the latest findings and reseach. I guess they have to walk a fine line in terms of content -vs- entertainment value. If they go into too much detail, they could get boring if you're not really into it.
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"Linux is more than an OS, it's a state of mind."

Are any of you old enough to remember Don Herbert (Mr. Wizard)? He had a weekly show on Saturday mornings. These were probably on TV in the late 50s. On the show they would THOROUGHLY examine a single subject, like enertia, or magnetism.

They would plan experiments and then Mr. Wizard would coach the guest kids on the show to actually perform the experiments. After each experiment, they would discuss the results, and explain the "science" behind the results. The didn't get into the heavy math but they did spend lots of time discussing these things.

In later years (maybe in the 80s) Mr Wizard was on TV again, but he was reduced to performing lots of little tricks without explaining why things came out the way they did.

I admit to watching Monster Garage and American Chopper too. They are "fun", but I would not want to trust my life to anything they have "cobbled" together. No engineering. No precision alignments. No stress analysis. Just slap together whatever looks good. Never mind that it might not be comfortable to ride. Remember Billy Lane's exhaust under the saddle. It actually burned a hole in the seat of his pants. He "fixed" it with 17 layers of aluminum foil. No thanks!

GW - I do agree with you on the level of detail. Just once I would like to see every step in adjusting valves, or setting gear lash in a differential. Not the 3 second snaps of the actor/author posing with a feeler guage... I have adjusted valves and set end play on the transmission main shaft and everything in between. I read and tried to follow the directions in a factory shop manual, but then I forever wonder if I really did it correctly, or should I tear it down once more, and re-set it again. It is amazing the sounds you hear after you tear into something mechanical on your old bike.
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RunnerBiker ¿
"Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip." - Will Rogers

Mr. Wizard. Good show.

The bill allows for technology that lets families edit out explicit scenes or material. But broadcast companies have lobbied hard to keep commercials and movie trailers off-limits.

"Their concern is, if it becomes easy for people to skip ads, then their whole business model goes down the drain," said Gigi Sohn, of Public Knowledge, a Washington, D.C. advocacy group.

The big promise of Pay for TV was that we wouldn't have any commercials. Now we have to pay for the programming, be forced to watch ADs and then be bombarded with product placement ADs during the actual show or movie.

What a load of crap!!
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"Linux is more than an OS, it's a state of mind."

Gadget Wizard wrote:

This is going way to far!!

Understatement of the century!!
Looks like an attempt at tyranny to me! One thing you can do to seperate yourself from this attempt at info fraud is just turn the TV off!
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Proud Nationalist