The things TiVo Suggestions finds...

TiVo Suggestions is a feature that finds programs it thinks you might like based on your recording/veiwing preferences. I do *alot* of bass fishing and watch lots of fishing programs... Yes, I want to be on Bassmasters one day.

I went out and turned on the TV, and it was recording Martha Stewart Living!!! Why? Because she was ice fishing! I almost died, she wasn't doing it right though, no beer! I only went ice fishing once, and it definitely requires beer... I'll stick to the waters of Texas that don't freeze and the bass grow LARGE...

Funny!

I gather from reading a story in the paper that Martha Stewart Ice Fishing is just Phase One. With her K-Mart branding on rocky ground. Martha is apparently in negotations to open Martha Stewart Live Outlets (tm) at South of the Border in Dillon, SC and at Wall Drug in Wall, SD.

i saw that one martha stweart thing on some channel.. she seems like a real evil bitch

Auugh! South of the Border! I will drive hundreds of miles out of the way simply not to look at it or its millions of billboards (``eef you follow pedro's signz, ze treep seem MOCH shorter!"). What an awful place!

For those of you that don't know (which, hopefully, is all of you) South of the Border is this Mexican-themed tourist trap just south of the North Carolina border. Not only is it in the running for tackiest place on Earth, there's not even anything to do. There are some shops and crappy restaurants and a lot of bathrooms, but no real entertainment. It's bizarre. It's like someone decided to set it up and got disgusted halfway through. (This is one of the things for which we North Carolinians make fun of South Carolinians.) After looking at http://www.pedroland.com/ (``Pedro has sometheeng for every juan'' [shudder]), it would seem I'm wrong about the lack of entertainment. There seems to be a small amusement park now. I could swear it wasn't there before, but maybe I was just in a hurry to leave.

Looks like something from "Sam and Max Hit the Road".

Which would be cool if it were a joke. But if it's serious.... [shudder]

Well my Tivo is suggesting things that it shouldn't. What's more is that Tivo seems to be giving thumbs up to things that I never have! I saw that it recorded Powerpuff Girls, a show I personally can't stand 5 seconds of. Then I see that it's rated as 3 thumbs up!! What the hell?? This has happened on several other shows. I asked on the Tivo board and they didn't help at all. Oh well. I do't watch Tivo's suggestions anyway.

I saw that it recorded Powerpuff Girls, a show I personally can't stand 5 seconds of. Then I see that it's rated as 3 thumbs up!! What the hell?

You obviously had an eight year old in the house recently. Don't assume it's a bug.

Powerpuff girls is an all time classic - clearly your Tivo is showing good judgement by attempting to educate you of this fact.

Tony - you mean in the US kids watch this show as well as adults? Do they understand the deep rooted satire and ironic portrayal of the late 20th century American super hero? Next you'll be telling me that Dexter's Lab is for kids as well!

Rob

DeeeeeeeeDeeeeeeeee!!!!

I don't want it to "educate" me. I can't STAND IT! I HATE those little annoying girls with a passion. Abnoxious cartoon characters are not my thing. If their voice grates on my inner ear, I'm not going to watch them for 30 minutes.

I don't watch many cartoons anymore anyway. And when I do, it's the action ones. There may not be any sarcastic undercurrents in most of them, but I don't care.

And no, nobody who lives with me watches the show. Tivo thought we gave it 3 thumbs up. It did it with a home garden show too, probably because I like This Old House

TiVo doesn't thumbs-up things on its own. It might record it as a suggestion based on such criteria, but it will not show it having thumbs-ups. What's more likely is that someone was trying to change the channel or volume and accidentally hit the thumb button instead. Possible?

Stop sitting on the remote!

This is better than nothing. In just the few weeks I've had the Tivos, I've thoroughly confused it.

It can't seem to figure out what shows I might like and which onces I might not due to the Thumb War Marathon I did one late night. I guess I'm just too damned picky for the thing. It hasn't come back with any suggestions in several weeks. Maybe it's better that way.

Greg

Yeah. Mine seems to have trouble comprehending that I like ST, ST:TNG, ST:DS9, but hate ST:Voy.

On the other hand, are you sure you didn't just turn off auto-recording of suggestions?

Now that I think about it, that could be a possibility. The physical design of the remote is symetric, so flipped around the thumbs up button would be where the fast forward button normally is. Although both my roommates don't like that show, so I don't know why they'd be watching it in the first place....

Oh well

I still love Tivo.

The physical design of the remote is symetric, so flipped around the thumbs up button would be where the fast forward button normally is.

It's about time someone admitted this. The "peanut" remote is beloved by most Tivo users, but I can't stand it. The problem is it's symetrical and the batteries run nearly the entire vertical length, so it's hard to tell by weight (most remotes are heavier on the bottom). The Sony remote for the SAT-T60 is much better and has more buttons. I also have the new-style peanut which is a little longer. The new peanut is better than the old one, but still not as good as the Sony.

Personally, I hate the Sony remote. I find that I have to move my hand around a lot more to press the right buttons than on the Philips remote. Which is not to say that the symmetrical shape is ideal, but I have no problem feeling the shape of the buttons to know when to flip it round.

Edit: To clarify, I have to move my hand around a lot more towards the bottom with the Sony remote. And trying to press a button while hanging onto a half-inch worth of remote body is very hard, at least for me.

I tend to hold the Sony remote at the base. In this position the Volume up/down and Channel up/down buttons are right there. Most other bottons are reachable with my thumb from this position. The only ones I would have to re-adjust my grip to use are the number pad, power buttons, and mute buttons. This remote is impossible to hold the wrong way when not looking.

On the other hand, I operated the new-style peanut remote upside down twice last night. Granted, the peanut is in my bedroom where it's usually dark and the Sony is in the living room, but it wasn't designed for proper ergonomics. Like I said, the new style peanut is better but not by much.

<insert previous discussion on tactile symmetry of empeg car remote here>

But there's no nipple to grope for. Unless you've got porn on ....

<insert previous discussion on shape of x-box controller here>

Best solution for the symmetrical peanut remote is to put something on the remote to help you figure out the orientation in the dark. Personally, I put a little piece of velcro on the underside of the remote towards the top. So, when I grab the remote at night, I feel for the velcro and make sure it's in the front (towards the TV). Then I know I'm holding the remote the right way.

But, I suppose you could try adding nipples too...

I wasn't complaining, actually, merely stating what probably happened. I only have trouble with the shape about 1% of the time. I find its shape to be one of the best things about Tivo. I think it was beautifully designed and has exactly the right buttons on it. You don't need more buttons on a remote.

The only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't have as many learning functions as I'd like. It simply controls television sets and I can't turn my receiver on and off. How many people adjust Tivo's volume instead of their television's or their receiver's? I sure don't.

I throw the Sony SAT-T60 remote in the hide-away storage on the sofa and use my Phillips Pronto.
The only time I use the peanut one is when I don't feel like switching panels on the Phillips to enter the 30 second skip code... Maybe I should just reconfigure my Pronto menus... heck Even a macro to do the 30 second skip code! Yeah that's it. I keep getting new versions of software for DTiVo requiring reboots. (That beta thing...)

The only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't have as many learning functions as I'd like. It simply controls television sets and I can't turn my receiver on and off. How many people adjust Tivo's volume instead of their television's or their receiver's? I sure don't.

i have my peanut set to power on/off my yamaha receiver (which also powers the TV, which is plugged into a switched outlet on the receiver). the peanut also adjusts my volume/mute controls on the receiver. i know it's not a generic learning remote, but it does have the capability of controlling receivers from a number of manufacturers.

--dan.