TiVophile Pathtag

I just received my order of TiVophile Pathtags (TiVophile is my geocaching nickname). These are about the size of a quarter and they turned out really nice! I'll be posting a real picture soon that you can compare to the blueprint artwork shown here.

I plan to use these mainly as signature items for geocaching. I just dropped the first ones in my second cache hide, Plum Perfect Camera Cache. Delaney and Tori helped me get this one together and hand-picked the swag to go in it. This cache should also be interesting since it contains a disposable camera and we'll see what pictures it collects later.

Pathtags aren't individually trackable like geocoins, but they aren't as expensive to make either. I do plan to set up something here real soon to try to get an idea of who finds them and where they found them.

You can login at the Pathtags site and log your find there as well.

Labels: geocaching, tivo

Posted by Chris on 4/27/2007 07:26:00 PM :: Permalink   

TiVo To Go

Now the new troop transport is complete!

When you buy a Honda Odyssey minivan, you tend to blend in with the crowd. In almost 20 years of vehicle ownership, I've never put a sticker on any of them. But when you walk out of preschool to a parking lot full of SUVs and minivans, and most of the minivans are Odysseys, it's nice for your vehicle to stand out somehow.

Sure, we could get one of the other Euro oval stickers you see around here - 'OBX' for Outer Banks, 'HWF' for Heritage Wake Forest - but we needed something better -- something worthy of being the first sticker to adorn our vehicle.

A custom printed 'TiVo' sticker!

Nice. I recommend one for everyone.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 4/24/2006 06:49:00 PM :: Permalink   

Origins of the TiVo Name and Mascot

Here's a brief interview with Michael Cronan, the man that created the TiVo name and mascot. Interesting little insight into TiVo's beginnings.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 12/15/2005 12:26:00 PM :: Permalink   

TiVo Tribute Wall

Every one of my six coworkers now have TiVo, so Dave and I thought it was appropriate to make a statement. We used the Rasterbator to create a five foot tall TiVoGuy on the wall in our conference bay.

Like William Gibson said, "The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed yet."

But we're working on it.

One coworker at a time.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 9/29/2005 10:18:00 AM :: Permalink   

Future Gold Glove Winner Suffers TiVo Withdrawal

On the way home from the beach, Victoria finished off all but one piece of her candy. Showing no prior interest in baseball at all, she then proceeded to insert her left hand in the small candy wrapper "glove" and hold the blue ball of candy in her right hand. Like a pitcher waiting for the ump to call for the first pitch, she repeatedly brought the piece of candy over to the glove, chanting happily "Baseball! Baseball!" I've actually got a few seconds of video of it that I might try to blog later just to play with video blogging.

Our beach vacation was fun, but it was the first time in a long time that the girls were without Tivo. They had to sit through commercials if they watched a show, and it was difficult to understand that we couldn't just watch what we wanted whenever we wanted. In the end, they took comfort in the assurance that the TiVos at home would have all their favorite shows waiting for them when we got back home.

Labels: family, tivo

Posted by Chris on 6/23/2005 07:46:00 PM :: Permalink   

Long Live TiVo!

Well, I'm a couple days late in spreading this news, but TiVo scored a major win by signing a deal with Comcast. With the existing DirecTV deal expiring, TiVo really needed a new distribution channel since sales of standalone units just weren't going to cut it. They got a big one, with the largest cable provider, Comcast.

It might not seem to mean much around here since we're not served by Comcast cable. And don't you get suckered into one of those weak Time Warner boxes. They're not TiVo! But it's great news nonetheless, since it means that TiVo the company will be in business for years to come.

Engadget, please call off the TiVo Deathwatch.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 3/17/2005 01:54:00 PM :: Permalink   

Why TiVo is TiVo

Good listing of a few of the things that make TiVo stand out from other DVRs in NYTimes.com: Circuits.

At least on all of my units the buffer is 30 minutes though, not 45 as mentioned in the article. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 1/27/2005 09:17:00 PM :: Permalink   

Recording Capacity: 136 hours

I just completed upgrading our new DirecTV R-10 TiVo from 70 hours to 136 hours. This was the simplest mod I've ever performed. In the past I had used Hinsdale's How To when upgrading my Series 1 box with a second drive. The process is much more streamlined now and since I was simply replacing my single drive with a larger one and not saving any recordings, I followed the shorter Weaknees guide.

Simple and quick. And now our R-10 has extra capacity. I will say that the R-10 is of much lower build quality than the Series 1 Hughes or Series 2 HDVR2 models I have. The sheet metal is thinner, the panel buttons don't feel as solid, and even the screws holding the case together are inferior. I guess this is how they double the storage to a 70 hour model and still sell it for $99 to all customers.

The R-10 has a few key features: it is running the 6.1 software which includes folder support and menus are much faster. My older unit had also become very noisy. It also supports LBA48 so I could have opted for a larger drive (up to 320GB), but I'm cheap and wanted a quiet drive. The best deal for a super quiet drive happened to be for a Samsung Spinpoint 160GB which is still an upgrade from my modded Series 1 which was 120GB and double the stock storage of 80GB.

It's TiVo. I think we'll be happy!

And I finally got credit for converting someone to TiVo through the TiVo Rewards program. Unfortunately, DirecTV TiVo referrals don't count. But if you get someone to sign up for standalone TiVo service, the referrer can get credit to use for some cool stuff. I just wish they had started this program a few years back.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 1/05/2005 01:04:00 AM :: Permalink   

Tivo for your iPod

Newsweek overview article on podcasting. Apparently the mainstream media are catching on to podcasting and its potential much faster than they did with blogging. BBC Culture Show recently ran an interview with Adam Curry, one of the creators of podcasting (and yes, the ex-MTV 1980's VJ).

They really didn't explain that it's not just for iPods, though. They're in MP3 format so you can listen on your computer or lots of portable players or even burn it to CD for listening. Currently, most of the software that makes it so easy is for the iPod, but I've been listening on my Palm for a couple of weeks now during the commute.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 12/03/2004 11:07:00 AM :: Permalink   

Fairies That Fly, TiVos That Talk

Here are the Halloween 2004 pictures. This is really only part of the story. With there being several Halloween parties this year, each of the girls actually had two costumes. I thought it a bit odd, but they didn't seem to mind. Plus when one of the non-washable ones got dirty, they could switch, and it gave us more time to finish the TiVoGuy costume.

Not pictured here is Victoria as a pumpkin (or "pump" as she calls it) and Delaney as a fairy of the non-winged variety. If you click through the pictures individually, you'll see a few comments telling you who's who, or you can view the slideshow.

Labels: family, tivo

Posted by Chris on 11/04/2004 02:55:00 PM :: Permalink   

The TiVo Hot 100

You probably already know that TiVo collects aggregate viewing data on what you watch, what you fast-forward through, and what you back up to watch again. It's all anonymous and is increasingly used for the same purposes as Nielsen viewing data.

Well Tivo has now published their own list on the web - The TiVo Hot 100. You can view the top Season Passes of your fellow TiVo viewers. There's also a Top 25 recorded shows for the recent week.

See how many of your Season Passes match up or get ideas for other shows to add to your list.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 11/02/2004 10:32:00 AM :: Permalink   

A Word With The Man Who Changed My Life

OK, so it's not "An Interview with God", but it is an interview with Mike Ramsay, the CEO of TiVo.

It's an interesting read, but no new revelations or specific details. From Engadget.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 10/19/2004 11:24:00 AM :: Permalink   

Never Without TiVo!

I think this is the coolest TiVo hack you can do (or maybe I should say, that has been done, since not everyone will be willing to go the effort this gentleman did) without even opening the case. Ben Spink, TiVo fan and IR enthusiast, just couldn't be without his TiVo no matter where he went, I guess, so he rigged it up so that he could control it via his web site and stream the video back to him. That meant that he could watch TiVo at high res from his laptop via wireless anywhere around his house, from all over the world with slightly smaller video via the Internet, and it was even watchable in his car via cell phone net connection!

How'd he do it? He gives you all the details in Tivo Project 101. It doesn't sound that difficult, but I would still consider it a 300-level class and certainly not an entry level 101 class. Unfortunately, but understandably, he does not have a live demo up. But the description is excellent and there are some sample pages to view, along with links to everything you need for your own project.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 9/04/2004 09:45:00 PM :: Permalink   

TiVo Top Ten Olympic Moments

The Olympics are over and now the (anonymous) TiVo data rolls in. What did users want to see over and over and in slow motion?

I doubt any of these moments will rival the most TiVo'ed moment of all time, but here they are anyway: Top TiVo 2004 Olympic Moments from Athens.

I would have expected the marathon attacker to make this list. I know we watched it several times.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 8/30/2004 02:18:00 PM :: Permalink   

TiVo Meets Dr. Strangeberry

TiVo's continued financial struggles have led many to expect its demise. That would be a tragedy. And that was an understatement.

But earlier this year they quietly acquired a company called Strangeberry that was led by programming extraordinaire Arthur van Hoff, one of the creators of Java. Some say this may be just the Holy Grail TiVo needs to turn things around. This article explains what Strangeberry is and why it matters (skip to page 4 if that's all you're interested in).

It also tells you that van Hoff owns five TiVos and the chairman of the FCC refers to TiVo as "God's machine". That's strong praise.

Hmmm, I only have two. Maybe it's time to place an order...

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 8/19/2004 09:52:00 AM :: Permalink   

TiVo Rewards

I lost count of how many people I've referred to TiVo over the past several years. I did this mainly to improve their quality of life and because I often feel sorry for people without TiVo. You know (or maybe you don't remember if you've had TiVo for a while), the days of rewinding video tapes, fumbling through unlabelled tapes looking for something particular, missing shows due to schedule changes, waiting for a show to finish recording so you could watch it, commercials (remember commercials?), being tied to a TV schedule, etc. I felt bad for people still living under those poor conditions and I wanted to help them. It also helped TiVo the company by increasing their subscriber base. I got nothing except another TiVo evangelist.

Well, finally, TiVo now has a Rewards Program for referrals. So if you're thinking about getting TiVo, be sure to use my email address (see sidebar) for the referral. I'll get a little bit of credit and you'll get a life changing device.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 8/13/2004 10:15:00 AM :: Permalink   

Get Out Of Jail Free with TiVo

TiVo helped a man convince airport security that he was not trying to bomb the plane with a microphone.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 8/10/2004 01:36:00 PM :: Permalink   

TiVo on the Big Ten Sidelines

The Big Ten Conference will be using TiVo units for instant replay on the sidelines at NCAA conference games this season. I knew you'd want to know.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 8/05/2004 02:45:00 PM :: Permalink   

NFL Sacked! TiVo Scores Touchdown!

"TiVo To Go" got the FCC approval required for their upcoming service which allows users to share shows digitally with a limited number of others. This was despite the NFL and MPAA's protests, as reported here earlier.

The NFL's main complaint was ridiculous. They claimed that fans in blackout cities (where the home team did not sell out the stadium) would be able to watch the game via a share from a TiVo user in another area that was not blacked out. But even if they started to share the game at kickoff, the transfer to the other unit would not complete until hours after the game had already ended!

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 8/05/2004 01:41:00 PM :: Permalink   

Going To Bat for "TiVo To Go"

TiVo is standing up for your rights. Their upcoming "TiVo To Go" service (which will allow you to transfer programs you've recorded on TiVo to your PC and view or burn them to DVD) is being challenged by the Motion Picture Association of America and the National Football League. They've petitioned the FCC to stop this. But TiVo is fighting back. At least the RIAA isn't involved, yet.

TiVo To Go was scheduled to be available this fall on standalone TiVos. It's likely that the service would lag considerably on DirecTiVo units and this battle may delay things even further.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 7/22/2004 12:07:00 PM :: Permalink   

The Disruption of TiVo

Here's a great article that talks about how a small company of just 300 people has made huge changes. TiVo's financial future is shaky, but their brand recognition is so strong and their technology has such influence that their future should be bright.

He even mentions that some have gone so far to say that companies may begin airing commercials in slow motion so when you fast forward through them, they appear at normal speed. Interesting idea, but I don't think it will ever happen. What has happened, though, is an increase in product placement on television. I'm not fond of that as it's generally distracting to me, but it is impressive the influence TiVo has had on advertising.

Good, honest, Forbes article about What TiVo Teaches Us

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 7/08/2004 10:42:00 AM :: Permalink   

Portable TiVo?

CNET has a short review of the Archos AV400. This is a portable media center that plays audio, video, displays pictures, encodes MP3's and tries to do everything multimedia related. You can carry this with you in a (large) pocket.

I don't know the Archos will make it or not - and I can't see why I'd be interested in it personally, but I must applaud anything described as providing "TiVo-like functionality".

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 7/01/2004 03:34:00 PM :: Permalink   

DirecTV Exec Quits TiVo Board

DirecTV exec quits TiVo board - News - ZDNet:

"Since News Corp.'s acquisition of DirecTV, there has been speculation surrounding the solidity of the relationship between TiVo and DirecTV. TiVo executives have acknowledged in the past that DirecTV hasn't endorsed its latest features as quickly as the DVR maker would have liked. "

Yeah, I want my HMO in 4.0 software. Hey, wait a minute. Actually, I don't care so much about HMO now that I'm using XBMC (Xbox Media Center).

But I can't really believe this is good for TiVo, the DirecTV relationship was the best channel they had. As much as I dislike cable companies, TiVo needs to partner with one or all the satellite and cable companies will end up with their own DVRs and where will that leave TiVo?

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 6/04/2004 04:40:00 PM :: Permalink   

TiVo reports loss, but beats estimates by 9 cents a share

I guess this is good news for TiVo as they approach profitability. Though I have seen some concerns lately about how long the relationship with DirecTV will last and if DirecTV will develop their own box like many other providers are doing.

Judging both by the quality of other boxes (Dish, TimeWarner) and the length of time it takes DirecTV to roll out new releases from TiVo (still no HMO for DirecTiVo users), I'd say the consumer would greatly benefit from sticking with TiVo. TiVo also has the brand recognition at a level akin to that of Xerox and Kleenex, where recording something on your personal video recorder is now called "tivoing".

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 5/26/2004 10:57:00 AM :: Permalink   

TiVo-proof Advertising? Yikes!

Oh, no! Let's hope this doesn't catch on. I'm sure everyone will be eager to add pop-ups and flashing, rotating banners to their network TV viewing as well. Just imagine your nice 36-inch TV being turned into a 21-inch TV with a large banner advertisement on the bottom third of the screen for the entire show!

Don't advertisers realize that if the commercials are compelling enough, even TiVo owners will watch? I Tivo'ed the SuperBowl just to watch the commercials. I fast-forwarded through most of the game (though this year I was mostly disappointed in the commercials).

New TV Network To Take On TiVo and Other DVRs

"Ripe Entertainment is introducing a free "on-demand" cable network, called RipeTV, which will have advertising embedded into its shows. It has seven different types of advertising that will not be able to be fast-forwarded through when recorded on a PVR. RipeTV's CEO, Ryan Magnussen, calls it "TiVo-proof."

New ads include a 3-D animated advertiser logo or graphic to open and close the show, an animated logo occupying the lower third of the screen, a "video skin" or graphic frame with the advertisers brand framed around the show, video billboards in the lower third, strategically placed spots and long-form commercials. The ads are more like magazine advertisements, in a video magazine setting. "

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 5/21/2004 10:51:00 AM :: Permalink   

Read a review of how Tivo becomes Evil-o from a poster at Epinions.com

Compare Prices and Read Reviews on Tivo Series 2 DVR - 40 Hours Digital TV Recorder at Epinions.com

I thought you would love this review Chris - I was laughing out loud!

Labels: tivo

Posted by Melissa on 3/13/2004 09:22:00 AM :: Permalink   

Long Live TiVo!

TiVo announced positive financial results. Article at TiVo skips past naysayers | CNET News.com.
The article mentions that DirecTV has been slow to adopt HMO and that this disappoints TiVo, but no timetable is given for actually rolling out HMO (muchless TiVo-To-Go) for DirecTiVo subscribers. The wait continues...

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 3/10/2004 10:50:00 AM :: Permalink   
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