Hack 4. The 30-Second Skip

   

Hack 4 The 30-Second Skip

figs/beginner.gif figs/hack04.gif

Forget about fast forwarding through commercials; blaze through in just three to five clicks of your remote .

One of the religious differences between TiVo and ReplayTV owners is how they fast forward through commercials. While TiVo's figs/fastforward.gif button will get you through those intrusive breaks soon enough, it requires some trained skill to manipulate those figs/fastforward.gif and figs/play.gif buttons while keeping a keen eye and trusting your instincts to anticipate the end of the commercials. ReplayTV, on the other hand, has a 30-second skip button, timed specifically for skipping through commercials. Since television commercials are traditionally a multiple of 30-seconds long, ReplayTV owners just hit the 30-second skip button three to five times to render commercials only a minor annoyance.

This feature is so effective that it has stirred up quite a bit of controversy with the networks, who are getting their hackles up, labeling commercial skipping as theft and even taking ReplayTV to court .

Don't you wish TiVo had a 30-second skip? It does, thanks to a little Easter egg magic.

The figs/advance.gif button on the TiVo remote will bring you to the end of a program, or if you are at the end, it will bring you to the beginning. If you are fast forwarding, the figs/advance.gif button will skip you to the next tick mark. This hack is all about repurposing that button to act as the 30-second skip.

Bring up any recorded program or Live TV. Then, enter the following sequence on your remote:

Select Select 3 Select

You'll know the combination worked when TiVo rings out three Thumbs Up soundsthat chiming "bling!" sound TiVo makes when you press the figs/thumbsup.gif button on your remote control. Your figs/advance.gif button will now skip forward by 30 seconds.

Note that this hack is not permanent. If at any time your TiVo needs to be rebootedafter becoming unplugged or as a result of a power failurethe hack will go away and you will have to reapply it.


   
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Tivo Hacks. 100 Industrial-strength Tips Tools 2003
Tivo Hacks. 100 Industrial-strength Tips Tools 2003
ISBN: 1597490318
EAN: N/A
Year: 2004
Pages: 164

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