My TV-B-Gone arrived last night. So I took it out with me to lunch....
Brian: 2 Television: 0
That was more fun than it should've been. It was hard acting casual and innocent when their TV's flicked off. *big cat-that-ate-the-canary grin*
I highly reccommend getting one!
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
I found this "clever invention" to be kind of obnoxious and rude when it was first mentioned here, and I still find it to be somewhat rude.
Mess with your own electronics, if you like, but leave those of others alone.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I agree Megan.
It seems like a rather boorish action to take.
Dagonee
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
I need that thing for "Survivor Night"! Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Yeah, I agree with Megan and Dagonee on this one. I can't actually think of a circumstance in which I've been watching a TV show in public, but if I were to be doing such a thing, I wouldn't appreciate having the signal blocked.
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
Rude, yes.
But it looks effective too!
Posted by newfoundlogic (Member # 3907) on :
If I were at a restaurant the only thing I would be watching is some sort of sportss game. If that game were blocked out I would be very, very angry.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
But, see, to me, the rude part cancels out any other benefits it might provide. More and more, I realize that my first judgment of a person comes almost entirely from how polite they are.
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
Without my TV how will I get my daily dose of liberal media brainwashing?
Sure I can read my NY Times online, but indoctrination is just a lot more fun when there is sound and pretty pictures.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Imagine if someone had used this in a Boston Bar a few weeks ago...
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
I assume you'll be ordering a MIRT next.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
quote:Imagine if someone had used this in a Boston Bar a few weeks ago...
There would've been lynchings, I'm sure.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
*shivers*
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
Cold, katie? ::offers a blanket::
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I think this is a great idea. Not to turn off tvs that people are obviously watching or interested in, but rather to give us the power to choose to eliminate one of the annoying distracting obnoxious things we have around us. Almost all tvs in public places that I see are not being attended to by anyone.
They're out of stock now but I'm buying one as soon as they have more. Also I think they would make very cool gifts for other people I know who dislike tv.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I wish they would develop a Muzak jamming device too. Muzak is terribly bad, the arrangements are pukey, it's insipid and hackneyed as music, and the intent is totally manipulative (to get you to shop more happily, or work more productively or wait more contentedly) and big brotherish. How lovely it would be if we had the power to eliminate it.
People used to think that caller id on telephones was rude, too, because people should have the right to anonymity. But it seems to me that the person or device who is trying to impose themselves upon others is the one who should be fair game to deny or cut off if the imposition is unwanted. Shouldn't it be like that?
Posted by Brian_Berlin (Member # 6900) on :
[ November 09, 2004, 05:40 PM: Message edited by: Brian_Berlin ]
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
quote:that the person or device who is trying to impose themselves upon others
But isn't this EXACTLY what a person who turns off a television in public (that others are watching) is doing?
Posted by Brian_Berlin (Member # 6900) on :
nobody was watching them... they were just on.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
If a TV is on at a commercial establishment, it's cuz the proprieter views the TV program as a net attraction for customers. If you don't like it being on, patronize another establishment.
[ November 09, 2004, 05:43 PM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by Brian_Berlin (Member # 6900) on :
no, you see, I have this cool device that turns the bloody things off (see first post). I don't have to go somewhere else.
[ November 09, 2004, 05:44 PM: Message edited by: Brian_Berlin ]
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
I like the idea just as a logistical strategy to get out of the house faster in the morning. My kids get to watch a little TV in the morning before school -- it's their reward for a smooth getting-ready-for-school time. It is, however, sometimes difficult to get their attention when it is time to go. I'd love to be able to turn off the TV with my car keys. Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Brian: Yes, you do. They are NOT your televisions, and by acting as if they are and turning them off, you are being rude. You are in the wrong.
[ November 09, 2004, 05:45 PM: Message edited by: Megan ]
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
jeniwren, now, THAT'S a practical application! Posted by Brian_Berlin (Member # 6900) on :
but the televisions were put there for me. neither I nor anyone else was watching them. so i took it upon myself to turn them off.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
You're missing the point. See aspectre's post, above. The owner has the right to have a TV on in their restaurant. You have a right to leave the restaurant. You do NOT have the right to mess with the owner's TV without their permission.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Just remember that it projects signals, which means that you can be pinpointed. In fact, I could easily build a circuit which can resonate TV-B-GONE for tracking purposes, even if you don't use it.
And when you leave, you can wonder why your car has four flat tires.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
All it will do is lead to bar owners taping over the IR port on their TVs.
Posted by Brian_Berlin (Member # 6900) on :
>><I>Just remember that it projects signals, which means that you can be pinpointed. In fact, I could easily build a circuit which can resonate TV-B-GONE for tracking purposes, even if you don't use it. </i>
LOL - you're hilarious!
Posted by Brian_Berlin (Member # 6900) on :
>>All it will do is lead to bar owners taping over the IR port on their TVs.
Bingo! But I think if it's used responsibly - then it won't come to that.
Well, it's been fun, kids. I'm off to Circuit City to try it out there now.
[ November 09, 2004, 05:52 PM: Message edited by: Brian_Berlin ]
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
See, now, as someone married to someone who once worked at Circuit City (and who now works for the competition), that's what I mean by rude. You're taking glee out of being obnoxious. Quit it.
Posted by Brian_Berlin (Member # 6900) on :
(That was a joke, Megan, I'm just antagonizing you)
[ November 09, 2004, 05:55 PM: Message edited by: Brian_Berlin ]
Posted by newfoundlogic (Member # 3907) on :
That's just being a jerk. You're going out of your way to inconvenience people who are seeking to buy products. You defnitely have no need to be there and there are definitely people who have reason to be watching the TV. Don't watch TV if you don't want to, but don't stop others either.
Posted by Brian_Berlin (Member # 6900) on :
like i said - nobody was watching them. I inconvenienced no one.
and everyone got to sit and enjoy their lunch without commercial blaring away @ them.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
They will tape over the IR port, but then their remotes won't work. So I bet they untape it again.
It's not rude, either. The owner put the tv there to be available to her customers for their use. If their customers prefer to watch the best program on, the one with silence and a black screen, why is that not a good use?
Tv is a choice, not a necessity. Why don't people understand that choosing to turn it off is also a valid choice?
Posted by newfoundlogic (Member # 3907) on :
One customer doesn't have the right to make that choice for everyone else.
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
Would it be okay if I purchased one for the sole purpose of annoying my family?
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
That would be acceptable.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
The only way to be sure you aren't being rude is to ask every other person in the establishment if they mind turning the tv off. If they all say no, then I think it would make sense to ask the proprietor if he/she can turn it off.
You know, you can make requests of people, before you go turning off their equipment without their knowledge, or without knowing if you are annoying other patrons.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
They have remote control watches too...I had one for a while, and i used it to confound my Dad. He thought something was wrong with his TV...it was great.
As far as the ethics of using it in public, I liked my watch because i could chnge channels with it, so if no one was watching the TV and the bartender was busy waiting on someone else I could just chnge it. However, I didn't use it to ramdomly turn other peoples stuff off unless I knew them and wanted to drive them crazy...
It isn't my TV, so I don't have a right to mess with it. I did at first, but then I realized that it wasn't cool.
Kwea
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
They need to have "Irratating crappy music be gone" is what they should have. Especially when they keep playing CELINE DION in the supermarket I work in. With a few buttons I can switch it to some of the music from my playlist. Which will probably drive everyone out of the store... The more extreme music I like.
Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :
There was a kid in our school who had a watch that did something like that, except he could also mute, play, pause etc.
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
Oh man, I would want one of those. It would be so nice to walk out of an elevator in an office building without a headache.
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
quote: If their customers prefer to watch the best program on, the one with silence and a black screen, why is that not a good use?
Unless you are the only customer there, you can't make that decision for everyone. If you are the only one, simply ask the owner/manager to turn it off.
jeni, you can already do that with your TV. You just need this. Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
I quess it's time to invent the anti TV-B-Gone attachement to tv's. Any signal from a TV-B-Gone will call the goon squad, who will scan for any nearby TV-B-Gone's and take all people in possesion of one to a place where they will be delt with.
Posted by kaioshin00 (Member # 3740) on :
I think I saw an infomercial about this the other day ...
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Which brings me to the question of TV's going in the waiting rooms of car repair shops.
There is one where we take each of our three cars in for oil changes. I imagine the guys turn it on (for the customers) in the morning, but really pay no attention to the fact that it is on, or what it is playing.
So when we get there, many times it is playing the Simpsons (a show my whole family loathes). We either change the channel or turn it off. I mean the oil change guys aren't anywhere near that room -- so that is okay to do, right?
Of course, then you have my extremist son, who changes it EVEN IF SOMEONE ELSE is in the room. Me, I personally choose to wait somewhere OTHER than the room if it is playing something I don't like, but there are people watching it. He will march up and change it in front of them, mumbling something about "trash". No one has challenged him yet, but it embarrasses me sometimes (He's almost 19, so I don't play mother hen with his decisions at this point).
Farmgirl
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
"So when we get there, many times it is playing the Simpsons (a show my whole family loathes)."
*blink* How is this possible? *narrows eyes* Are you all godless communists?
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Either that or, you know, pod-people.
Hobbes Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
Or have you all come to the conclusion that there are much funnier shows (ie. Family guy, Futurama)
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
You know, I got the DVDs for both of those shows and didn't like either one. I thought Family Guy was garish and Futurama was boring.
Really sad about that.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Uh....have never seen Family Guy or Futurama........
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
I find the Simpsons to be far sharper than either one of those shows (but I luuuurve satire).
Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
I just don't find the Simpsons funny anymore. I mean come on. It's in its 16th season. Everything they do has been repeated hundreds of times.
Maybe one reason I like family guy better is because it will make fun of about anything and take only a few seconds to do so.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Well, I wouldn't use it if someone was obviously watching. But if nobody seemed to be, and I turned it off and nobody seemed to care, then that would be a net improvement of the environment, for sure. Energy conservation! Decrease in sound and light pollution! Decrease in the load on the air conditioning! Saves wear and tear on the set itself! And prevents the aliens from reading and controlling all our minds through their insidious telepathy/telekineses devices.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
You could always ask to turn the TV off. I know, shocking isn't it?
Posted by Architraz Warden (Member # 4285) on :
Boy, if y'all don't like the idea of the TV-B-Gone, you'd loathe the device I'm wanting to buy when it's price comes down.
Feyd Baron, DoC
Posted by kaioshin00 (Member # 3740) on :
quote: And prevents the aliens from reading and controlling all our minds through their insidious telepathy/telekineses devices.
They connect to us from televisions? WHy can't they connect through us straight? Are they like little Hive Queens building bridges in each and every TV?
Posted by Traveler (Member # 3615) on :
I'm waiting for a personal cell-phone signal blocker that would make it impossible for people to receive or make calls in a movie theater / restaurant size area.
I'd especially like to block those really really annoying walkie-talkie type phones...can't people step outside to talk on those!
[ November 10, 2004, 04:56 PM: Message edited by: Traveler ]
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Movie theaters, OK. Restaurants, not on your life. If it's appropriate to talk at will, it's appropriate to talk on the cell phone.
Dagonee
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
I agree, to a certain extent. The problem is that people talking into cellphones tend to increase the volume of their voice because the cellphone, unlike landline phones, provide no aural feedback of your own voice. Thus, people feel like they have to talk louder in their phones in order to be heard, when really, they could just talk at a normal volume and be fine.
The increased volume, to my mind, is what creates the annoyance. Well, that's what does it for me, anyway.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
True, but that's a courtesy issue, not a technology issue. I think the best way to handle that is to approach any party speaking too loudly for the setting, whether it's into a cell phone or not.
It might be a criminal offense to run such a jammer on property you don't own, or in such a way so that the field extends past your property. It may even be a crime on property you do own.
Dagonee
Posted by newfoundlogic (Member # 3907) on :
There's also the problem of people whose job requires them to leave their cell phones in case of an emergency. Of course, even in those situations they should still step out of the theater while they're talking.
Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
I know that feeling...Whenever my mother uses her cell phone, she practically screams into it, and she doesn't believe anyone who tells her what she's doing.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Record her, along with a minute or two of the post phone call conversation, for comparison.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I wonder if that infomercial you saw actually demonstrated the device by turning off the very set you were watching it on? That would be a great infomercial.
And, yes, the aliens' mind control and reading process requires the technology that's built into every single tv set. It's the act of paying attention to a television set that builds the bridge across your neurons and generates the connection. The more hours you spend with the things, the stronger their coercive power becomes. Most Americans have no volition left whatsover, which apparently explains what happened on November 2nd.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
You mean that explains why more people didn't vote for Bush?
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
I want them to come up with something similar for car stereos. Drives me crazy to be walking down the street and get blasted by someone's bass cranked so far that the concrete shakes.
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
quote: I want them to come up with something similar for car stereos. Drives me crazy to be walking down the street and get blasted by someone's bass cranked so far that the concrete shakes.
Oh yes. I live in a dorm that surrounds a cul-de-sac, it has amazing accoustic properties. Almost every night someone drives around the circle with their radio blasting. Honestly, on Monday night at 2 am it doesn't take that much thought to realize everyone is in bed and turn down your radio!
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
quote: I want them to come up with something similar for car stereos. Drives me crazy to be walking down the street and get blasted by someone's bass cranked so far that the concrete shakes.
quote:My new toy, called TV-B-Gone, is essentially a universal remote control that does one thing only: It turns off TVs. I love the heck out of it.
My kids and I have a new mission in life. We have a ready response to companies and institutions that try to stun the unwashed public into submission by drugging us with video Valium. In airport waiting areas, where all people want is a chance to read or sleep, there is finally a way to silence CNN. In queues at the dry cleaner or in the jurors' waiting room, you can finally stop the blaring video messages. TV-B-Gone fits neatly on a key chain. Tuck it in your palm, aim, press and you're back in control of your life.
The power went to my head. At Dryclean Depot, I zapped two screens that were blasting loud promotional videos. It was here that I first discovered the most curious thing about my vigilante video-blanking: Folks who had been dully staring up at the screen simply looked down again when it went blank. No anger, no questions. Just, Okay, that's over, now on with life's live show.
I walked through the Post newsroom, zapping 14 TV screens that provide a video news backdrop to our work. Not a soul noticed.
At the food court during the auto show at the Washington Convention Center, four guys were watching CNN Headline News when my kids and I sat down with our sandwiches. We zapped the TVs, and the guys immediately turned their heads from the screen to each other and commenced a conversation. A victory for social discourse!
On the other hand, when I dared to zap a couple of screens at the ESPN Zone -- yes, I know, this was an irresponsible risk of life and limb -- I did hear a couple of miffed heys. But it had to be done -- all in the interest of social science, of course.
But for that gratuitous bit of obnoxious behavior, my zappings have been undertaken for the good of mankind, as quiet revenge against the media machine and those who would steal away a small piece of our humanity by putting us into couch potato mode in public places.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
I have to admit I think about the TV-B-Gone everytime I see a random tv screen where it's completely unecessary. Like in my grocery store, trying to sell me more food. It's a waste of money and electricity.
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
quote:In airport waiting areas, where all people want is a chance to read or sleep, there is finally a way to silence CNN.
But, see, if you misaimed and shut off the monitors that show flight times, that wouldn't be good.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
It would be fun in a taping of Jeopardy, too.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
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