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The Universal Off Button
jcr13 writes "Wired news is running a story about TV-B-Gone, a new weapon in the fight against the pervasiveness of television in our society. With this device, which takes the form of a keychain fob with a single button, you can turn off virtually any TV set. How does it work? By rolling through all known IR power-off codes, one by one, trying codes from the most popular brands first. Personally, I am terribly annoyed by TVs in restaurants and airports: they grab my attention over and over, no matter how hard I try to ignore them, and they distract me from the conversations that I should be having with my human companions. Unfortunately, the TV-B-Gone website seems to have already been swamped by the Wired coverage, so we cannot order these just yet. In the mean time, those of you with DIY proclivities may want to think about wiring one of these up yourself using a PIC chip or other micro-controller." An anonymous reader adds links to mentions at CNET, TV station KESQ and Ananova.
This might be the next red laser pointer. Built with a good purpose, but annoying as hell for everyone else.
Personally, I am terribly annoyed by TVs in restaurants
Then don't eat there. It's not your TV to turn off, and maybe other people want to watch it.
if you are in a public place, you cannot turn that TV off as it's not solely yours. if you are in a private place not your own, you cannot turn that TV off as the TV is not yours.
if you can't manage to turn off the TV in your own home, then you got other problems.
So because you don't have the ability to focus on a person sitting right in front of you and/or you can't go to a different establishment that meets your needs. Those of us that go to such places because we want to watch the TV there have to suffer. Not to mention that I'm sure it annoyes the owner of the establishment because he obviously wants them there.
Free Mac Mini
The sheer fucking arrogance of this leaves me almost at a loss for words...
Almost.
What business is it of yours to tamper with things that don't belong to you? Other people might want to watch, and it sounds like the submitter has a problem with controlling his own actions if he can't talk with his "human companions" in the proximity of a TV. Television is merely a conduit of information; there is nothing inherently evil about it.
And it's the height of arrogance and intellectual elitism to think that it's any of your business to turn off TVs that don't belong to you, in public or private places.
The Wired article talks about "anti-TV activists". For fuck's sake, people...
Universal Cell Phone off button.
Whoever creates a small consumer-oriented cell phone signal jammer should win the Nobel Prize.
Worst Sig Ever
Seriously, I TRY to pay attention to my friends, familiy, WIFE, when I'm in a public place with a television. I really do.
It doesn't matter how horrendous the show that's on is either. If it's there, I zone in on it.
Finally, an escape!
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
I disapprove of this concept - if you don't like the fact that wherever you are has a TV, go somewhere else. Just because you find it annoying doesn't mean you have the right to turn it off. It's similar to walking into a pub and demanding that everyone stop smoking because you are a non-smoker.
Personally, I am terribly annoyed by TVs in restaurants and airports: they grab my attention over and over, no matter how hard I try to ignore them,
You've got to be kidding me. Whenever I see TVs in places like that, they're always too small, too far away, and too quiet to keep my attention even when I want to watch them.
If you can't pay attention to a real human right in front of you because of a TV somewhere in the distance, maybe the television isn't the real source of the problem.
steve
Oh, you're not stuck, you're just unable to let go of the onion rings.
...that people don't think that they have some God-given right to control other people's hardware.
If there's a TV playing in someone else's bar, restaurant or whatever, what gives you the right to turn it off? If you don't like the TV being on you're always free to take your business elsewhere.
Some people might politely ask the owner to turn down the volume, switch it off, etc if it really bothered them. This gadget is a cowardly way of avoiding possible disappointment and foisting your opinion on someone else. Score one for mannerless morons.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
I lust after a gadget that can disable those car stereos 'what got bump'.
Actually, that problem could be corrected by an acoustic sensor/camera combination that would detect these idiots on the road and mail them a ticket.
If they insist on flaunting their stupidity, they should pay dearly for the privilege.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
Is there anything duct tape can't do?
Personally, I am terribly annoyed by TVs in restaurants and airports: they grab my attention over and over, no matter how hard I try to ignore them, and they distract me from the conversations that I should be having with my human companions.
No technology will ever substitute for lack of an internal moral compass (and by moral I include my atheist self - this is not a religious argument). You are in TOTAL control of what you perceive and your reaction to what you perceive. America (I assume the author is a member of the growing American victim class) has become a bunch of spineless victims that can't live in a world unless it caters to their total lack of impulse control. From the drug war, to the growing food war, to all the "for the children" arguments, this type of thinking is scary, and gives cause for more government control of every aspect of our lives. We need to grow some balls and stop playing the victim at EVERY opportunity.
I want a picture of this "inventor" guy so I can snatch a magazine out of his hands at an airport or crank up a boombox next to his table at a restaurant, thus freeing him to sit in silence and think about his navel.
Just another example of someone who knows what's good for me better than I do and feels the need to impose his beliefs on me.
09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
Jesus loves you, I think you suck
In related news, Sony will soon announce that all new TV models will use an encrypted signal to communicate between the remote and the box. Any third-party devices that attempt to imitate such remotes will be considered violations of the DMCA and thus be illegal to possess or manufacture.
.. And thus begins the demise of the universal remote.
I personally think this would be very rude. If a place has a television on and I'm not wanting to watch it I wouldn't turn it off for everyone else. I would go somewhere else if it was really that big of a deal.
The ground is rough, but you don't require the whole planet to be covered in leather, you put on shoes. So when in the airport, use earplugs or your own audio source. And simply don't patronize restaurants that have an environment you don't enjoy (noise, smell, lighting, etc). It's quite arrogant to cram your wishes down the throat of everyone else, especially the OWNER of the TV and the establishment!
If you do not have the balls to walk up and turn off a TV that other people are watching in a public place, perhaps you shouldn't turn it off at all. Either stand up for what you believe in (no matter how arrogant), or just learn to live with other people and their preferences. Don't be a coward.
Most people (submitter perhaps withstanding) really wouldn't use this outside of perhaps their home.
This smacks of a novelty item / gag gift, I mean you won't take it to your bar, because if you really wanted that TV off, you'd ask the manager or leave. Only the most die hard axxholes would consider acting out the scenario presented, and few of those would have the stomach to do it twice, or make a regular occurance out of it.
Let's face it, we already know who would abuse this device, they're the same ones that are yelling at the manager / barkeep all the time, but don't have the common sense to stop coming to their "favorite resturant / bar".
A piece of tape will solve the TV problems, and then they'll be back to ridiculous statements of infringement of their personal space / hearing when visiting a public place.
[javac] 100 errors
Here we have an incredibly insecure electronics device. It listens on a common EM frequency band and willingly turns itself off whenever a sequence of simple codes is received. When someone finally exploits this gaping security hole, aren't we supposed to blame the people who made the security hole? After all, problems in Windows are Microsoft's fault. Why is this the fault of the device's creator, and not the fault of the TV manufacturers?
Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!
If you go around turning off others TV's just because 'it annoys me' then you are nothing better than a common vandal and are committing a crime.
If the TV in a restaurant bothers you, DON'T GO TO THAT DAMNED RESTAURANT.. problem solved. The world doesn't revolve around your sorry ass.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Loud/fast cars impose themselves on everyone around them. What computer modders do in the privacy of their own mother's basement does not interfere with other people's lives.
taken! (by Davidleeroth) Thanks Bingo Foo!
When my case mod wakes everyone up in a 3 mile radius of where it sits, then your comparison would be correct. Until that time, they're just a bunch of jerk kids waking me up at 2 am >;\
It has nothing to do with making fun of the actual mods themselves (ok, a rear spoiler on a front wheel drive car is an exception). I personally like some of the cars I've seen.
What we (me at least) are annoyed about is that the vast majority of the folks who do the modding think that somehow by putting a rear spoiler on a front wheel drive car, adding a 6 billion watt stereo system, thin wheels, a tweaked engine chip and metallic paint makes them think that now they can go out and drive like the idiots we know them to be.
As far as the whumping is concerned, you want to play your stereo as loud as you want, be my guest. Just don't do down a neighborhood street at 10 at night on weeknight. Go to some abandoned warehouse or drive to some out of the way place and crank it up.
Don't think that by playing that crappy no rhythm 'music' that somehow you're 1337. You're not. You're just the typical wannabe who has no clue of what you're doing because 99.9% of the time you didn't even do the mods yourself. You paid someone to do it for you.
As far as making fun of those type, yes I do. Especially in parking lots with speed bumps. While they have to creep over the bumps so they don't crumple their air dams on the front I'm driving around them and over the bump so the traffic jam they are creating doesn't get any larger. And no, I'm not the only one who drives around them.
If they feel that whumping makes them important then I'm sure they won't mind me driving by their neighborhood at 7 in the morning with my death metal playing at similar levels.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
It might be valid to compare modded computers with, say, fancy tire rims. But, the souped-up audio systems impose themselves on everyone - even if you are nowhere near the car. Additionally, for some reason, it ususally seems to occur mostly at 2am.
Not only that, but, as awesome as the music may sound inside the car, those of us on the outside only hear low-frequency rumble combined with the sound of the car frame shaking. I'm a musician and I love good, loud music. When I want to hear it, I go to a club or crank the stereo in my own home. But, waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of a car stereo system overloaded and distorted is just annoying.
It's basically just an easy way for a muscle-neck jackass to proclaim "look how rude and annoying I am!" It's a power-trip because they have the ability to go around and create a big scene.
TODO: come up with a clever sig
You and the airport do not have a right to bomb me with adverts from some crappy TV.
What gives you the idea that you have a right to peace and quiet when you're in a place of public accomodation? That's simply ludicrous.
Don't like going to restaurants that have TVs blaring in the corner? Try going somewhere classier than a sports bar for once. You don't have the right to decide what everyone else is or isn't allowed to watch while they eat.
Your right to swing your arm ends where my nose begins. Don't believe me? Come on over some day and I'll punch you in the nose. You and the airport do not have a right to bomb me with adverts from some crappy TV. I'm sick of it and I'll be getting one of these devices so that I can contemplate whatever I like while you go into some kind of broadcast stupidity withdrawal.
WTH? Are you that stupid, or are you trolling? The airport certainly DOES have the right to bombard you with ads, if they so choose. Don't like it? DON'T GO TO THE AIRPORT. You have NO right to turn off TV's that don't belong to you. Don't believe me? Come over to my house and try to turn off the TV and I'll beat your ass with a baseball bat, all the while laughing like a pirate at your incredible lack of hubris and blatant stupdity.
I'm sick of people like you, who think their way is the right way. I leave people like you alone to do whatever they wish to do, so long as it doesn't affect me. Why the hell can't you provide the same courtsey?
Yes they do. It's their damned airport. Don't like it? Try another airport. Can't find one to accomodate your needs? Don't fly.
I'm familiar with the classical "rights of man" argument you're making, but you're twisting it. You seem to believe that everyone, everywhere, in any place you could possibly go, is required to accomodate you to prevent you from being annoyed. Hate to tell you, but that is not the way the world works - nor should it. I'd certainly hate to live my life in a way that could never simply annoy anyone.
In this specific instance, more people are entertained - or at least have their boredom reduced - by the TVs than people are annoyed by them, or else they wouldn't be there. Contrary to what you seem to believe, you *aren't* more important than other people.
People in TV induced comas are known for their lack of situational awareness.
Ah, the classic condescending "you watch TV so I'm smarter than you argument." Hate to burst your bubble, but lots of extremely intelligent people watch TV. And a lot of people of meager intelligence avoid TV because they think it makes them appear smarter. To paraphrase "A Fish Called Wanda" - a movie, no less - an monkey can read Plato, he just won't understand it. Self-affected intellectual elitism shouldn't be confused for intelligence.
-Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat
Last I checked, there was nothing in the Bill of Rights that said "We have the right to have silence in public and other people's private places."
TVs in the airport? Maybe people want to know what the weather's going to be like at thier destination. Maybe that guy who just spent 4 hours staring at the back of a seat would like to watch a game for an hour before spending another 6 viewing the threadcount of a headrest.
TV at your local restraunt? Noone forced you to be there, if you don't like it, ask to be moved away from it or go somewhere else.
TVs in stores? It helps to actually see a fully warmed up picture when viewing a TV. Besides, doesn't a TV turned on seem much more appealing than one turned off? If you wanted to view a TV turned off wouldn't you just get a cabinet?
Just as I don't have the right to take that cell phone and shove it up your arse, you don't have the right to turn off someone elses TVs.
Oh, and malls, airports, and restraunts are NOT public property. If you want public property to dispense your own brand of vigelante justice, the BLM land is usually well marked on topo maps. Go there and tell the crickets to shut the hell up. They might care.
-
If you think education is expensive, you should try ignorance -- Derek Bok, president of Harvard
The TV doesn't belong to you. Others may be watching it; what gives you the right to disturb that? If you're annoyed by it, try to find a place to sit such that it isn't a problem, or do the right thing and complain to someone at the information desk about it. Will it cause change? Well, probably not, because a random person complaining every now and again shouldn't cause change. If the vast majority of people are fine with the TVs on (in most of the airports i've been in, they usually have news broadcasts on, which I don't mind, and often like to watch), then they should stay on. Period. You have no right to impose your will on others in a public place, or a private place owned and operated by someone else.
In my experience, I have no problem tuning out airport TVs in order to sit and read a book. If you can't handle that, perhaps that's your problem?
Having said all that, I do agree that we in the U.S. watch way too much mindless TV. But pissing people off isn't the way to solve that problem. It's only a way to show how childish and immature you are.
Xfce: Lighter than some, heavier than others. Just right.
Unfortunately, in our society, the rule is that The TV owns the room.
If I read the paper, I don't bother anyone. If I listen to my iPod, I don't bother anyone. Conversation, eating, etc.. But TV is different. If just ONE person in a crowded room wants to see the TV, then they can have it on. Loud. And you're a jerk if you turn it down/off. Doesn't matter if someone was sitting right in front of the "off" TV prior.
And marketers exploit this, e.g. in airports, where you can't hide from the things.
The rule needs to change.
There was a time when the lowest common denominator of social behaviour was to be unimposing on the people around you. You would be polite and courteous to those around you.
Now the lowest common denominator of social behaviour is to be tolerant, no matter how horrible the people around you are. We all must tolerate them and not interfere with the activities of those around us. From screaming children, screaming adults, overwhelming perfumes, body odour, aggressive dogs, swearing, public harassment of hapless victims around them, loud stereos, late night parties, we must tolerate them.
The result is that the greatest asshole reaps the greatest bennefit. The people who do not value peace and quiet are never for want. Those who do not like it, have to distance themselves from the greatest assholes, leaving public spaces full of the most horrible people immaginable.
If somebody asked me to turn off a T.V. in a public place, I would be embarassed that I was disturbing them and I would turn it down or off right away. It's a public space after all, not my living room.
One problem with that line of thinking. The noise from the pipes is being projected BEHIND the Harley. It will do nothing to alert someone in front of you not to pull our or change lanes.
EMP mine, and I'm there -- fry their $$$ overpowered vehicular nuisance generator, er car stereo.
"thump, thump, thu-bzzt"
No messy shrapnel or bits of bloody pulp, just electronics turned paperweight.
There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.
is a universal OFF button for car stereos. They are FAR more annoying, and entail FAR more of an encroachment on the rights of others. The icing on the cake would be a universal Self-Destruct button- because that's probably what it would take for the little queens that drive these cars to get the message.
As far as the TV goes, I remember working out at the local gym - there was this gaggle of women that would often show up at the same time. If the TV was off, one of them would make sure to turn it on. If it was on, one of them would make sure to turn up the volume. If that wasn't enough, they'd spend their workout practically yelling back and forth across the room above the noise from the TV. Oh how I would have loved something like this.