Long Term Effects of Gizmodo CES Prank

theodp noted that someone from Gizmodo brought a TV-B-Gone to CES and used it to turn off a wall of monitors during demos. Funny yes, it earned him a ban for life and may have repercussions to other bloggers struggling to be treated as equals with traditional journalists in the future. But also this might lead to a future with encryption on remotes.

Comments

Encryption on remotes?

[Bazman]

Yeah, or presenters sticking electrical tape over the remote sensors on the displays.

Re:Encryption on remotes?

[dpete4552]

ROFL. Yeah no need for all of that complicated electrical tape business. Just hook into the serial port on the back of the screen and send commands to the LCD to lock the IR port. And thank you to the mods who modded the parent "Informative" To think of all the time I would have wasted with electrical tape if this "informative" post wasn't pointed out to me!

Re:Encryption on remotes?

[cecil_turtle]

No need for Electrical tape What, is it really expensive where you live?

... a serial port in the back where you can send commands to the LCD ... most LG tvs have a SET ID that you can set, hook them up over serial cable and brodcast a command to all of them and they will only anwser if it's there set ID in it... Yeah, because that's easier than using 1/2" of electrical tape. I'm sure there's a joke about engineers in here somewhere but I'm too tired today.

Encryption's going a little too far

[DingerX]

The only reason to put encryption in would be to prevent people shutting these things off at product demos and restaurants. Turning them off at restaurants isn't a widespread problem (unfortunately), and at product demos, duct tape is going to be a lot more popular in the future.

I wish they would stop calling these things "gates", and worry about the future of bloggers. Yes, the CES created two classes: "press" and "blogger", and yes, members of that underclass acted in a juvenile manner, bad enough to cause a stink that will appear in the "press". It will appear in the "press" tomorrow. See, yesterday it was all over the blogs, and now it's hit the aggregators. Sooner or later those with press credentials will catch on to the story.

Re:Well if the blogger's aren't willing to act...

[Migraineman]

Didn't they learn this lesson as a child? "If you want to sit at the adult table, you have to behave like a big kid."

For a short-term chuckle, they've managed to damage the long-term credibility of bloggers who were actually trying to earn proper press credentials. The trade show guys all know each other; the news will get around. The event organizers have a choice:
. (a) inconvenience the paying customer by recommending that they cover their IR ports on displays
. (b) inconvenience the non-revenue-generating bloggers by showing them the door

The smart ones will do both, though they'll play the good-guy with their customers and issue an article in a newsletter that provides helpful tips to "Make your booth time a better experience!" Bloggers will be downgraded to the status of the great unwashed masses ...

Not funny...

[QuietLagoon]

Immature, unethical, and unprofessional.

A ethical line is crossed when a blogger creates the news instead of reporting it.

I hate TV-B-gone

[Egdiroh]

I really think that the only reason for such a device to exist is to make a list of all the self centered arrogant people who buy one to purge them from society.

The device is designed to turn off other people's TVs. If you don't like TV, or televised sports, avoid those places that have them on. Be a discerning consumer and create a market for places that will provide and pleasant atmosphere for you. Don't be a petulant child and turn the TVs off. I don't come into your place and turn your computer, or stereo off, or slam shut the book you are reading. If I did you'd take great offense, and would feel violated. Well the world is not all about you. Get over it. Don't do things whose analog you wouldn't like done to yourself.
This might have been a rant. It might be a troll. But I really would love to hear a justification of this device that does not amount to a fascist imposition of one person's will upon others. And these things do not have enough buttons to really validate the rudimentary universal remote argument, and they are targeted at individuals not institutions, so I won't buy that some institutions with large numbers of TVs might find it useful for start/end of day stuff.

Re:I love my Spy Remote

[Anonymous Coward]

We don't have a TV at home that is hooked up to an antenna or cable or Directv or whatever is out there.

By "we", I assume you me you and your cat? BTW, congratulations on the article.

If we go to lunch and a TV is up, I will find myself distracted by the movement, and I hate extra noise. Just Thursday one of my coworkers and also my manager saw me turn off a plasma screen (that no one was watching) at a Vietnamese Pho place and now they both want three.

You, sir, are a douchebag. Same goes for your coworker and manager.

Try to comprehend this: IT'S NOT YOUR FUCKING TV.

Instead of being polite and asking the proprietor, "Excuse me, would it be possible to turn the TV off?", you impose your will on them and anybody else that comes into that establishment.

Do I like TVs in these places? Usually not. If there is no one around, I'll ask the owner or staff member to turn it off or to let me do it. NEVER has such a request been refused. If I was refused for what appears to be no good reason, I'll remember that for next time and not give them my money.

Re:The difference between a blogger and a journali

[danielk1982]

>someone who graduated from DeVry isn't "really" a programmer since he didn't get an MS in CompSci or Maths or whatever.

If he can write good code, it doesn't matter if he has a degree or a diploma or nothing. You will find very few people here on slashdot who disagree with that. So I don't see why a McDonald's burger flipper blogging on politics cannot have better commentary than a graduate of Harvard Journalism. Journalists have to earn the public's respect, something they have been failing at the last 20 years. I get a sense that journalists have some warped sense of entitlement towards their degree and profession.

Re:Tv-B-Gone: Guranteed for next year CES

[Kjella]

My (glass) windows are not secure against big hurled rocks, and it's a fairly obvious "security hole". I'd be happy to prosecute anyone doing that for vandalism, not conclude that I need to change windows or board them up. Stop trying to defend an asshat, it's perfectly reasonable for someone to bring a TV to a presentation without someone turning it off or yanking the power cable or unscrewing the fuse, even though it's not permanent like breaking a window. This is simply malice and he deserves to be banned.

Re:I love my Spy Remote

[palegray.net]

Turning off TVs showing a football game in progress at a sports bar has been shown to cause beer bottles, shot glasses, and college students to defy gravity. The seem to spontaneously launch into the air, gravitating toward the point of RF emission that induced the sports footage vacuum.

And here's a link to the video

[Kabuthunk]

To save people a few seconds of having to google stuff or whatnot, here's a link to the video in question on Youtube.

Re:I love my Spy Remote

[Blnky]

To be clear, I generally do not like television in commercial establishments.

So if you had a party of 4 and there were only 3 chairs, would you ask the owner before moving a chair from the next table? Yes I would. Either someone who works there or someone already sitting at the table. That chair may already be in use by someone who is not at that table at the time. Very rude to take it. Additionally, someone who works there may already be retrieving a chair for me. By not asking first, I may be invalidating their work when they show up with yet another chair. So asking first is being polite.

If the door was open and there was snow blowing in, would you ask the owner if you could close the door? Yes I would. Perhaps for some reason it has been left open to allow someone to carry in stock with their hands full. It is not for me to presume the reasons. That is the reason for asking.

It's not a matter of "being polite"; it's something so trivial politeness doesn't even enter into the equation. Interesting that you view the act of shutting down someones else's electronics trivial. A leery person would never let you into a hospital.

("Impose your will", ha. I've never in my life seen anybody watch TV in a restaurant, even briefly.) Either you have not been within the same restaurants as I have been or you seriously lack powers of observation. Consider this, why would all those proprietors waste money on televisions and electricity if it was not utilized by anyone?

So comprehend this: ... It's just a TV. If the proprietor really wants it on, he can turn it back on, and tell everybody "please leave it on". You know, like if he really wanted the chair left by that other table he could come over and tell you that, too. (Another way to look at it: TVs are much, much easier to secure than wifi networks.) So a proprietor has to tell everyone to leave it alone. Then someone new walks in and turns it off. So the proprietor has to tell everyone to leave it alone. Then someone new walks in and turns it off. So the proprietor has to tell everyone to leave it alone. Then someone new walks in and turns it off.... Understand it now?

Common sense says that if you wish to change something that's small, irrelevant, and perfectly reversible, it's OK to do without asking for permission. Common sense also says that what may seem small and irrelevant to you may not be to someone else. Therefore you should not assume it is ok without checking first.

And yet, as soon as a television is involved, HOLY FUCKING SHIT GOOD SIR DO NOT CLICK THAT REMOTE OR YOU ARE A DOUCHEBAG. It is a communication medium that has been established. Consider a physical bulletin board with both entertaining and informative posts. I might find all of the posts small and irrevelant. However, even though posting them back up if I take them all off and lay them on a table to the side would be a reversible action, this does not make it ok for me to take such a change without checking first. From my perspective you do not see the act of turning off the television as a part of a larger concept of actions all of which are considered impolite.

So comprehend this: CALM FUCKING DOWN. So comprehend this: Learn to keep your hands to yourself.