TiVo News, Vol. 67: TiVo Treats Mom Right

TiVo’s latest news letter…

TiVo Subscriber Newsletter
| Volume 67

Letter from the Editor

Never mind father for now. It’s moms that subscribe
to the TiVo® service that truly know best. (Hey—from what I’ve
heard, the true epiphany of TiVo reveals itself during a 4 a.m. feeding.
These ladies Get It, okay?) So in order to celebrate all that is She,
we’re making sure at least one TiVo mom gets exactly what she deserves:
some serious pampering.

Be sure your favorite mom (you, maybe?) enters our TiVo
Treats Mom Right
contest for a chance to win a spa gift basket and
gift certificate for a day of full-on indulgence! All you have to do is
take minute to tell us how the TiVo service has made a difference
in your life as a mom and you’ll be automatically entered. Easy!

Don’t play ball in the house,
Shanan

P.S. Not sure when—if ever—you’ll find a steal-of-a-deal like
this again. Our $100 rebate goes buh-bye in TWO days (4/30/05), so this
really is your last chance to save
a whopping $200
on an 80-hour TiVo® Series2™ box! Only on
tivo.com. Buy now for Mom’s Day, not to mention dads and grads. Oh, and
new babies. And don’t forget to spread the word to your friends so you
can say, "I warned you so."

Table of
Contents

TiVo Tip

You Ask, We Answer

Need Help?

About This
Newsletter

TiVo Hotlinks

Recommend It!

"If you’ve seen this show, you’ve seen 90 percent of my social
life," Jon Favreau has said about his
original IFC series
, which never fails to serve up a healthy dose of
Hollywood candor, a bite of humor, and a generous side of anecdotes. Favreau
brings actors, directors, and even stand-up comics together at one table
in a different L.A. restaurant each week, where they are free to eat, drink,
and, yes, sometimes curse (consider yourself warned), while you enjoy from
the ringside side on your couch. "I’d sample this show if I were you,"
says subscriber Dave S. from San Francisco. "It’s a slice of Hollywood
you rarely consume, and I think you’ll be surprised by what these famous
freaks actually bring to the table!"

TiVo® Tip: Skip to Tick


So let’s say you’re a Red Sox fan and want to catch every Red Sox game-and
games only, darnit, not those documentaries about "The Curse"
or those live-it-all-over-again broadcasts on ESPN Classic, etc. etc. Here’s
what to do:

  • Create a Keyword WishList™ search for "RED SOX."
  • Choose category "Sports,"and then sub-category “Sports Event.”
    (Or, if you’re using a DIRECTV® DVR with TiVo®, choose Category
    "Show Type" and Sub-category "Live.").
  • Select "Auto-record" to record every match.
  • Choose "Options" to push the "Stop recording"
    time by least 30 minutes (always pad sports-related recordings by 30
    minutes or more).

This WishList search picks up only the live televised games on Channels
You Receive, and skips the other programs. (Alternatively, choosing category
"Sports," with sub-category "Baseball" results in finding
all nationally televised games, plus a whole lot more.)

Bonus tip:
Want to turn on the TV in the middle of a game without seeing
the score? Press the TiVo button before you turn on the TV so that TiVo
Central appears on-screen instead of the game.

Back to top

You Ask, We Answer

Q: I keep hearing buzz about TiVoToGo™.
Can you give us the official low-down? — Greg in Boston

A:
Gladly. My friend John in Texas can’t stop talking
about the recently released TiVoToGo™ feature, which allows you to
transfer programs from your network-connected TiVo® Series2™
box to a PC running Microsoft Windows®. This allows you to watch recorded
programs in another room or on the road, if you have a laptop. If you
have a DVD burner on your PC, you can also purchase MyDVD
software
from Sonic® that allows you to burn DVDs of your favorite
shows (TiVo subscribers can try it free for 15 days!).

The TiVoToGo feature is currently being rolled out to all Series2 customers*.
To see if you already have the feature, go to TiVo Central, then select
Messages & Setup, then System Information . Look for the software
version field. If you have software version 7.1 or later, you’ve received
the latest software update that includes TiVoToGo. If you have an older
software version and are eager to try TiVoToGo, sign up here

and we’ll add you to the priority list.

If you already have software version 7.1 or later, download the latest
version of TiVo Desktop for Windows
.
When you are installing the software, you’ll need your unique Media Access
Key. You can find this on your TiVo box by going to TiVo Central, then
select Account & System Information, then select Media Access Key.
During installation, TiVo Desktop will also check to see if you have something
called a "codec" or "decoder." This item allows your
PC to play back files in the correct video format. If you do not have
a compatible codec, you’ll find information on how to obtain one in this
support article
. You will also
need a compatible media player on your PC. We recommend Windows Media
Player 10

Now you’re ready to try TiVoToGo transfers. More information is available
in this article or in the latest version of the downloadable Home Media
Features guide. If you run into any issues, we have more info available
at tivo.com/support.

Happy transfers to you!

* TiVoToGo Transfers are possible on any standalone TiVo Series2 DVR with
software version 7.1 or later. DVD Recorders with TiVo (available from Humax,
Pioneer and Toshiba) will be getting TiVoToGo Transfer capabilities this
summer. Also, DIRECTV DVRs with TiVo are not TiVoToGo compatible.

Remember, you can get help with most of your technical questions by visiting
our support
website
. You can also find answers and share know-how in these web-based
help forums
. For account-related issues, you must use Manage
My Account
or give us a call.

Back to top

Akira Kurosawa: WishList™ Director
Search


Director search ranking: #8

Perhaps the best known of all Japanese directors, Akira Kurosawa

has also earned his mark as one of the greatest filmmakers of 20th century.
When Kurosawa died in 1998 at the age of 88, his body of work totaled 31
memorable films, including The Hidden Fortress, a work that inspired George
Lucas to lift the plot for Star Wars. Some other fun facts:

  • Akira Kurosawa was the youngest of seven children, born in Tokyo on
    23rd March 1910.
  • In 1943 he made his debut as a director with
    Judo Saga (Sanshiro
    Sugata)
    , that included a martial-arts sequence in which two masters
    fight to the death in a wind-swept field, their flying limbs all but
    obscured by tall swaying grasses. (Think
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden
    Dragon
    but in 1943!)
  • At over six feet tall, Kurosawa was extremely large by Japanese standards,
    standing a head taller than any of his colleagues.
  • Conversationally speaking: "I like unformed characters. This
    may be because, no matter how old I get, I am still unformed myself."
    — Akira Kurosawa, age 72

Create a WishList director search for Akira Kurosawa
to
find search results for your TV listings.

Katharine Hepburn: WishList™
Actor Search

Actor search ranking: #28

When Cate Blanchett won Best Supporting Actress for The Aviator (2004),
Katharine Hepburn
became the first previous Oscar winner
to become an Oscar-winning movie role. But the naturally red-headed Hepburn
still reigns as the only 4-time Oscar recipient for acting.

  • Hepburn was involved with Spencer
    Tracy from 1940 until his death in 1967 and never watched Guess Who’s
    Coming to Dinner (1967) because it was his last film.
  • In the early 1930s, when the costume
    department stole her slacks from her dressing room, she walked around
    the studio in her underwear and refused to put anything else on until
    they were returned.
  • She was a leading choice to play
    "Scarlett O’Hara" in Gone with the Wind (1939).
  • Conversationally speaking: "Sometimes
    I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should
    live next door and just visit now and then." — Katharine Hepburn

Celebrity Charades: WishList™ title search

The AMC cable network has given the go-ahead for production of a new
game show, "Celebrity Charades," the brainchild of Hilary Swank
and Chad Lowe. Celebs slated to participate on the show include Bebe Neuwirth,
Hank Azaria, Ana Gasteyer, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rosie Perez, Peter Bogdanovich
and fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi. Two teams of 10 celebrities will compete
against each other in a game of movie-themed charades, each star playing
to raise money for his or her chosen charity. The show will also feature
the stars having dinner and mingling between rounds to allow viewers to
get to know them on a more personal level. Six half-hour episodes are set
to air on five consecutive nights beginning June 20. Want to get your game
on now so you don’t forget? Sounds like…fun? Create a WishList title search
for "CELEBRITY CHARADES" and the TiVo service will act out the
recording for you when it’s time.
Did You Know…?

Americans aren’t the only ones watching TV, it seems. A new study has
found that while the average level of television consumption increased on
nearly every continent last year, the Japanese watched the most television
last year, clocking in a daily average of five hours. Americans were second
at four hours and 28 minutes (those of us with TiVo far less, no doubt),
followed by Argentinians and the Greeks, who consumed four hours and 25
minutes and four hours and four minutes, respectively. At 2 1/2 hours daily
each, China and Sweden watched the least amount of television last year.
(Source: Report from Eurodata TV Worldwide, presented at a panel discussion
at the MIPTV convention in Cannes, France)


The TiVo Top 25 Season Pass™ rankings
are based on anonymous, aggregated data, for the week ending 4/24/05.

1. Desperate
Housewives

2. American
Idol

3. The
Apprentice

4. Lost

5.
CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation

See the TiVo Top 25 in its entirety
here
.

Back to top

Need Help?

Connect
your TiVo box to your network

My clock is off!

Watch one show, record another

Channel lineup issues

New e-mail address?

Don’t see your question here?

Daily call issues

New E-Mail?

Update your address (e-mail and snail mail)
at
tivo.com/manage
.

About This Newsletter

This newsletter is brought to you by
TiVo!
If you received the newsletter
as a forward and you want to subscribe yourself, sign up
today.
By
submitting comments to TiVo, you grant TiVo Inc. a nonexclusive, irrevocable
right to use your comments in any way it desires without notice or compensation
to you.

TiVo Hotlinks

If you need help with any aspect of using your TiVo box or service, visit
our online Customer
Support
. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions regarding this
newsletter, e-mail the editor
. (Unfortunately,
due to volume received, not every e-mail can be answered.) Update your e-mail
address, snail mail, account preferences and more at Manage My Account
.
Search TV listings or schedule recordings with Online Scheduling

at TiVo Central Online
.

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TiVo, the TiVo logo, and ‘You’ve Got a Life. TiVo Gets It.’ are registered
trademarks of TiVo Inc. TiVoToGo™, Season Pass™, and WishList™
are trademarks of TiVo Inc. ©2005 TiVo Inc. 2160 Gold Street Alviso,
CA 95002-2160. All rights reserved. Please feel free to review our Privacy
Policy
.

About MegaZone

MegaZone is the Editor of Gizmo Lovers and the chief contributor. He's been online since 1989 and active in several generations of 'social media' - mailing lists, USENet groups, web forums, and since 2003, blogging.    MegaZone has a presence on several social platforms: Google+ / Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / LiveJournal / Web.    You can also follow Gizmo Lovers on other sites: Blog / Google+ / Facebook / Twitter.
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