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  • From: Tom Caswell <derpimpkar AT yahoo.com>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [internetworkers] addendum to Apple link
  • Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2003 20:06:50 -0700 (PDT)

I'm excited this topic has popped up on the list.  Down my alley of geek.
 
I own a Series 1 Tivo and I've hacked it up plenty.  Added a hard drive, web server, telnet, ftp, blah blah blah.  It's now a windows manager short of a full linux box.  Most of the software hacking is done with CDROMs and the Tivo's hard drive plugged into an existing computer.  But the tech side is very interesting to dig into if you're so inclined.
 
Tivo themselves almost support the hackers.  Version 3.0 of the software actually included ethernet drivers.  Now the Tivo software didn't need to be modified if you added an ethernet card.  Hard drive upgrades have always been supported by Tivo.  The two big no-nos are trying to steal the Tivo service and pulling the digital video off of the box.  The first is an obvious problem but the second is not as clear.  Some people view it in the same arena as VHS but apparently it's more of a DCMA violation.  Discussing either two will get you banned from the user groups.  The ability is certainly there but no one wants Tivo to start freezing processes like the satellite people use.  Series 2's are hackable but they're still relatively new.  It's taking some more time for the extra goodies to become available.
 
My old VCR came with a commercial skip button.  I don't know why this is a topic.  The "commercial skip" is actually just a 30 second advance.  Hacked Tivos are definitely the heat.  Pick one up off eBay with a lifetime subscription.  The DVR boxes sound cool too but I don't know if they would let me put a web server on it.  Or a hard drive so I can record 160+ hours. 

Gina Norman <gina.norman AT nortelnetworks.com> wrote:

Re: DVR, Steve said:
 
> So, Gina - what do you think?

I luuuuuuurve the DVR.  I don't watch more TV, but I watch more of the TV I want. (Yes, I have a master's degree in PR.)  Many Alton Brown episodes, many Whose Line's, every Coupling they air (the BBC version; I'm expecting the NBC version to suck muchly, a whole bunch of Faking It, and a few Carol Duvalls (crafty program).  The capacity is much larger than I expected (Jeff has a Series I TIVO and he can record about 15.5 hr. programs, whereas I have 40ish?  Of course the Series I TIVO is hackable, so he's now able to get programmes off the TIVO and onto a hard drive, and eventually, when we get the hardware on some sort of DVD, so he wins on that front.  Anyway...)

It's stalled/crapped out a few times, but either a hard reset or a call to TWC (they send some magic signal) has always fixed it.  The interface is almost *exactly* like TIVO, so the learning curve was really short.  It's really nice, because there are a few times that I almost always want to watch TV (like whilst sorting mail) and it's a real pleasure to be able to watch something I like during those times.

So, unless you have a Series I hackable TIVO, I think the TWC DVR is pretty swell. 

(MY $.02, YMMV)

-gina

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