Also why you DVR most things you *want* to watch. Press the “jump 30 sec” button till the commercials are gone and the show resumes. Doesn’t work when catching something when it’s on, or when just leaving BBCA on when they’re running Star Trek all day as background noise. But then you’re not paying attention to it the whole time.
There’s always a handful of movies that when you come across them while surfing you’re compelled to drop everything and watch (ie, hunt for red October). They are always on the 200 channels, which are riddled with commercials. Especially the ones running the leaf filter ads all the time.
Anybody have a schematic of the circuit to auto-mute and simultaneously blacken the screen like Panasonic did in 1980? 
You mean there's an auto-shutoff circuit to turn it off when a commercial comes on and then turns it back on after?? Wow, what brand TV? 😱
Ya know, I've got a "rare" Panasonic DVD recorder/DVR (DMR-E85H) along with 3 Panasonic VCR's too.
And I use OTA/antenna digital since 15 years ago and love not paying to watch cable junk.
I get 60 channels here, but only watch maybe 12 to 15 worth it.
I've got hundreds of VCR taped movies from the "cable era", and plenty of DVD's of movies as well.
Even some bootleg movies!
So if I want to relax and be a bum on the sofa, and nothing's good on TV, I've got myself covered.
By the way, anybody wanting to "cut the cable" and go OTA, there's no need to buy a "special digital HD" antenna, because a standard UHF/VHF antenna works fine up on the roof.
That marketing hype for HDTV antennas is another scam ya know - just to justify a higher price from the dumb consumers.
Out of interest I looked up a stocks and shares website.
I didnt buy in but from that day on I get "stocks and shares" cold callers most days.
Each time I tell them I have no interest and to take my name off their list but they dont.
If they call now i just lay the phone down and ignore them.
I didnt buy in but from that day on I get "stocks and shares" cold callers most days.
Each time I tell them I have no interest and to take my name off their list but they dont.
If they call now i just lay the phone down and ignore them.
Member
Joined 2009
Paid Member
many years ago I agreed to have my air ducts cleaned.
Two guys showed up in a white van (that’s the first red flag)
They opened the back doors to reveal a gasoline powered vacuum cleaner that resembled something assembled under conditions of War (the 2nd red flag)
This thing started up and OMG was it loud, very loud, pretty sure it had no silencer on the engine !
They then set to vacuuming out all of my air ducts throughout the house, Plumbers Bum often in evidence
I swore never again.
But I get their phone calls several times a year. They’ve become an old friend. Even before the voice starts I recognize the background sounds at their call centre in India. They’ve been in the same building for years now. I’ve reminded them that we’re in a civid inspired lockdown and we’re not legally allowed to engage their services right now.
The internet has failed to notice. No ads for duct cleaning! just the gutters, day in day out.
Two guys showed up in a white van (that’s the first red flag)
They opened the back doors to reveal a gasoline powered vacuum cleaner that resembled something assembled under conditions of War (the 2nd red flag)
This thing started up and OMG was it loud, very loud, pretty sure it had no silencer on the engine !
They then set to vacuuming out all of my air ducts throughout the house, Plumbers Bum often in evidence
I swore never again.
But I get their phone calls several times a year. They’ve become an old friend. Even before the voice starts I recognize the background sounds at their call centre in India. They’ve been in the same building for years now. I’ve reminded them that we’re in a civid inspired lockdown and we’re not legally allowed to engage their services right now.
The internet has failed to notice. No ads for duct cleaning! just the gutters, day in day out.
I think this thread has infiltrated the network. I just saw a gutter commercial online for the first time!
No kidding😳
No kidding😳
The power of marketing and advertising has skyrocketed since the internet.
They want to do just about everything for a customer's money and business.
It's really become annoying, honestly.
Repeated phone calls over and over.....
TV commercials lasting 5+ minutes every couple of scenes of a movie/show....
Junk mail loaded with crap I don't need or want....
YA GOTTA IGNORE THIS CRAP...... period.
Most of it, perhaps 90% of it...... is pure crap.
They want to do just about everything for a customer's money and business.
It's really become annoying, honestly.
Repeated phone calls over and over.....
TV commercials lasting 5+ minutes every couple of scenes of a movie/show....
Junk mail loaded with crap I don't need or want....
YA GOTTA IGNORE THIS CRAP...... period.
Most of it, perhaps 90% of it...... is pure crap.
US TV would appear to permit short breaks between commercials, during which fleeting glimpses of actual programming are shown! 😱
Thankfully, here in the UK, we can still tune in to the BBC channels which, by charter, are forbidden from advertising.
We can watch a whole hour of drama or documentary with no interruption from cute puppies trying to sell us toilet paper!
There is a price to pay for this freedom though, an annual BBC licence fee of £159.
You can watch BBC iPlayer for free in the USA if you use a VPN, however, many VPNs are blocked by the BBC.
Read on to see which VPNs work and how to use them:
How to Watch BBC iPlayer in USA Live & Free (Updated 2021)
Here's the Canada info: Watch BBC iPlayer from Canada
Obviously, I can't vouch for either of these methods!
Read on to see which VPNs work and how to use them:
How to Watch BBC iPlayer in USA Live & Free (Updated 2021)
Here's the Canada info: Watch BBC iPlayer from Canada
Obviously, I can't vouch for either of these methods!
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Here is an interesting paper (pdf) from the School of Computer Science & Statistics,Trinity College Dublin about how Google Android and Apple iOS can track you even after opting out of sending telemetry. Microsoft is probably using the same tactics with Windows10.
Nothing surprising in that. And nothing you would not expect or worry about.
What they didn't seem to do was check on either phone what happens if you do not have an apple or google account on the phones, and in google's case what happens on the more common samsung phones. Pixel phones are small in market terms.
What they didn't seem to do was check on either phone what happens if you do not have an apple or google account on the phones, and in google's case what happens on the more common samsung phones. Pixel phones are small in market terms.