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TV-B-Gone

A friend recently gave me a TV-B-Gone kit. It only took about 10 minutes to put it together. This thing is the answer to my wishes. I highly recommend it to anyone who considers public televisions a nuisance… or whatever your philosophy is that requires televisions to cease functioning. I’m personally offended to see televisions used as a pacifier for the public; the content is often completely inappropriate for the setting. I’ll rant about television in general in a separate post. Holla back!

The first place I tested it was at a CompUSA. Standing halfway across the store, the TV-B-Gone turned off six plasma screens easily. It contains codes for many brands of TVs and transmits them one at a time. Standing in front of a retail video wall, you’re looking at a mixture of many brands. Perhaps you get one instantly… several seconds later, a few more switch off, etc.

Since then I’ve tried it in other prime retail locations - my current record is turning 18 TVs off in one visit.

Darcy and I just finished hacking my TV-B-Gone into an old Nokia cellphone.  I’ll spill the details of that operation later.  Anyhow, when it comes to turning off TVs, its wise to be discreet, right? We discussed building one into a Big Gulp cup. Then you can stand there and casually ’sip’ a drink while video screens shut down before your eyes.