If you own a TiVo and don’t know about the 30-second commercial skip hack, I’m going to make your day. Turn on the TV and point the TiVo remote at the box. Press “Select”, “Play”, “Select”, “3”, “0”, “Select”. If you did it right, you’ll hear three bongs. Now every time you hit the advance button, TiVo will seamlessly jump ahead 30 seconds in whatever recorded program you’re watching. When a commercial break starts, hit advance four times rapidly and it will jump 2 minutes in a second. It’s a lot faster than hitting fast forward and then watching to see where the commercials end and if you miss it, rewinding.
The second tip isn’t as earthshaking, but it’s handy nonetheless. On the remote, press “Select”, “Play”, “Select”, “9”, “Select” and now you have the current time in the lower right corner of the TV. My clock is on the wall behind me when I’m watching TV, but now I always know what time it is. Handy!
If you use these hacks, write them down somewhere because if you turn off the TiVo, or you lose power, or if its software is updated, you’ll have to re-enter them.
