I LIKE USING technology that returns a sense of control to the user while injecting a dose of randomness into daily life. As a teenager, I used to drive around expansive housing estates with my over-boosted CB radio and open garage doors. (Just messin'!) A few years ago I discovered that I could open the electronic locks on some 1990s BMW 530 sedans with my Palm m505. (Really--just messin!) Today, when incessant and ignored car alarms bother me, I wish I could turn them off. They violate public space. And more than anything, I want sanctity of conversation in Irish pubs, not the infestation of Sky news or MTV videos interrupting my space. So the pocket terminator made by Mitch Altman appeals to me. He can turn most TVs off with a handheld doofer that he carries in his pocket. And that he does--he shuts down annoying televisions that blare their mindless waffle at unsuspecting members of the public. I know this is not viewed as a civilised reaction to an uncivilised parade of talking heads in public space, but it's enabling to have an electronic device that returns power to the user.
Altman's secret silencer, TV-B-Gone, hangs on a key-chain fob. It's actually a universal remote that turns off almost any television. The device, which looks like an automobile remote, has just one button. When activated, it spends over a minute flashing out 209 different codes to turn off televisions, the most popular brands first. Gizmodo is not amused.
For Altman, founder of Silicon Valley data-storage maker 3ware, the TV-B-Gone is all about freeing people from the attention-sapping hold of omnipresent television programming. The device is also providing hours of entertainment for me and opportunities for performance artists all around Dublin. It's available from Cornfield Electronics, which may be swamped by a Slashdot effect.
Steven Bodzin -- "Inventor rejoices as TVs go dark"
TV-B-Gone deserves to be part of everyone's neutering kit because Nina Paley designed the packaging.
NPR -- "Remote control shuts off almost any TV"
