If TiVo Thinks You Are Gay, Here's How to Set It Straight

Wall Street Journal ^ | JEFFREY ZASLOW

[milestogo]

Basil Iwanyk is not a neo-Nazi. Lukas Karlsson isn't a shadowy stalker. David S. Cohen is not Korean.

But all of them live with a machine that seems intent on giving them such labels. It's their TiVo, the digital videorecorder that records some programs it just assumes its owner will like, based on shows the viewer has chosen to record. A phone call the machine makes to TiVo, Inc., in San Jose, Calif., once a day provides key information. As these men learned, when TiVo thinks it has you pegged, there's just one way to change its "mind": outfox it.

[Vidalia]

Talk about yer profiling.

MR. LITIGATION is right around the corner headed for that racist Mr. TIVO...

[Always Right]

If he would stop watching Tele-tubbies and SpongeBob so much, TiVo would not think he were gay.

[PetroniDE]

Jait Wait. The next version of TiVo will automatically NOT RECORD certain programs, even if the user asked for them.

A special democrat version will record Hannity and Colmes, and will suddenly stop taping whenever Hannity speaks. DON'T LAUGH -- somewhere in DU they are working on it.

[geaux]

"I like the idea that someone cares," she says. "Even a machine."

Okaaaaaaaaay. I'm guessing her best friend needs two AA batteries.

[swarthyguy]

When the IAO networks all TiVo boxes, watchout!

[KarlInOhio]

My story of databases gone wild:

I was at a website looking for the DVD Alien. The site suggested that if I liked that movie, I might like these other movies:

Aliens (OK, Sigourney Weaver and menacing space creature)
Alien 3 (OK, more of the same)
Alien Resurrection (Well, no one liked it, but same general topic)
and Triumph of the Will (Hitler and marching Nazis)

Huh? One of these movies is not like the others.

I would probably have bought a Tivo a while ago if I weren't so creeped out by having everything I watch tracked by it.

[Norman Conquest]

Oh, please, at least C's, I'd hope.

[HIDEK6]

Reminds me of the old pearl of wisdom, "The danger is not that computers will begin to think like humans, but that humans will begin to think like computers."

[appeal2]

Tivo thinks I am Spanish speaking. It is constantly suggesting Spanish language programming. As far as auto-recording these programs, I shut that option off and haven't been bothered by it for sometime.

Now I periodically review "Tivo's Suggestions" to see what big brother thinks I should be watching. It never reco's a conservative talk show, but rather tries to steer me to CNN and PMSNBC. Also it has come to believe that I am a Spanish Speaking porn lover who likes Japanese Action flicks where women are busy running the world. I think Tivo profiling violates my constitutional rights and should be legislatively banned.

[Fabozz]

"Huh? One of these movies is not like the others."

Yeah, no kidding. I'd be horrified if someone recommended that movie to me. I actually had to sit through it in a theater once, and it was a gut-wrenching experience that tore at the very roots of my soul. I generally agree with the First Amendment, but I sure wish we could make an exception and ban that film.

But enough about Alien Resurrection...

[jellybean]

Dino Leon, a hair-salon owner in Birmingham, Mich., says his TiVo quickly figured out that he and his partner were gay. They were OK with that, but just for fun, they tried to confuse the software by punching in "redneck" programs, like Jerry Springer's talk show.

TiVo wasn't fooled, and kept recording gay shows. Mr. Leon believes the box was giving them a message: "You're definitely gay. And you're watching too much TV."

I think you have to be gay to watch Jerry Springer. Rednecks have more class.

[dd5339]

Technology run amuck! Quick get the guns and shoot the TIVO.

Semper Fi

[mlmr]

My life is too short to pay attention to the Amazon reommendations.

[billybudd]

Let's face it - the AI technology for databases in TiVo and Amazon, etc. is crappy right now. Wait a few years 'till it improves, then you'll be really freaked out.

[ThinkDifferent]

I would probably have bought a Tivo a while ago if I weren't so creeped out by having everything I watch tracked by it.

Allegedly the information they collect is anonymous, and you can opt out of having even the anonymous data sent.

[Billthedrill]

Oh, man, "Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity" is out on DVD at last?

[Yankee]

I'm very happy that I chose UltimateTV by Microsoft instead of Tivo. (Production of UltimateTV equipment has been halted, but DirecTV still supports the service).

It records what I program it to, or auto-records programs based on "auto-searches" that I've created. (such as "Humphrey Bogart" or "Titanic" or "Civil War" etc.

But it doesn't "decide" what I would like to see based on a type of show I've recorded in the past.

[Mike Darancette]

I'm a fan of "Antiques Road Show" would that mark me as Gay?

[Station 51]

AI technology for databases in TiVo and Amazon, etc. is crappy right now. Wait a few years 'till it improves, then you'll be really freaked out.

No just wait until GWB, Poindexter and Ashcroft have their database on line. Not only will the Fed's know what you are watching, buying, reading and thinking but they may even send you reading recommendations so you can pass your time at the government re-education camp. Sarcasm Off!