The TV never did this

This isn't what I wanted to watch, but it is prettier than a bad snowy analog broadcast TV signal. ;)

The Nutritional Value of Television

You don't need to understand Spanish to detect something amiss with the specifications for this TV at exito.com. Does the calorie content of TV vary with the programming? ;)

Submitted by: José Alejandro Betancur Álvarez

The Bug that Blocked the Super Bowl

After a run to two grocery stores to purchase more junk food than we should be eating in a month, I turn on the TV to watch the Super Bowl. I enter the channel number of the local Fox station. The screen remains black. A few seconds later, a blue box proclaiming "Poor signal quality" graces the screen.

I grab the antenna and try holding it in a variety of positions. The screen remains black. I check the signal quality meter and it reports receiving a signal that should be good enough to receive the program.

Other channels come in clear. Only the channel playing the big game doesn't show.  Memories of the same occurring a few years ago for the Daytona 500 come to mind. I remember that the TV magically fixed itself immediately after that Daytona 500 ended.   Perhaps my TV has a  big-game-triggered defect. ;)

I try disabling all parental control settings. Still no picture on the channel airing the Super Bowl.  Other channels come in fine.

I make a run to the store, and buy another antenna and a longer cable so that I can try positioning the antenna away from the television.  The new antenna doesn't fix the problem. I put the antenna outside and get a strong 97% signal strength. Still no picture.

I try rebooting the TV by unplugging it, and then plugging it back into the power outlet. Still no picture on channel 10. Now, I've also got no picture on channel 8.  The problem has spread.  All but two channels display. The television shows a strong signal for the two groups of channels with "Poor signal quality."

I use the "manual" configuration options to remove and add the channels back into the television's channel line-up.  Still no picture.

Finally, I set the television to clear and rescan all frequencies for channels with a signal. At the end of this time consuming scan, I set the TV back to channel 10. The Black Eyed Peas appear. I have picture. I have sound. Just in time for the end of the half-time show.

The next time this happens, I'll know what to do. However, I'm not convinced there is no code in the system that reads something like this:

if(BigEvent && ViewerCount > HouseholdSize)
{
     DisableFirstSelectedChannel(BigEvent.Duration);
}

Missing Nuts

I go to the DirecTV website On Demand program guide to see what free movies are currently available. This web site allows DirecTV customers to both view the available programming and remotely program their DVR to record a program.

I select movies on the left navigation menu. I then click the Free Movies tab at the top. What looks like movie DVD cover images are shown above the list of available movies.

I click on the image for Mixed Nuts. Nothing happens. Disappointed that clicking an image didn't bring up an option to record, I select
M at the top of the movie list. I browse through the alphabetical list to where I expect to find the movie Mixed Nuts. It is not there.

Additionally, after having selected Free Movies, I am being showing movies that aren't free.

Perhaps the images at the top and the list below use different data?

Since writing this, I have returned to the site and clicking the moving icons at the top is now displaying additional information and an option to record the selected movie. This movie, however, was not listed.

\"Apollo 13\"

"Escaping quotes programming fail on tv guide." -- pedowan

All picture settings will be resetted

“Please don't turn to your new tv for grammar lessons... LG #fail” - @racheleason

Prime Time

“Fail TV station! Someone will be getting fired” - @samba12088

Tiny Crackle Movies

We watch videos, TV shows, and movies online on our living room television.  Often the television is configured as an extension to the computer's desktop, allowing the laptop's screen to be used for other things while a movie is shown on the much larger television.  This usually works fine with YouTube and Hulu as they have an option to view a video in its own window that takes up most of the screen.

However, I don't see such an option with Crackle.  Crackle videos are shown in a very small portion of the browser window -- with large menus and advertisements at the top and bottom.



Crackle has an option to view videos in full-screen mode.  This fills the television with the video being watched. 



The full screen mode works fine for watching movies when the computer is not being used for anything else on the other screen.  However, as soon as anyone clicks on anything on the laptop screen, the video on the television returns to the tiny version.



So, it seems we can either watch full screen and don't multitask, or watch tiny video and multitask.

Absolutely useless?

“Absolutely uselesss. (Fourth time today, on a fresh install of Windows and #Chrome.)” - @lawrencejob

Blocked Title

I'm flipping channels and get a warning that a program exceeds the DVR's parental control rating limit.

What is 'this program' that exceeds the rating limits? It doesn't tell me what I'm being asked to unlock. I check the 'More Info' option and it only tells me that someone has set a rating limit and I must enter the password to remove the limit.

It appears that there is no way to view the title without unlocking the program. So, I enter my parental control password to see the unknown program with a blocked title. (If my children were in the room with me, how would I know if it was okay to unlock the box?)

After entering my password, I can view the program but the DVR still shows 'Blocked Title' as the name of the program. I still don't know what I am watching. Why can I see the program but not the title?

I try alternate ways of viewing the title and details about the program. Everything says the program is called 'Blocked Title'.

After watching for a little while, I realize the program is the movie Alien. Why is the title still blocked after the parental controls are unlocked and I'm watching the program?