How to... Piss Off Everybody at The Sports Bar

Step One: Buy a TV-B-Gone universal remote control.
Step Two: Buy a baseball bat.
Step Three: Wait until the last two minutes of the neck-and-neck NFL game at your local Hooters, then activate said TV-B-Gone remote. Watch all of the televisions in the entire place shut off all at once. Laugh loudly. You'll figure out what to do with the bat once 40 or so angry, sweaty men in jerseys start after you. Video of the TV-B-Gone in action, and the inventor's blatant denial of it's intended function, after the jump...

TV-B-Gone will switch off 99% of televisions and virtually anything else with an infrared port. There are 400+ "off" sequences preprogrammed and it will keep scanning until it finds the right frequency.

The TV-B-Gone is somewhat humorously sold as a tool to teach people (restaurant owners? children? best buy stores?) when and where they really need to leave TVs on and suck the power out of the grid for the rest of us. No, seriously. The inventor, Mitch Altman, said this:

Me, my life got so much better from watching TV less. As a result, I had enough time to invent TV-B-Gone®! My idea was to give others a similar chance – so I created a fun way to get the message out there that turning a TV on or off really is a choice. Anywhere, anytime. Please, go out there and choose.

...you know that guy has to know why people are buying this gizmo. He has to!

But if you're on his side and are trying to cut down on your TV habits, good for you! Just cutting back on cable TV is bound to save your sanity and some money (a definite plus in these tight budget times). Check out these three installations of Unplggd's "How to Live Without Cable TV" for some great inexpensive alternatives:

How to Live Without Cable TV, PART ONE

How to Live Without Cable TV, PART TWO

How to Live Without Cable TV, PART THREE

I have one of these and love it. In our 1984 world it's impossible to escape TV. I use it when I'm alone in a bar, restaurant, or waiting room, and the ubiquitous TV is blaring (usually sports).

I just wish it would work on airport gate waiting area TV's.

posted by Marcbicycle on October 12th 2008 at 1:14am
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