Welcome everyone to DVR Bulletin’s Video of the Week. Each week, I scour the Internet to bring you, the faithful reader, a brand new video about DVRs.

This week we have a short clip from Robot Chicken, that show on Comedy Central’s Adult Swim. Do you think your Tivo is running your life? Just check out the video.

I attended the NAB conference in Las Vegas last week and ended up riding lots of cabs to and from the Convention Center. Here’s what I learned from the taxi drivers:

NAB Is Not As Big as CES. News reports said that there were over 100,000 people at NAB but my cabbie said that it was really closer to 50,000 people. I don’t know if he’s right, but since I assume he’s talking to a lot of people he should have some insight. He said that CES in January had lots more people in Vegas.

NAB Attendees Don’t Spend Money. A few cab drivers mentioned that NAB attendees don’t tip well or spend lots of money on shows or events. One cab driver told me a joke about Comdex (remember Comdex?):

Comdex visitors come with one pair of underwear and a $20 bill and don’t change either of them.

Cab Drivers Want Big Tips. While waiting in a long taxi line at the Renaissance hotel, a guy in front of me said that he had a $10 cab ride and gave the driver a $3 tip. However the driver told the guy to keep the 3 bucks since it apparently wasn’t enough. “You seem to need the money more than I do,” said the cab driver. The man apparently did keep his tip and was still steamed when he recounted the story to me.

Taxis Have Touchscreen Computers. One taxi I rode had a big LCD touchscreen which I could use to look for shows or other events in Las Vegas. Annoyingly, it had sound that was too loud which I had to shut off every time I chose a new menu item. After searching I clicked on the “For Men” section which started playing a video and some crappy porn music. Apparently, it was some cheesy ad for a strip club. Maybe the taxi company should spend money on more important things than useless taxi gadgets.

Taxi Drivers Want You To Go to Strip Clubs. One night after attending the Penn & Teller show, I was riding back to my hotel when the cab driver said something like “I pegged you for someone that was heading to a strip club.” His thinly veiled conversation seemed like a sales pitch for the Spearmint Rhino, a popular adult club in Vegas. Later, the driver answered a cell phone call where it seemed he was recounting a story about almost getting some fare to a club. I wonder, is this really something organized going on in Vegas? Or was it something more casual. Maybe the driver just had a friend that worked for the strip club?

So that’s it from my first post-NAB report. In summary, I encourage all future NAB attendees to spend lavishly in Vegas. Tip the drivers well. Tip the bellperson. Tip the waiter. Tip the maid. Vegas is a service city. People are hustling for your business and working very hard. What would Vegas be without all these people?

If you’re like me you have lots of movies on your Netflix queue. I just checked my account and found that I have 246 movies in my queue. How many are in your queue?

There’s been some buzz around this plug-in for Tivo DVRs that lets users view their Netflix queue via Tivo. It also works with Amazon’s Unbox and Blockbuster online, but who uses those anyway?

The plug-in is open source, and can actually let you browse and purchase movies from Amazon. (Ok, that’s a pretty cool feature.) Although you can’t download movies via Netflix’s service yet, you can still browse and re-order your queue. Perhaps once Netflix opens up their movie download service to more users, this feature can be added.

The bummer is that the software runs on Galleon, which is software you have to install over your Tivo operating system. And how many people are going to do that? Someone who’s either a geek or a borderline geek.

Actually, I’d like to give it a try. I just wish I had a spare Tivo that I could use in case I have to re-format it or something else goes wrong. I’ve got lots of shows from 5 months ago, that I’ve really been meaning to watch (this means you The Aleut Story).

Bonus: Watch a video of the Galleon in action.

[Via Sickles Insight]

Technorati Tags: DVR, Tivo, Netflix, Galleon, digital video recorder, Unbox, Amazon

Don’t own a DVR? Still own a VCR? Well, it’s time to get hip. Heck, it’s 2007 already–we should have flying cars pretty soon.  So why do you still have a VCR hooked up to your TV? Is it feer of letting go? Feeling nostalgic? Don’t want to get rid of your awesome VHS tape movie collection?

Here’s the top 10 reasons why you should throw away your VCR and buy a DVR.

1. It Doesn’t Make You Geeky. Years ago, having a DVR meant you were geeky, or weird, or watched too much TV. Today, DVRs are becoming very mainstream and anyone can use one. Tivo is very easy to use, and has cutesy menus and graphics. Best of all, you don’t need a PhD to connect it to your TV. It’s pretty easy and you only have to do it once.
2. DVRs Are Not As Expensive As you Think. The most popular DVR can cost anywhere from free to about $800 for an HD version. Then there are monthly service fees of about $20 a month. That can get expensive, but there are cheaper options. Cable and satellite providers are now offering DVRs (standard and Hi Def) for about $10 a month extra. They come built-in to the cable box that you normally get, so you won’t need space for an extra box.
3. You’ll Never Need VHS Tapes Again. You have lots of them stored somewhere, don’t you? Perhaps they’re in your TV cabinet somewhere. Well, since DVRs use a hard drive, you’ll hever have to feverishly look for a blank VHS tape to record your favorite show. Just go ahead and throw away all your blank VHS tapes. In a few years, they’ll be obsolete anyway.
4. Never Stare at that Blinking VCR Clock Again. VCRs have those annoying clocks on the front that you could never figure out how to program so it’s always blinking 12:00. Well, DVRs don’t have little screens in the front. Tivo, just has two lights, one of them goes red when you’re recording a show. DVRs from cable companies often do have a screen, but since they’re set by the provider, you’ll always have the correct time (or channel) staring back at you.
5. It Will Change How You Watch TV. Having a DVR will make it fun to watch TV again. You can skip commercials, never miss your favorite shows, get shows recommended to you and pause live TV. WIthout a doubt, DVRs are the most disruptive technology in the last few years. Nothing else can change your TV viewing as dramatically as DVRs.
6. You’re Not Tied into Network Schedules. Remember Must-See TV? Or racing home after work to watch your favorite new Friends episode? With DVRs you’re not locked into schedules created by TV networks. You’re free to watch any TV show at any time you want. Of course, live shows or reality shows are best watched the day they record, but at least you can…
7. Zip Past Commercials. Save time! And possiblyl money! Never watch another commercial again. Unless you really want to. DVRs let you skip past commercials so 1 hour shows can be viewed in about 43 minutes. Half hour shows are really just 23 minutes or so. Imagine what you can do with that extra time.
8. Admit It: You Can’t Program a VCR Anyway. Programming a VCR was never easy for most people. I did it a few times but it was just too tedious so I just used the VCR to watch movies.
9. A VCR is Just Taking up Space. It’s time to throw away that VCR. They’re great for gathering dust but you never use it anwyway. You can free up some space under the TV for something better, like a DVR or a Wii.
10. DVRs Are More than Just Watching TV. With DVRs like Tivo, you can view photos and listen to music from your home computer on your TV. New services from Tivo include the ability to a) purchase or rent recent Hollywood movies 2) send home movies to other Tivo users, 3) watch Internet video on your Tivo, 4) listening to Internet radio. And lots more.

Isn’t it time you threw it away once and for all? Do it now. Go ahead.  I’ll wait.

Ok, great. Now don’t you feel better?

Let me know if you’ve finally dumped your VCR and why.

According to a study by some unknown political ad firm, MSHC Partners, DVRs are changing the way political candidates are advertising. The company surveyed DVR and non-DVR users and found that many DVR users are skipping political ads–and some other obvious facts.

The results (in this press release) aren’t too surprising, since DVRs are changing all TV advertising. As viewers skip past commercials, how likely is it that they will want to stop and watch a political ad? Political TV ads are the worst kinds of advertising since they’re biased, poorly produced and usually lame.

Of course people are saying that they can use Internet video, such as YouTube to get their message out. Remember last year’s political ad featuring Michael J. Fox? The commercial was for a local political race, but after it was shared on YouTube, the entire country was watching it and talking about it.

Another example happened recently when the Hilary Clinton-1984 spoof video appeared on the Internet.

So yes, DVRs are changing advertising, including political ads. Politicians need to do things that use the Internet and other media. For example Barack Obama can buy advertisements through Tivo so that their ads appear in Tivo DVRs. I wonder if Tivo can narrow its customers and target specific zip codes so that they can go local as well.