The articles I'm refering do didn't discuss fooling the devices, but actually redoing the advertising industry. They were discussing other ways to target consumers given that tv is becoming less of a sure way.

>Changing how the advertising is done is not an easy thing to do. How my VCR works is that it looks for changes in things going on in the background.
>
>Was it HiFi audio but for 30 seconds it wasn't?
>Was there SAP audio (In an American broadcasted program that is) but for 30 seconds there wasn't?
>Was the station call letters being sent across but for 30 seconds it wasn't?
>Was it an old movie without closed captioning, but for 30 seconds there was closed captioning?
>And the list continues.
>
>When I got the VCR, I found something on the web about the inventor and what he looks for and the order. I'll have to see if I can find it again. If I do, I'll post it.
>
>The only way for it really fool the device is for all commercials and all stations to come up with one standard format, or a station trim off some of the extra features they send in the background.
>
>
>>Commercial skipping is done by DVR's these days. It's one of the entertainment industries pet peeves about the device. I don't know why your VCR didn't catch on. I never heard of a VCR skipping commercials. But they say that DVR's are going to cause TV advertising to be done differently in the future.
>>
>>>I am high tech gadget man and I do not have a DVD recorder to replace my VCR.
>>>At the time I was considered buying one they were way too expensive. But the main reason why I didn't get one is that they still don't have all of the features that my VCR has.
>>>
>>>My VCR is a Panasonic SVHS HiFi with Super Video jacks and the picture quality is awesome. And, the best feature is that it skips commercials. No kidding, it skips them at playback. It records everything, and when done it rewinds the tape and "processes it." It marks where it thinks the commercials are. I'd say it's 99% accurate. You can turn this feature on and off, but it's so accurate that I just leave it on. When you play the tape, it fast forwards through the commercials and starts playing about a half second before the show resumes. For me, it has never fast forwarded through part of a show and rarely does a comercial sneak past it.
>>>
>>>The bad news is that, I was trying to find my VCR, or the equivalent to it now on Panasonic's web site and it doesn't look like it is made anymore. If someone else makes a DVD recorder or VCR that does the commercial skip, I highly recommend getting one that does that.
>>>
>>>I know victor was kidding, but if you can connect your TV signal or video receiver to your computer, the XP media center is kind of nice. I have that as well. When something is coming on TV that I think I might want to put on a DVD for prosperity, the media center makes it very easy to record and burn. The whole DVD burning process is time consuming and at times frustrating, so you wouldn't want to do it daily. However, if the TV and PC are connected, using the PC as a VCR works great and the media center software makes finding the programming simple.
>>>
>>>>I'm looking to buy a DVD player/recorder to replace our VCR.
>>>>
>>>>Anyone have a model to suggest? What should I look for when buying?
>>>>
>>>>Any comment will be appreciated.