All the drama, none of the commercials

It must be fate that I set up my new TiVo the same week as the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Olympics seem tailor-made to put the TiVo through its paces: I set a Season Pass for it and can now pause before the big figure-skating final, fast-forward through the compulsory ice-dancing routine, and watch Stephen Colbert be interviewed in full Mountie regalia without having to stay up until 1 a.m.

Because I can control what parts of the coverage I'm watching, I find myself absolutely riveted by the Olympics this year. I get all teary-eyed at the footage of the men's super G winner's dad cheering and jumping up and down. I adore how finishers in cross-country skiing events cross the finish line and then just fall over. I'm enthralled by how Evan Lysacek somehow avoids getting tangled up in his own limbs, each of which are approximately 17 feet long. I thrill to biathlon.

(By the by: Biathlon? Is going to be the next "curling" in the sense of a wacky, off-the-beaten-path sport that everyone loves to talk about. I know it. NPR knows it. Captain Awesome knows it. So study up.)


Watch out, Bob Costas - there's a new Olympic expert in town. (Just don't ask me to watch the entire second heat of men's skeleton in real time. I'll fast-forward to the medal round, thanks.)

[Images come from the Olympics' gallery.]

A TiVo post: IR code for RCA STB766C

(This is not so much a blog post as a public service announcement, because I spent several hours looking for this information , and now that I have the solution, I would like to put it in a place where a search engine can get at it.)

Perhaps, dear stranger who happened upon this page by searching for rca stb766c ir codes, you are trying to set up your new TiVo to work with a digital converter box you purchased at Target. It has RCA printed on the bottom of it, so you choose that when the TiVo asks you what brand your converter box is. And then you go through the infrared setup so that the TiVo can change the channel when it wants to start recording something - and NOTHING HAPPENS. And you're about ready to tear your hair out.

Here is what you do: You will notice on the TiVo page that lists which converters are compatible with their service, they list a box with a model number very similar to your RCA STB7766C: the Venturer STB7766G. You know what? It turns out that that's close enough!

So go back through your channel changing setup and say your box is a Venturer instead of an RCA. I can't guarantee that it'll work for you, but it worked for me. I hope this helps you.

P.S. Just in case you were wondering, stranger who did a search for rca stb766c ir codes, I am not a tech head. Everything I know about this issue I learned from Googling various configurations of my problem. If this does not solve your problem, I PROMISE YOU, I will be unable to help. I apologize in advance, and I suggest you try browsing the help forums at tivocommunity.com.