Mathowie interview

April 12, 2006 7:08 PM

"Matthew Haughey, a blogger who has been writing about TiVo for three years on www.pvrblog.com, thinks customer support issues for existing DirecTV-TiVo subscribers may be the biggest reason for DirecTV to have extended the agreement." (via forbes.com)
posted by sequential to MetaFilter-related at 7:08 PM (32 comments total)

Maybe next year TiVo will give you the recognition you surely deserve.
posted by sequential at 7:08 PM on April 12, 2006

Free time .... who knew ?
posted by R. Mutt at 8:23 PM on April 12, 2006

What's funny is I talked to the reporter around 2PM today and she filed it before 3PM, and I was reading this online around 3:30PM, pacific. News moves fast these days.

Also, I don't know what to say about the question "what do you do for a living?" now that I just run mefi. So they call me "blogger" now.
posted by mathowie at 8:51 PM on April 12, 2006

Grr. Just seeing the word TiVo pisses me off, that's how annoyed their advertising has made me. I didn't watch more than 15 mins of Spielberg's War of the Worlds because of that.

*simmer*
posted by ODiV at 9:20 PM on April 12, 2006

Mathowie said:
"Also, I don't know what to say about the question "what do you do for a living?" now that I just run mefi. So they call me "blogger" now."

When Fiona goes to school, what will she say her father's occupation is? You and Mrs. Mathowie have a couple of years to think of something that sounds respectable.

(You do know that there are still people who do not know what a weblog is, don't you?)

I would like to suggest that you say your income is from investments. That way the form-filler-outers will only think that you are a mafioso, not a nerd.
posted by Cranberry at 12:48 AM on April 13, 2006

There's enough advertising and $5's to cover an income? Hot damn! WTG, dude!
posted by cavalier at 3:28 AM on April 13, 2006

I think the correct term would be "internet babysitter," Matt.
posted by crunchland at 4:23 AM on April 13, 2006

Just say you are a business administrator. Or perhaps entrepreneur. If only you could say dot.com millionaire...
posted by Roger Dodger at 4:53 AM on April 13, 2006

They Call Him Blogger: The Mathowie Story.
posted by languagehat at 5:43 AM on April 13, 2006

I'd claim to be in a boy band.
posted by Astro Zombie at 6:20 AM on April 13, 2006

How about: Chief Resident Administrator of a Social Networking Link Aggregator.
posted by Apoch at 6:22 AM on April 13, 2006

Grr. Just seeing the word TiVo pisses me off, that's how annoyed their advertising has made me. I didn't watch more than 15 mins of Spielberg's War of the Worlds because of that.

Tivo has advertising? If you get a Tivo, you can skip the ads.
posted by smackfu at 6:38 AM on April 13, 2006

ODiV: "Grr. Just seeing the word TiVo pisses me off, that's how annoyed their advertising has made me. I didn't watch more than 15 mins of Spielberg's War of the Worlds because of that."

What does War of the Worlds have to do with TiVo advertising?
posted by Plutor at 6:41 AM on April 13, 2006

Chief Resident Administrator of a Social Networking Link Aggregator.

Ooh, I think I have some VC money laying around...
posted by monju_bosatsu at 6:58 AM on April 13, 2006

Chief Cum Cleaner for the Football-Fucking Monkey Brigade?
posted by mullacc at 7:12 AM on April 13, 2006

Dork Wrangler?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:30 AM on April 13, 2006

Web media publisher (and editor in chief).
posted by bru at 7:36 AM on April 13, 2006

The Internet's Matthew Haughey: Professional Expert.
posted by bondcliff at 7:38 AM on April 13, 2006

They call him blogger! blogger! faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he!
And we know blogger, lives in a world full of wonder,
Flying there-under, under the sea!

Everyone loves the king of the sea,
Ever so kind and gentle is he,
Tricks he will do when children appear,
And how they laugh when he's near!

with apologies to Flipper.
posted by crunchland at 7:46 AM on April 13, 2006

Apology accepted.
posted by flipper at 8:13 AM on April 13, 2006

*swoons*
posted by iconomy at 8:23 AM on April 13, 2006

Tivo has advertising? If you get a Tivo, you can skip the ads.

Not when they put their ads in the show itself. I rented the Family Guy movie and War of the Worlds recently and both had these plugs.

What does War of the Worlds have to do with TiVo advertising?

Little Dakota Fanning's character plugs TiVo about 5 minutes in.

Anyway, I'll stop derailing the thread.

Electronic Gladitorial Engineer?
posted by ODiV at 8:25 AM on April 13, 2006

I'm not sure mentioning TiVo's existence is necessarily an advertisement for it. It is a cultural powerhouse, so mentioning it might just be a lame pop-culture reference.
posted by dios at 8:57 AM on April 13, 2006

I'm fairly certain that any kind of product placement in a tv show or movie is almost always bought and paid for. If I had a dollar for every time I saw an Apple logo on screen...
posted by onalark at 9:09 AM on April 13, 2006

Yeah, I hate that, too onalark. I guess what I was thinking was gratuitous placement vs. lame pop culture reference/conceit. I guess what I am thinking is that I could see a useful plot tool of using TiVo where it would serve some purpose other than annoying product placement.
posted by dios at 9:30 AM on April 13, 2006

You could always claim to be Ed Helms. No one knows what he does, either.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:33 AM on April 13, 2006

If I had a dollar for every time I saw an Apple logo on screen...

You could watch Veronica Mars for two weeks and retire?
posted by Zozo at 9:52 AM on April 13, 2006

with apologies to Flipper

Damn. Even though I read the whole thing, I still thought of this flipper.
posted by beerbajay at 10:43 AM on April 13, 2006

I think dork wrangler is the best so far.
posted by clockzero at 1:16 PM on April 13, 2006

I'm fairly certain that any kind of product placement in a tv show or movie is almost always bought and paid for. If I had a dollar for every time I saw an Apple logo on screen...

Actually, the large majority of product placement in Adam Sandler movies was not paid for by companies, (according to DVD extras). For example, Hooters in Big Daddy and Popeye's chicken in Little Nicky.
posted by Roger Dodger at 1:24 PM on April 13, 2006

The irony here is that the Tivo (and devices like it) are forcing advertisers to insert more product placement into programs programs in an effort to bludgeon the viewer one way or another. Get used to it.
posted by crunchland at 3:22 PM on April 13, 2006

If I had a dollar for every time I saw an Apple logo on screen...

You could watch Veronica Mars for two weeks and retire?

I noticed that this week the apple logo on her laptop was covered with some... thing. Maybe they're behind on their payments.
posted by phearlez at 3:36 PM on April 13, 2006