TimeWarner Tuning Adapter hits Austin Texas

Last Friday I got the call from Time Warner that the Tivo Tuning Adapters (TA) had finally arrived. After work, I rushed to the TW office to get mine. After waiting an hour or so, I took it home, hooked it up, and nothing happened.
Searching the forums, I learned that the tuning adapter's green light should be solid, mine was blinking - a sign that all was not well. After rebooting the TA and my TiVo in various combinations, I gave up and called tech support. After sending two ill-fated reset signals to the TA, the rep scheduled a truck roll in the morning.
Not content, I tried various reboot combinations. Maddeningly after a while the TA would get a solid green light, but my TiVo did not know that the TA was ready. So I'd reboot the TA, the TiVo would see the TA there, try to test channels and fail since the green light was still flashing. When the green light stopped flashing, the TiVo didn't know it was there.
This combination finally worked:
1. Reboot the Tuning Adapter. Wait for the green light to stop flashing. 10 minutes?
2. Reboot the TiVo. The Tivo does not know that the TA is ready. (This step may be optional).
3. Unplug the USB connector from the TA to the TiVo, wait a few seconds and plug back in. This sends a signal to the TiVo that the TA is ready.
4. TiVo can now test the TA signal.
Worked for me.

TV shows now on Youtube

Youtube has just announced a major deal to start showing full-length TV shows like StarTrek with commercials. This puts Youtube in direct competition with Hulu, Joost, imdb, and a host of others showing tv shows over the web. Although Youtube's initial lineup is paltry, it shows a lot of promise.
The most exciting angle is the Tivo one. TiVo can access Youtube videos right now if the TiVo is connected to the internet. Since TiVo sits right next to my TV I don't have that PC-to-TV 10-yard gap. So, instead of taking up space on my TiVo, I can use Youtube's storage to host my old tv shows. But since I don't really watch old tv series, it doesn't mean a lot to me at the moment, but I can foresee in the not too distant future that first run shows are on Youtube which makes it interesting. It would help if TiVo could also access Hulu.com content.
What if all first run shows were available on Youtube?
1. I won't need a terabyte TiVo. In fact, I wouldn't need any disk space at all. Tivo will just get the shows on demand.
2. What is a TV network then? Independent producers could just make shows to go directly on Youtube without a network exec saying, "That will never work.". With production costs dropping, it's easier than ever to make your own tv shows and sell them on youtube.
3. Google, the owner of Youtube, would shake up the tv advertising market. Google would disintermediate a lot of advertising firms that specialize in buying/selling tv ad time. Companies could just bid for slots on tv shows just like they do for adwords. Also Google could target specific audiences on the fly with just-in-time advertising. Google can estimate your age (from your gmail account, past searches, etc) which would help, but they would be able to deduce your zip code, which tells a lot about you.
With a TiVo, Youtube tv on demand, and a fast internet connection, the world will be an interesting place. I can just envision Dr. McCoy leaning over the prone body of network tv, turning to Kirk and saying, "He's dead Jim.".

Time Warner Tuning Adapters now available for preorder in Austin TX!!

Oh happy day!
I've been waiting for 6 months for the Tuning Adapters from TimeWarner Austin so my Tivo can pick up all the Switched Digital Video (SDV) signals. Many of the high-def stations on TimeWarner are delivered via SDV which one-way cable cards, like the one in my TiVo, can't see. SDV channels are only sent to your home when requested, unlike regular channels which are always being broadcast to everyone. When a viewer requests an SDV channel the set-top box sends a message to a TimeWarner computer saying, "Send me History International", and the computer will say, "OK, I sending that to you on channel 3423". The set-top box then tunes to channel 3423, which just seconds ago was empty. In theory, this frees bandwidth for more channels.
You can now pre-order your free Tuning Adapter at http://www.timewarnercable.com/centraltx/Products/Cable/sdv/default.html.
It's a happy thing - trust me.