I bought one of his Zelda cutting boards when his livejournal post first was first covered over at the mothership... it's gorgeous, and exceptionally well made. I'm not surprised his etsy store just sold out ;)

They claim they're not monitoring what people watch. I've always felt like there's no reason a Tivo couldn't do double-duty as, for example, a Nielsen box as well. And why not? Toggle a little box in settings and let yourself become a Nielsen household, and accept a discount or free service for doing so.

Also, I think the lifetime subscription is transferable to a new, same-series unit. For example, if my series 2 dies, I can buy a new one and transfer the lifetime subscription to it. I think.

I've long wondered why Tivo couldn't offer two kinds of service:
1) Normal pay-for service. Pay the monthly subscription, but no ads.
2) Ad-based. Allow Tivo to monitor your viewership and to push Tivo-based advertising at you.

If I could use the second option, I'd definitely be buying a new Tivo HD unit and moving my current series 2 to another television. As it is right now, I can't justify the long-term costs.