TiVo hack: 30-second skip

I consider myself to be a bit of a tech geek. I like to read manuals. Are you ready to pull out the tape for the bridge of my glasses yet? I genuinely enjoy researching and learning all the little insider tips and tricks out there. My nerdiness may not be cool, but it does have its benefits, especially for my friends. I always try to share any particularly interesting finds so no one else has to geek out as much as I do. And here's a good tip for TiVo users!

You can program the Advance or "skip-to-hash" button (the play arrow pointing to a vertical line, shown below) to act as a 30-second skip button instead. Why is this useful, you ask? Well, the answer is that you'll be able to skip past commercials easily with just three or four pushes of this newly hacked wonder.

So are you excited? Are you ready? Here's how you do it:

1. Play any program you've already recorded.
2. On your remote, press: Select > Play > Select > 3 > 0 > Select
3. You should hear a "boom" sound three times, confirming success! (Can Ali G fans out there hear Borat's "Success!" exclamation?)

Notes:

• If you advance too far with the 30-second skip, try hitting the Instant Replay button instead of rewinding. I find it to be faster and easier. I'm all about convenience.
• The Advance button will continue to function beyond the hack. When you are playing a recorded program, press the Rewind or Fast Forward button first, and when you press Advance after that, the program will jump to the next "hash" mark on the playback progress bar at the bottom of the screen. (Doing the same thing while playing live tv will get you all the way to the beginning or end of a program.)
• You can find this tip and others on CNET.com and BigMarv.net.