Babysitter use your Sage?

[Lester Jacobs]

Here's another vote for a full fledged multiuser feature. This issue has taken on addiitonal urgency for me as my 3yr old has now learned to read and so the remote has become a dangerous weapon in his hands. I've turned on Parental Controls so that he at least is protected from "questionable" content but the real solution is multi user. That way he would only see the channels, recorded shows and menu options that I want him to see. This feature would also be incredibly useful for my wife and myself. Our tastes in shows are somewhat divergent so multi user would allow us to each watch/delete only the shows pertinent to us.

For babysitter/guest mode where you don't want "dangerous" optiosn like delete to be active I did slap together a quick and dirty approach that at least neuters any STV so that the user cannot delete shows/add favourites etc. You can check it out here.http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24855

I didn't take this any farther as I quickly realized that the only correct way to approach this issue was to have security supported in the core. Anything else is an easily circumventable stopgap measure.

Cheers
Lester

[BFisher]

Originally Posted by jdamore

So, it sounds like you need the following:

A "do not write to wiz.bin" function. (takes care of the "watched" and the "IR" problem)

No option to delete recordings.

Password on the settings menu (This can already be done. I know this is possible with SageMC but I think, not sure, its actually enabled by neilms dynamic menus pluggin included in sagemc.)


Another thought would be a new STV with only the most basic functions. Basically a "dumbed down" version.

I think this would make me happy and solve my babysitter (and probably in-law) issues

Add to that the "keep one tuner free for live tv" setting, and it would be a winner of a feature set.

Agreed - this would be a good option. Could cause conflicts - but if you set it in advance you would see them and resolve them before leaving the house.

I like the ideas - loading a seperate STV would probably make sense - otherwise it could cause issues at the server for all the extenders in the house.

[Fluffdaddy]

I have a separate stb box right to the TV just for visiting grandkids, step-grandkids, current in-laws and ex-in-laws . It just make things easier.

[BFisher]

as do I. I would like to get rid of it (or use it as another input for Sage) since it goes unused 99% of the time. That is the reason for this thread... I'm hoping someone smarter than me will figure out how to make it so babysitter/in-laws:
- can't delete my recordings
- can't mess up my favorites
- don't automatically mark a show watched when they view it (I haven't watched it yet)
- can easily find "live" TV and not get lost with pictures and audio and setup menus, etc.

And I want to be able to turn on/off this capability (or enable/disable the STV, etc)

Based on what I'm hearing - others would like this too

[CollinR]

You could install dynamic menus and remove all but the Live TV link.


It still souldn't solve every issue but it would knock them down fast, however a 1 link main menu doesn't make alot of sence. lol Okay you could have weather, YouTube and Google videos on the main page as well.

Still you can cause problems from the menus inside the guide and whatnot.

[jeh]

Originally Posted by BFisher

I'm trying to figure out what to do with our babysitters (and in-laws). I have a separate DirecTV box just for them... why?

• Watched status - I've been asking that we make this configurable... the only time I want set watched to happen is when I select it (when I delete a show, I want to use the "delete and set watched" option). If our babysitter happens to watch Law & Order and it's set to record it for us... it will mark it watched. I do not want LiveTV to mark anything watched.

Thanks!

Good lord. This STILL isn't fixed?? IIRC, complaints about this extend back to version 4. At least!

How tough can it be to add an option to the setup menus? Something like:

"Forget the whole 'watched' thing. Do not mark anything as 'watched', ever. If something is somehow marked as 'watched' despite this, ignore that too"

If it is difficult to implement this in the code, something is horribly wrong with the design. Or with the coders.

Refinements like "delete and set watched" can come later.

( Sage's moniker is "you're in control." Apparently not when it comes to this "watched" thing. Record what I tell you to record, dammit, whether you think I've watched it or not. THen and only then am I "in control." )

[briands]

Originally Posted by CollinR

You could install dynamic menus and remove all but the Live TV link.


It still souldn't solve every issue but it would knock them down fast, however a 1 link main menu doesn't make alot of sence. lol Okay you could have weather, YouTube and Google videos on the main page as well.

Still you can cause problems from the menus inside the guide and whatnot.

Very risky... this will HOSE your watched history and make IR more worthless than usual.

[jeh]

"Watched" really needs to be per-user. And how do you count "watched" status if two members of a four-person household happened to be absent? What if one of those who did watch happened to be absent during part of the show, and wants it recorded again? etc. The whole "watched" notion leads to far more problems than it solves.

[BFisher]

I agree Jeh - "watched" should be manually selected, not automated. If I delete a show, that's when I should be able to mark a show watched... otherwise I want that option turned off. With Sage as a server to multiple TVs with extenders, it's really a must...

[jdamore]

Originally Posted by BFisher

I agree Jeh - "watched" should be manually selected, not automated. If I delete a show, that's when I should be able to mark a show watched... otherwise I want that option turned off. With Sage as a server to multiple TVs with extenders, it's really a must...

Ok- Lets make it optional... I like the automated "watched" feature.

[Arioch5]

Originally Posted by jdamore

Ok- Lets make it optional... I like the automated "watched" feature.

Agreeded. With all the 'watched' hate going around I'll just throw it out there that I too like it.

But "Guest Mode" definitely needs to be able to turn it off, shouldn't be hard to allow a setting to turn off the auto-watched all the time too if it's included in a guest mode.

[sleonard]

I have been in favor of user accounts for some time now including 2 special accounts for an admin who is the only one to get acess to the Settings menu and a guest account. To go along with the user account is a subscription to any defined favorites so that when a show is watched it is only marked that way for that user. Deletion of shows could not happen until all subscribed accounts have marked it as watched either manually or auto (except the admin account could do anything). I haven't quite worked out how this would work for live TV but manual recordings could use the same subscription model.

In the meantime, my family easily gets around the watched/deletion issue by talking to each other

S

[sixdoubleo]

Geeeeez....Mother In Law Mode, Babysitter Mode, etc....

For once being single has its benefits!

Actually I would really like to see a user-based system as well.

[IVB]

Originally Posted by sixdoubleo

Geeeeez....Mother In Law Mode, Babysitter Mode, etc....

For once being single has its benefits!

When I was single, I spent $1000/month in bars (not restaurants), and I didn't even go to the nice ones.

I now spend well under half-that, and have financed quite the HA addiction. That also has the upside of having good reason to ignore the inlaws when they come over

[sixdoubleo]

Originally Posted by IVB

When I was single, I spent $1000/month in bars (not restaurants), and I didn't even go to the nice ones.

I now spend well under half-that, and have financed quite the HA addiction. That also has the upside of having good reason to ignore the inlaws when they come over

Hey you're right down the street from me... (the street being I-80)

Yeah, I don't do too many bars...not my scene anymore and then the whole DUI factor...but I hear ya. Most of my money is spent on home improvement, computers, and Home Theater/Automation....I'm afraid to run a Quicken report.

[Menehune]

Originally Posted by sixdoubleo

Geeeeez....Mother In Law Mode, Babysitter Mode, etc....

For once being single has its benefits!

I knew there was a reason why I'm still single!