A moment of silence for the man whose invention I have spent countless hours hiding

Robert Adler, dead at 93 - International Herald Tribune

Hit the mute button for a moment of silence: The co-inventor of the TV remote, Robert Adler, has died. In his six-decade career with Zenith, Adler was a prolific inventor, earning more than 180 U.S. patents. He was best known for his 1956 Zenith Space Command remote control, which helped make TV a truly sedentary pastime. But he downplayed his role when asked if he felt his invention helped raise a new generation of people too lazy to get off the couch. "People ask me all the time — 'Don't you feel guilty for it?' And I say that's ridiculous," he said. "It seems reasonable and rational to control the TV from where you normally sit and watch television."

Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.Click.Click.Click.Click.Click.Click.Click.Click.Click.Click.Click.Click.Click.Click.Click.Click. You get the picture, I think. I'm guessing it's a "guy thing". But here we have the flipside of relaxing in front of the tube with the finger on the ol' button--a sad story from New York. I always figured this would be the fate of somebody else I know. Mummified body found in front of blaring TV

Police called to a Long Island man's house discovered the mummified remains of the resident, dead for more than a year, sitting in front of a blaring television set. The 70-year-old Hampton Bays, New York, resident, identified as Vincenzo Ricardo, appeared to have died of natural causes. Police said on Saturday his body was discovered on Thursday when they went to the house to investigate a report of a burst water pipe.