Let's try something tame, something than doesn't require anything more than the remote control. We'll turn the button that advances to the end of a show (titled "Advance" or "Skip to End") into a button that skips forward 30 seconds. A nifty way to zip through commercial blocks.

Here's the hack:

1. You need a TiVo. You don't have to be in backdoor mode to make this work.
   
2. The TiVo operating system should be 2.5.1 or above. Chances are your TiVo has already updated to the latest version. If not, force a phone call, wait for the mega download, then restart the system.
   
3. You need a sheet with a list of Select-Play-Select codes. The 30 second skip is just one of many tweaks. We got our list from the Whole Hacking The TiVo FAQ. This is an amazing source of TiVo hacks.
   
4. Ready to hack? Select-play-select codes are called that because you simply hit select, then play, then select, then something, then hit select again. Type in select-play-select-3-0-select to turn on the 30 second skip mode. You should hear a "ding-ding-ding" sound. That means you've made change.
   
5. Don't like it? Type in select-play-select-3-0-select again, wait for your ding-ding-ding, and you're back skipping to the end of the program.
   
6. We're pretty sure you won't violate the warranty doing this, but, hey, don't blame us if this sets you off on the merry road of advanced TiVo hacking and you kill your system. Don't tweak, modify, hack, or putter around with anything you aren't willing to pay to replace if you kill it.