My roommate is a digi-geek

You can learn a lot about a person by noticing what they watch on television. Take my roommate for example. \nIn my apartment, we have a digital video recorder. For those of you still under the tyranny of plain old television, DVRs, like VCRs, allow viewers to record what's on TV and watch it later. However, the various systems actually use computer hard drives to keep your favorite shows. Plus, for those moments when you need to answer the door for the pizza guy, DVRs allow you to pause live TV. \nDVR lesson done; back to my roommate. Since moving in together a couple months ago, I have confirmed quite a bit about his personality and interests through what shows pops up on our DVR. \nNot to resort to stereotypes, but my roommate looks kind of like the "Simpson's" comic book guy. He has messy hair, and most people would probably assume he likes role-playing games and has a large collection of Star Wars books. He does. \nThe TV confirms his nerdiness. Much of what he records is science fiction shows and anime. About half of the recording space on our DVR is filled with "Digimon: Digital Monsters." Yes, my roommate is a digi-geek.\nSome DVR systems do more than just record what you schedule. TIVO, for instance, can be set up to analyze what you watch and then record similar shows if there is space and nothing else is set up to be recorded.\nAt my old apartment, I had a TIVO both my old roommate and I used. Between his recordings of "Oprah," "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," and the Tony Awards, and my recordings of the "Simpsons," "Family Guy," and "The West Wing," TIVO was often quite confused. Although it never found it, I am sure it was looking for a show about a government-employed gay cartoon character who likes musicals.\nI have noticed some interesting TV habits of some of my other friends as well. One of my friends who used to live in Bloomington spent much of his time watching anything and everything that had to do with politics or news. He would sometimes skip his classes or call in sick to work so he could watch some big news story on the tube. \nI probably shouldn't have made fun of his habit, since I consider myself a journalist. But I did. In fact, one time his roommate and I set up a parental lock on his digital cable box that prevented him from watching CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and C-SPAN. He was pretty irate.\nI shouldn't make fun of my friends and their viewing habits. While I wouldn't normally watch much of what some of my friends would, I have found my television palette has grown since the space on my DVR has been used by current and past roommates. For instance, my current roommate often records history or science stuff that I have found interesting. My old roommate even recorded some episodes of "Oprah" that I found worthy of my time.\nI am not exempt from TV stereotyping. I am a huge fan of "The West Wing" and the "Simpsons." I also like "Law and Order" and other law-related dramas. I guess that would make me a funny guy who likes politics. I am. \nI am not yet a digi-geek, but who knows what will happen.