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IBM has invented a TV set that will recognise the commercials you hate and switch channels for you while they are playing. It proposes a TV with a “block” button on the remote control (US patent application 2004/19904). When an ad that grates on you comes on, you press the button and software in the set analyses the brightness, colour and sound content of the first few frames and stores a digital signature based on them. The next time the ad appears, the TV recognises it and either blanks the screen or temporarily switches to a channel of your choice for the duration of the commercial.