The setup: I have a PC that’s a MythTV client (kind of like a Tivo, but open-source) in my living room. All the recording is done on the server in the basement, but to add verisimilitude I wrote a little script that polls the server, and when the server is recording, it turns on a blue LED on the client – actually it flashes a few times, then turns on solid.
The rest of the setup: M is a confirmed button-pusher, and always likes to know how to make the little lights go on and off.
So M was sitting near the MythTV – listening to music – and a recording came on. She noticed the little blue LED flash and turn on, but how to turn it off? She pushed the RESET button on the MythTV, rebooting the PC, and of course the light went off. In a little while, the PC had rebooted, and my script ran again, and noticed that a show was being recorded downstairs. So it flashed the LED, and so M pushed the RESET button.
PC: LED off, reboot, run script, flash LED. M: push RESET.
This went on for a while before I redirected her…