DavidC,
I'm glad you shared the part about recalling magazine contents. I've had similar experiences. When I consciously apply memory techniques to visual things, it's amazing how vivid my visual recall is later. I think memory techniques establish a solid link between the conscious mind and what gets stored away subconsciously. If I only establish a few good associations, it's like the entire memory often comes back in near-perfect fidelity.
RE infomercials: it's easy to denounce them all, wholesale, as being scams. Sorry for the cliche, but there are some very healthy babies in all that bathwater.
