Virtually Unstoppable Crime

When I was a young kid I remember thinking deeply about the concept of virtual reality. There was a new nintendo system out called the Virtual Boy. It included a head-mounted 3D display and a controller. As you donned the snazzy specs, you were brought into a new "advanced" world that bridged the real with fantasy. Your entire peripheral was consumed by an alternate reality. There was no limit to what you could do.

TV screens continue to get bigger and bigger. The picture is getting clearer and clearer. Some televisions are so picture perfect that they can be mistaken for windows. If you stare at them long enough, you just might confuse the real with the invented.

With technology becoming so sophisticated, I wonder, how many people think Charlie Sheen is actually dead?

I too am one who falls for the glitz and glam of television. After watching multiple episodes of Smallville back to back... to back, I began to believe that bald men everywhere were trying to ruin my chances with the ladies.

Please forgive me Dallin

It's the latest story of mistaken television identity that has me most concerned. CNN reported that several potential jurors in the Michael Jackson trial were questioned about their television viewing habits. Is nothing sacred? Special emphasis was put on so called crime solving television shows.

Apparently shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation have the effect of making people believe in advanced forensic sciences, which actually don't exist. People who watch these shows apparently have "unrealistic expectations about forensic work thus putting more pressure on prosecutors to provide more scientific, less circumstantial evidence at trial."

CSI star and virtual pathologist Robert Hall said this of real world crime scene investigations: "They don't have special lighting and eerie music playing."

I shudder to think of a justice system that doesn't provide due justice to criminals because of an inability to collect scientific evidence or to use screechy violin playing to build a case.

The fact is television technology is advancing faster than the average person. People will buy HD sunglasses just to keep up. I can't think of a smarter purchase to make at three in the morning.

Nothing says good vision quite as well as glasses

My only hope is that one day law enforcement officers will be able to keep up. Whatever it is -- backlights, cotton swabs, ballistics projectile training -- that they're lacking, I hope they get it. The last thing we need is more unstoppable crime. We have enough evil bald men stealing our women as it is.