wait, uncrop. that reflection on the window. zoom. enhance. rotate by 270.

[erf_]

Dear television writers: I know that most of you are from the early 1970s, are not physics or computer imaging experts, and are writing on tourniquet-tight deadlines. But for the love of all that is spiffy how did you get away with this for so long--with teams of tech-savvy camera people, digital editors, lighting folk making it for you, not to

Comments

[erf_]

Best comment: "Now code a GUI in Visual Basic and see if you can track his IP address."

I am half tempted to write a fake OS (it would be really easy) that makes beeping noises as you type, has an interface like pre-X Mac OS with a coat of iPod gloss, is full of progress bars that fill at a constant rate to a slowly quickening Pac-man sound, and does nothing but display countdowns and warning messages in huge flashing red and green letters. As a bonus its bootup sound will be an mp3 of a single repeating piano arpeggio accompanied by a sustained violin note, and it will zoom in if Google Maps is open and you shout "enhance" into your microphone.

...

...actually, this would make a really cool Nintendo DS homebrew app. *ideas*

[cougarfang]

1. Because it's such a common trope, people believe that's how reality works. (Also see: Eagleland Osmosis)

2. Technology is magic.

[erf_]

1 would have been a valid argument in 1995. A lot of these episodes aired in the late 2000s, in which everyone has a digital camera and puts footage of their cats on YouTube. You no longer have to be a specialist to get this stuff. The disconnect between TV and reality here is only plausible if you have been living in a cave for at least the past decade. And even then, I'm sure there are at least a few caves out there with wireless Internet.

2: I can understand the rationale behind thinking digital cameras work like Photoshop, but going back in time and rotating the camera 270 degrees asdfjadgfjhkdg. I'm pretty sure most of the photo lab stories on Customers Suck are from before digital cameras (or even cheap analog SLRs) became popular. Hardcore SLR users aside, who goes to a drugstore photo lab anymore, anyway? If you want to send photos of the last office party to your mom in this day and age you just put them on facebook.

[cougarfang]

It's amazing what assumptions lie undisturbed in the minds of people, especially if they have never had reason to question it. Even with full access to information, the connection between dots A and B... I don't know how to say it. People are not rational, and cannot think as analytically as they ought to, and most people don't introspect (or at least, not productively).

I was going to link you this entry, but you're not friends with her, so here goes:
before i took physics two years ago, i was guilty of a rather large error of cognitive dissonance

[elentiriel]

Yeah, photolabs do print out digital pictures, but you have to give them the .jpg file. I'm pretty sure they've been doing this since 2002 or even earlier, since I know the Taiwan photo labs have been giving me mini CDs of my passport pictures since 2002.

@erf: I go to drugstore photolabs! I like having hardcopies of photos, they make nice wall decorations or gifts. The nice thing about digital is that now you don't have to print out the entire roll of film and can now just buy 5 photos instead of 36.

[jqsilver]

http://i.imgur.com/WyoOL.jpg

You've probably seen this? I didn't realize it was part of a real episode. ;)

[erf_]

Real episode? That's the whole series right there. :(

I'd make a MacGyver joke, but it turns out MacGyver practiced this trope too.

[jqsilver]

I do have to say that I always believed it was possible to enhance like that when Batman did it. He has that super computer! And such a commanding voice!

[erf_]

That's because he's Batman. Batman has cameras everywhere. Invisible cameras.

[oddtodd]

for that first video: corneal imaging? more like corny imaging. haha.

I stopped watching CSI because after a while I kept expecting every empty box I came across to have a severed body part in it; not a good thing considering I work in shipping. Also, CSI gets by on pretending to do all of the thinking for you, so no one ever questions its "plausible science."

[erf_]

I can't imagine Half-Life is good for your sanity, either, what with all the crates. If I were you I'd be tempted to smash every box and pallet in site with a crowbar in search of health and ammo.

[oddtodd]

I cheat a lot in single player, so the constant search for health and ammo has never been much of a concern for me. hehe.