Reality Bites and the ABC of Crime Investigation

I know it sounds like a broken record: the state of television programming is getting worse. Too much reality TV is a given. Arguably, the genre has reached its nadir with the aptly-named "The Moment of Truth".

When someone hits on a winning formula, everyone else seems to react by producing copycat programs. Witness the recent resurgence of the murder investigation genre: CSI, NCIS, Law & Order: SVU/CI, etc ad nauseum. Networks and producers are more willing to exhaust a "winning" formula than take a chance on something truly original.

What can be done? The average viewer doesn't have a lot of choice. All we can do is vote with our feet. I've decided to leave the TV turned off unless there's a program I think is worth watching. No more flicking through the channels in the hope of finding something interesting. The time saved not settling for mediocre viewing can then be spent on reading books, listening to music, writing, coding and blogging :)

Anti-Smoking Ads and Packaging = Visual Pollution

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for programs to get smokers to kick their habit. But it's a shame that non-smokers are subjected to quite graphic anti-smoking advertisements while trying to relax in front of the TV.

If you haven't seen them, and have a morbid curiosity to view the ads, here's a link to the YouTube search results for "australian anti-smoking ads". Warning: the images of smoking-related disease are graphic.

Fortunately, a quick zap with the remote can remove the offending images.

But another form of visual pollution can be found by the side of many suburban streets: discarded cigarette packets. These not only contain written warnings such as "SMOKING CAUSES LUNG CANCER", but they also contain snaps from those disturbing TV ads. Aargh!

Perhaps we should impose a deposit scheme on cigarette packaging? It (mostly) works for soft drink bottles. The deposit should be big enough, say $1, to give smokers enough incentive to cash-in the empty packs. And if this is not enough to stop smokers from littering, then having a large enough bounty should encourage others to pick up and return the packs.

Expensive Big Screen TVs - Why bother?

Like a lot of people, I watch TV. And I enjoy watching movies on DVD. But I don't see how I could justify spending over $1000 on a television set, let alone the multiple thousands that the latest whiz-bang, plasma/LCD/rear-projection big-screen sets sell for.

I hate to sound self-righteous, but if I need a new set, I'd rather spend under $1000 on a modest, "old-fashioned" tube set, than fork out upwards of $8000 on the latest and greatest. I could spend the money saved on a brand-new Apple PowerBook, and have more than enough money left over to buy a 60GB iPod. At least I could use the PowerBook to exercise my creativity, and even earn money.

It reminds me of the observation that people spend lots of money that they don't have, on things they don't need, to impress people they don't like.