You know how in TV shows, when they want to show a phone number, it always begins with the “555” prefix so that it won’t accidentally reflect a real number? Well, now it’s moved on to IP Addresses as well. Not the number “555,” but something less noticeable unless you know about IP addresses. On CSI Miami–a few times, so far–they’ve shown “IP Addresses” on-screen, and I always get a giggle out of them. Their addresses always read something like, 631.260.356.0. Which, if you know about IP, is an impossible address. Each of the four numbers in any IP address is 8-bit, which means they range from 0 to 255. So any number above 255 is impossible, you never see it.

Which is not the only thing they fake. The techno- and forensic-babble on the show might sound legit, but wait till they stray into an area which you know something about. Suddenly they’ll look ridiculous. Like when they so easily “lift” separate sounds from a recording. “Get rid of that voice talking over the other voice in this recording,” Hiratio will instruct, and with a single click-and-drag, the CSI will easily accommodate–in a ridiculously impossible task.

Mixed in are a few real things, to give it the sheen of legitimacy–like a laser-produced virtual keyboard.

Addendum: my father tells me that a lot of prosecutors are having to fight what is called the “CSI Effect,” essentially juries who’ve watched and believed the shows too much, and expect far too much from the forensics that the police are actually capable of achieving in reality.