Ankle bracelets aren't just the inexplicable fashion of the summer, they're a neat way of making sure people on parole don't do a runner before their court hearing. Electronic tagging allows police to keep track of people who are under house arrest or due to be charged, making sure they stay within a certain location, and acting as a GPS tracker if they don't. The technology was initially dreamed up in the 1960s, but wasn't brought into general use until 1983: because a judge saw it in a Spider-Man comic. Again, this is more inspiration than a strict prediction, but it's pretty nutty that a Spider-Man comic - a newspaper strip, no less - was the origin for something that's so widely used in law enforcement these days. Not only that, but the inventor was a supervillain: The Kingpin uses the device to keep track of Spidey wherever he goes, ensuring he doesn't meddle in any of his sinister plans. So at least you're in good company, criminals!
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
