Wow, who'd a thunk it. We're officially 400 strong..."and groooowing"! That would've been hilarious if you could hear me sing it. Well, maybe not. Anywho, a big thank you to everyone for their support and participation in the Media-Geekcommunity so far!

A small investment of time and knowledge from a great many, typically far exceeds the value of a large investment of time and knowledge from a select few; some of you have already helped to prove that point here. On behalf of myself and all of the other members who have benefited from your contributions to our community, thank you! (I know, you would've preferred cash. No need to write in and tell me.)

One of our members notified me yesterday that a file which had been uploaded to our site contained a signature associated with a known Trojan.  As soon as possible, I verified using multiple tools and removed the file from our server (H264Player.zip).  Always scan ALL downloads and attachments for malicious code, regardless of perceived source.

From day one I have sought to provide a secure online platform for Digital & Multimedia Evidence (DME) professionals to connect and share information.  For several years now, I have considered hosting an annual DME Resources Peer Networking & Training Event.

Of course, one of the many challenges is location.  Our members are from all over the world, not just the U.S. and Canada.  Naturally, this lends to "Regional" annual events, which in turn leads to Regional Coordinators, etc. 

One of our members brought to my attention that the blog post form wouldn't allow you to save and publish your post.  Eventually, I found the reason and resolved it this morning.

You may have seen in a recent newsletter that we're cleaning up our database over the next few weeks.  If you missed that notice here's the skinny - we will be deleting all user accounts that have been inactive for more than 6 months.  If you have logged in within the last 6 months you're good to go; if not, you'll probably be deleted.  Any questions or concerns, as always, feel free to contact me.  Thanks for participating and have a great holiday weekend!

Any member OR visitor can now leverage the new Bookmark feature incorporated into my Downloads & File Sharing area.  

Self-explanatory really, but just to clarify Bookmarks are essentially favorites. 

There is now a favorites/Bookmark feature in the Download & File Sharing area...and you don't need to be logged in to use it. 

If you haven't already, next time your surfing the glorious WWW on your mobile device stop in and check out dmeresources.com. Although I'm still tweaking for various display sizes, browsers, etc...the entire site, including our Professional Community, is mobile device friendly!

Log on and look up information in our Wiki, Forums, or Downloads right from the scene. When you do, be sure to try both the "Desktop" and "Mobile" versions of the site in your mobile browser to see which one works best for you and your device (you'll find the link at the bottom of the site when browsing from your mobile device).

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or recommendations. And remember, registered members of our community can now log in and submit a trouble ticket if something doesn't seem to be working right for you. As always, thanks for your valuable time and participation!

Or something like that. Listen, I play fair and expect you to do so too. You're grown adults, most of whom are in law enforcement and/or government, which in my personal opinion sets a higher bar for your behavior.

Downloading It All...So I Never Have to Pay You Again!
My terms don't prohibit it, so if you're a bit type A or even a complete ass, knock yourself out. Remember my terms of use though, the ones that have rarely changed. Share & Share Alike. You must prominently attribute DME Resources as your source.

I'm not going to write the entire damn terms out here or document the Creative Commons licensing you've agreed to. I'm fairly certain you can read and click the links. What I will say is that if you're building your own database and storing all the available files and information from here for it, you'd better be intimately familiar with your legal obligations.

Also, what the hell do you have against me making a living? A cup of Starbucks coffee each month is too much for 20 years of my time, knowledge & experience coupled with our collective knowledgebase? You see me as a greedy, arrogant ass? If so, do us both a favor and don't renew your subscription. I don't need more people like you in my life. Just sayin'.

Thanks for understanding, and good luck out there my friends.

I recently completed an upgrade of our DCCTV Wiki and wanted to announce some significant changes that I've implemented. First and foremost, the Wiki is no longer a private members-only resource. Effective immediately, I have also migrated DME Resources and the Wiki to a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Previously the Wiki was only available to our over 1,800 verified Professional Community members. Interested parties that do not meet our Professional Community membership requirements are now welcome to participate in the DCCTV Wiki.

It's been a long time coming, but with the recent upgrades and layout changes I was finally able to bring back our popular DME Resources Map.

The DME Resources Map allows members to add markers for their agency or organizational resources related to forensic multimedia analysis. Visitors and members are then able to easily locate nearby DME resources that may be able to assist them.

Add your agency or organization's resource today!

This past weekend I migrated the entire DME Resources site to a new platform and updated multiple components, including member profiles, member chat, member messaging, our HelpDesk and Downloads. A few new features:

• More Mobile Friendly! Several mobile browser fixes & tweaks.
• Added "My Inbox" tab to profile, so member can easily see latest messages.
• Added "HelpDesk" tab to profile, which lists any Trouble Tickets submitted and their status.

Several balls in the air and many exciting DME projects in the works that have been keeping me busy lately. Here's what I'll be working on for the DME Resources site over the holiday weekend:

I'm just back from a week of vacation, all of which was literally spent moving into our new home...a block and half away. Ugh, what a process. With that behind us now, I'm excited to get back to work on the DME Resources online training library!

I will be completing the Navigating & Using DME Resources training course over the 4th of July weekend, and we're still on schedule to launch the first DME related courses prior to the end of summer.

If you or your agency have a DME related topic or tool that you'd like additional training on, shoot me a note and I'll see if I may be able to help (or at least put you in touch with someone who can). Thanks for your continued participation and interest. Have a great 4th of July weekend everyone, be safe!

Can you believe it's been nearly 6 years since Media-Geek's official launch? Over 1,500 verified members worldwide, and together we've helped to expedite thousands of investigations. A true testament to what can be accomplished through open information & resource sharing within our disciplines.

In With the New
Earlier this year I started my own DME & IT consulting business, and on November 1st I will be launching my new business portal DMEresources.com.

http://media-geek.com/images/myblog/QuickWave-Multi.jpg

Over 20 proprietary DVR players were added to our downloads area this week, along with a few proprietary codecs and other resources.  The DVR file extension listing was updated to include nearly two dozen additional listings as well.

We hope you find these updated resources helpful.  Next time you come across a proprietary codec or player that's not listed on Media-Geek be sure to take a minute when time permits to share it with us.  Thanks for participating!  All the best - LC

Here are the currently supported file types for uploading to our Downloads area:

The first module in the very first course published to my new online training library is in the books! The course is on learning to use DME Resources. It will provide a basic overview of DME Resources through five training modules, the first of which is titled "Introduction and Overview". I should warn you, there's a quiz at the end, but I'm giving you two shots at passing it due to the level of complexity. ;)

Navigating & Using DME Resources Training Course

Today I’d like to say Happy Anniversary to the 1,700+ verified members who continue to participate in our growing professional community. In honor of Veterans Day, I’d also like to share with you one of my favorite speeches regarding service to our country.

Can you believe it?  An entire year has flown by since I launched the Pro Upgrade subscription model.  Thank you to all who have subscribed & all who continue to participate!

I'm honored to be in a position where I can help facilitate secure information sharing, and such a powerful collective knowledgebase. 

Renewing Your Subscription Is Easy

Log-in, go to your profile (click the control panel link), go to the subscription tab.  For your convenience, I've pasted a few related KB articles below.

• How to Register with DME Resources
• How do I upgrade my subscription?
• Can my agency or I pay by check?
• How do I generate an invoice (a.k.a. Payment Slip)?
• Completed W-9 Form - Larry A Compton Tax Payer ID
• Do you offer any discounts on the Pro Upgrade subscription?
• Do you offer Organizational Memberships?
• Do you sell advertising or Corporate Sponsorships?
• Will the Pro Upgrade Annual Subscription Auto-Renew?

Let's keep on doing what we do, my friends; solve problems, help people.  I'm honored to work with you.  Be safe out there!

"I feel so lucky to get to be the person to thank you..., on behalf of a world of people seeking free knowledge." - Wikipedia Executive Director

Members helping members.  Let's do this!

I donated to Wikipedia again today as they're in the middle of another fundraiser.  They're an independent, ad-Free non-profit.  No sleezy marketing, covert data collection, persuasive technologies to get or keep you, etc.  Very similar to what I've always tried to do with my websites and resources online. 

I'll be the first to admit that I've been slacking on keeping members up-to-date here the last couple of years, as I was traveling extensively to do what I love; teaching & sharing information with other DME professionals around the world, among other life changes/challenges. One thing the pandemic has facilitated for me is the opportunity to be more active here again, and I've been doing my best to take advantage of that time.

Subscribe to our "DCCTV & Digital Video Evidence Processing" Forum Category

Whether you're a new verified member or have been a member for many years, consider logging in to subscribe to our single most helpful Community Forums category. Doing so will provide email notifications of new topics or requests for assistance to that category. No ads. No marketing. No invasive technologies. That'll never change. Just members helping members, which has always been free. Be safe out there my friends!

Earlier today I deployed a new Members-Only chat system for our professional community members. Once a member logs in they'll find a small chat bar in the lower right-hand corner of their browser. Now members can immediately know who's online, chat one-on-one with them, or even invite members to a group chat by simply clicking the invite button next to their name. Do you use Skype? Great, click the chat settings icon (gear icon) and enter your Skype ID; now members can quickly click-to-call you via Skype video too!

Like all DME Resources content, Members-Only chat is served via a minimum of a 128-bit encrypted connection; 256-bit in many cases. For those occasions when you're not feeling very social, you can click the settings icon and deactivate the chat feature. Give it a go and let me know your thoughts. As always, thanks for your participation!

I'm not forcing it, but I strongly recommend it for any site, app or service that contains any of your personal information; Two-factor Authentication (2FA).  

Just a heads up that I will be doing some planned maintenance on DME Resources this weekend, so the site may be momentarily unavailable at times throughout the weekend. I will be adding some new functionality to provide users with more control of their content, along with a consolidated area where they can manage content and preferences.

As always, if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact me. Thanks for your continued participation. Have a great week!

The DME Resources site will be unavailable periodically due to scheduled maintenance throughout this coming weekend, April 11th & 12th. The site may be unavailable for hours at a time as core upgrades are implemented and tested.

As always, should you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your valuable time and continued participation!

It has been an amazing and incredibly busy summer for me and my family. I briefly mentioned in a previous post that we moved at the beginning of summer, which was entirely unplanned by the way (!), and no sooner than that was behind us more curve balls were thrown our way. We’ve been so busy swinging as hard as we can to try and knock those balls out of the park that it’s impacted how active I’ve been here on DME Resources. The short of it is this, I am still committed to our online training library and hope to be posting regularly here again soon. With that said, two quick topics to discuss.

I finished some major updates to the site last night, including upgrading to a newer, faster core database.  I also updated our DCCTV Player Library to include new features, better performance, and better layouts.  In doing the latter I was reminded of Joe Fragomeni's significant contributions to our DCCTV Player Library, and his continued contributions here and elsewhere to the entire multimedia evidence community.

Thank you so much, seriously.  ? 

Listeners are up by double digits for our podcast this week already, patrons by a single digit.  And get this, some of our family still hasn't even heard the show yet.  We don't advertise.  We don't want to.

How Can You Help?
You already have!  Seriously, if you're reading this, you have.  If that's not enough, consider joining us in the following experiment:

• Do NOT share our show or Patreon Community via Social Media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, whatever else the kids do these days)

It's how we roll.  We want to take the long road, thank you.

Word of Mouth
It's what we're banking on.  It works.  It attracts those that are most likely to absorb, laugh, teach, and learn together.  Suddenly, it's spreading like an infection, if you will.

Open minds.  Minds willing to work together to solve problems, not blow on about how they did it all themselves.

No, You Didn't!
You didn't do it all by youself, more than likely.  There are few things in this world that we get to accomplish all by ourselves.  

I'm not taking away from your greatness by saying that, but you are not the only reason you're great, jackass.

Just sayin'.

Smile More, It's Contagious 
You want to know what's infectious?  Laughter & Love, my friends.

That will always catch on.

Hoping you & yours are safe, and surrounded by love during this pandemic.

Let's just do what we do, and try to make it another great day for those around us. Cheers! ?

Hidy ho my fellow digital forensicators! I wanted to type up a quick post about searching DME Resources for information on proprietary file extensions, players/viewers and codecs. Before the tips though, thought I'd mention that our Professional Community is now well over 2,000 verified members! Thank you to all of those who have and continue to contribute to our collective knowledge!

Now a few tips on searching our resources...

Earlier today I completed upgrading our Online Training Library and our members-only Chat system. The most significant changes are a new Instructor Control Panel for the training library, and permissions related changes to our members-only chat; registered Students no longer have access to our chat system.