Free DME & DFIR Resources

Wouldn't it be nice to see who else is logged in while you're online?  Well, now you can.  Check out the right-hand column on your profile homepage, and right under the "Status Center" you'll see a detailed listing of members currently logged in!

The Media-Geek.com Wiki is officially launched! Oh, Wiki you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind hey Wiki! Hey Wiki! Yep, I've officially lost my mind, but at least you didn't have to hear me actually sing that.

The Media-Geek Wiki is now available for our registered members, adding yet another way for members to share information, documentation, files, etc... One might think that a forensic community content management solution/system (CMS) with a multitude of additional content submission, categorization, and search abilities would be enough...but then, one would be wrong, wouldn't they?

Using a Wiki was one of the original concepts for this site discussed over three years ago while I was attending LEVA's Advanced Forensic Video Analysis & The Law course. Since then, there have been various tests and even a BETA launch in the summer of last year that was based on Microsoft's CMS product SharePoint. What it boiled down to was CMS or Wiki, knowing that both have advantages and disadvantages regardless of what product(s) or platforms you use. Then it hit me - why not both?

Apple has discontinued the "prosumer" Final Cut Express and its high-end Final Cut Server products in the process of its release of Final Cut Pro X earlier this week. And, to the surprise of no one, the complete restructuring of Apple's direction for its video editing software aimed at professionals has been met with loud criticism. But Apple plans to quickly improve Final Cut Pro X over time, addressing many of the complaints with incremental feature updates.

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I've been trying to find time to post a note about last week's LEVA conference since I got back, but have just been overwhelmed with the ever expanding to-do list.  It was really great seeing a lot of long time friends and colleagues and getting a chance to learn and network with them again.  The entire event seemed to go flawlessly, as always, in large part due to the tireless efforts of the LEVA volunteers (e.g. board & officers). 

Over the next few weeks, I'll be periodically performing some maintenance and upgrades to the Media-Geek platform.  As a result, the site may occasionally be unavailable for brief periods.  If you're unable to access the site for an extended period (e.g. several hours) or believe you've found a bug or error during this time, please notify me via PM (private messaging) or our contact form.  Be safe, and happy holidays to you and yours. - LC

January 26-29, 2010 the Corona Police Department will host the Ocean Systems training course "Forensic Video Analysis - FVA 101, Introduction to Forensic Video Analysis".

The learning environment consists of lectures and hands-on exercises designed to allow the analyst to become familiar with the dTective system while working on real cases. Class is limited to 10 students so click here to find out more and get registered today!

In CS6 we introduced a license-to-machine relationship that breaks many traditional imagining methods whereas a master image is serialized and then cloned.

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Apple is once again offering the previous version of its professional video-editing software after getting mixed reactions on a newer version.

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There have been a lot of updates and upgrades to the Media-Geek.com community over the last two months, but I just haven't had time to pat myself on the back after each one. :)  During some of these upgrades/updates I inevitably created a few conflicts and issues that I'll continue troubleshooting this week.  More importantly I wanted to make members aware that I'll be replacing our entire downloads area over the next week or so, which will be a lengthy process as I intend to verify each file, check versions on documents, and update links in our Wiki.  During this time, I've disabled user uploads to the Download area.  Users can still upload files to other areas of this site, to include the forums, Wiki, etc...  I'll restore the upload capability to our downloads library as soon as time permits.

HP made some big product announcements today that I've been patiently waiting for.  My patience is wearing thin though, as the two devices I am most anxious to get my hands on won't be out until this summer.  I was a bit peeved earlier when I heard that, but there's no doubt I'll wait rather than jump ship to another OS (he says as he writes this post from his original Palm Pre).

For those who have spent any time with all of the major mobile operating systems, it has been clear from day one webOS has the most potential.  True multi-tasking is a biggie, and nobody does it better.

Yes, I'll wait for the Pre 3 and HP Touchpad, but I'd better get a nice loyalty discount HP! 😉

Here's more (with video & pics) from CNET - http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20031111-1.html

LEVA has announced a special reduced pricing package to help government agencies meet their training requirements in these challenging economic times.

As of January 1, 2009, LEVA will bundle its prestigious 40-hour core training courses and others, providing significant cost reductions. All courses are conducted at LEVA’s Digital Multimedia Evidence Processing Lab at the University of Indianapolis, Indiana. Visit the LEVA Website for complete details.

I recently cut the cable TV cord with the assistance of the Tablo 4-Tuner OTA DVR, so I thought I'd share a few thoughts on it.

Over The Air (OTA) HDTV

First I'll point out that I don't watch a lot of TV, maybe a few hours a week; however, my family does, and likes to keep up with several TV shows. We've always been cable TV subscribers, both with Time Warner back on the East coast, and Comcast out here on the West coast. We've used the DVR hardware and services from each since they began offering the option(s).

Your move Apple: Google announced that they are changing Chrome’s support of HTML5 <video> to be, in Google's view, more friendly towards open development. The H.264 codec is being removed in favor of the Theora and VP8 video codecs as well as any higher quality, open codecs. The resources that were used on H.264 will instead be used in supporting these open technologies.

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