Free DME & DFIR Resources

If you have a PSP and aren't using its video playback capabilities other than via UMD, you're missing out on one of its best features. The PSP can basically serve as your personal wide-screen video player, which comes in quite handy for those who travel frequently. A 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo card can hold several hours of good quality video and still have room for your music, pics, etc.

The only problem with this is that the PSP is very finicky with regard to MP4 files. It'll balk on image sizes, frame rates, bit rates, file names, file locations, and just about anything else you can think of. And to top it all off, each firmware release for the PSP seems to handle things differently. But then again, I suppose if it were a simple standard process that remained consistent, Sony wouldn't be able to market and sell software to manage this process for you (a.k.a. PSP Media Manager).

Adobe has officially announced that Adobe CS5 will be released on April 12th, 2010.
Visit http://cs5launch.adobe.com/ for more information.

In Steven Levy's classic, sprawling, rapturous ode to the birth of the hacker movement, the book Hackers, Captain Crunch is a bit player--a hacker who took his name from the toy whistle available free in boxes of Captain Crunch When blown into a pay phone, this whistle could be used to make free long distance calls.

Full story:
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/26111/

Microsoft has opened its C++ AMP specification so it can also be used by non-Microsoft compilers to harness the power of GPUs (graphics processing units).

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Apparently, the above Tweet has led some to believe that I am angry with LEVA.  I assure you that I am not.  You see, I build bridges, I don't burn them.  

Unfortunately, all things come to an end, and frankly I feel I've given all I can give for LEVA...physically, emotionally, and financially.

The Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence (SWGDE) is pleased to announce posting of the following fourteen new draft documents for public review and comment at https://www.swgde.org/documents/draft-released-for-comment

• SWGDE Best Practices for Acquiring Online Content (21-F-001-1.1)
• SWGDE Best Practices for Apple MacOS Forensic Acquisition (23-F-005-1.0)
• SWGDE Best Practices for Digital Forensic Video Analysis (18-V-001-1.1)
• SWGDE Best Practices for Drone Forensics (21-F-002-1.1)

A couple weeks ago I was up in Vancouver to teach Ocean Systems’ DVR Assessment & Video Recovery training course, which was hosted by the Vancouver Police Department. Many thanks to our host agency and students, as it was another great week of training and information sharing. Next week I’ll be in Miami to provide a free seminar on Digital Video Evidence on Monday morning, followed by our 3-day DVR Recovery training course which will run Tuesday through Thursday.

My search for a high-definition camcorder came to an end recently with the purchase of a JVC Everio GZ-HD5.

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

A peer recently shared this article, as he is one of the co-authors, and I personally feel it contains vital fundamental information for those who testify as Forensic Experts.  Hope you find it helpful.

"The following material was revised from an original article, “Survival Checklist for Medical Experts,” written by Deputy District Attorney Michele McKay-McCoy, Solano County District Attorney’s Office. With her permission, it was revised for forensic experts by Deputy District Attorney Michael S. Groch, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, and Deputy Attorney General Robert M. Morgester, California Department of Justice."

Survival Checklist for Forensic Experts (PDF) 

Back in the days when mechanical hard drives with spinning platters were the norm, you could simply hand your old hard drive to a deserving relative or friend as an upgrade, get a thank you, and call it a day. It’s not so simple with today’s solid-state drives.

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Turns out I may just know a thing or two about Mass Video Evidence Collection & Processing.  Who knew? 😎

I have worked several cases that were comprised of thousands of hours of video evidence collected from dozens of sources, including the Vancouver Stanley Cup riots.

Forensic Video Analysts from around the world were brought to Indianapolis to work together, and although I wasn't there, I was responsible for supporting the infrastructure and solving the DME workflow issues that couldn't be resolved efficiently on-site.

Here's one that flew in under my radar.  I do recall some discussion about the related working group's creation a few years ago, but somehow completely missed the July, 2010 release of their document.

Learn more about this Homeland Security project by visiting their website:
http://www.safecomprogram.gov/SAFECOM/currentprojects/videoquality/videoquality.htm

Check out version 1.0 of the guide itself here:
http://www.safecomprogram.gov/NR/rdonlyres/5BCA1CBF-1500-4B29-9370-81B823575DE8/0/3aVideoUserRequirementGuidedoc.pdf

P.S. - Thanks to Mike Baker for bringing this one back into my radar.