Free DME & DFIR Resources

A video I found interesting that was recently published by the Post Falls, ID Police Department:

Myths, Misconceptions and Realities Associated with Police Use of Deadly Force

by Stephen Shankland

Google has begun answering concerns that VP8, the compression technology it hopes will invigorate and liberate Web video, isn't as good as a rival.

Full story:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20006434-264.html

Need to download a web video from YouTube, Facebook, etc. Here are two Freeware tools that can help, one of which you likely already have. 

Let's make it a great Friday, my friends. 😎

In the last few weeks, we've added several new features and content areas to Media-Geek, and more are on the way. Some of these updates are specific to our members only area, while others are available to both the public and private sections of the site; such as our new customizable home page.

By default, the new home page displays recent articles from a few of our content areas, such as Member Articles, Media-Geek News, Larry C.'s Blog, and Newsflashes. Both members and visitors can change the number of articles that are displayed on the home page for each of these areas, and they can also re-order the way in which they are displayed using the drag-n-drop icon in the upper-right corder of the display for each area.

Do You Have a Blog or Podcast?

January was quite a month for technology enthusiasts, with MacWorld and CES showcasing tons of cool new gear and promising much more in the coming months. Video is taking center stage in 2007, as manufacturers and service providers dump research and development money into video like never before. While some of the major players are still sticking to their proprietary guns, it's refreshing to see that at least a few are doing the exact opposite.

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.

There's been a lot of yammering lately about facial recognition in criminal justice. So much noise that developers like IBM have walked away from facial recognition and agencies across the world are getting in hot water over its adoption & use.

Face Recognition Policy Development Template

The DOJ's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) published a policy template for LE agencies back in 2017 that you may find helpful.  Of particular note is the recommendation that the technology only be used for investigative leads, and that facial recognition results on their own do NOT establish probable cause and should NOT be considered positive identification. 

Common sense, many might say, myself included.

Access the PDF - Click here.

Make it a great day, my friends!

Although disc-based storage is not as widely used as it once was for digital evidence archiving, it remains a viable solution when properly implemented and managed. In fact, many of the world’s largest technology companies are using and/or exploring disc-based storage systems for long-term offline storage of petabytes of customer data (e.g. Facebook uses 10,000 Blu-ray discs to store 'cold' data). They do so, however, in a managed environment with a thorough understanding of the medium’s strengths and limitations.

Many in law enforcement use write-once disc-based media for MASTER evidence storage, as it continues to be recommended via various industry best practice documents. Unfortunately, not everyone involved in the evidence chain understands the limitations and best practices as they relate to the care and handling of disc-based media. Adhesive labels, permanent markers, and ballpoint pens have destroyed more evidence than I care to even think about.

The Journal Gazette reports that the Fort Wayne police have released security video from an armed robbery that occurred last week at the McDonald’s at 1103 Goshen Ave. in Ft. Wayne, Indiana

The video is available on YouTube and is also playing on our home page. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 436-7867 or 1-800-237-7867. All information is confidential.

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).

At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show today, Intel announced the release of its new series of processors, codenamed "Sandy Bridge." Loaded with features catering to games- and video-hungry users, the changes reflect that fact that consumers are responsible for 66 percent of Intel's revenue, a reversal from 2000, when enterprise consumers provided 71 percent of revenues.

Full story:
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/26226/

Apple has released the anticipated OS X 10.6.7 update, after weeks of developer build seeds that were issued with no new features or fixes. The update is available in the normal versions of delta and combo updaters for both the client and server versions of OS X, and should be available via Software Update for most people. This update is especially important for owners of the new 2011 MacBook Pro systems because it addresses a graphics bug that caused hangs and crashes under heavy graphics load.

Read more: 
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20045613-263.html#ixzz1HIA7YZN5

I just returned from another great week of DME training at our office out on the east coast last week. One of the themes I've come to recognize through my travels teaching the fundamentals of DME Processing, is that even some of the most seasoned technicians and analysts don’t really understand the significance of hardware to accurate and proper processing of DME. It’s completely understandable why, given the marketing messages of some DME vendors, the fact that we're all constantly asked to do more with less, and the rate of related technological advancements.