Free DME & DFIR Resources

It's the video millennium. Every modern mobile phone is a video camera and a video player. Video displays are everywhere, from taxicabs to endcaps. Webcams perch like pigeons on every major tourist destination in the world. So it's no surprise that video sharing has become an industry, and that legal controversy has followed. The Southern District of New York recently announced its much-anticipated decision in Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube Inc., 2010 WL 2532404 (S.D.N.Y. June 23, 2010), granting summary judgment in favor of YouTube. The decision breaks no new ground, but it continues a trend: Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, owners of copyrights to videos will have the burden of policing the internet.

Full story:
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202466695461

In an effort to make it easier for YouTube users to make changes to their videos after uploading them, YouTube is rolling out a brand new video editor.

Full Story

I was out in Tacoma, WA last week to teach our DVR Assessment & Video Recovery course, and to provide a free seminar on Digital & Multimedia Evidence for area prosecutors, law enforcement and support staff. It was a really great class, and as always the group discussions during both the class and the seminar were really interesting and informative. Thank you to everyone who attended for their participation, and many thanks to Kim, Chris, and the entire Tacoma Police Department for being such amazing hosts.

If you missed the free seminar, we’ll be back out that way to provide it again on July 8th at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center, in cooperation with the Washington State Homicide Investigators Association (WHIA).

If you’re interested in our DVR Assessment & Video Recovery training course, check out our upcoming training dates and locations or contact us to inquire about hosting one of our training events.

Thanks again everyone. Be safe out there my friends!

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. 

Sprint's recent roaming agreement with Verizon Wireless opens the door for many more potential customers, and products like this one are likely to get them to step on through that door. The Linksys Wireless G router for Sprint Mobile Broadband allows you to share your Sprint EvDO connection with others via Wi-Fi, and also serves as a full-duplex 10/100 switch.

Our all-new downloads area is LIVE and accepting uploads!  Registered members can upload files up to 100MB in size, and the new upload form will list all files the member has uploaded.  The files from our previous download library are still accessible via our Wiki and site search, but we've created all new sections and categories to make it easier to browse the new download library and did not import the old files into those listings.  When members log-in they'll also now find the 10 newest uploads listed on the community home page.

Speaking of the community home page, we've also added comments and "likes" to our community and user activity streams!  Now, similar to other social networking sites, you can comment on member wall posts, easily share URLs, and let members know you "like" their status or wall post.  Log in today to check out these and other new features.  -LC

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.

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

Still tweaking this one, but I think it simplifies adding and managing articles/posts for members and provides a place for each to have their own blog...how cool is that? Each member's posts are displayed in the "community blog" and listed on their profile's "My Blog" tab. Posts can be displayed by author, category, tag or (obviously) searched through our site search engine.

Additionally, visitors can subscribe to the Media-Geek blog RSS feed OR an RSS feed based on author, category, tag, etc... Sweet. Don't have your own blog? Now you do! Posts can be a single sentence to several pages. Images and videos are easily uploaded and embedded, and we're providing all the functionality you'd expect from a blogging tool. Trackbacks, stats, comments, feeds, tags, and more!

Easy to use and free for members, so what are you waiting for...share your thoughts already!

"Who, me?" Yes, especially you.

Back in August I announced we'd be launching DMEpod, and I later stated that I hoped to have the first episode out in October.  Well, that ain't happening so get over it...'cause we've got LIVE streaming coming your way baby!!!

Media-Geek TV will be streaming forensic multimedia news and training content 24/7, and DMEpod episodes will be cut from the channel and distributed via podcast monthly (or so).  All of the behind the scenes stuff is going to take some time to get worked out, so I'm personally setting January as our official launch date, but we're already loading and broadcasting content, and periodically running LIVE test events.

I've got to tell you, the testing is just plain fun, and I'm really excited to get others on board and contributing.   While the channel will predominantly feature pre-recorded content (and a growing on-demand library), the possibilities related to the LIVE event streaming are endless!  Think association, working group, or committee meetings...round table discussions...LIVE training with multiple instructors...LIVE interviews with industry vendors, engineers, and analysts...and so on. Geek or not, that is just plain cool.

 Maybe I'm a bit naive, but I'm sticking to the all volunteer concept, and hope you'll consider participating.

Less than two weeks away from the official launch, and I'm making some significant progress in what will be the new, secure member's area.  This area of Media-Geek.com will not be available to the general public, as its purpose is to provide a secure place for forensic media related professionals to share information.  Membership will be open to current or retired law enforcement forensic media related professionals and prosecutors.

The new members area will provide a number of "social networking" tools, such as secure community forums, file sharing, messaging tools, a community calendar, and more.  Members will be able to submit articles, news, event information, links, and other content to share with the group.  There will be a membership directory, and users can choose what information they'd like to provide (if any).  Members can create "Connections" or "buddy lists" and use Private Messaging (PM) to communicate with any member throughout the entire site. Want to receive an email or PM when there's a new post to a forum?  No problem.  Want an email when someone sends you a PM?  Can do.  Want to keep your email address private, yet allow members to send you an email?  We can do that too!