Free DME & DFIR Resources

Forensic Video Analysis - FVA 101
dTective/ClearID/Avid - 4 Days

Forensic Video Analysis using Ocean Systems dTective and ClearID is 4 day course that provides a comprehensive approach to your casework for both digital and analog video evidence with a primary focus on our the stream-lined workflows and digital media processing.   It is intended for anyone who is new to the field of FVA or persons who have not been formally trained using these tools. 

Among the presentations scheduled for LEVA's International Video Evidence Symposium & Training Conference are two that will focus on video and imaging in Iraqi combat operations.

Adobe has published its roadmap for its Flash browser plugin and its AIR desktop application counterpart. More releases, more features, and more performance, are all planned, but on fewer platforms: Adobe is giving up entirely on supporting smartphone browsers, sticking to the core desktop platforms for its plugin—and with a big question mark when it comes to Windows 8.

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Secure your hotspot or face a fine is the gist behind Westchester, NY's countywide law requiring all commercial businesses to secure their WLAN access points. Various news articles indicate that the state of New York is considering similar legislation (See ZDNet article dated 1/9/2007). Westchester's concern is "On these networks, there's unfettered access to confidential data, and we have a problem with that." Personally, I have a problem with county taxpayers funding the task of enforcing such nonsense.

Adobe recently launched their monthly subscription option in the U.S. for all of the software products, allowing users to pay-as-they-go for access to Adobe software.  The option has been around for Australian users for quite some time, and is now available to those in North America as well...finally!

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Assumptions can be dangerous things. Let’s say you assumed your software was displaying your AVI video file at the proper aspect ratio (ratio of width-to-height). Well, chances are pretty good you’d be wrong…no matter what software you’re using. What!? So the perp in my video evidence may be thinner and taller OR shorter and pudgy-er!? Yep.

Fact – the AVI file format does not provide a standardized way to report aspect ratio. Due to this shortcoming, applications cannot calculate the proper Display Aspect Ratio (DAR) if it is supposed to be different than the Storage/Sample Aspect Ratio (SAR). Therefore, applications "assume" a square Pixel Aspect Ratio (PAR) and display the video at it's SAR, even if that's not correct...which is generally the case when dealing with DCCTV evidence.

Moral of this story? Don’t assume.

Sunday evening I resigned my LEVA CFVA certification, and at the end of the month my DFCP will expire as well. Earlier this year I retired from active casework. No other reasons.

Most of my note to the current LEVA Board, staff & instructors was to thank them all for teaching & supporting me so much along the way, and inviting them all to be on & participate in my podcast...to promote their efforts and training (at least to my mom, our most dedicated listener). 😎

A great overview on the history of aspect ratio. I was going to link it to our library, but apparently I have to update the code for the Vimeo videos. Ugh. I'll get to it, just seems my to-do list is a bit like the NTFS $MFT...it only grows, never shrinks! ;)

The Changing Shape of Cinema: The History of Aspect Ratio from FilmmakerIQ.com on Vimeo.

This position is located in the Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS). The mission of the DFS is to provide high-quality, timely, accurate, and reliable forensic sciences services using best practices and best available technology, focusing on unbiased science and transparency, to enhance public safety and health.

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The site features images and other information about robbers in New Jersey and New York culled from security cameras over the past few years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/nyregion/25robbery.html 

The FREE Windows File Recovery app is in the news again this week, with The Verge, ZDNet and others reporting on this "new" utility/tool.

Although it's not "new", as it was released in January, you likely haven't had a version of their OS that can run it until recently, unless you're an insider or developer. It is command line tool, but pretty simple to use (think PhotoRec/TestDisk). It can be used to recover from internal drives, HDD or SSD drives, cameras, USB and flash card storage. You'll need Win 10 version 19041.0 or higher.

Who doesn't love free stuff? Even better, who doesn't love free stuff that actually works? Here's my Fab 5 list of Freeware programs, in no particular order. The quotes are from the respective Web site for each program. While I've found all of these programs helpful in one way or another, make sure you've read and understand my Web site Terms of Use before visiting any of these links.

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be attending this year’s 100th IAI Educational Conference in Sacramento, CA. This year’s conference is anticipated to be one of the largest, as it’s the IAI’s Centennial event. I will be there representing my employer, Ocean Systems, and we will be showcasing our latest Digital & Multimedia Evidence (DME) solutions in the event's Exhibit Hall.

For more information about the event visit the IAI 100th International Educational Conference web site. Hope to see you there!