Free DME & DFIR Resources

Yesterday I received my copy of the Adobe Creative Suite CS3 bundle, and although I just installed it I'm already very impressed. Adobe has made great strides with integrating their various design products, making it easier than ever to create, manage, and edit content for any medium. As a matter of fact, I've been using Adobe Contribute now for approximately five minutes with no prior experience, and I'm using it to publish this very post.

The chicken littles have been worried about this since long before the first Blu-ray (or even HD DVD) title was ever released, and the first step towards the analog sunset has officially come. Any new Blu-ray player announced after January 1st 2011 will only output HD via HDMI -- players that started shipping last year can still be sold until the end of this year though.

Full story:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/10/analog-sunset-begins-all-the-new-blu-ray-players-will-only-outp/&category=hd&icid=hd_eng_latest_art

$5.00/gallon? $10.00/gallon? Maybe Web meetings will be more socially acceptable in the business world when gas prices have completely crippled our economy and there's practically no such thing as a small business anymore. I, for one, certainly hope we don't have to wait and see.

Online meeting services are certainly nothing new, yet every time gas prices reach a new high they're all the buzz, and rightfully so. Unfortunately, after a few months of feeling like you're being robbed at the pump, they seem to slip off the to-do list for most. Why is that?

Johnny Cash. The Man in Black.

He wrote this song one day while in Binghamton, NY to do a show.

I'm pretty familiar with Binghamton, and can totally understand why Johnny felt this way on that day.

I felt this way a lot of days in Binghamton, and I know that courthouse pretty well too (Even the tunnel beneath it).

Anyway, life is about moments, my friends. Make the most of moments.

Sending ❤

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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From day one I have sought to provide a secure online platform for Digital & Multimedia Evidence (DME) professionals to connect and share information.  For several years now, I have considered hosting an annual DME Resources Peer Networking & Training Event.

Of course, one of the many challenges is location.  Our members are from all over the world, not just the U.S. and Canada.  Naturally, this lends to "Regional" annual events, which in turn leads to Regional Coordinators, etc. 

I was out in Indianapolis last week to assist with the LEVA Level 1 training course. Another great week of forensic video and DME training provided by LEVA, and hosted by the University of Indianapolis.

It was an action packed week both in the classroom and out with students learning and practicing DME fundamentals, and the City bustling with NBA playoff and Indy 500 activities. Thank you to LEVA, their staff, my employer Ocean Systems, and the students for such an incredible opportunity.

Safe travels home everyone and have a great holiday weekend!

It looks like Sony is on a roll with discontinuing legacy recording formats. First it killed the cassette Walkman last year, a few weeks ago it stopped producing MiniDisc Walkmans and now the company announced that it will no longer support the 8mm video format. The video cassette format that was popular way back in the 1980s will no longer get any new Sony hardware to run on.

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From The New York Times: Cabling Your Mac, By ERIC A. TAUB

A new cable from NewerTech simplifies the transfer of high-quality video from your Mac to an HDTV.

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Video technology combines footage from different cameras to allow people to see the same event from multiple angles.

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The Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC), which coordinates the development of standards and guidelines for the forensic science community under the auspices of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will hold its first set of public meetings in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 16 and 17, 2015. The meetings will include presentation and discussion of priorities for developing standards and guidelines for each forensic science discipline.

Full story

If you're responsible for recovering video evidence from DCCTV systems, be sure to check out our new class "DVR Assessment & Video Recovery". We'll be in WA, MD, TX and NY in the coming months. Hope to see you in class!

Training Schedule

Apple appears to have hit a home run with the new iPod touch, at least in theory. Basically, they've taken all the cool from the iPhone, and removed the requirement for related a monthly cell phone bill. How cool is that? Well, I'll tell 'ya, it's way cool if you didn't already buy the iPhone and get locked into a cellular contract.

Many who've already purchased the iPhone are a bit peeved, as not only are they locked into a cell contract with a carrier they may not have otherwise done business with, but they did so at $200 more than the iPhone's new price! At least Apple is offering them some consolation by sending $100 rebate checks out, but still...ouch.