Free DME & DFIR Resources

Oh yeah, things just got real. Sharp has announced an industry first today, with its 720p-recordin' 3D camera module. Intended for mobile devices like smartphones and point-and-shoot digicams, this miniature wonder will be sampling in July and hitting mass production before the end of the year.

Read the full story & Press Release:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/sharp-busts-out-worlds-first-3d-hd-camera-for-mobile-devices/

Digital video evidence is coming at law enforcement agencies hard and fast, and both the pace and quantity of digital video evidence continue to increase exponentially. There are so many digital video sources, each with unique challenges and issues when it comes to proper evidence collection, viewing, interpreting, presentation and management of the evidence. Training is critical for all of those involved in the entire chain of evidence, especially in a field or discipline that is constantly changing and evolving.

If you’re involved in the digital video evidence chain, below are a few training events that I’ll be at next month that you may find interesting. Hope to see you there!

May 13-15, DVR Assessment & Video Recovery, Burtonsville, MD

May 19-23, LEVA Level 1 – Forensic Video Analysis & The Law – University of Indianapolis, IN

It's after 4:00 am in the morning and I'm writing about codecs.  That isn't right.  Just curious what lossless video codecs others are using or have used and/or compared for forensic screen capture?  I'm sure the most common answer will be TechSmith's TSCC, but there are others out there that work quite nicely and are priced just right....FREE.

I posted a new member poll on the topic, which you'll find on the right-hand side of your profile page.  Also recently added the free LZO and GZIP based CamStudio codec to our files & downloads library and have been fiddling with some others.    Are you using something else, or do you prefer to keep all captures uncompressed?

Locating forensic DME resources just became a bit easier with the introduction of the Media-Geek Forensic DME Resources Map. Several DME related geo-tagging resources are currently being developed, to include a Media-Geek membership geo-tagging feature. Members are encouraged to log-in and update the contact information in their profile, which now includes an option for permitting inclusion in the membership maps.

Headlines bemoaning the possible delay and dismemberment of Apple's Final Cut Studio are becoming a mainstay of the Mac press. Which would be fine, if there was any substance to the story.

Full Story

By Elinor Mills

As planned, Microsoft released a fix on Monday for a critical Windows vulnerability that was being exploited by a fast-spreading virus and other malware.

Full Story:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20012386-245.html

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!

You can just press play if you want to, but if you're forensically processing evidence, I wouldn't advise it. Know the playback software, as it is just as important to proper playback and interpretation as the hardware. Take Windows Media Player, for instance.

In the following video I discuss a few quirks about Windows Media Player v12, a shortcoming of the popular metadata tool MediaInfo, and more.

Today, after nearly fifteen years of developing personal & business Web sites, I'm launcing Media-Geek.com. While Media-Geek.com will certainly serve as the successor to my personal business site (larrycompton.com) and I am always excited when deploying a new site or layout, I am even more excited about the community-based functionality that is to come.

I should point out that this is a pre-launch of Media-Geek.com, which allows me the opportunity to test the various components and functionality in the exact environment where it will be fully deployed.  All of the content from my previous site(s), as well as a ton of additional functionality will be published with the official launch.  While there won't be any parades, balloons, or free donuts, the official launch is scheduled for Monday, February 11th.   Thanks for visiting...stay tuned!  😎

Registration...

Adobe is currently investigating what appears to be the inappropriate use of an Adobe code signing certificate for Windows. We plan to revoke the impacted certificate on October 4, 2012 for all software code signed after July 10, 2012.

Full Story

Disappointed by the lack of support for multiple displays and OpenCL in embedded GPUs these days? Then AMD may have just made your day. It's just debuted its new "desktop level" Radeon E6760 discrete GPU, which packs both OpenCL support and Eyefinity-enhanced support for no less than six independent displays. 

Full story:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/02/amd-debuts-first-embedded-gpu-with-support-for-opencl-and-six-di/&category=classic&icid=eng_latest_art

Until about two years ago, it wasn't that often that I’d encounter Variable Frame Rate (VFR) video evidence, unless of course the case included video recorded by mobile phones. Times, they are a changing my friend.

DVR/NVR manufacturers are leveraging the advantages of VFR more often these days. And why shouldn't they be, especially when we’re seeing even the high-end professional video recording equipment start to use VFR more frequently. Throw in the want/need to get to Ultra HD before the next guy, and suddenly you've got a decent argument for VFR.

The new Media-Geek.com members area is officially open, and I'm really pleased with how the pieces have neatly snapped together so far.  There's still a lot to do, particularly in the way of tutorials and documentation, but all of the core functionality that was planned for the official launch (and even some that wasn't) is up and running.

The most recent additions to the new members area are the new Video Library and the Forensic Community Events Calendar.  These are two of my favorite features so far in the members area and, as geeky as this sounds, I'm really thrilled that they were ready in time for the official launch. Additionally, with Brad Doell's approval, I've added direct access to the FVA list through the members area.  Thanks again Brad!

If you're a registered member who wants to hit the ground running, check out the Getting Started tutorial.