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Moments ago, I completed several updates and upgrades to the Media-Geek community. While most of them where behind the scenes type of stuff, there were some new features introduced that members might find interesting, such as:

• Photo and video support for groups - Group members can now upload photos and videos to be shared among fellow group members.
• Photo Tagging - Users can now tag their friends in any of their photos
• Community Content Sharing - Users can now easily share their videos, photos, group bulletins and discussions with all the major social bookmarking services (digg, delicious, Stumbleupon, etc) as well as social networks like Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, LinkedIn, and more!
• Friend Suggest - Users can instantly expand their network by adding friends with our 'Friend Suggest' tool
• Wall Post Notifications - Get notified when someone posts a new message or responds to an old message on your wall.

Various layout issues and minor bugs were addressed as well during the upgrade process, but as with all Web sites it will always be a work in progress. If you stumble across a problem or have a questions/recommendation, as always, simply shoot me a note or post it to the member forums. Thanks for participating!

If you believe what Apple is saying about the dying media format that is the CD/DVD (hence the lack of optical drives on the MacBook Air and the latest refresh of the Mac Mini), then you have to wonder why would a company still attempt to innovate the CD despite reports of its declining status. However, if you believe that optical media is still the best way to back up your data then perhaps the M-Disc might be something you could be interested in.

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By Elinor Mills

Microsoft is working on a patch to fix a hole in a 64-bit Windows 7 graphics display component that could be exploited to crash the system or potentially take control of the computer by running code remotely.

Full story:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20005420-245.html

Posted by Larry C. on behalf of James M. Kennedy.

The New York State Police Forensic Video/Multimedia Services Unit has approval to fill newly created positions in the Forensic DME Section and the Video Production Section of the Unit. Information on the first phase of hiring can be seen at the link below. Feel free to forward the link to anyone who you feel may have interest in the positions. Any questions and/or interest can be directed to myself using the contact information in the below email signature.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems every other week someone's releasing a new "SmartPhone" that's going to change the way you do business as a mobile professional. But in my opinion, when you peel back that slick new protective plastic and fire it up it's the same old thing. No new killer apps, nothing really new as far as functionality or capability, and more often than not each new "exclusive release" seems to have more bugs than your local landfill on a hot summer day.

How long have they been making "Smartphones" now anyway? Well, to be honest, that I don't really know. I can tell you this, my first Smartphone was a Kyocera QCP6035 that I picked up in 2000 or early 2001. I can't remember for sure, as I think I might have killed those brain cells banging my head on my desk while trying resolve the plethora of issues I've been having with the latest generation of Smartphones. Either way, I'm pretty sure it was one of the first available and can remember how giddy I was to be able to toss my cell and my Palm Pilot for one device.

The new Documents & Downloads library is quickly growing and we've recently added a new category for members to post Forensic related job opportunities, and their personal CVs if their currently looking to advance their career.  The new category is appropriately titled "Employment Opportunities & Member CVs". 😄

Media-Geek.com is just over two weeks old and we have over 150 registered members, with more joining every day.  If you're interested in a new position or your employer has a forensic video, audio, or image analyst opening, post your CV or the related position's details today! 

In a move aimed at cutting down on support call costs, Microsoft has released a malware recovery tool that boots from a CD or USB stick.

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Dept: 2233F

Position: Advanced Specialist 1 – Forensics (FOR) (TS6NP)

Title: Audio-Video Examiner

Specific Responsibilities:

Candidate will work within a fast-paced dynamic audio-video exploitation laboratory environment serving customers in the military, law enforcement, and intelligence community.

The position will be responsible for the forensic examination of audio and video, including the exploitation and enhancement of audio, video, and still images. The position will be responsible for providing results in finished products or detailed analytical reports. The position will require attendance at meetings and collaboration with internal and external resources to remain knowledgeable on rapidly evolving digital media technology.  The position will collaborate with software engineers to research, evaluate, test, and validate new audio and video forensic products.

Tableau President to Lead Dedicated Business Unit Focused on Forensic Software and Hardware

PASADENA, Calif., May 10, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Guidance Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: GUID) today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Tableau, LLC, a privately-held developer and manufacturer of computer forensic hardware. This acquisition extends Guidance Software's existing leadership in computer forensics technology by combining software with hardware for a complete forensic framework for the law enforcement, legal and corporate communities.

Read the complete press release: http://investors.guidancesoftware.com/releaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=468120

Among the announcements made at today's Google I/O keynote is WebM, a new open-source, royalty-free video format based around the VP8 codec intended for use with HTML5 video. The WebM project's goal is to develop "a high-quality, open video format for the web that is freely available to everyone." The project has the backing of Google, Mozilla, Opera, and numerous other companies. If it catches, on, it could settle the rift that currently exists with HTML5 video support, thus speeding up HTML5 adoption.

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General Dynamics is looking for an experienced audio examiner in the Baltimore area. The ideal candidate would have a bachelor's degree, several years of experience, and be able to obtain a security clearance.

Specific Responsibilities: Performs forensic analysis of digital information using standard computer forensics and evidence handling techniques, handles evidence, and conducts peer reviews of cases completed by other examiners and mentors less experienced examiners. Uses forensically sound procedures to identify network computer intrusion evidence and identifies perpetrators. Employs forensic tools and techniques to crack file and system passwords, detects steganography and recovers deleted, fragmented and corrupted data from digital media of all types. Observes proper evidence custody and control procedures, documents procedures and findings in a manner suitable for courtroom presentation and prepares comprehensive written notes and reports. Qualified examiners are required to maintain current knowledge of industry standards and practices as well as testify in Federal/Military court as expert witnesses.

Click here to view the official posting and further information.

Popular media player VLC has been pulled from Apple's App Store at the request of one of the program's original developers--in a move that's caused some hard feelings in the world of open-source software.

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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!