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Apparently, the above Tweet has led some to believe that I am angry with LEVA.  I assure you that I am not.  You see, I build bridges, I don't burn them.  

Unfortunately, all things come to an end, and frankly I feel I've given all I can give for LEVA...physically, emotionally, and financially.

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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Several other things I should be doing on a Saturday morning, but I find myself anxious to continue this discussion. Maybe it’s because although multiple industry Best Practice documents talk about correcting Aspect Ratio, none of them discuss the proper way to do it. It could also be my new coffee maker, which I'm hypothesizing has increased my caffeine intake substantially, although I have not increased my coffee intake. Who knows. Anyway, let’s start by recapping Part 1.

Magnet Forensics launched the evolution of DVR Examiner today, Magnet WITNESS.  WITNESS includes all of the capabilities of DVR Examiner plus many new features, essentially creating a single solution to acquire, review, analyze and report on all of the video evidence from your case, regardless of source.  Proprietary DCCTV systems and files, cloud CCTV sources such as Ring & Arlo, MP4 & AVI exports from other sources such as in-car and body worn systems.

Unlike DVR Examiner, WITNESS includes the ability to create sub-clips, create synchronized previews, convert proprietary DCCTV files and more.  Learn more at https://www.magnetforensics.com/products/magnet-witness/

Free broadband Internet connectivity is definitely a good thing, but at the cost of others, not so much. Even though the issue of "stealing" bandwidth from unsecure Wi-Fi networks is still a grey area legally in most places, here are a few helpful tips on how help make sure your home wireless network isn't being used by the neighbors:

Two new features introduced this week allow members to easily share their profile with non-members, should they so choose.  Members can now choose if they'd like to allow non-members to view their profile by editing their profile options; the default is set to not allow non-members to view your profile.

Additionally, members can now create their own custom URL to their profile page.  The custom URL can be set right from the member's profile page, and can be changed to whatever you like (e.g. http://www.media-geek.com/larryc will bring visitors directly to my profile, which I've set to allow public view).  Furthermore, members can now choose as to whether they want visitors to their profile to be able to view their personal files/images via the associated settings tab when editing your profile.

On 2/5/2015 SWGDE released a new draft document for public comment; "Best Practices for the Recovery of Data from CCTV Digital Video Recorders".

"The purpose of this document is to provide advanced practices for data recovery from CCTV DVRs when the data cannot be recovered via the guidelines provided in the SWGIT Best Practices for the Analysis of Digital Video Recorders."

Visit www.swgde.org for further details.

A pair of researchers from Dartmouth University have devised a metric for quantifying how much a digital photograph has been altered by digital photo-editing techniques.

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Back in May of this year Google announced Wave at their developer conference, and the social Web has been buzzing about Wave frantically ever since. Some love the concept, others are unimpressed and have nothing positive to say; I refer to the latter as schmucks (just saying). So, personally, I see big things coming from this browser-based collaboration tool, but who knows when. If you're not familiar with Google Wave yet, check out this video.

Complete Omnivore Overview - 32GB Password Protected USB Video & Image Capture Drive - No Windows Administration Rights Required

June 13th, 1:30 - 3:00PM EST - Space is limited - Reserve Your Seat Now

Omnivore is a secured, password protected USB thumb drive that contains specialized capture software, which runs directly from the Omnivore drive. No installation or administrative rights are required to operate it. With Omnivore you can easily capture digital video and images into uncompressed formats directly from the system that recorded the media. Omnivore generates an easy-to-read capture report that documents your work.

Lots of fuss in the news lately about Smartphone encryption and 2 Factor Authentication (2FA). Maybe it's just me, but where have these people been the last decade or so? Smartphone encryption isn't new, it's just become more popular and convenient. Heck, chances are if your Android smartphone is less than 3 years old you already have the capability; it's just not turned on by default. But hey, Apple is going to provide it now too. Everybody panic!

With the successful completion of last week's Advanced Forensic Video Analysis & the Law course, LEVA is proud to announce that they have ten newly certified forensic video technicians! Click here for the complete list of LEVA CFVTs (PDF)