Forensic Photoshop

Experts in the news

2012-01-16T08:20:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting case involving expert testimony gone really wrong: "... With regard to the judge’s finding that the case was exceptional, the Federal Circuit said it was justified by the facts, explaining that MarcTec: “(1) acted in bad faith in filing a baseless infringement action and continuing to pursue it despite no evidence of infringement; and (2) engaged in vexatious and unjustified

Is Quality Assurance Important?

2012-01-13T08:29:00.000-08:00

Illinois seems to think that Quality Assurance serves an important purpose: "The Illinois State Police (ISP), Division of Forensic Services, Forensic Sciences Command employs a strict internal quality control program to ensure all ISP forensic scientists maintain proficiency in their forensic specialty and that the quality of their case work is consistent with our high standards. Through its

John Nack's response to the Creative Cloud issues

2012-01-12T07:51:00.000-08:00

Here's the post from John Nack on the Creative Cloud issues: "In November Adobe announced Creative Cloud subscriptions, a new combination of CS desktop apps, cloud services, and touch tools. Unfortunately, on the whole we’ve done a poor job of explaining the real benefits to customers, leading to considerable confusion & concern. I’m sorry for the pain that’s resulted. First, let’s be clear:

What is The Adobe Creative Cloud?

2012-01-11T07:44:00.000-08:00

In case you missed it, here's some info on The Adobe Creative Cloud: "The Adobe Creative Cloud consists of: •Desktop Applications — Every tool that is currently in Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection, such as Photoshop®, InDesign®, Illustrator®, Dreamweaver®, Premiere® Pro, After Effects®, as well as innovative new tools that are currently in beta, such as Adobe Edge and Muse. •Touch Apps –

Kelby talks about Adobe's new upgrade plan

2012-01-10T05:39:00.000-08:00

From Scott Kelby's blog back in November: "...it’s my understanding that when the next version of Photoshop and the Creative Suite is released, if you do not already own Photoshop version CS5 or CS5.5 (or the 5 or 5.5 Creative Suite): (a) You will not be eligible to upgrade to Photoshop CS6 (or the CS6 Creative Suite). Instead the only way to get Photoshop CS6 at that point will be to repurchase

Upgrading CS3 and CS4 to CS6

2012-01-09T05:36:00.000-08:00

This from Adobe: "We’re very excited about the upcoming release of Adobe® Creative Suite® 6 software and Adobe Creative Cloud™. CS6 will be a major new release of our creative desktop tools, with huge improvements for every type of creative professional. Adobe Creative Cloud will be our most comprehensive creative solution ever, giving members access to all of the CS6 desktop software plus

Judge cites 'unusual' issues, calls off sentencing for Spokane officer convicted in beating

2012-01-05T17:37:00.000-08:00

This just in from TheRepublic.com: "A federal judge on Thursday called off the sentencing for a police officer convicted of using excessive force in a mentally disabled man's death, citing "unusual" circumstances for the move. The order from U.S. District Court Judge Fred Van Sickle also paved the way for attorneys for police officer Karl F. Thompson to seek a new trial in the 2006 death of

I told you so

2012-01-04T05:45:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting article from the Hartford Courant. Here's a quote to set the stage: "The top two DNA scientists at the state's embattled crime lab have fashioned robust second careers as expert witnesses in criminal trials by racking up large amounts of compensatory time, then drawing on that comp time so they can pursue their side work on some weekdays." Where's the causality in this

U.K. shows way forward on expert accountability

2012-01-03T08:26:00.000-08:00

From the LawTimesNews: "... According to a recent Law Times story, Canadian lawyers are split over a British ruling that abolished the rule granting expert witnesses immunity from lawsuits (see “U.K. ruling spurs debate on expert immunity,” April 18). But on which side of the debate do the experts fall in the ensuing discussion over Jones v. Kaney? As an orthopedic spine and trauma surgeon who

Fingerprint evidence called into question again.

2012-01-02T11:50:00.000-08:00

From the New Scientist: "Fingerprints were once the cornerstone of forensic identification. Now a report into a miscarriage of justice has renewed pressure on print examiners to improve their methods, while two new studies reveal the extent of their fallibility. The results could change the fingerprint profession worldwide. The Fingerprint Inquiry was launched by the Scottish government after

Discrete Cosine Transform

2012-01-01T11:38:00.000-08:00

From MSU: "... Transform coding constitutes an integral component of contemporary image/video processing applications. Transform coding relies on the premise that pixels in an image exhibit a certain level of correlation with their neighboring pixels. Similarly in a video transmission system, adjacent pixels in consecutive frames2 show very high correlation. Consequently, these correlations can

Ill. Supreme Court: Police must preserve video evidence even in misdemeanor cases

2011-12-30T18:55:00.000-08:00

From the Chicago Tribune: "The Illinois Supreme Court says video has become so common in law enforcement that police must preserve it as evidence even in misdemeanor cases. The court upheld sanctions Friday in a case where police erased video of a drunken driving arrest. The defendant told prosecutors she intended to fight the charges and wanted the video, but police still followed their policy

JPEG Snoop

2011-12-29T19:16:00.000-08:00

I posted this to ImpulseAdventure's site to ask a question about JPEGSnoop: "Take a photo with your camera. Upload it to Facebook. Download it from Facebook. Run the downloaded image through JPEGSnoop. The software will show it as edited. Essentially, Facebook recompresses the image on your computer before it uploads it to their servers. Gone are the markers from your camera. Other than the

From North Korea, an Altered Procession

2011-12-28T21:32:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting piece of photo editing from North Korea courtesy of the NY Times. Enjoy.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T07:19:00.001-08:00

I want to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their support over the years. Here's to you. Happy Holidays! Enjoy.

Stanley Cup riot suspects await first day in court Wednesday Read it on Global News: Stanley Cup riot suspects await first day in court Wednesday

2011-12-14T05:16:00.000-08:00

This just in from GlobalBC: "...Looters stole $424,000 worth of merchandise from the store once the heavy-duty glass and security gate was smashed by the mob. Damage to the store was $225,000 and Powell said they are still working with the company’s insurers to see what will be covered under their policies. He said they have passed on their state-of-the-art security video footage to police, who

The murder of Police Officer Peter Figoski

2011-12-13T10:05:00.000-08:00

Here are a few stories about the senseless murder of Police Officer Peter Figoski: Why was he freed to kill? - NY Post editorial. Fallen Finest - NY Post. NYPD HERO COP KILLED BY RECENTLY-RELEASED VIOLENT FELON WITH A WARRANT - theblaze.com Post launches fund for hero cop’s daughters - NY Post Please keep the Figoski family in your thoughts and prayers.

New School Puts Modern Forensics at Afghan Police Fingertips

2011-12-12T19:25:00.000-08:00

From DVIDS Spc. Ken Scar: "Afghanistan took another big step toward autonomy Nov. 29 with the opening of the Afghan Criminal Techniques Academy and Laboratory. The ACTA will train Afghan law enforcement officers in the forensic disciplines, which to this point have not been widely practiced in the Afghan justice system. Figure 1: Afghan National Police member Mohammad Shafiq (right), an

Subjecting forensic analysts to cross-examination is good policy.

2011-12-05T19:21:00.000-08:00

From the NY Times: "ON Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Williams v. Illinois, the latest in a string of cases addressing whether the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause — which gives the accused in a criminal case the right “to be confronted with the witnesses against him” — applies to forensic analysts who produce reports for law enforcement. In other words, should an

Teamwork

2011-12-02T10:31:00.000-08:00

I was recently testifying about my work in downloading the contents of a cell phone's memory card. In these types of cases, the investigator will request certain actions be performed and (usually) a search warrant will grant me the authority to search ... as well as to define the parameters of the search. As the investigator is usually responsible for the warrant, (usually) the request terms and

Busy Busy Busy

2011-12-01T21:55:00.000-08:00

It's the busy season. School's wrapping up for the year, investigations are being finalized, and there's so much to do. On my to-do list for the month is a thorough testing of Kinesense, along with a review. I'm also working on a new set of give-aways for owners of my book. More on that later. In the mean time, enjoy the winter season.

Avid Media Composer 6 - wait for a bit

2011-11-14T05:15:00.000-08:00

For those considering updating Media Composer to version 6, wait for a bit and make sure that your system can handle the upgrade. MC6 is a 64-bit app. If your hardware is not 64-bit, stay with MC5.5 for now. Another thing to consider is that the Ocean Systems plug-ins for Avid Media Composer are 32-bit, and thus won't work with MC6. Enjoy.

Digital evidence becoming central in criminal cases

2011-11-11T17:56:00.000-08:00

This just in from MSNBC: "... Drew Findling, an Atlanta attorney and chairman of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Forensic Disciplines Committee, notes that e-evidence might just as easily create an unshakable alibi, which is why he routinely hires experts to examine equipment and data. “You want to have the equipment examined to determine the reliability, both from a

Best Practices - Quality Control Survey

2011-11-09T20:28:00.000-08:00

I putting together some stats for my PhD work. One of the issues that I'm addressing is quality control. In attempting to gather qualitative data, it's essential to get to the point quickly and to have specific questions that will yield specific results. One of the questions regarding quality control focusses on the qualifications of the person conducting the process. In other words, does the QC

Helpful shortcuts 3

2011-11-08T20:17:00.000-08:00

Often, it's desirable to group your layers in order to keep them better organized. Here's the quick and easy shortcut. Select the layers that you would like to group together (Cmd + click). Then, to group those selected layers, type Cmd + G. Enjoy.