07:27 – I finished the group of lab sessions on revealing latent fingerprints yesterday, and got started on blood. I think we’ll include only one or two sessions on revealing bloodstains. The problem is that, with the exception of Kastle-Meyer reagent, blood reagents are (a) extremely expensive, too much so for a kit, and/or (b) very hazardous, and/or (c) require specialized equipment like a forensic alternate light source, and/or (d) just don’t work very well. Meanwhile, stuff for the forensic science kits is starting to accumulate in large piles.
Barbara is taking a day off work to run errands and get some stuff done around home. She had a pile of mulch dumped in the driveway yesterday. I estimate there’s about 3,058,207 mL of the stuff. Right after the guy left, Colin ran over to the pile, sniffed it, grabbed a mouthful, and ate it.
If you want to grab any O’Reilly ebooks, today’s the day. They’re having a 50% off sale on all titles, and all of them are DRM-free.
I’d like to pick up a handful of books but I’m having a cash crunch at the moment. Short-term, I hope. That is, I hope the client on my recently completed contract sends the final check. It’s happened before, where everything is fine and payments are on time … until the last one.
The courts are about useless in helping a small business here. The amount is too large for small claims court, with its low filing fee and quick calendar, but not big enough to be worth giving $500 or $1000 up front to a lawyer on top of the $150 or so filing fee. And the one time I went the full court route, it took most of a year to see the judge. He wasn’t happy that I hadn’t
hired a lawyertithed to the bar association and wasn’t persuaded by my “I have a signed contract, copies of the invoices, and customer signature accepting the work. Why would I need a lawyer for something so straightforward?”. The judge suggested I settle for half of the outstanding amount as a compromise. I refused, holding out for the full amount, which pissed him off. I was “awarded” one third of the outstanding amount. And never collected a cent.Now, I’m not advocating going out and killing recalcitrant deadbeats or judges. But that’s only because I don’t want to raise a ruckus in someone’s else’s “home”.
(a) extremely expensive, too much so for a kit, and/or (b) very hazardous, and/or (c) require specialized equipment like a forensic alternate light source, and/or (d) just don’t work very well.
Not according to the CSI shows. You just spray the stuff from a cheap bottle, liberally of course, shine a cheap UV light, and you can detect blood in a moth fart. You also have a lab with the latest and most expensive equipment that money can buy, computer systems that can search 1 billion fingerprints in about 1.24 seconds, hack into any agencies computer, access all banking and credit card records (with photos) and really cool lighting in the lab.
Sounds to me like they’re deliberately promoting a society where Big Brother knows everything about everybody.
Well, luminol actually is pretty magical. Under ideal conditions, it can detect latent bloodstains that have been diluted to 1 part blood in 1 billion parts water. (In other words, literally half a teaspoon of blood in an Olympic-size swimming pool.) Hell, luminol has detected latent bloodstains after they’ve been washed off and then *painted* over.
What disturbs me about how television usually presents forensic science is that it trivializes the work of the folks who do it. With few exceptions, these people are dedicated, hard-working, inventive, and very, very smart. Making it look easy is a real disservice to them, and to the viewers for that matter.
You may be close Dave but I think it is a little bit different. I think that rather than promote such a society I think they are wanting the idiots in the U.S. (most of the population) to think they can get access to such information quickly. You banking records, phone records (including the recording of the conversation), access t your phone longs even though it has been burned, scan fingerprints in seconds, match DNA of everyone on the earth, and do all this from the comfort of a computer connected to the internet. They can also zoom in and enhance an image to get a license plate number from a reflection on a bumper with a cheap security camera. They also want you to believe they can access every security camera in existance, even those in the mom and pop coffee houses in real time. They can find a single hair on the floor in a motel room that leads to the victim.
And yes, people believe this. And I think that is done on purpose by the shows.
What disturbs me about how television usually presents forensic science is that it trivializes the work of the folks who do it.
I also don’t think that crime lab technicians go out into the field to make arrests or search buildings for suspects. That is left to patrol officers.
I think that Dave has hit on a truth about TV. Given that just about everyone has a cell phone these days, and many of those have GPS capabilities, it isn’t hard to believe that they can track people who do not think they are being tracked. As for the rest, when Star Trek first came out, we didn’t have flat screen TVs, and flip out communicators, or tablet like computers, and now we do.
I’ve long thought that many (most?) TV shows are nothing more than propaganda machines.
computer systems that can search 1 billion fingerprints in about 1.24 seconds
Well, my employer rolled out an upgrade to the FBI fingerprint system last year called Next Generation Identification. It can process 650k transactions/day, has 99% accuracy, and takes as little as 6 minutes to get a response. The old system did 200k transactions/day at 92% accuracy. The first day of parallel operations, it made 910 IDs the old system didn’t. The new system also stores latents, palm prints, and rolled fingerprints. It will be upgraded with more biometrics over time, including tests of iris and face recognition.
Great. Your job notwithstanding, doesn’t the government have something better to do than tracking our every move? It is not against the law to have foreign bank accounts, but you have to file all kinds of forms when you have over $15k in a foreign account, and/or, when you transfer more than $2k to a foreign account. why, WhY, WHY??
http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20120504/06511518781/paulo-coelho-ebook-sales-jump-way-up-thanks-to-099-sale.shtml
@SteveF
Been there. Suing isn’t the answer. Mediation is becoming a big deal these days, and thus judges are coming to expect compromise from both parties that they can just rubber-stamp–even if mediation is not involved. If you had contacted a lawyer, he probably would have told you that you could likely win the money, but collecting is a completely separate issue and would cost you more in legal fees than the award. I was just involved in preparing video for a case where several hundred thousand was awarded by a jury to the client of the lawyer I worked for. The case has been dragging on for 3 years; one of the principals even died; and now the losing party is refusing to pay the judgment. He is no spring chicken and could likely die before they ever pry the money from him.
Lots of judges are contemptible. The worst of them disagree with juries and reverse them. My lawyer dad used to get really upset when he heard that phrase oft-used by judges: the jury’s decision shocks the conscience of the court. Moreover, as you found out, they absolutely HATE people who go pro-se. The legal profession IS a brotherhood.
I only do work with 2 payments these days–1/2 up front before I will start the work, and 1/2 simultaneous with delivery of the work. I have found that any payment due after the work is delivered is considered discretionary by the company paying, and they will use the excuse that the work is somehow inferior to their needs in order to avoid paying. You cannot win that one–even with a lawyer. Never went to court, but I would feel much better when half the payment is on the line, rather than 1/4 or something smaller. It is too risky that the judge will do exactly what he did to you.
Also, if a deadline is involved, I tell them if they don’t meet the first payment deadline, giving me sufficient time to complete the project, then I will turn the whole project down. And I have. If they cannot meet that first deadline, there are sure to be other problems later.
One thing I was told early in my career, and I am a believer: charge a LOT of money for your work. When companies have to pay a lot, they have more respect for the person and their work. They are actually inclined to believe you are worth it–or why would they be paying you so much?
My son, whose work is all freelance right now, found that out. At my urging, he doubled what he had been charging, and the people from whom he got work at the increased rate, loved his work, and keep coming back. When somebody is responsible for paying a lot of money to you, who of them is going to tell their company that you aren’t worth it? On the contrary, they will be telling everyone how great you are.
And when you get paid a lot, my experience has been that they are FAR less likely to try to interfere with your work. It’s hands-off, because they fear they might screw up a high-cost item of work.
Thanks for the tips, Chuck. Much of what you said goes against logic and common sense, which is why it works on most people.
Excellent advice from Chuck there. I will pass it on accordingly to Mrs. OFD who charges too little and works like a demon.
“…you have to file all kinds of forms when you have over $15k in a foreign account, and/or, when you transfer more than $2k to a foreign account. why, WhY, WHY??”
Simple. So they know where they can latch onto it whenever they so deem it necessary.