Several articles caught our attention this week, as we admit, we’re a bit all over the map preparing for the upcoming holiday. Click the headlines for the full articles. So by category:
Frightening: Human Fat Trafficking
Peace FM
Four people have been arrested in Peru on suspicion of killing some 60 people to sell their fat and other human tissue to Italian co-conspirators for cosmetic use in Europe, authorities said on Thursday.
The suspects were arrested in central Peru this mo... Read Full Story
From our friends at Cnet: This year’s:
Top Five Smartphones
Rank
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor
Apple iPhone 3GS 32GB
Palm Pre
Motorola Droid
BlackBerry Bold 9000
BlackBerry Curve 8900
Lowest Price
$299.00
$149.99
$199.99
$479.98
$399.00
Your Checklist:
Cost effective?
Compatible?
Ease of Use?
Secure?
... Read Full Story
One of the most common assignments we receive is for a subject locate. Usually generated from attorneys, insurance companies, financial institutions (as, as you know, we do not work for individuals), BNI is often asked to locate:
- Adverse Witnesses
- Cooperative Witnesses
- Debtors
- Clients
- Heirs
The difference between a successful locate and an expensive failure is how much attention and care is given to a case. Obvious, right? But it has to be the right attention, which is a tight fo... Read Full Story
Every attorney has his/her own intake survey (generally varying by incident type) and method of working a case. Below are several situations that our (BNI Investigations) investigators have experienced in the field, and recommendations based on these incidents. We hope these observations serve a proactive purpose in keeping a case in check.
1. Your client’s emergency contacts.
Situation: On numerous occasions we’ve had to locate a client that has moved without notifying his/her... Read Full Story
We welcome our newest partner, retired NYPD detective, John Brown, to the BNI team. After 23 years on the job, John decided to exercise his retirement option and shift to the civilian equivalent of his police force investigative position. We have been anticipating John’s arrival for several years, and in doing so, he has become very familiar with our SOPs. Once again, welcome aboard, John!
On to this week’s Bulletin.
It’s time to ”winterize” our firms/compan... Read Full Story
“Google it” doesn’t mean exclusively search on Google.com these days. As search engines and information portals evolve and continue to improve our ability to drill down results within tighter parameters, many effective ”first step” sites have been developed that deliver specific information. We’ve put together the below list on how to find topics and then more specifically, by discipline, search engines and sites:
I NEED TO FIND:
TOPICS:
Bing
Cool... Read Full Story
Two seemingly unrelated major NY news pieces this past week:
1. Diane Schuler, the mom traveling the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway, killing 8 people in her car and the vehicle she crashed into head on.
2. The NYPD has been recording the cell phone numbers of people calling 911 since 2003, creating a database of millions of cell phone numbers and tracking their owners in past and future investigations.
The connection: According to the Schuler family defense attorney, Dominic Barbara, the ... Read Full Story
For those you fortunate enough to have the day off, relax and play our game. Based on the above landing of Columbus depiction: please identify:
1. the judge
2. the defense attorney
3. the prosecutor
4. the defendant(s)
5. the case.
Most original wins. We’ll have our response in tomorrow’s edition of our regular Beacon Bulletin, pushed back one day for holiday observance. (We’ll also be announcing our new online order form capability and toll free nu... Read Full Story
Given the amount of research BNI conducts, we thought we’d share one of our favorite listings:
The Top 25 Most Useful Sites:
1
American Factfinder
Your primary source for population, housing, economic and geographic data, from the U.S. Census Bureau.
2
One Look Online Dictionary
This site consolidates all the online dictionaries, including over 4.2 MILLION words! Even links to dictionaries with internet and computer terms (e.g.-enter YAHOO). This site also has a wildcard spellcheck... Read Full Story
Several years ago, we brought your attention to a start up New Mexico company, Tru Touch Technologies, busily developng a non invasive blood alcohol testing machine for use in the public (police) and private (airlines, drug testing centers… ) sectors. Tru Touch sensor operates by using infrared technology through the skin’s layers in testing for acohol and drugs in one’s system.
Update 2009: they are operational and in use in many US and European companies/agencies.
The b... Read Full Story
