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Insights into our methods and our mindset. Or just what we find interesting.

September 18, 2023

Life, Death, and Detective Work: How 'I Do's and Adieus Aid Investigations

On this date, September 18, in 1851, the first edition of the paper now known as The New York Times was published. It included reference to the marriage of Sarah Mullett and John Grant, informing readers the…

August 18, 2023

Catching a Fraudster: Scamanda Podcast Teaches Investigative Lessons

I love a good true crime podcast, so when a friend recommended Scamanda to me recently, I immediately started listening. The podcast tells the true story of bubbly and charismatic Amanda Riley who kept a…

August 1, 2023

The World Wide Web is a Great Investigative Tool – Except When It’s Not

The World Wide Web – which, like so many things these days, somehow has a day declared in its honor (August 1) – has revolutionized the way all of us search for information, amateur and professional…

May 25, 2023

Mental Health Records Pose a Challenge to Private Investigators

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and it’s a good time to step back and appreciate the progress our country has made in destigmatizing a condition that was once seen as a personal weakness or failing. In…

May 4, 2023

May the Fourth Be With You

Since 1987, Rick Moranis’ Dark Helmet, the lesser evil Darth Vader character in the Star Wars parody Spaceballs, has reminded viewers of the importance of choosing a good password (or luggage lock…

April 28, 2023

What if You Could Read Your Own Intelligence File?

Published in 1997, The File: A Personal History centers on the intelligence and surveillance dossier Garton Ash obtained in the early 1990s from the collapsed regime's Federal Authority for the Records of the…

April 24, 2023

There’s More to the Story

National Library Week’s 2023 theme There’s More to the Story (April 23-29) is not only a great theme for the week, but also one that is week in and week out apropos in my professional life as a corporate…

March 28, 2023

More Cooks in the Kitchen

I thought of this book for Women’s History Month because Zott was a scientist in the 1950s and ‘60s, ahead of her time, and in a field and industry where few women then ventured. And while Zott is a fictional…

March 17, 2023

Sunshine of Our Love: Why FOIAs are an Investigator's Best Friend

This week is Sunshine Week, which promotes the importance of government transparency and allowing citizens access to public records. Sunshine Week, held on March 12 to 18, was started in 2005 by the American…

February 15, 2023

Remember the Maine - And Remember the Facts

Today is the anniversary of the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine, which blew up in Havana Harbor in 1898, killing most of the crew and escalating tensions between the United States and Spain to the point that…

February 14, 2023

Beware Scammers Selling Bad Romance

Forty percent of people who fell victim to romance scams last year said scammers first contacted them on social media, while 19 percent said contact began on a website or app. Criminals study the information…

February 6, 2023

ChatGPT: Write Me a Blog

Artificial intelligence - particularly OpenAI’s ChatGPT software - has been the subject of much discussion lately and for good reason. Advancements in AI over the past 20 years have led to technology that was…

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