Less than a week into 2007, and there's already a bunch of new stuff out that is really useful and really cool.

First off, there's a new blog on the streets...uh, web. Check out Mark McKinnon's CFED-TTF blog. One post up (at the time of this writing) and he already has some good info on the drivetable.txt file in XP System Restore Points. Great start so far!

Next, I was doing my monthly check on the E-Evidence site, and I found some really good stuff. No, wait...I mean REALLY good stuff! Raphael Bousquet has an interesting presentation on forensic triage. I know that its a product pitch, but the information on the idea of doing a triage is interesting, and something that should be, at the very least, discussed.

Golden Richard has an interesting PPT available that discusses next-gen digital forensics, to include topics such as live forensics. In the PPT, Prof. Richard points out that evidence (and he uses the term "evidence") exists in places other than those thought of in the "traditional" sense of forensics. He also talks about all the work that needs to be done...and while I agree, the question is, who will do that work? We do have a plethora (like that? No, I didn't get a thesaurus for Christmas) of students now that many universities and even community colleges here in the US have started offering courses and degrees in digital and computer forensics, but how long will it be before the big-brain ideas become something useable by investigators and examiners?

There are other presentations and papers available in this month's "What's New", but IMHO, the best paper availabe in this collection of links is Jessica Reust's paper on AIM trace evidence. What struck me most about her paper is that by the time I finished it, I actually had something useful, something I could use in an examination.

Now, on the flip side of all this, we should take it upon ourselves, as a community, to identify those things that we need, and either create them or put them on the table. What am I talking about? If you see a need or have a question, get it out there. Let someone know. Maybe someone out there already has the information you need, or is working on it.

Thoughts? Ideas? Comments?