How to Recover Deleted Pictures from your Camera

This article pertains to the PC Win/Dos environment.

A few days ago I ran across a post from a frantic friend asking if anyone knew if it were possible to recover files deleted from a camera. I responded that it certainly was possible, as long as the camera hadn't been used since the deletion was done.

When files are deleted from storage media (floppy disk, memory card, flash drive, hard drive, etc), the file is only marked for deletion by the file system. This makes it invisible to you when browsing files, and also tells the system that it is OK for this space of data to be overwritten by new data. Based on this, it seems logical that, if this space can be marked as ready for overwrite, this can also be reversed. And it can! Although this process and the software involved have become much more sophisticated and easier to implement over the years (depending on your needs), data recovery software and the technique behind it has been around almost as long as magnetic storage media itself. I recall using it myself on my old XT, before the Windows operating system.

Circling back to my friend. She did tell me that they hadn't use the camera since the files were deleted, so I assured her that recovery likelihood was high. She seemed mildly surprised at this because her earlier conversation with The Geek Squad was much different. They told her flat-out that it was impossible to recover deleted files. Where the heck do they get these "geeks"? THIS is how I felt about The Geek Squad's response.

I sent my friend a link to download recovery software and explained what to do. She wrote back that she was still having trouble and it occurred to me that she might not know to use a card reader instead of the camera itself. She popped the card out of the camera and into a card reader and was able to recover all of her deleted files. I suggested to her that she write a nice little letter to The Geek Squad, suggesting that their technicians might not even be knowledgeable enough to drive their own vehicles.

If you find yourself in a bind like my friend, here is what you can try. Please note, these instructions assume you have a rudimentary knowledge of your computer and the PC/Windows system. If not, you may want to ask someone to help you through.

1. When you first discover you've deleted your files, do not use your camera until you've attempted to recover your pictures.
   
   
2. Grab some well-rated recovery software. For this type of recovery, I recommend DiskDigger. It's perfect for small jobs like portable storage media. I do NOT recommend using it on large hard drives because of the amount of time it would take to find what you need to recover.
   
   
3. Remove the memory card from your camera and insert it into a memory card reader on your computer. This could be on the front or side of your laptop, or an external USB card reader. Most digital cameras these days use SD cards, but there are many different types so make sure you know your card before inserting your card into the wrong slot, or spending money on a card reader.
   
   
4. Install the DiskDigger software, point it to the drive letter of your memory card, and follow the instructions for recovery.

Many thanks to Erica for inspiring this blog entry.

UFO - Unidentified Flying Objects

Looking for responses here. What do you think they are, and do you have pictures or videos you've taken of this phenomena? I welcome you to share and discuss.

15 Reasons I may either Unfollow or NOT Follow you on Twitter

Updated to 15 on 5/29/2009, newest entries first.

As I've come to better understand the massive potential of Twitter, I've also become more particular about whom I follow and why. Along the way many of my Followees have managed to slip under the wire as my own personal filters have been sharpening.

New to Twitter as I may be, I've been an active participant and developer on the net since before it was made available to the mainstream, and the way people communicate has changed little. Even back in the days of Usenet and IRC, spammers, pornbots and hackers were prevalent much the same as today. Spotting the difference between a User and a Luser wasn't much different.

So, this is the short list. I could extend it to 100; maybe even much further, but starting with 15 basics is a good primer and won't harm readers who suffer from the epidemic spread of ADHD.

15 Reasons I may either Unfollow or NOT Follow you on Twitter

1. You talk partisan politics often, angrily and offensively.
   I love talking politics, whether face to face or on the web, and I'm sure Twitter is a great medium for folks to do the same. That's not my personal use for Twitter. To each their own - for me, sorry, I don't need it in my stream.
   
   
2. You constantly refer to yourself as a social media guru, or Twitter pro.
   I remember when people started tossing around the term "Webmaster" because they'd learned a bit of HTML. Social Media in it's current forum is much too new and changeable for anyone to have been able to lock down a definitive system well enough to produce metrics for any amount of time worthy of statistical forecasting for a solid business model. Too wordy? Of course. I'm a "pro". Next!!
   
   
3. You're selling religion.
   Be spiritual, non-invasively. If you use your own faith as weapon to judge my own, you're out.
   
   
4. You go on about your blinged out phone, your Benz, your 7 houses in the Hills and one in the Hamptons...
   You obviously care, but no one else does.
   
   
5. You can get me 2 billion followers in 7 days and I'll get rich off of em, just like you did!
   (Thanks to @marcmawhinney for this suggestion.) You're a liar if you think you can do THIS for me. Need I say more?
   
   
6. Your picture hasn't been set.
   Or it's a pile of cash. Hey, maybe it is you, but look at that: you're naked. Sorry. Best of luck with all the sticky followers.
   
   
7. Your name is comprised of words like:
   Money, cash, free, sex, porn, livecam, nude, viagra, etc. I think you catch my drift.
   
   
8. You auto-DM me when I follow you.
   Hey, I already did you the solid of bringing you into my fold - why do you have to mess that up with such impersonal automation? OK, some auto DMs seem innocuous enough. "Hi, thanks for following!" is much better than "Thanks for following, click here to get 8 million followers in three hours."
   
   
9. Your tweets are full of foul language.
   The occasional F-bomb I can handle. If you decide to be nauseatingly foul for no good reason, POOF!
   
   
10. You constantly lash out at me or others.
    Be nice. People don't like to follow assholes. There, that's my one racy word for this segment :)
    
    
11. You constantly push your own product, service or blog, and tweet about nothing else.
    'Nuff said.
    
    
12. You're never positive. Ever.
    Nobody likes doom and gloom all the time.
    
    
13. Your bio is empty and you live "nowhere".
    So, what are you trying to hide? Next!
    
    
14. You haven't Tweeted in months.
    There isn't much value there, is there?
    
    
15. You are never "Live".
    Many of us use some or other form of automation to get our tweets out there, but please stop in now and then and be human. Thank folks for their Tweets and their reTweets. People can absolutely tell the difference.
    
    

End of Days Fear-Mongering

Another "doomsday" link came across my path today. Please take a look. Impressed? Scared? Let's face it, it's going to happen. Maybe tomorrow. More likely in 10,000 years. So are we supposed to live each day in fear? Or pray to our god and universe to save us from this impending doom?

Bottom line: fear-mongering won't help people live better. Or longer. PLEASE do your best to enjoy life as if it will end at any second; not recklessly, but with compassion, empathy, grace, and sincerity. Just as our planet will someday cease to be able to support life as we know it, so will your own life end (everything dies), and possibly just as abruptly. Living in fear is synonymous with embracing death so DO embrace life while you have it because its preciousness can never be overvalued.

Ever.

"Do Grown Ups Actually Tweet??!!"

The PBS Facebook fan page posted a video and brief of Bill Moyers' "to Twitter or not to Twitter". The ensuing responses are far more interesting and downright entertaining than the content of the article itself (IMO). I offered my two cents as well, which is typical for me when I feel strongly about someone being way off-base about a topic; especially when they are openly welcoming commentary.

The post is here as long as both PBS and Facebook keep it available. You might have to scroll down a bit. Look for "Bill Moyers Journal . Watch & Listen | PBS". My favorite, albeit self-serving (I have a blog, for heaven's sake) exchange follows:

Angela G. at 5:34pm May 18

Do grown ups seriously tweet?

Tom Wellborn at 6:25pm May 18

Grown ups can do grown up things with the Internet, sure. Personally, I've helped to build upon and even design a lot of the "cool junk" you're poking fun at adults for leveraging. The irony isn't lost on me whatsoever.

In itself, Twitter has more value as a sociocultural experiment / exploration considering its compelling, dynamic technical implementation (kind of an uber-IRC. I'll understand if you don't remember what that is).

Of course children who haven't yet learned to practice critical thought applied to practical and scalable application can certainly use Twitter to talk about hot dudes instead of the untapped social media applications, but I would recommend mySpace for that. :)

Incidentally, my *father's* generation invented the smiley.

OK, I know it's a little condescending but I'm just having fun too! You know, I'd just love to have a jovial one on one with Mr. Moyer's to discuss how many different productive directions he could have taken with this light-hearted topic.

Facebook Applications Should be Raising Big Security Concerns for Users

--[ UPDATE - ORIGINAL POST BELOW ]--

A trusted friend of mine recently sent me a Quiz request. Just out of curiosity, I decided to go ahead and see if I would find any security issues with this particular quiz.


Aha, a "bonus question". Looks innocent enough, and because many of my friends have a great sense of humor, I'll bite :)

D'oh! Burned again!

Results URL: http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/officialiqquiz.com

Don't blame your friends, folks. I expect Facebook to be more vigilant than to allow unscrupulous apps to weasel their way into their system.

Tom
5/21/2009

--[ ORIGINAL POST ] --

So, the latest rage in Facebook applications appears to be the Quiz. "What's your purpose in life?", "What are you destined to do?", "What kind of flower are you?", and on and on... they are seemingly endless in number, most likely because anyone who clicks through to take one (because they've seen another FB friend's results in their "stream"), is greeted with the option to create their own.



Nice! Now anyone can create a quiz that may or (more likely) may not be anywhere near the truth depending on how you answer. And the reason? Money of course. Not for the creator of the quiz, but for the creator of the Quiz Application platform, and for Facebook too, if that's even possible as they've had a terrible time thus far making money off of anything they've tried. See: "Facebook has no business model".

So, because of all this, I generally ignore the quizzes. HOWEVER, there is a much more important reason that avoiding these types of quizzes on Facebook may just save your hide. Observe. And FYI, I am using Mozzila Firefox 3.0.10 on Windows, with the Web of Trust (WOT) Firefox add-on.

So, here goes.

In my stream, I see a quiz a friend has taken that grabs my attention:

I click on "Take this quiz" , agree to add the application with all its disclaimers, and am presented with the first set of questions.



OK, let's go... but wait, at the bottom. What's that?



Hmmm, it seems as though one of my FB buddies has taken another quiz, and has not only scored well, but has decided to do some trash talking to get me into a little competition. Since I have a few "Mike's" on my FB, I decide to hit them up to give them a little back, all in good fun, right?

Low and behold, to my (utter lack of) surprise, not only weren't they baiting me, they had never taken any such quiz on Facebook. Ever. So... now I'm intrigued. Out of my natural curiosity for all thing people/technical, and being confident of warding off many kinds of web-related attacks, I'm all for clicking that link. And I do. And here is where WOT steps in to prevent me from stepping in someone's crap that Facebook apparently endorses (or at least tolorates).



I've unwittingly been taken to a web site with all kinds of security problems including reports of Spam, Popup Ads, Fraud, Scams, and Phishing. Please read for yourself here:

http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/officialiqquiz.com

For shame, Facebook, for allowing such unscrupulous marketing to find its way into your most popular applications. I, for one, certainly won't be taking any more of your quizzes, and will be hard-pressed to install any future applications without doing some investigative research beforehand.

It takes a lot of energy to hold extended grudges over such stupid things

All negative emotions and energies are draining. They stress and weaken the body, and shake the spirit. When you allow another person, whether knowingly or not, to drive your emotions, you've essentially given them power over you. They control you until you decide to put an end to it.

A Nigerian Scam to Scam Those Scammed by Nigerian Scams.

I discovered this hilarious Scam attempt in my inbox this morning. Yahoo! mail had failed to send it to the spam folder. Tsk Tsk!

---

From: "Anti Money Laundering
Department" <enquiries_fbi.unit@live.com>

Anti Terrorism / Money Laundering Department
Telefax: 1-206-350-0375
Date: 10th May 2009

SCAMMED VICTIMS: $80,000 USD COMPENSATION- REF/PAYMENTSCODE

Attention:

Fraud Victims We are delegated from the United Nations to Central Bank Nigeria to pay 100 Nigerian 419 scam victims $80,000.00 each, you are listed and approved for this payments as one of the scammed victims, get back to us as soon as possible for the immediate payments of your $80,000 USD compensations funds. On this faithful recommendations, I want you to know that during the last UN meetings held at Abuja, Nigeria, it was alarmed so much by the rest of the world in the meetings on the loss of funds by various foreigners to the scams artists operating in syndicates all over the world today, in other not to dent the good image and fooster business relationship between countries.President of the Country is now paying 100 victims of this operators $80,000 each. Due to the corrupt and inefficient banking systems in Nigeria, the payments are to be paid by FBI under funding assistance by the Allfirst Bank and the Citigroup. According to the number of applicants at hand, 50 beneficiaries has been paid,of which majority of the victims are from the United States and Asia, Very few victims of not more than 30 are to be compensated $80,000 each only. Your particulars was found in the custody of one syndicates (Name Withheld) who was arrested in Lagos State Nigeria as one of the victim of the 419 scandal. You are hereby warned not to communicate or duplicate this message to him/her for any reason for whatsoever, the US secret service and the FBI is already on trace of the criminal. The FBI and United Nations Money Laundering / Anti terrorism group has also intercepted some untransferred Funds indicating you as the beneficiary from a Lottery Organization/ INHERITANCE FUNDS. We have also contacted the Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI) Head Quaters Concerning this issue and they indicated to us that several Fraudulent attempts has been made on you, to extort Money from you all in the name of giving you these funds. For more vital information,please visit: http://home..xxxx.net/alphae/419coal

. For us to resolve this issue we would advise that you indicate to us if you are the beneficiary of these funds which you where notified via email. As soon as we receive your response we would make necessary arrangements to ensure that your funds are rightfully transferred to you without delays.We are also working hand in hand with the CIA to see to it that this imposter's are brought to book. Your response is highly required to enable us materialize the processing of these release of these funds to you as the beneficiary. Ensure that you contact us as soon as you receive this email message. Wayne KlineCoordinator (Anti Money Laundering Department)

---

Full Headers

Return-Path: <nobody@minnie.mec-minniemouse.com> Authentication-Results: mta171.mail.re4.yahoo.com from=live.com; domainkeys=neutral (no sig); from=live.com; dkim=neutral (no sig) Received: from 140.99.27.34 (EHLO minnie.mec-minniemouse.com) (140.99.27.34) by mta171.mail.re4.yahoo.com with SMTP; Sun, 10 May 2009 03:36:44 -0700 Received: from nobody by minnie.mec-minniemouse.com with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from <nobody@minnie.mec-minniemouse.com>) id 1M369D-0007iT-5u for xxxxx@yahoo.com; Sun, 10 May 2009 03:20:43 -0700 To: xxxxx@yahoo.com Subject: SCAMMED VICTIMS: $80,000 USD COMPENSATION- REF/PAYMENTS CODE:06654 : From:

Anti Money Laundering Department <enquiries_fbi.unit@live.com>

Fuzzy Head

My head is somewhat fuzzy on this Monday morning, probably because it IS a Monday morning. I'll roll with that reason, accurate or not. I'm on coffee #2 and the haze hasn't begun to lift. The air here in the office is resonating its typical mustiness, and the smell of Purell is already wafting through the air. Earlier today, I offhandedly wondered if the execs at Gojo Industries are enjoying H1N1 parties in celebration of their unfounded sales numbers. Seeing as that's rather morbid, I'm hoping not.

Mood today: Hopefully changeable.

Random - Phil's Day

Phil regarded the gun on the seat next to him with a sense of nonchalant irreverence. He hadn't cleaned it in months and couldn't be completely sure it would work if he were forced to use it. Still, that didn't matter much to him at the moment. All time seemed to have winded down around him, leaving him alone with his car, the clothes on his back, and the .38 on the cushion.

After a brief sigh, Phil searched for a parking spot. He had expected to feel anxious and twitchy during these preceding moments, but was rewarded instead with an eerie calm. His actions were mechanical; automated, and he was grateful for his mind's seemingly sudden ability to run on autopilot.

It wasn't as if he never doubted this day would come, but he had always regarded its arrival like most humans: as some mysterious place in the future that is always "then"; never now. Thus the realization that the time had finally come and left him calm and detached gave him a sense of calm; an inner peace he hadn't anticipated, and he relished it. He allowed his body to take him through the motions while his mind focused on the real task at hand. He began to go over the steps again, slowly and precisely, as he had done a thousand times over the past six months. Each step in the plan a single detailed thought, folded carefully and placed neatly in line with the next.

Phil was surprised to notice he had left the car some twenty yards back and had walked almost to the entrance to the cathedral. He stopped, briefly, as he snapped himself back to reality. A quick check confirmed the gun was tucked away in his jacket pocket. He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes as the chilly morning air ruffled through his hair and swirled down the street.

It was time. Phil opened the door and stepped inside.