Cultural Awareness Day: Sushi

Nothing to do with investigations.

Enjoy.

Economic Espionage: Piece of Cake

I don't know if you have caught this gem of an 'informative video' in regards to the clear and present danger of economic espionage, Dear Reader, but it's worth a look.

Made in 2012 by the UK's Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), it's kind of Spooks meets Alias and, despite the noble goal of educating people to real threats, is quite laughable.

Particularly the denouement.

Anyway, for your pleasure, I present 'Piece of Cake'.

I'm just gutted I don't get bags of cash and a Ferrari.  

Time to switch sides?

What's the time? Time for a new watch!

The time has very nearly come, Dear Reader, where I need to retire my trusty old H3 Traser P6500 tritium watch. I can't remember when I purchased it, but it's probably getting on to around 10 years ago.

That's not the reason why the watch needs to be retired. Well, not directly anyway.

No, the tritium has faded to the point where I can't really tell the time all that well in the dark anymore - kind of the whole point in having a radioactive watch in the first place.

To be fair, they did say that you do get about 10 years usage, so that's about right.

So what to get next?

Review:Lawmate PV500 Lite 2

Well, since I received a working camera unit a while ago as replacement, I guess I should probably review this purchase.

The first caveat is that this is the entry-level model of the Lawmate range of DVRs and is relatively inexpensive when compared to their other products.

However, it's certainly a world away from the cheap and cheerful budget covert cams you might find out there. It wouldn't really be all that fair to compare them.

Anyway, I've had a chance to play around with it several times although I have yet to have the opportunity to actually use it in the field, so to speak.

My thoughts thus far?

Hearts and Minds. And Beards.

For a slight change of pace, Dear Reader, I thought I'd share the witty banter recently had with one Mister Thorpe (not his real name), who seems to have me confused with someone else.

Someone with a beard.

Long story short, Thorpe had been a bit naughty and the local city authorities were seeking to bankrupt him for his part in a dodgy building scandal.

I'd previously served served Court documents on him but he'd not attended and, as these things generally go in your absence, judgement was found against him.

Anyway, a few months later, I had to serve additional documents on the poor guy but it looked like the stress got to him. From my repeated enquiries at his address, Thorpe had temporarily absconded to a nearby rural town and it was not known when he would be returning. However, I managed to get his phone number and thought I'd at least give him a call and try and sort out an amicable arrangement to accept service.

Because that's the kind of guy I am.

I left a message on his voice mail - which clearly stated the phone was Thorpe's - and then a while later received a text message in response. I didn't initially notice I'd received his SMS though, which seems to have upset him a little.

Anyway, here is the SMS conversation.

When Repos Go Bad

Let me regale you with a story, Dear Reader. A story of what could go wrong, going very very wrong indeed. Almost.

As is customary, let me begin by reminding you how much I hate repossessions.

A lot!

And this is why.

Saying "no" to a client

From Pursuit Magazine

There is an excellent post over at Pursuit Magazine about how sometimes saying no to a potential client is what an ethical PI should do.

There's even a nifty flow chart (see left).

Naturally, this prompted me to create my own flow chart detailing the realities of the initial potential client meeting.