portable audio/visual recorders

Dear Mister Gilliver,

Thanks for this good rapid response!

J. P. Gilliver snipped-for-privacy@255soft.UK wrote: |----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"> Dear all: | |> | |> I am interested in portable audio or video or audiovisual recorders | | | |Which?" | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

I am interested in all of these. I use recordings in court cases against defendants. An opponent was angry so I was asked: "Are you recording [. . .] Do you have on you now a sound-recording device?" so a judge tried to not laugh at her.

I tend to rely on audio recordings more. If I had something like a GoPro camera or glasses, then I might accumulate more video evidence, but normal persons cannot read lips. Of course, audio recordings cannot see!

I do not need a microphone and a camera to be integrated into a single recorder - but Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses have so integrated sensors. Tablets and smartphones also have integrated sensors - but I need to use my hands to hold a tablet during a video recording which is not practical. A defendant could easily grab a tablet or a phone and throw it to a ground or wall and stomp on it to destroy evidence.

I made this directory:

J. P. Gilliver snipped-for-privacy@255soft.UK wrote: |----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"And, do you want to record covertly?" | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

I do not need to record covertly. Covert recorders might be of inferior qualities. It is not practical to hold the best recorder right in a defendant's face!

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"> which are smaller than a tablet and whose recordings can be easily | |> backed up onto a computer e.g. to the Internet with live streaming and | | | |Do you mean a live link/save?" | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Yes (but I must consider options which are actually available within a price of circa a few thousand pounds, so I would consider products without a live link/save). I prefer a live link/save which would upload to Insomnia247.NL instead of to be restricted to a 3rd-party website which I cannot control (e.g. Facebook) - but as the most expensive Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses that I found cost under a few hundred pounds then maybe being restricted to Meta is not too restrictive.

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"I don't know about tablets" | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

An Apple iPad is good for recording a video with hands - but I do not want to use hands, and a big Apple logo is like a sign saying "I am rich. Please rob me!" A non-Apple tablet is untrustworthy for a video recording (but good for an audio recording).

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"[. ..] If you mean you want to _start_ | |the recording without touching it," | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Touching hands to start a recording is OK.

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |" I don't know; many years ago there | |were sunglasses with a stills camera in that could be triggered by a | |remote in your pocket (IIRR it was disc-shaped)," | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Thanks! Interesting! I am ignorant thereof.

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"> A friend recommends me to buy Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses. Are they any | | | |I can't see why you'd need AI for this sort of purpose." | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

I do not need AI for this. AI is in a marketing name for these glasses.

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"I presume with the name Ray-ban they'll be expensive;" | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

They are not too expensive . . . if they do not really need a mobile telephone on a telephone network. I do not use a mobile telephone, so starting a mobile-telephone-network contract just to use these glasses is probably too expensive. All mobile telephones which I used to use were taken off me - usually as thefts. I do not need another phone to be robbed off me.

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"Beware - covert recording, especially pictures and videos, is of dubious | |legality in many countries, possibly totally illegal." | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Thanks for this warning. Actually protections like Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 are common. I record in a jurisdiction whose minister for justice sent a certificate to me confirming that covert recordings are legal. Lawyers who represent are happy that I record.

For examples of precedents in various jurisdictions including the British Isles cf.

Also cf.

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"Put "spy glasses" or something similar into ebay; you'll find lots." | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Thanks.

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"If audio alone will suffice, I've seen ones that look like just a USB | |memory stick." | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Thanks. I often use a tablet for audio recordings, but a tablet is a bit big and heavy. A USB-memory-stick-sized recorder could be preferable if it would not sacrifice qualities as it could fit into a pocket. Do you know if it would be inferior to this tablet recorder?

Mono is fine.

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"[. . .] Olympus | |made some, but I'm sure there are plenty of makes." | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Olympus used to make recorders marketed for recording lectures, which can also fast forward past silence. Olympus split into 2 companies. The new audio company thereof is OM SYSTEM.

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"Is there any reason you can't just use your smartphone?" | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

I can use a smart ex-phone via WiFi. It is an ex-phone because it is not still connected to a phone network. (S.

On 2026/7/17 22:45:42, Cóilín Nioclásín Glostéir wrote: [snip]

Are you talking about actually recording in court? I think in most countries that is not allowed - the official court recording is the only one allowed. Or in some cases accredited media. []

These days, I think most video recording devices have audio recording to go with the video, though not necessarily good quality. []

For both video and audio, I suspect the main problem you have is proving you have not edited the recording(s). The basic quality will be up to the jury to judge. (Though IANAL.) []

I am not the person to be asking: devices I have looked at have been in the range of a few pounds to a few tens of pounds. If you are thinking of spending thousands, you need to be asking someone else!

Do you own insomnia247.nl? If not, setting up your own website - which you then would control - is neither expensive nor difficult. Though why would you want to put the material on a website, rather than just keep it on memory sticks/cards or local disc storage? (To be brought out in court when necessary.) []

You could always tape over it (maybe with a picture of a cheap logo)!

I am sure nowadays you can get good cameras (mainly in 'phones) made by other makes. []

I still do not understand why you need to upload while recording at all, rather than just record to a memory card. You have said you do not need a live link. []

Have you done that?

Recording through the pocket material probably would reduce the quality. Since you are talking thousands of pounds, why not buy a few different cheap ones and try them out? I think I've seen those sort for less than ten pounds, so you should be able to buy several different models to try without affecting your budget. I think some have internal memory (you read from them just like a USB stick), and some take memory cards. []

So why do you need further recording devices?

Dear Mister Gilliver,

J. P. Gilliver snipped-for-privacy@255soft.UK wrote: |------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"On 2026/7/17 22:45:42, Cóilín Nioclásín Glostéir wrote: | |Are you talking about actually recording in court? [. . .] | |[. . .]" | |------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Not necessarily.

|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"> It is currently mainly about audio recordings. A defendant argued that| |> an audio recording was not of a good quality. If a plea like that | |> could ever be successful, then perhaps I would need a better | | | |For both video and audio, I suspect the main problem you have is proving | |you have not edited the recording(s). [. . .] | |[. . .]" | |-------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Lawyers said that they want an expert witness to confirm that I did not edit a recording. Do you want to be this expert witness? How much do you charge?

A complication may be that they intend to use expert witnesses who are locally based. (We are not in the UK.)

|------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"Do you own insomnia247.nl? [. . .]" | |------------------------------------------------------------------------|

No. I use an account on it and I am allowed to do a lot on it. E.g. du --human-readable [. . .]

ulimit -a real-time non-blocking time (microseconds, -R) unlimited core file size (blocks, -c) 0 data seg size (kbytes, -d) unlimited scheduling priority (-e) 0 file size (blocks, -f) unlimited pending signals (-i) 514428 max locked memory (kbytes, -l) 16477948 max memory size (kbytes, -m) unlimited open files (-n) 1024 pipe size (512 bytes, -p) 8 POSIX message queues (bytes, -q) 819200 real-time priority (-r) 0 stack size (kbytes, -s) 8192 cpu time (seconds, -t) unlimited max user processes (-u) 350 virtual memory (kbytes, -v) unlimited file locks (-x) 150

Insomnia 24/7 has good Internet and computing abilities (24 x AMD Ryzen 9 3900X @ 3.8GHz). Despite what umlimit might seem to say above, I am restricted to using about 60% of its computing power at a time - which is still very liberal!

If you want an account, then let me know or even apply by yourselves.

|------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"[. . .] Though why | |would you want to put the material on a website, rather than just keep | |it on memory sticks/cards or local disc storage? (To be brought out in | |court when necessary.)" | |------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Persons on the Internet found a recording to be informative.

As crimes happen, it is good to let persons know that they happen.

This website is in a different country than I am, so it is a good place for back ups.

Defendants like to rewrite history (cf. "Animal Farm" and "1984"), so I prefer to show that evidence exists since a long time ago and is not tampered with.

|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"I still do not understand why you need to upload while recording at all,| |rather than just record to a memory card." | |-------------------------------------------------------------------------|

I do not need to upload while recording but it is certainly better to upload while recording. E.g. a defendant could rob a recorder off me. Criminals robbed many of my recorders.

|------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"You have said you do not need | |a live link." | |------------------------------------------------------------------------|

I do not need a live link whereas I do want a live link.

|------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"So why do you need further recording devices?" | |------------------------------------------------------------------------|

I do not own a good hands-free video recorder.

Glasses seem to be a good format.

I would like a hands-free audio recorder which is smaller and lighter than what I use.

|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"[] | |>> |"Put "spy glasses" or something similar into ebay; you'll find lots." || |> |----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | |> | |> Thanks. | |> | |Have you done that?" | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Not yet. (S.