Full details of the #TrickOrTruth Halloween research challenge are now available:

It's a race - and the competition will begin at midday GMT on Wednesday October 27, 2021

https://forensicnews.net/trick-or-truth/

Heads up sleuths, if you’ve made it here you’re doing well. Just one hour to go until we post the questions - and remember, there is 1,000 USD Cash money for the taking - so make sure you refresh the competition page one hour from now to get the best head start:

https://forensicnews.net/trick-or-truth/

Go go go! The #TrickOrTruth research questions are now live on the competition page:
https://forensicnews.net/trick-or-truth/

Remember you must thoroughly record your research process using stone to be eligible for the prize money. Stone staff will be monitoring the telegram public chat group - so please do ask us any technical questions here.

This picture was taken in Cairo, Egypt. Tell us the date it was taken. Remember, show us how you get there!

You can find out who this is, it doesn't matter where you are.
It depends on where you look, but I'll bet you're not too far.
If you solved number two.
There's a hint in there for you.

Time is up sleuths! We hope you had fun with us! Winner will be announced over the course of Halloween day! Stay tuned!

ICYMI - Congratulations to our winner, and runner up. The winning project is now embedded on the Forensic News Competition page: https://forensicnews.net/trick-or-truth/

We hope you enjoyed using Stone to document your sleuthing - and will continue to utilize the software for your future research projects. Please keep in touch on our telegram channels - we love to hear about what you're up to. And tell your friends if you found Stone useful.

If you've logged into Stone recently, you'll notice we've updated to 0.6.0 - Gypsum

Release Notes:
- New video library implemented using C++ to reduce lag during webcam capture.
- Minimize button added to recorder during Work Mode desktop capture.
- Patreon and Twitter social fields added to User Profile under new Social tab. Social fields appear as alternating links with "See Research" Button on embedded Research Portal. Social fields also appear as overlays during Video Bio at the end of your embedded Research Portal.
- New "Project Description" field available when creating a new Project. The Project Description field can be edited and updated at any time by clicking the edit button next to the Project Title and is visible on the Project Page.

Stay tuned for the next Stone release and good luck with all your research!

Today's Forensic Fact check was conducted by Stone Managing Director Aliya - she looked into claims that Greek Doctors are taking Anti-vaxxers for a ride - check out what she found out:
https://forensicnews.net/forensic-fact-check-anti-vax-bribes-in-greece/

Announcing Stone v 0.6.2 - Dacite!

Available @ www.writeinstone.com

Welcome to the latest version of the Stone research transparency system - Dacite. This week, we have implemented a complete overhaul of audio/video capture with our own custom library and implemented a couple of new features to improve highlights.

Release Notes
- New purpose built video library implemented to reduce lag during webcam capture, improve audio/video synchronisation and allow for further feature development.
- New option for capturing system audio while recording highlights, enabling you to integrate audio from your microphone and other media on screen.
- New ‘focus’ feature while recording highlights allowing you to select a part of the screen and create an inverse blur mask, drawing your audiences attention to key information.
- Numerous other small bug fixes and tweaks.

Stay tuned for the next Stone release and good luck with all your research!

The Stone Team

Announcing Stone v 0.8.4 - Serpentine!

Available @ www.writeinstone.com

Welcome to the latest version of the Stone research transparency system - Serpentine. This week, we have improved the focus feature, fixed the UI for adding external media highlights and changed the video player used in the Stone client, as well as numerous other small changes and fixes.

Release Notes
- New video player used in the client, ensures excellent audio video synchronisation during playback.
- Focus feature provided greater emphasis and now uses the Stone colour pallette rather than a dull grey.
- User interface for adding highlights to external media has been fixed and improved to ensure users can include external media in their research. The 30 second time limit on highlights has also been extended to 90 seconds for external media.
- Numerous other small bug fixes and tweaks.

Stay tuned for the next Stone release and good luck with all your research!

The Stone Team

Announcing Stone v 0.8.5 - Siltstone!

Available @ www.writeinstone.com

Welcome to the latest version of the Stone research transparency system - Siltstone.This week, we have introduced an all new feature - the Revenue Segment - as well as numerous other small changes and fixes. The 'Revenue Segment' is the first stage of our plan to help our users generate revenue from their research. In this version, you can record a call to action, upload a logo and link to external webstores where you sell your merch or books. The result is an 8 second segment between the first and second highlights that allows your audience to support your work.

Release Notes
- New 'Merch' section in the client application used for setting up 'Revenue Segment' options, including uploading a logo, recording a call to action and entering URLs for webstores.
- An 8 second 'Revenue Segment' appears between first and second highlights using the afformentioned call to action, with clickable overlays for webstores, twitter and patreon.
- Numerous other small bug fixes and tweaks.

Stay tuned for the next Stone release and good luck with all your research!

The Stone Team

Announcing Stone v 0.9.1 - Garnierite!

Available free from www.writeinstone.com

The latest version of the Stone research transparency system - Garnierite - has now been released - which means now is a great time to jump back in and try the latest version, or if you haven’t tried Stone before, head to our website to give it a go.

This week, we have introduced an all new feature - ‘Merchlink’ - as well as numerous other small changes and fixes.

The 'Merchlink' feature is stage two of our plan to help our users generate revenue from their research. In this version, you can record a call to action, link to an external store to sell your books AND upload a logo to automatically generate a webstore that sells merchandise to support your work. Stone passes 75% of the profits on all sales on to you!

This webstore is linked to from the ‘Revenue Segment’ added in the last Stone release. The ‘Revenue Segment’ appears as the second clip every time you embed a research portal. Right now, the store features T-Shirts with your branding and we will be adding more and more products with upcoming versions.

Remember, you can get in touch with us or learn more about Stone by following us on twitter (@Writeinstone), sending an email to contact@writeinstone.com or engaging with us here on Telegram.

Stay tuned for the next Stone release and good luck with all your research!

All the Best,
The Stone Team

Announcing Stone v 0.9.3 - Microcline!

Available free from www.writeinstone.com

The latest version of the Stone research transparency system - Microcline - has now been released - which means now is a great time to jump back in and try the latest version, or if you haven’t tried Stone before, head to our website to give it a go.

This week, we have made a number of improvements, including streamlining the onboarding process for new users, redesigning the recording widget, updating the revenue segment (see below) and introducing a default webstore, so that all users can benefit from the merch link feature.

We have also made numerous small changes and fixes to improve the look, feel and performance of the Stone app, including addressing bugs with the external media feature.

Remember, you can get in touch with us or learn more about Stone by following us on Twitter, sending us an email or joining our Telegram channel where you can share your research with other Stone users.

Stay tuned for the next Stone release and good luck with all your research!

All the Best,

The Stone Team