It was only a matter of time until someone came up with a concept to hide the existence of a True Crypt volume on the computer. A method has been described in detail in February, months before the release of the TCHunt application.

TCSteg basically hides the True Crypt container inside a MP4 video file. Even better, that mp4 video is still playable which makes it more plausible that the file is indeed just a video and not host for an encrypted True Crypt volume.

There are still some limitations though, for instance a limitation to a maximum file size of 4 Gigabytes, or the fact that someone who would monitor the bitrate of the video could identify the manipulation. The method however makes it a less likely that someone will find the hidden True Crypt container on the system, as it renders software such as TCHunt useless.

The method combines the mp4 file with the True Crypt container, or to be more precise, the hidden volume of the True Crypt container. You may remember that you can create a hidden volume inside a True Crypt container for that extra bit of security? Exactly that volume is used for the process, the outer volume will not be used at all.

A Python script has been created that handles all the file merging, you can download it from the developer website. You also need a solid quality mp4 video file that’s encoded efficiently to make the combined file size more plausible.

You then create a True Crypt container and a hidden volume and give it a .mp4 name. You should follow the instructions on the developer site to the letter for maximum efficiency, for instance to select a plausible total size for the True Crypt volume and to select the maximum possible size for the hidden volume.

You run the Python script with the following command

python tcsteg.py RealVideo.mp4 TrueCryptContainer.mp4

where RealVideo.mp4 is the mp4 video that you want to use for the disguise, and TrueCryptcontainer.mp4 the encrypted True Crypt container.

Windows users need to first install Python before they can run the Python script.

The process combines the two files, and the end result should be that you can still play the resulting file in a video player and that you can mount the hidden True Crypt volume inside that video.

Additional instructions and the Python script are available at the developer’s website.

The interface is divided into a header area with playback controls, search options and information about the current song, and a main area that is divided further into tabs.

All that is needed to find songs is to enter the name of a song or artist into the search form. The program displays a list of hits in an extra search window. A double-click on a listed song adds it to the current playlist.

Playlists can be saved and loaded at anytime, with an additional option to import GrooveShark playlists (under Tools).

The Last.fm tab can be used to find similar songs or artists, display the top songs, albums or artists or top songs by geographic location, tag or genre.

There are additional options available, like linking to the user’s Last.fm account to display songs related to that account. Users who want to do that need to supply their last.fm username and password in the Options.

Local songs and folders can be added and included in the search which means it is possible to use the music player even without Internet connection.

Several plugins are already available to search for and display lyrics of the current song, sync the playlist with other devices enable or disable the web remote server.

The player displays biographic information about the current artists as well as album art and related information directly in its interface.

GrooveWalrus is an interesting music player for users who like to tap into two of the largest music databases and local files at once. The player is available for download at the official project website. The Python source code is provided there as well. The player supposedly runs under Wine for Linux or by running it from the source directly. (via)

I know that you would like some examples of videos that you can find at ShowMeDo, here we go. I pick three random ones: Getting Started with WordPress, Basic Car Maintenance and The Perfect Cup of Coffee, As you can see they offer tech related video tutorials and “real-life” tutorials as well. Playing a video works the same way as in youtube, just click the link, the video loads and you press play in the video to start it. If youtube works for you ShowMeDo will as well.

As I said earlier it is a relatively new website which means that they do not have millions of videos. It also takes a longer time for the users to create tutorial videos as you can imagine. The ShowMeDo wiki has a (written) tutorial that explains in detail how to create videos that can be uploaded to ShowMeDo, why not share your knowledge if you are good at something ?

You may request tutorials about a certain subject. Users can vote which request is of interest to them. This is a nice feature, really nice. You still need someone to pick up your request so don’t start with something like theory of relativity. I suppose basic stuff works best here.

If ShowMeDo manages to gain some momentum and exposure on the internet they surely will make they way as a great niche movie website that is able to survive amongst the big players.

found at donationcoder