Taking immutable notes

This might be a good jumping off point for a deeper dive.

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Here is a quick read on one of the aspects: http://www.mesard.org/pdf_documents/Record%20Keeping%20for%20SAR%20Dog%20Teams.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1kTZENz_OmbFnNkwm_aF10j3DAexF4Z2IzZ949NrAavLzDTo6UodOochw

In many ways it comes down to being able to show with reasonable certainty that the dog did what the handler said it did. I.e., an indication a scent was found (or not) and what scent that was. If e.g., a dog is trained on general human scent (area dog) but also on Canabis - a handler would not know if a dog’s decisions are based on a human found or just a bit of weed. Deciding to not dig deeper into a ravine or the opposite can be a tough call particularly after a long search and a hectic day.

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I admit I do not know what is an acceptable form of electronic record keeping for this application, I am on a fishing expedition if this is remotely possible (and also practica/simple). I see above quite a few interesting starting points to dig further. Thanks for all those leads!

Sometimes when you get to the end, you realize paper and pen weren’t so bad after all :slightly_smiling_face:
I would be interested to hear what you decide on.

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Usually far faster than fiddling with computers, too.

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This isn’t a recommendation, and I haven’t had to do this myself, but the scenario prompted this thought: if I needed to prove that I’d written something before a particular date, I’d write it in a text file (markdown) and run a SHA hash function with the file in Terminal, and post that hash to Twitter, whose posts can’t be edited and are time stamped. Then I could point to the hash as proof that the text file is unaltered from that date :slight_smile:

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That’s smart – and has an illustrious history. It’s the modern version of what the Wikipedia article that @JohnAtl referenced claims that Issac Newton did with anagrams when he didn’t want to reveal a finding but wanted to lay claim to it.

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Or…git which works very similar to what you’re describing :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Hey did you ever find a solution for your problem? I’ve been creating originalnote.co.uk which I think would solve your problem.

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Yes i did - to some extend. I discovered that log taking (and keeping them immutable) was only a part of what the K9 SAR world was crying out for. Immutability itself isn’t the most important aspect but rather chain of custody i.e. at some point when a handler needs to provide their training docs for court, that hand over is to be done in a way that then guarantees nobody fiddled with it.

Since i was already in the “k9 world” with a tracker/recorder app, i expanded its functionality with K9 training specific logging and archiving that does much more than just capturing the training notes.

Interesting when i review my early notes vs knowledge now; clear case of “i don’t give a fig for simplicity this side of complexity but give anything for simplicity at the far side of complexity” (somewhat freely quoted from mr Holmes) Never be too happy with early solutions one creates but keep digging into what is really needed.

I looked at your app and like the purpose driven approach you took, looks slick. Hope you kill it!