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What's New?
New VisuaLinks Skins
Our graphic design team has been busy creating a number of new VisuaLinks skins for your enjoyment. If you have not visited the
Skins area of our Support Site recently, take the time to check out the newest skins. A few of the most recent include:
We have also added custom client skins for a United States government security agency and the Marine Corps.
We have also been working hard on further internationalizing VisuaLinks by creating custom foreign language skins.
We have been working closely with clients and partners to develop skins in Arabic, Korean, Polish and Russian, with hopes
for more languages to follow. These skins will all be available soon in the Skins section of our Support Site.
VisuaLinks 4.0
Although VisuaLinks 4.0 is still under development, it has been released to a few "select" integrators and partners to test the new
server-side APIs as well as to provide feedback regarding several other new features. The APIs cover all the calls defined for the
server-side services, such as Load, Query, Walk, etc. A simplified information set gets returned by the API calls containing all
the nodes and associations supported within a data model. Expanding the VisuaLinks APIs promotes better integration and coupling
with other technology vendors and allows systems integrators to customize the tools to meet specific project needs. The estimated
release of 4.0 is expected sometime in the fourth quarter of 2004.
Note: VisuaLinks 4.0 has a significant number of enhancements and new capabilities. As part of the 4.0 roll-out, VAI will
be introducing a different set of configurations that can be purchased depending on the needs of the agency or organization.
As such, there will be different pricing models for each configuration. Stay tuned to the LinkLetter and the VAI Web site for
more information regarding these new pricing models.
Some additional changes being made in VisuaLinks 4.0 include more simplified interfaces and easier control. The following
examples show some of the "before-and-after" pictures of several interface improvements that have been made between 3.0 and 4.0.
The first example shows the login interfaces. As you can see, there is a more polished-look to 4.0 and more capability with
the addition of sub-tabs to control server coupling (in a multi-server environment).
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3.0 Login |
4.0 Login |
This next comparison is a subset of the Group By option under the Placements Tab. In VisuaLinks 3.0, there was a very long list
box representing all the placement combinations that could be generated. In VisuaLinks 4.0, there is a much more streamlined
selection mechanism that allows for all permutations of clusters in addition to being more easily expanded as new layouts are added.
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3.0 Group-By |
4.0 Group-By |
The next two before-and-after comparisons are based on the Main Settings dialog which acts as a clearing house for all
options for nodes, associations, labels, and general controls. Using our new layouts, the 4.0 interfaces are much cleaner,
better organized, and more practical for navigation. The use of sub-tabs in these dialogs puts similar features together
reducing the clutter and number of options presented under a single interface.
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3.0 Objects |
4.0 Objects |
3.0 Associations |
4.0 Associations |
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...that the Visual Clarity Server can be run as a Service under the Microsoft operating system?
Under the server installation directory (usually c:\VisualClarity), there is a subdirectory called Win32 which contains all the DLL files for the automatic ODBC configurations for the VisuaLinks sample/test models as well as a subdirectory called ManageService. In this directory, there is a CMD file called "installServer.cmd" that is used to set up the Visual Clarity Server as a Microsoft Service.
At the top of this file is an entry that sets the INSTALLDIR, which defines the location on the machine where the Visual Clarity Server software is installed. You must make sure this entry points to the proper install path and on the correct drive - otherwise, the service will fail to start. The default entry is shown below.
set INSTALLDIR=C:\VisualClarity
Once this has been set properly, you will need to execute this command file by simply double-clicking it. When the file executes properly, you will see a DOS window with the following message "The service was successfully installed." At this point, you are ready to use the system. Like most Windows Services, the Visual Clarity Server will start automatically whenever the machine it resides on is started.
We recommend double-checking the Windows Service to guarantee the system is started. To do this, use the Start Menu to open the Control Panel. Under the Administrative Tools control, you will find the Services icon used to bring up the Services control.
Scroll down to where the Visual Clarity Server entry is located. By default, it should show that it is started automatically. At this point, VisuaLinks clients should be able to connect to the server.
If this entry can't be found, there was most likely a problem in the path name in the installServer.cmd file.
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VisuaLinks supports a considerable number of formats for generating output. Besides industry standards
such as GIF, JPEG, BITMAP, PDF, WMF, and SVG, VisuaLinks can also send the results directly back into
the display. On any of the Print or Export options available from any of the toolbars available within
VisuaLinks, there is an entry called "Send to Screen" that will generate a print preview. Once the
options are set, any of the contents in the screen will then be placed into each of the underlying views.
The following diagram shows a set of three embedded diagrams (PIE, MAP, LINK) that were individually
produced from three separate "Send to Screen" operations using different views within VisuaLinks.
These diagrams are treated as standard objects and can be sized, copied, moved, deleted, clustered,
arranged, or manipulated like any other object in the display. This feature is very helpful when
presenting final output where supplemental details need to be shown. This feature also applies to
the Details Panel (text) to embed more content into the diagram.
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VisuaLinks is used extensively in the detection of financial crimes and money laundering operations throughout
the world. In fact, all of the major U.S. Government agencies are utilizing VisuaLinks to help access, combine, and
analyze the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data. Not too long ago, a compliance analysis was presented on Money Services
Businesses (MSBs) in the Volume 2, Issue 10 - October 2003
issue of the LinkLetter. This month, additional patterns are presented based on recent MSB filing activities.
MSBs are defined to include any person or business involved in currency exchanges, sellers or remitter of travel's
checks, or money transmitters/dealers. In 2003, there were over 150,000 independent, local, or multi-national
businesses within the United States classified as an MSB that filed over 200,000 SAR MSBs. Coincidentally, the U.S.
Postal Service is considered an MSB because it issues and redeems money orders.
On January 1, 2002, as part of the changes enacted by the U.S. PATRIOT Act, requirements went into effect for
MSBs to submit Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). A SAR must be filed by an MSB (called a SAR-MSB) on any transactions
where the aggregate amount exceeds US $2,000 and is believed to be derived from illegal activity, serves no business or
apparent lawful purpose, or is attempting to evade any requirements of the BSA. The following examples show the first
2 pages of a SAR-MSB (page 3 is used for the narrative).
The following example represents data derived from a collection of SAR-MSBs using the Network Miner
feature contained in VisuaLinks. Using only the SUBJECT-PHONE linkage, a network was exposed showing
a strong bias for a number of different SUBJECTS using a common PHONE. In the diagram, the labels are
not displayed due to the sensitive nature of this data.
The HTTP search offered by VisuaLinks provides the ability to right-mouse click on any object and
initiate an Internet search based on any of the attribute values for the selected object. In this
investigation, the phone number was sent to Google as an HTTP search because Google maintains an online
phone book that will return the subscriber and address of the phone, if listed.
The results for this particular search showed it was listed as a discount cab company in a small
mid-western city. As shown below, the network was extended a level to show the ADDRESSES listed
for the SUBJECTS. The ADDRESSES exposed were all located in an economically depressed part of the
city known for drug-trafficking and prostitution.
The people involved in the transfer of the money were required by the MSBs filing the SAR to
list a valid phone number. Often people do not like giving their own personal information,
so they offer a number they easily remember - in this case, the number of the cab company.
Most likely the cab company is not involved in the transfer of any funds, but it happens to
be the key factor in tying together all the SUBJECTS.
For additional information regarding MSBs, please visit the following websites:
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