Gabòr Friesen

No worries, I get the point you’re making, makes sense.

Of course, but that will be a manual task or done with very high res sat imagery. Need to know if step 1 is possible before someone can even consider step 2.

Using AI to Detect Military Trenches on Satellite Imagery This article provides a simplified and summarised view of my second undergraduate thesis. For access to the full thesis on this topic (14 pages) or underlying datasets, please reach out to me …

For my 2nd undergraduate thesis, I researched the feasibility of using Convolutional Neural Networks to automate the process of mapping military trenches. Thought this summary might interest some of you.
medium.com/@gaborfriese...

YouTube video by RAINBOLT how to find a location using only the shadow

Galen and our wider tech team have built many tools that are now regularly used by Bellingcat researchers and other newsrooms. One such tool is the Shadow Finder tool, built alongside @gaborfriesen.bsky.social , that @georainbolt.bsky.social tested out last year. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQIj...

He’s also a GNSV member (not a super big surprise though)

Despite the fact that I haven't been making any new guides, some of which were written together with @gaborfriesen.bsky.social, in relation to applying OSINT techniques in the Middle East for a while, it always warms my heart when people from the region use these to learn these skills themselves.

It should mean unknown ground vehicle as far as i’m aware. If you have a reason to believe it’s not, it’s possible that ads-b is misclassifying it?

Veel demonstranten hebben de mogelijkheid om (zonder gewelddadig verzet) gearresteerd te worden van te voren al geaccepteerd. Dat was in Scheveningen natuurlijk anders.
Plus, deze demonstraties (zeker die van gisteren in het universiteits gebouw) zijn op plekken die makkelijker af te zetten zijn.

To a large extent it’s the same. Declaring martial law usually comes with the argument that they have some form of support (e.g. “silent majority”). But it simultaneously admits that a significant enough portion of the populace is so vehemently against you that you need martial law to stay in power.

Google Maps Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

20 meters give or take behind this dude (consider that my paint)

maps.app.goo.gl/oXUszEsTsuve...

If you want a jesting but semi-serious add on to the blog (which is how I usually see this problem):

If AI can do your OSI(NT) research for you, it’s time to spend some time learning more advanced research methods (especially for the problems where AI can’t be meaningfully applied yet).

If 1 isn’t enough or if Chris’s time gets filled up, same

Hah, fair point

Not the worst airport to get lost in as long as you make it to your flight in the end :)

(Even better if you already know how to use 3D modeling software cause then I'll always be able to help, even when I'm short on time myself that week)

Vehicle identification:
If any journalists here ever struggle to identify (military) vehicles on (relatively) low-resolution sat imagery, please let me know.

I'm testing a new identification method. Too busy to find cases right now, but if anyone already has a case, I'd love to help and see.

Just clicked a link in an NOS (dutch news) article expecting to go to X but actually ended up on Bluesky, nice surprise.

I’m considering it the ultimate online “objective reporting award” whenever one person adds me to something like “zionist allies” and someone else to “hamas supporters.”

Especially cause it could easily be combined with other media (be that text or audiovisual) for people who want an in-depth version while still providing the core information to a broader audience.

I think NOSStories has a pretty admirable format across several platforms, although you’ll want to consider the difference in stories and the fact that you have a different target audience.

Another tool idea:
OSINT Mental Health:

An extension that uses CNNs to draw bounding boxes around humans in videos (models for this already exist), before automatically blocking out the areas in those bounding boxes.

Reduces the amount of graphic content that researchers face in conflict videos.

Another one I didn’t know about, thanks!

Thank you!

I kinda wish you could see which starter packs you were put on. Sometimes I randomly get like 100+ followers in a day and just go “huh, I wonder where that came from.”

I guess the per capita overall donations stat in the post is roughly similar between the two, so sounds about right.

To be fair, in my experience with “smaller” projects (hard to say for big things like UNICEF), generally people in the UK seem to donate bigger sums than people in the Netherlands. Not sure if the total number of donations differs after adjusting per capita.
But yes, the stats could use more stats

Israel-Gaza Conflict Map The Israel-Gaza Conflict Map is a map of incidents documented by CIR covering the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Israel and Lebanon since 7 October 2023.

Since 7 October 2023, CIR has verified over 1,300 incidents across Gaza, Lebanon & Israel, documenting destruction, casualties & violations using over 9,100 pieces of data.

Explore our open-source map to uncover the trends and stories behind the numbers ⬇️

Geolocating The Disappearance of Austin Tice This article is an expanded version of the original Bluesky thread

We tried to geolocate the 2012 video of Austin Tice. In the process, we realised that it was most likely created right next to a Syrian military base.
medium.com/@gaborfriese...
(a comprehensive write-up of our recent thread)

No worries, relatable struggles

Would be amazing yeah! while this seems pretty reasonable all around, it's not conclusive. Would be nice to see if we're thinking similarly.
Out of curiosity, I presume you and Timmi didn't publish them because you also couldn't get something 100% conclusive?