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Gabòr Friesen

@gaborfriesen.bsky.social

10K followers 260 following 59 posts

Freelance Open Source Researcher. Geo-&Chronolocation/3D Modeling/CNNs/Social Media Analysis and Remote Sensing Previous collaborations: Al Haq, Al Jazeera, Airwars/AFP, Bellingcat, CNN, The Washington Post.

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Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Oct 12

An analysis of available social media footage for the Washington Post together with Evan Hill, Joyce Lee, and Sarah Cahlan shows how Hamas took at least 106 hostages. Out of those 106 hostages, 64 were confirmed to have been transported to Gaza.

www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Hamas took at least 64 captives into Gaza, visual evidence suggests

The hostages include nine children, according to an examination of hundreds of videos and images posted on social media since the fighting began.

www.washingtonpost.com

Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · 1d

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

Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · 1d

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.

Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · 2d

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...

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 …

medium.com

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Reposted by Gabòr Friesen

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · Aug 22

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...

how to find a location using only the shadow

YouTube video by RAINBOLT

www.youtube.com

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Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Aug 18

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

Reposted by Gabòr Friesen

Chris Osieck @chrisosieck.bsky.social · May 14

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.

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Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · May 8

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?

Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · May 7

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.

Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Apr 28

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.

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Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Apr 24

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

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

Google Maps

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

maps.app.goo.gl

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Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Apr 20

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).

Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Apr 1

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

Chris Osieck @chrisosieck.bsky.social · Apr 1

If there are any media platforms, humanitarian organizations, or research collectives who need any assistance in open source investigations or visual verification, I want to let you know that I have time available in my agenda again.

Feel free to reach out via DM for a ☕️

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Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Mar 28

Hah, fair point

Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Mar 28

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

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Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Mar 4

(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)

Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Mar 4

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.

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Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Mar 1

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

Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Feb 17

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.”

Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Jan 26

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.

Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Jan 26

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.

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Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Jan 22

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.

Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Jan 16

Another one I didn’t know about, thanks!

Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Jan 16

Thank you!

Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Jan 16

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.”

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Gabòr Friesen @gaborfriesen.bsky.social · Jan 11

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