User talk:Charles Wood

Upload Text Files?
I want to upload a .kml file containing my best guess for the missile splashes in Zamalka on August 21.

There is no option for either text or kml, Or even kmz.

Can this be changed?


 * Hi Charles, no it can't be changed, the file-types are configured on MediaWiki script level where we have no access. You can use the  tag for pre-formatted text on every page, though, which will give you something like the following when you paste your data in. --CE (talk) 11:38, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

    New York City New York City  -74.006393,40.714172,0    

I could only have said not me. In fact I can't even get a simple .png or .jpeg to upload lately. This fix seems to work not too bad, just saw it in action. --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:03, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

A quick question: I saw a recent video on LL grenade attack

I seem to recall this was quite old and there is related video from the rooftop and lots of bodies. Is this in your collection? What was the incident? --Charles Wood (talk) 11:45, 27 December 2013 (UTC)

Jobar operation. 1. Beginning
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt5prC8JTbg Операция в Джобаре. Часть 1. Начало Jobar operation. 1. Beginning]

Video Date: 2013-08-21 (Source lowerlevels on liveleak)

Upload Date: 2013-12-23

Primary camera location Tall tower block

Map View



Operation in Dzhobare. Part 2. Reconnaissance and artillery barrage.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrmAlnZlGyQ Операция в Джобаре. Часть 2. Рекогносцировка и артподготовка. Operation in Dzhobare. Part 2. Reconnaissance and artillery barrage.]

Video Date: 2013-08-21 Plus 0-3 days? (Source lowerlevels on liveleak)

Upload Date: 2013-12-29

Primary camera location Tall tower block

Map View



--Charles Wood (talk) 07:44, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

Chatter
Looks like the right basic spot, but note sun from the west, I guess, meaning mid-PM. This must be in the cropped off part of the complex just north? With less busses and more buildings inside the fence? And is there a significance to this, or just practicing, or what? Keep at it, either way. :) --Caustic Logic (talk) 04:37, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

I'm using this place as a storage depot for now and also for criticism of my geolocation. No probs about any or all of it being slotted into ACLOS pages if there is a consensus that the descriptions are accurate. Maybe in a bit I'll generate a separate page for it.

I have a longer term plan to geolocate many significant videos - at least from the Damascus area. I've started a private database with a lot of metadata about each video, lats, longs, dates, uploads, notes etc. It has the working title "DatabaseOfDeath". Slightly more problematic is evaporation of videos off YT etc so I have started copying them down. As a secondary project I'm looking at adding metadata internal to the video files c.f. EXIF for jpeg. Webm supports metadata but finding an app to actually add and edit metadata is problematic. I may have to write my own :-(

--Charles Wood (talk) 05:05, 30 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Sounds good. I appreciate that it sounds tedious and finally useful. But the methods seem over my head, which I'll take as an excuse to just not gum up your process. I hope you can share the findings here. Any questions, feel free. We're all pretty good at geo-location by now. --Caustic Logic (talk) 06:31, 30 December 2013 (UTC)


 * I've been going though this particular video generating metadata. What I have found out is that despite being uploaded on Dec 29 it refers to events some months ago. Quite when I'm not sure but most likely summer 2013


 * And yes, it's bloody tedious. I'm guessing one or two videos a day at best. Though at least I'm getting my computer skills back after a bit of a hiatus. Here's a bit of the metadata - still experimental

 1.0 Syria - SAA in Damascus Al-Qaboun suburb 1806 (Low).webm RrmAlnZlGyQ.mkv Jobar</Tag> <Tag>Qaboun</Tag> <Tag>Damascus</Tag> <Tag>ANNA</Tag> <Location> <Offset_Time>0.0000</Offset_Time> <Duration>0</Duration> <Lat>33.528045</Lat> <Lon>36.328973</Lon> <Desc>MultiStory Building</Desc> <Map_Symbol>Structure></Map_Symbol> <Camera> <Offset_Time>0.0000</Offset_Time> <Duration>0</Duration> <Lat>33.529986</Lat> <Lon>36.32395</Lon> <Azimuth>120</Azimuth> <Desc>Overlooking Building</Desc> <Map_Symbol>Camera></Map_Symbol> </Camera> </Location>

--Charles Wood (talk) 07:11, 30 December 2013 (UTC)


 * I've heard that part of the team is back in Russia on "vacation" and use the time to sort through so-far unpublished material.


 * I'd say you got the general spot but it's not in the "middle tower block" if you mean the three quadratic ones. If you draw a line of sight just at the edge of what is seen from the building, it ends a bit north of the big crossing. On the parking lot that beamer is just touching the pointy little building. Drawing back the line between those two points shows that we are on the higher building north of the three. If we were on the "middle tower block" the pointy building would be out-of-sight to the left. Just a quick impression. --CE (talk) 07:30, 30 December 2013 (UTC)


 * I guess you are right. Which means the camera azimuth is closer to 120. The rooftop water-tanks will be on top of the three shorter buildings.


 * My good news today is I can now embed metadata into Matroska Container format videos (basically webm). So I have an easy path from a database full of metadata and a YT video to a fully self-documenting video file. Next trick is to see if the metadata survives upload to YT. --Charles Wood (talk) 07:47, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

The tower is the Teachers' Tower in Jobar. I think it is still in rebel possession. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 20:41, 30 December 2013 (UTC)


 * The video now has German subtitles (thanks to apxwn) and I know why that huge building is called the "Teacher's Tower" - it was the HQ of the Syrian Teacher's Union(!) - that alone must have been reason enough for everybody from Ron Paul to Prince Fatso to fight the "regime"! ;o)


 * The flatter association of buildings between the TT and the large crossing viewed from Charles' Tower, with the red-white checkered sides, is the "IT-College". The recordings are from end of August, he says. --CE (talk) 20:52, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

Charles, likely you are aware of it, but one never knows. Saw this analysis of ANNA videos linked over at apxwn again. --CE (talk) 21:17, 30 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Yes I'm aware of the analysis. I do have doubts about some of the dates they provide for events. They seem to have mistaken upload dates for event dates in some cases.
 * Their chronology is ANNA based and does not necessarily match ground-truth when compared against insurgent videos. For instance there is clear evidence there was an infantry ('Shabiha') assault on the technical school on August 22, while osmint only describes 'Fight for a school in Jobar' on October 16. (Plus their damned map image is rotated 90 degrees!)
 * ANNA videos come in at least two categories. The majority are uploaded within a day or so of the event (NEWS). Then a smaller fraction are uploaded some period later (HISTORY)--Charles Wood


 * P.S. My video above is not part of the osmint analysis. They seem to have concentrated on the Jobar Qaboun industrial area asides from a sally into Qaboun and some work at the East of Jobar (talk) 00:06, 31 December 2013 (UTC)


 * The Zamalka maps are rotated 180 degrees. In fact the conflict area is not in Zamalka at all, but on the Jobar side of the Southern Bypass Road. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 01:09, 31 December 2013 (UTC)