FormerLabFred

Great question!

This was quite straightforward to code ’manually’, but we got stuck for some hours when trying to send the first message. CPU topped, fans spinning, no message through. Analyzed, and after a while when we got same block the nth time, someone proposed Claude.

So Claude got the repo, prompted Claude:

”You got one job, why isn’t message through and why CPU usage high?”

He didn’t solve it. Probably could have if we kept Clauding.

But we found the problem. The issue was that the code was hitting the terminal 300 times trying to send the message :)

For clarity reasons Claude got the job to write the README, personally I don’t like that approach, but we got many other projects so time management basically.

We are building Cobolsky too.

Right now we are building the part to get images through using Apples old algo. Will be 576x720 using the Föoyd-Steinberg dither, 1984 Apple algorithm :)

Forecast: Fortransky on Tangled tomorrow Sunday

Cool!

VC is Fortransky no-go zone

On it!

Ok got you. Good point, added to repo README

We had to rewrite the main system so those who are not into code and tech much could run it more easily. They are used to MarineTraffic and VesselFinder web sites.

This is tailor made for them, check loitering, export CSV.

Main system is no secret, but it got loads of ML and frontend is a bit messy. But one day we will ship it too.

If you check the link to GUR War and Sanctions web site in the README, they got a map where they plot harbors and similar. The main Shadow Fleet Tracker does next port prediction and handles flag change. We’ll sort mire user-friendly frontend and onboarding for the main version in future. Then people can use it as they need.

Thanks for all the feedback folks! Will try to reply a few times a day here. And post some more blog articles.

Yes this can be a true intelligence tool, combining many sources

To the repo? It’s in the blog post head, in section under first screenshot,

https://github.com/FormerLab/fortransky

It’s early version yes. It’s 70% Fortran, next version more Fortran and we will add x86-64 assembly decoder for AT Proto firehose frames

Flying smarthphones project introduced here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/152446275

Public access

Great points!

This is experimental,

We need to address MEMS vs mechanical gyro noise profile

Gain constants in the nav kernel were tuned empirically for the original sensor suite.

Then we got SEU yes :)

noted, though flying at 30m AGL as the Viggen did in low-level attack mode keeps the cosmic ray exposure manageable

Will write a handover doc for Saab, they can do the rest of the dev :)

Yes will post updates

(we run two other drone projects, uas-phone-swarm for iOS and Android

There is a public blog post on it. Patreon/Formerlab

Modern smartphones more powerful than the ck37 tech)

:)

A hybrid war going on in the Baltic region. Women involved too

We have been running the main system a year. Loads of data, less women

Now there is this light version for the hobbyists, onboarding tricky for some users, but README covers it all

Multiple tabs open? :)

Cobolsky holds the record for most surprised looks per line of code :)

Fortransky benchmarks pending

the feed scorer will have real numbers worth reporting

Whenever time allows in future: Fortran vs Go vs Python

Great comment! Thanks!

No CODASYL, the JSON parser is hand-rolled Fortran with a depth-tracking key scanner

CODASYL not a crazy direction for the feed composer

Got more depth to explore here, still early :)

COBOL is more painful, Fortran better.

Good you raised the topic, can write a blog post on it when we ship Cobolsky. Will be a proof of concept repo. Fortransky is the one

(If AT Proto did fixed-width records instead of JSON, COBOL would be formidable)

:) We tried Abacus Fortran on the C64 back in the days and were allowed to stay indoors during breaks doing Basic stuff too on school computer.

One of the guys wrote 8xxROM some 10 years later.

Today known as U−Boot :)

Thanks for the feedback!

We got a spec for Assemblersky. Will be a weekend project. Cancel Easter :) And probably Midsummer too…

We got image composer and decoder plugged in in dev env, but will let this first open version breathe first. ASCII or early Apple algo

Fortran-fast feed builder probably in next open version. It crunches fast

Morning, 9 o’clock in Sweden, coffee and check-the-feed-on- Fortransky-time :)

Plenty over here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/153285871

And the webserver is running locally, this is not web based, that’s the no cloud part

From head of README

“ Free, open source, runs locally. No cloud, no subscription beyond a free AISStream API key.”

I mean we don’t have the vessels floating around live locally inside machine :) Gotta get the AIS messages from somewhere

Good!

Tried to do onboarding guide as proper as possible with the scripts and for different OSs. Many OSINT hobbyists/enthusiasts out there, but not all of them are familiar with installing dependencies/launching Python etc

It takes a few 3 min runs to render/populate the map.

Happy tracking!

Late in Sweden, back tomorrow (CET)

You got an aisstream.io key and set it before launching? Check the README.You can hard code it in shadow_tracker.py too

Bedtime in Sweden. Back tomorrow if you need support.

Good reminder to dig around. Will check. We picked up the Fortran manual and just went for it.

The original Manual exists as a PDF. Was it in a Stuttgart uni URL? Just a search away.

Late in Sweden, gotta Fortran tomorrow. Happy to continue discussion here tomorrow.

AT conference in a couple of days. In Vancouver. Bet they are all there and the rest of the AT bunch.

Don’t know if people are building GitHub-like systems, offline-first app sync etc

Many devs reuse schema and write some twitter/bsky clone

Kind of search engine for my Blueaky likes

Gotta get off the timeline, germ has a messaging app, then there is Tangled and some more

We do Fortransky and Cobolsky now, got more ideas for the protocol than time :)

Whatever you got :)

Siri, NORA IMO 9259408, give me position, knots, and heading

Later versions

This is a light version of a more heavy-weight ML-based tracker.

README head:

Baltic Sea shadow fleet monitoring via live AIS data. Watches 1200+ vessels from the Ukrainian GUR War&Sanctions catalogue against the AISStream WebSocket feed, plots positions on a self-updating map, flags proximity to undersea cables, and detects Russia↔West transshipment patterns.

Free, open source, runs locally. No cloud, no subscription beyond a free AISStream API key.