Anti-Bigfoot Hoaxing Software
Matt Knapp thinks that Bigfoot research is a mess right now.
“The facts are that in terms of progress, the Bigfoot research community has ultimately made none. We are no closer now to proving these creatures exist than we were 40 years ago,” Knapp told Boston.
Knapp blames the setbacks on the digital age, and the amount of misinformation being spread in the form of photos and videos online. That, and the fact that more people seem to be trying to cash in on what they claim are legitimate Bigfoot sightings. “Self admittedly, up to this point, we have not had anything worth presenting as real evidence of this creature’s existence. If we want scientists to get involved, we have to go by their standards, not our anecdotal ones,” he said.
To help filter out the phonies and fakes all trying to make a quick buck on something he believes in, Knapp is asking those vested in Bigfoot research to rely on technology built out of MIT to prove that the truth is out there.
Knapp, who runs a blog called “Bigfoot Crossroads,” a personal site with updates about all things Sasquatch, recently stumbled upon an invention created by students and researchers in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab in Cambridge in 2012, called “Eulerian Video Magnification.”
EVM is essentially a software that allows users to break down videos to reveal things in them that are invisible to the naked eye. This includes visualizing the blood pulsing behind someone’s cheeks and face, or capturing changes in body behaviors that the average person is unable to detect just by simply staring at someone. EVM does this by “homing in on specific pixels” in a given video, according to the New York Times, and then amplifying those pixels by up to 100 times using complex algorithms.
Knapp seems to believe that if the program can be used for medical diagnostics—it’s intended use when it was publicly introduced in 2012 by the MIT team—then there’s no reason it can’t call out fake videos. “In such a fringe subject as Bigfoot, not everyone is serious about their motives for being involved. There are numerous individuals out there, that for whatever reason present false evidence,” he said. “I feel [this] truly is remarkable and ground breaking technology that will really do some good in the world. Later on after reading about it and watching the videos, I realized that this software could be used in the Bigfoot field as well.”
He hopes that the technology launched by MIT’s team, which was made free for public use and download, will help separate what’s “real” from what’s merely a hoax. “Not only does the EVM software assist in…determining and proving the subject of a video is a living and breathing entity, and not just some guy in a costume, it also opens the door in terms of gaining information about muscle movement and motion,” said Knapp.
Since the Bigfoot research field has no set standards or protocol, and there are very few scientists involved in the study, he would like to see people rely on the technology produced by researchers out of MIT to help sift out the bogus material being disseminated. “The same techniques are being used, the same theories are being rehashed time and time again, and I believe a change is long overdue,” he said.
Already, users online have applied the MIT technology to alleged Bigfoot footage that has been floating around for decades. On March 23, a video was posted to YouTube—and later to Knapp’s blog—of one of the most infamous Sasquatch “sightings” in history. Originally shot by Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin in 1967, the person that uploaded the clip applied the EVM technology to try to determine if blood pulses could be detected through the use of the software. Seeing the blood pulses on the large mammal, as it struts through the forest in the short film, could potentially tell Bigfoot researchers if, in fact, it’s the real deal.
While it was a valiant effort and first step, he doesn’t think the person who uploaded the recent clip used the software properly. “It is up to the individuals involved to learn the scientific standards and techniques used, and to implement proper documentation. We are also responsible for our own peer review and examination of the evidence that we do find. If we follow the proper procedures, and have the thorough documentation that would hold up to scientific standards, then one day we may have a piece of evidence that would be taken seriously by the scientific community,” Knapp said.
And if the MIT software doesn’t come in handy, Knapp can always tap into other Bigfoot resources offered here in the Bay State. Lest you forget, two of Boston’s favorite athletes—Dustin Pedroia and Jonathan Papelbon, of Red Sox fame—are avid Sasquatch hunters with an interest in finding the beast when they aren’t trying to knock balls out of Fenway Park. - Boston Magazine
Finding Bigfoot: Everything You Need to Know (Animal Planet)
Recasting Bigfoot
Legend Meets Truth: Bigfoot in Rhode Island
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The Ukraine UFO?
Hello, UFO Disclosure Countdown Clock - has a VERY in-depth `story' about what apparently is the state of UFOlogy in 2014.
Be looking for the story with the title - `The Ukraine UFO? - Is All This `The BS of UFOlogy' In 2014?' - with the connections traced like a spy thriller about the so-called Ukraine UFO. With lines like `All For Satirical And Entertainment Purposes' - you are going to be lead into and fed the apparent organized disinfo the UFOlogy folks would like you to believe.
So, set aside a few minutes for a good read.
Rick Phillips
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Hi folks....I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable weekend. It's been a busy week for me...lots of great submissions as well. Join us Sunday night at 8PM EDT as we welcome historian, author & Freemason Robert W. Sullivan IV to 'Beyond The Edge' Radio. It should be an interesting and enlightening show. Saturday is going to be exceptionally busy for me, so I may not have the time to post a blog....just a 'heads up.' Thanks again for being there...Lon
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Conspiracies: Chinese Wallboard or Toxic Weather?
My colleague Judy forwarded the following:
Dateline: March 28, 2014; Southeast Louisiana -- An acrid "effluvia" (toxic air) wells up inside houses and buildings that "went under" in the man-made, post-Hurricane Katrina floods of August 29, 2005. There are those who would say that this stuff that burns the eyes and sinuses is caused by cheap Chinese drywall being used to restore houses. It is not drywall, though; there is no such drywall in my house.
This "effluvia" can come up in any room of any house, although it seems to be affected by moist air (warm or cold) blown in with rain systems that can come from any direction. Outside of buildings, on the street, this eye-burning chemical (it can only be chemical) cannot be detected whatsoever. That it comes up from under houses does happen without a doubt.
It must be remembered that waters loaded with toxins covered 80% of the city of New Orleans for almost a month until the last of the floods were drained away. In the early years, in any kind of weather, you could walk outside and pick up a sinuses-full of this same acrid "effluvia". Those toxins contained everything from raw sewage to seepage from underground lines for gas, and fluids from motor vehicles.
What comes to mind is the Love Canal story, of a subdivision built on top of a toxic land fill. It is terrifying to think that the toxins from the 2005 floods could have created a Love Canal situation in New Orleans as well. Of course, we locals won't be told anything, and the toxins will continue to work on us as long as we stay here out of sentiment for our beloved suburban homes.
As I type this, I am airing out my house from a full dose of this toxic air. Outside, it is raining, and a substantial wind is blowing from the south. All the indoor fans (not the air conditioning; that costs too much to run) are running, and yet in certain rooms, the "effluvia" continues to rise up -- literally through the wooden slats in the floors.
Have there been reports of this "effluvia" from elsewhere? All you have to do is ask, or visit any other houses or buildings, and you can get a first-hand confirmation that the "nasty stuff" is out there.
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Free Energy Revealed!
A reader forwarded the following:
We can confirm that the Fix the World Team has produced a working overunity device, called Quantum Energy Generator (QEG). Yes, it works.
Free Energy Revealed
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