Tracking Software?? please ur opinions

[AutoTrackingTeam]

Arigatto Gozaimusu.. HoNtoni Arigatto
<<don't bother reading .. it's Japanese .. and it says thanks
Thank you very much (klkak,nell67,Rick, trax) ..
Really thanks.. Well, I'll take the opinions to the Prof. and see what he would say..
He would probably Kill me and quit the project...
Peace

[crashdive123]

Just because this guy is coming from a part of the world where we happen to get a lot of trolls doesn't mean he's not legit.....does it?

[klkak]

Probably...!!!

[trax]

Probably...!!!

Yes, bro, if I may just point out my initial suspicions about the request, that was it. But the request could be legit, I appreciate your input on the subject and Rick, I'm not saying the software might not be valuable to someone especially in the scenario you described. If I was one of those individuals however, I think my money would be better spent employing a local person with the requisite skills. Just a thought, like I was saying, all I offered was my opinion and I'm not someone who's going to be packing around a computer in the bush. I am kind of an old fashioned guy, I'm the first to admit that. And like I said, I bet I could pick out a single wolf and focus on it's tracks from the pack, but it would take some serious studying and some time for me to do so.....

[klkak]

I bet I could pick out a single wolf and focus on it's tracks from the pack, but it would take some serious studying and some time for me to do so.....

And that is what makes a tracker. The ability to study sign and use reasoning and experience to figure it out.

[laughing beetle]

Why is there such a problem with users from that particular part of Europe? Just asking... I guess what I am wondering is why are they such little p****s?

[Dennis K.]

I could see it as a possible tool for field biologists, especially if the software offered a range of modeling for predictability - kind of in the way weather stations track hurricanes.
If the software were to integrate gps modeling - perhaps through the radio transmitters of tagged animals - it could become tremendously useful.
Obviously, software like this will not come close to a real, experienced tracker. But, it could provide a lot of information and analysis very quickly that would normally take a person a lifetime to master.
How useful will it be? idunno. depends.

[Reiver]

A.T.T. it you are still around, I will try to help. I am not an excellent tracker like others on the forum, but I do hunt, can track and have 30yrs software development exp (C, Python, databases and plenty more not relevant here).

My Comments & Questions for you:
Q1) Have you a set of clearly stated aims for this project yet? Can we see them?

Q2) What assumptions have you made so far in terms of project scope? => what will be included, excluded?

Q3) Since you have included this (and other?) survival forum in your list of Stakeholders, who else will be involved. I ask this because it implies you already have some sort of a plan.

Q4) What *exactly* can this forum provide that will help you, other than generalized comments. You have introduced yourself and your project, but it is not yet clear to me what you need from us.

C1) I am presuming this is not a telemetry-based tracking project, but more like the Wild Track Project, where captured track data is not required to be processed in real-time on-site. Data is processed against a database of prints and measurement and other specific animal identifiers. Right?

C2) I do not see this as a useful 'hunting' or 'survival' tool, but potentially useful for animal preservation / conservation and maybe training.

C3) I see a possible use for govt / local council / county agencies involved in profiling animal populations in order to schedule culls and hunting seasons, as well as pest animal control. ie: the fox or rabbit population in area X is reaching plague proportions - so open a special hunting season etc - this is all hypothetical.

C4) I see a possible use in training young /old hunters and others to recognize animal tracks, and study their behavior etc. ie: sex, numbers, weight, health, activities animal is undertaking, breeding, migration, predation activity..... If you make this an open architecture system, it might be scalable to county, state and national levels.

C5) Remember: Hunters and animal trackers in the wild will all use a totally different approach to you as a programmer - think about that! Human hunters use a HEURISTIC approach, not ALGORITHMIC. What do I mean by that?

The term Heuristic seems to have two main usages:

1) Describing an approach to learning by trying without necessarily having an organized hypothesis or way of proving that the results proved or disproved the hypothesis. That is, "seat-of-the-pants" or "trial-by-error" learning.

2) Pertaining to the use of the general knowledge gained by experience, sometimes expressed as "using a rule-of-thumb." (However, heuristic knowledge can be applied to complex as well as simple everyday problems. Human chess players use a heuristic approach.)

C6) You will eventually need to capture the heuristics and knowledge of the human trackers if you want to go further than just identifying animals from tracks.

That's enough for now. Comments anyone? Flames, brimstone, crickets chirping?

[AutoTrackingTeam]

Thank you very much "Reiver" for taking me seriously ,
it's good that you have 30 years experience coz I've 0 one and it would be a great help. I'm busy with examination now, but I'll be back in 1 to 2 days with further details and answers. I may PM for that.

[wareagle69]

i could not track a herd of elephants thru my yard (but i can shoot them from a mile away) but heres my two cents worth every one by now should be familair with terry gant (or is it grant) mantracker to all others even he employes local guides to help him because from what i gather the terrain will move your quarry in different directions and tracking isn't just about following a track but in knowing where you quarry is heading

now i would be interested in tracking software as additional help for me. this is how i learn i read a book for a web page read it over and over till it is commited to memory (theory if you will) the i go out and apply what i have read (practical) then i can put the two together. but thats just me i never had any elders i could learn from i can from the streets to the bush and have taken it from there

[Sarge47]

Why do people ask for opinions and then get their panties in a knot when they get opinions? I wish you, your research and the Omanian government all well in your future endeavors there pumpkin.

Hey Rick? I'll betcha I could track individual wolves in a pack. Ask hopeak or beo or klkak or jason montana if they think that'd be easy, but I bet I could.

What would it do with "Sasquatch" tracks?

[Sarge47]

How about "Troll-Tracking" Software?

[crashdive123]

Just my opinion. This guy seems legit to me, or at least his questions seem serious. For somebody to come onto the forum and ask us a question in English when English is a second language the message may not come across as intended. If we can help him I think we ought to. If I am proven wrong.....big deal, maybe somebody else reading here will have learned something.

[Riverrat]

I have done a bit of tracking, and one of the big things that I found is that the actual track is just a small part of tracking, you have to look all around and at everything in the area to follow an animal/human. Knowledge of the animal, also of the area you are in helps greatly in tracking. It takes patience and practice. This sounds like a data base of animal tracks, which when matched will give information about that specific animal...this may be of use if you are not sure what kind of animal you are dealing with. Could be wrong on this, and if I am ATT, let me know.

[AutoTrackingTeam]

well, I think that I should have said that the initial idea is to make footprint identification software, and from that we may develop to tracking depending on the succeed of the initial idea.
one of the reasons why I'm postin here, is that we are not clear yet.. wither we should make it a database of animal tracks to identify the animal.. or should we focus on a certain one (which in this case won't be of great help unless to biologist and researchers) ..

by the way, we may go for the desert tracking (where the footprint has an identical rule as I've been told by a tracker).

anyway I can't give much details right now coz of the exams..

but thanks for trying to help.

Another topic::
Why all of this fuss about me being legit...!!!
Excuse me, but I'm really serious and won't waste my time and everybody's else asking such questions just to have fun.

Sorry if you did not get the idea .. but I think I've mentioned that I'm still at the beginning and nothing is clear yet.

Anyway, if my team decided to do the project, I'll keep u updated to the process.

Peace

[klkak]

C5) Remember: Hunters and animal trackers in the wild will all use a totally different approach to you as a programmer - think about that! Human hunters use a HEURISTIC approach, not ALGORITHMIC. What do I mean by that?

The term Heuristic seems to have two main usages:

1) Describing an approach to learning by trying without necessarily having an organized hypothesis or way of proving that the results proved or disproved the hypothesis. That is, "seat-of-the-pants" or "trial-by-error" learning.

2) Pertaining to the use of the general knowledge gained by experience, sometimes expressed as "using a rule-of-thumb." (However, heuristic knowledge can be applied to complex as well as simple everyday problems. Human chess players use a heuristic approach.)

C6) You will eventually need to capture the heuristics and knowledge of the human trackers if you want to go further than just identifying animals from tracks.

That's enough for now. Comments anyone? Flames, brimstone, crickets chirping?

That is what I was trying to say back in post #15. I am glad there are educated folks on here.

[Sarge47]

Why all of this fuss about me being legit...!!!
Excuse me, but I'm really serious and won't waste my time and everybody's else asking such questions just to have fun.

...we have had a lot of problems from people coming out of your area; you know, Trolls, Spammers, & kids just playing games. I'll be keeping a close eye on you & if you ARE legit, then cool. If not, then 'bye-'bye. So far everything seems okay.

[Rick]

To your question Laughing Beetle - RIPE.net is one of five regional internet registries that handles IP domains among other things. They are out of Amsterdam and a lot of spammers generate from that part of the world. The hair on the back of my neck stands up every time I see an IP coming through RIPE because some many of them ARE spammers. On my site, I've blocked all of the IPs that RIPE handles in an effort to keep spammers out. Made a huge difference too.

As for ATT, I think he's legit. It's just easy to become jaded with you see so many IPs come through RIPE and so many of them are spammers.