What Is OH SHINT! It's A Blog!?

Updated

OH SHINT! It's A Blog! (ohshint.gitbook.io) is an independent OSINT blog — a collection of articles, write-ups, and notes on open-source intelligence, operational security, anonymity, surveillance, and related tradecraft. It is written by a licensed private investigator who specializes in intelligence collection and surveillance/counter-surveillance operations. If you want practical OSINT investigation material, resource lists, and field-oriented write-ups rather than vendor marketing, this site is aimed at you.

What the site covers

According to the site's own description, the content centers on a few overlapping intelligence and counter-intelligence subjects:

  • Open-source intelligence (OSINT) — investigations, intelligence discovery, and intelligence collection, including lists of resources and tools, write-ups of the author's own OSINT research, and guides on conducting investigations across many different platforms and subjects.
  • OPSEC and privacy — research, guides, and anonymity-related material.
  • Surveillance and counter-surveillance — tactics and techniques.
  • Tradecraft — general spy-craft-related methods and practices.
  • Cybersecurity — content related to security topics, listed as part of the blog's scope.

The author also notes personal interests in forensic document examination and firearms technology as subjects that may appear in future articles.

Who writes it

The author describes himself as a licensed private investigator who has specialized in intelligence collection, surveillance, and counter-surveillance operations. That background shapes the site's perspective: the material is framed around collection and investigation practice rather than purely academic or tool-catalog coverage.

The site also states an intent to publish a new article roughly every week "if time permits" — a plan the author himself later flags on the page as not fully kept ("Well, this was a lie.."). Treat posting frequency as irregular rather than a reliable schedule.

Independence and disclaimer

The site carries an explicit disclaimer worth knowing before you rely on it:

  • The author and any contributors are not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any companies that may be listed on the site.
  • They are not responsible for the actions of end users — the stated expectation is that readers don't use the material maliciously.

In practice, this means tool and company mentions on the blog should be read as references, not endorsements or partnerships.

Licensing and reuse

The site's stated terms are unusually permissive:

  • You may save, download, archive, copy, share, edit, re-post, and re-upload any content found on the site.
  • Attribution is not required, though the author says it is preferred.
  • The one request: don't take the content and claim it as your own.

If you plan to republish or adapt material from the blog, those are the conditions the author sets out.

When this site is a good fit — and when it isn't

Use it if you want Look elsewhere if you need
OSINT investigation guides, resource/tool lists, and research write-ups A continuously updated news source — posting cadence is explicitly irregular
OPSEC, anonymity, surveillance, and tradecraft perspectives from a PI background Vendor-neutral product comparisons with current pricing — the site disclaims any company affiliation and lists no pricing
Freely reusable content under the author's stated terms Formal certification, legal advice, or authoritative policy guidance

The site also notes that a complete documentation index is available via its llms.txt file, and that pages are available in Markdown — useful if you want to archive or process the content programmatically.