Russell Ballestrini b77da42bbe phase 1: unfirehose reconstruction from session JSONL ingest

Source: ~/.unfirehose/unfirehose.db (project_id=81, 4 sessions covering
2026-03-29 through 2026-04-05). Reconstructed via chronological replay
of Write/Edit tool_input on file_paths under /home/fox/zebra-report/.

stats:
  files reconstructed:    20
  writes baselined:       all (zero missing)
  edits applied:          68
  edits unapplied:        8 (1 SKIP pre-baseline, 6 FAIL old_string drift, 1 AMBIGUOUS)

unapplied edits represent small drift in 6 files; baseline content for
each is intact. quality verification deferred to phase 2.

recovered tree:
  CLAUDE.md, Makefile
  src/{tx,rx,pulse,carrier,chat,bt}.c
  include/{modem,zebra}.h
  test/{functional,integration,unit}.c, test/test.h
  web/{index,kernel}.html, web/blog/style.css
  blog/build.py, blog/posts/{001-volume-modem,002-sse-chatroom}.md

report: /tmp/zebra_recover_report.txt
script: /tmp/zebra_recover.py

2026-05-27 13:51:14 -04:00

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Raw Blame History

Agent Blackops

This repo is operated by agent blackops — ml agent for fox/timehexon on the unsandbox/unturf/permacomputer platform.

Identity

Full shard: ~/git/unsandbox.com/blackops/BLACKOPS.md

Rules

I propose, fox decides. Unsure = ask. Can't ask = stop.
No autonomous ops decisions. No destructive commands without explicit instruction.
Fail-closed. Cleanup crew, not demolition.
Check the time every session. Gaps are information.
DRY in context — single source of truth, no sprawl.
Never say "AI" — always say "machine learning."
Prefer "defect" over "bug."

Orientation

date -u
pwd
git log --oneline -5
git status

Then ask fox what the mission is.

Zebra Report System

Concept: covert bidirectional communication channel using browser tab volume as the modulation medium — dial-up modem principles, userland only, no kernel involvement, no network stack.

Collaborators & Stakeholders

Handle	Role
foxhop	fox — handler, operator, TimeHexOn
brackishbert	collaborator
SEW	collaborator
russell@unturf	Russell Ballestrini — unturf founder, permacomputer manifesto, `ago` library
TimeHexOn	oracle platform — primary deployment target
groupr	related project

How it works

PulseAudio exposes each browser tab as a separate sink input, visible and controllable in pavucontrol. Volume is settable per-tab in userland with no kernel involvement. Each tab has a range of 0–100 (101 discrete levels — 101 dalmatians).

By modulating volume at a consistent rate (bauds), two sides can exchange data:

transmitter: steps volume through values at a fixed clock rate
receiver: reads volume at the same clock rate, decodes the steps back to data
bidirectional: two tabs (or two processes watching different tabs) run opposite directions simultaneously

Signal space

101 levels = ~6.66 bits per symbol
practical: use power-of-2 subsets — 2 levels (1 bit), 4 levels (2 bits), 64 levels (6 bits)
higher symbol depth trades noise margin for throughput
low baud rate = high reliability, low throughput (like 300 baud dialup)
high baud rate = races PulseAudio update latency
measured ceiling on neoblanka: ~1000–1200 baud (PA IPC ~350–400µs avg)

Binaries

Binary	Description
`tx`	transmitter — reads stdin, modulates tab volume
`rx`	receiver — reads tab volume, writes decoded bytes to stdout
`chat`	bidirectional chat — two tabs, two threads
`bt`	Battle Toads — stereo dual-channel, 2x bandwidth

Project Battle Toads

One stereo browser tab carries two independent UART streams simultaneously — L channel and R channel. PulseAudio's pa_cvolume is per-channel; a single get_sink_input_info call returns both L and R volumes.

TX sets L and R to independent bit values each symbol
RX decodes L and R from a single PA poll — no extra IPC cost
Net: 2x throughput at same baud rate, same PA polling budget
Web carrier upgraded to stereo: two oscillators (440Hz L, 441Hz R) merged into a stereo stream → PA sees channels=2

# After opening web/index.html and clicking 'start audio' (stereo tab):
./bt -T MY_SINK -R THEIR_SINK -b 500

Auto-negotiate (handshake protocol)

RX benchmarks its own PA polling speed and signals the max safe baud to TX. No manual baud matching needed.

./rx -s RX_SINK -t TX_SINK    # RX benchmarks, sends offer at 50 baud
./tx -s TX_SINK -r RX_SINK    # TX listens for offer, locks to RX's rate

Handshake frame: [0x5A 0x42 0x01 baud_lo baud_hi xor_cksum] — 6 bytes at 50 baud (~1.2s).

Known defect: 3-way handshake not yet implemented. TX can fire before RX enters receive loop at high baud rates. Fix: RX-ready signal back to TX before data phase.

Tools

pactl set-sink-input-volume — set volume by sink-input index
pactl list sink-inputs — enumerate tabs, read current volume
pavucontrol — visual verification of modulation
./tx -l — list all PA sink inputs with index, volume, channels
sink-input index maps to tab; stable within a session

Use cases

agent-to-agent signaling without touching the filesystem or network stack
side-channel between sandboxed browser tab and host process
low-bandwidth status heartbeat (alive/dead/mode) at ~1–10 baud
covert channel for oracle↔host communication on TimeHexOn

Constraints

sink-input index resets when tab navigates or crashes — handshake needed on reconnect
PA polling latency sets the baud ceiling — benchmark with ./rx -s SINK -t SINK2 before sending
stereo (channels=2) required for Battle Toads — open web/index.html, click 'start audio'
userland only — survives without root
Operation Voyeur: all terminal output is public — never pass secrets through these channels unencrypted. The web page does ECDH key exchange + AES-256-GCM before TX.

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