Porkwatch

I guess I should have been more specific. I didn't mean to say that Headquarters was responsible for all of the puzzle solving programs that dumb things down. However, they are responsible for making changes to the programs regarding maps, lists, and other nuances of the game: How you view your Dashboard, how your field notes look, how the map looks (and works). I would suppose that there are people that say change is inevitable, but I subscribe to the “If it ain’t broken” principle If I could see real value and real improvements then I could accept the changes, but in most cases I don’t. I used to be able to search for caches and map them. I could move around on the map while zooming in (or out). Now, if you try to move the map a little, or zoom in/out, the map freezes up if you don't wait for it to add every line and dot. If you go to the "browse" feature (as was suggested by a minion), then the specific caches you have searched for are mixed in with the many others you might not want to see. I do a lot of searching for puzzle caches with a 3+ difficulty factor. Just as soon as I “browse” to keep the map from freezing then I am faced with ALL of the caches in the area. When I asked Headquarters why the changed the maps they said it was to make it more convenient for the users. I thought it was just my CPU that had a problem, but they indicated that they had received lots of complaints about the problem. Their suggestion was to update my browser and see if that worked. (To SEE if that worked? Like they didn't know?) I don’t want to argue with you over this point. Your answer was essentially “change is inevitable”. Yes, but change for the sake of change isn’t a good reason. Headquarters could not give me a satisfactory reason except that they thought it would be for the better. They THOUGHT it would be for the better? Did they conduct a survey? I didn’t see a questionnaire asking what we would like to see changed. Did you?

I absolutely hate it when Headquarters forces something new on me. I was just getting comfortable using lists and knew what to do with them. This morning I see that the people who have nothing better to do but to create busy-work for themselves to maintain employment have changed the way that I view and use lists. I didn't even have a choice. I intensely dislike having to re-learn how to use tools when there was nothing wrong with it in the first place. Headquarters has made other changes to the game so that anybody with an iPhone can find caches. There have been so many puzzle solvers created, and other programs to project lines and distances, that have resulted in fewer CO's creating geocaches that are made to make people think. Things have been dumb-downed, and we know why it is being done... to include more players (at $30/year). It's no longer a game, it's just a business. Don't even get me started on the maps that freeze up when you zoom in on caches you have selected.

Well, I'm glad that the CO relented, but I wish I had the original picture back. I was 76 years old in that picture and my son from CA and my daughter from WI were both in the picture with me. I know that we aren’t recognizable, but it always made me feel good knowing that it was us in the picture. I don’t know why the CO is so vigilant over his adopted cache. I know of a webcam here in Oregon that has a CO that hasn’t logged onto the website for several years. He’s probably dead, but the Webcam marches on quite nicely with no monitoring.

My log of over 2 years was also deleted. I don't know if the CO had the changes that are currently on the page or not. I'm sure he made some changes on that date, but it could have been modified again and he didn't bother to post the date. This was my first attempt at a Webcam and I was using a phone. It's almost impossible to see large examples of pictures and large words on a small screen. I had walked from where I parked and I was on the seawall side of the street. I walk with great difficulty and by the time I got to the spot where I knew the camera could see me I stopped. I didn't want to have to negotiate the curb and the traffic and then return anyway. From previous logged pictures I could tell that some were taken with the individuals on the near side and all you could see was their upper body. This CO seems to be too involved in the caches he has adopted. He had another adopted webcam in the same area that was archived after he required the Geocachers to come inside of the store because they had moved the camera there. In the case of the camera on this cache, he seems to want you on the same side of the street where the restaurant is located. I wonder what the reason is? Is he trying to remind you that it might be mealtime? Many webcams have large fields of vision and are intended for other things such as road conditions or surveillance. A person is lucky if they don't look like little ants when the picture is snapped. In the case of KAILUA-KONA~Webcam: (NO photo across the road!), I think the ideal place is across the street. The background of the ocean is pleasant and you don't have to try to cross the busy street and return should you start on the wrong side of the road. However, any place you can find that gets you in the date/time stamped picture should be good enough. Webcam pictures are tough enough. You stand there and keep checking to see if it has taken your picture. As often as not you find that you missed it. or that the camera isn't working, or that you had your eyes closed or something. I think that CO's have a right to delete a find if you are doing caches with logs and you didn't sign them, but how many CO's go check their logs? I don't have time to be a policeman. It's hard enough to try to maintain a cache when somebody says there is a problem and they were too thoughtless to try and repair it. In reality CO's post caches so that people can find them. Or solve them and then find them. Or be led to an interesting spot to log them as found. But Webcams? If you are lucky enough to capture the picture why should the CO care where you are in it? Earthcaches? (And I own one.) I don't delete a find if they have the majority of the questions right. My purpose was to lead them to a specific geological feature, tell them some things, and ask a few questions that they can find on the kiosk or make an observation and tell me how they think something evolved. Virtuals? Same as Earthcaches... lead them to something that they might not have seen before. Webcams? Again... If you are in a time/date stamped photo that should be good enough. If I had a Webcam cache I doubt if I would ever bother with acting like a cop. Let Geocachers play the game as they see fit. It was exactly this kind of a fracas between over-indulgent CO's and Geocachers regarding Challenge caches that led headquarters to suspend new challenge caches for over a year. Then, of course, they came up with the wrong solution of requiring a checker for ALL new challenges. Some challenges simply don't lend themselves to a checker. But like Réd in his log... I digress.☺