timpaula
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Posts posted by timpaula
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great idea... ask the other guy to help!
here's another: buy a GPSr, place the cache, then return it!
I also like Markwell's idea. Find a spot that has defined coords, such as a benchmark or the UK equivelant, then lead them to the spot in other ways.
It might also be an interesting exercise to find a topo map for your spot, determine the lat/long from the map, then translate for different datum. I'm not even sure if this can be done, but since software can switch, I'm guessing there's a mathematical formula somewhere.
Oh, one more: rent a car with a GPS in it, drive as close to your location as possible, then give the lat/long for the parking lot.
As for the opinions & tone of responses you're getting in this topic, allow for the following mitigating circumstances:
1. electronic correspondence is often harsher than face-to-face, as people cannot convey context as easily (also people are freer to be rude, much as they are in their cars)
2. when venturing into a new community, it's usually wisest to listen a while and pick up the vibes & general context of the group before challenging anyone, even if you're 100% correct in what you're saying
3. you yourself may appear ruder than you intend in your posts. Remember that you have the context of your intent in your head, and we do not. It seems that nearly all misunderstandings & disagreements stem from a simple difference of opinion as to what was said & meant. Electronic conversation merely increases the chance for miscommunication.
That said, welcome!
<timpaula>
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having a "no thanks" option is a no-brainer, and being a professional web application developer, i can tell you that it's no more difficult than handling finds. It's just another type of find, which shouldn't impact storage space or processing time, if designed correctly. Would probably take less than a day to implement, providing the system is well-designed to begin with.
What I'd like to see is a feature "wish list" that people could vote on. Perhaps a "wish list" topic, then after some consensus is reached, we could make a poll to vote for the ones we want most. Or we could take a "bug parade" approach, for those that know the Java developer forums. Basically, everyone votes for the three most important things we want the developers to focus on. This determines what gets worked on (at least in theory).
<timpaula>
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...took the dvd player, left a WG$...
<timpaula>
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reading this thread i'm thinking it's the same old story again... some people are considerate, others are not.
Being considerate means to consider the thoughts, feelings, and welfare of someone else besides myself. So many things in our life are effected by this... the spectrum of selfishness is a many-colored pervasive backdrop to dadgum near everything we do.
My belief is that "what goes around, comes around" and that the only real way to get is by giving. It's like electricity. The more you give, the more you get.
Whether talking about geocaching trades, or volunteer work, or pledging public radio, or recycling, or cleaning up our parks, or helping your kids with homework, or being a big brother/big sister, or sharing your fears with strangers through writing or performace, or visiting scared strangers in hospitals, or even smiling & asking some zit-faced server at a diner how their day was, even though they seem rude... it's what we give that defines us.
Too many feel they didn't get enough early on, I guess. We're all chasing that christmas morning feeling, that "wells fargo wagon" rush when our amazon delivery shows up.
Truth is, I'd rather be santa than the little kid opening up the box. Hence, trading up is the rush. Reading that someone liked something is the payoff.
<timpaula>
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flockmaster... LOL! Love the creativity.
As for publicity, now that I'm in the club, I'd just like to keep it between US and leave THEM out of it.
Seriously though, this is not a hobby that's built to scale. If it continues to grow like it is, server down-time will be the least of our worries. The occasional cacher through the park is one thing, caching by the hundreds is another.I just went to my first picnic. The two temp caches had dozens of people looking for them, so much so that everything was trampled in a very obvious way. (Gee, I wonder where it could be!) There were several times when the line to sign the logbook was ten deep. While this was a party, and so it was part of the fun, imagine if the whole-freaking-world became a trampled line to a cache. At some point, by placing a cache, we could be effectively circling a place on a map and writing "ruin this beautiful place".
Before saying I'm over-reacting, think about how much this game has grown in just the last month. Never mind the previous three years. Just last month. It's only just begun.
<timpaula>
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actually, i'd feel better if they took tuesdays & wednesdays off. Weekends are made for geocaching, you know? Prime time. Would be nice to know someone's minding the store.
<timpaula>
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quote:
Do you really think I'm going to spend 100 quid or more just to try and kickstart this thing in an island well known for its apathy?I hear there are quite a few ghosts in your area (Jersey, GB Channel Isles), at least I just saw a movie documenting such things (The Others). Maybe a virtual cache for virtual people? Spectral coords?
<timpaula>
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If you're worried about not showing more than 200 finds, you could always create a new account every 200 finds. (Use the old one for posting so you don't screw up your post count
<timpaula>
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when i read "oldtimer" in his post, I took it to mean "someone who's been geocaching a while" or "someone who's been on the forums a while". For some reason, I missed the 200+ part.
With a whopping three years since this hobby started, I suggest the following breakdown, based on when you started:
ELDER - May 2000 to October 2000 (first six months)
OLDTIMER - November 2000 to September 11, 2001 (next year)
BOOMER - Sep 11, 2001 to April 2003 (year three)
WEBBY - May 2003 to now (in the post webby nomination haze)
Yes, of course I'm joking, but it'll still be fun to watch people take this too seriously.
<timpaula>
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we now have confirmation:
<timpaula>
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if anyone's interested, i'll pick up the slack. i've got bandwidth to spare & know how to make web apps.
<timpaula>
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this is an unconfirmed report, but apparently the site is down because of prairie dogs. details to follow on the #geocache channel.
<timpaula>
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That's why standard advice for unarmed people is to get down and cover up, linking the fingers behind the neck so the bear can't grab you."You! Down on the ground! Put your hands behind your head, lace your fingers! Now!"
I'm trying to visualize how a bear can't grab you with laced fingers, but I keep imagining some kind of grizzly cop drama from the 70s.
<timpaula>
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hey, maybe they could put the gc.com website on *this* server
<timpaula>
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could be they're going live with the new site (or new functionality).
<timpaula>
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I like Jomarac5's & joefrog's. Both leap out at you.
<timpaula>
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Another peeve: people who don't log their find until days/weeks later, especially when it's a first find or involves a travel bug. It sucks to see a string of logs that say, "Went looking for the bug, but it wasn't there." Our rule is to log a find before we go to sleep.
<timpaula>
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Anyone know of any websites that track nationwide (US) wooded human assaults & animal attacks? I'd like to know what the risks are, compared to urban areas.
<timpaula>
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maybe GC.com should allow for posts from non-logged people. They of course wouldn't get credited, and there's no way to guarantee uniqueness or realness, but it might just be the fear of giving their email address that stops some people. Not being part of find-counts is another benefit.
Down-sides? Cache owners would most likely have to police the logs more, since anonymous posters are more likely to post junk.
I'd like to know how often & why people don't post on the web. There might be simple fixes that encourage people to post more.
<timpaula>
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maybe you could make it into a 70s theme cache, with those black velvety posters with alien landscapes & the keep-on-trucking guy. okay, so an ammo box wouldn't do it... how about a black-light room cache (wait, sorry, i'm slipping back to my teen years at the mall.. what was that store called? Spencers?)
<timpaula>
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William Shatner Sings GershwinLOL. I hope that one's not real.
We just visited a cache with a foreign currency theme. Couldn't help but notice that some of the "foreign" currency were quarters from the various states
I like caches with a fictional narrative that encourage people to follow suit. We just placed one and the response has been hilarious so far.
<timpaula>
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Congrats to jeremy & the rest at Groundspeak. Community is a great category to win, and you deserve it since you've created much more than a website, you've established an active, enlightened, widespread community of cool & caring people. Anyone that can create some technology and get tens of thousands of web-heads to GO OUTDOORS is very deserving of the highest accolades & thanks.
<timpaula>
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they may have "split the baby"... their judges may have been evenly divided, then decided to give it to meetup since geocaching got the people's vote. I wouldn't be surprised if those that nominated/voted for geocaching at the webby awards (not the people) have actually GONE geocaching, and the people that didn't HAVEN'T.
<timpaula>
Benchmarks on Illinios Quarter
in General geocaching topics
Posted
i've wondered this. I can actually see about six benchmarks (towers) from my living room couch. I've resisted the urge to log them as finds, even though the idea of logging finds from my couch really appeals to me.
What's the max allowed distance, in your opinion?
<timpaula>