Amberel

Got an odd one this morning - 5 PQs ran (about 4 hours ago). I got the email notifications OK. On the first tab of the PQ page it shows them having run today. But on the second tab, only 3 of them are available! And no, I haven't deleted them - I noticed it on GSAK before I visited the PQ page at all. Rgds, Andy

Over the years I've issued half a dozen NA logs. In only one of those cases did I believe archival was the correct action, I used it because it is the only log that is copied to a reviewer. I strongly support a change of name to Notify Reviewer, or Reviewer Attention. Rgds, Andy

Sorry this is not entirely on topic, but that last comment needs answering. The "millenium bug" was not overhyped - it was simply anticipated well in advance and dealt with in sufficient time. Had it NOT been anticipated or dealt with you would have seen a great deal many more, and more serious, problems than there were! Rgds, Andy

It's not clear why or how you thought the data automatically would be updated on your machine? The GPX file generated by a PQ is a snapshot taken at the point it was run. As Mark says, give the PQ a name you will remember it by, and run the same PQ as close to the time you want to use it as is practical. Using the GC API with GSAK 8 is very powerful, but you have to understand what you're asking for. Refresh Cache Data won't bring down any new ones, Get Geocaches will. Rgds, Andy

I guess my "achievements" aren't listed on that site - for many years I simultaneously had the most finds for a UK cacher on opencaching.org.uk, TerraCaching and NaviCache :-) I'm now down to second spot on TerraCaching, having been overtaken by UrsusBear :-) Rgds, Andy

I like to think that quality caching means more than just high quality caches. To a considerable degree quality relates to the amount of effort put in. I like to see cache hiders put a bit of effort into hiding and maintaining their caches, and I like to see finders make the effort to search carefully, to not damage the environment, to trade fairly, to keep the cache clean and tidy, to replace it carefully, and finally to put a little effort into the log. Rgds, Andy

Sandy has given most of the answer HH needs, but I'd like to add a couple of things. Although I don't know the details of any ban, it does appear to me that they have been imposed only where the behaviour of which Groundspeak disapprove is persistent, i.e. the cacher is asked to desist, and banned only if they ignore that request. And contrary to "it seems to be mostly down to reviewers wanting to teach people a lesson after receiving harsh criticism", from what I've seen, none of the bans appear to have been due to criticising reviewers. Like it or not, the site is Groundspeak's ball game, and as long as they operate within relevant laws, they can choose to run it how they wish. As users we can discuss their rules, but we have agreed not to ignore them. If we dislike their rules so much that we can't accept them, the only recourse is not to use the site. There are alternative sites (though listing a comparitively insignificant number of caches), but it should be clear that they have rules too, many of which are similar, and those who persistently and deliberately break their rules are no more welcome there than they would be here. Finally, the bans I've seen have been short enough not to have inconvenienced other cachers. Rgds, Andy

I imagine that most reviewers would be delighted to be accused of impartiality . Rgds, Andy

Pen-Y-Fan was also my step too far. We did it in the middle of winter. But the weather deteriorated in between arranging it and arriving, and we ended up doing 15 miles in a freezing snow blizzard, with the wind so strong that it several times lifted me right off my feet and dumped me on my back. Had I been by myself I would have turned back after a third of the way, but I decided it was safer to stay with the group, even if it meant going further. I have NEVER been so glad to get back to the car, and I was even more relieved to be able to get the car back to the main road through the snow. We did find several caches, but I logged only those I helped search for - I was in survival mode for much of the way and didn't want to expend any unnecessary energy. Rgds, Andy

It's a problem that has been growing over the last few years. I'm not sure that the regional forums are to blame - they have suffered from a drop in traffic at least as much as the national ones. As far as I can see it has pretty much all gone to facebook. I have joined facebook and as a replacement for a forum it is abysmal. I have made the comment on facebook that it appears to be designed for chatter rather than discussion. It is difficult to follow threads, especially when they diversify, as inevitably they do. The interface is designed for single, short sentences and doesn't handle long posts at all well. In a busy group it is hard to locate anything that was written more than a few hours earlier. You get a huge amount of cross posting, and it seems to be encouraged. And, as you rightly observe, there are participants who post complete trivia in a more or less continuous stream. And there is no way to filter this out. BUT - it is an unfortunate fact that facebook is where most discussion now takes place. If we wish to take part in that discussion we have to put up with the downsides. Incidentally, regarding the point others have made about facebook or the forums being the "more civilised" - I've not detected any difference in this aspect. Rgds, Andy

That is very interesting Jon. I do have GeoSphere, which is quite good as an offline database, and currently I load that with the same GPX that I use for the Oregon. £2.49 is cheap enough to try iGeoKnife though. However, there is one possible issue. My GSAK database contains 140,000 caches. It's going to take a long time to transfer that and keep it up to data on the iPhone. And it wouldn't surprise me it I broke the program . But worth a try. Rgds, Andy Well, I bought it, and my database didn't break it . But, understandably, it is a bit slow loading up. It's quite nice, but I think I'll probably carry on using GeoSphere because it loads the photos too. Rgds, Andy

Not completely - every one of my caches started out with a pencil, and when I do maintenance visits it is always replaced if missing or blunt. I've always been very grateful for one cache that had a pencil in it. I'm scared of heights but had abseiled 150 feet down a cliff to a cache, and when I got to it I found that the pen that had been in my pocket had taken the quick way down a further 150 feet right to the bottom. But the cache did have a pencil in it Rgds, Andy

That is very interesting Jon. I do have GeoSphere, which is quite good as an offline database, and currently I load that with the same GPX that I use for the Oregon. £2.49 is cheap enough to try iGeoKnife though. However, there is one possible issue. My GSAK database contains 140,000 caches. It's going to take a long time to transfer that and keep it up to data on the iPhone. And it wouldn't surprise me it I broke the program . But worth a try. Rgds, Andy

The "official" app fails to work for me at just about every level. I don't get on with the UI. The places I go it's normal not to have a data connection. Even if I have one, it's usually too slow to get maps in a reasonable time. Without maps I find the main display almost useless. The only "PQs" it can get are ones directly from GS, whereas I generate my own from GSAK, the ones I generate on GS are not appropriate to use directly. I carry it only as a "backup" to the Oregon, but I would have to be pretty desperate to actually resort to it Rgds, Andy

The 3GS had a very poor quality GPSr, the 4 and the 4S are considerably better (and, incidentaly, so is network coverage). I know it doesn't help you at all, but any delays in updating are due to the apps rather than the GPSr itself. MM in particular uses extended averaging - this was considered desirable on the 3GS because of the poor receiver, it's not necessary on later models but the program continues to do it. Can't comment much on the GS app - I have it, but can't get on with the user interface at all. What I would like is an app with an interface similar to an Oregon. Rgds, Andy

Just to clarify, you have got it all working now? Rgds, Andy

I don't like trusting anyone else with my data any more than is necessary. This is from a both a safety and security perspective. Admittedly it would be no big deal if a GPX file was either lost or compromised, but for most of my stuff it would. I just feel happier keeping it under my control. If there was a big advantage to it, then that would be offset against the risk, but so far I haven't seen one in my environment. Rgds, Andy

Thanks for the info Jon. Just went to look at it and it says "DropBox Cloud Storage". Is that the only way it works? If it's cloud, I won't use it on principle, if it syncs directly I'll look further (though I have to say that I can't at present see how it is any easier than iTunes). Rgds, Andy

Does it put the GPX files into the right locations? I want the same GPX file to be loaded by MemoryMap and GeoSphere, can it do that? Not that it's a big deal, doing it via iTunes is extremely easy. Rgds, Andy

Ingenious Rgds, Andy

When you say "mobile devices", there is no problem on MemoryMap for WinMobile (PocketPC), but I'd be surprised if you can do it on an iPhone. Rgds, Andy

As you say, that's better than nothing, but I'd much prefer there to be a way to show the whole page. The iPhone has (a mobile version of) Safari on it, but Apple keep apps segregated and I don't think there is a way to 1) download the pages from GSAK to an offline store such that Safari can see them, and 2) link Memory Map to Safari to display the page, and 3) easily get back to Memory Map from Safari without going via the main menu. Rgds, Andy

The reason the descriptions show the convoluted method of loading GPX files is that the app predated Apple's application data file syncing facility. When Apple introduced that facility, Memory Map (eventually) implemented it, but it sounds like they haven't updated the instructions. It works well, except for one thing - the GPS files import the co-ordinates, but not the cache descriptions, hints, types, etc. And there is no way to link Memory Map to any offline program that does show them - another Apple restriction. I've had Memory Map and all the maps installed for more than 2 years, and I always copy the GPX file before I go out, just in case, but in practice I've never ever used it for caching. Just using it for the maps is great, though, the display is superb except for very bright sunlight. Rgds, Andy

The situation hasn't arisen for me, but if it did, I wouldn't log it. But, as above, it really doesn't matter - just do what feels right to you. Rgds, Andy

I'm pleased to have seen this thread - I have a small series of Church Micros, and the final contains unactivated Church Micro geocoins (only plastic ones, nothing fancy). I ask that each group takes only one, and supply the activation codes by email. But I just tried and found the activation codes are available on the Groundspeak site, so an unscrupulous person could help themselves to several and activate them all! Not that I think the vast majority of finders would do that, but we've seen from the subject of the thread that there are a few people who don't play by the "rules". My own fault - I requested that the activation codes for my TOP CACHE coins not be listed, and that was done, and assumed this would also apply to the new series. But it seems the default is to make activation codes easily available unless specifically requested with each order. Hopefully this will loophole will be closed off as soon as Groundspeak arrive at the office today :-) Rgds, Andy