ScottJ

Got a big kick (belated) out of this whole thread. I guess back when I was single, I was a bit of a "G-Ho Cacher" myself. -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

You may be right, but rudeness is nothing new and most of us deal with it every day. Let the owner's mother teach him manners ... you got your smiley, so smile and go find some more caches! -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

Relax, write the cache owner, and explain. That's why the e-mail link is there. If the owner doesn't respond or if there's a dispute, then posting publicly might be appropriate. In this case, an e-mail will probably resolve things quickly. -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

quote:Originally posted by Bloencustoms:There's a link in a post on page one of this thread to the LED museum site. They have reviews of many products, including a kit to upgrade the mini mag lite to a three led configuration. I bought one of those kits and converted one of my Mini-Maglites. The results aren't bad, but as you say, no focusing. I simply can't understand Mag's stubbornness about releasing an LED product of their own. BTW, what DOES your geonick mean? It sounds vaguely like something female smugglers might do to get through the airport... Scott -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

An "off-topic" forum is just about impossible to create, anyway, since once you've created a forum where those threads belong, they're not off-topic anymore! -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

I am handicapped a bit by my training -- I am a pilot, so I tend to always think like one. When I'm navigating to a cache, my mind forms a sort of mental map showing the relative positions of all the landmarks, roads, and other cues around me. I can't explain how, but I somehow am able to turn that map around any way I need to in order to get the picture I need. By the way, auto-rotate is a word that strikes fear into the hearts of helo pilots. That also explains why I always, ALWAYS carry a compass when I'm caching ... without a reference like that, I can't get my mental map lined up as easily. I rarely need the compass in the car, since the movement is enough to keep the GPS arrow oriented, but once I stop, the compass is my North Star. Scott -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

Am I having deja vu or are some posts getting repeated in here? I have often wondered about this question. The really scary scenario is where someone places an urban microcache in a lamppost, and someone reaches into the lamppost looking for it and gets electrocuted. A thing like that could give Geocaching a real black eye, lawsuit or not. -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

By the way ... Does it strike anyone as weird (and a little dumb) that Mag doesn't yet have an LED Maglite, and virtually every competitor does? These guys have long been recognized as the leader in high-quality professional flashlights, yet when it comes to LED technology, they've clearly missed the boat! Wonder what they were thinking? Scott -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

Here's what works for me. First off, I try to standardize on one type of battery, AA's. That way I can carry a little Pelican 1020 box full of AA alkalines -- simple. On my head, I use a Petzl Myo 3, about $40. Uses 4 AA's. Very comfortable to wear. Has a Xenon incandescent lamp, fully focusable from wide to super-narrow, and a 3-LED array for short-range work. The LED's are bright enough to hike by and last 160 hours on a set of batteries. Clipped to my pack strap in case of emergency is a CC Trek Light from the C. Crane company, about $30 and uses three AA's. This is a nice, bright LED flashlight with a twist-collar switch, a little bigger than a Maglite. In my pack is a third light source, a standard AA Mini-Maglite. If you just like LED's, the Petzl Tikka is a good choice ... very bright, very simple, and comfortably small. Uses three AAA's. I have one of these that I keep in my briefcase. -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

I e-mailed an explanation so as not to mention any names publicly. You're right, I've seen worse in other forums, but maybe our new geocaching.com visitors haven't. -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

quote:Originally posted by ju66l3r:You forgot the other thing that this style of "discussion" allows for: poor timing. Most people aren't smart enough to have a comeback at the ready. Here, you can think about your next great public insult for days before it would be considered a faux pas to bring it back at the "other guy". A very astute observation, and very true. It's the difference between a head-to-head chess game and one played through the mail. The latter is always bloodier. I have been communicating in ASCII for a long time now ... I have had an e-mail address for almost twenty years, and believe me, I've participated, actively and zealously, in a lot of ugly flame wars. The only good thing that's come of that dubious "experience" is the knowledge that the thrill of a good "kill" is fleeting. In the end, you've gained nothing, and alienated someone who might have been an ally had you shown them more respect. ...and I seem to have stepped on that soapbox again. Sorry. But did you notice something odd? We're having a discussion, and not once in the last dozen or so posts has anyone slung any "doots" at anyone. Nice, isn't it? -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

Just thought of an even better one ... think of cachers all headed for the same spot: A CONVERGENCE of cachers! -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

I was reading another thread a few minutes ago, probably the one that inspired this one, and it really started to depress me. This IS the public face of geocaching, to many. The most interesting part of the whole forum wars phenomenon, to me, is the negativity. Threads that are started to discuss something constructive often die out after 20 posts, but the ones that start with a nice, inflammatory complaint run into the hundreds of posts! If it's any comfort, the phenomenon does not seem to be limited to geocachers. Every forum I've ever used has had its share of flame wars, going all the way back to USENET in the 1980s! I think that the anonymity of this sort of communication lets out a side of people that -- if they were face-to-face with someone -- they would ordinarly "self-moderate". Writing can also be a lot more inflammatory than speech because we often read and re-read it, catching every detail of every word, things that in a verbal conversation we might let slide. When face-to-face we tend to focus on the more important points because there's little time to put the words under a microscope. In ASCII, we nitpick. Do we need more moderation? Definitely, but on the part of the posters, not the admins! The admins are certainly empowered to moderate, and some of them do it rather level-headedly -- Jeremy seems to have a lot of patience, for example. However, many of the admins seem to have an unfortunate penchant for allowing their buttons to be pushed, and descending right into the same level of behavior they're moderating. It's true that you can't force people to be nice. However, it's also true that there are times when you don't have to fire back, don't need to take the cheap shot -- even when it's RIGHT THERE, BEGGING to be taken, and even when your ire and annoyance tell you that you DESERVE to take it ... sometimes it really doesn't hurt to let the a$$hole have the last word, because at least there'll BE a last word. If it seems like I'm on the soapbox, I am, I guess. You can file all of the above under the heading, "Constructive Criticism", because I've made an effort not to take a personal shot at anyone, insult anyone, or reject or squelch anyone's ideas. If you think I'm out of line, read on and ignore me completely, but no flames please, and I'll return that courtesy. Thanks ... happy caching! ScottJ -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

I have always preferred the term "party", as in "search party". However, if you want to get CREATIVE about it ... we could give a nod to the satellites that make the sport possible, by saying, "a constellation of geocachers". -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

I am beginning to think this web site DID invent the term "Petty Bickering." Sheesh. -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

I recently found a mark very near a geocache, completely by accident. The marker has been scraped up badly and is completely unreadable except for parts of the USGS name around the outer rim. No benchmark near that location shows up in the database, but this one is shown on the USGS topo (labeled only "BM 999", its elevation.) I assume that this, like the other one you mentioned, was not reported by USGS to NGS for inclusion. Is there any way to find out more about this one, i.e. does the USGS maintain a database anywhere, or is this one pretty much an orphan now? -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

Rog, I understand about needing space, but I just discovered your list today! As a pilot, geocacher, and geek in general, I am really trying very hard to find one of these beacons, or at least its concrete "arrow" foundation, intact enough to photograph. If I sent you my e-mail address, do you think you could send me a copy of the list in whatever form you may have? I could probably snatch it from the site directly, but if you've got it in a more convenient form that'd be nice. In fact, I'll even host it on my own site if you have no problem with that. Scott -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

quote:Originally posted by fizzymagic:It seems to me that this is an ideal application to be done by a third party; I don't think Groundspeak should be diverting their attention from the mainstream site for this. Maybe some enterprising individual will start such a service and charge for it. Better yet, ever thought about making WML output an option in gpx2html? That way, I could create a set of files for WAP at the same time I generate my palm files ... redundancy's nice -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

I have always thought GPSr was a little silly-sounding -- after all, we don't say "TVr" when we're talking about a television receiver. It's accurate, though, so say what works for you! -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

For me, the risk (Garmin has let out a buggy beta or two) is not worth the potential gain (better WAAS corrections -- it's accurate enough for me now.) I'll probably wait for a production release. -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

Testing new avatar... -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

For what it's worth... I haven't had the type of problems you're having, but I've had some strange stuff happen recently too. Mainly, I've had a few times when I could not log in or post anything ... some sort of total corruption of my cookies. I had to delete all the Groundspeak-related cookies in order to get back in. There are big changes happening here. I'm a paying member too, but I tend to chalk these things up to normal growing pains, since up to now the site has been impeccably reliable and assiduously maintained. Oh, and as a hint ... anytime I post to web-based forums or BBS's, I have made it a habit to highlight all text and hit Control-C (copy) before I hit "SUBMIT". That way, if the unexpected happens (as it does OFTEN on other, poorly-maintained sites), the worst I'll have to do is pull up the page again and hit Control-V (paste). Cheap insurance. -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

Recently, elsewhere on the Internet, the subject of membership renewals came up. Apparently, someone whose credit card info had changed had his renewal botched by a software problem and had to sign up again, losing his "Charter Member" status. This reminded me of two things: 1) My credit card info has changed too, and 2) I have no earthly idea when I signed up. I have looked all over the web site and can't find anything that will tell me my expiration date or let me update my credit card info. I'm proud to have been one of the first to support geocaching.com, and would hate to lose my "Charter Member" logo because of an avoidable mistake. So, enlighten me ... anyone know where one can get to the magic page where membership information can be viewed/updated? -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

quote:A plane I was on dropped in mid air... If a plane's going to drop, I think 9 out of 10 passengers would agree that mid-air's the place to do it. Dropping close to the ground would have been substantially more memorable. quote:Amtrak is too fun and a great way to travel. I agree, I took the train from Atlanta to Lynchburg, VA recently to pick up a car, and had a great trip. They're a little fanatical about seating, though ... no assigned seating until you get on, then the attendants TELL you where to sit... talk about comfort though! Nice, wide seats and a ridiculous amount of legroom! Try that on Delta! -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

quote:Elephants Gerald This is actually the name of an Atlanta-based band. -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ)