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Marsha and Silent Bob

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Everything posted by Marsha and Silent Bob

  1. Following closely on the heels of the announcement last week of the Minnesota State Forests’ Geocaching Policy, the Minnesota Geocaching Association is proud to announce that after four years, our association has accomplished what it was formed to do. The Minnesota DNR has lifted the geocaching ban and geocaches are again permitted to be placed (with prior and written permission) in Minnesota State Parks! From the DNR's State Parks' General Parks Rules: This effort was a huge undertaking and one that has stretched numerous MnGCA Boards, involved many people (geocachers and DNR officials alike), and opens 66 parks to geocaching again! The DNR has not yet posted the policy to the website yet but from what we understand that should happen at some point today. Once we do have that in hand, I will post it here in text format and also link to the policy on their page. Please do follow the permit process and make certain that you are taking great care to ensure that the hard work that the DNR and the MnGCA has done is not for naught. This is big news and we want to shine where we shine best! If you have any questions about the permit process, please contact your local State Park official. You will be working closely with them in order to get geocaches placed in their parks. Once you have the e-mail copy of the permit, please forward that on to “Surfer Joe” for final cache reviewing and publishing. We are continuing our promise to work closely with the Minnesota DNR to open more of their lands that are closed to geocaching. While some lands are likely to remain closed to geocaching indefinitely (SNAs in particular) we are hopeful that many other lands will open soon. Have a great day and happy cachin’, Silent Bob MnGCA President Official DNR Press Release is here: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/news/releases/i...l?id=1159300366 Guidelines (PDF): http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/outdoor_activ..._guidelines.pdf Permit (PDF): http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/outdoor_activ...aching_form.pdf
  2. I'm not going to get involved here. My bad.
  3. Nah, he's too busy begging/complaining about Jeep TBs on other state's sites.
  4. I was doing my daily reading on Slashdot and I came across this story. It was posted 6/4/03... If you check my profile it shows that I joined geocaching.com on 6/5/03 The surfing that I did about geocaching immediately grabbed my attention. Hiking, techie stuff, and the Internet, excellent! Used pricewatch.com and found the cheapest decent GPS (from my limited reading) and had it shipped next day to me. I cached a few times in June but quickly lost interest due to the Minnesota State Bird (mosquitos) and the heat. I started back up in August after the weather/humidity had died down and the bugs had melted away. I have (without trying) caused three people I know to start geocaching as well. Crazy stuff. Silent Bob
  5. quote:Originally posted by BrianSnat:In the http://ubbx.Groundspeak.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=5726007311&f=7316058331&m=83060928&p=1 were were discussing lame caches and ways finders can tell other geocachers that the cache was lameo in their logs, without hurting the feelings of the cache owner. Use a cache rating system. Like a cache owner wouldn't catch on when they start seeing that come up... Check here for more info: cache rating system Silent Bob
  6. Who cares? So they know your IP? Big deal. First off block all requests to your computer (via a router/firewall w/no incoming ICMP requests allowed in). Then block all other incoming connections (which is most likely the default behavior). They will not even know your IP is there when/*IF* they check. If you don't like shady dealings on the Internet I suggest you use something else (ie public libraries, Internet cafes, anonymous transparent proxies, etc). Someone having your IP is not a huge deal. on my cache page the images come from MY webserver. When you goto the cache page I get your IP, oh no! What do I do with it? Nothing. You know why? Because it doesn't mean squat. Yay, 66.41.x.x hit mngca.gif and cito.jpg (66.41.0.0/16 is firewalled from accessing my webserver BTW). If you are that scared about people harvesting your IP force a MAC address change on your ethernet card, ipconfig /release ; ipconfig /renew and get a new IP every 2 hours... Would that make you feel safer when they do a port-scan of everyone on your subnet and find you anyway? Please quit the paranoia. Just my worthless .02, Silent Bob [This message was edited by Marsha and Silent Bob on October 07, 2003 at 11:35 AM.]
  7. quote:but also sounds like a lot of work. not only a lot of work but dadgum near impossible. Sure, you can ban their IPs but with most ISPs now-a-days (including most broadband ISPs) people have short-term DHCP leases. There are also a number of free anonymous-proxies that can be accessed... Silent Bob
  8. quote:Originally posted by JoeCthulhu:2. When are the maps with my finds noted going to be available again? You can always use GPS Visualizer and your pocket queries to map your finds (that's what I do). Silent Bob
  9. quote:Originally posted by BrianSnat:I do think you should at least be logged onto the site to see the cache coordinates. If the 2 minutes it takes to create a throw away account discourages one person who is up to no good, then its worth it. Many of these miscreants are lazy and creating an account might be more than they are willing to deal with. As long as the rest of the information can be seen about the cache I am ok with this solution. I like to send links of information to my parents, friends, etc, via email or AIM and it wouldn't be very useful if these people had to be logged in... They don't need the coordinates to get a sense of the cache, just the logs, info, etc. Works for me, Silent Bob
  10. quote:Originally posted by Greenback:I've gone from finding 25 a week to 6 a week. Cache on while you enjoy it because GCs view of geocaching is very limited and becomes rather boring over time. Perhaps you would have been bored regardless of stats? Finding 25 a week seems a bit excessive to *ME*. I find about 8-10 a week and I enjoy that. If I was finding 25 a week it would quickly wear out the available caches in the area. Why would competition need to drive you? Why can't you just enjoy it for what it is? Getting outside, enjoying the hunt, and doing something other than watching TV? I guess everyone has their own reasons Silent Bob
  11. While I didn't find a human body, I recently found the remains of what appeared to be a small dog. There were a couple bones right next to the cache and I was plodding around in the immediate area and located a skull and some various other bones. The bones were COMPLETELY picked clean. Not a single piece of meat, hair, etc. It wasn't exactly heart warming to see and I could see a small child geocaching with their parents being startled. Silent Bob
  12. quote:Originally posted by southdeltan:[it's amazing that in my whole post - you latch on to one of the most minor things I put on I don't consider it minor. You are asking for something that could be quite a bit of work. I don't think you have the right to ask them to stop whatever else they might be doing and create something that a small minority seems to want. quote:there. If you want an answer - here is one - I do not program. I know very little about HTML, mySQL, perl, etc. What I do know is what is possible. I also know that since this website has it's data in a database - it would be easy to do the things that some people are asking. Then learn or don't worry about it. The information is available via scripts that are already out there. If you don't want to put the time into it, I don't see how you can't expect them to. quote:It's interesting that you support people who don't log online - I hope you don't get flamed for that. I realize there are reasons - but to avoid competition is a very weak one. I have no idea why they don't log online. Possibly because they just don't care enough. They are in it for the outdoorsmanship, the fun, and the find. They could care less about their totals, etc. Silent Bob
  13. quote:It was also neat to compare yourself to active and inactive cachers that you know. There are scripts available that allow you to retrieve information about individuals. You go ahead, modify those, and make your own site. Charge a fee or sell merchandise or do it all out of pocket/donations. Put some work into it (like the previous individual who ran the site that you are so fond of did). Make a site that all Geocachers interested in their stats/leaderboard will goto. That way it won't be apart of gc.com, you will control it as you want, and it won't suck bandwith/money/resources from the rest of us that don't care (including those that don't even log their finds outside of the actual caches themselves). Just my worthless .02, Silent Bob
  14. quote:If you don't care about stats then get off the thread! Nah, I think that EVERYONE has the right to counter your desire to change the site whether they care or not. quote:The lack of stats won't stop me from caching but I have cut back quite a bit. I'd be interested to see if the number of finds has dropped off now that Dan's site is gone. Oh wait, that would be more stats! I didn't know about a stats page and I am doing more caching now than ever. I am not out there to see how many I can get, how I stack up against someone else, etc. I geocache to get outside, find new and interesting places, and go hiking. I guess being an athelete my whole life has stopped me from caring about stats. My whole life was full of goal setting, record breaking, and competing. I don't care for that anymore. It's a lot less stressful. quote:I think I'll go flying this weekend instead of caching. I guess you just made someone else's stats all that much better. Silent Bob.
  15. quote:Originally posted by EraSeek:That being said, you said: "The GPS unit's main function is not that of an atomic clock radio receiver". Well not exactly. Quite frankly that is what it is, or the base of what it is. All depends on acurate timing! It has to be a lovely atomic time reciever or it is junk. Useless. Again, I believe the point of the post was that it didn't have the CPU power to put the exact time (from the atomic clocks on board the GPS sats) on the screen of the GPS units. Thus, while it needs to receive the exact time for doing its precise calculations, it's sole function is not that of an atomic clock radio receiver (thus does not have a lack of CPU power which was the original point). It has the CPU power to use the time just not output it as frequently as it is updated internally. Silent Bob
  16. quote:Originally posted by Anders.:I think one can say that it does just about the same job as such a receiver. In that regard your post was wrong. People reading erroneous posts will be mislead, unless someone corrects them. Please disregard my effort to shed some light on the subject, in case you want to stay in the dusk. While this is getting slightly OT, I would like to clarify my statement to end your apparent confusion... The GPS unit's main function is not that of an atomic clock radio receiver. It's main function is not to display the accurate time on the screen. I hope that clear it up for you.
  17. quote:Originally posted by volks_ev71:if you have even the smallest problem it, why don't you send it in for warranty repair?? I just read a post at the MnGCA site that was talking about how they fixed his Garmin Vista's rubber problem (because it was common they fixed it as if it was still under warranty and it wasn't). They did a bunch of upgrades, etc. He was quite impressed. Other people in the thread mentioned that they usually have the unit back to you in a week or less. Silent Bob.
  18. quote:Originally posted by Anders.:What I and Kerry pointed out above, is that the display of current time on the GPS screen isn't a main task of the unit, so even if it inside knows very well, the time displayed to the outside world may lag a little, depending upon the workload on the processor inside the unit. What I am saying is that this is irrelevant (from what I understand of the thread). Who cares if the CPU can't handle the time output to the screen? It's not a vital function. The CPU power in the units is high enough to do WAAS without an issue.
  19. quote:Originally posted by southdeltan:That's my point - it can already be done but it is time consuming and not userfriendly. There are lots of people who would love to see lots of the information on this website compiled in a more user friendly manner. How much time, energy, bandwith, and CPU time would it take for the website to run those stats for the users? Would it increase the traffic too much? Is it worth it just to have it available to members only (I doubt it)? Is it worth the time and effort to have the possibility that with the increased exposure (instead of it being offsite) it will cause problems in the sport?
  20. quote:Originally posted by southdeltan:Nobody was out hijacking cachers so they could run their numbers up. Disclaimer: I never visited the previous leaderboard... I could see a gc.com sanctioned board causing some people to feel the need to cheat to raise their stats. There are a VAST MAJORITY of cachers out there that are interested in nothing more than having a good time. But it only takes a handful of jerks to ruin it for everyone. People in this thread say "I am obsessed with stats". Yeah, and obsession leads to cheating. It's a common occurance with MANY examples across ALL sports. Sad but true. What sport hasn't seen WRs broken because of drug induced cheating? If there is a board it could cause people to cheat to be at the top. quote:I was friends with everybody I'd met on the leaderboard - and when I met somebody I KNEW they were an active cacher because of the name. I suppose that this would be somewhat true. I have recognized plenty of active cachers from this site, their logs in caches near me, etc. I don't know if a leaderboard is required to do that. quote:the leaderboard allowed me to gain a quick grasp of who was caching and who wasn't. It also allowed me (and others) to compare my activity to other geocachers. Eh, you can do that currently w/how gc.com is setup. Just my worthless .02
  21. quote:Originally posted by Kerry:An external antenna in most cases would make one hell of a difference to reliable WAAS reception, assuming suitable reception and of course not everybody does get suitable signal reception. Well of course it would, but it was also make them very large devices and not suited for most people's purposes (inside the car, most geocaching, etc). There are of course people that prefer external antennas, but most would prefer the unit be pocket sized. quote:Really the recreational side of WAAS software doesn't take into account the full capabilities of WAAS and it wasn't all that long ago that receivers marketed as supposedly 1 second position updates, simply couldn't achieve that claim either. Of course it doesn't. That's why the units are labeled "recreational". That doesn't mean that it doesn't handle WAAS. Like I said, I am usually WAAS locked (even under heavy tree cover) and accurate to about 20ft. That's with a "low CPU powered" internal antenna Vista. quote:That simply points to lack of processor power (or basically priority being directed to the primary purpose of a GPS receiver, position, position, position) in many cases but things are getting bigger and better but at a cost and cost is what most manufacturers have to keep down. *MOST* people aren't using their GPSs for Geocaching OR WAAS (or even care what WAAS is). The reception on these receivers is good enough for what they were intended for. quote:Similar with displayed time, a recreational GPS receiver doesn't give much priority (really at all) to worrying what the time is, if it's a few seconds out nobody really cares. That's because a GPS receiver is just that. It's not an atomic clock, nor is it an atomic clock radio receiver Just my worthless .02
  22. quote:Originally posted by Kerry:My perception is WAAS installed on a handheld is out of its depth, out of its intended evnironment and application and a low end handheld simply doesn't have the processor power (or antenna design) for it to be more than a gizmo. As far as I know the Garmin units ALL use ARM-based processors (the iQue has a 200mhz ARM) I am unable to locate the mhz rating for a Garmin eTrex Vista. Explain to me how it doesn't have the CPU power to handle GPS (when the other Garmin units are using the same architecture)? Before I received my Garmin eTrex I would have agreed that the antenna in the iQue might be inadequate. I have found ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEMS with the internal antenna in the Vista, in fact, I am usually accurate to 20ft or under even with heavy tree cover... That's my worthless .02 Silent Bob
  23. After posting your find, go back to the cache page. There is an option at the bottom of your log that says [upload an image for this log]. Click that link. The next page that comes up asks you to name the image, then there is a button "Browse" that you click to select the image on your computer. The third option is a long description of the image (not required). Click Upload picture and you are set. Hope that helps, Silent Bob
  24. Well, I just did a quick search on Google for you. How about trying a "factory reset". Here's the link: eTrex Venture FAQ (Factory Reset) Maybe that will help?
  25. quote:Originally posted by mdh01:What keeps me from getting a WAAS connection...I've left the GPS on for hours in a clear area, driven 250 miles (4 hours) with it on the dash, but sitll don't get a WAAS enabled session. I live in Minnesota...too far from the equator? I just tested it last night (after reading the instruction manual for my eTrex Vista). I live in Burnsville (South of Minneapolis) and I had no problem picking up Sat. 35 and getting a 17ft. accuracy with WAAS. It did take about 2 mins to lock on to 35 and get the indication that WAAS was enabled. So it DOES work in Minnesota. I just don't know about Northern MN. When I make a caching trip to Duluth I will test it higher up there Silent Bob.
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