NH Zamboni

Hi As the volunteer reviewer primarily affected by the user "JoeyBot" / "AutoJoey" over the weekend. It's good to see how responsive and attentive the caching community has been to this issue. JoeyBot attacked Vermont Sunday logging about 1500 bogus cache finds. AutoJoey is currently logging finds in NH. For those of you who contacted me yesterday I immediately forwarded concerns to Groundspeak and JoeyBot has been banned from the website. Earlier this morning I contacted Groundspeak requesting bannination of the AutoJoey account. For the health of your PC. Please do not click any of the links included in the found it logs. Traditionally Groundspeak will only take action on cache logs in limited situations such as profanity and personal attacks that violate the Terms of Use Agreement. Other than that, taking action on someone's cache page is typically not performed. Please delete any bogus 'found it' logs from your caches. I regret the burden this places on the affected cache owners. Thanks Zamboni / Trevor

testing 1...2....3

Hi xXmajuXx, Your cache is patiently waiting it's turn in the Germany review queue. I took a quick look at the page and didn't encounter any major issues but I'm not familiar with the region and can't read German ;^) A couple things you reviewer may notice is the coordinates are actually located in Lower Saxony, Germany and not Niedersachsen as the 'state' suggests. Also, I suggest entering your home coordinates in the geocaching.com system. During the review process one of the things reviewers assess is how reasonable it will be for the owner to take care of any cache maintenance issues that might arise. By entering your home location, future cache page reviews will proceed more promptly and you you will be able to view nearby caches with a single click. You can enter your home location at this page: http://www.geocaching.com/my/details.aspx If you are not comfortable entering generic home coordinates please document your maintenance plan in a reviewer note.

Hi Creis, Congratulations on your first cache hide, I took a quick look at the Connecticut queue and your cache is not shown. On the edit page of your cache screen look for a box that states "Yes, this cache is currently active (Reviewers will not see this listing in the review queue unless this box is checked.)". Check that box and the cache will be added to the Connecticut queue.

Coldgears, Congratulations on a quick and easy solve. I have taken the liberty of editing the cache page making the waypoint visible to only the cache owner and site administrators and let both the cache owner and reviewer know of my intervention. Thanks for your honesty, I look forward to your 'found it' log entry. -Z

Nathan, Your cache meets the listing guidelines and the super cool dude who published the page doesn't anticipate any issues or have the need to add it to my watchlist. There are quite a few FTF hounds in NH and I suspect several are watching the cache page to see when it will be found. If you are a premium member you can make the cache available to only premium members. This will also enable an 'audit trail' allowing you to see who has visited the cache page.

As a volunteer reviewer I try to caution hiders from placing a cache on their property and use wording similar to the quote below: The final decision is yours, but keep in mind the cautions outlined above.

Greetings Rollergo11. I'm not your official reviewer however took a look at your cache listing. To prevent additional delays in the review and publication process you might want to double check the cache listing and verify the cache coordinates are located in the state you've selected (or select the correct state). Welcome to our hobby and congrats on placing your 1st cache hide.

I appreciate your enthusiasm for our hobby. The ideal place for misguided notions and silly questions are these forums. I'd recommend the opposite Keep up the good work. -Z

Hi Boneman. I took a look at your cache submission and since you are still in active discussion with your local reviewer wonder why you're considering contacting appeals. When your reviewer requested additional information your correspondence is honest, straightforward and informative which says a lot about your credibility. I'd recommend you continue perusing options with your reviewer with hopes of a viable solution to get your cache published. I appreciate you keeping the details out of the forums however, intentional or not, the thread could be perceived as an attempt to undermine your reviewer which could degrade your credibility and not always an ideal solution. NH Zamboni volunteer reviewer for NH / VT

Hi Zaackster. Congratulations on your first cache hide. I'm not the official reviewer for Ontario however, I do have access to the queue and took a quick peek to ensure your cache was listed and waiting for a formal review. (it is). A couple comments that will probably speed up the review (and publication) process. #1: Please consider adding your home coordinates to the geocaching.com system. If you are not comfortable posting your exact home coordinates please use either your zip code or coordinates for a location near your home (within a few miles). Another option would be to include a detailed maintenance plan for your reviewer. #2: Normally a 1 star terrain rating means the cache can be accessed by wheel chair. You might want to include the Wheelchair accessible attribute.

Hi Jagski, I'm glad to see you are enjoying our hobby and I'm sorry to hear about your negative experience. As the volunteer reviewer for the great states of NH and VT I'll be glad to address any concerns the cache owner isn't responding to. I (and future finders of the caches in question) appreciate you taking the time to perform any maintenance you could. As the folks above me recommended your should first attempt to contact the cache owner with either a needs maintenance note or private e-mail. (reviewers do not get notified when a NM note is posted). If you find the cache owner is unresponsive or ignoring your messages, it's time for me to step in. I'd recommend posting a Needs Archived note on the cache page. This will notify me the cache needs my attention and inform fellow cachers the cache or location may be problematic. I'll review the details and take some sort of action.. If you are uncomfortable (for whatever reason) posting a Needs Archived note please contact me directly either through my profile or e-mail NH.Zamboni.reviewer(at)Gmail(dot)com. Please include as many details as possible and the GC waypoint number of the caches in question. Thanks NH Zamboni Volunteer reviewer for NH / VT EDIT: to alleviate sbell111's concerns that I'm impartial to Vermont.

Reviewer response here: I agree with Palmetto I'd request the ALR be removed and change the cache type to a traditional.

Hi Birdaholic. The cache in question was published a few minutes ago. Halfmoon Pond. I'm making the assumption that your TB is safe and sound and will be seeing some visitors and activity later this morning.

Hi Bananapeeler Congratulations on your first cache hide. I remember the anticipation of my first hide and the day or two it took before publication seemed like an eternity. I took a quick peek and the issue mtn-man explained has been resolved. Your cache is listed in the BC queue and waiting for the continuation of the review process. Please be patient.

Savoy. Your two caches (and your friends event) are currently in the queue waiting for a formal review. Please be patient (insert hold music here)..

From the cache listing guidelines. I'm making the assumption that e-mailing your solution thought process might fall under the bold quoted above (bold added by me). It's probably hardly worth is, at Tequila mentioned above. This can easily be circumvented.

Congratulations on your first cache hide. I remember the anticipation of my first hide and the day or two it took before publication seemed like an eternity. I took a quick peek and your cache is listed in the Texas queue and waiting for a formal review. Can I recommend perusing the cache saturation guideline specifically the line that states "caches placed within .10 miles (528 feet or 161 metres) of another cache may not be published on the site." You might want to consider updating the hiding spot a few hundred feet away.

I get the problem also. The geocaching plugin is an overlay for google earth and coordinates don't appear to be 100% correct. I created a Google earth placemark using the coordinates on a cache page and there seems to be a shift between the placemark and plugin icon sometimes 90 Ft sometimes 160 Ft depending on the jump. The placemark remains in a constant location and is properly scaled as I zoom Google earth. If you're attempting to find a cache using the map & Compass method I'd trust the placemark not the plug-in.

Currently your best option is via e-mail and the suggestion to post in the Granite State geocachers forum. They have a "Lets go caching in the Granite State" thread that has worked well for informal meet & greets and cache hunts. If you have a feature request for a new cache type you might want to include details by opening a thread for thoughts and discussion in the geocaching website sub forum.

Personally, I'm glad to see you did your research and thought about the hide location. You can't assume a location is OK based on it's appearance in a gazetteer or atlas. Always check with the local land manager and see if they have a formal geocaching policy in place. The presence of existing caches in an area doesn't mean the land managers want new caches there. Perhaps the other hiders have a permit or letter of approval. Your existing caches look like the type I would enjoy. I hope the frustrations and negative experience don't deter your from future hides.

Hi Weylan A first cache hide is always exciting and I'm glad to see you are gathering information and reading the guidelines to prepare for a quality cache page and find experience. You can reserve a GC number and cache page by clicking the "online form" of the hidel and seek page. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/ Take all the time you need to design the cache page. Once you have the cache placed and are ready for one of the N CA. reviewers to review the listing there is a "Enable Listing" check box. This moves the listing into the reviewers bucket for a formal review. If you have any specific questions regarding the cache there is a "note to reviewer" section on the cache page, this allows for private conversation with your reviewer. Don't worry, all those reviewer notes are deleted before the cache is published.

NCreviewer is normally prompt and responsive. Unless there are extenuating circumstances (like a power outage) your cache should be reviewed shortly.

Greetings kraftyfashionables. Thanks for your contribution to our hobby. The first "excuse" for "bouncing" was your reviewer needs to review the final cache location for proximity issues, location concerns, etc and requested the final waypoint to your mystery cache along with step by step instructions on how to perform the task. Once the final coordinates were entered it appears that the cache is located in a State Natural Area which prohibits geocaching. Perhaps moving the cache to a more suitable location will resolve the issues. I suspect your local reviewer(s) are in discussion with each other and the Wisconsin DNR to resolve any issues with existing caches that may already be located withing the State Natural Area boundary. If you feel you are being treated unfairly please contact Groundspeak directly although it probably won't help getting the cache published. Zamboni Volunteer reviewer for NH / VT

My question would be why are people searching for an archived cache that seemed to be in dire need of maintenance? Reviewers do not un-archive a listing for the purpose of adoption. I understand your desire to preserve one of the historic caches in the state however when the cache owner archived the listing the window for adoption closed. The remains of the archived cache are property of the cache owner and should be cleaned up. The area is obviously special, why not create a new cache listing for everyone to enjoy the area again.