joespaz

I think you have stated my feelings to the mark! Thank you.

I got it now... I was out "bug hunting" for some bugs to take to the "F.A.M.E. Travel Bug Photoshoot" on Sunday Feb. 28th GCXXXX (visit link), I found many along the way. TFTC now it's not advertising? AND isn't there a difference in inviting people to a geocaching event then non-related advertising? You would have to ask Groundspeak. The problem is where do they draw the line? At what point does it start being unacceptable? If I want to start selling custom cache containers can I mention it in my logs? It's geocaching related. I'm sure they draw the line when they start receiving complaints. It's not like they monitor all of the thousands of logs posted every day. Someone complained. The whole situation is pitiful. I would like someone to tell me...what kind of a link in a log would NOT be advertising. It is obvious that some whiner complained about something that shouldn't be that big of a deal. I am also really disappointed that I was only given 24 hours to fix the problem. Now...back to editing my logs

Here is a log from a different day of caching. Is this prohibited too? Came here after taking care of my rabbits. I think I picked up two travelers here. I will be bringing them to the "F.A.M.E. Travel Bug Photo Shoot" http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...29-fc80c64e2893 with me. If you're reading this log, then I hope to see you there too. How about this? Came here after taking care of my rabbits. I think I picked up two travelers here. I will be bringing them to the "F.A.M.E. Travel Bug Photo Shoot" http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...29-fc80c64e2893 with me.

I didn't do it in 125 logs...but I will need to search all 125 logs from over the last two months to see which ones I did and didn't do it in. I think 24 hrs to do that is unreasonable...I might not have even gotten the email in 24hrs. Luckily I did, but I think a "3 day Pay or quit" standard would be more fair. As I said years ago...I wouldn't really know about events, especially if I was new, unless people told me, or they were very close to home. I was about 15 miles away one day finding 25 caches, and I included a note about the event...mostly so people would know about the event. With that said I guess I am admitting that this IS advertising. But, is this really the type of advertising we don't want?

I got it now... I was out "bug hunting" for some bugs to take to the "F.A.M.E. Travel Bug Photoshoot" on Sunday Feb. 28th GCXXXX (visit link), I found many along the way. TFTC now it's not advertising? AND isn't there a difference in inviting people to a geocaching event then non-related advertising?

So is any mention of another geocache an advertisement? I usually include in my logs something like: Last cache: GCXXXX (visit link) Next cache: GCYYYY (visit link)

I am shocked that I got this email today. You would think I was trying to advertise my Music Store that I work at, or something I would make money off. I really thinks some people complain too much, it is kind of sad. I also am surprised that I have been given less then 24 hours to go through my 125+ recent logs, and edit them appropriately. Any ideas? Copy of email: It has come to our attention that there has been some advertising in your logs. This is a violation of section 4 (e) of the Terms of Use. It states: "You agree not to: (e) Upload, post or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation." An example of this is listed here: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...36-fb76a08ac1ed "joespaz found Holey Moley Batman, #499 (Traditional Cache) I was out "bug hunting" today. I'll try to add comments after I find my notes. If you are reading this I hope you can make it to the: F.A.M.E. "Travel Bug Photoshoot" Event on Sunday February 28, 2010 GC23TCQ (visit link)" This includes email, logs and all other forms of communication on our site. Please edit your logs to remove the text by Feb. 25th 2010, or your log may be deleted. Please let me know if you have any questions./b] Wish me luck...

I have decided that I don't like looking for micro's as much as bigger caches. I also don't "hate" looking for them either. I am well known for leaving long detailed log entries online when I find caches. I usually tell a bit about my Geocaching adventure that day, then some info about my experience finding the particular cache, and lastly some stats for the day including where I came from and where I go next. I was thinking that for micro's I'll just start leaving an online log that says "Found It." I wonder if that is rude and inconsiderate. Tell me what you think?

So am I to understand: If I want to add a goal tag to a TB, I should ask the owner first? If I want to place a TB into a quality Ziplock bag, I should ask the owner first?

I found out about this thread after I had started a forum thread to get other peoples opinions about my recent actions. The outcome of my thread was a suggestion for me to send the the following note instead of my old one. Hopefully this note will seem less bossy and official: Hi, I am JoeSpaz and I was looking for Travel Bugs and Geocoins to move along today. It seemed that the trackable(s) listed below were missing from the cache that they are listed in. TBXXXX (visit link) GCYYYY (visit link) Just to let you know, if you wish there is an easy way to mark the trackable as missing. Just go to http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?p...page&id=152 and follow the instructions. I'm trying to let people know how to mark trackables as missing so that cachers won't be disappointed when they go to find trackables and there aren't any. If you got this email before, I'm sorry. I wasn't keeping track of the emails I sent but now I am. Thanks Joespaz I hope this note would solve the problem mentioned by the OP.

Someone told me that if the background color was "clear" or "translucent" it would woek on any backround, and wouldn't look like it was in a box.

I think you have done an awesome job on this one and been very patient considering it was free. If it were me, I would have done, maybe, 3 changes and then quit. I applaud your work and think it's great on this last incarnation. I agree...I think you have done an awesome job!!! I love the jumbling of the letters, I think it makes the "z" more effective. The colors are bold and eye catching. I really do appreciate your work. I am working on making tags that get attached to TB's, Stash notes for caches that don't have one, and special "JoeSpaz Treasure Chest" sig items. Is it okay if I use this avatar on those items too? Will this look okay if I print it in black and white? I would say you are the winner of my contest! I would like to send you a "Geocoin" as a prize. You can either get an unactivated one, or I can activate one and "adopt" it over to you. If you want an unactivated coin, I can mail it to you. If you prefer to adopt one, then I can send it out at my upcoming "F.A.M.E. Travel Bug Photo Shoot" event this Sunday. Congratulations! Thanks for your help!

No problem. You'd loose a lot of pixels, since the space is only 75X75 pixels. I'm open for suggestions on a different colour scheme. Please suggest colours for various components, if this version is not quite there yet. Thank you so much for trying to incorporate my ideas. I can see now that the variety of letter sizes actually adds a quirkiness that goes along with the "spaz" concept, keeping them the same size is to "normal." Also...especially in the forums which are blue and white, the blue and white color scheme doesn't work at all. I was trying to thing about colors that would "POP" off the page. I guess my biggest concern now is to make the "Z" feel like more of a part of the work Spaz. If the "z" is rotated more towards the alignment of the other letters, but...let it extend out above the "A" and off the the bottom right on the other side?? Once again thanks for trying to help me come up with a great avatar. Yours is very cool! Now how to tweak it just a bit....

I'll make sure to include working links in any actual emails I send. So I am done sending emails until my event is over next week. So far I have checked the 2,000 caches nearest my house for missing Trackables. I have sent over 150 notices out to the CO's and the TB owners. I have been getting about a 50% response rate. That seems awesome to me. What should I do if people take no action? Is there a way Geocaching can remove missing items? Should I send them a list every two weeks of Trackables that never get removed by the CO or TB owner? So this project is all in preparation of an cache event? anyway it does not sound like a great plan. There are so many extenuating circumstances to missing trackables and the approach you propose appears to addresses only one of those. In this world there are some responsible cachers and some not so responsible. the responsible ones keep track and do their own house cleaning without needing the cache police on the other hand those that don't, an email reminder is probably not going to make any difference. A simple example that I am sure many others have done the same, one of my trackables quickly went missing after its release. I decided to wait a few weeks and see if it made one of those magical reappearances. it did not. I decided to do a re-release of the back up with the same tracking number. during this time period I would not appreciate anyone interfering with my approach to dealing with this. This project has NOTHING to do with my upcoming event. However, I have been spending about and hour a day on this project and my event is less then a week away...so I need to spend more time preparing for that instead of working on this project. I have had a great success rate so far! I have notified CO's and TB owners of about 150 missing items, I have noticed that about 50% of them have been removed from the cache inventory already. On a 10 to 1 ratio I have gotten feedback that was positive and appreciative. Only one person has implied that I am bothering them, and they went so far as to start their own forum thread twisting the facts. Many bugs in our area have been listed in caches for over two years, even thought they are missing. Are you seriously going to tell me that the TB owners and CO's are handling things right when this happens? For the record, I am going to continue this project. I just want some advice on how to sound less official and bossy. How people respond is up to them. I won't hold any grudges if they choose to ignore my note. I am just taking the steps that are available to me to play the game my way.

You hit it on the button! I don't want to sound TOO official, lest people think I am trying to impersonate a moderator. I also don't want people to think I am telling them what to do. I am only contacting the CO's and TB owners as a courtesy. I figure what ever they want to do about it is fine with me. Any suggestions on how this note can be worded better would be appreciated. Less official.... Hi, I am Geospaz and I was looking for travel bugs to move along today and noticed that your TB TBXXXX has gone missing. Just to let you know, there is an easy way to mark your trackable as missing. Just go to http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?p...page&id=152 and follow the instructions. I'm trying to let people know how to mark trackables as missing so that cachers won't be disappointed when they go to find trackables and there aren't any. If you got this email before, I'm sorry. I wasn't keeping track of the emails I sent but now I am. Thanks Geospaz Much less official. (I was even going to suggest a misspelled word) Hi, I am JoeSpaz and I was looking for Travel Bugs and Geocoins to move along today. It seemed that the trackable(s) listed below were missing from the cache that they are listed in. TBXXXX (visit link) GCYYYY (visit link) Just to let you know, if you wish there is an easy way to mark the trackable as missing. Just go to http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?p...page&id=152 and follow the instructions. I'm trying to let people know how to mark trackables as missing so that cachers won't be disappointed when they go to find trackables and there aren't any. If you got this email before, I'm sorry. I wasn't keeping track of the emails I sent but now I am. Thanks Joespaz This format would allow me to continue easily pasting in the info that they need. Does this still sound okay?

You hit it on the button! I don't want to sound TOO official, lest people think I am trying to impersonate a moderator. I also don't want people to think I am telling them what to do. I am only contacting the CO's and TB owners as a courtesy. I figure what ever they want to do about it is fine with me. Any suggestions on how this note can be worded better would be appreciated.

I wonder if this email that I have been sending out comes across as telling people what they should do? Hi fellow geocacher, Cache: GCXXXX (visit link) Trackable: TBXXXX (visit link) I am contacting you about the TravelBug/Geocoin above that has gone missing from the cache above. As the owner of either the trackable or the cache you can mark the item as missing. By marking the trackable as missing it will remove it from the cache inventory. If the trackable turns up at a later date the person who finds it can still register it with no problems. The Groundspeak Weekly Newsletter recently included a link to these instructions on how to mark a trackable missing: http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?p...page&id=152 I am starting a project to see if I can help get the inventory of all the caches in the area corrected. I am sending this note to ask you for your help in this effort. If you have questions please feel free to let me know. Thanks, JoeSpaz p.s. I am sorry if you got a similar note already, as of 2/12/10 I am keeping track of all the notes I send out so it shouldn't happen again. It has been suggested to me that I change the wording "can mark the item missing" to "have the ability to mark the item missing." Would that make my email sound less demanding? As far as "do-it-yourself independent types" I thought that was exactly what I was doing. I decided to start checking ALL the caches nearest to my house in a systematic order to see if there were any missing trackables. When I find them I send an email to the cache owner and the trackable owner because those are the only two people that have the ability to remove the items from the trackable inventory. Each night I spend about an hour checking more and more caches in an effort to make the game more fun for those of us that DO appreciate this aspect of the game.

I have recently been sending notes to owners of trackables that are missing AND to the owners of the caches they are listed in. The note goes like this: Hi fellow geocacher, Cache: GCXXXX (visit link) Trackable: TBXXXX (visit link) I am contacting you about the TravelBug/Geocoin above that has gone missing from the cache above. As the owner of either the trackable or the cache you can mark the item as missing. By marking the trackable as missing it will remove it from the cache inventory. If the trackable turns up at a later date the person who finds it can still register it with no problems. The Groundspeak Weekly Newsletter recently included a link to these instructions on how to mark a trackable missing: http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?p...page&id=152 I am starting a project to see if I can help get the inventory of all the caches in the area corrected. I am sending this note to ask you for your help in this effort. If you have questions please feel free to let me know. Thanks, JoeSpaz p.s. I am sorry if you got a similar note already, as of 2/12/10 I am keeping track of all the notes I send out so it shouldn't happen again. My intention was not to require anyone to do anything. I was just trying to be informative. As someone who likes to deal with trackables, I of course would appreciate it if the inventory on the caches was accurate, but I never get bent out of shape if a trackable is missing. I have come up with a systematic method of checking each cache in my area. I am hoping this will prevent duplicate emails about one cache or trackable. Some people that have multiple caches with missing trackables, or have missing trackables will get more then one email, but each email is specific to the item in question. If one cache has three missing items I send one email listing all the items to each geocacher involved. I hope this isn't seen as "pounding" cache owners, this is not my intention. It seems to me that Geocaching is played by so many people in different ways that none of us can expect others to play our way. I hope we can find ways to play without getting too bent out of shape about how others play the game.

Below is the note I have been sending to both cache owners and trackable owners for items that are missing from caches in my area: Hi fellow geocacher, Cache: GCXXXX (visit log) Trackable: TBXXXX (visit log) I am contacting you about the TravelBug/Geocoin above that has gone missing from the cache above. As the owner of either the trackable or the cache you can mark the item as missing. By marking the trackable as missing it will remove it from the cache inventory. If the trackable turns up at a later date the person who finds it can still register it with no problems. The Groundspeak Weekly Newsletter recently included a link to these instructions on how to mark a trackable missing: http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?p...page&id=152 I am starting a project to see if I can help get the inventory of all the caches in the area corrected. I am sending this note to ask you for your help in this effort. If you have questions please feel free to let me know. Thanks, JoeSpaz p.s. I am sorry if you got a similar note already, as of 2/12/10 I am keeping track of all the notes I send out so it shouldn't happen again. I have been trying to keep good records and have been doing this in a systematic order so as not to send the same notice twice. I am looking for constructive feedback from the members of the Geocaching forums. How can I improve the wording? Does this note sound offensive? Is this the same as SPAM? What should I do after sending the note, if no action is taken? Thank you for your help.

In my area we have many series caches. I think they are some of the best caches out there. However, each cache is a piece to a puzzle instead of one part of a multi.

Good points... This is looking good! I was wondering about making the "O" face the same size as the letters, and making all the letters the same size. How would it look if the whole design was turned at a 45 degree angle? As I scrolled down the page quickly, I noticed this appeared as a blur. What color scheme could we use to make it POP off the page more?

Here's a quick attempt Thanks for getting this started. I was looking for more focus on the user name. I was thinking that the the "z" could actually be the lightning bolt. The other idea were just in case. As my brother said a Avatar should be a unique, easily recognizable, picture that shows a bit of your personality. Please keep the ideas coming, I really appreciate the help!

Is there anyone out there that would like to create a cool avatar for me? I think it would be cool if 5 - 10 people came up with designs. I'll donate a Geocoin to the person whose design I choose. Thanks for the help. About Me: I am hoping it will represent my user name JoeSpaz I was thinking a lighting bolt for the "z" would be neat I am a music major and I play trombone I really like the idea of CITO I am trying to start a local group called F.A.M.E. (Fremont Area Meet and Eat) I am trying to be a TB caretaker I just threw out some info about me, I don't expect it all to get used, if you have more questions please let me know. Thanks! JoeSpaz

I am not sure if my new Triton 400 is set up properly. All the caches I uploaded seem to be off by 30 miles. I was wondering if there is some set-up features I need to adjust. Is the Navigation supposed to set-up to: Coordinates System, Lat/Long Map Datum, WGS84 North Refrence, Magnetic??? How can I set up a screen that will have an arrow pointing the correct direction, and list the distance to the cache? Is there a way to change how long the screen stays lit? Does anyone have any other recommended settings?

To put it in another way: 1: Download Magellan's Vantagepoint to your computer 2: Create a Pocket Querry 3: Download zipped file of the GPX form of the PQ from the email you recieve 4: Unzip the file 5: Open Vantagepoint 6: Drag Unzipped version of your GPX file to Vantagepoint 7: Connect your GPS to your computer 8: Choose "Connect to PC" on your GPS 9: From Vantagepoint use the SYNC option to "Transfer from pc to GPS" THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE HELP!!!