irisisleuk

The oldest geocacher I know is nicknamed Ons Oma (which translates as Our Grandma). She was introduced in the Groundspeak blog last year when she had her 90th birthday. She started when she was 87 and we love the movie her grandchildren made when she did our multi cache here in the Netherlands.

Change is good, but should we all read Fifty Shades of Grey to understand this change? That would be a really good idea! If everyone is reading that book they certainly won't be in here complaining!! But will reading the book help us understand why people "complain"? How would life be if indifference takes over? Would it make this forum, this website and even this game more enjoyable?

What I would like: communication! Are souvenirs being treated like challenges and will they be removed at some time in the future? Are they a topic of discussion at headquarters and are lackeys looking for posters around the office to help them make a decision? Or are the designs that were already made, like the souvenir for the Netherlands, going to be implemented and will the future bring more souvenirs, not just for special events? Please just communicate what is going on. We can agree and disagree about decisions, but the lack of communication on (not) making decisions is what really annoys me.

In general I would say that I don't see any reason why NFC caches shouldn't be allowed. As long as it's clear from the cache page that you need a special tool everything is fine. As long as I can decide before I arrive at ground zero whether the cache is interesting/suitable for me, there is no difference to other caches. It would be different if I had travelled a long way and would then discover that my basic geocaching backpack filled with all kinds of tools wouldn't be enough. There are all sorts of caches where I need special tools, why make a difference between tools that need a battery and those that don't? We've done caches where you need a chirp device, wifi, Rfid, a radio etc. We've done Wherigo caches before we had a smartphone, simply by joining another geocacher who had a Wherigo enabled gps. If you don't own the special tool, there is always the geocaching community, so no need to spend a lot of money at times you can't afford it. Now we own a smartphone, and we can do Wherigo's on our own. It would have been silly if Wherigo cache owners had to wait till everybody owned a smartphone before they could publish their first Wherigo. NFC is just another technique and eventually everybody will have a phone which is NFC compatible. For some this is within reach today, for others it might take a few years. But the advancement of using different technologies, ideas, creativity that might eventually lead to a completely different experience, should not be blocked with arguments that it isn't available to all or that it doesn't add anything. Having said all this, doesn't mean every technology should be allowed without setting limits, trial period of testing in the field whether there might be other reasons not to allow certain developments with caches. A reason not to implement NFC caches might be for instance the risk involved for your smartphone. If I've understand correctly, a NFC can be used to install malware on the phone. With other caches it is not allowed that you have to install software to solve the cache, so our computers won't get harmed. Something similar has to be in place to avoid the abuse of NFC. As long as these issues are researched by Groundspeak and trials are done with a limited number of caches, there is no other reason I can think of blocking any form of creativity in trying something different.

Change is good, but should we all read Fifty Shades of Grey to understand this change?

Wat betreft de banners op je profiel: de banners met een rood kruis zijn links naar plaatjes die niet meer op de locatie staan waar ze oorspronkelijk stonden. Oplossing hiervoor is om even te kijken waar de CO van de betreffende caches nu de banners heeft geplaatst. Wat betreft de blauwe sterren: dit is de onderdeel van de nieuwe layout die Groundspeak gisteren heeft doorgevoerd. Alle icons zijn aangepast door het design team en hebben ook andere kleuren gekregen. De kleuren hebben nu een "functie" weergeeft. Zo hebben ze de kleur blauw gekozen voor informatieve elementen. Algemene acties (drop, retrieve, DNF, note plaatsen etc.) zijn grijs, positieve acties (zoals cache enablen, owner maintenance) krijgen de kleur groen en negatieve acties (needs maintenance etc.) de kleur rood.

Okay, I've spent several hours now reading the " Feature Discussions and Suggestions" part of this forum. There are a lot of interesting suggestions to improve/update the site, and some are probably on a long waiting list to get implemented. But I couldn't find anyone who asked to redesign the icons. Can someone post a link please?

Today they took my challenges, they took my nice blue DNF faces, I think the end of the world is really getting closer... I would like to add an emoticon to this sentence, but there aren't any appropriate grey ones available.

Hope they won't be replaced by pictures of hamsters!

We spent a week in Montreal in October. Some recommendations: - the caches on Mount Royal, not just because of the caches, but the scenery is great. Our favourite cache on the mountain is: Houdini. - the caches in Parc La Fonteine, especially the caches of Les Bengales (for instance this one) if you like nicely camouflaged caches. - the caches in the Jean Drapeau Parc are fun as well, they are easy and most of them are suitable for trackables and you'll have a great view on downtown Montreal. The caches in the center of Montreal are almost all nano's and micro's, hard to find and not that interesting except for the great Wherigo caches of names Architecturale Tour. We did three of those to guide us along the interesting buildings. And since you like bikes, don't miss this cache, Attention aux vélos, . If you like to solve mysteries I would like to recommend you to work on this cache: Master of Mystery #10 - Montréal. It takes a lot of time to solve all the mysteries, but with a cold winter and you still have some months before you leave, you must be able to succeed! Have fun in Montreal, we had a great geocaching week there!

I like virtual caches, but of course only the good ones. To me there is no difference to other caches, some are good, some are not. One of the comments made in this thread was that it would take the place of a "real" cache. If it would take the place if a nice regular cache, it would be a pity, since I like to move trackables as well. But most virtuals won't take the place of a regular cache, they might take the place of a nano or micro cache. And are these types of "real" caches much more worth finding? Is it more interesting and fun to quickly sign a film canister, instead of taking your time at a location and finding answers, paying attention to details and for the wow factor: make a nice photo? Those who like to score lots of points, will they take the time to find answers (especially when the questions are challenging) and e-mail them to the CO? I don't think so, those cachers go for the powertrails. Hey, the virtual might be even blocking a "perfect" location for a powertrail cache! If the risk of lack of quality is a reason not to allow virtuals, then apparently quality has become a synonym for container.

I do enjoy well-done virtuals and Earthcaches, but I do not think that they should add to the number of found/hidden caches with containers. This also helps to improve the quality - those playing the numbers game stay away. I do not enjoy webcams, but the reason for being against their re-introduction on gc.com mixed up with caches with containers, is not my personal dislike, but what I've written above. Cezanne I don't think I understand this completely. Why shouldn't virtuals, earthcaches and webcams count in the lists of found/hidden caches? Because if they do count, does who play the numbers game won't stay away from them and this ruins the quality of those caches like it does with the container caches?

I agree the responses of the Czech geocachers are annoying, just stating I agree doesn't help this discussion. But I do like webcam caches, we've done them in several countries and I wonder why they were grandfathered. Beach_hut gave some reasons in his/her post, but Teuto-Yachter had very good answers to those remarks (at least to my opinion) in post #71. So are there any other reasons? (except for the reason that some feel a geocache without a container is no geocache, where I can only say: a photo gives me much more fun memories than signing a micro under a lamp post). As long as something needs to be done at the location itself, so no arm chair caches, I don't see any reason why not. But maybe there was a discussion in the past on being recognizable on the photo? (although this is hardly ever the case with webcams ) Since photo requirements can't be mandatory for caches anymore, a webcam cache is impossible. So before webcam caches can return, it should be clear why photos can't be made mandatory. Does anybody know the reason for this decision?

Je doet het dus helemaal goed. Vaak ontstaan die lange lijsten met " took it to"-logs omdat cachers die met een smartphone cachen in hun geocache applicatie zijn vergeten uit te zetten dat de trackables die in hun bezit zijn niet allemaal automatisch zo gelogd moeten worden. Ik gebruik de visited functie (wat resulteert in een "took it to"-log) vrijwel alleen als ik de trackable heb meegenomen naar een cache locatie die ik leuk vond om op de foto te zetten met de trackable. De cache zelf was dan bijvoorbeeld niet groot genoeg of niet veilig genoeg, maar om te laten zien aan de eigenaar dat de TB daar geweest is schrijf ik een visited log en plaats er dan dus een foto bij.

Als basic member kun je inderdaad maar 1 cache per keer downloaden. Maar als je premium member bent dan kun je een pocket query maken. Bij een pocket query kun je precies aangeven welk type, hoeveel, op welke afstand etc. je wilt zien en/of downloaden. Het resultaat zie je vervolgens op het scherm en dit ontvang je dan vervolgens als zip file in je mail. De zip file moet je dan nog even unzippen en dan heb je je gpx file met daarin al je opgevraagde caches. Het kan soms overigens even duren voordat je de mail ontvangt, met name in het weekend kan het nogal druk zijn met aanvragen en dan ontvang je hem niet meteen, maar kan het een aantal uur duren. Hoe het gaat met favorites punten als je wisselt van membership weet ik niet. Ik verwacht dat als er niet teveel tijd tussen het eerste en het tweede premium membership zit, alles in ieder geval wel bewaard blijft aangezien het immers ook kan voorkomen dat je vergeet op tijd je membership weer te verlengen. Overigens:als je eenmaal de voordelen van premium membership hebt ontdekt, dan is de kans klein dat je nog teruggaat naar een basic membership.

I think (or should I say hope?) geocaching is more than just scoring another state. What is the fun in scanning a barcode? I don't even need to leave my home for that... Hey that brings me to another idea: I've been geocaching in every country of the world as soon I have scanned a product that was produced there. No thank you. Believe me, you will be much more proud of yourself when you have really found a cache in every state, not just a virtual point in an airport. Getting to know all the states by finding geocaches is much more fun! By the way: I'm not saying there can't/shouldn't be a real geocache in an airport. But we don't need them to score points, we do like to see them when it leads us to something interesting. The cache at Changi airport in Singapore is a very good example. It brought us to a butterfly garden at the airport, a garden we probably would have missed if the geocache wasn't there.

Just curious: which cache did you find on Antarctica?

Welcome! Next to placing your geocaching nickname (and date) on the log in the cache, you should also log the cache on this website with a found log. Write in your log something about - the location (have you been there before, did you like the scenery etc.) - how you got there (did you have a nice walk or was it an easy grab where you didn't even need to leave the car) - if anything happened on your way over there ( saw a deer, met other geocachers, lost my sunglasses etc.) - the cache (easy/difficult to find , nice big one where you could swap some goodies, or a well camouflaged one etc.) - say thank you to the cache owner (CO) by ending your log with TFTC! (this means thanks for the cache) - and if you find trackables (travelbugs, coins that have the text "track me on geocaching.com" noted somewhere) do not forget to write in your log that you took them. But do not note the number in your log! This number is unique and you should use it to log the trackable on this website as well. Some other things you might like to know: -making photo's! If you go out geocaching take your camera with you, every CO and trackable owner loves to see photos with logs! BUT: never place spoilers. Spoilers are photos or sentences in your log that spoil the surprise for other cachers. So do not place a photo of the cache online, unless you are sure this is okay with the cache owner. -bring goodies to exchange. Geocachers like to find real treasures, so if you take something from a cache, you should put something into it as well (of at least equal value) And if the cache is empty and you have some goodies to spare, it's very nice if you place something. - if you didn't find the cache, you can log a "not found". If several cachers weren't able to find it, it can trigger the cache owner to check whether the cache is still there. - make sure other people, which we call muggles, do not see you finding the cache. People that don't know the game might take or destroy the geocache or what is inside. So if there are people near the cache, just wait till they are gone or come back another time. Have fun! This game is played all over the world, so greetings from the Netherlands as well!

Hello Paul&Jen, I presume you met Sue and Malc and saw how they found a geocache? If so, just search for the specific geocache and the date you found it and you will be able to see their geocaching nick name. Then you can try to contact them through their profile. If you need help with this, just send me a message (by clicking my name you'll see my profile and then it's easy to send a message).

Misschien kun je juist even aangeven hier op het forum hoe je het hebt opgelost. Als een volgende cacher namelijk ook met dit probleem zit, dan kan hij hier tenminste het antwoord vinden!

Kun je iets meer informatie geven over wat je precies bedoelt? Waar en met wat ben je het tegengekomen? In het algemeen is een tag iets van metaal waar een nummer op staat. Dit kan een travelbug of coin zijn die je logt op geocaching.com (daarop staat altijd track me at geocaching.com), maar er zijn ook andere trackables in omloop die je niet op deze site kunt loggen. Zo zijn er bijvoorbeeld pathtags en geokrety's, beide ook trackable, maar daarvoor moet je dus weer accounts en logs maken op andere websites. In Nederland zie ze maar zelden, maar in het buitenland zijn ze weer wat populairder omdat ze goedkoper zijn dan de "echte" trackables. Maar ik stel de vraag waar je het bent tegengekomen niet voor niets. Sommigen noemen namelijk het kaartje wat aan een TB zit, waar het doel op staat, weer een tag. En de vorige poster denkt weer dat je eens specifieke cacher bedoelt wiens nickname kennelijk TAG is.

Ik vermoed dat je dan wel naar het westen moet, maar om daar te komen misschien een andere route (omweg) moet lopen omdat er bijvoorbeeld water of ander niet toegankelijk terrein is waardoor je niet direct naar het westen kunt.

Exact naar het westen, dus op 270 graden.

Kort samengevat klopt dat wel . Omdat veel coin eigenaren hun coins maar thuis in de kast lieten liggen, terwijl het toch veel leuker is als ze kunnen reizen zodat iedereen ze kan zien, werd er een aantal jaar geleden de 12 provinciën race bedacht. De deelnemende coins moesten zo snel mogelijk verplaatst worden zodat ze alle provincies zouden bezoeken. Er kwamen foto-opdrachten bij voor bonuspunten (coin met provinciehuis op de foto etc.) en behalve de deelnemende coin eigenaren konden ook verplaatsers kans maken op een prijs door een mooi log te schrijven. Omdat het bezoeken van alle provincies wel heeel erg snel kan gaan, waarmee de spanning van de race voor andere deelnemers dus al in het eerste kwartaal voorbij kan zijn, werd de race dit jaar een gemeenterace i.p.v. een provincie-race, met een record aantal deelnemers van 250 coins! Het is vrijwel onmogelijk voor een coin om alle gemeentes te bezoeken (dit zijn er namelijk 415), dus het blijft voor alle deelnemers spannend tot de laatste dag van het jaar. Ook bij de gemeenterace zijn bonuspunten te verdienen, dit jaar door de coin op de foto te zetten met het plaatsnaambord, gemeentewapen en/of gemeentehuis. Volgend jaar zijn er weer andere foto-opdrachten. Voor diegenen die coins verplaatsen is het ook een leuke race, want gewoon met het verplaatsen maak je al kans op het winnen van een coin in de maandelijkse loterij. Daarnaast kun je ook nog iedere maand een mooie prijs winnen door een leuk/mooi/ontroerend log te schrijven, waarbij na een voorselectie door een jury, iedereen kan meestemmen welk log dat zou moeten zijn. De spelregels, de tussenstand, een forum, statistieken enz. enz. vind je op de site van globalcaching.

That is true, but if I go through the first steps and then go to "preview your page", and then decide to edit the page, I won't get the formater anymore. So what to do then? And for instance a simple issue: uploading a photo or image to the webpage (in this specific case a photo about what the place looked like in the past might be interesting). If it is not a photo that is placed on an external website, how would you get the img url, before having made a cache page and upload the photo which you would like to use?