OpinioNate

I'd appreciate if you would quote me in context, in particular because I was careful to clarify my use of the word "demand" being in the "supply/demand" sense and not "I demand you do X or else". There is an appetite for finds that comes with attending an event. Organizers are responding to that appetite.

There is actually a bug currently where you can see your own Lab Cache stats, but not those of other geocachers unless you yourself have found one. (I know, crazytown). This is fixed but we're going to release on Monday since we don't deploy code on Fridays. Sorry for the confusion on that. Also, they are "Lab Caches" not "Labs Caches". That will also be fixed.

Up to this point, a Lab Cache sounds to me like a catch-all type for any new innovations being tested by the R&D section. However... ...this part makes it sound like "Lab Cache" = "Temporary event-related cache". Is it just that this is the only new innovation currently being tested and there are others on the radar? Right. The adventures available this weekend at Block Party 2013 are lab caches, but not all lab caches will necessarily be event-related. Perhaps "require" is not the right word. I've been to many Megas and I'd say more often than not anywhere from 30-400(!) caches have been placed and published for the event. I get the sense that many event attendees demand (in the supply/demand sense of the word) a certain number of "finds" as part of the event, and event hosts are responding to that demand in the only way they can: by placing new permanent caches. This is a huge outlay of resources for them, not to mention for the local reviewer. Imagine trying to place that many caches at one time without breaking a proximity guideline. In addition, the effort of maintaining/adopting out the caches after the event has passed can be monumental. And are they quality caches, really? That's not a dig against the event hosts and helpers. If I go out tomorrow and place 30 caches you would be hard-pressed to find anything unique or interesting about each and every one of them. A good cache requires some thought and care in its placement. Why not find a way to devote those resources to the experience, rather than to finding a π5282 plot of free land and perpetual life-support givers. For all the reasons I stated above. Of course organizers will still have the ability to place permanent caches for their events. This just gives them another option. For instance, our own Block Party mega has released a new GeoTour of traditional caches in addition to these Lab caches.

Chilihead gets it. How do we take geocaching to the next level? There are so many opportunities for cool geocaching experiences but we are limited by the constraints of the current game. What we absolutely don't want to do is open it up for a free-for-all. That was a major issue with Challenges from the beginning, right? And Virtuals to a lesser extent, but only because we burdened volunteers with the difficult task of maintaining quality. For the foreseeable future we (Groundspeak) will accept that responsibility and ensure only high-quality geocaching experiences are tested.

Great! It's not a requirement to participate.

Greetings everyone! These are not your typical release notes. Read on to find out why. In the past we've perhaps been a bit hasty in introducing new concepts, sometimes investing heavily in new development without first validating the concept with the community. In an effort to introduce new concepts purposefully and in a more limited, controlled fashion, we have cooked up something new. I present to you: Geocaching Labs. We worked up a list of anticipated FAQ's to help explain what a Lab Cache is. We welcome further questions to help flesh out this list. What is Geocaching Labs? This is our R&D department. This team always working to create new and innovative ideas to make geocaching more fun and exciting. What is a Lab Cache? Lab Caches are a new and rare geocache type. Anytime you find something that’s being tested by Geocaching Labs, it will count as a Lab Cache. Does this count as a find? Absolutely! For every Lab Cache you find, you’ll earn a smiley and your find count will go up. However, since these aren’t full-fledged geocaches, they won’t earn you souvenirs (including for the 31 Days of Geocaching) or count toward earning Favorite Points. If the Lab Cache goes away, will my find go away as well? Nope! With this new geocache type, all of your Lab Cache finds will stay on your profile. How can I get the Lab Cache icon on my profile? Right now the only way to obtain a Lab Cache icon for your Geocaching profile is to attend a Mega-Event where a Lab Cache is being offered. So far that’s only Block Party, but we are aiming to extend them to other Mega-Events soon. Can I leave feedback? Of course! That’s why we’re testing them. Shortly after Block Party, we’ll send a survey to everyone who found a Lab Cache. If you have other feedback, feel free to post it in the forums. I’m a Mega-Event owner and I want Lab Caches at my event! Awesome! Visit Geocaching.com/help and send us a message under the category “Hiding a Geocache” to express interest. As we expand Lab Caches, we’ll contact you if your event matches what we’re looking for. Why were these Lab Caches created? This Lab Cache was developed to solve the problem of event-specific geocaches. Mega-Events often require new geocaches to be hidden, but since temporary geocaches are not allowed, the placed geocaches often end up neglected after the event. These new geocaches enable Mega-Events to have their own, temporary geocaches. How does this Lab Cache work? These mostly work the same as regular geocaches: navigate to the location, find the cache and sign the logbook. However, these differ in that you must use the find code in order to mark the geocache as found. Are these Virtuals? No, each of these Lab Caches has a log book, just like any other geocache. Are these Challenges? No, you don’t have to do anything special to mark it as found. Do I need to download an app to play? Nope! We developed a special web app that can be accessed from any smartphone. We also have GPX files for download, as well as good old-fashioned, printed-on-paper coordinates. Over the next year, we'll be rolling Lab Caches out to select Mega Events around the world, gathering feedback from event hosts and attendees alike. Let us know your thoughts!

If you click the tab it contains a message about the retirement of Challenges. We felt that leaving it there for a period of time would help explain to users where they went. It'll be removed eventually.

The "server time" is the current time here at our headquarters in Seattle. It's there to help you when scheduling PQs. For instance, from your finds it appears you are in Virginia. In that case if you were scheduling a PQ at 1am your local time, and wished to receive it immediately, you would select yesterday's date (since we are 3 hours behind you).

Groundspeak is taking a look at this issue today and will hopefully have a solution soon. Thanks for your patience!

We are aware of this issue and have scheduled it to be fixed in the next web release.

Could you tell us what it is about the text formatting you prefer? From our side it is a bit limiting and also requires more resources to support than a strictly HTML newsletter. If enough users are in favor of the text-only format we may bring it back.

I have some more information after investigating on our end. I'll PM you with details, timpaula.

Thanks for letting us know, timpaula, and I'm sorry for the trouble. We're looking into this right away.

New release notes are posted.

Read the last update's Release Notes Release Notes Nothing of note to report in this release since we spent much of the last sprint tackling a lot of website technical debt. We'll be back in the next release with some goodies for the community. Thanks all!

New release notes are posted.

Read the last update's Release Notes Release Notes Geocaching Live API Beta The beta launch of the Geocaching Live API continues! CACH'EYE CACH'EYE is a free personalised map service for geocachers. Each user can define the contents of his personal Cachemap. Cache data are imported from Pocket Queries, from GPX/LOC files or are exported from GSAK and visualised in an easy-to-use interactive map. Several features help planning your geocaching tours, like ToDo Lists, Focus Mode, and Filters. Globalcaching.eu Globalcaching.eu is a free geocaching portal website for Dutch and Belgian geocachers. The website offers several tools and features including advanced cache search, the ability to create Trackable groups, a helpful tool for submitting cache listings, and an active Dutch forum and chatroom. Geocache Companion Do you know how many First-to-Finds you have earned? It is generally a tough nut to crack for most geocachers. The FTF race is a special instant where you can meet other geocachers with adrenalin; a kind of game within the game. Whether a geofinder or a geohider, here is the tool you need to manage your FTF and those earned for your geocaches.

Read the last update's Release Notes Release Notes

Read the last update's Release Notes Share Cache Logs with Facebook and Twitter In this release we have added a widget to the log confirmation page that allows you to quickly connect and share cache logs to your Twitter feed and Facebook wall. Release Notes Geocaching Live API Beta The beta launch of the Geocaching Live API continues! Tracky Tracky supports reliable track recordings, various online and offline (free) maps and extensive search options to find addresses, businesses, nearby tracks, photos and other Points Of Interest, and ... Geocaches! Try Tracky for free by installing the trial version TrackyTry or the easy to use Compass app. BikeAtor BikeAtor is a multiplatform tool for Online/Offline Maps and Geocaching. It supports different Maps, GPX-Import, GPX -Logging, download of Geocaches for a region and many other features. Minz Geocoin Shop Minz Geocoin Shop provides a web application with tools supporting Trackable collectors. The TB-Scanner tool helps you create a custom profile map of Trackables you have logged, and TB-Logger allows you to "discover" multiple Trackables at one time.

Hi all, thanks for the reports. It looks like a change to cookies made in the last release is misbehaving. We've identified the issue and will have a fix out next Tuesday. Thanks for your patience in the meantime!

New release notes are posted.

Read the last update's Release Notes Release Notes Geocaching Live API Beta The beta launch of the Geocaching Live API continues! Project-GC Project-GC is a website aiming to provide dynamic statistics for all geocachers in the world. Besides statistics there are several map tools that might be helpful. For example you can compare your finds with a friend or plot those D/T combinations you are missing. Some of the other things provided are statbars and overviews of your cache series. GDAK GDAK is a geocaching application designed for offline use. But it is just as easy to use it for online caching. You can also use GDAK with GSAK database, and if you have GSAK you can use it to download all images on the cache pages, put them in your phone and use them offline. It is also possible to use offline maps.

New release notes are posted.

Read the last update's Release Notes Release Notes Geocaching Live API Beta The beta launch of the Geocaching Live API continues! CacheSense for Android CacheSense for Android is a power-user app from the developer of the popular geocaching application of the same name on the BlackBerry. Features include multiple databases, Pocket Query support with syncing, advanced mapping and more. CacheSense for Android is under constant development with strong support from an active and friendly user community. GeoScout GeoScout is designed to be the only software you need to go geocaching. You can download/import, view and manage all caches of interest. With a connection to a suitable GPS, GeoScout can also guide you to the cache waypoints with built in mapping.

Previous version release notes A new version of Geocaching for Android has been released to the Android Market, including the following update: -Removed “Read phone state” permission