KBLAST

Not for everyone but I guess that fixing the issue with FPs when found it logs are deleted and complete versions are uploaded later would be appreciated by many, including myself. I very often get logs "Found - more later" when it is not at all about FTFs. Actually this has become the most common log I get nowadays. I would not want to be notified for every small edit of a log and thus also what project-gc offers to paying members is not what I'm looking for. I'm aware however of the fact this procedure only helps those who either do not care about the order of their logs for a cache day or want to replace all logs by a more detailed one but still that's a considerable number of cachers anyway. Excellent points. I wasn't thinking about code corrections... I was only referring to changes or rule additions that would "fix" this problem. You are correct, fixing questionable UI/UX would be something Groundspeak (are they still calling themselves Groundspeak?) could do.

Hey AleksSI. I think part of the issue is a SLIGHT language barrier, but I think I understand your concern. I LOVE the FTF game and participate in it. In OUR area, there was a bit of an attitude for a while from some FTFers where people would not post ANY log, then a few hours later someone would come along hoping for FTF only to see someone else had gotten there first. This led to some really hurt feelings. I was a part of that and a group of us decided that we would always log our finds as soon as we could, either by smartphone or online as soon as we got home. Other people still thought it was funny to wait and see the other FTF hounds hurt, but most of us followed this new unwritten rule. Soon, people were posting quick found it notes about, "FTF - more later!" Well, then we would have this awesome story to tell about the cache, the experience, etc... and when we would go to events, no one had read about that experience... not even the cache owners. Why? Because The found it log was edited and no one received any email notifications. So we tried posting a found it log, then later writing a note. Some people don't want to read notes. It became a bit of an annoying problem. Then one day someone posted a note saying, "FTF - more later!" Then later they posted a found it note that was excellent and people read it. Everyone agreed this was the best solution (well - everyone who was trying to be kind - some people continued to hide FTF until someone posted they were not FTF.) Now, whenever I have a chance at an FTF, I quickly click on the link to see what the cache is like, will I have time to complete it, etc. I then click "follow" so that I get notifications whether a note or a log is posted, and then I quickly scroll down to see if anyone has posted a note yet. This costs me about 10 - 15 seconds. If I lose an FTF over 10 - 15 seconds, the person who beat me to it is probably being a jerk, anyway - and regardless, it saves me the frustration you are experiencing. As far as Groundspeak is concerned - I agree with everyone here. I don't see ANY solution Groundspeak can provide that would make things better for everyone. The ONLY thing (maybe) would be to allow the option for people to receive notifications for edited logs - but even that might get annoying - I have no idea how often people edit to correct a misspelling or something trivial. I honestly don't WANT Groundspeak concerned with the side game... there are too many subjective issues and feelings that have nothing to do with the actual primary purpose of Geocaching. I've learned that when I write this much most people ignore over half of it, so here you go: TL;DR - In our community FTF people write notes to keep people from being hurt, not to hide that we found it. I check the logs every time I go for an FTF looking for these notes - it doesn't take that long. I don't think Groundspeak should be involved AT ALL in the FTF side game.

It sure is part of geocaching history, like the original can of beans trackable. Maybe they could do a US tour of MEGA events? I rather like the traveling artifact concept. BUTTTTTT I am one of those old goats that think the remaining 2000 caches should receive special treatment and adoption as they are part of the "Geo-Heritage" Sometimes I forget this is a World Wide hobbie. As for old caches, the first 2000 were likely published on the West Coast, I don't know. I do know that each State here in the US has an oldest cache. I think the Washington APE cache is more liked on the West Cost. I don't see the oldest cache in West Virginia being as much interest there as it is here. And it ain't. But, it's geocaching history just the same. It only matters to who it's important to. Year 2000 caches Oldest caches for each state

I made a special trip to Washington state for my brother's wedding in Spokane (I live in Ohio). While in Washington it was important to visit Groundspeak HQ and the APE cache, so I woke at 3am to head to Snoqualmie (This was when the tunnel was closed). I accidentally took the wrong trail and ended up climbing the mountain and crossing a sea of downed tall timbers to try to get to the APE cache. I made it to the Rocket cache and realized I would be late to my HQ appointment. I felt bad so I went back to my car and headed to Seattle. I figured I'd be able to get the APE cache another time. Well, I found out being late wasn't that big of a deal and I could have continued on to the APE cache. A few months later it was archived. I am not a lackey, but I'm one of the ones who has wanted to have the chance to redeem that near miss a few years ago. And yes, I'd travel again in a heartbeat - and my wife would let me go if for no other reason than to get me to stop looking at prices for my passport and plane tickets to Brazil.

+1 I do this most of the time. It just prevents other issues. I used to be an FTF hound and have since enjoyed the occasional FTF. I'm always disappointed if I THOUGHT I was going to get an FTF but when I get there someone else already found it. That is disappointment, not anger. If someone is angry with you for not logging, that's THEIR problem. Don't own their junk (my name is KBLAST and I'm a FTF junkie.... ) Other people will learn not to take it personally, or they'll quit the side game 99% of the time. Enjoy finding caches and consider posting a note, but never feel like you have to.

Just noticed this in the subtopics - you'll see that "best geocaching app" has spiked to its highest search and interest in 2016. Best Geocaching App

I read through all of the comments and I was truly impressed with the maturity and level of discussion of this topic. I was drawn to this topic as I work in websites and a major part of my job is analyzing Google Trends and suggesting improvements. I see this entire topic as having two separate functions... 1) exactly what the title says it is - a look at the Google Trends, and 2) A list of "what's wrong with geocaching". 1) It seems that most people are intrigued and are looking at the data and providing valuable insight. One thought I had was that last year there was a huge push to add "geocaching" to the Scrabble dictionary. This drew a lot of attention from an entirely different subset of people. This drummed up a lot of interest in the hobby. I also remember when the app came out and people started looking for outdoor games and stumbled on the app and started playing (or started researching - therefore spiking the Trends). Ken Jennings being on Jeopardy and talking about geocaching caused a spike, too, I'll bet. Lots of possibilities why the trends are down this past year (in addition to people losing interest, getting frustrated, etc.) 2) As far as "what's wrong with Geocaching" there are a number of threads about that on this forum, and this gets discussed often amongst people on Facebook groups, in geocaching gatherings, and as friends go out caching together. I've heard all of the complaints you brought up. It's contagious: "Yeah - I've felt that way, but never knew how to phrase it.", "I've never thought about that before, but you're right!", "Not only that, but..." In the end, most of the old cachers I know who quit, quit because they got upset about something and got enough people to agree with them to validate their frustration... so they took other people down with them. New cachers quit because the old cachers were too busy licking their wounds to care about training the new cachers, or the new cachers either didn't care about geocaching guidelines and local norms or didn't know how to become a part of the community to learn more about geocaching. I also believe this is part of why pokemon go was such a flash in the pan, community struggles. All of these observations are MY OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS based on my local experience... and should not be taken any further than that. I feel similarly about others' conclusions when they try to tell me what's wrong with geocaching and what Groundspeak should do to fix it - you have lovely suggestions, thanks for your interesting input, same old, same old. I'm not diminishing your suggestions and possible solutions, I've just seen them a lot, and seeing them again and again worries me because of what I stated earlier about it being contagious. I guess I've enjoyed this game long enough and had enough ups and downs with geocaching to recognize that Groundspeak is working hard to make money and stay profitable, and make the game enjoyable enough to do just that. I assume they have people MUCH better at analyzing the trends than I am, and are constantly trying to evolve to gain popularity in a world that's creating more and more augmented reality, geolocation games, and escapist experiences. I just hit 5000 caches and am looking forward to my next 5k. I'm not even in the top 200 in Ohio. As of right now, I think geocaching will be just fine.

Other than letterboxing, what other cache listing sites existed in Jan 2001? Navicaching started in 2001, but I'm not sure of the month. I did a search on that site, and there is a cache that pops up in Toledo, Ohio on 1/1/01, but it is retired and has no logs. The coordinates are also quite a distance from where Ancient Lake is located (though at least in the same general area of Ohio). Navicache Name: Soon to return Hider: GizmoGuy411 Coordinates: N 41° 36.947' W 083° 38.138' https://www.geocaching.com/about/history.aspx Specifically: "Within the first month, Mike Teague, the first person to find Ulmer's stash, began gathering the online posts of coordinates around the world and documenting them on his personal home page." When this first started, people were posting stuff all over the place (at least, that's the impression I get). Yes, it was formalized in September of 2000, but who knows what drove Mr. Fackleman and Mr. Robinette? Maybe they didn't discover the website for a while. Maybe they just posted it on a newsletter or some news listing site. Maybe they just told their friends about it. Maybe they had a problem with the term "Geocaching" and steered clear of it for a year until they realized it was the direction the hobby was going. Lots of unanswered questions that have been the cause of controversy in the Ohio geocaching community for some time (well - at least for people who care about the history of Ohio geocaching, like me). I PERSONALLY have believed that it was hidden in December of 2001 since I first started researching, but the fact that Mr. Fackleman and Mr. Robinette are fighting to keep the January placed date is making me reconsider that stance. No matter what - the only thing I stand STRONGLY by is my disappointment in the few who have been mean and blown this whole thing out of proportion. I can understand people being upset, like I said before... I just wish people were able to handle things more civilly.

Really? The evidence very clearly points to December being the correct date, so I didn't think your question was even one that needed to be answered. There have been several burning questions that have come and gone over the last couple of days, but currently the real question that needs to be answered is "who changed the date on the listing to December?" The most recent note on the listing seems to indicate that it wasn't the CO. Keystone has stated that he didn't do it. That seems to leave either another reviewer or a Lackey as the only remaining candidates. The next questions are "which reviewer/Lackey?", and "why?". I suspect the answer to the latter is something like "the CO hadn't logged in for a long time and appeared inactive, so I didn't think they would notice/care". The evidence very clearly points to December being the month he published the cache to GC.com. If he published it elsewhere in 1/2001 - it would be perfectly reasonable for him to backdate it to 1/2001. I do agree with you - I'm curious who changed it. I'm also guessing we as the community will never be told.

With your special reviewer powers, are you able to look into the database to see the timestamp of when Ancient Lake was submitted for review? Pretty sure I know what the answer is going to be though based on all of the evidence. haha The debate has NOTHING to do with when this cache was submitted to geocaching.com. The question has always been - why did this guy hide a cache in 1/2001 and wait to publish it on GC.com until 12/2001? Did he list it on another listing site? Did he hide it and forget about it, then had a renewed interest and remembered hiding it? The original hider Chuck Fackleman came back to the page to complain - I wish he'd weigh in with some clarification. Same with Swampy Ranger - he obviously logged in today and changed it back to 1/2001. There's a lot not being said, and I guess that's their right. I just wish people would quit being so mean. Everyone has a right to be angry or upset - what you do with that anger and disappointment is what shows your maturity.

100% agree. i think using this as a case of why challenges and side "games" should be eliminated is silly, though. People who get this upset should probably reconsider being a part of the side games - it doesn't mean that the rest of us who enjoy the side games and don't mind the idiosyncrasies need them taken away from us. BTW - I've done this cache twice. I still remember the awesome hike, the beautiful scenery, and the fun I had with friends doing the cache. This cache is a tribute to what is great about geocaching. For people to turn it into a nasty situation and to attack the CO, misuse the NA log, and post things like "I'll show them - I'm taking my favorite point away!" tells me what the real problem is - and it isn't the side game.

Colonel Mustard, in the Library, with the Rope. If you'd like to complain you can contact Mr. Mustard at colonelmustard@clue.com.

I think there are two important questions that need answered here: 1) Who changed it? 2) Why? If the answers to both questions are legitimate and reasonable, then if it were done 5 years ago, people would still be complaining that it was wrong for an entire decade. If it happened in 2006, 5 years. People might have complained. So the question is - when is the RIGHT time to fix something like this? Do we wait 5 more years? If there is a legitimate reason to "fix" the date, then waiting doesn't make it any better. There are very few people who can change that date. I'd be incredibly surprised if it were anyone but the Cache Owner. If it was the Cache Owner, then I'm sure they have a legitimate reason to have changed it, and all of the "what ifs" are pointless. I'm sure it was not an easy thing for the CO to do, I can't imagine how hard it would be. Then to have a bunch of people whining about it - geez! The CO has been dealing with people complaining that it's not the first cache in Ohio for years. This was a no win situation. The only win was for the CO to do what he/she thought was the RIGHT thing to do, then move along with life. People have been complaining for years - a little more complaining is probably just more noise. Stop tormenting this poor CO.

Thanks guys. Yes, that worked. I also replied to the person who most recently wrote me and it fixed the other problem. Hopefully the geocaching hamsters can find the problem and fix it.

So I'm logged in to geocaching.com in three different browsers - chrome, safari, and firefox. I'm logged in as another user in firefox. So I'm logged in as KBLAST in safari and chrome, and as another user in firefox. I can't log out of my accounts. I press log out on the profile page, but it doesn't work. I tried clearing the cache to see if that would help, no luck. Also, I have the little notification in the top right corner saying I have a message in the Geocaching Message Center. I keep going, and I keep checking my messages, but that notification won't go away this time. Anyone else having trouble? Any suggestions to fix this?

Geochecker was all that was available back in the day. I'm solving some old caches.

Weird - http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/geochecker.com says it's down for them...

I'm solving some old puzzles and can't access geochecker.com. Anyone else able to confirm this? Any idea what's going on?

I find it just as weird as you do. I don't know if she took it, then when she got home she had a change of heart, and then wanted to keep things in her control so she could change her mind again, or if it's more like the scenario mentioned in an earlier comment where the lady didn't want the store to call her to get it if they didn't find the owner. At any rate, she still hasn't called the store back. I still have a glimmer of hope that she just got busy and didn't remember to call the store back, or maybe she was just waiting a "reasonable amount of time" to call back and if no one had claimed it, she could keep it, or something like that. Here's hoping!

Thank you all for the suggestions! The store does NOT have caller ID. They are as upset with the lady as I am and were the ones who suggested I search pawn shops to try to "bust" her. I never knew about the startup.txt - if I get it back, I'll DEFINITELY be using that!!! I doubt the store would put up the sign, simply because the person who called in KNOWS they have it... a sign will most likely NOT remind them any more than walking into the store. I can ask, though. I will give the local police a call and let them know and see what they have to say. It won't hurt. Thanks again! I'll update this post if anything new happens.

So I drove many miles to do one of WVTim's amazing gadget cache series and loved every bit of it. Unfortunately the phenomenal weekend ended sadly when after completing the last cache of the trail, I stopped into the local establishment to use the restroom. I laid down my GPS (Garmin Oregon 600 I had just bought recently) and forgot to pick it up as I was leaving. I got all the way home before I realized I didn't have the GPS anymore (I didn't do anymore caching after finishing the trail). I wasn't SURE where I left it until I called the establishment. The wonderful person who answered explained that a lady had called and said, "I found a GPS in the bathroom. Has anyone called missing one?" The store lady said, "No - can we have your number in case someone calls for it?" The lady said, "NO - you can't have my number!!!! I'll call back later tonight to see if anyone has claimed it." I gave the store lady my name and number. This was Monday (the GPS was taken on Sunday). It is now Wednesday and still nothing. My question - what are my options/what do you think I should do? Please don't remind me how dumb it was to lay down my GPS and leave without it, I don't need any further shame there. I am keeping an eye on Ebay and the eastern West Virginia panhandle Craigslist. The lady at the store asked if I'd called the police yet, but did the lady REALLY steal the GPS? I mean, she found it just lying there... and I hadn't even thought to put my name and number on it anywhere (someone already suggested putting it inside the battery compartment next time). She also suggested contacting local pawn shops - but I've never dealt with pawn shops before and don't really know what to expect. I called Garmin and they had my serial number on file, so I have that. Anyone have any further thoughts on this? I'm obviously really bummed, and in a perfect world the lady just lost track and forgot to call and will still call, but I'm not holding my breath.

Bug Reports - Website forum: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=332266 B. Thanks, spotted this thread right after I posted in here. Didn't know such a thread existed.

Same issue here. Didn't know this part of the forum existed so posted in the main forum. Posting here to hopefully see when this is fixed.

Is anyone else having trouble downloading their pocket queries today, or am I special?

I don't have all of that information, but MOGA 2014 had 10 lab caches. 29.03.2014 - http://coord.info/GC491R5