Semper Questio

Just off the top of my head and with the understanding that I don't actually use MSN Messenger of any flavor.... It is my understanding that MSN Messenger has been introducing a lot of new interactive features - sound, video, etc. To that end, it may be grabbing whatever ports he thinks he needs to do that including serial (COM) ports. MapSend products do not like this and cannot connect to your GPSr fi the COM port is claimed by another program. On the other hand, it has been my experience that they do not lock up if the COM ports are already reserved by another program, they just can't use them. If you shut doen the using program and restart MapSend all is righ twith the world. BUT if this is what is happening, MSNMsgr may do something a little different in how it grabs the ports. So just for grins, I'd go into MSNMsgr and see if I couldn't turn off some of these features and see if that frees things up. Hope it helps a bit.

I understand some folks' feelings on money being tight, been there myself. But when we you run the numbers and look at what it gets you, it's not that big of a deal. We're talking $30 a year. In our family's case, that equated to 1 movie outing or less than 1 nice dinner out. Trade either of those once-a-year things for the added perks that makes GCing more enjoyable throughout the year, and the trade-off decision was an easy one. The main perk for us? Pocket queries. The mapping was a nice add-on and the bookmarks/ignore lists added since are GREAT. But the PQ's alone are far and away worth the $30 to simplify and speed up the search and prep time. Couple that with GSAK (another low, one-time investment) and the 'grunt work' of GCing is nothing.

I've never really liked Plucker. A bit too cumbersome and doesn't really render all that well IMO. Still waiting for a good web page solution for Palms. In the meantime I stick to the GSAK/CachMate combo on my PTE. In the rare cases where I need pics off the cache pages I right click on the photo(s), save them, then in my palm desktop pull them into my Palm photo viewer where I have an album for cache-related photots. I then name the photos something that relate it to the cache they go with.

I have GSAK on my laptop. when i travel i use it in the hotel..I use a alm Tungsten E with CacheMate in an Otter Box in the field.

What really needs to happen is... 1. The GPS Units and Software Topic needs to be changed into its own Forum 2. Each Hardware and Software Categaory (Magellan, Garmin, GSAK, Cachemate, Plucker, Lowrance, etc.) can have it's own Topic 3. Then you can have all the threads needed for each one. just my 2/100 of a greenback.

Yes. In fact, if I'm thinking this out enough, It should actually provide a better "view" of the cache information than with a palm-type device. Plus, if you have wireless capability and can locate a WAP you can get up-to-the moment updates and and do on-the-move logging. A BIG down side is that a laptop would be awfully clumsy and dangerous (to be stolen or damaged) to lug to many cache sites and power limitations are far more of an issue.

"True" milestones? You're kidding, right? There are no hard and fast rules for this stuff. Play it your way, have fun, and make your milestones, if any, your own. SQ

I keep all my found caches in a "Found" database. My default database is only for my local "Not Found" only. Essentially my current working set. When I log my finds I mark them as found in GSAK, hit the filter to only see those marked as found, then move them all to my "Found" database.

For the most part it is a hobby my family does together. We seldom "go caching" where that is the primary goal, but more often do it in conjunction with other activities to make them more interesting or a bit more fullfilling. For instance, we like to go for drives and just see what there is to see. Caching adds another dimension to this and gets us out of the car more often as well as taking us to places off the beaten path. Secondarily, it has gotten us out and active more. Where is it going? In the not too distant future I see more regulation, fees and permits as being the norm. I would also not be surprised to see the federal government try to charge some kind of registration or usage fee much like they used to do with CB radios. I would also expedct thaqt as it grows and the commercial opportunities expand we will see more of a "professional sport" quality enter the picture with leagues, official rules, sanctioned events, corporate sponsorships and influences, etc . Because of their current position, I would expect Groundspeak to be at the forefront of this movement becoming the sports' major league and what I call the 2nd tier sites will become, essentially, the minor league or independent players' sites. All just unresearched speculation of course.

In the rare case that there are pics I need, I just download them and use my palm photo viewer to look at them. The palm software lets me name them and add comments as I need to. BTW - I have a Tungsten E. Oherwise I use only GSAK and CacheMate.

I will add this to "the list", but when you say "cache has been found" I assume you mean "found by you" and not just by anybody? GSAK already does this. When you open a valid GSAK backup file it will display the date/time stamp and if the backup file contains databases, settings, or both. This information is just below the backup file name you have opened. Someone else may come up with a more creative idea, but the way I see to get around this is to add a new waypoint each time it moves. Right click on the cache, slect add, then click on the "clone" button. That way GSAK will put in all the information and you will only have to change what is required. Perhaps changing the waypoint code to the same as the GC one but appending a number or something. Thanks, ClydE. Yes, I meant 'Found by me'. I was thinking of just displaying the number of finds (maybe instead of just a checkbox in the found column if there is more than 1) and have the 'found by me date' show the latest date found. Sorry, didn't see that info on the backups. I'll have to pay closer attention next time Didn't know about the 'clone' feature either. Cool stuff. I'll give it a shot! Thanks!

If you're using the default file, each back-up overwrites the previous one (i.e. there's only one defaultbak file to select). If you're uniquely naming your backups, why not include a date and time in the back up file name, e.g. "GSAK 20050305 2034" for a file saved on March 5, 2005 at 8:34 pm? To clarify - If you are using the auto backups feature, GSAK rolls through 5 versions of backups instead of overlaying a single backup file repeatedly, thereby providing different point-in-time snapshopts. If you are doing a large amount of work on your databases, opening and closing GSAK in the process, and decide a restore is in order, having the date/time stamp displayed for these 5 versions would help in deciding which of these backups will get you back to as close to your desired point of restore as possible without having to go look at the file proprties manually. Thanks.

I've got a couple of suggestions and a question. First the suggestions.... 1. How about adding a display field of how many times a cache has been found for those (granted, there aren't that many) that allow multiple finds or those that let you claim a new find because it has been moved or changed. 2. When restoring a file from backups and selecting which backup to restore from, it would be very helpful if the date/time stamp of the backup files were also listed. It would make it much easier in deciding which backup file to use. OK, now the question....... I'm hoping someone has an idea how to do this. First, I export all my found caches to MapSend where I keep a map of all my finds. OK, no big deal there, especially with the macro I use. So here's the deal. We have a moving cache here. You log a find each time you find it after it has been moved. GSAK does see each find, but are there any ideas on how I can log these in GSAK or change my export so each new found location will show in my MapSend? Thanks!

The waqy the guidelines are currently written in regards to virtuals, there is almost no way to get one approved as there is nearly always some way to turn a potential virtual sote into some form of multi if no cache can actually be placed there. And that seems to be the point - TPTB don't want a proliferation of virtuals. So ya got something ya want others to see? You're gonna have to create some kind of a multi using what you want folks to see to send them to a cache of some kind to get it approved.

Hmm. I must lead a charmed life. My wife has the Zire 72 and has had absolutely no probs with it at all (and she keeps it in her purse rattling around where I'm sure other things should be able to knock the finish off, but it still looks good as new). Also, I buy from Buy.com regularly and I've never had any bad experience with them. [knocking on wood]

Yea, I get the feeling this is something I will need to do later down the track. In the mean time please check out this thread That's what gave me the silly idea.

Hi ClydE. With the popularity of macros growing by leaps and bounds, may I suggest you add to your website a library area where GSAK users can upload and share their macros? If this would be too much additional admin overhead you, perhaps someone with the required skills and savvy could set this up? Just a thought... Thanks yet again for a great piece of software.

Sounds to me like you are on the preview list of the PQ results. This is not the PQ list itself. You get the actual PQ results via email in the format you selected in the PQ setup. The preview only gives you a way to get an idea of what your PQ search will give you so you can be fairly certain that you get your selection critreia right.

Well, as usual, I do some focused testing and everything seems to be working correctly. I did some PQ's targeting set of caches where I knew there were disabled caches and they came in and popped up as disbaled every time. Go figure. So I guess I'll sit on this until I see it happen again (if I do) and try to get a better understanding of the conditions under which it occurs.

I don't care abou tthe archived, but I want to get the disbaled so I can see when they go offline or come back. But as things stand now, I get the wpts and they don't show as disabled. I am going to run some more test PQ's selecting very specific cache sets so I can verify my results easily.

Can someone tell me if I am doing something wrong? This is not new, but I finally decided to ask. When I get my PQ's and pull them into GSAK, disabled caches do not show up with the archived/unavailable flag on. Since I don't want to load these in my GPSr and CacheMate I have to find them manually and flag or remove them. Am I missing something? Thanks.

Hi ClydE. Any thoughts how to code a Custom URL for the new Bookmark and Ignore listing functions? I checked the URLs on these cache page buttons and they appear to have our GC UID embedded but not the cache code. Thanks.

OMG!!!! I LOVE the changes!!!! And THANK YOU ever so much for the Ignore List and incorporating them in the PQ's. This will save me SCADS of time and hassle in maintaining my stuff! An afterthought - Howzabout being able to bookmark other member's profile pages?

Very good idea. We have a moving cache here in Austin that can move a few times a day and there are new coords each time. This feature would make finding that much easier.

I have several kilts including traditional wool tartan, SportKilts, Utilikilts, and Off Kilter kilts. I wear them frequently, including to work and I love them. They are extremely comfortable in most situations, especially when it is very hot and even when it gets cold. I wear them for comfort as well as heritage (I am of Scot and Irish descent). Though this may make me somewhat different in some's eyes, I am not stupid. If I am doing strictly urban caching, the kilts are fine, but when it comes to bushwhacking through cactus, scrub brush and such here in central Texas, I still prefer hiking boots and jeans or my light nylon long pants (the stuff kind slides off those) with the zip-off lower legs. PS - Yes the UK's are expensive. There are cheaper alternatives and they are of a more traditional design. Check out AmeriKilts at http://www.amerikilts.com and Buzz Kidder Kilts http://www.buzzkidder.com/ for canvas kilts and for cheaper tartan alternatives check out Stillwater Kilts at http://www.stillwaterkilts.com/kilts.html and Bear Kilts at http://www.bearkilts.com/ . There are mnay others also.