DeRock & The Psychic Cacher

I recently came across a very unique situation for me that has me perplexed. While logging my cache finds from a recent trip I attempted to send the answers to the required EarthCache questions and encountered a problem. On the EarthCache owners profile page it says this: The "send message" feature is disabled because this user is currently banned. There isn't any other contact information on the page that I can see. My questions are these: 1. How long should I reasonably keep the information required to answer the questions? (Given the fact that it's not my fault that the owner can't be contacted and that I've logged the find and uploaded the required picture). 2. Has anybody else encountered a situation like this and what did you do about it? Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

Fun while it lasted! Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

Thank you Geoaware for the further clarification. Every little bit helps! Please keep the posts to this thread on topic. I didn't intend it to evolve into a discussion about "bad" EarthCaches. Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

Thanks for the official clarification on the status of gaging stations. Are there any other types of EarthCaches that as a rule of thumb (like the gaging stations) are no longer meeting the guidelines and are being rejected? The reason I ask is that several folks in my area (including me) are mentoring potential EarthCache developers and it would be nice to see all their hard work result in successful EarthCache submissions. It's difficult to help them if the subtle shifts in the guidelines aren't shared. A proactive approach by the EarthCache reviewers would most certainly result in better EarthCache submissions, less work by the reviewers, and a more satisfying experience for the developer. Which, at first blush, would seem to be a good thing for all involved. Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

At our local meet and greet tonight I was talking to a fellow geocacher who commented that he had an EarthCache that he submitted returned as not being acceptable for publishing. Seems the jist of the message was that EarthCache submissions should relate more to geology than geography. The EarthCache he submitted was for a gaging station on a river. He said he was told that gaging stations are no longer acceptable subjects for an EarthCache. Anyone else having an experience with a shift in the guidelines? Potential EarthCaches denied that might have been published a few months ago? Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

I suspect that when Groundspeak and the Geological Society of America agree on the need and process of adding additional EarthCache reviewers it will most likely follow the established method. Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

There was a thread about a month ago with lots of good links for you on this very subject: Commercial use of geocaching., What about promoting a particular area using geocaching. You just have to watch out when designing a cache or series of caches. They will have to conform to the guidelines for commerical caches and also not require anyone to enter a business or interact with anyone from the business. Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

Sounds like Annie is your EarthCache reviewer. I hear she is back from her 2 week vacation and working hard to catch up with the backlog. Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

This one made us wonder. Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

Very interesting. Since I posted in this thread on March 3 the domain name owners of CachingBox.com have purchased the privacy package I talked about and there isn't a contact name or phone number listed there now. Why do you suppose that people order from companies they have never heard of before without checking online for threads about the company and any complaints or kudos they have? The internet was made for situations just like this! Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

One more Michigan cacher to add to the list of Platinum EarthCache Masters: GVSU4MSU This is the updated Michigan Platinum EarthCache Masters list: (not listed in any particular order) GVSU4MSU Team Kalsin Pairomedicchick Hitechman Hitechgal South Lyon Trekkers Rathergohiking Rattrak Cyclops Brummelbear The Conman Lost Scouts DeRock & the Psychic Cacher Anybody know of any other Michigan geocachers that have reached Platinum status that I've missed? Just let me know and I'll update the list. Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

Note to self: Save after every step! Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

So how do you plan to have anyone play your cartridge? Will this also be a Wherigo geocache? Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI He said "source code" not executable. Right you are. Once you upload a cart, there's a series of "Creative Commons Settings." For my first two cartridges, I allowed players to download my source code. I don't do that anymore, primarily to prevent non-Colorado/Oregon/PPC geocachers from taking shortcuts. Around here, folks would play the game in the emulator, then run out and get the cache. That's not the point of Wherigo. Had they asked me, I would've *gladly* loaned them my Colorado. The way I see it, early adopters should get some benefit for taking the plunge and buying Wherigo-compatible hardware. I'm obviously confused. This is new ground for me. Let me see if I've got this right now. The source code be used in the emulator and played by anyone? And that is how they were getting the shortcuts JJG10101? If this is the case, that is something I didn't know! Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

Completely uncalled for! Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

So how do you plan to have anyone play your cartridge? Will this also be a Wherigo geocache? Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

Google is your friend! Try the keywords: geocaching and tourism There is an especially good site here with lots of links to exactly what you're looking for: Geocaching Online Resource Directory: Tourism I have to give a shout out to my favorite. It's strictly non commercial. Huron History Mystery Tour Deane AKA: DeRock & The Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

I've got my eye on an Oregon when it comes time to upgrade my GPSr. But you can add me to the list of folks who won't be buying either a Colorado or Oregon until Garmin shows some good faith in updating the Wherigo player more often. Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

Many EarthCache owners require it for a varitey of reasons: 1. As proof of your visit. 2. They like to see pictures of the cachers that visit their EarthCaches. 3. They are under the mistaken impression that it is normal to do this. To the best of my knowledge, it is neither required nor suggested by EarthCache.org that a photo be any part of the requirements of logging a find on an EartheCache. It is completely within the right of the EarthCache owner to require that a picture be included with the log. It is also their right to delete logs that don't meet this requirement. There are many other ways to determine if a cacher has actually visited the EarthCache site. I have EarthCaches that go both ways on this subject. Some require photos and some require the answering of a question that you would only know if you where actually there. And then there is the question of how stringently you enforce the photo requirement. Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

Sure. FTF Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

Last time there was a question in the forums about this company I posted the website Whois info. I then got an email from the website owner asking me to remove it. So I will forward that info now to the OP via their profile. FYI - if you ever want to know who owns a domain name just check here. Works most of the time unless they have purchased a privacy package from their domain name provider. Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

You might have better luck posting your request with the local geocaching organization GONIL. They cover northeastern Illinois. Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

Seems like that would be a must have function for a website that caters to a high tech crowd like us geocachers. Seems like! Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

Well, it appears it's a known problem to us here on the Wherigo forums at least. I started a thread about the problem in the GC.com website forum (where you are supposed to report such problems they tell me) last Friday but didn't get any response from TPTB. So it's just a guess that they know about it. Maybe Ranger Fox knows more or can nudge someone to at least acknowledge the problem. Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

When you say poster do you also mean the image for the cartridge page? Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

Why doesn't someone spin this off into a new thread so nobody gets their hands slapped again! Deane AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI