kennamatic

quote:Originally posted by Meriadoc: However if we rush into appointing new moderators and approvers, in a few months time we maybe in a similar situation again. I would think it unlikely. I've been hanging around these fora since not long after I started geocaching the best part of 2 years ago. We have lost moderators before but this situation was instigated by a different action to normal. It did however result in the same reasons for the loss of the mods and approvers, which is basically personal attacks. We will of course lose the new team, or any team in the future, if someone decides, for whatever reason, to go on the attack against them. We can hang on to our admin side if we also accept thier independence when we are on the receiving end of thier "justice", and not just assuming they have hidden agendas or are vindictive. I am assuming that for the moment everyone is agreeing that the moderators, when they have thier moderators hats on, do nothing to be partisan to any view being expressed. quote: The forum moderators should only be removing offensive, sexually explicit, libellous and spam postings. The moderators should take no part in controlling the course of a discussion thread. I agree to a point. I feel they should control the course of a thread if such thread is being used as a weapon, or to be divisive, which I think are slightly different to the items above. There is one other suggestion which I will make at the end of the post. We all have a part to play in the moderation of this site and the clue is in the word moderation. People should be entirely allowed to express their views and ideas, however radical, within the bounds mentioned, but they should be posted in a balanced and well moderated way rather than some of the hysterical, flaming, overtly agressive ways we have seen both recently and previously when contentious issues have been raised. When these things happen, if various posters want to lose their heads, they should not blame the moderators if they choose to chop them off. I mentioned earlier a suggestion, although I suppose really it's a question. Why do we allow anonymous posts by people hiding behind cover names? Many cachers who have posted on several threads have admitted to using nom-de-plumes. If you can't put your normal "name" to a post then perhaps you shouldn't be making it. I would be all for these posts being deleted unless a moderator had pre-approved the anonymity of the poster. Censorship? Yes, I guess it is, but as most, (99%?) of the anonymous posts are there to cause or prolong trouble, I don't think we would be any the worse for their absence. Rather along the lines of the action hydee took. None of the comments I have made above are directed at any party that has been involved in the "discussions" of the last few days but have been made merely in the hope that we don't have to go through yet another war in the future. Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

quote:Originally posted by macpilot:and this is a discussion board is it not ?? Indeed it is, and that is the root of many peoples frustration that at present there is little discussing but a great deal of posturing, flaming, and general rudeness. quote:i think the quote goes somthing like 'i may not agree with what you say, but i will fight to the death for your right to say it " Yep, and it's a quote that is regularly used by contributors of these fora when discussions have reached their natural end and people agree to disagree. quote: in a world without walls and border's who needs gate's and windows I hope someone does. otherwise that's me out of a job! Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

quote:Originally posted by mtn-man: I just wanted to give kennamatic something to smile about! Thankyou. We may well commission you on a regular basis. Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

A hedgehog after my own heart, in fact looking at him, he might be a hedgehog after my own beer! Quick, to the fridge! Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

Just a suggestion, and it's not a new one, it's one that came up after the last conflagration. Can people use the smileys/emoticons/graemlins when posts are meant to be humorous, cynical, angry etc. That way we know in which way they are intended. The English language is a rich and varied one but many words have 2 or 3 interpretations and inflection can be everything. I know some people can't stand them but they do serve a purpose. If anyone knows how to create them and increase the number even more then that would be even better. I once saw one that was a flame thrower. That would have been quite useful recently Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

Just a suggestion, and it's not a new one, it's one that came up after the last conflagration. Can people use the smileys/emoticons/graemlins when posts are meant to be humorous, cynical, angry etc. I know on this particular post they are being used so it's just a general point and will also be posted in other threads. That way we know in which way they are intended. The English language is a rich and varied one but many words have 2 or 3 interpretations and inflection can be everything. I know some people can't stand them but they do serve a purpose. If anyone knows how to create them and increase the number even more then that would be even better. I once saw one that was a flame thrower. That would have been quite useful recently Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

A couple of suggestions. Although not everyone likes them, locationless caches offer disabled cachers the chance to get finds. Some are straight forward places to visit, some require some working out such as where you might want to get to first, ( A Pair of Quintuplets ), and some require you to join forces with a foreign cacher by e-mail/through the forums first before jointly finding a specific location in each thers country. ( What's in a Name ) If your wife could log a find with another disabled cacher abroad I'd bet money that would probably be a first. I will run through the logs I have made and see how many "real" caches I remember as wheelchair friendly and e-mail you the reults as posting long lists of caches here won't be too popular. Oh, and by the way, welcome to you both. Note to Teasel or The Cat. New search category for the GeocacheUK site? Wheelchair friendly caches. You'll obviously need input from cache owners to flag up which are appropriate. Yep, more work for you of course but then you'd probably only be sat there twiddling your thumbs if we didn't all keep coming up with these suggestions. Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

quote:Having a separate Avatar would be a good idea - can I do that? I know you can, but to be honest I'm not sure how. It's probably a case of changing the avatar in "your account profile" to the correct one for whoever's posting although that might be bit of a bind. I know that some of the others who had this would ocasionally post with the wrong avatar because they forgot to change it. Anyway, there are plenty of people reading this who will know. Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

quote:Originally posted by Moss Trooper:OK.. But may I make a suggestion.. Find your own user name.. and diffirentiate as you will be a target.. Just some friendly advice Moss the Boss... Sorta Funnily enough I have just posted the same request on a different thread. At my age if two voices come from "the same person" they up my medication! There's obviously no problem with logging caches as a team as many others do. Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

<polite request> The Rockratgirl pairing : Steve and Sam Over the last couple of days there has been a great deal of fast reading and posting being done. I know from your side it has been annoying that some posts have been adressed at one of you in reply to the others posts. Is it possible to seperate your forum personalities even though you may cache as a team? I know you sign your posts with your own names but it can be confusing when everyone gets het up and we see one name and avatar. Only a suggestion. </polite request> quote: upset a small amount of people (the majority being in the South) There really is no difference between North and South in geocaching terms. Most of the time we don't take any notice of where anyone comes from. And in my case, if you decided I was one of these highly offended/offensive Southerners you would be making an incorrect assumption as I was born in Otley and am only in the south doing missionary work to try and get them to cook some decent fish and chips! Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

I hope this won't be considered taking things too far off topic but the Planning Permission question is a good analogy and I wanted just to pursue it. My work means I deal with planning departments quite often. It's true they deal with individual members of the public everyday, and many of those apllications will pass through without a hitch, but a great many don't because most individuals do not understand the way the planning department works or what to do to help themselves in the best way. Now, there's no real good reason why they should so it's not a criticism. If I was to go up against any of you to get a planning application through and you've never done it before or maybe only once, I will get approval before you because I know all the stuff that's needed plus the stuff that speeds things through the right channels. An organisation who deals between geocaching and the councils would be able to do these things more efficiently because they will have the experience. All councils are different but usually work much the same way with a few "personal" traits. This post isn't a pro or anti statement but one of fact in the real world where I know what I am talking about. If someone deals with councils often enough as an individual they will become just as efficient, and maybe not even need "a body" behind them, but for many individual cachers dealing with each seperate group, organisation, department, commission or whatever will be time consuming for them and the process will be slow. A geocaching association, or whatever we want to call it would be able to move things quickly when required. The negotiations with HCC have taken many weeks to get them where they are. Had things, or should things, end with approval the next council will still want to look into it but things will move quicker. That council however will be much happier dealing with the same people as HCC. You may not like the idea, it may go against every bone in your body, but it is how it works. End of lecture! Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

I obviously hope that those who have just retired do come back, however from their point of view, I'm sure they feel that they can only be kicked in the teeth so many times. Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

Although I have thanked both retiring mods in their respective threads I am not averse to including my thanks again here. I have no problem with anyone seeing that I approve of the work that our moderators and admins do and have done. Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

To the Countryside Manager. HCC. Please accept my apologies for the way you have been adressed in this thread. I cannot speak for others as you will by now be aware there are too many people posting here who don't allow it. Those who have recently arrived to these fora would have done well to have read back through some of the earlier threads from some time back where it was pointed out that, I assume yourself, as well as some of your colleagues were visiting our site to see how your negotiations were being received. Whilst I hope that despite the events of the last few days we are still able to negotiate with you and gain HCC approval you have my thanks for taking the time and effort to try to include our hobby within the councils programme of promoting more countryside activities. (I'm sure we'll now be told how you can't stop us anyway. ) Best Wishes Dave / Kennamatic To all those reading this. I really don't care whether you agree with my sentiments or not, I was not speaking for you or to you. I will however try to treat visitors to this site, those I meet "in the field", even those I disagree with, with courtesy providing I think that they would understand such an ethos. Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

Moss. Thanks for all you've done over the last couple of years. Hope your son is back soon and that you enjoy finding more caches before you reach your dotage. Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

quote:Originally posted by Chris n Maria:Can I therefore suggest that we spend a week or so in quite reflection (no ranting) 3.We all consider what we want this forum to be like in the future. For those of us with getting on now for a couple of years involvement in the hobby/sport and these fora, the number of contentious threads, malicious posts, flaming wars, rudeness, and general ill feeling, is increasing month on month and week on week. We can all name the big ones such as the RL saga, ModAnts, and this latest one, but we've recently had "The Troll" episode and a definite increase in more of that level. These tend to end up with people either backing out of the limelight or worse, giving up what is a meant to be an enjoyable hobby. If I wanted to be stressed and have arguments all the time I'd be married!!! I rarely post on contentious issues, and even on something seemingly innocuous you can seem to upset someone without too much difficulty. I'd back off from the forum if it wasn't for the fact that there is sometimes some useful information or a fun thread which you otherwise wouldn't get to hear/know about. I was caching for a couple of months before I decided to read the forums. It was in the middle of the RL saga and I nearly packed it in there and then as all I could think of was what sort of people am I "getting involved" with. There are other posts being made in other threads at the moment with new cachers coming into the forums and being worried to post because of the chance of being flamed. Bodies we need on our side are being attacked, and at best they lurk in the background and see the in fighting. What a great advert these fora are for geocaching sometimes. To be fair, I've posted recently on a US thread and got much the same "attack" mentality, so it isn't just us Brits. Well, this was longer than I intended it to be but I do feel passionately that discussions here should be an aside to geocaching not geocaching being something we do in those spare moments when we're not all arguing amongst ourselves. Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

T & J Thnkyou for all your hard work for us UK geocachers. Maybe I'm part of the silent majority who should have spoken out in your support at an earlier time. I rarely post on contentious issues because it's bad enough spending ages per day reading about them without being part of them. They are happening more and more often, those of us who have been around these last two years can see the trend. I'm not saying the proving of our views is a good or bad thing, just that like many others I look primarily at geocaching as a hobby, relaxation, fun etc and the forums are beginning to cause the opposite. The two of you have helped contribute a great deal to those positive aspects in your moderation, cache placing, and the endless supply of T&J bears of which I recently became a proud owner! I've served on many committees and been involved with groups in other ways over the years and I've yet to see anyone who does the job feel that they are appreciated. It always seems everyone can tell you where you are going wrong but now it's a chance for those people to step forward and have the largely thankless task of moderating for us and see it from the other side. Once again, thankyou for everything you have done and hope that being back "in the field" will bring back your enthusiasm for the hobby. Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

quote: unlike so many locationless caches that can be done from an armchair I've yet to find any that can be done totally that way, although I'm only halfway through looking at them, no "nearest" search to order them. Certainly there are a number that require research that can be done on the internet but then you have to visit and get photos with the GPS in them. This makes them little different to real caches where we look at the internet and someone tells you exactly where to go to in order to find the cache. However, each to his own, and I certainly wouldn't give up on the "real" ones. Thanks C & M. This is a good example of why I like some of the locationless caches. I had no idea yet that was there, no idea of the history involved and I've learnt something and will see an area I've never seen before when I go get it. I will have learnt more from this one locationless cache than many plastic boxes I have found, no matter how good the view is. For me that is one of the things that interests me. It's why I often do multicaches as you sometimes learn something as well as go on the hunt. Someone on another thread, I haven't looked back and I've got to get to work, had mentioned that you can't say geocaching has an educational value. I think that proves it can. And for school and Scouts etc. using the GPS to find somewhere just adds a new twist of "excitement" to what is really an educational trip. Right, off to work. I still haven't worked out how that's part of geocaching though. Perhaps I need a new job. Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

I've just started working my way through some of them. Rather like normal caches there are some easy ones and some difficult ones, some are interesting and others aren't. The first that I did, http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=12627 ,means a lot to me as previously, although like many others it was a US cache it didn't need to be. Because the US is so large they were managing to log it from two US locations but that would not have been possible for me in the UK so it meant contacting a cacher in another country (Canada) and getting help. I am proud we were the first international find for that cache, there have been many more since, and I made a new friend in another country. My big gripe is about what a locationless cache is in relation to the guidelines. You are not supposed to set them (and for those who don't know, the setting of them is suspended at the moment) where you are restricting the (non)location. There is one that is restricted to just one area of New York! To me that is not locationless, it just meant there were a few nearby places that would give you a find. I'm for them as they are just as able to take you somewhere interesting as standard caches and I agree with Seasiders post on his congratulatory thread that many of them take a lot of planning to get and a heck of a drive to reach. I'm going to have trouble, for instance, finding a lighthouse close by me in West London. There is another bigger plus though. Many of them can be planned and done by disabled cachers and anything that opens our hobby to a group of people who are often excluded from many other things has to be a good idea and reflects well on our hobby. So yes, for me they are a Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

My nearest caches are in fact those at Kew. I know that it's probably £6 plus to get in but at least I know I have two to do there plus a locationles cache so I guess that's not so bad. I would however be more willing to pay the NT or Kew £6 than, £2 say, for off street parking to the local council. Then again, I'm a Yorkshireman, and paying money to anybody is a bit of a wrench! Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

The only other cacher I have met whilst caching was Lazy Leopard whilst doing The Tomb Raider series, my 16th find. I have approached a few people on other finds who are "acting suspiciously" in case we were all being wary but none have admitted to being geocachers. Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

There are quite a few with one similar word. The word cache obviously comes up often as well, listed as 200 although I think it caps the search at 200, but as a full title for a cache I still reckon "stairway to heaven" must be the strong contender. Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

Does anyone know, or know of a way to find out, what the most popular cache name is? Whilst serching for a cache mentioned in another thread I put in the searchword "stair". This returned 50 matches of which 21 were "stairway to heaven". Of those 21 two or three had an additional number, but three others were slight derivatives, i,e, stair to heaven or stairway to hell. Are there any other cache names which can beat that many counts? Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.

quote:Originally posted by el10t:I once broke a nail opening an ammo can. Eee, el10t, tha wa' lucky lad. I once ripped both me arms off opening a tupperware container, poked me eye out whilst writing up 'log, tore an ear off on a bramble replacing t'said box at the top of a well, which 'a then proceeeded to fall down, brekking both legs on hitting 'bottom and starving to death before 'a was rescued. By heck though, us UK cachers were happy in them days. (With apologies to whichever Pythons wrote the Four Yorkshiremen sketch, assuming it was them. And to L.I.S. for making fun of what is a serious thread.) (...but el10t made me do it ) Finding your caches - Losing my marbles.