aka Monkey

All of the discussions about how caches so quickly get filled with crap has made me realize that there's no problem so great a simple logo can't fix it. Thus: Please feel free to print this out and affix it inside your caches.

Just wanted to let people know that this cache will be opening soon. Get a leg up on the other people and start working on that first puzzle!

Oh boy, I think it's a mistake to put those words together on the internet. Is it "Carnivore" or "Echelon" that sniffs these things out? Yikes. I believe it's Carnivore. Lest someone think we're kidding, the NSA has been monitoring this stuff for years. There was recently a bit of a stink where a woman in Canada found out the NSA had opened some sort of file on her because she had mentioned on the phone to a friend that her child had bombed in the school play. I'll probably get a file just for posting this message and doing the search on Google for the info (can't find it now).

I have to wonder.. if there had been a Geocaching sticker on the outside of the container, would this have happened?

Ya never know, those rogue knitters could knit a garroutte and strangle a pilot, or hijack the plane with a macrame pot holder! Or worse... she might knit an Afghan!

"I walk with the Lord, but I do so at my own peril, as the Lord will not be held responsible for any damage, inconsequential or otherwise, which may arise from said walking, although my rights may vary from state to state."

I love this idea!

Geocaching is urging the placing of traditional caches, but considering that they aren't allowed on NPS land (which comprises a very large area and has some great stuff on it), virtuals are our only option there.

What a coincidence! I'm nude right now! Although maybe I should cover up; my cats are vomiting.

I don't know what you're referring to, but I did find this in a National Park Service Morning Report: 02-056 - Lake Roosevelt NRA (WA) - Geocaching Incident Rangers recently conducted an investigation into geocaching in the park. Geocaching is a sport in which individuals or organizations cache materials at particular locations, then provide the GPS coordinates via the Internet so that other people can attempt to find them. Some times caching entails digging, which presents obvious problems in national parks. On February 27th, Patrick Hall asked permission to bury a geocache within the park's historic Fort Spokane Unit. During the conversation, Hall made several statements which revealed that he'd previously been investigated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service for this same activity, and that other geocaches might already be buried within the park. Ranger Jaime Green investigated and found that two caches had already been buried near Fort Spokane by a geocache player known as "Fuzzybear." Additional investigation uncovered a connection between "Fuzzybear" and Hall. Hall was interviewed and admitted placing both caches. Parks concerned about this activity within their boundaries may go to http://www.geocaching.com and search for caches located in their areas. [Chris Rugel, DR, Fort Spokane District, LARO, 3/8]

Yeah, I can hide it well when I need to.

I composed the following letter and emailed it to every National Park in my state. I encourage others to do the same (either write your own email or copy and use mine). If one person from every state contacted all their parks, it might help. I just used this link, selected my state, then clicked each park in turn and clicked on Contact Us. I put "Geocaching on NPS Land" as a subject. Colorado has already been covered. Who's next? --- To whom it may concern, Let me start by thanking the 111,000 employees and volunteers of the National Park Service who are striving to preserve America's historical and environmental treasures. Their hard work and dedication is greatly admired. I happen to be one of over 10,000 active Geocachers (www.geocaching.com). The basic idea behind Geocaching is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS (Global Positioning System) users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. The National Park Service has been banning Geocaching activities on its lands, due to concerns about damage to lands which are under their protection. First, I feel it is important to note that the activities which have been the cause of concern are specifically forbidden by Geocaching rules (namely, burying a cache or hiding a cache off trail). The vast majority of Geocachers are into the activity because they have a love for the outdoors, and Geocaching helps them to see areas they otherwise might never have seen. Second, I want to mention some of the positive aspects of Geocaching. The Cache In Trash Out policy (www.cacheintrashout.org) encourages geocachers to bring a trash bag with them when caching, and use it to remove trash from areas that they visit. This policy has helped helped to remove everything from cigarette butts to refrigerators off of public lands. Geocaching also helps to raise funds and awareness for many National Parks by encouraging more visitors within the park system. I haven't written you to try and enourage you to allow all Geocaching activities within National Park Service lands. I understand the concerns some park managers have, and a few unfortunate incidents have occurred with players who felt obliged to break the rules. However there have been a few cases recently with banning of "virtual" caches, which I think needs to be addressed. A virtual cache is nothing more than coordinates to a location. It's the equivalent of marking a spot on a map and saying "There's something special here you should see." A few virtual caches had been set up within National Park Service lands, from cachers who felt there was a particularly beautiful area within a park that they wanted to share with others. Recently, employees from the National Park Service have been contacting these people and asking them to remove the listings. Obviously, this raises a few issues. First of all, it does nothing to improve the relationship the National Park Service has with the public. NPS employees have a very difficult task in balancing the needs of the public that own the lands with the care of the lands that have been entrusted to them, and this activity shouldn't interfere with that cause. Park employees telling people they must not recommend others come to the parks would seem counter to the park's goal of encouraging people to explore and learn about the history at the parks. I encourage the National Park Service to amend the rules to allow virtual caches within the park system, or at worst not actively discourage their listing. If someone places a virtual cache listing and is asked by the National Park Service to remove it, it raises a question of first amendment rights, and I think it's quite clear the National Park Service would not come down on the winning side of this issue. I'm sure this would be the kind of publicity the National Park Service doesn't want. If you have any questions, please contact the wonderful people at Geocaching.com. They could provide you with far better information than I can. Thanks for your time, NAME GOES HERE STATE GOES HERE

Normally, I would agree with you. But when dealing with a government agency, I'm not sure that anything other than public outrage (and sometimes civil disobedience) makes a whit of a difference. I believe this is a case where someone is going to need to take it to court to have it changed. I would think that the court would see a virtual as a free speech issue, and would almost certainly overrule the government. Somebody is going to have to place a virtual in NPS land, and then refuse to remove it. Although I suppose the NPS is more likely to go after Groundspeak than the individual. Is that something Groundspeak is willing (and able) to fight for? Would the ACLU back it as a free speech issue?

I had this happen to me yesterday for the first time. I had told it to direct me to a city, and it kept recalculating as I headed towards a particular road which I wanted to take. Then on one of the recalculations, it just displayed the "Calculating" box with the little moving car, and that was that. Nothing else world work, including trying to turn it off using the power button. I removed the batteries, booted it back up, and all was well.

As a note, one time I attempted this and didn't use enough dry ice. I was interested to note when I poured the water out that it had been carbonated. This is basically the same technique that has been used for decades in people's kitchens to create soda water. The differences being that they use GLASS instead of plastic (better shrapnel that way), and they use pre-packed cartridges of carbon dioxide gas with a specific amount in them. Still, my father claims they were known to occasionally explode if the bottle been chipped or damaged.

I stand corrected. Apparently dry ice bombs are dangerous. I hope no one lost their fingers. But they're still FUN! Wheeee! Since we're discussing the dangers of various readily available compounds, I think it's important we all take a moment to consider the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide. Alisa Viejo, California, recently debated whether to ban foam cups, since this chemical was used in their manufacture. Yes, it's THAT deadly. And this stuff is everywhere! It's even in your drinking water. Read this and this.

Yes, I would endeavour to go, although not having any roads within 25 miles makes it a bit difficult.

Jeremy's link didn't work, and now all the quoting is spitting out HTML code. Did something just die?

Well, their website isn't working right now, but Meguires sells a plastic cleaner/polish that removes scratches. It works FANTASTIC, and has recovered many CDs of mine that had gotten scratched and were unplayable.

I had the same problem. Stem is right. Turn off "Follow Road." Apparently they have addressed this in the 3.01 (beta) firmware release.

I also have a 60C, and think it's the bees knees. The cat's pajamas. 23-skiddoo. My thoughts on it: * The screen is very bright IF you have it at just the right angle to the sun. Otherwise, it can be fairly dim (although you can always turn on the backlight a little). * The extra memory is a Godsend. I have both the MetroGuide v4 (with autorouting) and Topo maps loaded, and turn them on or off as needed. * My unit has yet to lockup. If it does, I have no doubt that Garmin will fix it in the next firmware release (Garmin is great about those releases... they're always adding new features). * If anyone who is seriously into caching can afford it, I don't think there is any other unit worth getting. Jeremy did a pre-release review and agreed that it was the best "Jack-of-all-trades" unit. What kind of a fool would disagree with our Fearless Leader?

Funny thing... I contacted Garmin about this, and they said they'd never heard of it. I directed them, to this thread and they then got back to me and told me to reset the unit as someone in the thread suggested. So, I'm left to wonder. Now that the Garmin support guy knows that a bunch of people are having the same problem, did he pass it on to the tech support people, or does he just tell everyone who contacts him to reset the unit? I guess 3.02 will answer that question.

Stale news. Archie Bunker said that on "All in the Family" Oh My God... WH's father is Archie Bunker?

Ever made a dry ice "bomb"? Take an empty 2-liter soda bottle, add a cup of water, and put in some chunks of dry ice. Screw on the cap. Run away. BOOM! Water everywhere, VERY loud noise. Probably harmless as I've never seen any shrapnel and there are no hot gases, although I don't think I'd want to be holding it when it went off.

This coming from the guy with a photo of someone else's face blown off on his webpage.