aka Monkey

One of the truly disturbing things about this incident is the realisation that it's not all that uncommon. Cruelty to animals happens far more frequently than any of us would like to think about, this just happened to be one instance where it was in a public area. [Edited by moderator -- charitable solicitations are not permitted in this forum.]

What's really needed in the Groundspeak store is a nice sun-blocking hat. Something like this:

Luyckily, I've found myself a beautiful woman who loves geocaching. But if I hadn't, I'd have my eyes set on another one who apparently appreciates the activity:

They're all good snakes. Some just happen to be venomous.

Yes, but now that they've done so they have a legal obligation to their stockholders to carry through on their plans. If Garmin was to announce that it would be compatible, and then for technical reasons it couldn't be, that would be actionable. In my opinion, generally speaking if you're getting screvved somehow there's lawyers behind it.

Since the largest MicroSD cards currently available are 1GB, and apparently all of North America won't fit onto a 1GB card, how is Garmin offering a MicroSD with North America on it?

Seeing as how Garmin is a publicly traded company, I believe they can not discuss any future plans by law. Doing so could potentially drive up their stock price, and if they have to then change the plan, it would be seen as stock manipulation. That is why Garmin employees continued to say they had no plans to offer Mac support until the day before they announced that they would, in fact, support the Mac. If you can't afford to buy it twice, my advice would be to wait and see.

They claim they never received mine. Rebates are a scam, and in this case, it cost Magellan a customer (well, that and the fact that Garmin is just so much cooler).

Brain damage. My bad.

If the divining rod works for him and he doesn't feel the need to upgrade, then why should he? As consumers, we've all been trained we must have the latest and greatest in everything. Often all you need is what you've already got. I wish I could share hiw view, I'd probably be happier. As it is, I just bought myself a 60CSx I didn't really need.

Here That's not a MicroSD, which I believe is what he's looking for.

If you don't want to ditch your polarized sunglasses, you could rig up another polarizing filter at a 45 degree angle between the other two. This will actually allow light to come through. I know, it's counterintuitive, but it works.

Just a couple weeks ago I sold my 60C and some accessories on eBay and got $260 for it. That wasn't even the CS. I upgraded to a 60CSx and haven't regretted it for a moment.

Well, the Sawyer Extractor probably isn't a good bet, but there's at least one precaution you can take which might help. TurtleSkin manufactures a pair of snake gaiters which could help protect you from a bite. Sadly, no one sells gloves which are deemed as rattlesnake proof (these might work, although TurtleSkin doesn't guarantee them for snake bites), and you're more likely to be bitten in the arm than the hand. And you could always spread this around your cache.

My girlfriend raised the question... assuming this was azctually the case (that they units had identical hardware and only difference in software), would it be considered theft if you were to be able to somehow hack the unit to enable the hardware which was already existent?

There's a little known fact about consumer electronics which manufacturers don't want you to know. Often, two different pieces of hardware with different features selling for different prices are actually the exact same hardware, but one version has software which disables some of the features. Examples: * Some of Apple's CD drives are capable of burning multiple formats and at higher speeds than listed. They are simply modified to prevent them from doing so. A firmware hack re-enables it, and everything works perfectly. * Canon's Digital Rebel Camera is capable of performing many of the same features as the next higher model, the 20D. They are simply switched off in software. Another firmware hack enables these features. Why do companies do this? It's more cost effective for them. They can mass produce the same hardware without having to develop two systems, yet they can offer multiple levels to the consumer for differing prices. Is it a scam? Yeah, probably. There's another word for scamming. It's called "marketing." Now, that being said, I'm left to wonder. Is it possible that the 60C contains the same hardware as the 60CS, but it is simply disabled in firmware? It wouldn't surprise me. It would certainly simplify Garmin's production processes. The only way to know for sure is to open two units and compare them and see if there are different components inside. Any takers?

Don't bother. Apparently they don't work and could cause harm. And, if you want to see what a rattlesnake bite can do, check out these pictures. They are NOT for the faint of heart! (Initial link goes to story, subsequent clicks go to photos)

I agree that rabies isn't something to mess around with, but I wouldn't be too concerned, particularly if it didn't break the skin. Unless you got infected saliva or blood into your blood stream or mucous membranes (did you pick your nose with the bitten finger afterwards?), it's impossible to get rabies. If this had been the old days when rabies shots were a series of 26 very painful shots into the stomach, I'd suggest maybe you pass on the whole thing. It still involves a lot of shots, and without insurance would be very expensive. Oh, and for what it's worth, testing an animal for rabies involves killing it. In the future, might I suggest that maybe you don't go sticking you hand into a hole if you don't know what's in it?

A few items I put together that I thought might interest some of you: Geoschwag

First return from Google was this story. "Makers of variety of flash memory formats SanDisk have revealed that they are now planning to launch a 2GB variant of the microSD storage disks."

You can do it with MacGPSPro. , or you can wait for Garmin to release OS X versions of their software sometime this year and keep plugging 'em in by hand.

Garmin's memory chip isn't proprietary. It's just not common (yet).

It's up for auction on eBay with a starting price of $1. MetroGuide USA v5

Speaking as someone who has used both units, my vote goes for Garmin. Here's why: * Magellan had an edge when their units were the only ones with expandable memory. This is no longer the case now that Garmin has their "x" series. * Magellan units have also had an edge in satellite reception over Garmin which was easily verifiable. Once again, Garmin's x series has closed this gap. * The Magellan user interface is, in my opinion, far less intuitive. Speaking as a designer, the interface is also ugly and unprofessional. My girlfriend was able to use my Garmin without ever looking at the manual. That's not the case for the Magellan that she owns. * Garmin has a MUCH better reputation for customer support, both in repairs and in releasing updates. * Garmin is releasing all of their software for Macs, which may not matter to most of you, but it's a deal-breaker for Mac owners. * Garmin has a much wider product offering, meaning your more likely to find a GPS that fits your needs. Actually, my comment on Garmin's Mac support is relevant in more than one way. As Mac owner myself, I fully understand the idea of "you get what you pay for." It's true with Garmin as well. If cost is your deciding factor in any decision, Magellan is more likely to be your choice. And to be fair, a Magellan will serve you just fine. But if you've used a Garmin (or Mac) for any period of time, you're likely to find you're unwilling to use a Magellan (or PC) unless you have to.

And remember, Garmin is coming out with OS X versions of all of their products by the end of the year. My guess is that it won't be too long before we see Trips & Waypoints software released for the Mac.