Arrow42

Yes, there is more too it. You completely left out the context. I agree, the request sounds odd.

I suspect that Nomex was asked to step in as an impartial out-of-area reviewer to take an action that they knew was going to be unpopular in the area in order to protect the reputation of the local reviewers among the local caching community. I think the cachers out there should take note of Groundspeak's decision in this matter... if your cache is imposible to find (however Groundspeak might define that) then it might be archived. If you have a "six star" difficulty caches out there you might want to think about spoiling it down to a 5-star.

If those are the same ones I saw (and they might not be... it was a while ago) they have a very cheep plastic feel. You know, margarine-tub style of plastic. For 3$, it could be worth testing out.

That depends on how you qualify "impossible to find". After dozens of very experienced cachers have made 27 attempts over the course of 2 years. Now that we've established that... what about my question? Is an impossible to find geocache really a geocache? Now you have to qualify "very experienced cachers" and is that 27 between them or 27 each? You are free to define "impossible to find" in any way that makes sense to you. How to define "impossible to find" would be an interesting topic to discuss in depth, but it's ancillary to my question. It seem I have need, as evidenced by your evasions, to point out that my question was serious and is not a rhetorical device to prove a point.

Post office policy is interesting (and relevant for the sake of trying to ascertain permission), but it is not law and might be open for negotiation.

In my area PMO caches are rare. I've only run into a half dozen. Are they real common in your area? If not... just ignore them until you get premium membership (if you ever decide it's worth it).

Well... is there?

That depends on how you qualify "impossible to find". After dozens of very experienced cachers have made 27 attempts over the course of 2 years. Now that we've established that... what about my question? Is an impossible to find geocache really a geocache?

It's not specifically addressed by the rules at all and the reviewers are well known for refusing to extrapolate.

This does bring up an interesting question... Is an impossible to find geocache really a geocache at all?

No special forum for puzzles, but if you have a question or a comment about them you could use the "Geocaching Topics" forum.

ebay is a good option. Just search for "neodymium magnets".

Or you can try thier forums: I wish I had a better answer for you. Sorry.

I was kind of thinking along the lines of a new way to build offset caches... For multi caches... you could use AR instead of tags instead of relying on physical tags or existing numbers. For a puzzle cache... maybe a giant maze superimposed over a field. Maybe even take it a step further... maybe the next gen geocaching GPS device could could superimpose a circle on the ground where GZ should be with expected GPS accuracy deciding the radius of the circle.

Might be able to speed that up a bit with the use of a tabbed browser, copy&paste, a my-finds PQ, excel and some knowledge of how to manipulate data into a usable format. It's still take quite a while! Good grief.

Tell ya what-how about you go into the nearest post office and ask for permission to place a magnetic keyholder under one of those blue boxes? Then come back here and tell us how it went. They are USPS property. The USPS is not known for its flexibility nor sense of humor. I know of a few very small town/rural areas where the postmaster granted permission for a cache to be placed out in the parking lot that it shared with other downtown businesses. But I cannot imagine anyone getting permission to affix something to one of those boxes anywhere. I'd post a NA log on any one that I found. I'm asking for a citation because people keep spouting that it's illegal because.... well, they heard somewhere. Or, they are making assumptions based on incomplete information. Either way, I have yet to see evidence that it's illegal in every circumstance. Lets stop assuming and actually arm our selfs with the facts. If we have the law in hand we can bring that to friendly local post-offices and work something out. "Some guy" isn't a legitimate source. Ask 5 IRS agents the same question and your as likely as not to get 5 different answers. The law is written down and available to the public. I've looked, and I can't find anything. The law is complicated, however, so it might be there hiding. Yes, permission is required by Groundspeak policy. However, that is a completely different issue and in no way related to my question. For example: If there is a law prohibiting sticking a magnet to a mailbox then it might not matter if the local postmaster gave permission or not. Thats why I want the facts. They are important.

It's also possible that the reviewer acted to archive a cache that he believed was not actually present. (*) (*: I know nothing of the cache owner and I don't want this seen as a slight on his or her integrity. I only offer it as a possible explanation of the reviewer's motives that doesn't assume incompetence)

Just run the one from the day before. No need to get too fancy - Even in an extended area there isn't much change in a day or two. If there happens to be a few caches your going after that arn't part of your PQ (FTF race, etc) then you can add them to your data set via the download link on the cache page.

Citation please?

I take it you don't use soap, then?

My call: Meh. People choose to be offended at way too much. On the other hand, Groundspeak might not want to be associated with an image like that. There is a minor public relations issue to consider. What if this had made the news? "Geocaching Full of Racists!" - it wouldn't be until you read to the third paragraph that it was just a silly image submitted by 1 person and 99% of the people who read the headline will never make it that far.

You know that e-mail addresses aren't confined to one particular location, right?

NYPaddleCacher, you might want to look into "werigo" caches. It has the rudiments of augmented reality already. However, expanded augmented reality geocaching might be a neet trick. I don't see any reason why you couldn't develop puzzle caches using augmented reality, using the technology you described. It would limit the audience, but it would be fun.

I'd be interested in seeing the source for that. This is the federal law, as I found it: Whoever willfully or maliciously injures, tears down or destroys any letter box or other receptacle intended or used for the receipt or delivery of mail on any mail route, or breaks open the same or willfully or maliciously injures, defaces or destroys any mail deposited therein, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. - 18 USC Sec. 1705 Is there another section that might apply?

Was it in the USPS box or just stuck underneath with a magnet? If it's not causing harm to the USPS box then I think they would likely take the policy of "tactful ignorance".