mini cacher

From a usability perspective, that is not something you want to do. Mixing the site related nav (take me here) with "action items" (download or print this) destroys the delineation between the two. They are completely different things and should not be bunched together. I guess I'm fortunate to have an Information Architect on the payroll in our office that's taught me lots of these lessons, which I pass on to my clients. DCC Those actions are not much different than the "bookmark listing", "ignore listing" and "watch listing" links already on the right. Those are actions as well... not really "take me here" links. Clicking on the "send to phone" button goes to a page to enter some info before you can continue... kind of like "bookmark listing". They are all ways to interact with the cache page. "Site Navigation" is on the left... "Cache Navigation" is on the right. Since the nav links and everything on the right hand side creates the column of dead white space that goes all the way down, I like the idea of moving more of the cache page actions over to the right so the actual cache info is higher up on the page. That would also get rid of the other huge dead white space that sits next to the "download" buttons. but thats just my opinion.

Still not getting owner emails... however, I do get emails sent to me by other cachers via the web site and I got a confirmation of my PM renewal... so I find it hard to believe that my ISP, domain host and/or email app. would selectivly filter out only one type of email from here. perhaps those emails come from different addresses. is there any way for someone to look into this? It seems kind of odd for multiple people to have the same problem start at the same time... which happens to be about the same time there was some system changes at GS... Add to the list of emails I don't get.... new caches published in my area.

That arguement would only make sense if everytime I turned my computer on, the Vista developers had made some random UI change by either moving my desktop icons, changing my background or making my screen saver kick on at a different time. Seeing the site change and fluctuate on an hourly basis was very annoying. It looked horid at first... got a bit better... got worse... better.... then worse again... now it just looks so-so. It was like seeing the site change as if we were viewing a developers machine... yet this was a production server. bad practive if you ask me... no that you did. I have to agree that the embedded maps are of little or no use to me. I almost always click the link to go directly to Google maps when I need a map. Given a profile option to turn the maps off, I would use it.

Look to the left of "Difficulty." Re-read the OP

I've had the same problem. I didn't even know several people had found found two of my caches until I happened to go take a look at the pages to see what the recent site facelift had done to them. I recieved a notification right away about a find on 5/24 on one cache but then 6 finds from 5/26 to 5/29 on two other caches never made it to my inbox.

It is very strange that it is not all caches. but the ones that are wrong all seem to have one less "find" log and one less "Publish" log but two "Reviewer Note" logs... when they have no visible reviewer notes. It seems odd that it has that pattern and not for all caches. In all caches that I've seen with the error, the GreaseMonkey script still gets it right... which would be expected since it simply counts each log type visible on the page.

agreed... I was simply trying to explain that it could happen in response to the previous "can't happen". I certainly don't have the coding skills to disassemble a firmware image. But I know that some do. It only takes the right person with the right reason... likely not even $$$. Most "crack" makers do it for joy not money. Someone with the right skills AND a grudge against Garmin may be willing to spend the time it takes. The more Garmin messes with its customers, the more likely "that" person exists.

Can't happen. The lock is implemented in the GPSr, not on the PC. You can install the map on as many PCs as you like. You can download the map to as many GPSrs as you like. But only the one or two GPSrs for which you unlocked the map will show it to you. with enough incentive for the right person, anything can happen. The unlock code is used to restore the encrypted map level / subdivision part in the TRE section. Additionally it seems to be needed for maps with routing information. Whereas the first can be easily restored without decrypting, just using some side information of the file, the later is tricky. I suspect you have to create some index for autorouting. This index seems to be created by the unit using the unlock code. Additionally you can provide the index. I suspect the MetroGuide hack to do this. As I do not really have the need to break the lock, I never investigated further. Please keep in mind that hacking the software you own violates laws in most civilized countries. Oliver oh but the devices themselves can be upgraded by connecting to the PC and reflashing the EPROMs. Garmin even has an application you download to do just that with their unit upgrades. What goes in can come out. What was built can be disected and rebuilt. What once asked for an unlock code could be instructed to not care. The device runs software just like any other little computer. If they can manage to hack the computer in my car to get 50 more Horsepower out it.. surely they can make a device accept any code as the valid code. And yes... this will void your warrenty... and it is illegal... but it *can* happen... *they* just need a reason to make the effort.

Can't happen. The lock is implemented in the GPSr, not on the PC. You can install the map on as many PCs as you like. You can download the map to as many GPSrs as you like. But only the one or two GPSrs for which you unlocked the map will show it to you. with enough incentive for the right person, anything can happen.

every place is different... but I find that a lot of the time, people don't really pay attention to what others are doing around them. I wouldn't call it a "fear" but I was certainly uneasy about muggles at first... until I came to the above realization. It kind of sounds strange but I think the longer you hang around a particular area thinking about searching... the more suspicious you look. Just get in, do what you need to do and look/act like you are supposed to be doing it.

FWIW, just because it works in one browser and not the other does not always mean it is not a site problem. A site that has mal-formed code can work just fine in one browser and not in an other due to the nature of how *some* browsers will take any garbage code on par with its own ... while others adhire to a higher standard. I won't claim this is the case here... but you never know. Edit: ... but name calling is never nice.

and to think that all this time I've thought the "Server Busy" problems were due to not having enough processing power behind a fat enough pipe to handle the traffic... now we find out its just the cobbled together code base that is to blame. I can understand that it takes more time and grace to fix the software than it does to slap another box into the mix. Edit: ...but that doesn't make it any less annoying

I found this which explains the heart of the system.

is that you kettle? or are you pot?I'm not expecting everyone to use the ignore feature the same way. I am pointing out that since people do not use it the same way, knowing how many people are ignoring a cache is not useful. no.. but you are expecting someone to justify to *you* why *they* would find a feature handy... just because *you* think the feature would be useless. Not everyone uses the site like you... and they shouldn't have to justify to you why they use it the way they do.

is that you kettle? or are you pot?

I don't think that info is any more or less useful than the watch count. they are the same thing. if there is one count, there really is no real reason why the other couldn't be there.

that would double the number of weekly posts of people asking "How can I see who is [watching|ignoring] my cache?" But seriously, I suppose that number has as much merit as the watch count. and as many people "for" or "against" it.

I can fully understand why mislabeled caches would be annoying. However, regardless of how trivial some find the "Drinking water nearby" and others find the "SCUBA" attributes, if there is to be ANY effort to regulate the use of one attribute... the effort MUST be equally applied to ALL attributes. Think about all the legal trouble one could get in by going after a cache with the "24/7" attribute but was infact not available after dark! Jail time trumps renting climbing ropes or lugging air tanks.

heh... Don't Hassel the Hoff

many puzzle caches have been published that require you to "crack" the password of a PDF or even just use info in a PDF to solve the puzzle. Those are data and downloaded... although not executables. As Fizzymagic has pointed out, if their intent was file security, why make a point to specifically refer to data... when the that word has a very broad meaning well beyond executable.

Here's a link to a source: http://www.pfranc.com/usb/usb.shtml I have not tried this converter, so I can't speak from personal experience. However, I did buy two Etrex plugs from this company, to make my own data cable, and I was very pleased with the quality of the plugs, and the service I got from the manufacturer. Their website says the converter works with Vista. You can find the short (4 inch) version of the converter on ebay for about $20 shipped (the seller may also have the longer version with a 6' cable): http://cgi.ebay.com/PFRANC-COM-USB-COM-POR...1QQcmdZViewItem Again, I have no personal experience with this seller. In any case, the converter will plug into your USB port, then your serial cable plugs into the converter, and you should be set to go. I purchased one of the 4" converters from pfranc and it works great ony my laptop with XP... I don't see why it would not work with Vista... but you never know with Microsoft.

It's not essential to solving the puzzle (because solvers can look at the alt=... in the source), but I don't think that will show up in Firefox. You might want to change it to title=... . it does not. title would be the correct attribute. alt(ernate) is meant to be displayed when the image is not.

I have to wonder which game soiled the word for them? What the heck were people "playing" in public that gave the word "game" such a bad name? btw, I don't think of geocaching as a game... and I guess that's a good thing.

if you get a cold or two... then it would appear that they aren't working...

gosh... I never knew that our government officials had such hatred for games...