budd-rdc

You do realize, that there's a certain grandfathered cache type that could use some quality control... maybe your ideas can be applied there... hint hint... maybe a new thread for this will be nice once you recollect your thoughts.

Very cool, not a single 6 letter waypoint in your list! I'm surprised you aren't a Charter Member for being around Geocaching for so long... that in itself might be a rarity.

There's a certain elegance in arriving at a great location and ending the journey there. Scrambling to another stage "just to prove my find" feels a bit clumsy... "Convert it to a multi" is often the answer given for your question, and I will agree only if each stage of the multi (including the final) enhances the experience. That's subjective of course. Having a cache camera inside the container really doesn't relate to a Virtual cache, because posting a photo online usually requires you to take the camera home, rather than leaving it in the cache.

Cmconvert (the utility that builds CacheMate readable files for HotSync to your PDA) can handle LOC, but I have never tried it. LOC files only contain coordinates, GC waypoint name, title/name, and hider's name of the listing. No description, hints, difficulty and terrain are provided. So premium membership is not required to use CacheMate, but it is highly recommended to make it useful. You should contact smittyware for support issues, if you need to verify your registration.

I would have gone back, signed the log, and possibly dropped off a TB as a proof that I was there again. In any case, full disclosure of your actions to avoid confusion is courteous and much appreciated.

Bandwidth-friendly version, compliments of fizzymagic and GSAK: I see I went overboard on GC4A5A, Locationless for Train Stations. Only 28.8% archived, and some of them are LCs, so not too bad...

The Geocaching smilie is like a drug addiction. It provides emotional low or high for the finder, depending on the circumstances. It also provides one for the hider... "cool, someone likes MY cache!" I already have a handful of visits to my Waymarks, and I'm very thrilled about them. It is especially rewarding since I did the research and physically visited all the Waymarks I've placed. So given time, Waymarking will provide the same sort of addiction, the joy (or anger) of sharing an experience. Having said that, I still think there is a place for Virtuals in Geocaching.com. The problem is political, and I don't see any workable solutions right now, except for what's happening with Earthcaches. Keep in mind that there's an enforceable quality control there (GSA and the "educational element") which is far less subjective than the "WOW factor."

The "best" answer to this "most" question would be from a Groundspeak lackey, IF they have a tool to search the entire database and tally all the find counts on all the caches. I can at least speculate on a local answer. Based on second hand account, GC30CB, "Sounds of the Bay" in San Francisco has been found more than most caches in the area.

I think that's one reason folks don't mention coords that are off ... they consider it some kind of insult to question the posted coords. I don't think it is an insult to post coords different from those the owner posted. There are a lot of ways to get bad coords, with signal reflection being the #1 reason. I appreciate it when folks post their own coords and it helps me find the cache. If my own posted coords were off, I would want to know it. There are some people who are very easily insulted - that's their problem. Then there are those who contend that "one set of coords is no better than another." That seems to be some kind of misplaced egalitarianism. Even if all men were created equal, it does not follow that all coords are equal. But another reason folks do not post their own coords is that it may be un-necessary. If the cache coords are 70 feet off but it is an easy find anyway, why bother? What does it accomplish? Sometimes, caches get "dislocated" so posting alternate coordinates can help not just the next finder, but even the owner. I try to be matter-of-fact about it, realizing that I could also be the victim of the same signal reflection, although there are techniques to minimize that. In any case, if I'm posting alternate coordinates, I'm spending a lot of time at the location, even if I don't own the listing. I'll just announce right now that if I have issues with the cache, I'll mention it in the logs diplomatically. The alternate coordinate I post is not a complaint.

But what if a COP saw you, eh? wink wink nudge nudge.... Well, at least I'd bet you'd have a good excuse. (hopefully sufficient smileys to indicate I'm not serious) Actually, you don't have to confess but if you do not deny what happened, you increase your chance of receiving a mere "warning" instead of a speeding ticket. Most cops are just waiting to pounce on perpetual liars.

Local friends here in Northern California try to paint a more realistic picture of TeamAlamo. It's unrealistic to just call him "great" or "nice" even though he is... most of the time. For me, "impatient" describes him very well. If you want to go caching with him, don't be late!

Makes perfect sense to me! As a frequent traveler I often find a really cool place to hide a cache, but since vacation caches are not allowed and it's too far from home to maintain I can't hide one there. The answer is to either to work with a trusted local cacher who will serve as your cache maintainer, or get a local to place a cache there. Lynn chooses the first, I choose the latter. ... Brian's theory is that Lynn didn't scout out the location, but still 'owns' the cache. This would appear to be true, since she logged it as a find. As long as the placer continues to maintain the cache, it doesn't matter that Lynn shows as the owner. Personally, I would try to avoid such a practice so I don't get accused of conspiracy later on. But in this case, the geographical separation from her home territory (if she has such a thing after 17000+ finds) shows it's harmless. For newbies watching this thread wondering what it's like to have the most find counts, there you have it. You'll have to run around all over the place endlessly, spend enormous amount of time logging finds online, and then get rewarded with unneeded scrutiny at the end of the day after all that work. If you say TeamAlamo and CCCooperAgency are dedicated (to Geocaching), that's an understatement.

I know a Geocacher with more than 10,000 finds, and she still uses a Geko 201. I own a Geko 201, and use it for urban and short hike caches. No problems with NiMH batteries here, I get about the same battery life as briansnat, and I always use WAAS mode. The unit is compact and easy to use, but eTrex Yellow is probably a better value - less $, longer battery life, about the same features.

That sounds too mild. I know there was a brief off-topic discussion about "GeoFascism" in another thread. Maybe that's what you are trying to prevent? Ultimately, the responsbility of "lameness" rests with the hider, because the reviewer merely looks over a listing for bigger problems (hence the reason why guidelines exist). Regardless of how people have responded, I think that's the general message here. Does the OP agree with this at least? Many threads have tried to fix "lameness" but they always end with "we play the game we want to" responses... like the countless threads being locked right now. Maybe we should GeoAnarchy, too.

And it's chronologically listed, too. WM1-5 = McDonald's, Wind Harp, Berry Picking, McDonald's, McDonald's. WM1000 is a U.S. National Register of Historic Places (a hotel district). Still holding our breath for GC10000...

But don't forget that we are conditioned to use smilies as a measure of merit for Geocaching. It'd be unfair to suddenly ask Geocachers to abandon the smilies. When I first started to visit Geocaches, I signed a few log books, but did not get an account at GC.com, because I was simply thrilled with the idea of hidden objects in the woods. I even skipped logging a few caches after I signed up, because I'd tell myself "bah, not worth the trouble." That has changed. I've been conditioned now. Why not use the smilie addiction to promote Waymarking instead? Have a new tab in Geocaching profile for "Waymarks visited" stats. Change the interface so that there's a checkmark for Waymarks in Pocket Queries. The fact that this hasn't happened yet means integrating Geocaching and Waymarking is not a trivial task, but that's OK. At least, Waymarking .LOC is there. Let's be fair and leave out the smilie.

The problem is that many think because they are just guidelines and not rules; that they can easily bypass them if they rationalize things well enough. It seems like checking all these rationalizations would make the reviewers job a PITA. If they made some of the more critical guidelines into rules, then it would make things crystal clear and should make the reviewers jobs a little easier. I think it's simpler than that. Some people just refuse to respect the guidelines. Making them rules will just punish the people who are already humble enough to respect them. Ignorance is repairable by a nudge to the guidelines and the hider will learn. Arrogance isn't, because the hider thinks his super cool idea is too good for the guidelines. There's always constraints to creativity, and for performing arts, it's the audience, and for Geocaching, it's the finders (who are audiences, too).

Oh come on, you know the real answer, post it! We both know the solution is simple, but since I've been told that I don't have the why of the solution right, I'd like to. That's not so hard. The coordinates in a .LOC file is stored in degrees decimal (hdd.dddddd) and the datum is not specified, because it's WGS84 by default. After EasyGPS reads the file, it can be displayed in different formats (hdd° mm.mmm) but it's still in decimal format "on the inside." When transferring the waypoint to a Garmin GPS, the coordinates get converted to semicircles first (as mentioned above), whether it's EasyGPS or gpsbabel. It's still WGS84. The user has to explictly specify conversions to other datums. It's very unlikely someone can do this accidentally, especially for EasyGPS since there's no button for this. The problem described by the OP is very peculiar. Had he claimed "the coordinates on my GPSr look different than what's on the listing" then it would have made sense that NAD27CONUS datum setting caused it, but he still should have been able to get reasonably close to the cache. What he described is consistent with hand-entering coordinates in the cache page using the NAD27CONUS datum setting.

So besides those 7 best kept secrets what other waymarks have the element of discovering the unknown? I have one in Japan, on an island that requires access by an airplane (40 minutes minimum) or a jetfoil (2.5 hours). It's a World Heritage Site so the location is well known, but the spot I picked for the verification is less known. I could have made the requirements tougher, but I figured people will visit there on its merits whether my waymark is there or not. If you are lucky, you'll get to meet wild monkeys, like I did. (Project APE? )

Nothing personal... I always try to read the entire post (even if I don't want to) if I'm going to reply. The Geocaching Guidelines is a longer read, so there are times when attention span is crucial.

1. On rare occasions, I've already seen this happen, although it wasn't a team of 5 additional volunteers, just a person or two. You're asking for a lot of resources here. This suggestion will turn Geocaching from fun into work for those 5 people. Why not take the time to recruit an additional full-time reviewer for the area? 2. Having a mentor ("peer reviewer") is not a bad idea, but it should be done locally, and a person-to-person contact should be established first. Not as efficient this way, but more effective. I'd feel weird if a mentor was assigned to me just after I signed up on GC.com. 3. Corruption is absolute. Besides, careful hiders in my area sometimes have their caches approved in less than 5 minutes (includine a few of mine), probably because the caches were easy to review. So this is already happening without spreading the corruption. I never underestimate what reckless creativity can do to this idea. That's called opening a can of worms. An abuser will likely feel he's entitled to his actions, so I see nothing but escalation of hostilities between the parties involved. It takes just one bad apple to revoke the idea itself. I won't dismiss your premises, based on the increasing number of complaints about "lameness" this past year. I appreciate your attempt at trying to find solutions to the problems. However, I balk at your suggestions which do not account for regional differences. Some areas complain there are too few hides, but others complain there are too many. Geography vary from region to region, and so does the definition of lameness. I think the best way to tackle your premises is to encourage the creation of local Geocaching organizations, with Groundspeak providing an easy-to-find page with a list of them, so the newbies can turn to them for help.

Since a non member can't read the listing, he'll have to go to the cache with a premium member to find it, then log it. That's not a bad thing since the PM has a chance to show the non-PM what he's missing. (Pocket Queries, Caches Along a Route, Ignore Lists, Bookmarks, etc.) Yes, it's theoretically possible to narrow down a cache location without maps or coordinates, but if someone is that talented or lucky, there is no need to punish them for such dedication.

I dislike just clicking on links, so here's some background for the domain name in question: Registrant: BGI LLC 4301 32nd St W # E1 Bradenton, Florida 34205 United States Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com) Domain Name: BULKGADGETS.COM Created on: 19-Oct-06 Expires on: 20-Oct-07 Last Updated on: It was created on 10/19/2006, a relatively new site. Chances for getting feedbacks might be small for that reason. I'm surprised the home site (just www.bulkgadgets.com) is a secure site...

It all depends on whether there's enough time for exploiters to profit from the fear. First step is to give this potential fiasco a catchy name... like The GC7 Crash. I'm surprised no enterpeneur has hyped the situation. The least I expected was a GC7 Geocoin, and maybe a hyped up software that can solve this problem for just $9.99!! Call Now. Operators are standing by.

Really? Where can this forum be found? Was there an announcement about it? Never mind. I found it. Apparently the "Groundspeak Forums" title at the top of this page doesn't actually mean that. But to stay on topic, why on Earth would this feature require a freeze on usernames? Maybe I just hadn't heard about it because I am not in the "in" crowd -- a point that was made to me most effectively earlier in this thread. Hmm.... I am liking Waymarking less and less. Fizzy, this might be what is being hinted at in this thread: Groundspeak Portal I won't bother with the technical details on why this necessitated the username freeze, because I'll bluntly admit that I have no idea. [Edit: he edited too fast, but I won't edit my post.]