Birdsong-n-Bud

I've been a premium member for several months, and have been enjoying most of its priveleges without any trouble until now. I also can no longer view Members Only caches, so something is definitely amiss. Is this contact@geocaching.com? Thanks for any help. I'm not sure what happened, but I miss the perks.

Ut-oh. And now I notice that my Avatar calls me "Geocacher" and no longer "Premium Member." Wussup wit dat? I do the billing at $3/month...is there a glitch, maybe? Who should I contact?

Hi there, I'm a premium member, and like using the Geocaching.com maps option to see how caches are organized on a map within an area. Lately, I can't access the premium member features on that page (zoom in/out, and identify). How do I fix this, please? Thx,

Nope. I'm in the "under 41" sect. For another year or so, anyway, lol.

While I understand what you mean, I feel differently about this. Every cache page has the following disclaimer: I do wish the disclaimer included the placer of the cache or the property owner from liability as well. Although I do appreciate the following sentence in huge font on that site: Poisonous plants are typically only a problem in certain seasons. So if you are highly allergic to, say, poison ivy (which I'm not), you may choose to do this cache in the winter. It helps people plan better for their cache experience. So I think that attribute is an important one. Also, many (most?) caches are in the woods...we've made a point of keeping them out of poisonous plant areas, but not everyone follows the well-worn trail when seeking them. People do tend to bushwack. For that reason, if there are poisnous plants in the area, it does help to know that. As for dangerous areas: there are disclaimers to be read before attempting and agreeing to do any cache, but there are some on very high spots, some under water, some accessed only by canoe. Any of these could be interpreted as dangeous to a child, but an adult might find this challenging and invigorating. There are some that require rock-climbing (and often state that). I don't think those rigorous caches should be disabled, but I do think an attribute that warns you before going might keep you from brining the 4 year olds along on that particular run. I find the tick attribute particularly important. It helps us plan for how we dress and prepare our clothes (permethrin). In my personal opinion all of the following remain important: thorns, ticks, snakes, poison plants, difficult climbing, dangerous area, and hunting. Any cache that uses the attribute "dangerous area" should really elaborate in the description what they mean.

Wow...there have been some pretty awful things left behind. They *have* to be by muggles. Totally gross. Makes the used mascara tube we found in one box look pretty tame by comparison. Although, we did place a cache in a spot that turned out to be a ganji drop spot (had a scale and all the paraphernalia present as well). The stuff wasn't in the cache, but in the same huge tree. Police got involved, and let's just say we won the tree! No more drug activity there. Clean as a whistle now. (Great tree, too!) What was fun: the police have GPSr's in the cars, so they went right to the coordinates I gave them within minutes and took immediate action. My blunder: it was a puzzle cache, and I was so nervous that I gave them the puzzle's false coordinates the first time instead of the coords to the actual container. Their comment when they called, "Um, Miss, you sent us to the center of town by a pizza parlor?"

ROFL! We call ours "Gypsy ." That's the closest we could pronounce GPS. Though, when Gypsy loses her signal, she becomes "why you little s***".

I have a friend who is blind, and she helped us create a waypoint for one of our multi's. We just got this from her, an I had one of those V-8 moments. DUH! THey can talk, they give directions, they tell you when you take a wrong turn...why didn't we think of this before?!? D'OH! Detroit Free Press, Michigan > Tuesday, June 21, 2005 > > GPS devices to help guide the way for blind people > > By MIKE WENDLAND, FREE PRESS COLUMNIST > > Out at the Leader Dogs for the Blind headquarters in Rochester, technology > is about to become a major player in helping those who can't see get around. > > > While it won't ever replace the sensory help that comes from a dog, the > latest in Global Positioning Satellite technology will soon allow blind > students to tap into sophisticated mapping and navigation techniques telling > them where they are or how to get where they want to go. > > > "Technology is where we're headed more and more," said Rod Haneline, > director of student services for the 66-year-old dog guide school. > > > As he spoke, he strapped on a black belt containing a specially modified > iPaq Pocket PC handheld computer. The belt, like those worn by traffic cops > and school safety kids, goes around the waist and over the shoulder. > > > On one shoulder strap is a tiny speaker. On the other, a GPS antenna. > > > A touch-screen faceplate on the handheld is set up so blind users can feel > where to push to toggle between different controls. Built into the computer > is a GPS receiver and detailed maps. > > > "The idea is that the user can scroll through points of interest and find > whatever they want like, say, the bookstore down the street, or a bank or > supermarket," Haneline explains, pushing buttons. > > > Out of the speaker, a digitized voice sounds. "Avon Road is straight ahead," > it said. "Rochester Road is to your left." > > > If the student turns left, the voice notes that and reports: "Rochester Road > is straight ahead." > > > And so it goes, noting the distance and direction and street names of > landmarks and points of interest. > > > Users can record GPS coordinates for things like their home, the office or a > nearby park. The system then remembers those spots and, using a network of > satellites, can direct the user there through the digitized voice and > turn-by-turn instructions. > > > "It's pretty much standard GPS stuff," said Haneline, "set up so a blind > person or someone with impaired vision can figure it out." > > > What the system doesn't say, of course, is whether there's traffic on those > roads or obstacles along the way. That's where the Leader Dog comes in. > > > The GPS system the school has picked up is known as the Trekker. It's from a > Montreal company called Humanware. Each unit costs about $1,500. It works in > a moving vehicle like a car or a bus and can announce intersections as > they're crossed, restaurants and businesses as they're passed and when a > destination is approaching. > > > One of the features Haneline thinks will be most used is a setting that > allows reception and entry of information in complicated environments like > sporting areas, parks and university campuses. > > > The first student to get the Trekker from the school is coming later this > month. > > > "He's a 17-year-old from Florida and a bit of a techie," said Haneline. > "He's going to college in the fall, and this is expected to be a huge help. > University campuses are hands down the hardest locations for blind people > because they are seldom laid out in a grid with any pattern." > > > Haneline said it will take three days to train someone how to use the > system. The average training for a guide dog is 26 days. > > > "This GPS system is probably not for everyone," he said. "But more and more > blind people are using and comfortable with technology, so we expect this > will be pretty popular as an additional aid." > > > In Kalamazoo, Paul Ponchello, a professor and chairman of the Department of > Blindness and Low Vision Studies at Western Michigan University, has been > using a similar system for the past year. > > > "I used to get lost or disoriented three or four times a week," he said. > > > "That is pretty frustrating. That never happens any more because I can > always, always find my way back to my destination. This is a fantastic > tool."

One thing I've been wishing was an option was an icon to indicate a "historical site" at a cache location. This used to be one available when using "The Selector" for attributes. The reason? If you're traveling to a place you're not familiar with and want to find out areas of historical significance...while caching...it would make a great search feature someday when the attributes are activated for that purpose. Caching is a great way to lead people to the best spots in the area, and when the search feature is implemented using the attributes, -- wow -- this would make the process so easy. Food for thought.

D'OH! oops I'd actually thought of that, but with replies in that thread, I thought I'd get lost in the crowd. Going there now............. thanks.

I noticed below the suggestion for a "mosquito" attribute. One thing I've been wishing was an option was an icon to indicate a "historical site" at a cache location. This used to be one available when using "The Selector" for attributes. The reason? If you're traveling to a place you're not familiar with and want to find out areas of historical significance...while caching...it would make a great search feature someday when the attributes are used for that purpose. Food for thought.

I know a place like that, too. VERY special, but you MUST stay on the trails, and it is a highly protected natural area where a stray box would be a no-no, but people are welcome. I also have a really nice idea for a virtual that has been waiting to be used for months (in my head). It'll be a tricky one to get....it's one that finds YOU rather than you going to IT. So I'm also hoping to see the virtual guidelines soon.

Bigdog99, I'm really glad you said that. I will contact them and see which I received. You bring up a really good point! Thanks! I *thought* I got the Stealth Brites, but maybe there was some mix-up. Is anyone else having trouble accessing the website? For the past 2 days, I can get to their main site (Firetacks.com), but can't click on any links successfully.

In the beginning of the cache, we put them about 100 feet apart. At the very end of the trail we have a "swarm" of them (perhaps 20-25) in one small area. We were lucky to find two of them the night we went back. I wonder if it is possible I had a bad batch? We had one set of the pyramid-shaped ones, and one set of the cube-shaped ones. The pyramid ones I got on clearance for $4.99, and the sqare ones I paid full price for (about $10 a pack)...then there was shipping. I reread the directions and they claim that they are so bright that you can put them further apart than regular reflective tacks. Maybe their white prismatics or their oranges, but I wouldn't say for the stealth ones. Such a bummer. In any case, I'll not ever be buying those again.

I wish that would have solved our problem. Unfortunately, we tried this without luck. When we went back to check on the tacks' placement and reflectivity, we brought about 5 flashlights of varying strenths (including a million watt blows-your-eyeballs-out flashlight), but saw only reflections on about 2 of the 50 or so tacks I placed. We were deliberately trying to move the tacks to the exactly-right level, and we were moving the lights up, down, and all around trying to figure out if anything might work. I was not quite sure what to do. I have to try the red filter paper that was suggested. We could always leave that at the beginning of the cache in a hidden container if it works well. I thank everyone for their ideas. There are some interesting products mentioned here that I'm interested in investigating more. Pablo Mac's idea of the sign material is of particular interest to me, and if you can point me to a distributor of that product, I would be very interested in giving that a try. WH, you are a riot, lol. There is nothing to forgive ....all your suggestions where absolutely wonderful, and I stand by them. I just regret the particular product I chose. I'm sure there has to be something else out there in the world that might work. We did incorporate your other suggestion into the cache as well, and really like the way that one worked (starting the 2nd trail of tacks from the waypoint given at the clue, and that 2nd trail of tacks leads to the cache). I'm not sure whether I could actually take a photo of them...but there would be nothing to see at night. I think a piece of plain glass would reflect better on film than what happened with these. Disappointing, frustrating, deflating. The good news is that after we placed the bright-eye (white) tacks, a family came to do the cache and were very excited about it. It went very, very well. Thanks again, everyone. I learn lots here in the forums, thanks to fellow cachers sharing some terrific ideas freely.

Hi everyone, We just put out a new night cache and I spent mucho bucks on the Firetacks stealth tacks so the tacks would match the trees in the daytime, preventing daytime finds. It cost nearly a dollar a tack after shipping. I learned the hard way....they stink! They just plain don't reflect well. I had to go back and replace them all with the cheap Wal-mart (but very reflective) white tacks ("bright eye tacks"), which work great at night but are visible during the day with their obvious white. The poor FTF....a very experienced and sophisticated cacher whom I respect very much...could not find the stealth tack trail at night and ended up spending 3 hours on what should have been a 20 minute cache (definitely my fault, not his, of course). Because he is so persitent and practiced he was still able to find the final, but -- wow -- I felt bad. We immediately replaced the tacks. SO, deflated and disappointed, I ask you this: Has anyone here with a night cache purchased a reflective tack product that camouflages well and actually reflects brightly?? We really wanted something that was unfindable during the day, but the compromise wasn't worth it when they didn't work at night. Disclaimer: of the firetacks, the orange and white prismatic sample they sent worked GREAT. VERY bright and reflective (but also extremely visible during the day). Their brown ones are gorgeously camouflaged during the day....but are basically non-reflective at night unless you hit it exactly right with exactly the right powered flashlight, where you then might get the faintest glint of a reflection). *sigh* I'm so bummed. We could barely find our own stealth tacks in the dark.

Ah, perfect! Thank you, Hermit Crabs!

This is such a dumb question, I feel silly asking it. I like to use HTML to format my cache pages, but I'm only self-taught. I want to do only some text in the color 00FF99. What is the HTML code to get, say, just a sentence in that color? Thanks for any help. I'm not finding the tags in my books or on the web.

How did you manage to attach the tacks to the rocks?

Thank you to everyone for the suggestions. We tried all the sites, and found that Veripak ended up giving us the best price, without forcing us to have a minimum order. Many thanks for the recommendations! We ordered 3 different sizes!

HA HA HA! Yep! He was! See? I remembered the tips, too!

I think your penny idea is an absolutely splendid one. I would suggest putting it in a little protective baggie, and you can make a small document (and make several copies of it) and tuck one in each baggie with the penny showing. You could mention your team name, and why you chose those years. If you even wanted, you could include a tiny picture of your parents on the paper. Wouldn't it be cool if you could get their tiny baby pics on the paper? I would be honored to find that in any of my caches. If it wasn't protected, I would worry that it would get lost at the bottom of a cache, and folks not understanding its value or tribute. I've seen several signature coins where the team put a tiny paper in it identifying themselves. It looked great, and very professional, tucked in the tiny bag with the coin.

We set up our night cache during the day, but really went through the trails a few times to make sure we had the best spots. I almost always set up my caches from the back (last point) to the front (first leg). In hind sight, I'd make the following changes in my future night caches: * I'll use the stealth tacks (brown) for future use instead of the obvious-in-the-day white ones. * People like to use their GPSr. I did a little of each on mine, but wish I'd done this: have the reflective tacks take them to the first spot. Then have the coords lead to a spot where the next reflection trail begins. That lets them use both the leadership of the tacks as well as the GPSr. Just a couple options.

Now that is cool! Do you mind if I ask what they charge for this? We do all of our nickels by hand.

Where do you get 'em? You know: those little tiny protective ziplock bags that house geocoins and wooden nickels. I'm looking for a decently priced supplier. Has anyone bought some where you can make a good referral? Thanks,