The Blue Quasar

Yeah, I've notice the Wacky Maps too. I click on a Mapquest link and sometimes it is a vague grey thing that I can't zoom in or out on. The other Mapquest link seems to work. Trouble is, to me I never know which on it is supposed to be. There definitely seems to be a coding/rendering problem when the cache pages are generated. As for the little map that comes with a cache, I notice it too that sometimes it is missing. I thought that when the Cache Description is edited that the map is removed until someone claims a find on it, or maybe just posts a note. I just know, it doesn't seem consistant. But like Dan Aykroyd says in "Rubber Biscuit"..... "Whadda ya want for nuthing?... bow bow bow" The Blue Quasar "Have you ever heard of a 'wish sandwich? A 'wish sandwich is a kind of sandwich where you have two pieces of bread and you heee heee heee, WISH you had some meat.... BOW BOW BOW" - Elwood Blues

Compiling a list for easy printing and leaving laying around for the family to 'find' The Christmas Cacher Gift List High Tech Gifts – Electronic, or Battery Operated  Rechargeable batteries and charger (NiMH AA)  Car Adapter for GPS  FRS Radios  LED Flashlight or Headlamp  Pedometer Hiking Gear – Non-clothing  Hiking Stick or Pole  Syrene Bottle  Compass  Swiss Army Knife Hiking Gear – Clothing  Bug Jacket  180’s Exhale Gloves (www.180s.com/home/index)  Ultimate GPS Case (www.freshtracksmaps.com/ultimategpscase.htm)  Back Pack  Fanny Pack Geocaching Tools  Geocaching.com membership  Rubber Stamp  Mirror (or Hard Drive Disk)  Pens (that can write on wet paper) The Blue Quasar

I'm sorry to have to say this but I just don't get the whole GSA angle when the Earth Cache resides outside of the USA. I have no intention of making into some political debate, but I fail to understand why GEOCACHING.COM does not host the submission rules for an Earth Cache. I live and cache in Canada, and I read the GSA stuff and I really doubt that anyone here in Parks Canada or Parks Ontario or any Crown Land is going to care what GSA says about the suitability of an Earth Cache. That being said, why would I submit my proposed Earth Cache to the GSA? I should submit it to my local approver "Cache-Tech" and based upon the guidelines that should be in place at Geocaching.com my local approver would decide. Let's be honest, if Geocaching.com was based in Chile, or Nepal, or Iceland.... would any of this work when someone wanted to submit an Earth Cache in the United States? So if someone can explain to me why the GSA has final say, or any say for that matter, about the suitability of an Earth Cache that is submitted outside of the USA, that would be great. The Blue Quasar

Good topic. And not for the reason you might think LOL. Me.... I would love the cable for my Garmin 60C that allows me to hook it to my car lighter. Lugnuts built me the serial cable (GSAK didn't support USB at the time) but he was not 100% sure on the power hook up and I was happy with the cable. I think another thing would be something Logger convinced me to get... the Energizer rechargable battery unit.... holds 4 AA batteries that are NiMH and work great for the GPS (not so much so for my camera) A good compass and a Swiss Army knife..... Logger has this special plastic bottle (Syrene or something like that) which does not hold the taste of the previous liquid, they are like $10 I think. Headlamp and/or LED flashlight for those that are going into night caching.. And Lugnuts takes a backpack with him when caching.... an idea I plan on following, so I guess I would add a backback to the list. I love my fanny pack but I need more room. So I guess I should say.... Car adapter cable Rechargable battery unit with 4 AA's Compass (Silva Ranger is quite nice IMHO) Swiss Army knife Syrene Bottle Headlamp LED flashlight Backpack Fanny pack The Blue Quasar

Well I know that there are quite a few areas in and around Welland that are still untapped. There is a big park on the first main road nouth of Thorold rd that looks kinda dense. After looking on S&T I see it's called Woodlawn park. And there is Memorial Park, but I've never seen it. Maybe you can get the Seaway mall to zoom in their web cam..... I can't be bothered LOL. The Blue Quasar I could have lived in Welland, but why would I?

I agree about posting this and the several other articles we have collected. I would do it, but I don't know how and since I'm going on vacation soon it will have to wait till I return. I am pretty sure I have 4 or 5 articles saved so far. The Blue Quasar

I think Logger was referring to this cache 4.5 lb Walleye But I don't see the $50 thing. I have seen a cache list a $50 prize for first finder, but 4.5 lb Walleye is the only unfound cache near James Bay to my knowledge The Blue Quasar Need me a fishin' boat!, and a puddle jumper two prop!

Flick do a series on the MURALS??? He HATES the Murals LOL. All the more reason that you Dennis, should do it. TT: I dunno if Flick would like it, you comparing him to a Troll.... He is more of a (entry edited for those under 14) As for 6 caches in 14 days.... kids! I tell ya! Try 25 caches in 6 days, or better yet 8 caches in 4.5 hours. That's how ya place a series.... I kid ya, cause I can! Looking forward to a great series on MURALS... Dennis your first series was fun! The Blue Quasar

Any cache by Fetal Pig is always high on my list. The Blue Quasar

I think GeoDog and I are heading to Mudlake tomorrow (Monday). He has 4 caches to do there, and I have 1. No one has found it as of 7pm Sunday so maybe we can be first finder. (read that as Nozzletime is sleeping, or at that Kingston Event cache LOL) Bet he beat us there in the morning. I have to drop off my car first and that means we will lose valuable "FTF" time. Do a MURAL Cache, why not???? Tourism will fly up (for a week or two) and you never know, I might try to do it myself (The fury of Flick would be worth it's weight in gold) The Blue Quasar

Welland? Sounds enchanting. Where is that exactly? Oh yeah, I've been there once or twice. Dennis I've got a great idea for you..... HOW ABOUT A MURAL SERIES (Ducking as Flick takes a slap at me) I will be placing a cache or two in Welland next year, I'm running out of room here LOL. Seriously, I do have back-burner plans for Welland, but not till after my next series in the Spring. I tried to set up a Web Cam cache at Seaway Mall but the picture is below quality for approval. I agree, it's poor at best. Now if Seaway Mall would be willing to zoom in a ways then I am gonna do it. (Not worth my effort though, Lugnuts beat me to it... God love him!) The Blue Quasar

I am not commenting for a bit on this thread, but I am learning a lot. I am quite impressed with the feedback I am seeing, and also the points I have not considered. That was my sole intention with this forum post, to have people suggest things that I have not considered whether it be how to set it up or issues that may arise. For not commenting, I'm doing pretty good eh? Oh heck with it, I can't keep my mouth shut. I am going to try to retool the whole Event, I agree with the feeling that many people might be offended or hurt or not willing to get a Admission Card. I am really glad that everyone was willing to share their thoughts with me and I have learned a lot (and I think Cache-Tech has information that he/she can take to their discussion about this topic too) The Blue Quasar Special Note to Dyverdown: I will do my best.

That actually is easy too. The Geocacher that is going to adopt the series needs to send an email to Cache-Advance, Cache-Tech and/or Cache-Agent to let them know that they are willing to adopt the series. It would probably be helpful if they included all the GCxxxx numbers to facilitate the adoption. It wouldn't hurt if you sent a note to the Triumverate of Approvers as well. They can transfer the geocaches from your account to the new person's account once they have received confirmation from the new owner. Nice of you to be concerned about the series. Hope you find time to come back to Geocaching soon. The Blue Quasar

Yes. It is something that the OGA web site is hoping to have, along with generating a list of potential caches based on 'not founds' It will take a while for us to set it up and won't be available till at least 2005. That is if we are able to provide that at all. www.ontgeocaching.com [8D] The Blue Quasar

Oh I forgot.... this EVENT is planned as an ADULTS only (meaning 19 +) The Blue Quasar

Hello All in and around Niagara I am trying to hold the third GNASHERS Event cache but I'd like to present my idea so get some feedback from the Geocaching community. First off, I have been emailing Cache-Tech and he/she has sort of given the okay, but I want to make sure everything is above board. Here is the idea..... I have selected a venue that can hold between 50-60 people. I have to find a way to limit attendance for a variety of reasons. First off, many places don't fancy the idea of closing their doors to the general public to host a group. I don't want to rent a hall as there are inate difficulties in recovering costs, getting catering, liquor licences etc. So what I think would be fair to everyone is this.... bear with me a little longer. I will make out fifty (50) "Admission Cards" to the Event. These 50 cards will be individually sealed in envelopes and placed into a Geocache container. This container will be hidden in the woods, so to speak, and the co-ordinates of the container will be posted as the co-ordinates of the Event. From the moment the Event posting is LIVE anyone can go to the cache location and pick up Admissions. You could pick up Admissions for yourself, other cachers, the rest of your family, whatever. That way someone that would be coming from farther away could arrange to have an Admission Card. Once all 50 are gone then I would post that all the cards have been taken and therefore "All seats are taken" On the cards would be the info needed to attend the Event. The date on the cache page would be the same as the Event, that way if a person couldn't make it that night they wouldn't waste their time getting a Card. I believe this is a fair way to let people attend, but I am open to feedback if I am missing something. Please post any comments or concerns you may have, or positive feedback too, in this Forum so all can see the developement. The target date for the Event is 04 Dec 04. Naturally I will have to get this all together soon so I will have to close off discussion and make my decision at Hallowe'en. Again, please give me feedback, positive or negative, or ask any questions right here. I will assume that people that read and don't post a reply either don't care or agree with my proposal. But I'd rather you make your opinion known as it will make the creation and approval process easier. Thanks all. The Blue Quasar

The Newsletter promised for download from the OGA is available on on web site We had a few hiccups along the way, but as we are still learning I hope you'll understand that we did our best and hope to continue to improve. You can find the CACHE-ON! newsletter on the News page OGA Site - News I hope to print some out for Cache-In this weekend for those attending. I am also considering a restructure of the OGA with respect to job descriptions and some minor layout concerns. More info on that if/when it unfolds. Until then, please enjoy the newsletter and if you have any content to provide please send all ideas to Amazon Annie (her email is posted on the OGA site in the Contacts area) OGA Site - Contacts The Blue Quasar Discovering Ontario one cache at a time

Thank you to GM100Guy for posting the link to the Ministry of Natural Resource's Survey. Should you have trouble accessing the Survey or receive the "You are not permitted to view this page" message, I would suggest returning to the first page of the Survey and sending an Email to request a mailed copy. Survey for Ontario Parks - As posted by GM100Guy The contact page for the Ministry of Natural Resources can be found at MNR Contact page The Blue Quasar Administrator of the Ontario Geocaching Association OGA

I sent my survey in as an email attachment, but it was not able to be opened. A person from the Legislative department for the Ministry of Natural Resourses contacted me directly. His letter was very nice and he is mailing me the survey so I may submit it. They were not aware of people having problems with the "You are not permitted to view this page" and the IT people were looking into it. I have since let him know about this Forum area so that they may see the varied feelings about the Survey and that we want to come to a solution that can provide an opportunity for Geocaching to once again be allowed in MNR/OP lands. I do encourage anyone posting here to be professional, but that is not to say you shouldn't express your frustrations or report dealings you've had with Parks personnel. I would encourage that too, along with posting that we would like to work with them. The person I have been in contact with knew full well who I was, my affiliation with OGA and that did not prevent them from replying directly to me. Although to us it appears that MNR/OP is slow to develop and adapt to new things, they do have many things to manage and we are just a small facet of groups they are aware of. I do hope that MNR/OP will expedite our concerns because I do believe that we have tried to contact them, but I've seen posts from MNR staff stating that we (Geocaching.com) have ignored them too. Probably the people at the top of both groups (MNR and GC) have been talking off and on and little filters down because there just isn't anything to report yet. No need to get anyone motivated until there are firm agreements in place. Lastly, I have let MNR know that I would be willing to talk with them and if any Geocachers have any items you might want brought up you should direct them to both Cache-Tech and the Administration of the Ontario Geocaching Association OGA's home page Thanks for reading this. The Blue Quasar

I did comment on mine that many of the questions were vague, not worded correctly and I wanted a lot more detail. I will be trying to complete the form online (I tried to email mine due to not being allowed to view the page once completed) I hope that they will finally begin to make time to meet with us. But I did notice that time intervals in their questionaire were rather lengthy, like "Every five years" for updates on secured areas. I hope that they realize that this is the information age and through mediums like the Internet they could keep many people informed on a much more timely basis. Hoping this is step in the right direction, instigated by MNR...... The Blue Quasar

The sign welcoming GNASHERS ????? I didn't see that and GNASHERS and GHAGAFAP are two different things GHAGAFAP is Trimbles Trek's name for events "Golden Horseshoe Area Geocachers and Family Annual Picnic" GNASHERS is The Blue Quasar's name for events "Geocachers of Niagara Area: Superior Hikers Enjoying Recreational Searching" (I made some effort to make up a name, but it's kinda lame) I wish I had seen it, I would have asked for it to be taken down as TT is a great host and his events should not be confused with mine. Now that GHAGAFAP 3 is complete, I will start to think about the next GNASHERS event tentatively planned for mid November in Niagara. To be honest... GAGAFAP was first, is the better event, and will probably never be beaten for quality. Some saleman eh? The Blue Quasar

I attempted to complete the survey/form. I too received "You are not permitted to view this page" I then saved the page and emailed it directly to the legislative email provided on the first page. I certainly hope they are serious about moving forward, because currently they appear closed to us. [8D] The Blue Quasar

Welcome to THAT side of the fence. Kind of like "Wilson" on "Home Improvement", we never really get to see you, you probably have the right answer and use subtle points to makes us see why our idea won't work. If that didn't come across right, that's normal. Good luck with the approving and explaining. My question is this.... What region do you support or cover? It took me ages to get Cache-Tech to put up with me, and my track record with a lady is not likely much better LOL. I have fun, because I can, and like the description of the planet Earth in the updated "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".... Mostly harmless. Welcome aboard. The Blue Quasar

After looking at your "recent finds" that might be quite a list. I don't know how to word this, so I'm gonna use my usual Scottish cant on this one.... "When was the last time you saw them, and when did you get them?". During those caches, was there any place you stopped to take something out of your pack that wasn't at the cache site (as in, you stopped at a bench and took out a water bottle etc.)? And for those ones that have multiple starting points (I know, I know), perhaps you could list which place you started from. And also, did you spend a large amount of time bent over searching at one place that stands out? The Blue Quasar

I have seen first hand the effect of "WarDriving" or searching for open WiFi networks with various handheld devices. It is very dangerous. Much worse than cell phone use (which also annoys me, unless you use a headset) However, compiling a list of WiFi spots is another example of 'too-much technology". Want to log your find... go home. As for the comment of "This call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes" while it is an interesting scare tactic, it is a fairly empty threat. You cannot record a person's voice for use in a court without their permission, and to be honest, you cannot record their voice period unless they give permission. To try to cover the liability under the 'be warned, we are taping you' method won't hold up as permission was never secured. Course, I'm not stupid enough to say something on our work telephone system that would come back to haunt me, indirectly. If they want to get you for something, they will, inspite of what the law might be. Back to the actual topic..... What is so IMPORTANT that you need a list of 'temporary' network connection points? Geocaching is supposed to be about getting outdoors, and if you want that level of technology in your Geocaching then I truely do feel sorry for you. [8D] The Blue Quasar