BigNick

Congratulations on hiding your caches. I was planning on coming up last week, but the weather foiled me - now with more caches I will definitely have to find the time. When are you planning on hitting "Para Para Noia" Nick.

It would be great if the status bar (that shows the lat/long at the mouse position) could show the distance the mouse is away from the current displayed point. This would allow you to get an idea how far something (geocache, minutewar flag etc) is away from the nearest road. Cheers Nick.

How is the progress going with your application? I am looking forward to the first release and am quite willing to kick some money your way. (1.TiBook400, 1a.yes, 2.OS9.2 and OSX.1, 2a.yes, 3.eTrex Basic, 4.just waypoint management would be enought to keep me happy, 5.yes) Cheers Nick.

How is the progress going with your application? I am looking forward to the first release and am quite willing to kick some money your way. (1.TiBook400, 1a.yes, 2.OS9.2 and OSX.1, 2a.yes, 3.eTrex Basic, 4.just waypoint management would be enought to keep me happy, 5.yes) Cheers Nick.

quote:Be warned, it is very addictive! Now that is an understatement Cheers Nick.

quote:Be warned, it is very addictive! Now that is an understatement Cheers Nick.

quote:I guess it won't do any harm so long as it can be integrated into the site in a way that doesn't clutter everything else up too much? The other option I have discussed with Rediguana is that if geocaching.com is not keen, then we set up a NZ site ourselves, but we need to know that people are interested, so please vote above. Cheers Nick.

quote:I've just purchased software that allows me to input the topo data into Illustrator and use that to create higher quality maps, so that will be another service I'll offer. Just a matter of learning how to use it now. An Illustrator EPS would be even better, you will not need for the user to specify a output size or resolution, plus the download size would be small (love that vector data) Hope it goes well for you. Cheers Nick.

Geocaching.com is going to be introducing a new facet to geocaching.com called "Benchmark Hunting" - here is a description from the website: quote:What is a benchmark? Benchmarks, also called Survey control markers or disks, are disks (and other various items) that are permanenty affixed at locations all over the United States to help land surveying. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) maintains a database of these locations, though much of the data is outdated. Why search for benchmarks? The interesting thing about benchmarks is that a majority of them are located on mountain peaks or in plain sight (though largely ignored by the general public). Searching out these locations and documenting them allow others to share pictures of the various areas where they are placed. There's a certain excitement to be the first to find and document a benchmark, as well as see where others have gone through photos on the web site. Some benchmarks haven't been documented found in some time, so you may also be rediscovering benchmarks as well! What do I do when I find one? If you have a digital camera, we ask that you take a picture of the disk, and several pictures of the area around the disk. You can even use a compass to mark your photo so people who see the benchmark can view the area from your point of view. Or just log your find for others to read. Because the LINZ has NZ's Geodetic Database available for download, who would be interested if Jeremy could integrate NZ into the new site? (And in case Jeremy or Elias is reading this, the data is available at http://gdb.linz.govt.nz/ and the database has the co-ords in NZGD2000 which agrees to WGS84 within 10cm) Cheers Nick.

quote:So if any of your users know business that would be willing pay a license fee to have location maps on their web sites or email signatures or just advertise please let them know about the site. Thanks for that. I have had a thought about another option you might like to consider to make some money to support the site. I work at a printing company, and our graphic designer is frequently re-drawing street maps for the back of brochures that we design (the "we are here" sort of thing) - can your software support the generation of higher resolution maps? If it does, you could use the current site as a preview, then an option to purchase and download a higher resolution, suitable for printing (needs to be 300dpi at the final printing size) then let the various printing and design companies around NZ know about the site, and the time it could save them. Just a idea Cheers Nick.

quote:So if any of your users know business that would be willing pay a license fee to have location maps on their web sites or email signatures or just advertise please let them know about the site. Thanks for that. I have had a thought about another option you might like to consider to make some money to support the site. I work at a printing company, and our graphic designer is frequently re-drawing street maps for the back of brochures that we design (the "we are here" sort of thing) - can your software support the generation of higher resolution maps? If it does, you could use the current site as a preview, then an option to purchase and download a higher resolution, suitable for printing (needs to be 300dpi at the final printing size) then let the various printing and design companies around NZ know about the site, and the time it could save them. Just a idea Cheers Nick.

Gazza, do you mind if I link to your website from within an application I am writing for playing Minutewar. I have not uploaded a new beta version yet (v0.4.6), but when I do, you will be able to get it here. Minutewar is another GPS game, but unlike geocaching there is nothing to actually find at the location, you just have to get there and capture a virtual flag. My application is just an interface to the game board, providing a faster way to view the board (also play out strategy, and most importantly display maps for your location) - the maps are displayed in a web browser window, so basically all it does is form the URL and pass it to the users default browser. The program is freeware. Cheers Nick.

quote:Originally posted by gazzanic: Decimal degrees would be -43.5774666, 172.67041666 you are entering degrees and decimal minutes and the program (or the programmer) isn't smart enough to realise that. If you want to I could split the coords into seperate degrees/minutes/seconds fields which would allow you to do the above. Opps, colour me stupid. Yes, I really wanted degrees and decimal minutes (as this is how the WGS-84/NZMG2000 are reported on the cache pages) and of course without having to find the degrees symbol on the keyboard Cheers Nick. P.S I hope others are playing with this site (see URL in first message) as it is great if you don't have any mapping software (or if you discover a new cache, and want to head out after work without having to go home and find it on the map - or am I the only one who does this )

quote:Originally posted by gazzanic: Decimal degrees would be -43.5774666, 172.67041666 you are entering degrees and decimal minutes and the program (or the programmer) isn't smart enough to realise that. If you want to I could split the coords into seperate degrees/minutes/seconds fields which would allow you to do the above. Opps, colour me stupid. Yes, I really wanted degrees and decimal minutes (as this is how the WGS-84/NZMG2000 are reported on the cache pages) and of course without having to find the degrees symbol on the keyboard Cheers Nick. P.S I hope others are playing with this site (see URL in first message) as it is great if you don't have any mapping software (or if you discover a new cache, and want to head out after work without having to go home and find it on the map - or am I the only one who does this )

Here is how I have been painting my caches. I made this pattern which I printed out A3 in B&W and laminated, then trimmed out the black areas. The container is undercoated in flat black, then each stencil is laid over the container and spray painted with matt brown, tan and green spray paint (from South City DIY). I have been pretty happy with the results. Cheers Nick

quote:Originally posted by tgsnoopy: Hmm, I'm assuming Port Hills now. Now I couldn't possibly comment on that Cheers Nick.

quote:Originally posted by tgsnoopy: Hmm, I'm assuming Port Hills now. Now I couldn't possibly comment on that Cheers Nick.

Opps, it is really broken. If you click on the map it does not generate the correct URL now either. Nick.

OK, what am I doing wrong? If I enter a set of co-ords with decimal degrees it ignores them. ie if I enter "-43 34.648" and "172 40.225" it just resolves to "-43" and "172" Cheers Nick.

quote:Originally posted by tgsnoopy: Nice one BaldEd, Looks good, I will have to attempt that when I visit Christchurch some time in Winter. Question though, will I need a car to get to the final cache, I'm not intending on hiring one if I can help it! It is a great cache, but you probably would want a car to get to the final cache location. If you wanted to hookup I could give you transport to some of the local Chch caches. Nick

quote:Originally posted by tgsnoopy: Nice one BaldEd, Looks good, I will have to attempt that when I visit Christchurch some time in Winter. Question though, will I need a car to get to the final cache, I'm not intending on hiring one if I can help it! It is a great cache, but you probably would want a car to get to the final cache location. If you wanted to hookup I could give you transport to some of the local Chch caches. Nick

quote:Use this page to create your URL's;http://www.wherearewe.co.nz/geturl.html How come the lat/long are readonly, that means you need to know where to click on the map to generate the URL - it would be great to be able to type the required lat/long (in decimal degrees) and have it generate the encoded URL. Cheers Nick.

Now that is very cool, much better that the cruddy detail that mapquest.com shows you I have not had too much of a play yet but should the comment field do anything? Cheers Nick.

Now that is very cool, much better that the cruddy detail that mapquest.com shows you I have not had too much of a play yet but should the comment field do anything? Cheers Nick.

Have a look at Nandors "Tricky" series of caches. The first 3 were quite easy, but after 4 days of on and off code breaking I am still no closer to "Tricky4" - easy this is not! Cheers Nick.