Jump to content

infiniteMPG

+Premium Members
  • Posts

    1030
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by infiniteMPG

  1. That would be like listing fake caches to annoy cache thieves. It serves to annoy cache seekers just as much as the cache thief does and the thief may never notice.
    I don't agree as I don't know any legit cachers who visit a cache for the sole purpose of snagging a trackable. They're going to snag the smilie and if there's a trackable then that's icing on the cake. If they go to snag a trackable item and it's not there it could be missing due to someone snagging it between when they read the listing and when they arrived, someone snagged it a while back and hasn't logged it, or it's been stolen/raided/muggled. Missing trackables is not a rarity and if that's why a legit cacher visits a hide then regardless of "fake" coins, they're going to experience a lot of frustration.

     

    On the other hand, a cache raider WILL definitely visit a cache for the sole purpose of snagging a free trackable (normally geocoin). The thought is that if THEY visit caches and the items listed in the inventory are not there, THEY might get tired of THEIR raider game and quit. A legit cacher will just write it off as part of the game, log their find and move on. Happens hundreds of times a day.

     

    But the raider might tire of their game if the bogus coins are in a cache that's tough to get to. And I don't mean a ten mile hike tough as I doubt even they would trek that far for a coin, but something like a semi-urban cache in a tough placement to get to. One I have in mind is at the end of a near country road, to get to it is crossing a little creek that is overgrown with thorn bushes and will almost definitely draw blood :)

  2. You can't control other people, but you can control how you react to them. Ignore the creeps and leave the vigilante justice in the movies where it belongs.

    Probably right with that. I have lost my fair share of my own trackables and hate to be the one to have to tell people their personally valuable memorabilia or coins are gone :) Made most of my easy to snag traditionals in to premium only caches but kind of hate doing that as people new to the sport will be running around not knowing those even exist.

     

    But then again many people new to the sport don't have a clue as to what a TB or geocoin is or how to log it. There's a possibility they just think the coins are swag and snag 'em cause they're neat not knowing they're supposed to log them out. But when coins are placed, then we check the hide with no logged finds and the stuff is gone with no logged finds, that's raiding, not rookies.

  3. Not a good idea. Ignore the creep, they will get bored and move along to cause trouble somewhere else. They want attention, even this thread is a bad idea as it gives them press and exposure.
    I doubt they want attention, seems to me they want free geocoins which they can get any time anything pops up in a cache's inventory. And I doubt they'll "go away" as they probably live in the area, even if just a snow-bird seasonal thing.

     

    Kind of want to do it as some detective work. Kind of think that if a raider ("creep") goes to a cache to steal coins and they don't find any, they might just log the find to put a note to say there were no coins in the cache. At least they'd get something for their efforts and wouldn't walk away empty handed. But if a particular cacher seems to zoom to the caches where coins get logged soon after they get logged in it could be a little detective-like to start forming a picture of who's doing it.

     

    It was also suggested to set up a cache we could put a web cam at. I was thinking of doing this for entertainment at one time, but now it could be done to bust a raider. Just a thought.

  4. Interesting. Travelbugs/trackables might be safer in multi and puzzle caches. Are the cache maggots in the OP's area also raiding multis and puzzles or just the traditionals?
    Just traditionals and not just mine. As far as handcuffing or bothering other legit local cachers, they are the ones already discovering TB's and coins are NOT in the caches as the inventory shows. They don't seem too bent about that now, they just put "no coins in cache" in their logs (or something along those lines).

     

    Also unfortunately this kind of lends itself to making easy to find caches micros yet if we do that, then there's another group of micro-haters who would b*tch because there's no regulars around. How do you control trackables in caches? Put a note in the listing stating PLEASE DO NOT PLACE TRACKABLES IN THIS CACHE AS THEY MAY BE STOLEN. That would really put a damper on the whole reason to put a traditional out there. Especially things like rest area TB motels.

     

    As far as "ignoring the creep", that would be fine except when I have to email someone saying things like "Sorry to inform you that the trackable coin you put out in honor of your fallen military son that had 20,000 miles on it was stolen by some creep". I doubt they want to "ignore the creep" any more then I do.

  5. We have had a massive rash of caches raided in the area especially all the geocoins. It's been totally frustrating and irritating and personally I have grown weary of having to go to someone's unique geocoin page and report it missing.

     

    So just came up with a rather manacle idea and of course this is a great place to pass it along. Thinking about taking a few coins from my private collection and activating them. Then on the coin listing page putting some outrageous beautiful fantastic amazing picture making it look big, neat, unique and EXPENSIVE. Then pick some regular cache (or caches) that are real bears to get to (I don't mean "bears" I mean tough) with no trackable inside and plopping them in it via log, not literally, just online. Regular cachers would pretty much understand that sometimes inventories don't match contents so they would probably just report that the coin(s) weren't there. BUT someone who is a cache raider would be drolling seeing that pop up and would be totally frustrated when they arrived and nothing was there. Oops :blink: Might actually make them think twice about raiding.

     

    It might "bother" a regular cacher but a regular cache probably runs across caches who's contents don't match the inventory all the time. But it would be kind of like a fishing trip to snag a few RAIDERS :(

     

    Unethical? Frowned upon? Or just a different twist on the game? Just tired of this cr@p and feel a need to do something about it beyond making loads of caches premium only.

  6. Right now here in west central Florida we are having a massively bad rash of caches being raided. Recently I have done or had done by others, an inventory on traditional caches I own that showed items in their inventory. So far EVERY SINGLE CACHE that showed inventory had NOTHING in it. Most all of the MIA items are geocoins and it's become pretty obvious that some low-life out there got their hands on a GPSr, set up an account on GC and has been hunting down and raiding geocaches that show trackable items, probably the main target is geocoins.

     

    After giving this some thought which included ideas like making a lock box with a combination lock on it and in the cache have people call to get the combination when they find the cache which made me think people would just steal the whole shooting match. Then laying traps for them but then couldn't tell if someone was innocently finding a cache or raiding it. Then web-cam ideas.... duh, this was getting stupid. Then thought about changing them to premium only but then nothing would stop someone from spending a few bucks to have access to tons of free geocoins. Maybe a tad safer, but not much more so.

     

    Next thing I thought in my thinking mood, was what if GC just changed their theory on how they handled geocoins. This was my thought :

    - ONLY allow OWNERS to SEE the inventory in their hides, no one else. (Or allow trackable owners the option to HIDE or SHOW their items in a cache inventory, if I had this option ALL of my geocoins would be set to HIDE).

     

    - Have cachers move trackables around like they always did and log them, but just don't display the inventory to the general public

     

    - Still show trackable locations on the trackable item page, but if you were in a location it would be tough to track down what trackables are around.

     

    After all, the whole idea (I thought) behind trackable items was to be "surprise" discoveries when you find a cache. That way the people who would find the trackables would be people who are just geocaching. You'd pretty much REMOVE the risk of having someone search for caches with trackable items and go raid the hide.

     

    I had my picture cast into the latest geocoin issued by the FGA and the first one I put out was stolen along with several other geocoins before it logged one move. And in the last several months I have had to put MARK THIS ITEM MISSING logs on trackable (mainly geocoins) more then I had to in the last several years of geocaching. Raided caches is at epidemic levels and I think it's time to change. I am tempted to note on my hides to NOT place geocoins in them as no cache is safe right now.

     

    The fun of geocaching is the unknown.... I think this would actually make trackables a fun thing again rather then a target for raiders. If not globally, make people have an option to HIDE their items in a cache's inventory (but still visible by the owners of the cache and the trackable) so they can reduce the risk that their neat trackable or memorable geocoin doesn't end up on some muggles keychain. :lol:

     

    Thanks for letting me ramble.

  7. I've no problem logging a "find" on such a cache. I will do so too if I ever get around to one I adopted. I also understand if folks decide not to log such a cache.
    I think the best policy will be if I can find it as if I was a cacher searching then claim the smilie, if not and I have to resort to something like contacting the original owner for info to find, then it will just go down as a maintenance run...

     

    Thanks for the input!

  8. I had adopted quite a few caches over the last few months from one cacher friend who's disability is now preventing him from maintaining them, and then a dozen or so more from another caching friend who moved out of the area. Tricky thing is I am now responsible for maintaining caches that I have never found. So my question is, what are the ethics about finding and logging finds on caches that, through the adoption process, you now own? :)

  9. To avoid giving the game a black eye in questionable circumstances I specifically avoid mentioning exactly what I am doing unless it becomes clear the encounter is going to be a friendly one. Exception for law enforcement who gets a straight answer right from the start. (Which hasn't happened yet to me.)
    I pretty much am never seen geocaching without my camera gear, so that's always a good out.... taking pictures. If you're focusing a camera at something chances are you'll never even get asked :ph34r:
  10. A cache in preserve, the listing provides the preserve name and that the cache is about a mile from the entry. 2 different cachers drove as close to the cache as they could (about .2 miles - driving past the preserve entry), trespassed across heavily posted private property, found the cache, then ripped me in their logs for "sending them" across posted land! "you are the kind of cacher who gives geocaching a bad name" (really). D'oh
    Agree 110%... it's doesn't take a improperly hidden cache to give GC a black eye. People caught digging in an Indian mount because they had the coords wrong and don't know caches can't be buried, people who don't read the listing and park illegally, or take the wrong approach, jump fences and get caught cutting thru yards or pastures... when asked what they were doing and they reply "geocaching", it does the same damage as a bad hide might. You can put "DO NOT TOUCH" signs all around something all you want and yet clean the fingerprints off it every day :ph34r:

     

    Keeping the hides as quality as possible helps, but having an educated caching community would help, too :ph34r:

  11. In Florida its "Sabal Palm" trees, a pill bottle or film can stuck in one of the dead branch notches that go all the way around, top to bottom on the trunk.
    There is no way to search thru a sabal except to stuff your fingers down into each branch one at a time... and not saying not to hide any of them there, but just tossing a film canister in one has been coined in descriptions as "typical Florida hide".... ::yawn::
  12. We had one of the PQ generators fail again - it's been restarted, but there is a backup in the queue now.
    This brings up a question regarding something I saw last night and have seen several time. I set up a PQ to run yesterday (Sunday) but it didn't run, so here it is Monday and the PQ was still set for Sunday. So now GC sees it wasn't requested to run until Sunday (in SIX days) so it will just sit on it and next Sunday I'll get a PQ emailed to me :ph34r: (maybe)

     

    Question is, why not just pick or create a PQ to run and drop the date stuff? Can't say as I can see why someone would sit here on Monday and request a PQ to be run, but not want it emailed to them until Thursday :ph34r: I would bet that 99.999% of the PQ's requested, people want them ASAP and not some day later in the week. I can only see the date thing as adding an extra variable to screw up....

  13. I see that your PQ has since generated, but for future reference: Pocket Queries are prioritized according to when they were last run. Since this PQ was just run yesterday afternoon, it was at nearly the back of the pack and thus had to wait while the rest of the queue was processed ahead of it. However, if in the future you copy a PQ to a new one and run the copy, you will get it almost immediately.

    That's a good trick to know. And I didn't know about the "when last run" aspect of PQ's, makes sense.

     

    Thanks! :)

  14. The PQ you are talking about had a last run timestamp of midnight exactly. That means that an error was encountered when running it (usually an issue of a server time out, although I'm not sure why it would have happened with such a relatively straight-forward PQ). In any case, I reset it and it successfully ran for me moments ago. You should receive it soon.

    Yup, got it last night at home. Unfortunately I was going to copy it to a flash drive and bring it with me today to check caches for a maintenance run and I forgot. So I fired off the PQ to run again first thing this morning (around 8:00-ish) and now it's around 10:00-ish and it's still sitting idle with the red check mark after 2 hours.

     

    I used to run PQ's and they were within 10-15 minutes. Lately it seems if I get them in 4-6 hours I feel lucky. What should be the norm for how long it takes to receive a PQ?

  15. The PQ you are talking about had a last run timestamp of midnight exactly. That means that an error was encountered when running it (usually an issue of a server time out, although I'm not sure why it would have happened with such a relatively straight-forward PQ). In any case, I reset it and it successfully ran for me moments ago. You should receive it soon.

    Yup, got it last night at home. Unfortunately I was going to copy it to a flash drive and bring it with me today to check caches for a maintenance run and I forgot. So I fired off the PQ to run again first thing this morning (around 8:00-ish) and now it's around 10:00-ish and it's still sitting idle with the red check mark after 2 hours.

     

    I used to run PQ's and they were within 10-15 minutes. Lately it seems if I get them in 4-6 hours I feel lucky. What should be the norm for how long it takes to receive a PQ?

  16. Not just one person's error. I have several pocket queries that I have saved and run regularly, one of them is my caches that I own so I can flag anything with DNF's for possible maintenance. I fired it up as I always did last evening and set it for Sunday to run. Around midnight it still hadn't emailed the file to me and the little red check was still in Sunday, so I powered off.

     

    This morning I looked, still no emailed file and still red check for Sunday. Since it was no longer Sunday I opened the query, changed the request date to Monday and the little red check was now in today's day of Monday. That was about NINE HOURS AGO and the little red check is still checked, and still no file email to me.

     

    It's not just the topic's author, there's something flaky going on as I've done this same thing hundreds of times without issue, now I can't get the PQ to fire off at all

    :):):D:):D:):D:D:(:P:lol:

     

    With a pretty large event we're hosting this Saturday just getting organized, it would be kind of nice to be able to run a PQ....

  17. 5) Turn off auto-renew if it's on.

    Hope this helps everyone having this problem!

    Not helping me. When I went thru the steps and got to the My Membership Details page there is no option to turn On or Off auto-renew. The text says it's set to auto-renew YES but I got an email stating my membership was going to expire and would NOT auto-renew. It also says that memberships that begin with an S- were grandfathered in and some instructions on how to cancel this thru PayPal. I spent a half an hour in my PayPal account and couldn't find anything about automatic payments to Groundspeak being set to go and able to be cancelled.

     

    Sent an email and just got the canned ticket number response. I'm pretty computer savvy, I feel sorry for someone without good patience or abilities on the computer trying to muddle thru this. I have no clue it my account is getting ready to auto-renew or not.... :)

  18. Darn, I am over-qualified for this job :(

    I think another qualification needs to be if you owe back taxes as well :) Well good luck to who ever gets appointed to be czar ;)

    You really mean that whomever gets appointed czar you hope they are weak enough to knock off in a geocaching coup, right? :mad:
    Just to be on topic a little, the forums are working good this afternoon.
    The PHP error I got was today.... :lol:
  19. Then can I be the caching czar??? Pretty please :(
    Only if you have less then 2 finds, you use a Garmin 100AVD that runs off of potato batteries, you think the internet is what catches the fish that get past the outternet, and the only travel bugs you know about are what you got that one summer in Mexico... then YOU HAVE THE JOB!!! :lol:
  20. Some have said that "Geocaching is the art of hiding things in plain sight". While not always true - that saying does offer some clues how to secure a cache - hide it so well that nobody looking at it thinks of taking it. Camo it. Or find a location that will offer enough cover so that is unlikely to be found by non-cachers.
    Have a few people send me pictures of them taking friends to find caches and really like the pictures they take of stumped cachers within inches of the cache and don't even know it. :(
×
×
  • Create New...