martlakes

1. Why when I take a photo via the app why does this not upload to the geocaching site ? I don't do this very often, prefer to do my pics when I get home rather than faff in the field. When I have tried it, it has worked, so not sure. 2. Why when I choose a cache as a favourite again this does not update the main site ? Maybe depends which sort of favourite you mean. If you mean adding a favour point to a cache, then no, you can't do it on the app. Doing a search, gives you the option of 'Add to Favourites' but this just adds the details to a favourite list in your saved tab. Means you have the info when off line, same as a PQ list. HTH

Are the Scouts over 18?

Yep, that's a bit weird but no, I don't know her. The B&W image is very good, but I do like the green colour, shiny nose, and wood. M

Roar! A great knocker! http://coord.info/GC1W79F Unfortunately, it appears the cache isn't being maintained.

Seems to be a site problem in allocating favorites at the moment. Only just managed to do one, which failed earlier today. Can't do another one. Get a strange cache page and it doesn't register it.

I generally do mine now at 900 width, but save them at 15 quality, which nearly always gets them down to well below the 125k max. 900 seems to fit todays monitors well. For examples, see any of my pics posted to the forums in the Dec/Jan photo competitions. On the screen the quality seems perfectly ok, as you're only viewing at 72dpi I believe. As an aside, do Americans have a different form of grammar? I've never thought this sentence was even close to English: Almost as good as "Needs Archived" No offence to anyone, but it's always bugged me.

A slightly different answer to your Q is the Little Quest series. Not as many caches as some, but it entails finding a cache in each county of England, so a fair bit of travel! http://coord.info/GC154N9

Hic! Here's one of my caches. http://coord.info/GC1WHE5 Was it lucky it got published at all, or lucky all the names have disappeared! Hic! (Life is one big, continual slippery slope requiring balance. Trying to keep off the slope is pointless, dull, and leads to stagnation.)

Ah yes! I remember that log. For some reason we often quote the sharp pointy teeth caption!

View from the cache! We had about 50 sheep following us at the top of the small fell, and they watched us find the cache from 10ft away! This despite having our pretend wolf with us! We weren't scared. [8D] http://coord.info/GC2KP4Z "Slowly and surely they drew their plans against us."

Don't forget that Nuclear Power station police are armed and licenced to use them! I imagine many other spots on the above list would also include armed officers! I hope they would ask questions first!

See also savelakelandsforests.org.uk You can sign their petition if you wish. Just when the NW FC were starting to relax about geocaching.

I'm sure one of mine gets lots more visits because of the name. It's just a micro drive-by on a busy dual-carriageway but the name is intriguing. "Nuns in a Bunker?" http://coord.info/GC1K7JT One that's now sadly archived was called "Torchy Goes Bananas" by Fellsmanhiker Most of the rest of mine are location based. Simple, don't try to be too clever!

I think the issue is more about the ease of entry to geocaching that phones produce. You've got a phone, hear about geocaching, get a £5 app and away you go. Unfortunately, you probably know very little about the game or how to use the equipment in your hand. Previously, you had to be fairly nerdy to have gone out and bought a GPS as 'normal' people don't need them, but lots of folk now have phones with GPS. As I've said, the iPhone4 is actually very good. I've not used my Garmin to find or set caches for quite a few months because I need to fix the battery connector that has come adrift. The iPhone4 has been a perfectly fine substitute (apart from once when it ran out of juice!). My previous 3G was pretty poor and not a great bit of kit for caching. But with the v4 there's little impetus to fix the Garmin at the moment but I still want to as it's more waterproof and robust for those extreme days out. So, try and educate newbies rather than waffle on about how bad the iPhone is (v4 at least). And if you don't have a v4 then two choices, cough up £500 or sign up to an 18 month contract, or just go and buy a cheap GPS. In the meantime, always treat newbie caches with caution cos even with a dedicated GPS they may well make a mistake or two. With the great spread of geocaching in the last year or so, which will probably continue, it's no surprise that a lot of technically unaware folk are now entering the game. (And no, I'm not an Apple fanboi, but it's a shame to see a good bit of kit needlessly slandered!)

Think you need to upgrade your app and/or the iOS. I posted a thread about this problem when the iOS changed, but since then Groundspeak brought out an update to solve the problem. I also suspect that you are using a 3G phone. Yes, the gps isn't great. If you get an iPhone4 you will be pleasantly surprised at how good it is. I use mine nearly all the time and it is often more accurate than my Garmin, especially under trees. iPhone4 is the version which actually works.

Hi Try this: from your public profile, click your stat bar, click the geocaches tab, click 'All geocache hides' to show your list of caches you've hidden. Now click the 'favourite' rosette to sort by favourite score.

Wow G, that close up is amazing - looks like a claw holding up a precious jewel! Really good. Landscape is great too, nice composition. Here's a strange sight we came across at Staveley. Honestly, this was exactly how we found it and no Photoshopping or anything involved. The river was frozen on the edges and I can only presume this was what was left of an earlier section, or spray on a rock. Really don't know how it formed. http://coord.info/GC173PZ One from a recce for a possible cache. Canal was frozen and someone had cycled along it, but not through the bridge, which looks much thinner! Great late afternoon light coming through.

Back on topic! Taken today while we were out and about in the Lyth Valley http://coord.info/GC25WB1

This was one we found on the Isle of Man - beyond the point that lube would help! As I picked it up my finger went through the rust on one edge. The lid isn't attached anymore as the hinges have gone. The pic shows the best side, the other has obvious holes. The problem is being right on the sea cliff: salt and iron. Funnily enough the contents (in a bag) were dry as it's hidden under a ledge. http://coord.info/GCTATF

Had a fun walk up to one of our caches - lots of sun, snow and great views. Safie likes the snow and loves jumping for snowballs! Here's a shot as the sun is setting near Bishop's Tithe Cache http://coord.info/GC1D6PX

Just given it a go and it seems to have solved the map problem. Well done Groundspeak for a pretty quick fix. Try it out properly tomorrow and see if all is good.

No, doesn't affect either cos as you know climbing trees is easy peasy!! Just think up!!

"Just a cache"? Not sure what this means. If it is in a fairly obvious spot, that anyone who has found a few caches is likely to look and go "Ah!" then 1* or if you are going to give very specific directions in a hint. 2* there are several possible sites, and/or it's not particularly obvious and I'll have to look around a bit. A non-specific hint, but helpful. 3* as 2 but more so. Going to expect a bit of a hunt here. Not the usual pile of sticks/stones type hide. Could be a camoed container, or a sneaky spot. Hint: needs some thinking about and/or a bit cryptic. Me - DNF might well happen here! 4* getting tricky now. Would expect to spend a fair bit of time looking. Not going to be an easy hunt although might get lucky! Creative/unusual hide or very well hidden. Hint: cryptic, obscure or only realise what it means after finding the cache! Me - quite/very likely to cause a DNF! 5* hmmm - not sure cos I've not done (m)any true 5* D ones! Would expect it to be very tricky for me as I'm a bear of little brain. Evil nasty hide which I'll get frustrated with and mutter comments about the cache owner! But will get a huge amount of satisfaction if I find it! Would expect more than one visit may be needed to find it. Hint: probably plain language but appears to be no help whatsoever! Five star D caches are, of course, easily found by a newby on their first caching trip! If it's a puzzle with D5* then I probably wouldn't bother trying it as it will be too hard!! Likely wouldn't even know where to start! I can, of course DNF a cache whatever its star rating! Many caches are not as above, even some of mine might not quite fit this outline. When setting mine I compare with my others and try and judge how hard folk will find it, its level of sneakiness and help (or not) with the hint to try and get most people finding it, although it might need a bit of work. I don't generally like folk to not find my caches as I know I don't usually enjoy a DNF unless it's purposefully sneaky. I can also 'have my cacher eye in' and find a 'hard' cache straight away or just be lucky. It's all pretty subjective and as we all know, we can get a DNF on a 1.5* with a cache page full of other logs with "easy find", "walked straight to it" etc, just to rub it in! Find quite a few caches and you'll get a better feel for the stars. Have fun.

5* terrain for both - simple.

Thanks to everyone who entered, lots of good pics. It wasn’t the easiest of themes (those early mornings!) mostly cos it’s quite hard to capture the subtle colours in the sky, which to the eye look great but not always as good in the pic. Amazing how ‘technically advanced’ a Mk1 eyeball is! Same with snow or frost pics - they never seem to quite get the sparkle of being there. So, technically can be tricky and a few minutes either way can make a big difference as the light changes. A bit of processing is sometimes useful to help the colours a little, and balance the levels a bit. As well as getting the right moment for the light, one still has to remember the composition of the pic - interest and perspective. Anyway, plenty of successful pics and the ‘panel of judges’ didn’t find it an easy decision to pic a winner! Here’s some comments for ones we particularly enjoyed, plus a top 4. K9 - great silhouette of the tree Hobgoblin - marvelous cityscape Collin4unow - great perspective on the church Flipflopnick - hands are great: was that a purposeful set of ripples? They give the pic some movement and ‘life’ to the hands, much better pic than just a ‘muddy puddle’ would have been. Just wondered if that was done on purpose or just the result of a geobeagle! highcliff - was the cache at the end of the rainbow! The twin sunrise and sunset ones are great Woodruff - dramatic! Shame the darker one has lost the trees on the right. Probably ideal would be the level between the two - more colour but still with the trees. The bottom one is very good though. nitroglysarine - nice aerial view! goosegogger - what was the theme again! (don’t let currykev lead you astray!) Nice sun flare over the trees The QCs - great shot: extra rations for the 5 yr old! Lifechooser - I really like the first obelisk shot, with the curving perspective, crips edge and old ivy against a blue sky. dogastus - cracking shot with birds and boat providing focus. Great depth, movement and colour. Might fall foul of the ‘UK cache’ rule though! Guanajuato - great composition and reflection in middle one. Goldpot - great snow scene and almost ‘fairytale’ castle of the bridge. Thanks to all the others - too many to mention. So, to the top 4: In 4th: The QC’s -”it’s over there under those sticks Mum!” 3rd: Woodruff Sycamorph, bottom one of the pair. Can imagine that enlarged and on my wall 2nd: maiawalli - got the moment spot on, great sky and composition And the winner of this month’s competition is: Hobgblinkiteflier - not my usual preferred landscape of hills, but a cracking shot which has caught the different lights of the buildings and the sky perfectly. A really dramatic shot IMHO Cheers Martlakes