helixblue

I wanted to let everyone here know that I have replied to the letter sent to me earlier today regarding GeoToad. I'm trying to work out an arrangement with the Geocaching.com team in order to preserve the future of the open source GeoToad toolkit. Suffice to say, this will most likely require that GeoToad be crippled for non-premium members. This was a feature that I had planned on adding, so it does not upset me in the least. While I do not agree with the letter, I will do whatever it takes to make GeoToad compatible with their requirements. Team DEMP referred to the poor performance of GeoToad. This (along with other techniques) is done on purpose to minimize the load on the Geocaching.com servers. It's what being a good net citizen is all about. Team DEMP asked about what features make GeoToad unique. Some of the info below may be out of date, so please excuse: * First of all, GeoToad can output Geocaching output to more formats than anything else on the planet. GeoToad was written before Pocket Queries as a tool to save Geocache information onto my iPod. * GeoToad allows you to include and exclude people who have found the cache. I go geocaching a lot with my girlfriend, and sometimes I want to compete with her (include only caches she's done, but not ones I've done), and sometimes I want to collaborate with her (exclude caches done by either of us). * GeoToad allows you to exclude people who have placed the cache. WE4NC's caches always bugged me, so I added this. * Full keyword searches. GeoToad can search keywords from the comments or cache description to make your match. You are not restricted to simple keywords, but complex regular expressions as well. * Filter by if anyone has found the cache, or how long ago it was placed or visited. Sometimes I want to only pick caches that I know are easy (difficulty 3 or lower, found in the last 60 days), or the newest caches. One of the most interesting (and controversial) features that is disabled by default in 3.7.1 is "comment ratings". You can filter caches out by how positive it's finders have been about finding (or not finding it). It's disabled because 3.7.1's implementation sucks. In 3.8, we're using an external library to grade whether or not a paragraph is overly positive or not, modeled after Spam Assasin's spam detection. GeoToad 4.0 has more innovation in store (especially regarding interfaces and devices). I hope to work with the Geocaching.com team to make it's release work well within their framework, and maybe even have it integrated into their product lineup as a Premium only feature. I hope this answers some of your questions. / Thomas

I just wanted to say that GeoToad 3.0.1 (released today) adds CacheMate support through CMConvert. Tested under Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, should work on any platform that supports CMConvert. Thanks for your help, Maeglin.

The second cache in the open-source cache series, The Book of Mozilla Geocache, is now open for business! Much thanks to iryshe for approving the geocache. This cache is super easy (a good lunchtime cache), get the free $50 while it lasts.

I've appealed to the higher geocache gods (jeremy) to see if I can get the remaining two caches approved. I took as much background information away from them so as to look less like an advertisement. Fun Fun!

I was hoping to save my next post for my announcement that the next two caches "The Book of Mozilla" and "matz, where are you?" were open.. but they got rejected due to a "commercial nature" . Here's what came in my e-mail: quote:Message: Please review these guidelines for geocaches, particularly the section on anything that could be perceived to be of a commercial nature. http://www.geocaching.com/articles/requirements.asp If after reading that, you feel that your cache submission should be posted as currently written please e-mail Jeremy using the link on the web site and obtain his permission. Thank you for your understanding, erik - geocaching.com admin I sent this back to him: quote: As far as rejecting the open-source caches.. you rejected: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=44004 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=44029 but you approved: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=43286 All of these caches have one thing in common. They have you download free, non-commercial, open-source projects that dedicated hackers (like myself) have slaved on.. to brand geocaches referencing them as "commercial nature" is very disturbing. What can I do to make the two rejected geocaches more like the approved one? Hopefully I don't have to cancel the open source geocache series I'll keep you guys updated with the status of the caches.

Each cache will have a $50 bill for the first person (hopefully a geocacher!) who finds it.

I promised JoeyBob and Mariner last February that I would go ahead and setup a unique cache in the Triangle area, and well.. times flown, and I've come in and out of virtual retirement several times since. I've decided to make a couple of open-source themed caches, and here is the first one: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=43286 It might possibly be the first cache to require you to download a game (gltron). It's a nice area, and not much of a walk (if you walk more than 0.25mi, you are doing something wrong).. but the hiding places are fun. I originally was not going to put so many hints around, but I upon user testing (roommate who have never geocached before!), decided the hiding spots may be too hard for some folks. If you are up for a fun challenge, go for it. The second cache of the series, "The Book of Mozilla", will be up by next weekend. It will require you to have Phoenix or Chimera installed on your machine. After that comes "matz, where are you?", which will require Ruby to be installed on your machine. P.S. If anyone brings any travel bugs to Beneath Encom (small ones!), I'll try and make sure they get placed in a cache in Sweden next month.

Man, how I would love to join you on this one. I really hope you can find someone else willing to go for it! If only I hadn't overdrawn my vacation days hanging out on the Amazon last month, I'd be all over this

Man, how I would love to join you on this one. I really hope you can find someone else willing to go for it! If only I hadn't overdrawn my vacation days hanging out on the Amazon last month, I'd be all over this

I'm a Raleigh area happy volunteer for whatever needs be done.. I'm gonna try to go for my half-centennial tomorrow (I need to update some logs it looks like), and would be happy to help out some centennial's

I'm a Raleigh area happy volunteer for whatever needs be done.. I'm gonna try to go for my half-centennial tomorrow (I need to update some logs it looks like), and would be happy to help out some centennial's

It's a pretty cool place. Only confusing thing is that there are two Alehouse's in Cary.. MacGregor AleHouse (which has been around forever, in the MacGregor shopping area on 64), and the new Cary AleHouse (Crossroads) that opened up in March. I myself prefer the MacGregor Alehouse, but probably because it's a much smaller place. As far as the Cary Alehouse: * Great fries * Weak Long Island Ice Teas. * Good bartenders * Can be very very packed if you share the same night as a sporting event, or on a weekend. I've had a 2 hour wait there before. * Can get to be overly loud.. Expect to use the phone booth if you need to talk on a cellphone. All in all, Cary Alehouse is a decent, if not crowded place to meetup. It's easily accessed by everyone, as it's just off the beltline. Can't wait to see the other area geocachers that I've not yet had the chance to meet.

It's a pretty cool place. Only confusing thing is that there are two Alehouse's in Cary.. MacGregor AleHouse (which has been around forever, in the MacGregor shopping area on 64), and the new Cary AleHouse (Crossroads) that opened up in March. I myself prefer the MacGregor Alehouse, but probably because it's a much smaller place. As far as the Cary Alehouse: * Great fries * Weak Long Island Ice Teas. * Good bartenders * Can be very very packed if you share the same night as a sporting event, or on a weekend. I've had a 2 hour wait there before. * Can get to be overly loud.. Expect to use the phone booth if you need to talk on a cellphone. All in all, Cary Alehouse is a decent, if not crowded place to meetup. It's easily accessed by everyone, as it's just off the beltline. Can't wait to see the other area geocachers that I've not yet had the chance to meet.

See http://opentopic.Groundspeak.com/0/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=1750973553&f=5740990093&m=5000921625 On another note, I've got a script available looking for testers. I waited some months to release this because of the geocaching.com plans to implement a web-based for-pay query tool. It's a query & export tool written in ruby for any compatible platform (MacOS X, Windows, other UNIX's). The best feature about it, for me anyways, is that it can export cache data to your iPod! To give you an idea, here is the help from it. strombt@slartibartfast:~/geocrunch/CLI% ruby ./geocrunch.rb % geocrunch %VERSION% - © 2002 Thomas Stromberg ========================================================= syntax: geocrunch [options] -f format for output. Valid options are: HTML EasyGPS text VCF CSV gpspoint -q query type (zip by default, state_id) -o output file -d difficulty minimum -D difficulty maximum -t terrain minimum -T terrain maximum -v verbose mode -u user to filter from the lists EXAMPLES: geocrunch.rb 27502 geocrunch.rb -d 3 -u helixblue -f VCF -o /Volumes/Kermit/Contacts/NC.vcf -q state_id 34 Let me know if any of you guys are interested in being an alpha tester. osxbounty@stromberg.org

Okay.. I've been using MacOS X since 10.0 release as my sole desktop, both at home and work. I've been very dissapointed by the GPS software availability, to be honest. I tried to get my roommate to write something, but he declined, sighting other projects. So, here I am, putting my money where my mouth is with a bounty. == $120 === I will pay $120 total to the author(s) the first peice of software that I can use under MacOS X without emulation (this includes VPC and Classic), that does: * Can upload .loc (XML) waypoint files to a Magellan Meridian and a Garmin eTrex via Keyspan USB->Serial adapter. * Can download waypoints from a Magellan Meridian and a Garmin eTrex via Keyspan USB->Serial adapter, and write them out as .loc files. * Provides a GUI to edit, add, and delete waypoints to these files. * Has a method of retrieving the current set of coordinates from the GPS, to use when editing or adding a waypoint. == $20 additional == If the import, export, and current coordinate functions can be triggered via an OSA compatible language (ala AppleScript). == $30 additional == If the import, export, and current coordinate functions can be triggered via a command-line. == $130 bonus! == I wasn't going to put this one in here, but I figured it would be nice. This bonus only applies if the $120 prize, in addition to one of the other (OSA or command line) prizes is accomplished. $130 bonus goes to you if the full buildable source code to accomplish the above is made available to the public, and is licensed via an OSI certified license: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/ BSD or MIT being my preferred licenses. I have no issue with you making a derivative commercial version, of course. The rewards will be paid via PayPal or Money Order. I will actively participate in testing if need be. I can arrange for ssh access to my machine for testing with either of these GPS units. Special arrangements can be made if need be. Feel free to contact me at osxbounty@stromberg.org or post to this thread if you have questions. [This message was edited by helixblue on July 28, 2002 at 01:30 PM.] [This message was edited by helixblue on July 28, 2002 at 01:47 PM.]

Supposedly Falls lake, North of Raleigh, is a great place to find cottonmouth snakes. I've only seen one myself on a cache, and it was Beaver's Playground: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=379 If you don't mess with them, they won't mess with you. Of course, I really wanted it's photo after it struck at me for nearly stepping on it.. so like the herpin' dumbass I am tried to get it back out with a stick. It was gone

Supposedly Falls lake, North of Raleigh, is a great place to find cottonmouth snakes. I've only seen one myself on a cache, and it was Beaver's Playground: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=379 If you don't mess with them, they won't mess with you. Of course, I really wanted it's photo after it struck at me for nearly stepping on it.. so like the herpin' dumbass I am tried to get it back out with a stick. It was gone

I've slowly awakened from a long geocaching vacation (okay, 2 months).. and definitely plan to show up. It'll be nice seeing you again JoeyBob! BTW, should anyone be itching to do some geocaching next weekend, I'm looking to do the following South of Raleigh caches on Aug 3-4 (ordered by priority): http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=24924 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=24627 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=23434 I may only get the "Into the Woods" cache done, because it takes a while, the other two are just gravy on top of it. Hitting my 45th cache would be nice though!

I've slowly awakened from a long geocaching vacation (okay, 2 months).. and definitely plan to show up. It'll be nice seeing you again JoeyBob! BTW, should anyone be itching to do some geocaching next weekend, I'm looking to do the following South of Raleigh caches on Aug 3-4 (ordered by priority): http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=24924 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=24627 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=23434 I may only get the "Into the Woods" cache done, because it takes a while, the other two are just gravy on top of it. Hitting my 45th cache would be nice though!