hal-an-tow
-
Posts
623 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by hal-an-tow
-
-
I well recall trying to explain to my Gran how the newfangled 'p' not 'd' worked ... and I still own books with 2/6d prices on the back cover , so I'll have a guess at 1975
-
3 hours ago, Oxford Stone said:
"Base of tree"...?
2 hours ago, on4bam said:Not a practical solution . OK for men most of the time but not for women.
Speaking as a woman who often walks in the countryside for between 4 and 8 hours , I can tell you with absolute certainty that finding a suitable spot sheltered from view (and without stinging nettles) is a skill one soon acquires . True, it's not ideally 'base of tree' , we ideally want cover all round, not just one side ...
-
1
-
-
10 hours ago, ormustr said:
I do not understand why new caches are being placed in areas where there is stay at home orders.
New caches may well have been placed a while ago, and the owner only just had time to sit down and make the page.
10 hours ago, ormustr said:The only reason we should be outside our house is for mandatory / essential travel
Groundspeak run a worldwide cache database. Rules vary enormously from country to country, district to district. The wave of infection has progressed enormously differently, country to country, district to district. If Groundspeak had chosen one area and applied that government's rules to cope with the virus outbreak across the whole world, that would not be appropriate to you unless you happened to live in that chosen area. Geocaching is a worldwide game. Wuhan rules , for instance, would have stopped you 'going' to that event ...
Local reviewers are intelligent humans (cue the dog jokes ... ) with local knowledge of the area they cover , I trust they will apply that local knowledge of the situation and rules, and review caches appropriately.10 hours ago, ormustr said:Going after a new cache is dangerous in areas of a stay at home order
If you don't think it is wise to go out and find a cache near home , in the course of any outdoor exercise your local rules may allow , then don't go . Simple.
Speaking of rules , physical attendance at an event is also mandatory/essential to log it as 'attended' .
I'm not sure how you think logging as attended while not having actually attended is OK , apparently because you did it while you still could have gone out, but chose not to ?
I'd love to hear an explanation for that , please .
-
.png)
2
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, NLBokkie said:
Hmmmm, I don't think people get my intention with this post. All I wanted to do is try to get the creative juices flowing, thinking about a potentially fun way to pass this time, connecting us to the game we all like to play and see possibilities in that. But apparently this idea is only seen as another option to score another point, another smiley instead of another smile? Come on, try to come up with a fun idea here instead of the constant "can't do", "won't be allowed", "you're only couch logging" etc. Where is the fun in that? That's really not why I like this game. I dare you all to see the possibilities and try to come up with something fun and interesting. Even if it will never materialise.
I've set up something fun and interesting for my local caching friends to do on their daily , government approved , single exercise period (length not specified) in the outdoors. Something they can do if they are walking familiar streets near home. It is between us, it wouldn't be extendable to anywhere outside suburban Britain, and won't score any smileys , and couldn't be scaled up, so there is no point whatsoever to sharing it on a geocaching platform.
-
1
-
-
I'm getting a bit tired of all the suggestions for caches you can not visit then couch log, events you can not go to but couch 'attend' .
Aside from commercial considerations for Groundspeak to make, to deal with loss of revenue , why on earth do some people feel we need these ?
Geocaching is an outdoor sport /game/hobby . The point of it is to visit locations, find stuff and sign a log , or for virt's and ECs, answer questions based on that location .
What I think about caching when we cannot leave home to visit places where caches are is pretty much the same as I think about camping or any outdoor sport : I can't do it for a while, but with luck I shall be able to do it sometime in the future. Meanwhile, I can plan and wait (cleaned and reproofed my waterproofs, got the thorns out of my boot soles, patched 'em with shoe goo , now need to think about some puzzle caches and sort out some lists ) so when geocaching becomes possible again , I will be ready to go.
For some cachers it seems like cold turkey is kicking in, and they are desperate for a hit of the smiley drug, got to keep that streak going, must maintain the statistics, fill the dates cached grid, increase the smileys. Will the next stage be acquiring some perspective about what is important in life ?
1 hour ago, NLBokkie said:- Adding a fun text to the quote "You're a real geocacher stuck at home when . . ."
"... you don't couch log anything."
-
2
-
1
-
.png)
3
-
-
5 hours ago, MNTA said:
So my question to the forum is should we expect these settings to be accurate and reviewed at the time of publishing?
Should we expect accurate attributes ? Yes. Do we get them ? Hmm, varies with cache owner.
A certain type of comedian thinks it's funny to do something like adding 'no snowmobiles allowed' to an urban magnetic nano , or random spurious icons because there's a challenge cache to qualify for, or to attract some stats obsessives who want to complete the set . I don't often look at the attributes in isolation, but rather as part of the total information on the cache page when I read it in preparation for a trip out.
The only time I do regularly use a specific attribute as a finder is in a GSAK filter to exclude tree climbing caches (I'm a coward)
The main time I think about the rest of them is when I set a cache, and want to give as full and accurate amount of information as possible for everyone who looks at the page. Then I sit in front of my computer trying to remember if the gates along the walk to the cache I'm working on could be negotiated by a child's stroller, or if the stiles have dog friendly pass throughs ? I've no idea if anyone actually uses the attributes , but I like my cache pages to be as good and informative as I can make them.
I don't believe attributes can all be reviewed at time of publishing , how could any cache setter provide evidence to a reviewer for most of them ? Many are an opinion (e.g. family friendly, scenic view, ) seasonal (e.g. may require wading, dangerous animals ) or things which may change without notice, and are entirely outside the cache owner's control (pretty much all of the 'facilities' section.) Reviewers job (unpaid) is to ensure a listing on Groundspeak complies with the Groundspeak rules, those rules must be as clear and unlikely to leave room for dispute and disagreement as possible or their (unpaid) work becomes too much for volunteers to want to do. Beyond the Groundspeak rules , the listing accuracy is down to the cache owner, and it reflects their attitude.
5 hours ago, MNTA said:If these become part of the reviewing process would you expect a NM log to be filed on a PNG listed as a 10KM hike?
As I said, I don't think it would be possible for all of the attributes to be part of the reviewing process . Neither should a patently silly attribute be a cause of a NM, more an indication of a patently silly CO. I don't dislike challenge caches (I own a few, and have found a few too ) but I think it was a mistake by Groundspeak to allow challenges based on attributes, as they are something which can be easily manipulated by cache setters, with just as much ease as they could set , for example, caches with names beginning with 'Z' for those (no longer allowed) challenges based on cache name alphabet finds.
Remove the ability to set new attribute challenge caches, and (apart from the unfunny jokers) there's little reason for spurious attributes.
-
1
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, funkymunkyzone said:
First off sorry for your loss Shelley.
I'm not sure if a basic member can generate a My Finds pocket query (I think not but I may be wrong), but if not you could consider paying a few $ just to upgrade the account to premium just for the shortest period possible. I think that's 1 month, at least I can see reference to paying monthly in the help centre, but otherwise 3 months and immediately cancel the auto-renew. For the $ it might just save you a lot of hassle trying to get the logs another way.
Commiserations for your loss.
Yes, a PQ of his finds, dropped into a new empty GSAK database made for it, then the macro HHL suggested will do the trick. In the past (no idea if it's still in the macro library) I used an old and somewhat buggy macro to produce a kindle friendly file (mobi is it ?) of my logs at the end of each year, but that was maybe 5 years ago and it may no longer work.
As for paying premium for just one PQ , I'd be pretty disgusted if Groundspeak didn't show enough compassion to either provide you with that single PQ for his account if you asked , or gave out one of those one month free upgrades beginners can have in order for you to run the PQ . You lose nothing by asking, they gain some respect if they do the decent thing. Please let us know here what happens.
-
I'd rather not pick one of those up, thank you ...
-
1
-
.png)
2
-
-
You make your mind up , within the constraint of local laws , what you feel is safe for you to do. That's what rational adults do.
It is up to us to understand how the virus is passed between people, and there is too much hysterical mis information bandied about , filtered through dubious sources who want to attract views by coming up with sensationalist headlines, social media posts etc etc.
So, here's a simplified version of the W.H.O. information
1) The covid19 virus is carried by, and passed between, humans.
2) it lives in the lungs and respiratory (breathing) tract .
3) If you have the virus, it is breathed out, and also explosively expelled in droplets when you cough or sneeze. The droplets are too heavy to just hang in the air, and soon fall.
4) After being coughed out, live virus in those droplets can live on smooth surfaces for a while, (I linked elsewhere to a verifiable scientific experiment using this specific virus which gave it a 'half life' of 6-8 hours on metal and plastic. ) no science suggests it stays viable outside a human host for longer than 'a few days' .
5) You do not catch this virus through your skin.
6) The virus gets into your respiratory tract by being breathed in, or using the damp areas which are the protection at your body's borders between that tract and the air.
Those places are your mouth, nose, and eyes (the eyes are not part of your breathing system, but their tear system is linked to the nose, as anyone who has been punched on the nose will tell you ... "I'm not crying, honest, I'm tough, it's just that my eyes are watering !"
So,
7) in order for the virus to get in those damp places and head in to do its worst, you either
a) come into close contact with someone who has the virus , and you happen to breathe in the virus from in the air they breathe out. This is the reason we are told to keep a 2m/6' distance from other people.
or
b) you come within range of virus carrying droplets just after someone sneezes of coughs, and you breathe them in
or
c) YOU TOUCH YOUR OWN NOSE, MOUTH OR EYES after touching a surface which has been coughed on , (or touched by someone else who has recently touched something with virus on it and who themselves failed to wash their hands. ) So you touch the elevator keypad , door handle, shopping cart , whatever has the virus on it , then you transfer it to those damp , virus friendly, breathing system places.
Touching a surface with the virus on will not infect you with the virus unless you transfer it to nose eyes or mouth by touching your face before you kill the virus by washing your hands.
The covid19 virus has an outer layer which is destroyed by soap or alcohol.
Please people, don't allow worry, panic and 'information' from clickbait exaggerations to overcome rational thought and sensible actions.
And don't spread worry, panic or disinformation either.
-
5
-
2
-
-
2 hours ago, FootyFan123 said:
So, I had a cool mystery cache idea, in which cachers would have to go around a town, hunting for 16 bits of paper stuck on to objects, which put together would reveal the coordinates (they would not have to move the paper). However, many people who I have spoken too about this have said that the bits of paper would probably get lost, and told me not to do it. What do you recommend?
*I know that I cannot hide now due to COVID19, this would be once the virus had died down
A few thoughts :
First, unless there is some puzzle on the cache page they need to solve to find the locations of those bits of information, or the information itself is a puzzle, that's probably a multi not a puzzle .
Second, practically speaking, why 16 portions of information ? Is that because of the length of the co-ordinate string ? Remember that the first few digits of both latitude and longitude are going to be exactly the same for a huge area, so unless your chosen site is near the border between .for e.g. , 50 north and 51 north, most smart people will skip visiting those predictable digits. A lot of puzzles in my area give a portion of the solution on the page like this N50 0x.xxx W 000 0x.xxx.
Third, 16 (or however many) pieces of information are many times (16 ?) more likely to go missing than a single cache container, and in towns those do seem to get muggled easily. If one of your pieces is removed, painted over or whatever, you will need to maintain it. Similarly, you need to be sure your pieces of information are going to stay readable despite fading or water damage (or frost damage, or whatever your climate throws at you, I've not checked to see where you cache ! ) As baer2006 mentions, inbuilt redundancy of some kind reassures cachers that a single missing piece of information will not mean they have to post a DNF , if you can work it in, it's very worthwhile.
Fourth, you need to ensure your pieces of information are placed in a way which causes no damage, personally I'd not ever contemplate putting a sticker or marking with paint or pen on someone else's property , or municipal street signs etc. Using a magnet (or magnetic sheet cut to size) or a magnetic fake bolt would mean no risk of damage .
You could maybe talk to some property owners in the town, a friendly small shop, cafe, museum or whatever might be happy to have a discreet sign placed in the corner of a window facing out and visible from the street .
-
1
-
2
-
-
53 minutes ago, ccx said:
I was trying to make a point throughout all my communications here that being reasonable and interacting with each other is a key point. What is acceptable for an owner would be generally acceptable for the game. That is my point of view.
Point of view means nothing , the fundamental rule is
On 3/28/2020 at 7:14 PM, hal-an-tow said:The log type is called 'found it', because it is a record stating that the cacher ... found the cache in question.
It's not an award for effort, or recompense for being in the right place at the wrong time ... it's that the cacher found the cache and signed the log.
Yes, as cache owners we control the caches we set and own.
I've said it before (many times) Groundspeak simply runs the database of Groundspeak caches. , they don't own the caches .
However, in order to have a cache listed on Groundspeak's servers, we are obliged to follow their rules. We don't have to list caches here if we don't want to play by the Groundspeak rules. Groundspeak rules say a find is made by signing the log .
The rules also give everyone who sees the cache listing an equal chance of finding the cache : for instance, you cannot set a puzzle which require contacting the CO, or adding some ALR (additional logging requirement) such as having to log a specific TB . A fair game has to treat every cacher fairly, not just our friends.
A local agreement between a few cache owners to allow their friends to log finds on caches they have never visited is not only against the 'find the cache, sign the log' rule, it discriminates against every cacher who is not in on the scheme. No wonder someone from the local caching community complained .
If you want to play a private game with your own rules which don't coincide with the Groundspeak rules , then come here to complain about it, you really shouldn't be surprised to be criticized.
-
2
-
1
-
-
I'm seeing some local cache setters disable their listings . In some cases I understand their decision, where they have what you might call a 'destination' set of caches, a circular walk way out from any centre of population (well, way out by UK standards !) which people would drive to from a town , park up and walk around. Leaving those active condones unnecessary travel.
There's also the disabling of caches in areas currently closed to the public , which is obviously wise , as there are always going to be a few idiots who don't think for themselves and check accessibility in advance.
Some COs with a lot of the sort of caches beloved of numbers cachers and streak pursuers, providers of urban park & grab micros, have disabled theirs too.
My caches are almost all away from roads, and either in parkland on the edge of the suburbs, or in rural locations which need to be walked to, none more than 5km/3miles from a village or town. So apart from disabling one cache which is in a closed area, I'm happy to leave the rest available so any local can to choose to include it to enliven their daily outdoor exercise if they wish.
I say 'choose to' absolutely deliberately : the caches are there, but anyone who thinks touching one might pose an unacceptable risk is free to walk on by, and not claim a find.
My choice is that if I had any caches to find within a reasonable radius of home (discounting those I've already ignored for ages as uninteresting drive bys etc) I'd go for them, but , if the CO disabled them, I'd respect their wishes, not out of fear but simply from respect. Disabled caches can be logged , if they should be logged is something that, as a finder, you need to decide for yourself.
-
2
-
-
Adding a random thought : obviously virtuals and earth caches are touch free finds, but I doubt there are many cachers with any unfound and close enough to home to justify traveling to them.
It seems clear is that geocaching is going to take a huge dive in numbers for months (not the greatest problem humanity is facing, I know, but that's what this forum is about) Travel , even of short distances by European standards, is probably going to be off the menu until August at the earliest.
I wonder if maybe Groundspeak will consider a further release of virtual caches in those areas where total lockdowns are not yet in place ? Local virtuals for local people (sorry, if you don't know about Royston Vasey you won't know why typing that made me smile ... )
Royston Vasey virtuals : local (virtual) caches for local people ... set within 8k /5miles of CO's registered home location, and only visible & able to be logged by cachers whose home location is within the same radius . All active for a month, then auto archived , and another set published . Yes, I know, almost certainly an impossible thing for Groundspeak to set up , but it gives me a great idea for a way to enliven my local caching friends' daily exercise walks , even if I'll be using an entirely different platform to do it ...
-
13 hours ago, Sol seaker said:
With the restrictions in place (because of Covid-19), I'm still allowed to go out walking, which to me says I can grab a cache or two as I get some exercise.
I have been concerned with the safety of touching something that everyone else is touching. The caches around here are still being found at a high enough rate so any virus likely does not have time to die.
I really need caching for my mental health though. It is a huge help for me in stressful times.
I've been considering the possibility of "touchless caching". That is where I take a picture of the cache and send it to the cache owner privately (so others can't see it).
I know the rules say I have to sign it, but it is a time when so many rules need to be adjusted for the unexpected current conditions we're all living under.
Would you accept this at this time?
No, I'd not accept routine signature-less logging on my caches.
Almost every cache I've ever found, (apart from the 'clever camo, in full view' ones) and all those I've placed, was hidden, i.e. covered by vegetation, stones, leaves , wood, bark or whatever, or tucked away somewhere out of sight. . In order to uncover the cache, you'd need to remove that camo, pull the container out from it's hidey hole , move it from behind the fence post , tree etc etc. in order to get a clearly identifiable photograph of it .Which would mean touching it .
You'd also have to touch it to put it safely back as found.
So opening the container to sign the log as per the rules of the game is not going to add to the danger.
-
1
-
-
Owner's name is at the top of the listing, this is them
they logged in earlier this month, so are still involved even tho' it's been a couple of years since they had their last find.
I imagine they will be interested to hear about their prodigal cache !
-
1
-
-
Oh, and you are a basic member , and I see you've only found a few caches , so you may not know that this could easily be a premium cache , which you would not see on your app... or a puzzle which would not be shown where the final box is, but as a dummy location . Or a multi, or a Wherigo ... all of those are not where they actually show on the map.
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, nobiss said:
I was out for a walk yesterday and happened to find a geocache that is not recorded in the area I found it and the logbook hadn't been signed in 15 years! I'm thinking it must have been moved from somewhere else and therefore nobody has hunted for it in its current location? I'm not sure what is proper etiquette, should I just leave it in its current location even though it's rather swampy and not listed on the geocache app?
It may be a geocache listed on a different site.
If you can post a list (or better, a photograph) of the log entries to show the caching names and dates , along with the approximate location where you found it, there are dozens of puzzle solving cachers on here in lockdown who have no outdoor caching possible at the moment, and would try to track it down . A description of the container and any cache note or other contents may yield useful clues too .
-
1
-
-
10 minutes ago, frostengel said:
That is exactly what we did and though in normal times I might find that boring (we are "just walking" for 14 days now) at the moment that is perfectly fine with me. :-)
I have to say that about 3 weeks ago I wouldn't even have thought about changing my life at all in a situation like that. But it is impressive if you feel "it" coming closer any day:
Day 1: training was cancelled at the university sports -> why do they do that? I didn't understand it and didn't like that they changed my life here.
Day 2: training was cancelled in two other locations -> let's do jogging and biking instead. I didn't want to understand it.
Day 3: great caching day with a nice bycicle tour. Everything is perfect!
Day 4: We might have been in contact with an infected person. Symptoms starting. Perhaps ...? No, everything is fine, it is just a cold.
Day 5: The person was tested positive. That's when I started thinking. :-)
A week later we've been tested negative (and we are in no risk group so ....) but my thinking about the whole thing has drastically changed. Since then I take the whole sh*t more serious, sometimes too serious - I am sorry for that.
I wish you all the best!
Jochen
PS: Want to go caching - search - open logbook - write name.... Of course, the desire is there. It's a great hobby and it will be! :-)
An interesting time line, thanks for sharing it.
Mine went like this :
Returned home on March 12th after a brief break at a rural coastal location, during which time I stayed in a Youth Hostel , which was hosting two school groups from different parts of the country, as well as the usual bunch of independent travelers from all over the place . I cached (mostly ECs and virtuals plus maybe a dozen physical caches) and held an event (half a dozen attendees) in the course of the stay.
Getting home to find the situation with the virus was getting more serious (but little action as yet from the English government : pubs still open, schools still open, everyone still at work ) and knowing that whilst I'm generally healthy and under 65, many of my friends and neighbours are in vulnerable categories, I immediately self isolated for a cautious 14 days , doing by my own choice exactly what the government mandated a week later.
During those 14 days I went out recreationally only for a couple of solo walks a week, staying well away from popular places, including one suburban caching walk (timed to get home as the school day finished) plus I walked to some of my seldom found rural caches and pro-actively maintained them.
Made one shopping trip by car to buy pet food and necessities for me, and another to pick up some things up on behalf of a vulnerable neighbour.
I have had no symptoms, but as our government have not been any good at getting testing underway ( the tests are 'going to be here in days' , and they have been 'going to be here in days' for the last 2 weeks ...) I have no idea if I have never acquired the virus, if I have acquired the virus and my immune system has beaten it without any fuss, or if I have acquired the virus , am asymptomatic, and likely to pass it on to anyone whose path I may cross. Which is hugely annoying, as if I could be confident I had the antibodies and (probable) immunity I could be a lot more useful to the community.
So, I need to continue the same routine, it's easier now everyone has to do it, and I'm not seen as a doom mongering pessimist !
There's a range of reactions to this awful pandemic, everyone finds their own place on the line, which ranges from
'Meh, it's like 'flu , I'm not in a risk category, so I don't care' *.....................................to .......................................................................'AAArgh ! The sky is falling !
I reckon 75% along the line towards, but not at, the right hand end of the line is about right in Europe at the moment. Elsewhere in the world, and in the future, things may well be different. Accurate information about transmission and how to prevent it are key to staying calm and thinking positively. Back when HIV/AIDS virus was the pandemic we were urgently dealing with, the UK government put out adverts which said 'Don't die of ignorance' , that applies just as much today .
* anyone who thinks this is in line for a well deserved Darwin Award
-
3
-
-
7 hours ago, PSUSteeler said:
Off-topic, but what is the local authority's interpretation of "near home"? Is there a physical limitation, or it is all to the interpretation of the officer?
There is no clarification, it's a vague pronouncement, which is a silly situation for both public and police, a clear definition of exactly what is and is not acceptable would be far better and reduce the chances of people getting into needless arguments.
Personally, given the choice of walking around a suburban park 10 minutes walk from home, crowded with people and children doing the same, some of whom have zero ability to remember they should keep their distance, or driving 10 km to one of the many little used footpaths in the countryside I've discovered because of caching, where I'm unlikely to see any humans at all , let alone pass within 2m/6' of them, , I'm absolutely confident that the country walk away from people is the safer choice.
I understand that there is a ( very small) risk of my car breaking down, or of having an accident, but I think the risk of being so near many random people in the suburban park is greater than the risk of the careful 10 minute car trip to a place I can walk alone. If guidelines are tightened, and I can't do that any more, I'll probably just stay at home and sort out the garden: it has been quite neglected since I started caching 9 years ago , plenty of outdoor exercise to be had there !
-
5
-
1
-
2
-
-
11 minutes ago, ccx said:
I also have allowed a few people to log my Malerweg caches without a physical log. Sometimes a cache gets muggled and on other occasions people just do not find it for whatever reason. After walking between 25 and 35 km for it, they either never come there again, because they move on on their long distance walk, or they would have to travel significant distances to return to the final again. Putting a physical log as the top rule in such conditions becomes inappropriate. I am ok with a proof that they have done the tour (which is usually the information on the intermediate stages and calculated final coordinates). And I think, that is the main point: The logs of those people are ok for ME as the owner of the cache. Whoever logs from the couch or with swapped coordinates of course cheats his own statistics (and there is more than enough of that happening every day beyond the very specific case discussed here), but he does not even cheat GS in any way.
The log type is called 'found it', because it is a record stating that the cacher ... found the cache in question.
It's not an award for effort, or recompense for being in the right place at the wrong time ... it's that the cacher found the cache and signed the log.
However long the walk is, it's immaterial. If any cacher doesn't find the cache and sign the log, it's a DNF .
I've had COs offer me 'finds' on caches I DNFd on walks, and it always strikes me as a bizarre and rather childish response to failure, why pretend it didn't happen ? Nothing is lost (except the +1) , just shrug and move on, learn from it , if you feel truly diminished n the eyes of others by posting a DNF, , just don't even bother posting one, then no one will know ....
-
4
-
1
-
1
-
-
The cache setting guidelines include this
A cache page that requires one or more of the following will generally not be published:
- Create an account with another website.
- Provide personal information to another website (excluding email address and username).
Which means that even if HQ thought location-less , virtual events were a good idea (and I don't think they are either) they would have to be on a platform you don't need to sign up for.
Does such a thing exist ? I believe not, as every 'free' service run by a company is there to show you adverts and/or harvest information. They don't give you such a service out of feelings of generosity !
-
1
-
9 minutes ago, ccx said:
Hi Jochen (and all),
in my opinion it is a nice sign which fits the current situation and it originates from cache owners in the local area, not any couch cachers.
Couch cachers are , however, taking the opportunity to couch cache are they not ?
11 minutes ago, ccx said:And anyone who has logged the affected caches has extensive caching records and really does not need the finds for anything. It is simply an action to support a message.
So, why do those people with 'extensive caching records' not log a note ? If I saw this ridiculous behaviour from someone with 'extensive caching records' I'd seriously doubt the accuracy and honesty of those records ...
13 minutes ago, ccx said:Right now there are enough indications that some cachers attempt to overstretch the current legal rules just for the hobby.A bit more stay@home would be appropriate for some. What was initiated here was a very area- and time-limited story, concerning 3 caches and a handful logs.
So some cachers attempting to overstretch the rules just for the hobby means that a small geographical and time limited breaking of the rules is OK ? Really ? Is that as long as it's only in your own area ?
16 minutes ago, ccx said:A bit more stay@home would be appropriate for some. What was initiated here was a very area- and time-limited story, concerning 3 caches and a handful logs. I have opened one of my caches for one day too (Malerweg I), because I support the message (not of couch logging, but of keeping our outdoor activities at a reasonable scale). This cache is out of reach due the current legal restrictions for most of those who know about the proposal (which was only posted to a local group). And, all of those know that they miss something if they log from the couch, so there is enough motivation to do the caches later on despite a couch log. This is btw also true for the two couch logs I have done, these are sufficiently interesting to be also visited in real.
Again, you suggest that this is OK because it was posted on a local group: was that here on the forum, or one of the other social media ? Will cachers who are not privy to your 'local group' be encouraged by those 'found it' logs to think it is OK to actually visit those caches ? Despite them apparently being illegal to access by your own description.
You genuinely think cachers will go to the caches at a later date when the areas are legal to enter ? Why bother if they already 'found it', they cannot post another find on the same cache.
24 minutes ago, ccx said:The response from the HQ side was harsh and different to the common practice - the caches just got locked anonymously. No note from a reviewer, no attempt of contact to resolve the matter. Instead, they fired the second-biggest weapon they have without notice and further explanation. As said before, I believe this could have been addressed in a different way.
It's not harsh to avoid cachers making foolish decisions by removing their ability to do so, and keeping it impersonal protects the volunteer reviewers from feeling they should waste their time and effort politely responding to the sort of specious arguments you are putting forward here
28 minutes ago, ccx said:For touchstone's proposal to resolve this locally: Of course there are different opinions on that - some pro, some con, and they are discussed. And of course some local folks have triggered the process with HQ. But these do not leave their hides, apparently.
Anyway, I do not want to take this any further from here. Anyone with a deeper interest on how the story evolves will find the respective caches easily through my profile and yesterday's found logs.
.Opinions really don't matter here, the simple straightforward universal rule of (non-virtual) caching says, visit the cache, sign the log, log the find online.
You say, no need to visit, no need to sign, just log online.
Groundspeak ( backed up by every contributor outside your group on here) says that is wrong. No need to look deeper, read logs or anything.
It is wrong.
There was nothing to stop you posting honest notes on the cache pages, nothing apart from wanting the +1 smiley makes a note a less desirable log type.
-
3
-
-
I have a science background, so have little confidence in information about this virus which has been filtered (and likely distorted in the service of simplicity, a particular political viewpoint, or desire for a click bait headline) through journalists or social media, I want to get my information direct from scientists and medical folk. Information properly weighted with all the 'maybes' , and 'we don't yet have all the statistics in yet, but as far as we can tell.. ' caveats the news reports tend to ignore.
A couple of days ago I heard a very interesting radio programme on the BBC , it has (among other covid19 related information ) a scientist giving the outcome of some research on how long the virus persists on various surfaces. Well worth a listen: I think you may need to sign up to do the live stream 'listen now' , but the 'download' option at the top doesn't need a sign up , gets you an MP3 version, and may be a better choice for you, if like me your internet connection is getting flaky due to all the self isolating neighbours streaming films & games !
BBC Inside Science 26th March 2020
The section about covid19 virus persisting on surfaces starts about 16 minutes in, but all of the broadcast is worth a listen.
Short version : research suggests the virus survival on a hard surface has '... a half life of around 6 to 8 hours" . So half the virus left on a plastic or metal surface (like a cache) dies after that time, and of the half left, another half dies in the next 6-8 hours and so on and so on (similar to the way we describe decay of radioactive materials ).
For cardboard (which was included in the study, and as it is essentially thick paper I reckon we can extend the results to paper log sheets and books) the research had a less clear outcome. the scientist being interviewed suggested it may be that it was harder to pick up a sample from a fibrous surface in the experiments, and it might be that it will be similarly hard for a person to pick up any virus from that surface.
Don't take my word for it though , as I said at the start, it's best to hear the expert, listen to the original !
-
4 hours ago, Fier said:
During the crazy time of COVID-19, in the communities I have seen a lot of discussions regarding the desire to have an online cache event type. The attendance log-book would have to be electronic, and there would have to be some special rules regarding the location of attendees. The cache type would also have to be something other than a typical event. Is this something worth pursuing or would it remove the 'geo'-location from geocaching?
First, there is no requirement for a log book at event caches.
Second, this appears to be nothing more than the desire to get +1 smiley .
If you see a lot of discussions in those 'virtual communities', you are participating on those platforms already. Calling such a 'meeting' a geocaching event changes it in no way (other than that that +1 smiley of course)
-
2
-
1
-
.png)
.png)
.png)
Homemade Do Not Keep Me travel bug tag
in Trackables
Posted
Anything that might increase the chances of continued life of your TB is worth a try.
I'd suggest making it easy for app wielding newbs to see a webpage with some guidance on TB treatment (not necessarily the official one) by turning the webpage URL into a QR code and adding a printout of that on your extra info. There are plenty of free websites which will perform the URL to QR code for you. Then (assuming they have a QR reader in their 'phone) your finder won't have to go to the bother of typing in a web address , just scan the QR code and their browser can connect to the page.
The easier you make it for people to do the right thing, the more likely they are to do it .