The_Brownies

There has been a lot of Discussion about virtual caches. This morning a thought occurred to me. Why not have virtuals counted separately from the physical finds? Virtuals would still show on the main lookups but they would have a count of their own. This way you could see how many Virtuals, Benchmarks, and physical caches a person has found. In a sense you would get an accurate reflection of the cacher just by the stats. Maybe this is the solution to the virtual issue?

If you go to the Rite as Rain website they list a dealer location. It lists dealers in all 50 states. I found one here in Ellensburg. They had the full line. I bought 8 sheets for $1.35 on sale and will make 32 pages of micro cache logs from them. I did not pay shipping or handeling. They also had a ream of 8X11 sheets for $21.95 which works out to approx .04 per sheet. I would suggest that you hit thier website and look for a dealer near you. Note, you have to print the logs out using a Laserjet printer or a photo copier. Waterbased ink used in injet printers will not work.

Have had my Meridian for almost 1 year. Very accurate and It normally puts me within 6 feet of whatever I'm looking for, which is great. If I let it average, I have even gotten down to 2-3 feet of caches. Too bad you got a lemon.

Same here. I try and leave something in the cache that I would like like to find. Matchbox cars, doggy chew toys, etc. NO !!!, and I repeat NO !!! used stuff or junk. i.e. chewed on Mickey D toys. On the other hand, if the cache is a TRASH CACHE, I try to take out the garbage, and put something in worth while or I might take one piece of trash and exchange it with another. Depends on my mood. But the more I cache, the more my attitude is changing. If I find a trash cache, I'm more likely to try and add to the cache to make it more interresting for new cachers. However, the quality of the cache contents lies on two people. The Owner and the cacher. Granted my first few caches contained nothing too special. However, when I create a large cache, now I put a lot if good quality items that covers all ages. But what ticks me off is people taking the good stuff and leaving trash in return. I'm taking time to make the cache contents of good quality, then I expect cachers to respect this. A lot do, but there are some who do not, and they are the ones you need to be concerned with. Personally, I find no challenge in finding large caches. They are cumbersom to maintain, and can be a pain to hide. My personal favorites are micro caches, and the challenge they pose. Plus they are a lot cheaper to maintain. Nope,I think if you really want to keep contents in a large cache fresh, then make them very hard to find, and let the owner know if you think the contents of their cache need replacing.

Law makers always seem to have inventive ways to tax us, however, they still have to get the issue passed, which is probably never going to happen.

The logs are easy to create as well. On the Hide and Seek page is the a stash note. Take that note and use it with MS Word to create your Log. You'll have to insert the text into a table, but that's probably the most difficult part. I have found that A 1X4 table in Word using New Times Roman seems to work the best with the font size of 8. Copy the note into each one of the cells and then print them out. If you are creative, you can even add lines to the back of the printout for the user name, and date. [This message was edited by The_Brownies on December 31, 2002 at 11:43 AM.]

Yes, 100KB is the max file size. TO check the size of your file, simply right click on the image and then left click on properties. It's going to say something like 23.4KB. If it says 1.07MB then you need to modify the image. There are three basic types of images, BMP, JPG, and GIF. Of course there are more, but I'm not going to go into the other ones. JPG is your best bet. In order modify an image, your going to need some type of graphic program like JASC Paintshop pro, Photo Imapact, Adobe Photo shop, etc. depending on what needs done, anyone of the above programs can modify the image for you. Sometimes you do not need to alter the image at all. Most of the times you just need to save the file in a different format. If you have a BMP image that is over 1Mege Byte, and you convert that same image to a JPG file, the file is dramtically reduced. Quick rule of thumb. If you want animation, then you need a GIF, but if you want no animation, then use a JPG. If you look at a GIF and JPG image on the web, you really won't see any difference. Hope this helps.

When we got our GPS in March 2002, we were driving a rental car while our car was in the shop. I saw the cool speedo and decided to test it out on the rental car. The rental car spedo read the same as the GPS Speedo. I would do 70, and the GPS said 70. When we picked up our car and were driving home. We decided to do the same test. The car speedo said 70, but the gps said 68mph. I kept doing tests and my car's speedo was always off by around 2mph. After that I did not think too much of it until the day I got pulled over. It must have been 3 or 4 months ago, and I was driving from Ellensburg WA to Yakima WA. Of course I knew what my GPS said. My car's speedo said 80. When I got into Selah, which is right before Yakima, the State Patrol had a speed trap set up. They pulled me over and gave a warning. They told me that I was going 78 which is exactly what the GPS said countless numbers of times before. If I would have been going 80, they would have given me a ticket. From that point on, I do not doubt my GPS. In fact, I have even had a friend ask me to test their car's Speedo. Yep, they are very, very accurate. Which brings me to another story. There was a gentleman who rented a car, and was charged a huge bill by the rental agency for speeding. See, the rental car had a built in GPS unit that they used to keep track of the position and speed of the car and if it went over x number MPH then you'd get billed for it. I guess the caught him on the highway speeding. Anyway, when he came to return the car they slapped him with the bill. if I'm not mistaken, the guy fought it, and won and they had to refund the speeding penalty money.

Have you tested this with another Rhino user in different conditions with the criteria I have described above? How well does it transmit in the woods, bad weather, etc? How good are the FRS units? Is the message you send to your friend broken up or grabled? If you have not tried this, I want you and another Rhino user to go out in the city, and woods, and test it out. Get 2 miles apart, and tell me if you can still broadcast your points and talk to each other without any breaking up. Then try the same test in a wooded area. My point is this. Gramin has made a lot of hype about the new Rhino's but I honestly would believe you more than Garmin. Garmin is out to sell their toy. You are out to give me your honest opinion. I'm not bashing the RHino, but before I pay out $165 - $200 I just want to see how well they work. Another thing? I read a review from a gentleman who bought 3 of the Rhino's. The slightest impact can cause them to lose power and require that the power be switched back on. Does anyone else have this problem?

Haven't flown in about 14 years but It's still fresh in my mind. My friend is an IP and he keeps telling me that he could get me current in no time. It's just the money that keeps me from doing it. On the flip side I use to get rides all the time while I was in the Army. I was an Airframe Powerplant Mechanic. Keep thinking that someday I might just build my own plane, if I get enough money for the instruments.

Baha ha ha ...Actually I knew how to add an Avitar, but I just never found one I liked.

I have a Meridian Gold and if I let my GPS Average, it tends to get me a lot closer to the cache. Normally I'm within 1 to 6 feet when I give my GPS a little thinking time. If you are unclear with this term, it simply means to set your GPS down and don't move it for approx 10-15 minutes. Most of the time, I only have to let it average for approx 5 minutes. It all depends on how fresh the GPS batteries are and how good the satelite reception is. [This message was edited by The_Brownies on December 27, 2002 at 08:29 PM.]

The basic Rhino only has 1mb of memory and you can only broadcast point to point in a two mile radius. I have a couple excellant frs radio's and two miles is pushing it. For what they are asking for one Rhino you could buy two basic etreks and 2 frs radios. Strap them both together with some duct tape or velcro and wala, two home made Rhino's for the price of one.

Some hardware stores sell fake rocks for hiding keys. I saw one just the other day for around $3.00. Perfect for a Micro-Cache.

They are a cool little toy but right now the price is a tad bit too high. Plus I don't see the mention about the one time $75 FCA License that is required for the use of the FRS radio.

If you read my above posts, you will see that I am for virtuals, but to a point. As a techie, I must take Seth's side on this entire issue. There are too many virtuals that should be micro or normal caches including two that I created. I'm going to remedy this shortly. In fact, I'm actually glad he killed one of my recently submitted virtual because it made me come up with an even better cache. However, here is the main problem with virtual caches. It's the Hard Drive space they consume on Ground Speaks servers. If you browse different cache pages, you will notice a lot of electronic images. I.e. A hard drive is the filing cabinet where all of your word documents, excel spread sheets, etc. are stored. Virtuals normally are logged in the form of a digital photo which can be a max of 100KB in size. (Please note, 100KB is GS's limit. A digital image may be 100 times that size). Anyway, if a virtual cache has just 10 logs and each log has one photo uploaded and that one photo is 100 KiloBytes(KB), then those 10 logs would take up 1 Megabyte of Hard drive space on Ground Speaks server. One Meg does not seem like a lot of space, but think about how many people use the Geocaching Website? There are a lot of them, correct? You can see where this is going. A lot of users and digital images means a lot of unneccessary Server Hard drive space being eaten up. Who cares? Ok let's look at it from a business aspect. A server is a lot different than your PC. It can have many hard drives, and mulitple CPU's. That's why a good Compaq server cost's around $4500 to $12000. I could go into other costly items related to servers but I'll leave that for another time. If you are saying ouch, you can now see why Ground Speak asks for donatations and memberships. Another con against virtuals, is most of them require a picture. Not everyone has a digital camera so not everyone can hunt them. The small digital camera we use sometimes is my sons digital camera which only has 640X480 resolution. He loves it because he's only 8 and it does do an ok job, but I wish I could get a 3.0 or higher Megapixel camera for me!! However, these cameras cost over $250 dollars which I don't have at the current moment. What is nice about a physical cache us it lets you find the cache and log your visit. Plus you get to see who has been there before you. Granted I've found only 86 caches, but it's the thrill of the hunt that makes this sport so interresting to me. Plus I do enjoy reading the logs. Most of the time I don't take anything, but there are times when I'm looking for an interresting item to add to a new cache. Yep, you all are correct when you say virtuals pose no challenges when they are not handled correctly. [This message was edited by The_Brownies on December 26, 2002 at 01:28 PM.]

If you have not hit some of the TWO WAcky Whits, or Patudles caches, then you would not understand why I think these two cities are the best. Some of their caches are in the urban area, but most are in the mountains. I like seattle, and Spokane, but honestly, the traffic is the pits.

Ok, so you don't like virtuals. Who says you are required to log one? If people want to go after a virtual, then let them go after one. I don't go after every cache that is out there, plus It would be virtually impossible. Probably one of the best Hybrid virual caches I have seen is The Photographer's Cache VIII. In short, stop beating this dead horse. What may seem stupid to you might be interresting to others.

Who ever said caching was about treasures or trinkets or signing a log? Its the thrill of the hunt that should inspire everyone. Taking others to places where they might not have been before. Virtuals can be fun if they are used in the correct context. So don't go brow beating others when you happen to think something is a bad idea. If virtuals were not appropriate, they would not be a form of cache. Instead try and take the positive side to these caches. They can be a lot of fun, if you make the picture side of the virtual cache a little bit out of the ordinary. Plus it gives new cachers an easy first find. Please note, a virual cache now might be a micro cache tomorrow. I just planted my first 4 virtuals but I have no intention on leaving them this way. Right now there is a real problem with the number of cachers in Ellensburg, and I just want to get new players interested in the sport and what a better way then to introduce a realatively easy find. Of course, when the virtual changes to a micros in the next couple of weeks, it will give the same person a chance to log a 2nd find. On the other side of the coin, I do agree that not all caches should be Virtual. I tend to use the 1/3 ratio. No more than 1/3 of caches placed by a user should be virtuals. Too many virtuals makes things a bit dull. Plus if an area is being saturated by viruals, then a micro cache might be a tad bit more appropriate. [This message was edited by The_Brownies on December 23, 2002 at 09:51 AM.]

Ok, so you have to give out a little info for this giveaway. If you don't want the spam set up a spam email account at hotmail and only give your live email address out to close friends and family. For the giveaway, or when you hit a page that asks for your email address, use your Hotmail account. That's what it is for. IT will get spam and you other accounts are safe. I have 4 email accounts. 1 at home, 1 at work, 2 online. 1 online account is for friends and family, and the other one is for spam. The reason for the online friends/family is in the event that I switch ISP (Internet service Provider) and I want to get emails from my family they are directed here. Again, I rarely see spam on my work/home/friends family accounts. Just the hotmail account, and if I don't login to this account for 90 days it get's deactivated.

There are a lot of them. On the way over... Near Ellensburg Worldly Reflection Selah... Wix on Wix Off Crash and Burn Let Chips fall where they may Labyrinth Baby Talk Apple a Day Basket Fort Painted Rock Stumped On the Way back.. Rest Stop#1 Kinichiwa Just Glue IT Once Upon a Time Top of the Hill P.S. Any Wacky Whits caches are awesome...

What model is your GPS? 315, 310, Meridian That would be a help..

() Worked for me.. Took me two tries but then I was registered to win..

If it is for real, I'm wondering if Groundspeak is using secure socker layers for the geocaching pages? Maybe their not due to the cost of the certificate. GS does require you to login, but I have never seen the gold lock down at the corner of the page which means you are on a secure socket page, which would mean that anybody's geocache page is open for hacking.

Go to www.geocaching.com and then select the hide cache, and you will get the word document, along with instructions on hiding your first cache. You will have to print it out, and then laminate it. I use box tape as a cheap substitute. Happy stashing. The Brownies