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AustinMN

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Posts posted by AustinMN

  1. Before giving any more advice to Beno988, think about being a teenager. I was one back in the 1970's, and if I had done some of the things that have been suggested here, I would have fewer teeth in my mouth today.

     

    Most of the time, words here have few consequences. But this time, please think before posting.

     

    To Beno988, just move on. You are his real target. If he can't get you to steal caches, he thinks he can get you angry. Just move on.

  2. So I'm a high schooler and i told a friend about geocaching but unfortunately he took it the wrong way and has began stealing geocaches around Santa Cruz I've tried to talk him out of it but he won't stop, any advice on what to say?

     

    I know this isn't what you asked, but in the long run, you need to realize he probably isn't your friend.

  3. I am a software developer. I have been for over 30 years. I have only met two or three other developers who believed it was important to learn the fundamentals of good interface design. I never heard a single user interface complaint about the work of those who took it seriously. The rest created mediocre to terrible user interfaces.

     

    One of the vital rules about interface design is:

     

    Never, ever rely on color to convey information.

  4. What surprises me is this: Groundspeak is still allowing EXIF coords to sneak through, even though I'm pretty sure they made an explicit move a few years back to prevent that. Didn't they? How long did that last?

     

    Isn't this a bug?

     

    Anyone can add any exif filed they want as long as they follow format protocol. Last I checked, there were 26 widely used schemes for geographical coordinates in Exif, and probably hundreds of less common schemes. It is probably not reasonable to identify and remove them all. While one could just remove all exif data, doing so could mean legal trouble, because some users embed copyright notices in the exif.

  5. I was approached by a security guard while replacing an LPC. He wanted to know what it was and if i had put any other caches in the parking lot. I explained geocaching to him but he wouldn't listen. He said I wasn't allowed to do it and that I was breaking all kinds of laws (I wasn''t). He kicked me and the cache off the public property and I had no other choice but to move the cache so i drove down the road, placed the cache under another lamp post, took the coordinates and emailed to owner. I felt really bad about moving it, but I had no other choice.

     

    I would have logged a Needs Archived with that story and moved on. Except that I haven't bothered with a LPC in years.

  6. So it isn't a correction at all.

    Not quite. It corrects the coordinates you see on the site. It also corrects the coordinates in a .loc or .gpx file you download for that specific cache, or inside a pocket query file if you include that cache in a PQ.

     

    No, that is absolutely and utterly not a correction. That is a personal set of coordinates. No different from a personal cache note except with numbers that overwrite the coordinates.

  7. There aren't enough words to describe how uninteresting someone else's souvenirs are...

     

    I find someone else's souvenirs to be about on a par with the gallery of someone who posts a "cache selfile" for every find.

     

    ...and I can't fathom what would bring someone to scrutinize a fellow geocacher's profile and then post to the forum about it.

     

    I have met enough strange people to understand that some would do it. Still at a loss about the why part, though.

  8. Finding the cool spots that aren't in guidebooks.

     

    That's the main use I make of geocaching. I like to take photos, and I often go out of my way to find caches that might lead me somewhere I want to go but know nothing about.

     

    Another way I've used it - my son-in-law got an urgent message from a friend. The friend had lost his $5000 drone, and he could not afford the time to search for it. He gave us estimated co-ordinates. We checked the sat map, got on the ground at the site, bushwhacked for ten minutes, grabbed the drone, and split the $200 reward.

  9. Also, there is no assumption of privacy in a public place, I could stand across the street of a strip club and take pictures of people going in and out of it all day and post those pics of the net with no worries.
    Yes you could. But if or if not you're in possible legal trouble depends on the jurisdiction you're in. I'd suggest to check the local laws before doing that. Excusing by other law breaking as stealing a tupperware won't help. (just for the records: over here in Germany it is mostly illegal to publically photograph people who don't want to or are not aware of beeing photographed - this includes cameras in the forests and car dash cameras. The law is more complicated to be discussed in this forum, but generally each person owns the right on his/hers picture, especially when publication of any kind is involved).
    Yeah, I'm sure different countries have different laws. In the USA though it would be fine. In our country most stores and other businesses have cameras inside their store and out in their parking lot. Even the law enforcement people have cameras spying on the public
    There is quite a difference between a surveillance camera installed by a land or business owner to protect his/her own property, and a game camera surreptiously placed without permission on someone else's property for the purpose of vigilantism.

    The Ten Legal Commandments of Photography

     

    I. Anyone in a public place can take pictures of anything they want. Public places include parks, sidewalks, malls, etc. Malls? Yeah. Even though it’s technically private property, being open to the public makes it public space

    No difference, ANYONE can photograph ANYONE else in a public place.

     

    (sticking to the US legal environment): Except of course where you can't. Restrooms are public places...can you spell "sex offender registry?"

    ATM machines are often public places, but if you are caught recording someone punching in their PIN, you will be charged with a felony.

    It may be a public elementary school. Yep, it's public. But you are not going to even get inside the door, never mind get a chance to take pictures.

     

    But the issue here is not whether you can take photos. It's whether you can install equipment on property you don't own.

  10. I am new to geocaching and I have been lurking around these forums to try and learn the finer details of the game. I feel like there is A LOT to know and learn...it's not as "common sense" as one might think. Anyways, I want to stay on topic here and learn something too.

    Let's say I climbed up the tree and found the cache just to realize that I forgot to bring a pen to sign the log? What do I do then? Am I entitled to the find or not? The other day, my son and I found a bison tube cache hanging in a tree. It was above my head, but I could reach it on tippy-toes. For the life of my I couldn't get the thing open. I took a pic of the find to include in my log to prove we found it. Is that okay or still entitlement?

     

    Discuss the situation with the cache owner before logging. Some cache owners will just roll their eyes at a "forgot my pen" log but others will delete. Pro tip: you can use a leaf and a stick to scratch your name into the log.

     

    Never ask about these things in the forum; you'll get ripped to shreds.

     

    Why would I get ripped to shreds? I'm trying to learn. I care about the integrity of the game.

     

    There is a saying:

    "Venture not into the forums for wisdom, for they shall say both nay and yea."

  11. From today's newsletter:

     

    Plus, you can earn the International Geocaching Day 2016 souvenir by attending an event or logging a geocache on August 20. (Bonus points for doing both!)

     

    IMPORTANT: International Geocaching Day Events must be submitted no later than Saturday, August 6.

     

    B.

     

    The (Bonus points for doing both!) It's a Chocolate Chip Cookie

     

    You can't get off that easy on the internet. Case in point:

     

    With or without nuts?

  12. The remotness of the cache should have no baring on the cache owner visiting the site at least once a year regardless of activity. If you cant at least do that than how are you going to respond to an actual problem?

    Really? Why not save the effort for when there is an actual problem?

     

    My Zephyr Creek cache was hidden eight years ago and gets found less than twice per year. It's an ammocan in a fairly remote location with a big enough logbook to last a century at this pace of finds. The cache very likely will outlive me. Checking in it every year "just because" isn't really worth it if you weigh the cost vs benefit. If someone reports a problem with it, THEN I'll invest the gas, the energy, and the time to do maintenance, but the once per year minimum you promote doesn't make sense in this case.

    Exactly.

     

    Not in your case. There is a world of difference between once a year and never ever.

  13. I have a method I've used from time to time that came in handy over the weekend.

     

    We identified a cache of the correct type for the souvenir. It was one that we previously searched for but did not find. So when we got to the final, uh, now I remember why we didn't find it before.

     

    Serious geobounce. The last time we looked for this cache was many years ago when we were just starting out. I should know how to overcome this. But of course I'm too smart to try that, I can find this one. But...um...lemme see...should be here...could be muggled...Hmmm...

     

    Eventually I gave in, put my backpack down, put the GPS on it, and walked away. After a few minutes, I moved the backpack and GPS in the direction it claims the cache is hiding, and again walk away. Third time was a charm, with the GPS leading me directly to the only thing I'd seen that looked like the hint, and there was the cache. I've done this 10-15 times, and it seems to work best if you use a traditional GPS in map view with track logs turned on.

  14. It is not reasonable to insinuate that a cache owner should reconsider hiding a cache at all, modify the cache to suit cachers with lower capabilities, or tolerate abusive behaviour because a cache is difficult.

    I didn't insinuate anything. And, as I said, the issue isn't that the caches are merely difficult. It's the puzzle cache equivalent of posting a traditional cache, marking it very difficult, and then not actually putting a container at GZ.

     

    It's really the equivalent of posting a traditional cache, marking it very difficult, hiding something that is actually very difficult, and then getting complaints that difficult cache is difficult.

     

    +1

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