Loonie Easter Bunnies
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Posts posted by Loonie Easter Bunnies
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Since the original question on this forum topic mentioned ramifications, here is a point that no-one else has brought up.
I am a non-ambitious geocacher who has got a great deal of enjoyment out of caching for almost a year now. When I first heard about it and went on to geocaching.com to check it out, I got hooked on this web site the very first time. If I had found dozens and dozens of "ignore coordinates and start calculating complex navigation problems" caches that are not located anywhere near where they are posted, completely dominating the area near where I live as is now the case, I probably never would have come back to the site a second time and would not own a gps unit.
PS: If interested in seeing what my experience is, please add all but five of "The Mystery Cachers" found caches as well as their hidden ones to those listed for Loonie Easter Bunnies (still comes out to less than 100) á
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I think it's a great idea!
When you were researching 'BIG things in Alberta', you may have also come across: http://www.cyberbeach.net/~solonyka/LCRA/type.htm. Here on Vancouver Island a town called Duncan has the world's largest hockey stick and puck.
The best thing to do with this idea in my opinion would be, once you have more geocaching experience, to make it a Locationless Cache, inviting others to post their own photos of 'BIG things in Canada' from many places where you wouldn't be able to travel. Even if you do that, if you ever get to visit these places yourself you could still make a virtual cache at an individual site if someone hasn't already.
In the meantime before you started your own locationless cache, it would be useful to log some already existing locationless caches to learn as much as you can about how they work. On any cache page, click on nearby caches and above the nearby caches list you will see 'Search for Locationless Caches'. It will be a bit time-consuming to find ones you can do since there are over 300 of them listed, but should be fun for someone with an interest in photography. If there aren't many things in your area that you could log as locationless caches, reading as many of them as you can would still give you a good idea of how they work.
Guidelines for locationless caches are at: http://www.geocaching.com/articles/requirements.asp
I noticed you haven't posted any photos with your cache logs. I don't have a digital camera or scanner so when I wanted to post some photos I got the place where I take my films, London Drugs, to scan a roll for me. I did need to use photoeditor to size them down to 100kb, but if you don't have access to one you might try e-mailing the owner of the locationless cache and see whether they would do the sizing down for you.
Happy caching!!
[This message was edited by Loonie Easter Bunnies on January 19, 2003 at 10:31 PM.]
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Team Phoenix 3
Golden-Seekers 1
Gold - there's plenty in them thar hills
Gold - the colour of 1,000 loonies
Golden - as in "Sunset Years"
Golden - *Memories* to relive
(Sorry folks - will be getting myself weaned back to the Times-Colonist any day now, but haven't quite got there yet)
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Dagg, re sunglasses. I meant these ones
that you had on Friday on the other forum so we couldn't see your eyes. But can't for the life of me remember why I thought it was worth putting on here. (Now that I've used them myself, I see they mean cool.) -
I'm puzzled (sincerely) - what do people mean when they say "last word"??
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What happened to your sunglasses?j
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Cachewidow - no, nothing to do with geocaching, That's why I apologized in advance - I guess I'd better see if there are any rules to what is kosher to do on here. I'll delete it within the hour in any case as everyone will have heard by then. Just something different to talk about. Nobody else I told it to had heard it yet so it seemed like very breaking news.
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deleted - it was just the news article about the premier
[This message was edited by Loonie Easter Bunnies on January 10, 2003 at 08:27 PM.]
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Dagg - When I want to end a discussion, I don't say anything. When I see someone replying to what I said, I usually intrepret that to mean they want to continue the discussion. But 'give it a rest' doesn't leave much room for interpretation.
[This message was edited by Loonie Easter Bunnies on January 10, 2003 at 12:13 PM.]
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Earlier today I unfortunately ran out of time to edit my previous post with something that seemed important at the time, and that's why this is showing here. Sorry Rockcrawler - your post would have made a good last word.
[This message was edited by Loonie Easter Bunnies on January 10, 2003 at 12:12 PM.]
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From what I can gather, Team K's biggest caches have had anywhere from 0 to 12 finders, the next one would maybe have seen about 16-20. These people would be the few who feel the biggest loss. Next would be the many more who, like myself, have been avidly following the adventures by watching, and maybe sometimes finding some of the lesser challenging caches ourselves. We certainly felt shock at Curious George's news and continue to feel a degree of loss but it's not as acute as the first group. Beyond that, there is also a silent majority of cachers on Vancouver Island who haven't involved themselves as closely, but because I've been so caught up in this business, I really can't speculate how much it affects them.
If there's still anyone looking for a target to sling some mud at, please see my January 9th post on the other forum.
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Damgiz and others looking for a target to sling some mud at:
Reading the Team KFWB GPS resignation letter posted by Curious George at the top of his forum, I noticed several references to a suggestion made by me ("remote site") and also to a suggestion I had contemplated but decided against (using all-caps only on caches with big$). I believe that my comments a couple of days ago on this forum regarding these suggestions may well have been the last straw that broke the camel's back.
So let me tell you who I am. A middle-aged directionally-challenged mom who loves geocaching. I'm not a full-time parent--my kids are away most weekends during the school year and most weekdays during the summer, plus they're getting to a more self-reliant age, which gives me time to also go geocaching with adult friends and spend way too much time indulging my addiction to the web site and in the last few weeks the Canada forum, to the detriment of housework, yardwork and sometimes sleep. For almost a year I've been very happily geocaching on Vancouver Island like many other families, individuals and yes, teams. My Loonie Easter Bunnies profile doesn't reflect my full experience as I also did almost all caches found by The Mystery Cachers. Some of my motivations for geocaching can be found in my post on Yellowcode's forum but the usual ones of getting outdoors to enjoy surroundings and find new places, breathe fresh air and and get some exercise are also important to me. I have enjoyed doing a few of Team K's easy caches in my area, and very much enjoyed following the challenging ones from my computer-chair.
I live at what feels like the epicentre of the posted coordinates for approx 75 geocaches by Team K in the last three months of 2002, with advance warning of another 30. Of the new 30, 4 were recently posted in one day, 3 of those 4 were posted in Oak Bay a few minutes by car from my home. Of those 3, I gather one is located on Saturna Island and the other 2 out on the logging roads near Jordan River.
For someone who navigates the web site by clicking nearby caches, if you don't intend to do the many difficult caches with confusing all-sound-alike names that don't exist where they are posted in a heavily populated area, you can't just ignore them, because they're in your face every day. The only way to get them off your list would be to do them. Because the number of these was ever increasing, I suggested posting them out in the remote areas where they actually are, and also suggested a way of ensuring that these would still be highly visible and publicized.
When I say the last straw, I mean of course that the camel's back was already so heavily burdened from being part of a team that created 80 caches, being the individual whose job it was to deal with over 2000 notifications and emails, and feeling the need to try to keep everyone happy. It's no wonder it only took a straw to break! I certainly don't believe that Team K abandoned Vancouver Island because of anything one Loonie Easter Bunny said. I expect this project has just been so intense that burnout happened.
But getting back to the few and the many. From what I gather, Team K's biggest caches have had anywhere from 0 to 12 finders, the next one would maybe have seen about 16-20. These people would be the few who feel the biggest loss. Next would be the many more who, like myself, have been avidly following the adventures by watching, and maybe finding some of the lesser challenging caches. We certainly felt shock at Curious George's news and continue to feel a degree of loss but it's not as acute. Beyond that there is a silent majority of cachers on Vancouver Island who aren't haven't involved themselves as closely, but because I've been so caught up in this business I really can't speculate how much it affects them.
[This message was edited by Loonie Easter Bunnies on January 09, 2003 at 10:39 AM.]
[This message was edited by Loonie Easter Bunnies on January 09, 2003 at 12:05 PM.]
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I'm sure my name is major mud with Curious George and others on this forum, but am replying anyway because the Team K resignation letter posted at the top of this forum by Curious George refers twice to a suggestion made by me, and also to one I was contemplating but decided against.
When I first saw the news I was in shock like many others, and I didn't realize it had anything to do with me. Of the over 2000 messages Team K has received, my few cache logs all were appreciative and friendly (in fact even a bit more appreciative and friendly than my cache logs normally are, in recognition of all the effort Team K has put into geocaching on the Island). My e-mail, which was intended in a constructive spirit of being helpful and suggesting a solution to a problem, was very carefully worded (unlike my comments on the other forum) in an effort to avoid sounding critical.
But when I re-read the resignation letter I noticed the several references to my forum comments and began to wonder if they may have been the last straw, and the camel's back was broken before my email was even sent.
When I say the last straw, I mean of course that the camel's back was already so heavily burdened from being part of a team that created 80 caches, being the individual whose job it was to keep everything in order on the website and deal with over 2000 notifications and e-mails, and on top of that feeling the need to try to keep everyone happy. It's no wonder it only took a straw to break! I certainly don't believe that Team K abandoned Vancouver Island because of anything one Loonie Easter Bunny said. I expect this project has just been so intense that burnout happened.
For the record, when I suggested posting the "ignore coordinates" at a remote location instead of right in town, I was thinking of someplace like the logging roads out by Jordan River or between Port Renfrew and Shawnigan, because that is where I understood many of those caches to be. I was not suggesting changing the actual location of any caches. To my mind this would have helped simplify a confusing situation on the web site.
Although my loss is not as acute as some others, the departure of Team K will leave a big hole for me. I very much enjoyed doing some of their easy caches and armchair-watching the challenging ones. My intention was to constructively suggest a way of solving a problem.
[This message was edited by Loonie Easter Bunnies on January 09, 2003 at 12:24 PM.]
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RE MOTIVATIONS
On here you missed mine - the most addicting aspect of geocaching is having a place to record your experience (with an audience yet!). Also trying to be creative in making your own caches.
RE CLUTTER
If you don't think Team K's many "Ignore Coordinates" caches clutter the not yet found nearby caches list of someone who doesn't intend to do the hard ones, try registering a new player with home coordinates in a fairly central area of greater Victoria and a smaller circle than yours, say 10k or so. Make the rounds of all the straighforward caches with real names that exist where they're posted, and see what you're left with!
PS: Does anyone know whether signing up as a charter member for $30 a year would give me the ability to move selected caches off my not found nearby caches list but still be able to view them from the Team K profile?
- Loonie Easter Bunny "I only get'em if they're easy and close"
- aka the Mystery Cachers' mom
[This message was edited by Loonie Easter Bunnies on January 08, 2003 at 10:01 AM.]
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Two thumbs up. Way to go!
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Thanks again.
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To find the answer to your question, solve the following puzzle: Presuming the earth is a sphere, determine the number of posts to the forum called "Goodbye...for Now" and use this as your easting. The number of posts to THIS forum (the one we're on) will give you your northing. Use a correction factor calculated by averaging the number of views per day each has received. Then ignore the resulting UTM and find a pink tag located within 25 meters at 999 degrees true somewhere on the Goodbye for Now forum.
If the tag turns out to be orange, decrypt the hint:
[You are looking for a tag labelled] Qntt.
[This message was edited by Loonie Easter Bunnies on January 08, 2003 at 08:02 AM.]
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I recently discovered that my biggest motivator might be #14, but slightly modified: I like to write long-winded pompous cache logs! With my own caches, however, I do strive to be entertaining. So you could add another motivator to the list: The "creative outlet" aspect of creating caches that others will enjoy, and the satisfaction from feedback (which of course is tied closely to the ego factor already on the list).
Another to add to the list: Get kids away from the tv and video games by making hiking more appealing to them. The reason I started geocaching was that my children reached an age when they were militantly refusing to go hiking with mom anymore, and geocaching seemed a good way to get them out. One of the boys is motivated by the loot, the other quite likes getting on the computer (oops) to log and read.’
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Thanks Eroyd for stating the case so simply. Did you say that about "offshore coordinates" somewhere before? I had a deja vue about it, which made me wonder if I subconsciously got the idea from you in the first place - if so I apologize for taking it over as my own suggestion.
I was going to wait a bit and see if there would be any more feedback on my three suggestions for Team K, but when I saw three of the four new caches were posted in Oak Bay (not very far from my home coordinates) when they actually are many kilometers distant, prompted me to act now in the hopes that Team K might consider this suggestion before posting any more, so the e-mail has been sent. I decided to concentrate only on Suggestion Two about not posting "Ignore Coordinates" in town, because I felt that one was the most important. I also sent along what Eroyd said.
Canadazuuk, thanks again for your cautionary message - I decided not to mention anything about archiving.
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It's hard to tell sometimes with you Canadazuuk, but I am interpreting this to be feedback to my third proposed suggestion to Team K. If I'm right, then thank you very much for the feedback. It shows me that I need to make it much more clear that I am not suggesting they archive the caches already yet, but just to have a plan and not leave them around indefinitely, because eventually things ARE going to get saturated.
Also I will take your advice to heart about being careful what I wish for - I do realize that Team K is VERY responsive to e-mailed requests.
Hope to get other feedback before I send the e-mail!
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I don't follow all that was said between Mariner and Yellowcode, but I think you should NOT archive your caches. Here are some reasons:
1) You can't archive Malahat Summit, Mt. Prevost Summit and Just Beechy, because I haven't got to them yet! (Got as n ear as Cabin Point today though.)
2) You can't archive Mt. Work because many cachers haven't yet had the pleasure.
3) The in-town caches shouldn't be archived because they are simple and fun, and although most old cachers have been to them, new cachers if they don't want to do the tough or time-consuming ones but are gung-ho to get lots, need a selection of alternatives. Once the spring weather is in full swing if one of them has no visitors for a couple of months then archive it if you don't want it out there anymore, but not because of any Team K.
4) Guns at Macaulay shouldn't be archived. It's in a good location, has a good, real name and more staying power than the Team K one - it should be theirs that gets archived, not yet but in due course (see my third suggestion in the long paragraph below).
5) Instead of archiving, plan some new ones!
I have been contemplating e-mailing Team K with some suggestions. One, only use all-caps for caches that have big$ and then change to regular type once the money's gone. Two, for their "Ignore the Latitude and Longitude it only tells you the cache is on the island" caches, they could choose a particular remote area to post them where they won't perpetually appear on everyone's unfound nearby caches lists. These caches would still show up on the weekly new caches posting when new, and followers (myself included - I don't do the hard ones but follow them nonetheless) could very easily find them either by bookmarking the Team K profile or by bookmarking one of caches posted in the chosen remote area and then clicking nearby caches. Another way to publicize them and give them high visibility could be in addition to having each cache posted at the remote location with its fantasy name, also have a single cache posted in-town called "MANY EXCITING CACHES ON VANCOUVER ISLAND" with a date way ahead so it would always show as new, then on this in-town page list (with links) all the "ignore coordinates" caches that are posted at the remote area. Otherwise, only post a cache in an inhabited area if the coordinates indicate where the cache actually is, or in the case of a multicache (one where you need to go to the first location rather than just mapping or calculating it), where the first stage is. Or possibly if the coordinates don't give the cache away but are VERY close to where it is. My third suggestion would be that they archive their caches more quickly than the rest of us do because of the sheer overwhelming numbers of them.
Now that it is the new year and we have received advance notice of the new batch, would be a good time to send this e-mail to Team K, I think. If anyone has any feedback for me on the three suggestions in the previous paragraph before I send the e-mail, would be appreciated-- thanks!!!
[This message was edited by Loonie Easter Bunnies on January 06, 2003 at 12:43 PM.]
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You're entitled to your opinion but on a forum it's my opinion that opinions should be stated in a way that's not an attack on a person.
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Have a geocaching idea, a new project or a New Year's Resolution that you're just itching to share with other cachers? Here's your chance - let's hear about it!w
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Dagg: Hey Mr D why don't you tell us about it?
Geochamp: It didn't occur to me my suggestion would come across as a political issue
Too late now, my 1440 minutes have expired to take out the loaded word "environment" and just say "parkland for future generations to enjoy".
THE COORDS ABOVE ARE BOGUS!.......Comments???
in General geocaching topics
Posted
This forum topic originally asked for comments on the ramifications of placing some restrictions on approval of bogus coordinates. Here is a point of view that hasn't been expressed yet.
I am a non-ambitious geocacher who has got a great deal of enjoyment out of caching for almost a year now. When I first heard about it and went on to geocaching.com to check it out, I got hooked on this web site the very first time. If the area where I live had been dominated by dozens of "ignore coordinates and start calculating complex navigation problems" caches that are not located anywhere near where they are posted, as is now the case, I might never have come back to the site a second time or even own a gps unit.
I should add, though, that this situation seems to be resolving itself, as the caching team who place these caches are very responsive to the concerns of other users.
PS: If interested in seeing what my experience is, please add all but five of "The Mystery Cachers" found caches as well as their hidden ones to those listed for Loonie Easter Bunnies (still comes out way less than 100)
- thank-you.~
[This message was edited by Loonie Easter Bunnies on February 04, 2003 at 08:09 PM.]