skydiver

quote:Originally posted by RPaske:I have been signed up for this for a week. There have been new caches within my search criteria. Is there a problem with the notification process? According to my logs, 22 alerts were sent to you since the 23rd, but I do have a question for you. I'll email you privately so we can try to figure out the problem. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

quote:Originally posted by The Robot Family:I see you also have the rate on the sticker page itself. I was so focused on looking at the stickers, that I didn't bother reading anything and I scrolled right past the shipping description No you didn't. I just added that last night. I figured if you missed that section on the sticker shipping charges, then other people probably were too. Sorry I didn't clarify sooner , but I spent all weekend on a geocaching expedition, and it took a while to catch up on everything when I got home. I know it's a lame excuse, but it's the only one I have. At any rate, if you privately email me your mailing address, I'll send you a few stickers for your troubles. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

I setup a test query this morning, but the GPX file didn't come in until I had to leave for work. Just checked it, and it only has 5 caches for the entire state of Montana. So, I'm going to assume that new logs don't trigger it. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

This is one for TPTB. On the Pocket Queries, there's an option to receive caches that have been 'Updated in the last 7 days'. My question is, does this include log entries? If someone posts a found it log from a find more than 7 days ago, or a not found log, will those events trigger that cache to be included in the next query with the 'Updated' option selected? Thanks. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

quote:Originally posted by The Robot Family:The Skydiver link has some good alternatives, but their shipping is still high at $5. FYI. The info is a little burried on the 'shipping options' page. I'll see if I can make it more accessible. quote:If you order stickers and no other products, you may choose USPS First class mail as your shipping option. Shipping rates are $.60 for the first sticker, $.10 for each additional sticker. International orders are not eligible for USPS shipping. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

quote:Originally posted by Team GPSaxophone:Now, can I get you to page me when a new cache shows up...? Maybe. If your phone/pager can recieve text messages at an email address. Just be sure to set the notification format to Brief. Seems like most cell phone and pager companies require text messages to be sent via a web interface they provide, which won't work for this. But there are a few of us with phones that can recieve email (mine's through Verizon... my-phone-number@vtext.com), and in those cases, it works very well. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

quote:Originally posted by Team Kender:not to sound like a total moronicus, but when I click "update" it changes the last 2 coordinates that I input for both lat and long. is it supposed to do that? Team Kender - Willow and Dan exploring the Bay Area backroads! Nope you don't sound like a total moronicus to me. It shouldn't be happening for MOST people, but you're not seeing things. That's acutally a unfortunate side effect of the fact that I convert the lat/long you provide into strict degree/decimal format before putting it in the database. Then when the page loads, for display purposes only, it reconvertes it back to NS,EW/Degree/Minute/Decimal format. And due to a little rounding that takes place in the conversions, some coordinates change a little bit. But the overall difference shouldn't be more than few feet in one direction or another, which on the scale of searching a 100 mile radius from that point, isn't significant. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

quote:Originally posted by smithdw:So how does this program work? Do you get a list of new caches and check to see if they are within the areas that users enter, or does your site look on GC.com at different times of the day for each users request? The reason I'm asking is that I don't want to put a huge additional load on the GC.com servers which could happen depending on the way your service works. "The best way to accelerate a Macintosh is at 9.8m/sec/sec." -Marcus Dolengo I had the same concern when I wrote this... so it doesn't matter if there's 10 people, or 10,000 signed up ... the same load is put on the GC.com servers... which is very little. Basicaly what I do is watch for new cache id's (not the waypoint id, but it's numeric equivilant that you usually see in the URL) to get used up, and then periodicaly check that ID to see if it got approved yet. If so, then I check to see if anybody signed up for the alert needs to be notified of that cache. Sometimes, the program doesn't notice a new cache is approved until several hours after the actual approval took place, so the alerts aren't exactly 'real time', but it's still a lot better than once a week. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

I've got a free tool that does exactly that. Enjoy. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

Missoula has a geocaching club. I think you're close enough to qualify. MOOG --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

I personally wouldn't do a SCUBA cache, just because I don't scuba dive. I looked into it once, but decided the expense of training and equipment wasn't worth the frequency I be able to go do it. However, there IS interest in that kind of cache, and as long as one person is willing to go hunt it, then I'd say absolutely do it. Here's another SCUBA cache that so far only has had one true finder. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

A Premium Membership here. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

For me, it's way too much to even think about. When I started, I thought this was the cheepest sport I'd ever participated in. Now, almost 13 months later, it's the most expensive. I'll just list the big stuff. I'm on my 4th GPSr (bought first just for geocaching, then upgraded from it, then that one got stolen and replaced it, then upgraded again). Overheated my 92 Saturn Sport Coupe driving on logging roads (it really prefers the highway), and needed to get the tail pipe and muffler replaced after it all fell off the car ... on a cache hunt (yes, CITO'd). Blew out a tire on my Saturn driving on rocky logging roads (of course, they were highway tires). Traded in my Saturn for a 97 Tacoma 4x4 (with appropriate tires). Bought many, many times more camping and outdoors supplies in just the past year than I have my entire life prior. And add to all that the usuall gas, ammo cans, tradeables, batteries, boots, snowshoes, forest service maps, etc. etc. etc. Please, someone help me stop!!!!!! --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

quote:Originally posted by yumitori:Um, wow. I really don't know what to think about a position that a significant chance of death, regardless of preparedness, is acceptable in a family sport. I would have thought that there would be some level where even you would agree that the 'challenge' was just too bloody great, so we could discuss refining that line, but apparently not. ROFLMAO! Oh, I see now. You want us to discuss where the line should be drawn on what is too difficult, and impose that limit on all other cachers. Of course, how could I be so dense. In that case, may I suggest that we submit this cache and this cache to the chopping block first, since I know that I would be at a very real and probable risk of death were I to attempt either one. Seriously, though, I jump out of planes FOR FUN! You and I would never draw that line in the same place. Every single person on this planet, geocachers, skydivers, rock climbers, scuba divers, and little old ladies alike, are each individually responsible for knowing what their own personal limits, and stopping what their doing once they reach that limit. Nobody (including yourself) is high and mighty enough to impose any arbitrary universal limits on anyone else. quote:But that is exactly what you've said on our local forums. For the last time, stop misquoting me and taking my statements out of context. It really doesn't help validate your arguments. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

quote:Originally posted by yumitori:First, I do indeed believe that there is a rational limit to how difficult a cache should be. Should I find a mine shaft somewhere (don't want to be burying anything), and recreate http://www.activemind.com/Mysterious/Topics/OakIsland/? Is a real risk of death or permanent injury of even careful, experienced and prepared cachers acceptable? Or shall we create caches with puzzles so obscure that it takes years of searching and researching the personal life of the cache hider before the first person stumbles across the intended interpretation, ala http://www.armchair-treasure-hunt.com/media/masquerade2.htm? As I've stated before, and repeatedly, yes! If you, or anyone else, really doesn't like to hunt that sort of cache, then don't friggen' do it. But don't waste your time, and effort, on the cache only to complain at the end that you were obligated to hunt it purely because it was on your cache page. quote: If a cache is hidden in the woods and no one ever finds it, is it still a geocache? You tell me. Seems to me that you've expressed a desire to go hunt for a particular cache in the woods that, after nearly two years now, still hasn't been found. Are you going to go hunt that one too, just so that you can complain that it's too difficult? quote:The chief difficulty I had with it was the lack of objective and unambiguous interpretations of the clues. Several of us commented that it required 'thinking like Skydiver', and you thought it was funny, but it wasn't actually a joke. In retrospect, it really was necessary to overlook logical evaluation of some of the clues and instead wander randomly through the area until we stumbled across certain of the 'waypoints', then try to figure out what you really meant the next step to be, since what you _said_ wasn't what we needed to do. Obviously, your reason for feeling the need to randomly wander was due to the fact that you overlooked logical evaluation. Every clue is extreemly descript and pointed to a very specific point on earth, if you really think logically about it. Unlike other caches with clues that only hint to a general vicinity where the hunter is required randomly wander that area and conduct a needle-in-a-haystack search for hours on end, even though they know they've solved the clue correctly and would like to move on. quote:I'm sorry that this has created a rift between us, but I tried to fairly evaluate my experiences. No, that wasn't a 'fair evaluation'. Leonata's log was a fair, and appreciated, evaluation. Your log was a rant with intent to... quote:tear down another's caches, simply because it's not the sort of hide the finder prefers. which can do nothing BUT create a rift. quote:I got into this discussion because there's been comments locally that we don't 'need' more easy caches. This, at the same time I'm seeing more and more new geocachers, and more families geocaching. My first cache was a multi that required solving clues and doing research to find. I didn't even need ONE easy cache to get started, and I didn't need, or want, anyone to saturate the area with easy caches just because I was new and they felt I was incapable of anything interesting. And I happen to know a 7 year old that's been on some of the most challanging hikes in the area. So your argement that new cachers and families NEED to have only easy caches to hunt is completely bogus. However, I'm not saying that there shouldn't be easy caches, or even that there shouldn't be more of them. My problem is simply that in the time it takes one person to put together a thoughfull, interesting cache hunt, (easy or difficult) another person can put out many, many thoughtless, boring caches. And with a trend like that, it's easy for an area to get saturated with thoughtless, boring caches, under the guise that new cachers and families NEED nothing but bag-n-tags. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

quote:Originally posted by nincehelser:I'm not real impressed with caches are intentionally placed where GPS reception is spotty. That's just too easy for the hider. I'd much rather do caches where my GPS easily gets me to within the normal error bounds, but yet I'm totally stumped by a clever hiding location (and I don't mean the needle-in-a-haystack types...I find those lame, too). Amen brother! I'll just add to that the caches hidden on top of a mountain (GPS reception is usually really good there). And I don't mean those where you can drive, or take a 4 wheeler, all the way up the mountain. I much prefer those where a couple hours of hiking is required. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

We're doing almost exactly what you're suggesting here in Missoula (and surrounding areas) ... but you gotta live here to use this point system. SGPS --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

quote:Originally posted by yumitori:It is indeed sad when someone feels the need to tear down another's caches, simply because it's not the sort of hide the finder prefers. There's room in this sport for all sorts of caches - 1/1s and 5/5s, urban and backcountry, clever hiding places and obvious piles of sticks, 'evil' puzzle caches and ones findable by a pre-schooler without a GPSr. Unfortunately, there are those who forget this, and choose instead to spend their precious caching time being judgemental and negative about geocache styles they do not personally care for. They forget that their opinions are not held by everyone else in the area, and there _are_ other geocachers who truly do like them. Ron/yumitori You mean like this... quote:Unfortunately, I must disagree with Rye that this is one of the best caches in the area. While I certainly know that Skydiver put a great deal of time and effort into it, the result, for me, was a hunt filled only with frustration and dissatisfaction, accented by the difficulty involved in decyphering certain of the clues, whose 'correct' solutions required Bizarro answers. My efforts to finish it was motivated purely from a desire to get it off my cache pages. blah blah blah quote:I felt I was in actual danger during the final hunt. blah blah blah quote:I do appreciate challenging and difficult caches. blah quote:But in my opinion there are upper limits to how much effort reaching a simple logbook should take. The line at the end of this log to one of my caches is the one that to this day irks the h-e-double-hockey-sticks out of me, and raises my blood pressure each time I read it. The mere sugestion that extreemly difficult caches shouldn't exist purely because THIS finder thought it was too difficult blows my mind. As does the comment that he was 'motivated purely from a desire to get it off my cache pages.' That log was the most unconstructive form of hypercriticism I've ever recieved in my entire life. However, I think there is a need for constructive criticism in all aspects of life. Take for instance, the next log to the same cache where the finder posted... quote:I wasn't a big fan of all the complex puzzling, but I did enjoy the hike. Perfect! She got her point across to me, without being a complete jerk about it. If she felt that way, would I want her lying to me about how she liked the puzzles? NO! I want to hear people honest opinions about mine and other people caches, and I will certainly give my opinions about caches in my logs and in conversation when the subject comes up. But I try not to be a jerk about it, and expect others to do the same. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

quote:Originally posted by Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking:Skydiver: I may publically write something nice, but that doesn't mean I won't criticize. If I truly don't like a cache, or if I feel a cache is dangerous or violates trespassing rules, I will e-mail the owner privately. I may also put a comment like "the location could have been better but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless." I won't publically chew someone out on a cache placement. I had that done to me when we first started caching by someone who just had a bad day and didn't like that kind of cache yet felt compelled to get it anyway "for the numbers". I've never forgotten that sting. I've also seen others stop caching because of nasty comments others leveled at them publically. Their caches weren't lame but someone decided to make an issue of their caches nonetheless. Being nice doesn't always mean we give wholehearted approval to a cache. You can be nice and criticize at the same time. That moss-covered bucket I hailed as a treasure, For often at noon, when I returned from the field, I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure. Samuel Woodworth The Old Oaken Bucket I agree that it's possible to be nice and critical at the same time, and in many cases a private email is the best way to express the details of your concern. What I was trying to say (maybe didn't come across correctly), is that entring an online log of 'Great cache! I had a lot of fun.' for a cache that you thought sucked and wasn't fun at all, isn't necessarily good. In that case, a simple 'found it, tnln' log get's your find counted without giving credit where credit isn't due, or giving OTHER geocachers (besides the owner) the wrong impression of what you honestly think qualifies as a 'Great cache!' I know one local cacher who has resorted to leaving completely blank logs (well he had to put in a space character for it to take), on the grounds that... if you can't say anything nice... --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

I usually send the answer, then immediately log the find. If I got anything wrong, they can delete me log. Only about half the time have I gotten any response at all... ever. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

quote:Originally posted by unclerojelio:I keep my stats on a webpage and all I am really trying to do is automate the updating of that page a little. I'd like to be able to simply enter a waypoint and have my script go out and grab the coords and name of the cache and then append a line to my found page. Thanks for the responces. ... Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, ... http://www.arlut.utexas.edu/~banks/geocache.html Pocket Queries are the way to go. Just setup a query to run daily sending you a gpx file of those caches yu've found... then run your script to read the file and find anything new, and update the page. I do just a little data mining (slurping) for my point system, but 95% of the updates comes from pocket queries. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

quote:Originally posted by Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking:I've always tried to write something nice about every cache no matter how lame. It just seems like good etiquette to me. Although I totally understand how you're trying to be nice and polite with this practice, and that's and admirable quality, I disagree with the practice entirely. Certainly, if you honestly liked the cache, then say so. Doing so will encourage that cache placer, and others, to place more like it, which you will probably like also. Whether or not you should criticize a cache you don't like probably depends a lot on your personality as well as what you didn't like about it (i.e. did it break some rule like being on private property, or was it just not your cup of tea). That should entirely be decided on a case by case, cacher by cacher, basis. However, actually complimenting a cache you don't like only encourages people to place more caches exactly like it, which are just more caches you're not going to like. One of the most poorly placed caches I've ever been to has logs from people saying what a great place it is to put a cache. I honestly believe those are just people following the same rule you are, which is to say something nice about every cache, regardless of how lame it was. But the cache owners have used those logs a 'proof' that some people actually like that kind of cache. Imagine a scenario where you're about to go out on the town with a couple friends, and have a big booger hanging out of your nose. One friend tells you how absolutely fantastic you look, and then the other mentions the booger. Next time you want an opinion on your appearance (or anything else for that matter), which friend's advice are you going to seek? The one who just tells you what you want to hear, or the one who tells you the truth. Now switch roles, and decide which of the two friends you would be. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

quote:Originally posted by Budophylus:DON'T DO IT! I completely disagree. Just like there are a few bad geocachers, there are a few bad reporters. Myself and several other geocachers here worked with KPAX (local news station) on a story that they did last fall. When talking to them I tried to assume that they already thought the worst (i.e. burrying caches, etc), and made sure to mention that that wasn't true before they even got a chance to ask about it. Then I made sure to repeatedly and thouroughly explain CITO, and how it's the responsibility of the cache placer to periodicly check on it and maintain it, and how it's every geocacher responsibility not to tear up the vegetation looking for a cache and leave the area just as the found it, etc. etc. etc. So, essentially, I tried to dispell any negative misconceptions they might already have, and tried to give them lots of positive material to work with. The final story, as it aired, in my opinion, was great. Some other geocachers worked more recently with the local University newpaper on a story, and it wasn't too shabby either (although it seemed to me to focus too much on how many finds a person had). But still, very positive, and even mentioned CITO as well. So, I'd say DO IT!!! But try to anticipate any misconceptions they may already have, and dispell them at the start. Then give them a lot of good material to work with. Might even mention how the reporter in the story that started this thread (they've no dout heard it), got a couple things wrong and correct them on it. Lastly, I'd say, if you take them on a cache hunt, take them on either a bogus hunt you setup (like we did) just for the purpose of taking them, or take them on one you've already been on, or hid yourself. That way you already know what you're getting into, and have lots of control over the final outcome, and their final impression. Imagine, after dispelling all those negative misconceptions, you take them on a hunt to a burried cache on private property. Whoops! --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

Puzzle Caches rock! I love to hunt and hide them. And personally, I like 'em difficult. Simple is good too, but the more difficult, the better, in my book. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------

Good job!!! We managed to fill 85 trash bags in six hours from our adopted section of highway today. Thankfully though, we didn't need to haul them all away, since the Department of Transportation will be coming by on Monday to pick them all up. --------------------------------------- "We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things." Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) ---------------------------------------