thomfre
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Posts posted by thomfre
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1 minute ago, thebruce0 said:
Oh I agree. If the lab is entirely offline (including completion code), it is effectively a Wherigo cartridge (and as easy to hack/crack/cheat). I can even conceptualize how it could be done right now (same as wherigos). Being local data, someone just needs a program to access the phone files, decode the lab data (that'd be cake for a pro), write an app that parses the content and extracts that completion code, and if necessary spoofs the device location to trick the app into running the Lab while not on site, or else just letting the user enter the code, with or without online. Write that program and anyone can download it and cheat.
It's so much simpler than this to get the data! So I think the best way to deal with the cheaters, is to block them. And let us honest people play with better tools.
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With the current implementation, there's absolutely nothing that require the app to be online, other than creating the illusion that it prevent people from cheating. All the data is transferred to the app, and the validation is already done in the app - which could be done offline - without affecting the features. This is why it's so easy to cheat now - why not use that to let people find them offline? Find other ways to detect cheaters, and simply block their access to the lab cache API. Problem solved.
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22 minutes ago, tom1996 said:
Your app will use the API - running on (an)other server(s).
The status page rarely ever show the actual status during failures like the one we're seeing now.
9 minutes ago, arisoft said:I fear that this App and the working server will be "streamlined" in the near future.
Neongeo appears to be abandoned, and will stopp working on June 1st. It use the old API, which might be the explanation to why it works now.
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3 hours ago, arisoft said:
API seems to work (just tested) and GPS is running. Do you really use web pages when Geocaching?
API is working on and off. Very slow, and lots of errors. Just like it's been every day for the last two weeks...
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2 hours ago, funkymunkyzone said:
You said it was a problem with 3rd party services. It's not. Groundspeak's own website considers a cache as found only when there's a found it log, not when there's a note. So there's no need ot get all smart a** and "If that's not good enough for you, that's really not my problem..." about it. The way I see it, if you want to rush out and FTF a cache and you have enough internets to post a note, why not post a found it, unless you actually just want to have lols when someone else thinks the cache is still unfound...
I already explained why. I log my finds in chronological order, on my computer - not on my phone. I can have 10-1000 finds I have to log before I submit the Found it-log on the cache i just found first.
The way I see it, if you want to rush out and FTF a cache, you read the logs first. Then you put it on watch list, and you'll get an email no matter what type of log someone write.
FTF is not something the main site caters for (I wonder why?), so if a 3rd-party service provide some kind of indication specifically for FTF-hunters, that service should look at how large parts of the community handle this - and look at notes as well. People should generally start reading cache descriptions and logs again...
And if you can't accept the way most people I've met handle the FTF game, that is really not my problem. Maybe you should look at the way you act yourself now.
Edit: there's no requirement to log the find as soon as I've found a cache (or before, as some people do). I can log whenever I want. I only log the write note as a courtesy to other FTF hunters. I could have logged nothing, and waited until I got home. Would you prefer that instead?
Edit2: From the help center:QuoteFTF (First to Find). While FTF is a fun, community-driven aspect of the game, it is not officially recognized by Geocaching HQ.
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2 minutes ago, funkymunkyzone said:
If a cache is found, why not write a Find Log?... it's quite literally *the* intended way to announce that the cache has been found.
Otherwise, why not use all sorts of random log types... why not use DNF whenever you want to write a note to add a comment on a cache page - after all, you're just writing a note and didn't actually go out and find it at that time, so semantically it's correct... lol
I do write a found log. But I like to log my finds in chronological order, and I like to log using my computer.
As a courtesy to others, I leave a note when I'm FTF. This way, I get to log the way I prefer, and people can see the note if they want to. This is how everyone's doing it here. If that's not good enough for you, that's really not my problem...
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9 minutes ago, mainiac1957 said:
I really would like to know how they hacked the GS servers to get the answers in the first place.
I'm not going to explain how they do it, but it's really easy, and it doesn't involve hacking the GS servers. I have reported the hole to Groundspeak.
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Given this text on the profile, I'm going to say that the intention here is pretty obvious:
QuoteSince Groundspeak seems to be unable to provide us with a definitive list of all Lab-Caches out there, I made it my mission to find and collect them all.
Found something missing? Don't hesitate to contact me ;)-
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2 hours ago, Mineral2 said:
From the standpoint of the website, there's no data suggest a cache has been found until a found-it log has been posted. Until then, it's technically up for FTF grabs.
If we're looking at it that way, is there even a thing called FTF? There are no official rules. I can write FTF in all my logs if I want to. First to Find (this hour), Fifth to Find, Fourth to Find (today) etc.
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Labrador_GC was not alone, lots of other fake logs. Why would people even want fake finds on their profiles?
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52 minutes ago, Keystone said:
I split off 15 posts from this thread into a separate thread in the Lab Caches forum section, so as not to distract from the discussion of the Lab Cache app. Feel free to continue the conversation there.
The way I view it, this is clearly an issue with the app itself (since the app is now the only way to log lab caches). Lots of fake logs on new adventure labs, which should be handled by both fixing the app and banning the users that abuse the hole.
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15 minutes ago, arisoft said:
Yes it does. You may not know but there are 3th party services which displays all unfound caches for FTF-hunters and other intrest groups. If you log a note only, there is no indication that the cache has already found. Sometimes a note is used especially to keep the cache on a such list a little bit longer.
That is a problem with the 3rd party service then. There's so many services, and many of them work in different ways. I don't think we should expect everyone to follow requirements they don't even know exists. Writing FTF-notes have been common in Norway as long as I've been geocaching, and that's what we here consider courteous enough.
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Just now, niraD said:
Wrong question. The right question is, how could he/she LOG all the adventures in the world.
Yes, that was what I meant.
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9 minutes ago, niraD said:
My guess is that the account was locked after all the new adventure labs were solved. But that's just a guess.
Last visited yesterday, so it could have been locked today, yes. But how could he/she find all the adventures in the world..?
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How is it possible for this account to solve all new adventure labs? https://www.geocaching.com/p/default.aspx?u=labrador_gc
Even with his/her account locked!? -
14 minutes ago, IceColdUK said:
However, surely even thomfre will agree that the combination of the API change and the GSAK macro 'trumps' his script in terms of usability? ;-)
Of course I agree! I always hoped my script was temporary, and I'm glad it turned out to be so.
I use GSAK a lot myself (but I don't use drafts), so I welcome all improvements.
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1 hour ago, HHL said:
Yes, but actually not all apps do it. Some are just bigmouths. ?
Hans
Believe it or not, it doesn't even make sense to do it in all apps...
I believe in giving credit where credit is due, and it was geocaching.com that made this possible in the latest API.
The feature request was:QuoteFeature Request: Add retrieving drafts to API
...and that was done by Groundspeak.
Sorry that I stepped on your toes, the macro is still awesome. -
10 minutes ago, IceColdUK said:
This is now possible thanks to HHL's FetchFromDrafts macro.
It is possible thanks to the new geocaching.com API
All partner apps can implement this if they want to.
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43 minutes ago, arisoft said:
But the ones who had problems with this new feature are not happy at all if the 16000 limit is downgraded back to 6000.
I don't mind
I appreciate the 16k limit, but the per app limit is much more important. So if this change leads to the limit being 6k per app again, I'm perfectly fine with that! -
On 3/19/2019 at 4:56 PM, thebruce0 said:
Here's how it works:
Script: (HQ coded) Hey browser, what are your GPS coordinates?
Mobile device browser: No problem! Here they are - #, #.
Desktop browser (HTML5): GPS? Um... Hold on. *attempts to determine coordinates by locating its IP address* This is the best I can do - #, #.
Desktop browser (pre-HTML5): G..P..whatsahoozit?
Script: (HQ coded) Oh you don't know what GPS is? Okay then... A] Hold on while I check your IP address and try to determine a location, or B] Sorry I guess you can't use this feature!
Debugging would have been a lot more fun if logs looked like this
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On 3/19/2019 at 10:25 AM, HHL said:
Yes, in the US. But not elsewhere (specifically not in Europe). ?
And since both date and timezone is known on the cache, it should be real easy to calculate the correct DST.
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7 minutes ago, arisoft said:
And instead of fixing the leaking App you prefer to have more API calls?
Leaking app? There is a lot of nice API apps out there, and they have been working perfectly fine until now.
What most of you seem to forget is that people have gotten used to apps not affecting each other. I can't speak for the world, but it's common here in Norway to use the available quota to fetch caches in GSAK. People have done that for a long time, and how should they know that they have to stop now? If they don't, they can't use any other app.
The issue isn't a single partner app (not sure where you get the data harvesting apps from, do they even exist anymore?) - it's users being used to doing something that will soon break their workflow.
It doesn't matter to them that some random dude on the forum think they shouldn't need to download that many caches. And why should it?
The increased limit is nice. But separate limits was a lot nicer.
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2 minutes ago, Corfman Clan said:
Apps aren't doing it, "on their own", unless they are not following the API partner agreement. Apps should only be using the API for a user if the user allows them too and in the manner authorized. The user is able to revoke an app's authorization any time. I'll also suggest that it is a user's responsibility to understand what authorizing an app entails.
All of that is true, but some apps will fetch data in the background, without the exact API call being initiated by the user (like indicated in the post I quoted).
I went back and had a look, and I see plenty of evidence for the 6000 per app limit being intended. The new quota might be a huge increase for some, like the people using only one app. But for people using 3+ apps, it's not an increase at all. -
13 minutes ago, SpiritGuide said:
I think the key part of this discussion is what the original post was about... can there be a dashboard summary of API usage by partner? That's the only way to really tell which app or website is consuming the quota. Allowing a user to monitor this puts them in control and avoid partner apps using more than they want.
I fully support that idea!
But I don't think any API app use more than they have to (why should they?), the issue here is that you now have a shared pool where you used to have separate pools. This will affect users that use multiple API apps.
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All partner apps can implement this if they want to.
Release Notes (Adventure Labs) - March 26, 2019
in Geocaching HQ communications
Posted
In 75% of the cases, it's developers (or managers) embracing the benefits of online ads and tracking... There's a long way from utilizing online capabilities, to requiring being online... Partly offline is much better than no offline support at all. Imagine how hard geocaching would be if the app didn't support offline lists.