brad.32

You're not talking about banning any types, just providing more information up front so we can do a visual filter in the cache listing, and I don't mean the cache description. ... so far I haven't seen a post here from any Groundspeak/geocaching.com people about any plans. In the other thread (New Cache Icons), an official poll was mentioned by Jeremy. When is the official poll coming or did I miss it?

Bugs have to travel some distance before they, well, have a record of distance traveled. ... but seriously, bugs have to travel from cache to cache before the mileage accumulates, and a total of about 50 miles for a map to be available to show the travels. [This message was edited by brad.32 on November 04, 2003 at 06:17 PM.]

What have you done so far? I see you don't have any TBs in your profile, so you haven't grabbed the bug yet. Don't post the TB tracking number here, but have you gone to the Track Travel Bugs page and entered the tracking number (on the metal tag) in the box under the bar code bug?

While I didn't think people lived in igloos in Anchorage, I've been corrected in that snowshoes aren't needed there. It's a coastal town next to the Pacific, so the climate is mild compared to the inland areas. It doesn't get that cold and they don't get a lot of snow. The bugs will find themselves in the cold interior as they travel south, but their stay in Anchorage will be pleasant.

Depends on the cache and the area. Around here bugs get taken up quickly, as there are people who watch for bugs and go pick them up.

You can hold it as long as you want. As a TB owner, I would like a holder to place a bug they found ASAP (the following weekend). I'm more interested in movement. You might check with the owner and tell them your plans. If your new placement helps the bug, then that's a good thing.

You know, I DID do a search for micro icon before posting this thread. I did. I did. In that thread you linked in... quote:Originally posted by Jeremy:Since microcaches are different in many ways, we should probably move them to their own cache type. That would give it its own icon. Jeremy Irish Groundspeak - The Language of Location That was in July. "Should" is not "will".

I agree with bthomas. Movement is movement. That's helping build a TB adventure. MIA is worse. I don't put the goal in the tag to give it more freedom, not that people care what's on the tag. People don't always follow the description on the TB's web page and they don't follow the TB tag's content either. My first bug was headed to TX from CA (as a newbie, it had no instruction tag at all). First finder took it to Washington state. Soon after it was in a muggled cache. MIA. I sent a new one (with an instruction tag) to the last placer, who agreed to place it. A month ago. He still has it

Interesting etiquette problem. Is the key a travel bug or not? If it is, then you need another TB to take the key. If it's not, then it shouldn't be in there in the first place, because it's a TB depot cache. You can't follow the rules of the cache without trading in a TB for the key, if it's a real bug. If you put in the bug you have to get the key, then you won't have the TB that you want the key for. As far as checking in then out. That's being sneaky and playing on the technical edge. Yes, it was checked in the cache, but you didn't leave it. People do it and it adds virtual mileage to the bug. One recent thread talked about this. Of course, the subject of trading bug for bug is being discussed in this one too.

The Great (or First) Gulf to Gulf Transcontinental Travel Bug Race.

A sheep mincing thing, now that's clever.

The maps are in displayed geographic coordinates, so the scale changes with latitude due to increased distortion away from the equator. Other distortions in this representation are shape and area.

I like the idea from the Cannonball run where a bug has make state-to-state moves. Because the provinces are so big, I thought a distance rule might be in order, 200 miles(?). Checkpoints could work too. This race is not a sponsered race, so is going to have a smaller ... budget ... than the NY Geocaching Organization's Cannonball Run. Some initial questions and my guesses/answers: 1. Are long flights fair to the sportsmenship of the race? No. 2. Winter may not be the best time to start in AK. How much caching happens in Alaska and Canada in the winter? Along that line, how many cachers are there in Canada? Not much/many, will be a slow start. 3. Why should I enter a bug in the race? What are the award categories? What are the prizes? I'll ignore the first one. Awards for first, second, and third places, most interesting/unique bug (determined by poll), others(?), I don't want to do a lot of counting statistics. I seem to be kind of a coordinator with geojed so I'll put up some for prizes, he hasn't told me to "shut up, it's my race". 4. Is Brad racing a moose? Yes 29 Nov Race Begins. 30 Nov "Was in Anchorage for a winter polar bear conference. The snow was pretty deep out to the cache, but a nice hike in my rented snowshoes. Picked up Brad's moose TB. I see he's in some race." 6 Dec "Back home in Miami. I know he's in a race, but this is the first chance I had, sorry for holding the moose so long. Dropped him off at a local cache. Hope he wins!" 7 Dec "Picked up the moose TB." 14 Dec "Placed the moose in the destination cache. Woo hoo! He wins first place!" Back in Anchorage... "Found this awesome 4x4-monster-truck TB in the AK to FL race, cool. When the snow melts, I'll place it somewhere, but I'm gonna play with it this winter." 15 Dec - months and months The big wait for the REST of the bugs. [This message was edited by brad.32 on October 27, 2003 at 08:10 AM.]

Here are a couple possible destinations that are long-lived caches in Florida: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=c87aba5c-3c61-41d5-bc58-7020fc9f13d5 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=675cd234-d398-4166-a23d-d8484a93f135 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=d90d6a54-8b60-4c6d-a612-c2440b5a9295 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=0b343a3a-cfd7-4d8f-978e-28c2fb631d95 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=55029b68-8db2-40d5-9c61-292a34de58c1 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=00dd3c02-693a-459a-8b6f-d44cf6fe9c29 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=80acd66e-8bec-4453-a8db-9a79917e88ca

This thread.

Is this the way it's going to work now or is something not working correctly?

quote:Originally posted by Mark 42: quote:Originally posted by brad.32:... It depends on the users needs or, as some have said, on Jeremy's whims, because it's really his page page, and we are just visitors. I respectfully disagree. Especially for those who have sent in the donation to become a premium member, but for everyone, we all should have a say in what is worthwhile of implementation. That was not my idea. If we pay for the service and there's a forum for discussing changes, then we ought to be discussing what we would like. Jeremy, et al.'s work on this site make geocaching possible and is part of the experience. Groudspeak is a business. They promote geocaching. They sell related merchandise and gear. They don't have their own line of GPS units, perhaps licensed from, e.g., Garmin, to carry the logo (yet). I am a premium member, have a pocket query set up, have Watcher and GPXView, but I'm not a mega cacher. I like TBs. I pay Groundspeak for TB tags/tracking service. TBs don't fit in micros.

The tracking number is the correct number. The other one (TBxxxx) is the reference number and is not (usually) used.

There have been 608 viewings of this page and only 72 votes, 8% of those votes were "Don't care".

You should probably send an email to Groundspeak about that. Use the Contact us page to find where you should direct it.

It's a cache where the owner expects TBs to pass through. It's a junction, that is "well-known" cache that people can dump TBs into to help other people get access to them. People don't usually put other items in them, just bugs. Sometimes placing a TB in a hotel dooms it for a bit because it's not in circulation, but waiting for that special person to come move it along.

You did a nice tag, but why did you want to put the reference number on the tag instead of the tracking number? It might confuse people because the tracking number is the one entered on the web page when the bug is found. The reference number is ... not as useful (not needed).

I looked at his logs. He goes caching with a cub scout pack or his wife every couple months. Maybe they will place it next time. Wait and see.

I'm looking for additional icons, well, just one really. I don't really care about the LOOK of the icons, only their function, except the virtual. That stupid ghost is going after Halloween, right? What does that have to do with the web page theme? They could be letters, as long as people knew what the letters meant, but many people would think those ... boring. There are two questions: Do they convey the useful information? ("traditional"/regular, multi, MICRO (hint, hint), virtual, event, etc.) Do they fit in with the design theme of the geocaching.com web pages?

Watcher can be downloaded from Clayjar's site. "Watchers" could be used to refer to users of the Watcher program. As I wrote previously, the question addressed in the poll above is how micros should be handled on geocaching.com, not how a third-paty application can process a pocket query / LOC / GPX file. If micros have their own icon, then people conclude that every combination of type and size should have a unique icon, which may not be the case. Separating micros from the rest may be all that is really needed. It depends on the users needs or, as some have said, on Jeremy's whims, because it's really his page page, and we are just visitors. In the New Cache Icons thread, Jeremy wrote "We do plan to create a poll." I'm waiting for that one