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If you do that, you can expect to get flamed by the CO for not telling him privately.

What is a reasonable expectation once someone picks up a trackable from a cache? I had one of the GEICO Travel Tags that was logged as retrieved June 7th and it hasn't been logged again since then.

If it is a school-approved project, in a location approved by the school (not just the one teacher), where is would be accessible year-round without causing issues with the school, then there should not be any problem over the guideline. But it would be advisable to put information about it being a school approved project in the description -- both to reassure the reviewer and future searchers.

Neither display format is inherently more or less accurate than any other display format. Precision and accuracy are not the same thing. The precision of the formats differs somewhat - but the number of decimal places is the controlling factor in precision. As you move from Degrees, to minutes, to seconds, the precision increases by a factor of 60: A coordinate given in whole degrees and minutes (no decimal places) would be 60 times more precise than one given in just whole degrees (yes, both would be useless). A coordinate given in whole degrees, whole minutes, and whole seconds would be 60 times more precise than one given in just whole degrees and whole minutes. Adding decimal places further enhances the precision by a factor of 10 for each decimal place. Thus a coordinate given as DDD/MM.m would be less precise than one given as DDD/MM/SS, but a coordinate given as DDD/MM.mm would be slightly more precise than one given as DDD/MM/SS Precision is useless without accuracy -- the distinction between precision and accuracy is often forgotten in this digital age where it is easy to display figures that are far more precise than the accuracy of the actual measurement. If you have a bathroom scale with an accuracy of +/- 1% there is really no good reason to pay attention to the fact that it displays your weight to a precision of 2/10th of a pound. As for his coordinates "being off" because he gave them in DDD/MM/SS.sss it is far more likely that the error arose when someone tried to convert those numbers for entry into a GPS configured for DDD/MM.mmmm

OK, so I understand that the essence of geocaching no longer has anything to do with the skill of locating the coordinates but is really just a worldwide easter egg hunt. I suppose with the advances in handheld GPS that actually makes a perverse sort of good sense.

I've seen lots of discussions about what is and isn't a "find" centering around people who locate a cache but do not actually open the cache and sign the log book, usually because it was out of reach or there were people around. The concensus is clearly that just seeing or even touching the cache is not enough, you have to actually sign the log (assuming that there is a log, not just wet paper mush). But I ran across another forum topic that got me thinking: It seems to me that stumbling across a cache by accident isn't what geocaching is all about. What do people think about claiming a "find" on a cache that you just randomly stumble upon?

Permethrin and DEET are the foundation of stopping ticks. Even if you treat your clothes, take along a can of some spray with a high DEET percentage and spray it on your pants/socks/shoes right before going into the woods. Spray at least from the knees down to the feet -- higher if the grass/brush is taller - and around the waist band. If you really think tucking pants into socks looks too 'geeky' when in tick country, the consider using an elastic or velcro band to hold the pant legs snug - it isn't nearly as effective, but better than nothing. Pantyhose or tights are effective (even for guys!) Likewise a long sleeve t-shirt can help.

I would guess that you are right about the reason the issue comes up more than once. It did not get any media attention when the FCC initially gave the company approval to blanket the country with its high power terrestrial use of what was supposed to be a satellite radio frequency. First the issue was spotted by industry insiders who monitor FCC actions closely. I doubt any of them mentioned it here, but maybe... Then it was published in print and online by various GPS industry sources, largely in magazines and websites only read by people in the industry. At this point there was still almost no public awareness of the issue. Some of the industry people who read the information (above) then started passing it around in various online forums. For example, I passed the information (and links) along in some Search & Rescue and Emergency Communications forums. I actually didn't think to mention it here. By now the news was starting to spread among people who use GPS units. I would guess that this is about when the news first reached here. Finally various newspapers started picking up the story -- but it wasn't "Local News" so the story generally wasn't handled by the 'news desk' and didn't appear in the main news sections of the paper. Instead the story was handled by someone at each paper assigned to handle "technical" stories or perhaps the "features" editor. This kind of story appears in the paper when they have room for it - meaning that different papers published the story as much as a week or two after other papers. Most of the public still doesn't have any clue about this story. Relatively few newspapers have carried the story and it has just started showing up in general online news websites like Yahoo. The story first appeared on Yahoo News this week. The result is that different groups of people first heard about it at widely different times -- and whenever one of those people happened to be a geocacher they would likely come here to talk about it. Unfortunately people don't always do a great job of assigning topic titles, most people don't read the titles beyond the first page or two of new forum posts, and almost no one bothers using the search function to try to find previous posts about a topic. So yes, in an ideal world, all the discussion about LightSquared's new terrestrial network causing interference to GPS units really ought to have been in one long forum topic -- but I don't know the GPS Coordinates to find that ideal world, do you?

REALLY WIERD! If I copy the link and use the copied link I get the right video. If I use the link in the email, it goes to http://www.youtube.com/user/GoGeocaching?blend=1&ob=5 (which shows the intro video) instead of actually taking me to blockedhttp://www.youtube.com/user/GoGeocaching?blend=1&ob=5#p/u/24/4qt6CLu4pGo It may just be something about the mail system on this computer -- I'll have to try it from at home later today -- but for some reason when I use the link in the email it is losing the #p/u/24/4qt6CLu4pGo from the end of the URL

What works will depend on the person, the weather, and the area... There are some states (and far more local areas) that are more or less hostile to people going armed even when it is perfectly legal. A few states issue concealed carry permits but ban open carry. In such states, especially if the local attitude is hostile, you may problems with "printing" being a serious issue. Even in states were open carry is legal, occasionally local cops will hassle people who they notice carrying. In a few areas you might even be charged with "brandishing a weapon" if a concealed firearm becomes visible. It is important to know both the laws and the local attitudes wherever you carry. I am fortunate to be in an area where open carry is legal and mostly accepted (at least outside our large metro area). In this area I can carry concealed without being overly concerned about printing or accidental flashing. One thing I have found is that your overall appearance is important whenever carrying either openly or concealed. If I wear dress slacks and a dress shirt (the same clothes I wear to the office), I can stop in the local Wendy's carrying a full size or compact automatic in a strong-side belt holster and no one will notice that I don't have a badge clipped to my belt like the other people dressed like me do. I can put on a jacket or windbreaker over that same outfit and carry concealed without being concerned about printing. If you look respectable you are much less likely to draw any unwanted attention. At the same time, you need to show good sense. When I am carrying as described I don't go into the bank or other places where people are especially sensitive about guns. When you need to carry really concealed, you are generally limited to a smaller gun and/or heavier clothing -- or off-body carry, such as a backpack or "fanny pack". A hiker carrying some sort of bag doesn't draw much attention most places where hiking is a common activity. Your clothes and equipment all need to fit your surroundings and your activity. Most of us would dress differently for urban or rural geocaching, you need to take those conditions into consideration when planning to carry a legal weapon. Keep in mind that your concealed carry permit may have limitations that block carry in many locations where caches might be placed. As of February 22, 2010, a new federal law allows people who can legally possess firearms under applicable federal, state, and local laws, to legally possess firearms in most National Parks, but many states ban firearms in state parks. One more consideration with carrying firearms while geocaching is that even with a concealed carry permit, you may run into problems with state hunting laws. Many states have hunting laws or regulations that limit the kind or caliber of firearms that can be used while hunting - such laws are not generally meant to apply to carrying for personal defense, but most of those laws were written to assume that if a person is in an area where hunting occurs and carrying a firarm then they must be hunting with that gun. For example, if you are carrying a pistol in the woods during "bow season" you may have a problem with the local game warden - especially if he has some other reason to want to hassle you.

It is neither old news nor unlikely. This is a case of a satellite communications company that JUST RECENTLY got permission from the Federal Communications Commission to use their satellite radio frequencies for a land-based network. As a satellite communications company they had only a few transmitter locations -- their land-based network would involve many thousands of transmitter sites blanketing urban areas and transportation corridors. Each site WILL significantly degrade the performance of most existing GPS devices in the vicinity. Exactly how much each site will degrade the performance of a GPS will depend on the exact GPS device. Bottom line: The FCC has already approved the company's application for the rule waiver. It would take the federal courts or congress to overturn the FCC approval. If the network is deployed, it will render most common GPS units useless for serious navigation or geocaching anywhere around the network locations (basically all major cities and the highways between them). New GPS devices with filters to block the network frequencies won't be available for at least a year, and will cost (at least slightly) more than current GPS devices.

I am both new to geocaching and casual (not avid) about it. I occasionally look for a cache if it is in a location near somewhere I am going to be and the listing is interesting. Sometimes I find one sometimes I don't. That all having been said, I think safety has to be something that we ALL need to consider. Each of us has a personal responsibility for our own safety, but we also have a responsibility to our fellow geocachers and to the sport of geocaching. I think most would agree that we want to present the impression of geocaching as a fun and safe activity. I know there are some who would turn geocaching into an "Extreme Sport" - and so far as I am concerned, that is fine for those who want that sort of 'adventure' and who know the risks they are taking. Any kind of disclaimers aside, there are liability issues for both the individual who places a cache in an unsafe location and for anyone who publishes directions to an unsafe cache, particularly without publishing appropriate cautions. Here there appear to be two potential risks: 1. The cache may be in an unsafe location. 2. The instructions may lead searchers to look in an unsafe location even if that is not the actual site. No one can predict every error that someone might make looking for a cache, but if the instructions deliberately lead people to an unsafe location, then it really doesn't matter if the cache is actually located elsewhere. Either way, the impact of someone being killed or seriously injured while geocaching would not be good for the sport.

If you are frequently having problems with police while geocaching, it might well be time to consider your appearance, your activities, and your location. There is little reason that any geocacher should appear 'suspicious' enough to involve the police at all, and almost no reason for any police involvement that would go beyong asking what you are doing. Unless you look or act very strangely, the most likely problem is location -- some people like to hide their caches in inappropriate locations. Just as nearly everyone has learned not to joke about hijackings and bombs when in an airport, it is time for the geocaching community to be more thoughtful about where and how caches are hidden. I know some will scream that they have a "right" to look and act strangely and others will scream that they have a "right" to hide a cache anywhere -- in most cases they are technically correct, but life is not always about being technically correct. If you choose to hide a cache in the grass at the bottom of the fence around a nuclear power plant, you should expect that people looking for that cache are going to spend time answering questions from people with badges and guns.

One good alternative to the traditional 35mm film canister would be the containers that test strips come in for diabetics who test their blood sugar. As a diabetic, I know that most of us test our blood sugar at least daily. Most test strips come 25 or 50 in a plastic canister. Different brands of test strips use different canisters, but most are around the size of a "film canister" and all designed to provide an air tight seal to protect the test strips. If you have any diabetic friends, you might ask them to save the empty canisters for you. For example, One Touch Ultra brand strips come in a black plastic container that looks almost exactly like a 35mm film canister. The inside is slightly smaller than a film canister because the container walls are thicker (and much stronger). The lid is attached to the canister rather than loose like most film canisters.

This week's Groundspeak Weekly Newsletter had a great article about Accessible Geocaching, but... The article says "As you can see from this video, just because the ground is flat does not necessarily mean that a geocache is wheelchair accessible." The word video is a hyperlink to http://www.youtube.com/user/GoGeocaching?blend=1&ob=5#p/u/24/4qt6CLu4pGo which is the same video that appears on the geocaching.com home page. This video is a promotional piece for Geocaching in general but it has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of accessibility.