Bambography

Time to set up the machine, enter and check the requested text, load the machine, do the engraving, pay for the electricity, pay business rates, pay for the engraving machine and any repairs, feed himself + wife & kids. £10 seems ok to me...

It's all very well that they want people to let the police know but unless they are going to create an official link with the website it won't become a reality. Maybe if they are aware of the game then a quick check on the website looking at the location of the suspicious package would show up if it is a cache or not. Neither this nor writing 'Contents Harmless' or 'Geocache' on the outside are a solution because anyone can do that, bombers too! Using sense and being very open if challenged is the best defense. But will it happen again? Probably! More worrying is the fact that you can get a caution due to playing a game and trying to enjoy yourself! (Oh, and I never had a Geocaching Coach either Seems I missed out!)

I'm using the new Date format choice however it isn't being used on the PMO cache view Audit log. Still US date format. Most confusing!

Is it me or do the new smileys look like they've been bleached? I think I preferred the old one, especially Attended. Support Article 1.4: Cache Log Icons needs to be updated (although personally, i'd go back to the old ones).

What was wrong with the bogs last year? Anyway, looking forward to it!

Has been known for 'a little damage' to be done to cachers looking for the cache... Has a certain Mr keehotee left the country? ... He's probably in hospital...!

That is pretty much the criteria and a good description of all of them (afaik ). As mentioned, the Mod usernames are separate from their 'real' names and i'm sure they do all do out caching rather regularly.

There are indoor caches around. I've not done any in the UK but there is a public library cache in Sweden. I'm sure there are others!

A Mega Event, in the Lake District?? PERFECT! Looking forward to it (assuming i'm not doing my bit as an Olympic 'Games Maker'). Fingers crossed I can do both!

That's always been the case - at least in this country. And if you include letterboxes in the equation, you ought to try caching on Dartmoor - 10 feet separation isn't unusual. OC.com really isn't going to affect Groundspeaks current user base, is it. And if Garmin manage to get some new cachers involved by directing them to their own site, where's the harm? These forums are always full of threads asking how to get people involved. So what are they really asking - how to publicize caching - or how to get people to sign up to Groundspeak? Dartmoor does have that problem yes, but the letterboxes i've found up there by mistake are obviously different to caches. A micro stuck to a railing with a scrap of paper in it will not look any different to another film pot/magnet/scrap listed on another site. What happens if I go and place a cache on OC right in the middle of where I know there are a load on GS. The GS users then choose to list on OC too? Will theirs be able to be ported over when it creates a proximity clash? It hasn't been an issue before because the other sites haven't made it 'big' like GS. I'm not saying that OC will either however Garmin have the resources to get it that way. THAT is when it does start to affect the GS users. I think the drop in quality of caches and the most irritation people find is down to the volume of caches out there from the masses. That only came from promotion of, something that was, when I discovered it at least, a fairly secretive hobby. I've never really understood the 'get as many people caching as possible' ethos, but maybe that's just me. Don't get me wrong, I quite like the look of OC and I do think that it'll be interesting to see how things go from here (GC.com already sorting the API in reply). I just think there are sticking points with the clear intention of taking caches, logs etc from GC.com. Either keep them separate or merger the database entirely.

Although competition is good, division is not. I'm happy for others to supply options etc, however, Garmin have a fairly large influence and in no time Opencaching will be everywhere. GPS boxes, websites, adverts, Shop posters, Sat Navs etc. They have a good chance of getting a fair amount of business from it. They have proved they are all out to steal the business with "Import your Hides" and "Import your logs"! If it takes off you'll get proximity issues pretty quick - "I want to place one there but there is already one on gc.com therefore i'll list it on this other one". Soon caches every 80m...!?!

In the case of Cassie of Cassie's Crusaders, it's 'Dogs'!

People who insist on 'Grabbing' a TB that you placed either earlier that day or while on holiday but before you have a chance to log. Not everyone has an iPhone or Wi-fi. Give people a chance to log, maybe even email to ask them to drop it before you just grab. Solution? I just grab them back and send them an email. TB is then correct and they get a little message.

I'm in!

OK, so all is NOT well! Having had no problems, and not reading of any issues with 3.9 I did mine yesterday as mentioned above. Today, I tried Bambeanie's Oregon 550 and now have a lovely rounded BRICK! This was done through exactly the same Webupdater as mine, so it seems the method isn't necessarily the problem. I can connect it in Mass-storage mode, so have all her photos, tracks & GPX files but no joy with startup. Several people have mentioned rollbacks to previous software versions but i'm not sure how, any pointers?

You really are accident prone aren't you!!! Incidentally, i've just run mine though and all good to 3.9/4.52.

I'm certainly interested in an Irish Mega and would probably make an extended trip out of it! That said it would have to be within a reasonable school holiday to work for us. Either way (and as others have said) don't under estimate the potential pull of a Mega in Ireland!

My fear is that in this case it will become "confusion". Yes choice is good, but when there is already an active group with many contacts and agreements in place, it does seem counter productive to duplicate this effort. If someone thinks that the aims/achievements of GAGB were not working or good enough, I would like to think that they would step up to help instead of creating a splinter group. PS: Hiding behind SP accounts merely adds to the impression that there is ill intent and for me at least add to distrust of the new site.

It is always sad to hear of the loss of a member of the caching community, whether you know them personally or not. I didn't know David, but my heart goes out to his family and friends.

I've had several of my caches taken, they now go straight back! That's my side of the game! When they log their actions they always state that WE are committing a criminal offense. Therefore, out of curiosity, I spoke to Northamptonshire police about it. As I suspected, they view our actions just like that of a car or advertising A-frame sign. The item is left somewhere on purpose and still clearly has an owner. Therefore the chance of any littering charge standing is very very slim. However, by removing the cache with the full knowledge of it having an owner (and in most cases telling the owner they have taken it), THEY are committing a clear crime or theft. However, without some clear evidence of who is stealing the caches, they are unlikely to commit resources to the problem. If however anyone had such evidence they would certainly take a look.

If that one does cover you then the contact named in that link is very helpful. I've been in touch with her recently and she has replied quickly to any queries i've had.

I too say go for the event, although your first is likely to be a little daunting. That said, us cachers are a friendly bunch! All of the advice above is good. You don't have to get the GPS hooked up to get out there, tap them in by hand just to get a taster, then get technical later. I'm up in Basingstoke and am willing to give you a hand and pointer if you want. However i'd have to ask you to come this way as i'm carless next week. If you are around Wednesday or Thursday (preferred) evening then you're welcome to come up here for a walk! Drop me an email via my profile if you want and i'll get back to you Monday night as i'm going away for a couple of days.

I'm not that shocked that after a couple of years of successful Megas that this situation has come up. For the record, until these threads appeared recently, i'd not heard of either! I was a little surprised (and maybe slightly disappointed) when I discovered that the 2011 Mega was not that far from the 2009 edition. I'd hoped they would take me to all corners of the country. Now we have a situation where people are playing bagsy as far ahead as they feasibly can. Geowoodstock have a committe who vote on the next location. Maybe this is an idea with the 'UK MEGA' events? No person within the community has the right to stop someone else holding a Mega event in the same year, even on the same day. Yes it's a risk and inevitable that some will choose one over the other, probably based on proximity, but there is likely to be an equal number of people not wanting to travel to the distant one and would appreciate a choice. It seems logical to me that with the Olympics coming to London in two years that we make something of it and host a big event. Will it be Mega, only numbers will tell however there is nothing and no one that should prevent someone hosting such an event. Likewise, the UK Mega Event (NW) should continue as planned. Lets get on and have 2 Megas to look forward to in what should be a good year for the country! In terms of the UK Mega label. It sounds to me like the NW is running with this and the Olympic event would be a one off celebration of our hosting of the event. Therefore I can't see that it would need the 'UK MEGA' brand/label. So far i've attended all UK Megas and hope to continue that. However, I can't say now whether i'd attend either, let alone both. Time will tell.

So, Olympic themed coins..........?

All sounds good to me! You've got a lot to pack into 20-30mins, me thinks it's gonna be longer