Team O.P.P.

My guess is you'd like to see the darned things in person before plunking down the cash. If that's the case, you can go to Best Buy, Future Shop, WalMart, Canadian Tire or LeBaron's. I've noticed that GPSr's have become more popular lately that regular electronics stores have started carrying them (read: Future Shop). Some well-outfitted outdoor shops also carry them (many downtown). Even Coast Mountain Sports carries a small selection of GPSr's. Good luck!

What model is the Color based on? Is it a Standard, Gold, Platinum? True, the color is not as much as an advantage as a 'nice to have'. It would probably be easier to distinguish between the different map/terrain features than grayscale. I would be more interested in improved resolution...

Somehow, this thread has gone off on a tangent. The original post was about whether deleting logs for personal gain was appropriate or not. It appears everyone is in agreement that this particular cache owner shouldn't have been doing what he did. As far as we know, no further logs have been deleted for the same reason. As far as the 'Delete Log' button being available to the cache owner - the button is there to remove offensive, distasteful or otherwise inappropriate logs. It is also there to remove 'phantom' logs such as those for virtual caches where the person may not have actually visited the cache but attempted to log the find. It is not there for the cache owner to delete logs on a whim merely because he/she feels the comments reflect poorly on the cache. As far as posting the e-mail reply: we decided to post it exactly as received (except for the cache owner's name and e-mail address) so that nothing could be construed as taken out of context. There is nothing privileged or confidential about the e-mail since any number of other cachers would have received a similar reply regarding their deleted logs had we not expressed our objection. There is also nothing that would expose the identity of the student any more than what the cache page provides. No permission is necessary since we were the intended recipients of the e-mail, not someone who intercepted it without consent. Feel free to continue to discuss the topic of deleting logs, but try not to stray off topic. The last thing this kid needs is to feel like they are being persecuted or chased off a game that many of us are passionate about for what appears to be a one-time indiscretion. Happy caching! Team O.P.P.

quote:Originally posted by SA80:I do not agree with this fellow's deleting of the posting. Though, I think that everyone is making a huge issue of this. I checked the Geocache page and the second posting by Team O.P.P. was not deleted, so it looks like the problem is settled. ALSO, this tracking, spying or STALKING on this student would also be a Serious Legal Problem as Cache Canucks pointed out. It also would not accomplish much more than stalking this student, who seems to be in the "sport" now that he left the posting. Maybe if Team O.P.P. isn't too busy drumming up support for his campaign, he could email the person in private converstaion to further pre-occupy the student, And maybe Team O.P.P. could also ask for some compensation. At the risk of getting into a pointless flaming war with people who try to shrug this issue off with some flippant comment about over-reacting without actually reading all the posts, we would like to make a couple of points: 1) Our first post clearly stated that TWO previous posts were deleted as well as quoted a response to an e-mail inquiry by us to the cache owner. 2)Our second post stated that we e-mailed the cache owner of our intention to re-post our second deleted log. As so astutely pointed out by SA80, this log (technically the third one) remains. We wrote the first post because we had a legitimate concern and wanted some advice and feedback. We received that. We wrote the second post as a courtesy, in order to update the people who have been reading the thread. If this is considered 'drumming up support for his campaign', perhaps some remedial courses in Rhetoric & Hyperbole 101 and are in order. Thanks to all who provided their opinion on this topic. For the record, we don't want people doing anything extreme or illegal regardless how much this issue really gets under your skin. As far as we are concerned, the cache owner hasn't persisted in deleting any more logs, so lesson learned. Lesson learned for us, too, because we found out how supportive fellow cachers and the admins of this site can be when it comes to protecting the integrity of our game. Team O.P.P. P.S. We had so much free time on our hands that we actually did some CACHING since that fateful weekend.

quote:Originally posted by Cholo:I assume you forgot to mention the other brother involved in this search. Hilarious!

When you read a post, you will notice that on the lower right-hand corner is a drop-down menu called Rate Topic which allows you to assign a rating to the thread. I generally see 5-star ratings on helpful threads. It's up to the reader's judgement on how they rate a thread.

Thanks for all your comments, folks. We sent a note to the cache owner last night and explained to him that we would be reposting our log without any changes. We wrote that we disagreed with the deletions because our posts were neither inappropriate nor offensive and that deletion of logs for personal gain goes against the spirit of what geocaching is about. We also mentioned that we have brought this incident to the attention of one of the moderators (thanks 300mag!). We shall see what happens. As of right now, our log remains. We don't want to hammer this kid, but at the same time, we want to make him aware that life is not all perfect scores and compliments - take constructive criticism for what it's worth: free advice (not that we criticised him, at least we don't think so). We'll post what happens (if anything) next. Cheers, Team O.P.P.

We've come across this situation that is really bugging us and we would like your comments before we do anything. We visited this local cache this weekend and were unsuccessful in our first attempt. We logged a 'no find' and pointed out that the posted coordinates were inaccurate (the location was on the sidelines of a soccer field). When we checked the cache page later that day, we noted two successful finds after our visit but our 'no find' was somehow deleted. We thought it was a bit strange so we visited the cache the next day and found it without any problems. We logged the find and wrote the following: Finally found it on our second visit. We searched the entire area yesterday without any luck and posted our failed attempt. Strangely, that post has now been deleted. We found the cache within a few seconds of arriving and we didn't even use the GPS this time. As we mentioned on the deleted post, you may want to take an average of the GPSr readings as the posted coordinates are located on the sidelines of the soccer field. Took the lucky penny keychain and left an ambition pin. Thanks for placing the cache. Team O.P.P. We discovered that this log entry was also deleted later in the day so we e-mailed the owner of the cache inquiring if he knew what was happening. This was his reply: Hello Team O.P.P. Thank you for visiting The Fairview Ditch Cache twice. I had to delete your logs because I am doing this cache as a high school project and your logs send the worng message to the teacher. I know you meant well but your logs were not complimentary, so they could hurt my grade. This is important because I am using this class to get a CO-OP career opportunity in the GIS field and I need a good mark in this class. I am very sorry for the inconvenience. If you like, you could post your log again saying that you found the cache and performed the trade. Do not make reference to your previous visits or logs, and try to compliment the cache and the placement of the cache. I know that I'm taking this too seriously but I am very interested in the CO-OP placement. I appologize once again and Thank you in advance. We are a bit perturbed with this revelation. We have responded by pointing out that some cachers might not react well to finding out that their logs were deleted. We also noted that another cacher pointed out the inaccuracy of the posted coordinates but their log wasn't deleted. Although we indicated that we were going to post a find without any 'negative' references, after thinking on this some more, we're beginning to have second thoughts. Any suggestions on how to handle this? Thanks.

As echoed by a couple of others, this was a great, well thought-out cache and I'm sad to hear of its apparent demise. My wife and I were one of the lucky ones to find the cache and we did notice that the general vicinity was starting to get pretty trampled. Even so, the area is quite a distance from the beaten path so I find it hard to think that someone came across the cache by accident. I'm hoping that a cacher, frustrated at not being able to open the container, took it home to figure it out with the intent of putting it back. The other scenario is something I'm afraid to consider: that we have some rogue cacher who is out plundering caches. Has anyone heard of similar instances for local caches? I would check back again after a few days just to make sure. Be strong and know that those lucky few who found your cache truly enjoyed the thought and effort you put into it. Good luck!

Have you considered ordering online from a U.S. retailer? I have a MeriPlat and the cheapest I could find here in Canada was $540 CAD at LeBaron's (not many who sell Magellans here). There are several online U.S. retailers who could easily beat that. I finally purchased mine for $284 USD plus an additional $89 for the MapSend Canada CD. No taxes, just shipping for a total cost of approximately $400 USD ($600 CAD). I ended up saving over $200 CAD just from that, which I promptly used to buy a 64MB SD card, reader and cigarette lighter adapter. It's not cheap, but the fun you have with it is priceless. Good luck in your search.