TinSparrow

I use some home grown Perl scripts to generate this map from GPX files. I'd really like to get that line of dots filled in better toward the middle.

I saw this same error very briefly this morning, and later when I tried to book mark the same cache things worked just fine. Hopefully this was just a transitory system state.

Congratulations on Denmark's first puzzle cache. I like the art on your cache page, it looks colorful and fun. Here's a list of puzzle caches that had been on my watchlist. I've now created a bookmark list for these, and I'm very curious to see that the list sharing works as described. TinSparrow's Preliminary List of Puzzle Caches

I had completely forgotten that there was once a maintenance banner on the SCGA page. I use a bookmark when I visit the site, and I always go directly to the message boards there: Shortcut to SCGA message boards That being said, a quick perusal of the message boards would reveal that we are more active in the real world that on the website. In the meantime (i.e. until our volunteer staff is able to devote more time to working on our website), are there any questions that I can answer for you here? If you're looking for an SCGA event to attend, there will be one in the Hartsville area in early/mid February, and look for an event somewhere in the Low Country to follow a couple of months later. There is a recurring monthly weeknight event in Columbia that is not SCGA sponsored but which is attended by quite a few SCGA members. Similarly, I expect SCGA members to be at the Patriots Point event in February as well. Finally, Georgia has an outstanding Geocachers association, and I encourage you to check them out as well. Quite a few of us who travel regularly between Georgia and South Carolina belong to both organizations, and (if I have my facts straight) the Georgia Group now has a Savannah Chapter which might have a separate meeting schedule from the main chapter in the state (which is typically most active in the Northern Half of the state). The Georgia Geocacher's Association website (which has no maintenance banner) can be found here: GGA Please feel free to email me directly if I can answer any questions. Regards, Bill

Oh man! I turn my back for a second and here I'm being talked about again. Of all the caches I've hidden (or crafted?), this one by far has the most interesting cache page. I won't answer specific questions in these forums about the solution to this cache, but drop me a line and I'll try and give you a gentle nudge.

My monthly subscription which has been working fine for the longest time seems to have lapsed today. According to my copies or past subscription notice email, my billing date has been on the 8th of each month, I as such I should have been billed on yesterday on March 8. My Paypal account shows no such attempt at billing from Groundspeak, but it does show other recent activity with other parties, and my account does have funds (so I have no evidence to make me think that my Paypal account is broken). Has anyone else had a similar experience, or is anyone aware of a subscription billing problem in the last day or so?

quote:Originally posted by Bartster:I've had the above posted problems several times, and have only been receiving pocket queries for about a month and a half. I have noticed that each time, only the longitude has been incorrect. The Latitude is always fine. This info may help GC.com track down the problem. I agree with this in that I have only seen the problem in the longitude coordinate, the latitude is never corrupted. Does anyone know anything the generation of the PRC files? Do the makes of Mobipocket supply some configurable black box which is capable of compiling these files and sending them out? If so, then the problem is in the black box. On the other hand, if GC.com is generating these files themselves, then the problem could on the GC.com side or could be within the API, if applicable.

quote:Originally posted by Prime Suspect:LOC files don't contain waypoints in the format you've indicated. They're in decimal-degree format, like this: coord lat="32.8674166666667" lon="-96.8639166666667" You're right, the coordinates in the LOC file are not in the same format. I was hoping to avoid confusion with two different coordinate type. Let me restate one of the above examples using all sets of coordinates involved. Cache: The Worm goes down the Stairs Pocket Query Coordinates in PRC file: N 33 54.879 W 85 39.541 Pocket Query Coordinates in LOC file: <coord lat="33.91465" lon="-84.3409833333333"/> Actual Coordinates from web page: N 33 54.879 W 84 20.459 If you perform the math (which I do frequently), you will see that the coordinates in the LOC file match the coordinates on the cache page. Meanwhile, the longitude in the PRC file is not correct. Even if you don't perform the math, just look at the integer portion of the longitudes and you can see that something is amiss with the PRC coordinates. Since the LOC file coordinates match the web page, I'm not worried about my LOC file program reader improperly converting the data. It's not the LOC file which is the problem, it's the PRC file. I have the original zip file (as sent to me from the pocket query generator) which contains the errors/oddities/bugs listed above. I'd be happy to send it to anyone for examination. Even if you can't have a LOC file reader, the format is XML and it's pretty easy to open with any text editor.

I've had this happen to me as well. I just started a thread in the Geocaching.com discussion section.

Please forgive me if this topic has been covered in another thread. It's happened to me more than once that I have received a pocket query file where one of the coordinates for a particular cache is way off the mark. When the output from pocket queries is delivered to me, the coordinates in the LOC file match the coordinates on the webpage, but the coordinates in the PRC file for some caches disagree in a significant way. Here are some examples from this past week. These caches are around the Atlanta area, and this pocket query output was delivered on 09/25/2003. Cache: Shallowford Picnic Pocket Query Coordinates: N 33 52.668 W 85 42.728 Actual Coordinates: N 33 52.668 W 84 17.272 Cache: The Worm goes Down the Stairs Pocket Query Coordinates: N 33 54.879 W 85 39.541 Actual Coordinates: N 33 54.879 W 84 20.459 I've seen this happen on more than just these two caches, and I see it more frequently on Subscriber Only caches than on the rest. I have the original zip file containing the LOC and PRC file, if anyone is curious. I don't think it should matter, but I'm using a PC version of MobiPocket reader on my laptop. This topic has been mentioned in a regional forum here.

I recognize that I'm entering this discussion late. Maybe my point has been raised in another thread, but I was not able to find it. I love the new email format, it is much improved over the old format. I wonder how other folks would feel about one more change, and thaqt would be to mention the name of the cache before the name of the cacher on the subject line. In as much as we are watching caches and not people, the name of the cache seems more important to me, and some of these subject lines get so long that the subject is truncated long before the name of the cache is fully revealed. Also, if it ever comes to pass that we can add other cachers to our watchlist (i.e. friends we want to keep track), those emails would mention the cacher first (and the name of the cache later). Just some thoughts. Keep up the good work.

Back when the search pages changed, there was alot of uproar at first because users were used to a feature rich environment and they were not convinced that the new incarnation was as feature rich as the old. The uproar was useful, and with a few tweeks and a filtering option the new search screens have proven to be as useful or more useful. It seems to me that something similar is going to happen when the site starts offering statistics, since many of us have come to love the features available on Dan's site, and when something different is delivered it will cause hunger pangs in many of us. On the other hand, let's consider these groups that we can join so that we can compare rankings. Would there be a limit to group size? Does the creator of the group control the members who are in it, or can anyone join? What's to stop someone from a creating a group called "National Ranking" which 600 users could join? What's to stop the formation of other groups called "Wisconsin Ranking" or "Retired Auto Mechanics Ranking?" If the group mechanism has flexibility such as this, then many folks who are hungry for the stats once available should be satisfied. I know that we're just in the talking/planning stages, but what is the current thinking regarding these groups? Thanks. [This message was edited by TinSparrow on August 21, 2003 at 06:42 PM.]

quote:Originally posted by tkalen: quote:Originally posted by TinSparrow:I'm reading this thread with great fascination. Is it possible to incorporate these discarded undergarments in a multicache? how about writing coords on them and using them as intermediate waypoins? I can see it now. The hint for stage 5 is "Melissa".

I just played around with adding a trailing space to the name of a cache with a four character cache in my area, and the space does satisfy the search engine. Unfortunately this cache cannot be found that way since the cache name itself has no trailing space. I know of quite a few caches whose names are four letters or less, and I know of some which are single letters. Being forced to search by keywords that are at least 5 characters in length typically forces me to perform multiple location based searches until I can find what I'm looking for (if I'm searching for one of these). Another use: it might also be that I have an idea for a cache, and I'm curious if anyone else has had a similar thought and therefore I want to search for caches with the word BLUE in the title. While this was once possible, this functionality is now no longer there. If the powers that be chance upon this thread, I'm curious to know your thoughts on this matter. Any chance for a 3 character restriction instead of 5?

quote:Originally posted by ZingerHead:Tonight I created a new cache, no problem. But when I tried to access the finished cache to edit it prior to its review I kept getting bounced to the "hide & seek a cache" page. I tried again from "My cache" page, where the new cache is listed, and got bounced to the same "hide & seek" page. This is new behavior of the site - I used to be able to view and edit a cache before it went "live". OK, I tried holding down the shift key when I clicked the link to the new cache and it opened up - go figure... This seems like similar behavior to what I see when I search for a cache and I'm not logged in (as far the the particular sarch page was concerned). When the Hide and Seek a Cache page pops up, does it specify at the topif you're logged in or not? This might be one of those asp vs. aspx cookie issues.

quote:Originally posted by jon & miki:Would it be feasible to add additional filter types that would exclude specific types of caches (such as locationless)? It would be perfect if there were checkboxes for each type of cache to be excluded (found, unfound, locationless, multi, etc) and each combination had a unique filter number that we could include in our bookmark. I would also find great benefit in excluding locationless caches from regular searches. If this exclusion were configurable, as mentioned above, so much the better.

Among the recent changes, it seems that searching by Keyword now requires a keyword of more than 4 characters. I just spent about 10 minutes trying to locate a cache page whose title only contains words of four letters and less, and while I could do this yesterday it could not be done today. That 4 character limit seems perhaps too restrictive. Do others have thoughts on this? Thanks.

I like the new look and feel, and there is much information available very quickly at a glance. The only thing that I miss (and this has been mentioned before) is having found caches and not found caches broken out into separate lists with not found caches first. While I could probably learn to live without that feature, I found that having all the NOT FOUNDS grouped on the page in the FIRST position was extremely useful. I eagerly await additional enhancements.

quote:Originally posted by Marky:http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=20709 that practically brags about the number of ticks in the area. The logs make for some interesting reading. There are some amazing logs here. I've added this to my watch list just for entertainment/education value.

I once found a digital camera in a cache. It was an older model (and it really was left as a trading item) and it was still in working order. I traded virtually everything in my pack for it. I found a dose of Viagra in a cache once. I;m never sure what motivates some people.

quote:Originally posted by worldtraveler:Like The Leprechauns & BrianSnat, I've found my share of lame caches, but I don't think there would be any benefit in linking to them here. I will, however, share some characteristics of caches that I considered lame. ((Additional text deleted for brevity)) I am in complete agreement with the characteristics listed above. When I think back to the two worst caches that I have found, they were each hidden in areas that could only be described as unauthorized town dumps. I enjoy the way that GeoCaching gets me off the beaten path and allows me to discover beautiful scenes, and I am really disappointed when I am led to a trash dump where the container might be one of numerous sofas, tires, small appliances, etc. To my mind, caches placed in such surroundings completely miss the point about what is good about cache hunting.

I'm reading this thread with great fascination. Is it possible to incorporate these discarded undergarments in a multicache? At location three you will find a maroon bra with one strap attached to a tree limb. Attach the other strap to the nearby trunk to form a slingshot. Take one of the nearby river stones (choose a medium sized one) and launch it at a heading of 45 degrees (magnetic). The final cache location will be between the slingshot and the longest possible shot from this contraption.

Puzzle caches are fun to solve and fun to build. Here is one that I did which has been well received by those who have gone after it:Caesar's Enigma

quote:Originally posted by flask:we've all seen the reminder to mark a waypoint at your car. here are my useful corollaries: mark a waypoint at the place where you leave your bicycle, and mark a waypoint at the place where you leave the trail. I've also found it useful to mark a waypoint at creek crossings, especially if I've gone off trail when I encounter the creek.

quote:Originally posted by FASTFRANK&WANDA:Now the Pigman has taken to cleaning out entire caches.He took the contents of the Upstate Cache Grande that was placed after the first meeting of the Upstate S.C. Cachers.All he left was a note.What can be done about rogue cachers? FASTFRANK&WANDA In another thread, Jeremy has mentioned that the Pigman's account has been disabled. This probably explains why he no longer add his logs to the website, and maybe his habit of taking entire caches (instead of just travel bugs) is a result of this action. I don't know what can be done about this problem, but I'm willing to engage in discussion of ideas.