nincehelser

I thought it was strange, too, but I think there must be some logistical problem getting rid of large sea animal bodies that are too near the shore. Watch the video on this page, for example: http://perp.com/whale George

I was thinking there could be some interesting variations of the game that are pretty low-tech. Like publishing coordinates and/or clues in the personals section of a local newspaper. Of course, that is going to require a some critical mass of local geocachers to work. George

Not only is it a game, but an exercise with a practical application. People intentionally jamming a frequency aside, sometimes someone's transmitter accidentally is stuck in transmit mode....like the mic slides down in between a car seat and forces the PTT button closed. If the car is in motion, you've got to track a moving target. That can really goof up local communications, and be a real personal embarrasment. Not only because a bunch of fellow hams had to track you down, but because what you might have said that went out over the air without your knowledge. I hope that never happens to me.... George

Amen to that. About the only way to maintain anonymity in this day is to try to avoid the Internet entirely...and deal strictly in cash...even then it often doesn't work. I personally gave up on the concept years ago. Intentionally posting personal information about someone without their consent is totally uncool, though. Depending on what and where it was posted, in some places it is considered a crime. George

The problem with "rogue geocaching" is that it plays right into the hands of those that already have misconceptions about the activity. I'm not sure geocaching is well enough established to withstand the potential damage of dissident factions. George

My guess is that it's something with the batteries. Their ability to produce current goes down as they get colder. I'd put in a fresh set, best from another package of batteries. Even though you think your battery is fresh, bad batteries aren't completely unknown. George

In this case, they're held by the cave manager. The developer might have a key, too, but I'm not sure why. Anyway, the cave managers job is to make sure things are going well in the cave......temp, humidity, counting critters (if they're are any) and mess with any regulations that apply. So I imagine the cave is still owned by the developer, but may eventually be transferred to the local Metropolitian Utilities District, and they would continue on with the existing cave managers. If you had the bucks....mayby $20K or $30K, you might be able to have your own private cave. George

Big critters aren't an issue. It's the smaller things like scorpions that are squeezing through. The subdivision developer was very gracious and used the trench to pour a set of concrete stairs down into the cave, then re-covered the trench, leaving something of a lockable hatch at the top so nothing can fall it. It's just like walking down into someone's basement or cellar. Very easy access. The trench just happened to be dug at the edge of the main room, so little to no damage was done to the cave itself. You couldn't have planned the opening location any better than that. It was just pure, dumb, luck. It's kind of strange, though. Houses have been built all around it. From the surface it just looks like a a typical vacant lot (you can't knowingly build over a cave around here) with a funny looking square hatch right beside the sidewalk. I guess most people would just think it's something like a cable vault for the telephone company. George

That's something I'd like to see fixed in future GPS receiver generations....let the map turn slowly and smoothly. Processing speed and battery consumption are probably the big barriers to this. George

As a parent of two, I have absolutely no advice, other than maybe asking your Dr. for a supply of Xanax. There are so may variables involved. Age differences, boys vs. girls, personalities, that sort of thing. In my case, it isn't what's being traded that's important, but just that they each trade something. My older one has finally gotten to the point where he usually realizes the trade isn't a big deal, but the other one, 4 years younger, is still hung up on it. I feel sorry for the poor folks who have twins that just happen to want to trade for the same item. Luckily, the age difference has prevented me from facing that dilemma. Still, I expect them to compare their Christmas-present count in a few weeks. George

It depends on where you live. In my two-county area, there are something like 1000 known caves. To be labeled a "cave" it has to have at least 15 meters (? maybe it's feet) of "humanly-passable passage". Frankly, I think they must be pretty small humans, because I'm sure not going to fit into many that I've seen. Most of them are largely unexplored and presumed pristine. It's the big "easy" caves that seem to take the most abuse. There are far fewer of those. However, a couple of years ago a new cave was discovered while trenching for utilities in a neighboring subdivision. It was so pristine that not even insects had made their way in. Of course, the new hole changed all that. You can see a picture of the main room (about the size of a small house) at http://www.texcc.org. The interesting thing is that since this cave had never been colonized by any life, that actually gives us a little more freedom to make "improvements". The hope is that it can be made into an educational center. George

Well, you know what they say about great minds... What I think is more telling about a person is which concept they learned first in childhood....N/S/E/W or Left-Right. Personally, I think boys learn N/S/E/W first...I'm not sure why, but it's always seemed to me that they understand maps quicker. Girls learn Left-Right first, but that's probably because they're more concerned about their shoes George

It depends. Sometimes rotating the map helps for close-in "left/right" navigation. Other times, north "up" is good for overall orientation. I do both. George

I vote for closing it, soley because the title stinks. George

Yes, the key word there being "frequent". It all depends on the "carrying capacity" of any particular environment. In the case of caves, that is usually fairly low, at least compared to your typical hiking trail. What it all boils down to is getting the appropriate permission. If the manager is cool with it, then there really isn't an issue at all. George

And that's exactly what happens. Cavers aren't supposed to be in fragile caves, either. If they do, it's supposed to be for very good reasons, like taking readings for an environmental study. Many caves are off-limits to any sort of recreational activity, including caving. Just like some above-ground nature preserves. As for a "single, small incident" causing a crisis, it does happen. Several contaminations have been traced back to single source, and it was just one person. Fortunately, those incidents aren't too common, but they aren't unheard of, either. Sometimes one of those incidents just push an existing contamination level over a prescribed limit, where health officials are obligated to shut down access. Fortunately, it's usually temporary...only a few days, but it's enough to screw up your weekend plans. George

I don't know the particulars of that model, but I'd be wary of any PDA that didn't have a backlight. George

Actually, no. In this kind of law, the "burden of proof" isn't quite what it is in say, a murder trial. For example, if a cop says you didn't stop at a stop sign, that's enough for a court to fine you. The burden is actually on you to convice the court that you did stop. Maybe you'll prevail, maybe you won't. It just depends on how good the court thinks your argument is. In a case such as littering, many a judge would shut you down once you start arguing definitions. It depends on the judge and their mood. Frankly, if you did start down the definition road, you might be asked to find "geocaching" in the dictionary. That could be a bit embarassing. George

There's a mult-cache in Austin that is close to this concept. You have to find particular bricks in the walkway. Plug some of their information into some sort of formula, then out pops the coordinates for the next point. I had a hard time on that one, since the walkway was near large buildings, and the multi-path made reception difficult. Therefore, I had to read a lot of bricks before I got to the right ones. George

I don't see any huge advantage in linking them together. Typically, people use a PDA to store cache descriptions, and a GPS receiver to get them there. If you have a GPS with mapping capability (which I guess you don't), real-time tracking on a PDA is a bit redundant, so most people don't even bother. Many years ago I used a PDA hooked to GPS receiver that had no display. You couldn't do anything with the GPS unless it was hooked to a PC or PDA. The cord between the two was really annoying. The configuration ate batteries like crazy. I wouldn't recommend such a setup at all for geocaching. There are some Bluetooth devices which would let you eliminate the cord, but it can be kind of pricey. Cost-wise, you're probably far better off buying a mapping GPS. George

I don't know. "like a mantra" in this context has some negative overtones. Taken too literally, it sounds like we're brainwashed cultists. The use of the word "geek" doesn't help much, either. George

Point of information. Law is ancient compared to dictionaries. There is no definitive English language dictionary. Noah Webster didn't start his until the late 1700's and the OED, which is probably the most complete work, a hundred years later. And the OED was written in England, not the US. A dictionary entry may lend some degree of authority to an argument, but, unlike Scrabble, it isn't the final word in the courts. George

No. Some folks would claim just the opposite. Or that their GPS works better/worse when the wind is blowing. Some people claim when the tree leaves are wet, reception is worse. There may be some truth to that, but I haven't really noticed it, myself. Usually what it comes down to is how the sats happen to be positioned at any particular time. They're always moving around, and sometimes you get a better triangulation geometry, and sometimes worse. Weather is less of a factor. I think atmospheric ionization probably plays a bigger role than weather. George

Yep. I actually went there instead of Nebraksa because I was tired of Nebraska's fixation with football. At the time, Kansas State was pretty miserable at football, so that as a big plus in my mind Yes, I like the scenery around Manhattan. It's not at all like most people envision Kansas. Mountain bikes are actually useful in places. George

What would you expect? It's Kansas, after all! I went to K-State, so I have a right to make fun of it. You're right, though. Those aren't shining examples of virts. The first two are easy to pick up with google. George