RocketMan

I have seen a lot of dead horses beaten while discussing cache icons and the new search page, but I have hardly seen any mention of the fast speed of the new servers. It now takes me less than half the time to log my weekend cache activity. It used take an excruciatingly long time to load cache pages on the weekends, but they zip right up now. The photos uploads are much quicker also. Thanks to the gc.com team for upgrading the servers and keep up the good work. Rocket Man

quote:Originally posted by NevaLP:That's a beetle, Carleen , not a cockroach! In past years at the Entomological Society meetings there has been a booth selling key chains with colorful beetles encased in resin. I have one on my key chain right now. That's what I was hoping to find to use for T Bugs but last year they weren't there so I had to settle for cockroaches. I expect Nature company stores and various nature item catalogs have them. As I recall the one I have cost about $7-8 a few years ago. NevaLP, bug-lover I bought mine on e-bay. They come direct from Malaysia. RM

This sounds familiar. The "Traveling Bug" by Rocket Man

The Report a New Cache Page has input boxes for all of the information that you must provide. RM

If you retrieved the Bug on the website after you picked it up, then it is in your "inventory" and you don't need the tag number to place it. When you enter your log for the cache that you are placing it in, there will be a drop down box at the bottom where you can select any bug in your inventory. If you have already entered your log on the cache page, just do an edit of the log and you can select the T-Bug from your inventory. If you never retrieved the T-Bug on the website, then e-mail the owner asking for the tracking number. Once you have the number, you will need to retrieve it and then drop it off as I described above. The instructions can be found here. RM

There is a new cacher that goes by the name of Pennycollector.com who has set up 7 caches for trading elongated coins. While, I don’t really see anything wrong with his caches, it seems like his whole reason for being a member of gc.com is to promote his website where he sells the coins and the machines to make them. Here is what I am talking about. His gc user name is the name of his commercial website. He has not found any caches, but has hidden 7, all with the coins that he sells in them. The Users Web Page link (the one at the top of all of his caches and in his profile) takes you to his commercial website. In addition to his use of this website bordering on commercial, his caches are scattered all up and down California. I thought vacation caches weren’t allowed. Also, he has only been an active member since July 17th, yet his caches all have a February date. The two in our area were just posted today even though they have a February date. RM

The event cache page is no active. Check it out at the link below: The Great San Diego Summer 2003 Cache Bash

The September picnic cache is now active. Check it out. The Great San Diego Summer 2003 Cache Bash Rocket Man

Look at the bottom of the page, there is a key. Here is what it says for the *. * caches found in the last 7 days RM

I started a similar thread here. RM

San Diego Geocaching Picnic @ San Dieguito Park Thanks to Splashette/Splashman and Ruscal for getting the ball rolling on the next picnic. Please go to this thread to see the details and post your comments.

Well gang it’s time to mark your calendars. It looks like Splashette/Splashman and Ruscal have got the ball rolling on our next San Diego Geocaching Picnic. I have joined forces with them to help make this event a success. The date of the picnic will be September 6th and the place will be San Dieguito Park. This is the Saturday after Labor Day weekend, so hopefully everyone can make it. The park has a nice picnic area and some great hiking trails. The park also allows dogs, so we hope to see Gromit there. We are planning on having a team geocaching event, so plan on bringing your GPSr. The event cache for the picnic will be posted on the website in the next couple of weeks, so keep an eye out for it. A note will be posted here when it goes online. Rocket Man

I did know that there was such a thing as an elevation in Flordia. Isn't the elevation of Flordia all zero? RM

quote:Originally posted by Harrald:If you mark the infomation for the admins in some way they will delete it before they approve the cache. I put approver only information in the _Short Description_ box. Also posting that info in large Red letters makes it easy to see and delete. Understood, but I would prefer to not take the chance that something that I don't want on my cache page (like acutal coordinates for a multi) might show up when the cache goes live. Also, I don't want someone else editing my HTML. RM

I just got finished submitting three new caches and I wanted to leave a couple of special notes for the approver. But I saw no way of leaving notes without putting them directly in the cache description which I did not want to do. Why not add a text box to the "Report a New Cache" page that is for special notes (like the actual coordinates for a multi) to the approver? In some cases, this will circumvent the approver having to e-mail the cacher with questions because they will be answered up front. This will expedite the approval process and help keep some of the cache approval gripes out of these forums. Thanks, Rocket Man

quote:Originally posted by BeachBuddies:Beatiful pic, Rocket Man -- is that Hawaii? Yes it is (Big Island). I took the picture on the road into Waipio Valley. This cache is at the top of the valley. RM

quote:Originally posted by ziggy2000:So my question is, why do my image previews look so doggy??? Just hit the refresh button on your browser and the pictures will clear right up.

September 6th works great for me. You can count me in. Back in my Nation Chief days in the Y-Guide programs, I did group events at San Dieguito County Park and Stagecoach Park. I also set up a picnic for my company at Felicita Park. They all charge for large groups, but they are all good venues. Wherever it ends up being, you can count on me to help out. I suggest we start a new thread just for the picnic. This thread has gotten way to long. Rocket Man

quote:Originally posted by SunSpot:Okay...I'm reading the logs and everyone is meeting up by chance at these caches! I've never seen another cacher, but I'm on the lookout! I have met a few cachers while hunting for caches, but you are most likely to bump into a cacher if you race out to find a cache on the first day that it shows up on the website. It can be a challenge to be FTF (First to Find) in this area with the likes of K-NIC, Ruscal, kawikaturn, missmarbles, geojim1, SlabyFam (to name a few) champing at the bit for new caches. Get to a cache early in the morning when it is posted and you may find these fine folks stumbling over each other. If you really want to meet some geocaching folks, show up at the next event cache and your will meet more cachers that you can shake a stick at. When are we having the next event cache anyway? RM

In many cases, I get very good quality full screen images that are under the file size limit. Here is how I get the best picture quality with a file size under 100K. 1. Save the image as a JPEG with 50% (Medium) compression. 2. Use the resize menu on your photo program to resize the image to about 800 x 600 pixels (or 600 x 800 pixels for vertical images). Do a "Save As" on the image and if the resulting file size is too large, keep decreasing the image dimensions in 50 pixel increments until the file size is under the 100K limit. The amount that you will have to decrease the pixel dimensions will vary depending on picture content because JPEG compression will be more efficient when there is a lot of one color like blue sky. It sounds like a pain, but it really goes fast once you get the hang of it. The mistake that many people make is that they keep increasing the JPEG compression level. If you go much below the 50% level, the image will start to look like you know what. Here is an example from one of my cache logs: Good Luck, RM [This message was edited by Rocket Man on July 10, 2003 at 09:38 PM.]

quote:Originally posted by Chris&Cindy:Are you fidgetting in your pockets when you say this? Do you make strange sounds after mentioning Pocket Queries. I think it is all in the way you deliver it. I don't think so. I will have to pay better attention next time. RM

Is it just me, or do other people feel a little funny using the term Pocket Query in front of someone who has never heard of them. People often look at me a little funny when I talk about geocaching, but eyebrows really get raised when I mention Pocket Queries. RM

I have been tempted before when I have gone to do maintenance on my caches, but I wouldn't do it. I think it would be in bad taste. I would only consider removing items from my cache if they are complete junk/trash, they conflict with the cache theme, they are inappropriate items, or the cache is over full. One exception: It is ok to pick up a travel bug to help it to its goal. BTW: It would be more appropriate to post this thread in the General Forum. RM

If you are placing a new cache and you are putting a travel bug in it, you must enter a log to drop the bug into the cache on the cache page. Make sure the bug is in your inventory and you select the bug from the drop down list when you enter your log. After you are done, you can delete the log if you want to and the T-Bug will stay in the cache. RM

This is the largest ammo box I have seen.