Bear_Left

Have a look at the "fake post" I did for a recent event cache. The variation I'll be using soon (Christchurch cachers stop reading now!) involves using the whole post with a few centimetres cut off the top (we're metric, deal with it), a hole drilled and chiseled out of the main piece and a ring of galvanised metal nailed onto the top piece. The top piece sits back in place on top (maybe with some Velcro between) and the metal strip hides the join and looks authentic. Plant it somewhere a little out of the way and it should survive gardeners, especially in derelict parks!

We were doing a new cache at night recently, likely to be a first to find. The coords pointed across a fence into a paddock (which is like a field, but more Southern Hemisphere), even though the description made it sound like the cache was very near the beaten path we were on. A complication: there was a large shape in that paddock that looked suspiciously like a bull... Mama Bear stayed on her side of the fence while I went quietly toward where the little arrow pointed me. At about the same time as we decided that this wasn't the right spot, the bull started whuffling and pawing and obviously waking up to the fact that there was an intruder in his domain. I don't know if I could outrun a bull, and I crept away before needing to find out this time. We decrypted the (excellent) clue, found the cache and the cache-setter subsequently updated the coords from our readings.

Am I the only one who thought this had a suitably sarcastic tone? Seriously, if anyone really, really wants to up their count, who's going to check all the logbooks to prove them wrong? I mean, if there were cash prizes for cache counts it might matter!

If anyone seems to be paying too much attention to you, just gesture with one hand (the one not holding the GPS) and say, in your best Alec "Obi-Wan" Guinness voice, "You don't need to know what I'm doing here. You never saw this film canister under this rock."

I hope you've figured out the "Difficulty" ratings on the cache descriptions? That should give you an idea as to how hard to find you can expect the cache to be. Mind you, if you've been looking for single star caches and _still_ not finding them, you might need to review your technique!

We did place a cache with a couple of hundred dollars worth of first and second finders' prizes, as a sort of farewell before we emigrated. Mind you, the winners had to also log seven _other_ caches to get the clues required to get the coords to this final one! This is rather unusual for us, though, and we normally just fill a plastic box with crappy junk and stick it under a rock!

What's bad about that? It was the same here last weekend and it was lovely! Oh. Fahrenheit. That makes a difference. I resolve to thoroughly test my next complicated multi, rather than treating early searchers as beta testers!

Just for the record, I'm the originator of the original thread, and meant it to be in the same prankish mood as I'd assumed (from received information) that the complainants' hiding of their identity was in. If I'd had any idea that their privacy was so important to them, I wouldn't have started the thread, of course. I'm a good person, by and large, and don't want to hurt folks. Spike's Mum and Dad (Spike's a dog, by the way) didn't give me any real indication that they were so concerned about their identity. I know their real name (it was on several emails they sent me, direct from their ISP, not via gc.com), I know his cellphone number (he called me on it, without dialling the blocking code) and their address is even in the local White Pages! I didn't put any of _that_ in the public forum, because that would've been intrusive and spoiled the game. I regret the hurt they've taken, but I do think there's more to the story than we had any reason to suspect.

As a specialist multi-cacher who spends far too much time checking emails, I'd be happy and honoured to provide your NZ connection! bearleft@geocachers.net.nz

I used one of those with three digits that were the combination of a lock on the logbook. Email me if you'd like the program that generates them.

Did someone say night caches? Here's my idea file on the topic: -night-only waypoint: 7 segment LED behind a dark window (in tree bark, fake black rock, etc) that flashes a number every second, cacher has to figure out where the number sequence starts. -Solar charged FM xmitter. 'blip' every second (for tuning in), then voice message every minute with coords. Publish frequency (and need for a radio!) Needs MCU skills (I'm thinking of a Moto S08 or TI MSP430 with 32k of flash for program and voice storage) -Illuminated sign in office/appartment window, only visible at night (time switch?) -audio murmur in busy daytime location (quiet recording of voice speaking coords in accessible but tamper-proof spot; too quiet in daytime traffic noise, OK in quiet of the night) If I ever get around to building any of them, I'm happy to share the designs. If you use them, please remember me and share the design with me!

quote:Originally posted by Team GeoDillo:I like reading all the logs too but c'mon, are you really going to read 129 logs in the field on your Palm device? Sometimes, yes! Why not? I read novels on it... quote:I have a comprimise. How about being able to select the last 5, 10, or 25 logs as a checkbox on the Pocket Query page? Fair enough, but why not one box for "all"? Not everyone will use it, and not many caches have more than a couple of dozen logs.

I'm fairly sure this has been raised before, but once more into the breach... I'd like to generate a query with all of the logs on it. (Basically, the same as adding "&log=y" to the cachepage URL.) I guess this should be an option, to keep the size down for the memory-conscious. There are datascraping programs that'll probably do this, but I'd rather do it in a server-friendly way, using a service I've paid for. Doesn't sound hard? [This message was edited by Bear_Left on June 30, 2003 at 06:24 PM.]

We have our seven dwarfs, plus a Snow White as well!

Let's have a cache-fest! The plan is to have seven new caches from seven different cache-setters, all released at the same time. These will be masterpieces of the cache-setter's art in and of themselves, but there'll be an added bonus in each one. We'll supply each of the participating cachers with a laminated card depicting one of the seven dwarfs to place in it. Each of these cards will have on it part of the clue to the location of a cache that we'll set, the Snow White cache. (First finder of each cache will get a model of the relevant dwarf as a keepsake.) This way, there'll be no advantage to be had by the more experienced cache-hunters (except their acquired skills, of course...), as each cache will be a virgin to all (briefly!) The participating cache-setters will have a one-dwarf head start as a thankyou for their efforts. We plan to make the contents of the final cache attractive, mostly for the first finder, but also for the later-comers. Still to be decided, but we're thinking of a night or two in a nice hotel somewhere. It's our way of thanking the GC community for all the fun we've had as a result of all your hard work in setting caches for us to find. Also, we'd like you to remember us fondly after we've moved to New Zealand in August! The requirements for cache-setters are: - a big enough cache container to fit a card the size of a business card. (You're welcome to include the whole dwarf if you wish! They're about 18x5x8 cm) - a commitment to finish and submit the cache on 30JUN03, for an approval date of late-night on 4JUL03. (I've cleared this with Embi) - difficulty and terrain levels such that any reasonably able cacher can participate (i.e. no special equipment or unusual skills required.) - preferably in the greater Sydney metro area. This is flexible, but the intention is to keep the caches accessible to the majority of cachers. - the intention to make your cache a good one, so this is a fun event at all levels. We're open to comment on any of the above, or to add anything we haven't thought of, either in this thread or to bearleft@mackereth.net Do we have any volunteers? Ian & Jessica / Papa & Mama BearLeft

Worth a small extract from The Confusing Country "The second confusing thing about Australia are the animals. They can be divided into three categories: poisonous, odd, and sheep. It is true that of the ten most poisonous arachnids on the planet, Australia has nine of them. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that of the nine most poisonous arachnids, Australia has all of them. However, there are curiously few snakes, possibly because the spiders have killed them all. But even the spiders won't go near the sea (see below)."

Personally, I was chuffed to find that we're no longer newbies; at least by your definition! I'd still do these newbie caches if I was in the area or if something about it attracted me; in fact, the same criteria I'd use for _any_ cache! The bottom line is that it's your cache and you can set the rules, within the GC guidelines. If someone has a problem with it, nobody's forcing them to do the cache. (Of course, you will get right up the nose of those self-same people who have this _need_ to see ever-larger numbers next to their name by removing possible increments from them!) Ian@BearLeft

G'Day I've found myself wanting to put some hyperlinks in logs recently, mainly to link to info on a place or local bird seen or whatever, but can't make it work. I can put the links in the photo descriptions, which is usually enough, but I'd be interested to learn if there's something I'm missing. Tks, Ian.