ClayJar
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Posts posted by ClayJar
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quote:
Hmmm... well, it's written in VB, some C, javascript, MSXML, IE, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. In order to port it to *nix, I'd have to do a complete rewrite.
Originally posted by Geo-Ferrets:Ok, ok. But what about a BSD or Linux version?
That said, a Watcher-like program for *nix would be quite nice, indeed. It would just require a completely different paradigm. Perhaps one way of doing it would be to use a SQL backend and a web interface, coupled with whichever language(s) you care to use in the middle. As long as it was internal and not on a public node, it should be fine. It's just a completely different problem than I'm working with. (If anyone wants to do something like this, I'll do what I can to help, but my code is, for the most part, a straightforward implementation of the visible features. Still, the GCID code or whatever might be useful.)
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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Hehe... true, perhaps, but I certainly have more time this way.
Originally posted by Renegade Knight:Watcher is not yet a PDA program and the world is a sadder place for it.
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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Jeremy was in the official geocaching chat Monday, and he mentioned some stuff about the site and the new map system and all. Basically, good progress, but it's been more work than expected, so it's a bit behind schedule. (I'd say something more specific, but my chat logs from before the weekly got started seem to have been truncated.
)Anyway, it's getting closer, and from the description, I'd say it's going to be quite nice indeed.
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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The 31 digits of the new waypoint scheme are:
"0123456789ABCDEFGHJKMNPQRTVWXYZ"
So, basically, for IDs < 65536, use the hexadecimal representation of the ID. For IDs >= 65536, use the base-31 representation of the ID + 411120 (the offset, in decimal, to make 65536 decimal == G000 base-31).
(And yes, I did get the digit list from Elias in the thread, wherever it is.
The math was mine. )[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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The answer I got from the Infopop people was that removing people from private topics is in the help but not in the actual forums, which is apparently the documentation getting ahead of the implementation.
As for *adding* people to an existing private topic, they said it was one of their most requested features (um, *duh*), and they were looking into it for a future version.
So, to sum up, the Private Topics thing is a completely worthless feature when it comes to any practical application. Infopop would do better to expunge it from the application until such point as you can add and remove people from private topics, since all it shows now is that they have distanced themselves from the users so far as to be batting at third base.
(They apparently *have* heard enough to put it on the list, but it's apparently not at the top.)
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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On the contrary. I had the great pleasure of watching a documentary about bomb squads and their tools of the trade. (This was, I believe, quite a while ago.) One of the things they demonstrated was an insanely powerful type of bomb-disarming water cannon. They aim it at the electronics and fire, and the water is propelled at such speed with such force that it completely obliterates the electronic mechanism faster than it can detonate the charge (since the initiator is not quite instantaneous).
Originally posted by TEAM 360:"We took a water cannon and shot the power supply off. Then we put a charge around the pipe bomb and detonated in on the mountain."
not such a "delicate" trigger after all, I guess....
It's quite logical that they would've used one of these water cannon devices to destroy the electronics (quite certainly separating them from the charge) in order to safely disarm the bomb in order to make it safe to dispose of the charge. This is *quite* a different animal from any water cannon you'd likely think of; it's far closer to a high-power armor-piecing shell than a squirt gun or a fire hose.
Anyway, they might not have used what I think they did, but if they used the cool super-water-cannon device, it would explain the seeming discrepancy.
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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I dug back into the books, and it appears that CDC, EPA, and a few papers are now saying DEET on clothes is good, but permethrin is much better against ticks (it is a contact insecticide as opposed to a repellent -- same stuff as in lice shampoo, apparently).
Anyway, seems they've, er, clarified what you can/should use DEET for. Not the first time, I suppose, but in tick-land, it's still permethrin on the hiking outfit.
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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Remember:
DEET will *only* work in contact with skin. Spraying it on your pants or shoes is worthless (unless you're *that* sweaty to soak all the way through). Also, 100% DEET (or even the lower strong concentrations) will cloud (i.e. ruin) clear plastics. The display on your GPS receiver will be very adversely affected if your 100% DEET-coated fingers touch it. (You can actually leave permanent fingerprints set into the plastic.)
Permethrin, as mentioned above, is basically the opposite of DEET. Contact with skin (sweat, etc) deactivates it, not to mention, is not great for you.
You can find combination DEET/permethrin packs at Walmart and other places. They have a bottle of permethrin for treating your hiking gear, and a bottle of DEET for treating yourself. Use each where applicable and you'll do well.
Finally, if you *do* get a tick in you, PLEASE don't put something on it to get it to come out! The last thing you want is for the tick to come out on its own accord, since it will regurgitate fluids into the wound to help itself out, and the bacteria in that are what can cause serious infections. There are quite a few tick-pulling methods and devices out there, and a tick-tweezers or other tick-removal device is a good thing to add to your pack. (With whatever, you'll pull gently but constantly so that you can see the tick pulling at your skin, and you keep the gentle but firm and constant pull until it comes out intact.)
Anyway, that's the little tick speech for now. If you need more information, it's available or I can gather some links and docs for you.
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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I noticed the password in the GET query string a while back, but it passed out of my mind somewhere in the vast streams of Watcher code. Oops. I believe it's been there since the old-new forums (as opposed to the new-new forums or the old-old forums) and the unified forum/GCc logins they brought.
(Oh, and by the way, fuzz, I just now actually read your sig for the first time... I say, that's the most rousing rendition of "The Cachers Who Don't Do Anything" that I've ever heard. *sniffle*
)[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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Just remember that hiding is not the only way to give back to the game. There are people who go and clean up waterlogged caches. There are people that don't hide but always trade way up to get worn out caches back in neocacher-compatible form. There are people that don't hide many and don't trade but are the veritable poster children of CITO. (Oh, and I know of at least one person who's a bit busy with some coding and a chat to do much hiding or even finding.)
Originally posted by 9Key:I don't think a ratio is appropriate either, but I would like to see folks give back to the game. I'm sure there are cachers all over the country that have a few hundred finds and 0 hides. That's not very fair IMO.
It's important for people to give back, but geocaching has become more than just a box in the middle of nowhere. There is room for all sorts of contributions.
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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Okay, so there's all the tires and gas (a couple hundred dollars worth last trip). There's the cost of the GPS receivers and stuff, but I've only bought two. There's the cost of the canoe, but that was only $350 or so.
I think the thing about geocaching that cost me the most is the Waverunner. Yep, without Mopar in the official geocaching chat, I would have never even considered getting a personal watercraft, and without the advice and help of several of our regulars, I would have never found and purchased the one I have now. (Not to mention, I wouldn't have gone out yesterday in the wind and waves and really bruised myself up enough to make it hurt a rather bit to sit today.) So, thanks, geocaching, for making me buy a Waverunner.
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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Hehe, between Watcher and the Palm apps, I only come to GCc to log caches and to look at the events (to see where I ought to go next) and other places where I might need to make a special trip. Well, okay, I also go to GCc when I'm away from my PQs, but that doesn't count.
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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Let me put it this way... walking down a forest road with an almost full moon providing the only light... Hehe, I was *quite* out of my element, and you know what? It's fun to be out of your element!
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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How about, what is the proper ratio of attempts for my caches vs. attempts for other people's caches? I think that all of you guys aren't doing your part in trying to find the really hard to get to caches. Are you all just lazy cachers or what? I mean, just because it's a /5 doesn't mean you shouldn't go rent a powerboat or canoe 36 miles down the Mississippi River! I mean, come on, *I* did it, why can't you?
As you can plainly see, trying to lump all cachers into one type is, to put it diplomatically, unwise. I know at least a couple cachers that would be of a great service to geocaching if they would never place another cache (think about illegal and unsafe hides that make groups ban caching).
Some people are good at hiding caches. In fact, some people almost exclusively hide. Other people would not make good hiders. Think about a person who travels a whole lot, either for work or otherwise. They will not be able to properly check and maintain many caches. Telling them they should hide more that they can't maintain is, again, unwise.
Personally, I have three current caches. One has not been found in well over a year, and as soon as the Mississippi River is back in canoeable form (it's nearing flood stage here, so no canoeing), I'll take another 36-mile trip to check on it. The second is the memorial cache for a LAGG (event cache), and gets a few people now and again. The third was destroyed in a flood and is waiting for me to get to a Corps of Engineers office to see precisely what part of the swamp they control so that I can be sure to put the improved version out legally. Among the three of these, all my maintaining caches budget is used up. I *could* hide more, but then what would I do? Just leave them to rot?
"Cache ratios" are most certainly based on poor assumptions. If I hide 100 caches, and 95 of them are archived because they're in train stations at airports on active military bases, does that make me any better than the person who hid 5 very high quality caches? Of course not! Still, the rather unthinking 100-cache hider would look oh-so-much better to someone looking at cache ratios. (Yes, this is certainly a fabricated example, but think about it and perhaps you will know of someone to whom it may apply, even if not to this extent.)
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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Does this one still need to be retrieved? It's not *too* far from me, since I live in Baton Rouge, and I'd be willing to give it a go if need be. Seeing as it's been a while, I might be unsuccessful, but I'd be willing to give it a whirl.
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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Watcher 0.1.36 (LaPaglia's Challenge)
Well, I got back from the Chicago area and was catching up on feature requests before the official chat Monday, and LaPaglia mentioned his favorite feature request again... as I had no coding planned for pre-chat Monday, I figured I'd just experiment a little. Well, now there is a stationary header at the top of the window, so even when you scroll, you know what you're looking at (and you can sort). Another addition in 0.1.36 is automatic upgrade notification. If you'd like, Watcher can tell you when a new version is available. You can also tell it to check manually (in either case, the only thing sent is the current Watcher version you're running; feel free to check if you wish). In the list edit window, you can now import multiple files at a time. Also, several bugs in profiles and center positions were fixed, and you can now change the center without changing the sort order (so you can see how far a cache is from home and work while you have the list sorted by difficulty, for example).
Get it at the usual site.
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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Jeremy has said that a bounding box PQ criterion will be added (no ETA, but it *is* on the list already and will eventually be available
).[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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quote:
If you change it in the Pocket Query GPX files, I would simply ask that you please announce it, say, a week ahead of time. You obviously don't have to, but as the CITO addition showed, just changing something in the GPX files without announcing it first can completely wreak havoc on some of us. (It didn't require an all-nighter or anything, but it did completely reallocate what was supposed to be a completely different evening for me.)
Originally posted by Jeremy (Admin):I figured we could change Letterboxing Hybrid to Stamp Hunting
Anyway, I'm fairly neutral on the idea, as it's completely out of my field of vision, but if you keep the GPX application people in mind in case of any change(s), it would help me sleep better at night (especially when I'm somewhere away from home... Chicago this week).
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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Hehe. Apologies not really necessary, but accepted nonetheless. (I intended to make it look strange and catch people off-guard, and from the sounds of it, it worked, eh?
Originally posted by LaughingGravy:team laughing gravy offers apologies to clayjar - although the mileage did look a bit odd.
)[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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Watcher 0.1.35 (Now easier for multiple personalities!)
One little bug involving saving GPX files after saving profiles was fixed, and now you can import caches from .loc files into your found lists (added by request so that families with multiple accounts can download .loc files of each of their finds from geocaching.com and import them into one found list in Watcher).
Get it at the usual site.
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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I don't have an example to look at, but what does it say in your Pocket Query GPX file(s)? (You *are* using Pocket Queries, right?)
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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Watcher 0.1.34 (And you were there, and you were *there*...)
Watcher 0.1.34 includes a few long-awaited features. First, you can now save as many different center coordinates as you'd like (so if you spend the weekends at your summer home, it's no problem). Of course, that's not all that's new: profiles are now also supported. You can save all the sort orders, column settings, and filters as a profile, and then load that to go back to those settings. (So, if you like hunting micros at work and high-terrain caches at your hunting lodge, you can save those as profiles now.)
A few bugs were also fixed. (There's nothing like an evening of calm between vacation and business trip, eh?) Enjoy.
Get it at the usual site.
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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I simply got the little ZiO! MMC/SD. It's small and cheap.
Originally posted by Skippy2:I will get one immdiately. Do you have any recommendations? There are no computer stores within 250 miles either direction of me, so I'll have to get off the Net (eBay, Buy.com, etc.)
As for a timeout after 64MB over serial... some people must have *far* too much time on their hands.
(I haven't used serial map uploading since the first micro-map I uploaded to figure out how to directly copy the maps so I could write that first Meridian + MapSend + SD card HOWTO way back when.)[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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To put it a bit too simply, it's generally perceived as very bad form in databases such as this to delete information. You'll not find many database geeks who would even think of deleting archived cache information.
Originally posted by ego:However, I can also see the need to delete a cache IF it was NEVER approved in the first place. I have a suite of 6 from a zoo that were never approved, (the rules had changed, and I understand. I'm not bitter, really!) And yet they remain on my list of archived caches
Now, for a completely tangential discussion... The six caches were never approved and so they just sit there doing nothing, *but* there is *nothing* that says you cannot "repurpose" those cache pages.
All you need to do is create a new cache (or several) and edit one or more of those old, unused cache pages of yours. Put in all the new information and descriptions and coordinates and all, and then request that the replacement cache(s) be approved and unarchived.I wouldn't suggest doing this with a cache that actually existed and was archived, but if the cache never was approved in the first place, you're not losing anything, and you can get rid of those archived nevercaches that you have bothering you. If they're not *really* bothering you, don't bother, but if they are bothering you, it shouldn't be too much a bother to bother to use them. (Oh, *brother*!
)[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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Why GPS?
in Website
Posted
[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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