ClayJar
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Posts posted by ClayJar
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I think mine is working, eh?
[Watcher Downloads, Official Geocaching Chat, and the Geocache Rating System]
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And now Watcher 0.1.33 proper is out. It remembers your last sort order so you don't have to keep redoing it, and it includes two new wonderful icons for the new CITOcaches:
(Thanks, as usual, to brdad for the reduced version.)
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gnb dropped by the chat to say that he tried the experiment and that for a radial query you do indeed get them from closest to farthest. So, if you did a query for the 25 closest-to-a-spot caches you've not found, that's precisely what you'll get.
Distance is the primary order for radial queries.
(We could still use someone to do a query to find out about areal or non-radial queries.)
Thanks to brdad who donated two of his unused PQs to answer the second question. When you're doing a non-radial query (such as by state or by cache type), the GCID is the basis. The first seven CITOcaches by GCID were included in the max-limited PQ, and all eleven were in the under-the-limit PQ.
So, we have no empirically analyzed the situation. If there is a center point (a zip code, coordinates, and the like), you'll get the N closest caches to that point. If there is no center point (a state, a cache type, and the like), you'll get the N earliest submitted caches. Hope this answers any questions that may have been lurking.
[Watcher Downloads] - [Official Geocaching Chat]
[This message was edited by ClayJar on April 01, 2003 at 06:28 PM.]
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GAAAAA!!!
A quick patched Watcher 0.1.33 prerelease has just been uploaded to the download site. It doesn't have a Watcher CITO icon yet, but you can see caches with the new CITO type. (Since you couldn't select the previously nonexistant CITO type in the filters in .32 and previous, those older versions will not show it.)
Anyway, the quick update is available now.
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My understanding is that if it is a radial query, the results will be the closest N caches. If it is an areal query (such as a state), the results will be the first N caches by ID.
Originally posted by Markwell:I've asked this question repeatedly of TPTB, with no response. If I request a subset of caches that results in more than 500 (the max), which ones get left off?
If someone would like to do an experiment to verify the areal queries, just do the same thing as above, but for an areal query instead of a radial query. (It's not at all hard to figure these things out, but I don't have the open PQs to do it myself.)
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DJ, I believe you have the opportunity to empirically test how the Pocket Queries are generated. I don't know whether they are in order of increasing radius for a center-radius query, but I can tell you how to find out. (Then you could tell us the results and we could add them to the FAQ.)
To answer the question, you need to make an identical twin of one of your existing under-the-limit Pocket Queries (perhaps you have one set to max 250 and it only returns, say, 217). Then, on the duplicated query, drop the max down to, say, 10 while leaving everything else the same. Then you'll have a max-limited Pocket Query and an under-the-limit Pocket Query both with the same center, radius, et al. Now just take those two GPX files and compare them.
The simplest way to compare them would probably be to start two copies of Watcher and load one of the GPX files in each. Then just sort the cache lists by the same center you used in the Pocket Query and see if the max-limited is the first 10 (or whatever you used) caches of the under-the-limit one. If it is, then you know that they are the first X caches, sorted by ascending distance.
(Alternately, if you don't want to do this experiment, please say so and we'll track someone else down to do it.)
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Okay, I have one question about the forums... since Groundspeak GPX applications are "Geocaching.com Discussion" but also "GPS Units and Software", where would you suggest the discussion of things like Watcher and GPSBabel should go? (No real need for a GPX Applications forum, I suppose.)
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I was told I had to reply to this, so...
Does anybody remember the Magellan Pioneer? At least http://joe.mehaffey.com/ is still around, eh?
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You missed the one difference that actually means something... GPX files converted from .loc only have the core GPX data. GPX files coming from Pocket Queries have the core GPX data, but they also have everything from the Groundspeak GPX extensions. *THAT'S* where all the information comes from.
You can't make gold out of lead (except, perhaps, by some really difficult nuclear means, of course), and you can't make data out of NULL. Watcher will see that the Groundspeak extensions (and all the data they contain) are missing from the file and tell you that it won't work; gpx2html should probably do the same (just so that the "Why can't $APP create something out of nothing?" question doesn't come up so often).
(By the way, shegget, you don't use Watcher?!?)
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Regarding duplicates:
Split the list however you need to in order to get a full set (split by rating or by type or whatever), then just use Watcher to combine them (which filters duplicates, of course), and if you'd like, split them into whatever filtered sets you want from there.
(Yeah, it'd be nice if there were half points, but at least they're not necessary thanks to GPX.)
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Well, after some of the busiest, least pleasant, and most downright exhausting weeks in recent memory, I managed to get some work done tonight (after eating, watching some anime, and falling asleep in place for a few hours).
Watcher 0.1.32 is mainly bugfixes to a few things that you may or may not have encountered in 0.1.31. (And "Set as center" has been added to the cache context menu, so you can set a center cache from the main page now.) Oh, and by the way, it shouldn't be this long between releases; life merely conspired against me this time.
Get it at the usual place.
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Yep. Unless they're for cache logs or your profile, in which case you'd just upload them to the cache log or to your profile and then link them from there.
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Direct from the Interagency GPS Executive Board (IEGB) is this policy statement on Selective Availability. (Incidentally, the DoD runs GPS, but they've got a civilian authority to answer to when it comes to GPS.)
quote:
U.S. Policy Statement Regarding Civil GPS AvailabilityMarch 21, 2003
The United States Government recognizes that GPS plays a key role around the world as part of the global information infrastructure and takes seriously the responsibility to provide the best possible service to civil and commercial users worldwide. This is as true in times of conflict as it is in times of peace.
The U.S. Government also maintains the capability to prevent hostile use of GPS and its augmentations while retaining a military advantage in a theater of operations without unduly disrupting or degrading civilian uses outside the theater of operations.
We believe we can ensure that GPS continues to be available as an invaluable global utility at all time, while at the same time, protecting U.S. and coalition security requirements.
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Not approved means nobody else can see it. You'll have to copy and paste to get any useful opinions.
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Actually, I post on a very few threads these days, but when I post, it's because I have something to contribute to the discussion, as is the case (now) in this thread.
Originally posted by 9Key:Is there a there a thread in the forums where the following have NOT posted: Mopar, Clayjar, Markwell, Web-Ling, etc.... (you know who you are).
I ran a few things through the reality-o-meter, and unfortunately, none of them matched up very well. I'm not sure if this is due to a bug in the OpenTopic code or the possibility that they're making the bold/non-bold distinction based on some complex formula.
- Last Post: georgeandmary, ClayJar (not bold); MityDave, Unfurl, Horatio (bold) (Also, I replied to a thread from Horatio to de-last-post-ify him in that thread and forum, and it had no effect.)
- Moderator: Elias, Jeremy Irish (bold); Team Paradise, MityDave, and Unfurl (bold, not mods)
- Number of posts: Team Paradise (0 posts), MityDave (1 post), Unfurl (20 posts), Elias (172 matches), sevron2 (0 posts, non-bold)
- Freshly Logged In: Horatio (bold); worldtraveler, gloom, millforce (not bold)
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(I'm just trying to figure out something for a different thread, and replying to this is an important test of one possible theory.)
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How about on an island in the Mississippi? The first hydrocaching campout!
Originally posted by Jamie Z:I think the next one should be closer to Memphis.
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(Well, it's somewhat orthogonal to the discussion, but it's not really off-topic.)
Having some sort of "ping" to keep somewhat loose track of the cache owner sounds like a possibly worthwhile function. It is worth noting that the original purpose of Watcher was to enable someone to know which caches needed to be checked on (and either verified good, maintained, or archived).
It could potentially prove positive (perhaps) to have some sort of automated "ping" system, but in the meantime, at least you can use Watcher to check up on caches. (It would be even more useful if Pocket Queries included deactivated caches, but I suppose that's a topic for another thread, eh?)
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(And to whomever else works behind the screens, if I knew who you were or could remember your name, I'd thank you, too.)
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The previous discussion was under the Geocaching Attributes List thread in this forum.
A word of warning in in order. The thread started normally, built up some momentum, and was then dragged out of focus by too many posts with too little thought. I gave up and stopped reading, so I can't tell you how it ended up.
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If it fits, and you can pull it off, it might be a rather fun and certainly memorable occasion. It sounds like it might be a nice idea to build off.
You know what they say, if the ring fits, wear it.
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No, actually, Watcher is a Windows desktop application. (There are other programs that you use to get to Palm, but I haven't integrated them yet.)
Originally posted by Renegade Knight:Isn't Watcher Palm only?
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Yeah, you need the latest version of EasyGPS. I'd recommend deleting (or at least renaming) your old EasyGPS before you "upgrade", and maybe even throw a precautionary reboot if you're really cautious (shouldn't need that).
I'll look into the Easy GPS thing. For some reason it escaped me that my file was about the right size but and so it was possible that EasyGPS isn't showing me them all.(As far as the next Watcher updates, by the way, I should be able to start on them at full-speed come next week. This weekend, OTOH, I'll be out camping with cachers... if you're within 15,000 miles of Louisiana, feel free to join us.
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Well, it sounds intriguing... except I don't do virts... but it would probably be a neat exception... but there's a fee?... but...
BAMBOO!
(Um, sorry, *very* obscure joke.)
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Is it just me, or do you guys go all zany whenever I'm not watching?
(They're actually quite polite in the chat... most of the time. )Anyway, as you can probably glean from the above posts, there is indeed an official geocaching chat. It's been going on weekly for 60 weeks now (not missed a single one), and there are almost always a few people there (definitely in the evenings).
Various software add-ons to help with Geocaching?
in How do I...?
Posted
What do I use?
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Watcher for cache planning. (Sometimes I even forget there *is* a web site, hehe.)
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Official Geocaching Chat for questions, comments, suggestions, gloating, and all around fun.
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GCRS (the Geocache Rating System) for getting a feel of what a cache rating is (or should perhaps be).
Of course, if you want a disclaimer... I'm the programmer who writes Watcher. I moderate the weekly official geocaching chats on Monday nights (the rest of the time it's not really moderated), and finally, I host the GCRS on my domain (since I was one of those involved in creating it). Still, that doesn't mean it's a conspiracy.[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]
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