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quote:I can afford to pay the current retail price for Topo but I would feel like a sucker for doing so. I know it sounds corny but "it's the principal of the thing." Talk about feeling like a sucker. I paid for the software, the mounting bracket, power cord, and the Meridian Gold. I truly understand now why they called it "gold" and not just "a bit pricey" . So far, I've managed to morph my 315/320/330 power cable and vehicle mount to 'accept' the meridian. Now all I need to do is figure out somehow to make my computer 'accept' my non-existent topo cd. I'm chomping at the bit to play with this thing never having used a mapping receiver w/software before.... Honestly, if anyone knows where I can dig up some map files or (magellan view-off)ISO image of the CD(magellan view-on), please drop me an email. ... alexm [This message has been edited by alexm (edited 27 November 2001).]

Lets get all Tennessee GEOCachers on AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). What I have done is made a new group called "GEOcachers" on my buddy list and I am currently adding everyone that is interested, this way we can keep in touch and talk about geocaching. To get the Instant Message program go to http://www.aol.com it is free. What I can do is post a list after we get a few online that way when new people get involved they can look at the list and add us all on there buddy list. My buddy name is GISGPSMan. If you add that name in your buddy list I should be online.. Hope to hear from you soon.

So come on then lets not just talk about it... lets get it done. We can work out a boozer that is central to all and if we block book we can get a good deal on some rooms I'm sure. Then we could enjoy the evening

Talk about needing a life, I took my GPS3+ on a romantic Bahamas cruise & spent way to much time (my girlfriend's words, not mine) plotting our course. Even plotted points of the ship while in port and drew a topo map of the ship itself! CRUSSO ------------------

I don't know much about the web or all that stuff you talk about. I just open note pad and while I read about a cache I highlight the parts I want and pop it into notepad. Its clean and simple. I just let them pile up one on top of the other and seperate with a row of say "//////////" and a couple of CR and printing is quick and save ink. Do about 50-100 around your area and stick it in your ride. You wont get maps, why would you need it with a newer GPS. The Geocache web site is just a little tool to the activity. I try to spend more time looking than playing but thats me. Yea and this will download into the cheapest of little pocket orginizers, I know.

I don't think so talk to Clayjar he would know.

ersonal details about me and my family, and circulated this info to others. A WARNING TO OTHERS, KEEP YOUR PSEUDONYMS. (and use a disposable e-mail address like Yahoo etc) quote:Were the many people who logged the Lovelock caches ever consulted? No. I have done some of his caches. quote:Did the plotters ever go to a single Lovelock cache? No. By "plotters" I take it you mean "objectors" in which case see my comment above. quote:Do most Geocachers hang out at these forums? No. Did most people vote at the last General Election ? They were all given the opportunity. As have the Geocachers. quote:Did anybody read Robin's defense at http://www.gpss.co.uk/geocuk.htm ? YES ! And he repeated it here in the forum. (keep up with the plot !) quote:And where's the wisdom of closing the threads to stifle debate on this rather important topic? TO BRING IT TO AN END FOR CHRISSAKES quote:and Robin's self promotion is just about the least offensive I've ever come across. Geocaching is not the first to suffer the Lovelock "experience". Take a look at the follwing thread from the "alt.config" newsgroup http ://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&threadm=erfaq-0805982245520001%40pm336-38.dialip.mich.net&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3D%2522robin%2Blovelock%2522%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26. (Sorry, I tried to make the above go to the start of the thread but it wont, you will have to use the "Prev 10" link at the top of the page.) In it you will see that it contains a proposal to set up a newsgroup specifically for Robin called "alt.robin-lovelock.annoying". Now I am sure that was proposed somewhat tongue-in-cheek but it continues to say : "discussion away from sci.geo.satellite-nav. Since the normally civil and technical discussions on GPS and satellite tracking are frequently interrupted by Robin Lovelock and the discussions about his practices, this proposed NG is an attempt to return the sci based ng already in place, to a technical, not personal discussion." This proposal was made 1998/05/06 as a result of his continuous posting to the newsgroups about his software. Conduct a search of the newsgroups (using www.deja.com) for "robin lovelock" (as typed please) and you will find 820 entries most of which start "... outside the area of the maps already available for downloading, then you may request Robin Lovelock to put a map onto the site for you and others in your area ..." Be afraid, Be very afraid quote:Stretch your mind a bit and imagine the real threats to the sport. Offensive political or religious motivations for planting caches. Dangerous objects in the caches. Lawsuits from stash hunters who are injured or killed by falls or bad weather. Robin has placed cigarette lighters and matches in his caches, even those placed in ancient woodlands, some of which have been found by non-cachers, possibly kids. The law might be an *** but "Lawsuits from stash hunters" ? I don't think so. quote:And why the sensitivity to Robin's business? Does his GPSS software compete with Groundspeak? Should the rest of us not be objecting to our personal data being used to sell "targetted" banner ads for Geocaching.com? (Robin was invited to buy just such (IMHO very offensive) ads Are you suggesting that Robin has been offered this by Groundspeak? If so, how do you know, Did Robin tell you? Also, if we are talking about "banner ads", these are shown on a website when the site is viewed and does not require any personal info being disclosed. And talk about disclosing "personal info", take a look at Robins site http://www.gpss.co.uk/gpsslink.htm where you will find a list of 2304 registered users of his software including Name, E-Mail address, Coordinates and Town. Now, when you've run out of caches to do, a new passtime "Geoknocking", after all, you have 2304 doors to knock on. :-) quote:Let him back on the pitch, bury the hatchet, shake hands, and let's get on with what we were doing before this catfight started. As I said before, I am happy for Robin to play the game, provided he does play the game. If Robin can advertise, then so can I, and so can all other businesses and companies. Now that's what I call dangerous to the sport. Happy caching everybody, Tim [This message has been edited by timp (edited 08 November 2001).] Boy! that url took some sorting out ! [This message has been edited by timp (edited 08 November 2001).] [This message has been edited by timp (edited 08 November 2001).]

quote:Originally posted by LazyLeopard:[b2. Spread his caches more widely around the world, or at least around the country. [/b] God forbid. That was something that I was dreading. If his caching attitude spread to the country parks and nature reserves then the sport would be doomed. Why did he not argue his case. Why did he not eMail his supporters until it was too late. Why does he still not argue his case. Im sorry for you people who do not want to travell too far to find a cache but I feel that is one of the major benifits of this game. To go somewhere where you would never dream of going, packed lunch et al, just because a small piece of plastic with batteries points you there... ...and when you get there, the sceanary, the views, the landscape, the trill of the chase and the find. If my GPS could talk it would say "see I told you." The only way I would like to see the caches re-instated would be to cut them down to 10%, remove the offensive comment about the business web site, fix his browser and apologise for ignoring us. Stephen McNally

Forgive my incoherent ramblings. I'll try to clarify. What I was trying to say was that (by giving an example) I could have very easily turned a virtual cache into something that is NOT a cache by just giving a detailed description. This is comparable to the Chicago Tourism parallel that you mentioned. My point was that in the Chicago Cache-Cam (Cam-Cache?), I made it so that you HAD to use your GPSr to verify that you had been to that location. The verification requires you to go to those precise coordinates and answer a question. The only reason I didn't put a cache there was that the area is so wide open and public that I was sure a cache would be gone within days of being planted. The muddled examples I gave were to illustrate that I agree with the fact that just naming a place and having a web-cam there (IMO) does NOT constitute a cache. Nor does giving specific instructions in how to get there without the need of a GPSr (that's a letterbox). For more talk about what constitutes a virtual cache, Jeremy started a thread over here.

quote:Originally posted by alexm:When is the magic vessel scheduled to arrive? Just found out for sure this morning! The non-nuclear wessel is "out for delivery" according to the latest tracking updates! Yipee! quote:I'm getting kinda anxious about finding ClayJar's first (that I know of) official public cache after missing 'em all at LAGG-1 (!@$?@&%! 2D elevation mode!). You can rest assured that I'll do my best to find one of the best places possible around Lake Chicot. I've been studying the topo maps, and I've got several potential locations to scout out for the best site. I'm not sure if it'll end up being a terrain 5 or not, but I'm gonna try. quote:If you truly want to make it an "anti-alex" cache, put it somewhere where I can't get a big boat in there (no boat ramp) and relativley close by (like one of those university lakes in Baton Rouge). That oughta drive me nuts! I'm a pretty good swimmer though. Hmmm... so if I can find a water-bound place with no room for a big boat and enough growth to prohibit access by swimming... I think I have just the spot, but I'll just hang on to it until an anti-ClayJar cache shows up. (You know, that whole "Mutually Assured Destruction" thing from the Cold War: if you plant an unfindable one, I'll have an unfindable one right there to plant, too.) ...maybe we do have too much time on our hands. quote:I'm hoping to hide my "over-the-water" and currently unnamed caches this weekend. I figure they're in for a long and lonely winter... That almost sounded like something that could have possibly sounded somewhat like a challenge, but not really. I'm kinda looking forward to looking for the water-bound caches. Having to use a boat to get there should add flavor to my caching experiences; they won't just be simple "park and log" caches (which are nice, but I love a challenge). Between GSOS, Camp Livingston (to place a travel bug for a Californian), and hiding Loch Lock Locker, I ought to have a nice day tomorrow. I think I'll try to talk my brother into coming along, but I seriously doubt he'll be up for it (he's one of those "Great Indoors" type of people). I have a feeling that I'll be sore from all that paddling tomorrow, but that'll give me something to talk about in the editorial section of ClayJar's Geocaching Logbook next week.

quote:Originally posted by alexm:When is the magic vessel scheduled to arrive? Just found out for sure this morning! The non-nuclear wessel is "out for delivery" according to the latest tracking updates! Yipee! quote:I'm getting kinda anxious about finding ClayJar's first (that I know of) official public cache after missing 'em all at LAGG-1 (!@$?@&%! 2D elevation mode!). You can rest assured that I'll do my best to find one of the best places possible around Lake Chicot. I've been studying the topo maps, and I've got several potential locations to scout out for the best site. I'm not sure if it'll end up being a terrain 5 or not, but I'm gonna try. quote:If you truly want to make it an "anti-alex" cache, put it somewhere where I can't get a big boat in there (no boat ramp) and relativley close by (like one of those university lakes in Baton Rouge). That oughta drive me nuts! I'm a pretty good swimmer though. Hmmm... so if I can find a water-bound place with no room for a big boat and enough growth to prohibit access by swimming... I think I have just the spot, but I'll just hang on to it until an anti-ClayJar cache shows up. (You know, that whole "Mutually Assured Destruction" thing from the Cold War: if you plant an unfindable one, I'll have an unfindable one right there to plant, too.) ...maybe we do have too much time on our hands. quote:I'm hoping to hide my "over-the-water" and currently unnamed caches this weekend. I figure they're in for a long and lonely winter... That almost sounded like something that could have possibly sounded somewhat like a challenge, but not really. I'm kinda looking forward to looking for the water-bound caches. Having to use a boat to get there should add flavor to my caching experiences; they won't just be simple "park and log" caches (which are nice, but I love a challenge). Between GSOS, Camp Livingston (to place a travel bug for a Californian), and hiding Loch Lock Locker, I ought to have a nice day tomorrow. I think I'll try to talk my brother into coming along, but I seriously doubt he'll be up for it (he's one of those "Great Indoors" type of people). I have a feeling that I'll be sore from all that paddling tomorrow, but that'll give me something to talk about in the editorial section of ClayJar's Geocaching Logbook next week.

Cool thread. It took me a while to realize this setting (NMEA) was the reason I couldn't get my GPS to talk to my Laptop. GOod thing to check FIRST.

Cool thread. It took me a while to realize this setting (NMEA) was the reason I couldn't get my GPS to talk to my Laptop. GOod thing to check FIRST.

Last Saturday I was going up to the cottage when I noticed a car parking & family getting out at the parking coordinates for one of my caches. Really excited I turned around and when up to ask whether they were caching ... made awkward by a local dual language situation (and I had to switch to their language to make things more comfortable for them.) I identified myself as the cache owner and happened to notice them while going to the cottage. Fun talking with them about local geocaching, particularly my caches (he's a new cacher). Fun finding out that they had been intently looking for all the clues to my multicache. I'm convinced that I scared them off with all the details of how one person approached and another found it, and how I did each of the clues. They haven't logged either their find or inability to find the cache. I think I made another mistake by sending them a message through the email bot politely asking whether or not they'd found the cache. No response. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but ... Flip side is that I've only met one other cacher a couple of days after I set a cache to check up on the coords and someone comes up looking for it. Talk about fast! I have met a few other cachers, but only on organized outings. Those were fun.

Last Saturday I was going up to the cottage when I noticed a car parking & family getting out at the parking coordinates for one of my caches. Really excited I turned around and when up to ask whether they were caching ... made awkward by a local dual language situation (and I had to switch to their language to make things more comfortable for them.) I identified myself as the cache owner and happened to notice them while going to the cottage. Fun talking with them about local geocaching, particularly my caches (he's a new cacher). Fun finding out that they had been intently looking for all the clues to my multicache. I'm convinced that I scared them off with all the details of how one person approached and another found it, and how I did each of the clues. They haven't logged either their find or inability to find the cache. I think I made another mistake by sending them a message through the email bot politely asking whether or not they'd found the cache. No response. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but ... Flip side is that I've only met one other cacher a couple of days after I set a cache to check up on the coords and someone comes up looking for it. Talk about fast! I have met a few other cachers, but only on organized outings. Those were fun.

Smitty and I, on three caches, have been beat by Mark71Mark. Two of these happened on the same day. The first was near our house, so we hit that one immediately after work. Low and behold, Mark had found the cache at noon earlier that day. So we decided to go to one down the coast a little. We get to within 400ft of the cache on the road, and there is a white truck pulled off to the side. When we get near the cache, we see a guy trudging through the bushes. Cautiously, Smitty asks "Is it about 100ft in that direction?", Mark looks up at him, with a little red radio in his hand, and says,"Is what 100ft in that direction?". We had a nice little conversation with Mark before we found the cache. A few weeks later, right after work, we went to find a new cache. When we got there, pulled off to the side of the road again was the white truck. Grumbling, we race to the top of the hill, to find that Mark had just beat us to the cache by a couple of minutes....talk about beat to the cache...Three times. --Dixie

Smitty and I, on three caches, have been beat by Mark71Mark. Two of these happened on the same day. The first was near our house, so we hit that one immediately after work. Low and behold, Mark had found the cache at noon earlier that day. So we decided to go to one down the coast a little. We get to within 400ft of the cache on the road, and there is a white truck pulled off to the side. When we get near the cache, we see a guy trudging through the bushes. Cautiously, Smitty asks "Is it about 100ft in that direction?", Mark looks up at him, with a little red radio in his hand, and says,"Is what 100ft in that direction?". We had a nice little conversation with Mark before we found the cache. A few weeks later, right after work, we went to find a new cache. When we got there, pulled off to the side of the road again was the white truck. Grumbling, we race to the top of the hill, to find that Mark had just beat us to the cache by a couple of minutes....talk about beat to the cache...Three times. --Dixie

I definitely agree that Jeremy would not want to give away design control of the site. But, having run my own site that is probably at least as popular as geocaching.com, I do know that there is a lot of work, and not a lot of time for the one-person crew to do it. This is nothing against Jeremy, I for one am very grateful for all the time and money and efforts he has already put in to the site. I'm just looking for a way to help out, if possible. Maybe an example to show what I mean. You mentioned the wish lists, let's take one thing I read today. In another thread, someone asked if he could download all the caches in Georgia. Several posters in that thread remarked that it would be a cool feature to have the ability to "check all" on the search results page to download all 25 at once instead of having to click every checkbox. This is a 5 minute code change - a very simple JavaScript. But it might not get implemented right away. And this is nothing against Jeremy - I hope I can make that clear that I have nothing but respect for him, but the simple fact is that he's just one person, and he has an outside life that is not just this website. Now maybe the suggestions I had are not the answer. Maybe Jeremy is not comfortable with the thought of having several developers able to modify code on what is in fact, his site. If that's the case then okay, I'm fine with that. I started this thread to talk about the issue, so that all of us as a community can try to come up with ways to get the best of both worlds. How to keep Jeremy in charge of his site (which I think we all still want) while at the same time pitching in to add new features quicker. If it so be that a few extra developers is not the best solution, then maybe there is something else that can be done. Maybe we can create some sort of forum / thread where a list of desired features is maintained and updated as new features come out, in order of desirability. So when Jeremy gets a few hours and wants to spend some time coding, he can go to this forum and see the improvements that the community wants most. And maybe he as the owner would decide to work on something else - that's his prerogative but at least it would be out there. I'm just trying to open up the discussion. dan.

Instead of a distance race, what are your thoughts on a 'Leg Race' or 'Segment Race'? First TB to get to 10 different caches carried by 10 different people wins. This would discourage people from holding TBs. You could also have 'Challange Races', where one TB would challenge another TB to a Segment Race. The TBs could be in different parts of the world. Think of the potential for smack-talk. (I shudder to think of the smack Buck Naked could dish out.) You could also have geocaching groups from different parts of the world challenge each other. Utah Cachers vs Seattle Area Cachers for example. The goal would be to move a certain TB to as many caches as possible within a certain time frame or first one to move the TB to 10 different caches. Rules might include that a geocacher can only do one leg. This might encourage more people from outside a 'core group' to get involved. (Somebody please think of a better name than Leg Race or Segment Race) (Does anybody work for the WWF? The wrestling group not the nature group.)

quote:Originally posted by echo2000: Howdy from Long Island! Sorry to hear about the lack of interest. It just doesn't stick for some folks, I guess. .................... Hope this helps. Always good for moral support... E2 Hey E2 thanks for the moral support. I'm ok ....trying not to let it ruin things for me. Still planning like crazy and that's a big part of the fun for it for me too I have talked to some cachers and have been to one small get together but not exactly what you'd call local. There's talk of another one to the west (first time to the east, CT). Have been working on permissions from parks too, that's opening up tons of great areas so I'm not loosing the momentum of the game... just shifting it ... big thing is the need to get more people into the game. There's so much untapped land around here... I've got to start planting to get people hunting in the area. The Volunteer Care Takers Association for one park I have permission for has asked to participate so I'm hoping I can create a few new enthusiasts there All kinds of possibilities.... I've got the geocaching bug bad... can't see myself getting bored anytime soon I think maybe I need to get a new dog (the 15 yr german shorthair pointer aint what she used to be)... hey I'll create my hiking buddy yet.

quote:Originally posted by echo2000: Howdy from Long Island! Sorry to hear about the lack of interest. It just doesn't stick for some folks, I guess. .................... Hope this helps. Always good for moral support... E2 Hey E2 thanks for the moral support. I'm ok ....trying not to let it ruin things for me. Still planning like crazy and that's a big part of the fun for it for me too I have talked to some cachers and have been to one small get together but not exactly what you'd call local. There's talk of another one to the west (first time to the east, CT). Have been working on permissions from parks too, that's opening up tons of great areas so I'm not loosing the momentum of the game... just shifting it ... big thing is the need to get more people into the game. There's so much untapped land around here... I've got to start planting to get people hunting in the area. The Volunteer Care Takers Association for one park I have permission for has asked to participate so I'm hoping I can create a few new enthusiasts there All kinds of possibilities.... I've got the geocaching bug bad... can't see myself getting bored anytime soon I think maybe I need to get a new dog (the 15 yr german shorthair pointer aint what she used to be)... hey I'll create my hiking buddy yet.

quote:Originally posted by CharlieP:She enjoys the walk and being outdoors with me and our dog....So I take her on the ones that have a long walk in a pretty area followed by a short cache hunt. My wife's in this category also. I read the hints and look at the topo maps. If the walk/hike is going to be the right length and the scenery interesting, I'll be able to talk her into jumping into the car with me and the dog. Sometimes, the kids convince her to go. Depends on the weather a lot; the kids and I go regardless, but she prefers good weather. YMMV ------------------ Rich in Western Pennsylvania N 40 33.029 W 079 59.408

quote:Originally posted by CharlieP:She enjoys the walk and being outdoors with me and our dog....So I take her on the ones that have a long walk in a pretty area followed by a short cache hunt. My wife's in this category also. I read the hints and look at the topo maps. If the walk/hike is going to be the right length and the scenery interesting, I'll be able to talk her into jumping into the car with me and the dog. Sometimes, the kids convince her to go. Depends on the weather a lot; the kids and I go regardless, but she prefers good weather. YMMV ------------------ Rich in Western Pennsylvania N 40 33.029 W 079 59.408

If you could travel like a genie (cross your arms, blink your eyes, nod your head), what cache(s) would you like to hunt? Or in other words, if time and money weren't an issue, what cache(s) would you like to hunt? This started going through my head recently because I noticed a couple new caches hidden in Hong Kong. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=9499 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=9497 The descriptions (...you can catch the #7 in Central, to the northwest of the Star Ferry..) got me walking down memory lane and I thought it would be interesting to hear the opinions of others. Another cache that catches my eye is http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=8298 the cache is placed in the ruins of a mediveal castle in small nook somewhere in the castle. The description says to bring a flashlight. Talk about 'tree coverage' ... 'I couldn't get a good lock due to the stone ramparts and drawbridge...'

We met someone doing our first cache. He was leaving as we were finding. We weren't really sure what we were doing or anything about the hobby really (I had only bought the GPS that morning), so we didn't even stop to talk to him. As we were passing each other, he said, "Getting close". Even then we weren't sure if he was a fellow geocacher or not - till we read his log where he mentioned seeing us. dan.