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quote:Originally posted by ErnieB:Did you see that they can monitor "certain biological functions?" Hmmmm, there's some biological functions I wouldn't want monitored! Talk about getting caught with your pants down!

I have a Garmin Etrex Venture and Microsoft 2001 Streets and Trips. I bought a Dell Inspiron 2100 without a serial port so I bought a serial to USB connector from Belkins. The GPS appears to be communicating to the Dell. I try to configure S & T to see my GPS but it only gives me the option of Comm port 1 or 3 when get to the configure page and my GPS is on comm port 2.

e... from the law firm that represents Radio Flyer. "Please understand that the owner of a mark must protect the value of the mark as a unique identifier of the source of its goods and services. If you use the RADIO FLYER trademarks, including both the name and the logos, on your web pages, actual and potential users of your sites are likely to mistakenly believe that our client sponsors, endorses or is associated with your services." "It is this likelihood of mistaken belief that trademark law in intended to prevent, and which gives rise to a potential legal action for trademark infringement and/or unfair competition." "Furthermore, given the strength of Radio Flyer Inc.'s famous RADIO FLYER trade name and trademarks and how long they have been in use, our client believes that your proposed use would dilute the strength of its RADIO FLYER trademarks." They went on to tell me to kiss their butt, and go talk to my lawyer if I did not like it. They also told me that "Absent further correspondence from you, we shall assume that you agree to remove the RADIO FLYER trademarks from your web page immediately so that the matter may be concluded." Well I did that gladly. Yes, I also wrote back to the president (not the lawyers). Here is the last half: "I would think your company would be more concerned with the corporations that copy the red wagon look and make the cheaper versions. I would think my usage of your logo would STRENGTHEN and REINFORCE your brand name as it is exposed to more people across the country. Every one I talk to about the cache has some childhood story that they tell about the wagons or the sleds that your company makes. These memories and your trademark recognition would have grown exponentially with the touch of each Geocacher." "Per your law firm's instructions, I have removed all references to your company on my web site. As I have stated, I will redo the luggage tag and mail it to the next Geocacher that takes the WAGON in North Carolina. After sleeping on the letter from your law firm I have seriously considered going to get the "ATL... NONAME WAGON", throwing it away and changing it to another toy. I have some of the Mars Sojourner toys from the highly successful Mars Pathfinder mission. They are rare and difficult to find, but I may part with one (I got mine from eBay). Since the government owns this, I can use it as long as I do not generate any profit from it. I have sent them an email 7-22-01 regarding this, though I cannot imagine any problems." "A problem with going to get the "ATL... NONAME WAGON" is the cache popularity. Saturday morning it was placed in a new cache, then someone else picked it up and hid it again the same day. Then Sunday it was picked up again and re-hidden in yet another cache, ironically a cache that I created. This gives me a great opportunity to immediately change the attached tag since it is close." "I use the 4" long version of the toy wagon as a business card holder on my desk. My wife uses the smallest version of the toy wagon (the one I use as the cache) as a paper clip holder on her desk. We saw these examples on the redwagons.com web site. We will remove those too. We will gladly explain why if any one asks." "Typical in the world today? greed seems to be more important than fun. Too bad. Thanks for stomping on our childhood memories." I did change the cache. It is now the Mars ROVER. I mailed Van & Judy in NC the new ROVER, and told them to keep the old FLYER. I have not heard anything from the JPL guys, but I think that group is now dismantled anyway. I think they would appreciate any publicity. They would most likely think it is cool. I will not buy another product from Radio Flyer again, I can assure you. The company that says that I will dilute thier image is the same company that has a movie named for the Flyer. As I was reminded, that was the movie about the abusive parent and the children that tried to build a true flying contraption to escape the abuser at any cost. Yeah, now that is the image we should strive for according to them. I gotta' stop venting. I hope the real Scooby and Shaggy do not go to Chicago any time soon. See ya... mtn-man

Hello Dave, You probably should talk to Jeremy, (Cache God), at contact@geocaching.com, about the do's and don't of this. We are just worker geocachers and will go along with any ideas and live only to plug new waypoints into our GPS devices. I might add that we are not "treasure hunters" and respect for personal privacy and the enviroment comes first in planning where a cache will be placed. We practice "cache in trash out" to remove any trash in the area we visit. I also think it would be best to have local geocachers in areas where you plan to hide caches accompany you or your staff when caches are placed, or hide the caches for you. But Jeremy is the person you want to talk to, it's his baby! We just work here. BTW- I think it's a great idea! Steve [This message has been edited by Fotogg (edited 23 October 2001).]

Hello Dave, You probably should talk to Jeremy, (Cache God), at contact@geocaching.com, about the do's and don't of this. We are just worker geocachers and will go along with any ideas and live only to plug new waypoints into our GPS devices. I might add that we are not "treasure hunters" and respect for personal privacy and the enviroment comes first in planning where a cache will be placed. We practice "cache in trash out" to remove any trash in the area we visit. I also think it would be best to have local geocachers in areas where you plan to hide caches accompany you or your staff when caches are placed, or hide the caches for you. But Jeremy is the person you want to talk to, it's his baby! We just work here. BTW- I think it's a great idea! Steve [This message has been edited by Fotogg (edited 23 October 2001).]

After spending 2 hours on hold to talk with someone, anyone at Garmin (I never did get to talk to anyone)it would be nice if they would poke their head up here every now and then.

Hey there! Welcome to the game! There is a virtual club here in Cincinnati on the Yahoo newsboards that can be found here. The Cincinnati Geocaching Picnic was a great time and we plan on doing it again soon. You can read about the picnic as well as see some pictures from it here (you will need to be logged in to the system) and here. We also left a cache for others to find after the picnic was over. You can read about that here. I have actually wanted to start an official club here in the Cincinnati area where we could all meet once every month or so, talk about caches and make some new friends. I met a guy who is part of such club down in Atlanta. They have business cards and all that good stuff! But it is just the Yahoo message boards for right now, and they are hardly ever used! Hope this helped, ------------------ Bill Ware The Cinci Cachers http://www.cincicachers.com

Making a cacher dig 6 feet in a graveyard before getting the goods. Talk about the looks they're gonna get from passers by...

Making a cacher dig 6 feet in a graveyard before getting the goods. Talk about the looks they're gonna get from passers by...

Clayjar, Is it basic software-compatible with the older Magellans? What I'm really asking is... Does it work with EasyGPS, oziexplorer, and the like? Or are we going to need to wait for updates for these 'third party' applications to talk some new meridian protocol? Sorry if this has already been covered elsewhere, I couldn't find it. I'd ask at LAGG1 today, but I figure someone else might be wondering the same thing... Thanks!

Listening to talk radio at work Thurs. night & geocaching got some publicity on a nightly spot called "the technofile" with lazlow. Caught it on our 50,000 watt local station that reaches 37 states & Canada. Only a few minute spot, but thought it was cool. Listen to the spot at this link. http://www.lazlow.com/ Click on Listen to the Technofile-October. Just locate the broadcast for 10/18 on the list. . ------------------ Gary "Gimpy" Strong Rochester,NY [This message has been edited by gstrong1 (edited 19 October 2001).]

Listening to talk radio at work Thurs. night & geocaching got some publicity on a nightly spot called "the technofile" with lazlow. Caught it on our 50,000 watt local station that reaches 37 states & Canada. Only a few minute spot, but thought it was cool. Listen to the spot at this link. http://www.lazlow.com/ Click on Listen to the Technofile-October. Just locate the broadcast for 10/18 on the list. . ------------------ Gary "Gimpy" Strong Rochester,NY [This message has been edited by gstrong1 (edited 19 October 2001).]

With all the talk about getting the new Meridian line of GPS and buying new "high tech." toys and stuff I have been wondering if anyone has one of those GPS watches by Casio. Does it work well and have you found any caches with one? Just wondering about this GPS that I have not anyone mention.

Sorry, I was away for a few days. I see others have already responded but here is my $.02. -bridaw Originally posted by RoyD: bridaw Let me see if I understand this. With VPC I can download and install firmware upgrades, using the proper cable adapter, to my Garmin MAP76 receiver on my MAC G3. Yes. I have been able to launch VPC (running Win98 First Edition) on my iBook and then use GPSR updaters from the Garmin web site (Legend updates as well as Marine POI file) and it does not require MapSource. I use an iBook instead of one of my 2 desktop macs when I do use VPC so I must also use a Keyspan serial-USB adapter (many posts about this topic on this site). Also, I can use MapSource software and download to the GPSR. You can use all the features of MapSource supported by your GPSR and it can "talk" to your GPSR provided you have the right cables and such (keyspan adapter for USB macs). I only use MapSource on my mac to push maps to my IIIplus and Legend. I tend to keep the same set of maps in both units so I rarely use MapSource on my mac these days. With Mac GPSPro I can download maps to the GPSR. NO. No 3rd party program can load maps to your Garmin GPSR. Mac and WinTel users all have this same problem, you MUST use Garmin MapSource if you wish to load maps into your GPSR. No other option at this time. However, MacGPS Pro provides real-time tracking (many programs offer this these days on mac and PC) superimposed over virtually any map from any source. Within 15 minutes of receiving the MacGPS Pro program, I had downloaded a MapBlast map of PB, CA and calibrated the map in MacGPS Pro. I pulled the tracklogs and waypoints out of the GPSR and displayed them over the Mapblast map in MacGPS Pro. I tossed the iBook into the Durango and drove around just to check out the real-time features of MacGPS Pro. This is within minutes of calibrating the map I had just downloaded from the web minutes after launching MacGPS Pro for the first time. The maps I tend to use most are high quality FREE USGS topo maps from this site: http://www.gisdatadepot.com/catalog/ Another feature I REALLY like about MacGPS Pro other than the fact that it is a feature rich mac native app with awesome support, is that it stores all waypoint, route, tracklog files as a text file. This is SOOOO cool compared to MapSource formats or other proprietary formats that require all kinds of converters and such that make it really painful to make quick simple tweaks to your waypoint or track log files. The MacGPS Pro file format is text so you can open it in BBedit or whatever text editor you prefer. Format: DMM M/D/Y H:M:S -7.00 hrs Datum[106]: WGS 84 ID Date Time Latitude Longitude Altitude T 10/15/01 10:10:27 32°48.032' -117°14.064' T 10/15/01 10:10:28 32°48.031' -117°14.069' T 10/15/01 10:10:41 32°48.020' -117°14.109' T 10/15/01 10:10:42 32°48.019' -117°14.109' T 10/15/01 10:10:43 32°48.019' -117°14.109' T 10/15/01 10:10:47 32°48.030' -117°14.114' T 10/15/01 10:11:02 32°48.052' -117°14.121' T 10/15/01 10:12:00 32°48.047' -117°14.118' T 10/15/01 10:12:10 32°48.090' -117°14.131' T 10/15/01 10:12:11 32°48.095' -117°14.133' T 10/15/01 10:12:23 32°48.170' -117°14.155' T 10/15/01 10:12:31 32°48.219' -117°14.170' T 10/15/01 10:12:37 32°48.224' -117°14.172' T 10/15/01 10:12:41 32°48.229' -117°14.175' MacGPS Pro tracklog> Does Mac GPSPro erase the base maps in the GPSR when it is installed? No. I believe NO GPS program, PC or Mac, is capable of erasing the base map. The basemap is there to stay. Why the hell did I spend $95.00 on the MapSource software? Well, I did the same thing. I bought MapSource Topo and Road & Rec CD sets. I don't regret buying them (especially since I paid half price for them on eBay) since it is the ONLY way you can push maps to your mapping GPSR. What I do regret is waiting so long to check out MacGPS Pro and forcing myself to use MapSource for managing tracklogs and waypoints. ------------------ Brian and Terry San Diego, CA [This message has been edited by bridaw (edited 17 October 2001).]

Sorry, I was away for a few days. I see others have already responded but here is my $.02. -bridaw Originally posted by RoyD: bridaw Let me see if I understand this. With VPC I can download and install firmware upgrades, using the proper cable adapter, to my Garmin MAP76 receiver on my MAC G3. Yes. I have been able to launch VPC (running Win98 First Edition) on my iBook and then use GPSR updaters from the Garmin web site (Legend updates as well as Marine POI file) and it does not require MapSource. I use an iBook instead of one of my 2 desktop macs when I do use VPC so I must also use a Keyspan serial-USB adapter (many posts about this topic on this site). Also, I can use MapSource software and download to the GPSR. You can use all the features of MapSource supported by your GPSR and it can "talk" to your GPSR provided you have the right cables and such (keyspan adapter for USB macs). I only use MapSource on my mac to push maps to my IIIplus and Legend. I tend to keep the same set of maps in both units so I rarely use MapSource on my mac these days. With Mac GPSPro I can download maps to the GPSR. NO. No 3rd party program can load maps to your Garmin GPSR. Mac and WinTel users all have this same problem, you MUST use Garmin MapSource if you wish to load maps into your GPSR. No other option at this time. However, MacGPS Pro provides real-time tracking (many programs offer this these days on mac and PC) superimposed over virtually any map from any source. Within 15 minutes of receiving the MacGPS Pro program, I had downloaded a MapBlast map of PB, CA and calibrated the map in MacGPS Pro. I pulled the tracklogs and waypoints out of the GPSR and displayed them over the Mapblast map in MacGPS Pro. I tossed the iBook into the Durango and drove around just to check out the real-time features of MacGPS Pro. This is within minutes of calibrating the map I had just downloaded from the web minutes after launching MacGPS Pro for the first time. The maps I tend to use most are high quality FREE USGS topo maps from this site: http://www.gisdatadepot.com/catalog/ Another feature I REALLY like about MacGPS Pro other than the fact that it is a feature rich mac native app with awesome support, is that it stores all waypoint, route, tracklog files as a text file. This is SOOOO cool compared to MapSource formats or other proprietary formats that require all kinds of converters and such that make it really painful to make quick simple tweaks to your waypoint or track log files. The MacGPS Pro file format is text so you can open it in BBedit or whatever text editor you prefer. Format: DMM M/D/Y H:M:S -7.00 hrs Datum[106]: WGS 84 ID Date Time Latitude Longitude Altitude T 10/15/01 10:10:27 32°48.032' -117°14.064' T 10/15/01 10:10:28 32°48.031' -117°14.069' T 10/15/01 10:10:41 32°48.020' -117°14.109' T 10/15/01 10:10:42 32°48.019' -117°14.109' T 10/15/01 10:10:43 32°48.019' -117°14.109' T 10/15/01 10:10:47 32°48.030' -117°14.114' T 10/15/01 10:11:02 32°48.052' -117°14.121' T 10/15/01 10:12:00 32°48.047' -117°14.118' T 10/15/01 10:12:10 32°48.090' -117°14.131' T 10/15/01 10:12:11 32°48.095' -117°14.133' T 10/15/01 10:12:23 32°48.170' -117°14.155' T 10/15/01 10:12:31 32°48.219' -117°14.170' T 10/15/01 10:12:37 32°48.224' -117°14.172' T 10/15/01 10:12:41 32°48.229' -117°14.175' MacGPS Pro tracklog> Does Mac GPSPro erase the base maps in the GPSR when it is installed? No. I believe NO GPS program, PC or Mac, is capable of erasing the base map. The basemap is there to stay. Why the hell did I spend $95.00 on the MapSource software? Well, I did the same thing. I bought MapSource Topo and Road & Rec CD sets. I don't regret buying them (especially since I paid half price for them on eBay) since it is the ONLY way you can push maps to your mapping GPSR. What I do regret is waiting so long to check out MacGPS Pro and forcing myself to use MapSource for managing tracklogs and waypoints. ------------------ Brian and Terry San Diego, CA [This message has been edited by bridaw (edited 17 October 2001).]

Not in my town! Here in Syracuse, NY, we just had a big article published in the newspaper, complete with sidebar story on the GPS system, and color photos. The number of automatated emails I get from cache logs being submitted for my caches has jumped, and the number of new players logging caches all over this area has jumped up as well. A little bit of good press has a noticeable impact. You have to remember, there are lots of people who own GPS units, but who haven't found anything fun to do with them yet. They use them as a tool for travel, hunting, fishing, boating, etc., but not to have fun, especially with their kids. If your local newspaper hasn't yet covered geocaching, go talk to them, and offer your assistance for background information and a free lesson. I even went so far as to lend an eTrek GPS to the writer, so he could try geocaching with his boys -- that was after he first got a private lesson with three local players. It may not be easy to get the newspapers attention, but if you call ahead for an appointment, and take along copies of the stories linked from geocaching.com's homepage in the "Geocaching in the News" section, ought to pay attetion to that! Anton [This message has been edited by Anton (edited 16 October 2001).]

I had the bizarre experience yesterday of having a cache removed by state park authorities as I was going to get it. They passed me on the way in and further down the trail I saw them go into the woods looking around the area the GPS was pointing me to. As I got within a couple hundred feet I saw them leaving the other way (it was a loop trail) with the cache. I made my way back around to the car realizing I had a big geocaching.com static cling sign on the back window. I decided to go to the park office to see what was going on. I got to the office and had a long talk with the site manager (I think. He was high level.) and a conservation police officer. 1. They were not happy that someone had placed the cache on park property without their knowledge or permission. They had several legitimate concerns, including many that we have discussed in relation to federal land. What a weirdo might put in the cache, injuries to people searching for caches in off trail areas, various concerns related to Sept. 11 and increased security worries since then, the issue of abandoned property, non-geocachers finding them leading to bomb squad calls, etc. 2. They did not object to geocaching in general, just the way it had been done there. We went over several ideas such as virtual caches, caches where a marker is hidden that directs you to the park office for the container, and clear containers that are hidden with the permission of park officials. They seemed quite receptive to these ideas. 3. It sounded like news of this was heading to the state-wide level so many caches are now in danger of being removed without notice. Most caches in this state are on state property. (State parks, forests, fish and wildlife areas, etc.) I would strongly suggest that you get in touch with whoever runs the land that your cache is on if you did not get permission when you placed your cache. If you don't want to do that, you should consider archiving and picking up your cache before someone confiscates it for you. 4. If we go at this the wrong way, we could easily end up like North Carolina, with geocaching banned in state parks. This would certainly not help our attempts to use federal lands either. If we go at this the right way, we make the job of state parks easier, give ourselves a good name (especially if we are caught picking up trash), and help our case with federal lands. We will lose badly if we try to go head to head with the state. 5. I told them I would spread the word. I hope you will help me with this. You must get permission to hide on any state property. Do NOT assume that it is OK because other people have hidden caches there. Get permission for every cache! 6. Let's keep level heads here. Nothing good will happen if we start bi**hing and moaning at the parks, park system, or park employees. Keep discussions and actions constructive. 7. They have found the website. There is no way to sneak around them so don't try. They will probably be quite stunned when they see just how many there are. rdw [This message has been edited by rdwatson78 (edited 16 October 2001).]

I had the bizarre experience yesterday of having a cache removed by state park authorities as I was going to get it. They passed me on the way in and further down the trail I saw them go into the woods looking around the area the GPS was pointing me to. As I got within a couple hundred feet I saw them leaving the other way (it was a loop trail) with the cache. I made my way back around to the car realizing I had a big geocaching.com static cling sign on the back window. I decided to go to the park office to see what was going on. I got to the office and had a long talk with the site manager (I think. He was high level.) and a conservation police officer. 1. They were not happy that someone had placed the cache on park property without their knowledge or permission. They had several legitimate concerns, including many that we have discussed in relation to federal land. What a weirdo might put in the cache, injuries to people searching for caches in off trail areas, various concerns related to Sept. 11 and increased security worries since then, the issue of abandoned property, non-geocachers finding them leading to bomb squad calls, etc. 2. They did not object to geocaching in general, just the way it had been done there. We went over several ideas such as virtual caches, caches where a marker is hidden that directs you to the park office for the container, and clear containers that are hidden with the permission of park officials. They seemed quite receptive to these ideas. 3. It sounded like news of this was heading to the state-wide level so many caches are now in danger of being removed without notice. Most caches in this state are on state property. (State parks, forests, fish and wildlife areas, etc.) I would strongly suggest that you get in touch with whoever runs the land that your cache is on if you did not get permission when you placed your cache. If you don't want to do that, you should consider archiving and picking up your cache before someone confiscates it for you. 4. If we go at this the wrong way, we could easily end up like North Carolina, with geocaching banned in state parks. This would certainly not help our attempts to use federal lands either. If we go at this the right way, we make the job of state parks easier, give ourselves a good name (especially if we are caught picking up trash), and help our case with federal lands. We will lose badly if we try to go head to head with the state. 5. I told them I would spread the word. I hope you will help me with this. You must get permission to hide on any state property. Do NOT assume that it is OK because other people have hidden caches there. Get permission for every cache! 6. Let's keep level heads here. Nothing good will happen if we start bi**hing and moaning at the parks, park system, or park employees. Keep discussions and actions constructive. 7. They have found the website. There is no way to sneak around them so don't try. They will probably be quite stunned when they see just how many there are. rdw [This message has been edited by rdwatson78 (edited 16 October 2001).]

in the South Sacramento area this time? This is something I would be interested in. I didn't get to talk to enough attendees of our last picnic. We have so much to talk about. Especially if we can get Jose to show up . . . Just running this idea up the flag pole to see if anyone salutes it. GeoCrickets (Dawn and Myself) would love to meet other GeoCachers in the area. We missed the last one because we did not know of Geocacheing at the time. However we love Geocaching now. We are planning to go the the Santa Cruz one in Nov. GoeCrickets

I always seem to chime in when there is an enviromental point to be made, not that I am a fanatic. But keeping cache container sizes to a minimum may help in the perception of the sport by cetain agencies and individuals. Asking a Park representitive about placing a cache with a five gallon bucket in your hand or a small microcache container may make a difference in their response. Here is an example of a microcache I visited last week that still has a trading theme but is very simple and clever. Tiny by Technician Also, there was some talk about having a "Featured caches of the month" in an earlier thread. Having a cache like this and other unique caching ideas featured would benefit other cachers in different areas who might want to do something similar or like the idea or percption of a low impact cache. [This message has been edited by navdog (edited 15 October 2001).]

I think you have teken the correct first step - talk to them about it. You could merge into a large barrel of monkeys, what could be more fun? :^) Or you could arrange to make your calling cards slightly different - you use only blue for example and they use only red ones. Or you could switch to bananas to feed their monkeys. It could be kind of a competition/game inside the game to get to caches first.

quote:Originally posted by supertech: First - I am not going to participate in a platform war. Well said. I'm all for comparing receivers, but in the end it all boils down to preferences and opinions, and everyone is entitled to their own. (I have Garminite friends, and apparently they have at least one Magellanite friend, since they still talk to me. )

quote:Originally posted by supertech: First - I am not going to participate in a platform war. Well said. I'm all for comparing receivers, but in the end it all boils down to preferences and opinions, and everyone is entitled to their own. (I have Garminite friends, and apparently they have at least one Magellanite friend, since they still talk to me. )

Although I use (and love) the geocache rating system, I am not sure if I should change the answer to one of my terrain questions. As is, the cache is rated a 4 because it doesn't *require* specialized equipment. The easiest route to the area will be over the back of a ridge and down the other side onto the top of some large rock formations. There are many small trails leading down/around through the rocks. I am NOT a rock climber; however, due to a good many leaves and pine needles which is making some places a little tricky, I stopped by the local outdoor store to talk to them. I told them what I was doing and where I was doing it, explained I was not a climber and didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on gear, but wanted to be safe in what I was doing. They recommended a rope and told me how to use it properly without any harness or hardware. I am going to follow their recommendations for my own safety, even though it would be *possible* without doing so. Should I go ahead and consider this as *requiring* specialized equipment lest some bonehead go out and scramble to his death? I am leaning towards this as I think it is better to rate a cache on the higher side if there is any question. Just wanted to get some other opinions. ------------------ Greg N39°54.705' W077°33.137' My geocaching page [This message has been edited by gnbrotz (edited 16 October 2001).]

I used to prefer mapquest until I found mapsonus.com Talk about KOOL!!! nice maps, better searches PLUS you can set it to show LONG/LAT 'on click'