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Not wishing to sound negative, but these days that's not as easy as it looks. Some years back, a large multinational media company bought up all the regional newspapers in Australia and, under the pretext of COVID, shut down the print editions and put the online editions behind their national newspaper's paywall. Notwithstanding, though, there have been occasional radio segments about geocaching, both on the local radio stations and the state-wide broadcaster, and I think at one time a presenter on one of the local stations was actually a geocacher. We also had a mega nearby in 2018 that got a lot of local publicity and I'm pretty sure Geocaching NSW ran a series of newcomer-welcoming events in recent times. As far as I can tell, though, this type of publicity has a pretty low success rate, with most of the longer-term cachers around here coming into the game by either knowing an existing cacher or discovering it through their own browsings. I saw it in an article in an outdoor adventure magazine, though I'd heard of it prior to that but hadn't paid it much attention, but it was only by actually going out into the bush on my own terms and finding some caches that I really got hooked. Just reading about it, listening to a talk or even watching a demonstration won't do that. I don't know what the number of cachers as a percentage of population is nationally but I'd imagine it'd be pretty low, probably about one in ten thousand. The muggle population of my local area (the Woy Woy Peninsula) is about 36,000 and the whole of the Central Coast is about ten times that, so our number of cachers probably isn't that low as a percentage, it's just we don't have very many people to start with. I think the bigger problem we have here is that the focus of the game has shifted from outdoor adventure to quick points-scoring. The newer P&G caches around here don't seem to have any shortage of finders, like GX8P7PD at Terrigal that was published in April and has 23 finders, or GC92TXE at Mooney Mooney that was published in February and has 21 finds. Top of the list on the Central Coast is the Adventure Lab bonus cache GC9M49Z that was published in January and has 35 finds. It's the bushland hides that are really languishing, like GC9QR5W that's only had one finder (me) since it was published in April, yet I really think it's the non-P&G hides that keep people in the game long-term. For me at any rate, if the only caches available in 2013 had been mint tins in parking lot guard rails, I'd have lost interest in a matter of weeks.

Well, well, well Pika Cacher. How does it feel to get your arse handed to you? Heheheheh oh God stop, I can't laugh anymore or my sides are going to bust. Going into Monday night football you had me by 14 points, then the Tampa Bay DEFENSE came out onto the field to "collect rent". (One of Warren Sapp's quotes, I love that guy). Getting beat sucks, but getting beat by 3 measlie points really really sucks and on top of that, you would have killed anyone else in our league had you played them instead. Oh the horror, hehehehehehe. Okay, I'll wind down a bit. But when I beat someone, I rub it in till it leaves a stain. Because, after all, this is football. Cheesehead, your next.

Your town has caches owned by several different folks that are at least logging into the website in the last few weeks and granted 200ish caches within 30 miles is not a large amount I bet the number of folks that feel similarly are higher than you'd guess. My point is business as usual is not going to change things so try something different, all we hear is doom and gloom. From old GS blog: "`But there might be one you own that most local geocachers have already found and the location is not frequented by tourists. It could be time to archive it and free up the area, or you might consider creating a new and improved cache!" As I recall this blog post was not well received here, but I agree with it. Talk to the local hiders. Try something new something different. Encourage your unknown neighbors to hide new caches. Not everyone goes to events so they may be out there. Take that rusty tin with mushy log and throw it away and replace it with a shiny new cache. I had a local cacher approach me if I wanted to join their competition to find lonely caches as I had recently found 2, do something with hides maybe. Click on any new finders and see if they are local and encourage them to join. Just trying to help

Why do some people drive 10 mph under the speed limit in the left lane? Why do some people sit directly behind you in an almost empty movie theater, then talk throughout the movie? It's because they're jerks, and they're doing it because they can. If they get a reaction from you, it's all the better for them. Sadly, there's not much you can do about them - jerks will always find a way to be a jerk.

I can't get my sportrak pro and my computer to talk. i know it has to be something simple but it evades me. My etrex venture works with the computer just fine.

I have seen several references in non-caching related sites that indicate that my Garmin eTrex should be able to communicate with my Sony Clie Palm device. Does anyone know if this is in fact the case, and if it is, how, and what cables would be required? Thanks

OK I have slid down mud hills, fallen into water, had huge honkin spiders run across my arm and up my leg but nothing as gross as today. It was a beautiful day, the first real Spring like day we have had so I thought I would got caching since the wife was out of town with most of the kids. Also I wanted to break the 200 mark which I did. I decided to start off with the three Charlie Trail Duster caches and one Slinger cache out west I hadn't found. The first one I did was the Wilkesboro cache. I parked my car and since I had previously done CTD's Manning Cache I knew right where this was hiding when I saw where my GPS was pointing. I walked over and sure enough there was the "sign" under the tree cover. I started to reach down for the cache and as I did I noticed about six feet away there were three blue paper towels like a garage mechanic might use. It didn't take me long to figure out that someone couldn't wait and decided to use this tree cover as their own personal port-a-potty. I started to look for the pile and found it right away. Yep, it was only 3 feet from the buried cache and right under my left tennis shoe flattened out and squished all over. I'm sorry CTD but I didn't have a shovel or anything to remove it. I did well just to get the stuff off my shoe. After climbing back into my car I had to laugh as I realized that someone had given new meaning to "logging a cache". If you try this one soon, watch out. KTF !!! GBWY !!!

i'm on my 2nd garmin V with no end in site to my frustrations. After an initial download from CitySelect at a respectable 110 rate loading the full 19 megs in 45 minutes...the next download provides the error message...that "no gps is attached. Shut the gps on an off...shut the computer on and off, replace the cable...try another PC... but no luck. In the vehicle.. the unit works fine...my first Garmin V worked fine...however my first unit was sent back 3x before they replaced..the replacement has had the core module replaced once...but now it too has been "bewitched". Can anyone out there think of any ideas.. Garmin and i are at wits end...... Thanks, Bill

I'm tired of getting little seeds and stickers stuck to my shoelaces. Has anyone found any shoelaces that are resistant to picking up these stickers? I'd like to replace my laces for the times I forget to bring my gaiters.

Twice now someone's mentioned "OMG, you came down *that* in sneakers? So I'm convinced that I need to get some shoes... Not boots, shoes... I'm looking at REI now and see some spiffy cheapo shoes... Cool Shoes Do they really make a difference? Contents Under Pressure...

What kind of tires do you use on your cachemobile?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1870855878 It would be a good way to get an ammo can...dont think I would go this route though.

It's only "lost" if you don't provide it - that's what the description is for. You can't get the whole grasp of a cache's difficulty and terrain from the D/T rating only, but it's a good place to start. The cache description is a good place to talk about the specifics of the rating, and how it applies to your particular cache. Add necessary attributes (boat/watercraft required, etc) and someone looking at the whole of the cache page can get a good idea of what's in store when they go after your cache.

I have only owned my Venture for about a week, and I have been trying to download updates from Garmin and also use EasyGPS. Neither application can recognize my GPS! I get the error with EasyGPS: Msg: GetPacketOrTimeoutNoAck - timeout!-#22 Msg: GPSBeginTransaction - bad send packet-#22 Msg: No data was received from the GPS! (Error #22) I have the interface set to Garmin, new batteries, and the power on. I'm using the serial cable that came with it. I have windows 2000 professional. Any help or advice would be great!! lisa4pride

It's because the Wherigo Foundation site is an alternate listing service. It was supposed to demonstrate to Groundspeak what we were intending to do with Wherigo so we could run Wherigo for Groundspeak, free of charge for everyone involved. The other Wherigo player apps and builders are on Groundspeak's ban list because of the same reason: they're an alternate to something else--their PocketPC app and their builder, respectively. Though I worked to get community work officially recognized, those at the top of Groundspeak never communicated any of their verbal support to those enforcing Groundspeak's guidelines. Throughout Wherigo's lifetime, regardless of individual intentions at the company, Groundspeak's apparent attitude has always felt one of apathy and passive hostility towards anyone attempting to make their product more accessible to the community. I coined the term "the Wherigo Foundation is Fight Club". They've always told their reviewers not to allow any mention of the Wherigo Foundation or other non-Groundspeak Wherigo applications in cache listings. It's just that the reviewers aren't consistent with each other that caches in some areas were published and others not. Part of the partnership agreement I was reviewing did state that, if the Wherigo Foundation site were to be discontinued, all cartridge files would be provided to Groundspeak for dispersal to community members. I was planning to do that, anyway, so that was fine. There was one other clause I haven't before talked openly about. Suffice it to say, the way I interpreted it, if I ever walked away from Wherigo and did not transition its running to others, the entire game would come to an end. I did not like that Wherigo would then seem to rely on one person's continued health, existence, and interest. The partnership agreement never panned out because Groundspeak took too long in replying, which further showed their apathy (I'd say nine months, several times, classifies as too long, regardless of how patient you are--while waiting for one such reply, I had a house built and moved into it). An odd quirk to all this is this Wherigo forum. Why can we openly talk about these applications? The answer is a combination of me and Groundspeak's apathy. Back when matejcik and charlenni first presented their applications, the forum rule was that moderators needed to clear through Groundspeak talk of new applications. So, as the moderator, I hid the threads and sought approval. Groundspeak did not reply for a month, so I unhid the thread. When that second application was announced, I hid the thread again and asked Groundspeak. I again didn't hear a reply and unhid the thread. Later, I did get a reply, saying it was fine and that there wasn't anyone at Groundspeak who could speak for authorizing these, so that's why it took so long. I asked, then, for something no other moderator has: the authority to make these decisions on my own. It was granted. Ever since then, so long as something wasn't commercial, I allowed it. Now, mind you, Groundspeak's employees have definitely changed since then, so no one there remembers that this responsibility was delegated, so would likely take it away. Another odd footnote is Wherigo\\kit. I am able to use Groundspeak's API for authentication, which does require approval and a review. More recently, when I had to submit an updated overview of this application, I was asked by someone at Groundspeak if I wanted Kit to appear in the list of official Groundspeak partners. I guffawed, pointing out that Groundspeak's reviewers do not allow caches to be published if they mention Kit, the Wherigo Foundation, or any other application, so listing Kit as an official Groundspeak partner would thoroughly confuse the situation, so Groundspeak should really consider its stance on the matter. This was about two years ago. Finally, something that irritates me. Groundspeak allows cachers to mention GSAK and Project GC in their cache listings. Both are commercial applications--GSAK was up until recently and Project GC pushes a subscription model. Groundspeak also allows mention of other commercial applications in cache listings. But, yet, when it comes to everything the community has done to help Groundspeak with Wherigo--and everything we have has always been free, with the individual developer shouldering 100% of the continued cost--Groundspeak has this as their official position. And, believe me, there are ongoing costs. I average about $200/month for hosting, storage, SSL/TLS license, and domain registrations between Kit, the Wherigo Foundation site, DevOps/TFS, and the staging areas I use when publishing. I could decrease the cost by doing a shared hosting plan, I suppose. I suppose I could have still continued to create things. But there comes a time when one needs a solid support group to provide feedback and motivation. I don't have that. And you'd figure people in my own area would be really supportive of my endeavors, be it Wherigo or having found almost 95K caches. They're not. There's a distinct anti-Wherigo feeling in my area. There have been some that would like it if I quit geocaching altogether. So, no support there. One can continue only so long against the flow and apathy before exhausting oneself. So, later, my job became the beneficiary of some of my free time. I worked uncompensated overtime 300 hours last year and 400 hours this year (and no time off). You'd think they'd be grateful, but instead I get managers telling me they're not asking me to work extra hours and they're apathetic about all the things I'm doing to fix their aging application single-handedly. No encouragement, no support, no appreciation from there. Sigh. So, anyway, that's my view on the matter. There are always other sides to it, though I've tried to be neutral.

Let me put it to you very simply. Yes, if you waved the American Flag and posted an exhortation on your cache page to vote for this guy or that guy, or call your Congressman about this issue or that, or even posted a picture of the UNofficial POW/MIA flag, then THIS American and most likely every other on the site who 'gets' what we're doing here would complain about you. This is my HOBBY. This is not my CAUSE. There isn't ANY other space on the internet where I can talk about how pretty my wife's garden is without being subjected to political rancor from all sides and accosted by commercial noise looking to separate me from my money. This is my HOBBY. NO agendas, meaning no CAUSES. Your cache pages should be about what you hid and where you hid it. Creativity and distraction, subterfuge and humor, brain-teasers and plain-text "GO FIND" descriptions are all great and welcome, but DO NOT try to convince me of anything, here in my HOBBY. ------------------ Even seemingly innocuous stuff like a cache page dedicated to collecting money to rebuild a school, or establish a foundation, or send a kid to camp has downsides. Everybody who went to that school would start posting about how bad it was or how great it was instead of what we SHOULD be reading here, and people would complain about the Foundation and the people of this or that persuasion who would inappropriately benefit, or the MYRIAD of complaints I've read about inner-city kids and camps, and suddenly we're a Social Media site. Then, there'll be the claims of bias because THAT Foundation gets a cache page and MINE doesn't, and if it's successful at collecting money, they EVERYBODY who likes money would go through the minimal bother of getting a Cache Page approved, and we're a opportunistic fund-raising site. Then, there's the inevitable physical backlash against your cache by morons who don't believe in YOUR agenda, or worse, by ones who DO! So, keep your opinions and your causes to yourself,....HERE. GS bites back on this rule fiercely (I hope ...still) because it's such a slippery slope. The description of my second cache was rejected because I used the word 'CHEVY', as in, "I was riding in my Chevy". "Commercial tie-in", I was told. I didn't really grok it then, but I do now. It makes NO difference to me whether or not I agree with you and your agenda; take it somewhere else. This...is...a...refuge. There are so many aspects of this thing of ours that are uncharacteristic of the 'internet', that we need to protect it vigorously. I'm out in the woods having a good time, and I don't want to have to weed through everybody's carp when I'm battling mosquitos. </Rant>

Our Prague Giga trip we talk about playing AL and how those could be shown in app. Now creator can select AL start location and it could be miles away where is actual visit loacations. This should be change to sequential AL. If LAB creator select sequential order then lab location should be in main map latest unvisited location. It would be helpful to all players. Also in non-sequential LAB start point should show in middle point of unvisited locations. In progress LABs should view in map different color dot. Now all is viewed in green and then you need open filter to find "in progress" labs.

A couple of weeks ago, I had started a webpage on yahoo called MonterreyGPS to get the sport off the ground in Northern Mexico. I did not know about the website "geocaches.com" at all, but I had heard about the game itself on the news. I was very interested in participating. I actually created a cache point near where I live and published the coordinates on this page- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/monterreygps/ . I adivised interested participants to get a topo of the area, a compass and a GPS. While I was surfing the net, I came upon a GPS online store and entered one of the forums. I finally learned about the game and how big it is all over the world. I really was exited but what really blew my mind is that of all the caches in Mexico there was only one in Northern Mexico, and this cache was only 3.4 mile from my house. I just jumped on my mountain bike and found the cache within 30 minutes. It really was a great find. The thing that really made me happy is that the cache was placed by a highschool kid who lives in Houston, Tx and comes to visit his grandmother in the summer here in Mexico. The cache had been placed a couple of weeks ago, and I would bet that he didn't expect for someone in this little town to ever find the cache. I got an e-mail from him and he was very exited to know that someone had actually found his cache (GC6041). I will now create my own caches in this area and hope to get more people in Northern Mexico involved.

A couple of weeks ago, I had started a webpage on yahoo called MonterreyGPS to get the sport off the ground in Northern Mexico. I did not know about the website "geocaches.com" at all, but I had heard about the game itself on the news. I was very interested in participating. I actually created a cache point near where I live and published the coordinates on this page- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/monterreygps/ . I adivised interested participants to get a topo of the area, a compass and a GPS. While I was surfing the net, I came upon a GPS online store and entered one of the forums. I finally learned about the game and how big it is all over the world. I really was exited but what really blew my mind is that of all the caches in Mexico there was only one in Northern Mexico, and this cache was only 3.4 mile from my house. I just jumped on my mountain bike and found the cache within 30 minutes. It really was a great find. The thing that really made me happy is that the cache was placed by a highschool kid who lives in Houston, Tx and comes to visit his grandmother in the summer here in Mexico. The cache had been placed a couple of weeks ago, and I would bet that he didn't expect for someone in this little town to ever find the cache. I got an e-mail from him and he was very exited to know that someone had actually found his cache (GC6041). I will now create my own caches in this area and hope to get more people in Northern Mexico involved.

Or just Rino to Rino? That would be sweet since alot of people have motorola's already.

One of the motto's we ascribe to is 'Cache in, Trash out". I've been slack about collecting garbage on the trail. I am setting a goal for myself to meet. I intend to collect a minimum of 3 lbs on each outing. Picking up garbage is not exactly what drives me to the great outdoors but it certainly will make it more enjoyable if more of us make an effort. I'm planting seeds here. I intend to meet my own commitment no matter what the response to this question is. So what are the rest of you doing to "Cache in, Trash out"? KernBob

The Car Talk show to be broadcast on the weekend of August 18, 2001, will have a mention of geocaching. No real detail or interview or anything, but I made sure to mention basically what it is, and I spelled "geocaching" and pointed them to Geocaching.com. It's the first clip in the "third half" of the show, and you'll be able to listen online at the site the following week. (Oh, and they recommended Michelin tires for me.)

I wouldn't consider travelling anywhere at present, unless it was for an important reason, such as medical. Europe is having a surge in Covid. Fine to talk about future trips in years to come, but to talk about a trip this year appears to be living in an alternative universe, where there is no Covid. As for myself, I don't know when I will be able to travel overseas next (our borders are closed); maybe not even next year, unless the few remaining Covid caches in Australia (I think about 15 new cases today) can be eradicated and we can make a bubble with NZ and perhaps some Pacific Islands. Even some state borders are closed to cross border visits. My last new country was PNG in February.

Is there any LACKEY here who is able to say something to the problem? We can talk all day but only Groundspeak staff can do something about it - or say that they don't care what problems we have and that having emojis as first sign is more important than the conviniece of GARMIN users. @Moun10Bike or others, can you contribute something or give this suggestion to your technicians if you agree? Jochen

"Desaster Memorials" seems to fit best - even if there are three different desasters. I would talk to bluesnote on this topic - he is officer in the category and helped me with a memorial half a year ago. "Graves of the Unknown" might be a bit tricky as it is a mass grave and the description states that they want unknown individuals. "Graves Mentioning a Cause of Death" came also to my mind, but might also be a bit tricky, because they want to have the names of the ones buried (see WM14TJK as an example). Perhaps Keith as an officer of that category might offer an insight on that.