Gps/geocaching In The Media

[geomayvin]

I've seen the use of a GPS unit in CSI before - not necessarily geocaching, but at least bringing an awareness to their use. Can anyone think of other examples where GPS is featured in a movie, TV show, or commercial?

[+Tsmola]

there was an episode of Law and Order in which part of the storyline was geocaching, but it was kind of inaccurate, in the episode they had the caches actually buried in the middle of the desert! As if some micros weren't already hard enough!

[+bluegillfisherman]

Oops..wrong thread...

Edited February 3, 2006 by bluegillfisherman

[+The Spot Crew]

Have you heard of the GPS Movie?

GPS The Movie

 

First heard about this on the PodCacher Podcast:

PodCacher

 

A great podcast show about Geocaching!

[geomayvin]

I thought of another movie with GPS - the beginning of National Treasure. Nicholas Cage is using a GPS to find the Charlotte ship under the ice.

[saraorchid]

X-files has a gps being used too. It's when Mulder is in Antarctica (sp?) and he's searching for Scully or whatever else. He's driving some big ice tank-thing. It's an older model gps though, of course.

[+Airmapper]

Back before I was a cacher I think I seen them using one on Stargate SG-1. They were in a jungle in Central America looking for ruins.

[geomayvin]

Have you heard of the GPS Movie?

 

First heard about this on the PodCacher Podcast:

PodCacher

 

A great podcast show about Geocaching!

 

I actually came across this site the other day. I don't know much except what's on their website. Anyone know if this is available to buy? I think it's cool that there's a movie that actually deals with geocaching as a story point and not just showing a GPS being used.

[+Riverchaser]

Hate to be the spoilsport here but a geocaching movie could be the worst thing to ever happen to the activity. All too often (following movies that profile specific activities) misguided, uninformed or uninitiated people make haste to get involved. That can lead to lots of newbies running around the countryside ignoring rules and proper protocol. If the sport gets spotlighted due to an increase in complaints from the general, nonparticipating public to local officials then more ordinances, restrictions and regulatory laws will follow. The number of active cachers in any area tend to put them in a sub-minority catagory. In our area we probably constitute somewhere less than .0002% of the local population of over a million people. Who do you think the local politicians will side with if caching becomes a political issue. My personal hope is that the movie goes straight to DVD and stays under the general public's radar. I hate to be so negative but I've been around long enough to have seen similar problems in other activities I have been involved in. By all means, introduce geocaching to everyone you know and others you feel are trustworthy but be extremely wary of making it known to the masses.

[CacheNCarryMA]

All too often (following movies that profile specific activities) misguided, uninformed or uninitiated people make haste to get involved.

 

Yeah, look what happened after "Saturday Night Fever" hit the theaters!

[geomayvin]

I saw a Duracell commercial last night that spotlighted a nice Garmin GPS similar to what I have. I'm not sure the point of the commercial since they were in some rainforest with some sort of tribal people, but I still thought the GPS highlight was a nice spin for a battery commercial.

[+CarolynCache n' GeoJack]

I saw a Duracell commercial last night that spotlighted a nice Garmin GPS similar to what I have. I'm not sure the point of the commercial since they were in some rainforest with some sort of tribal people, but I still thought the GPS highlight was a nice spin for a battery commercial.

 

I think I saw the same commercial and my thought was what kind of reading can they get through the jungle canopy. I have a hard time here with the trees in the Northwest

[Lt32]

Seen an Air Force recruitment commercial of some kids snow boarding that get off the trail. One pulls out a GPSr and says "This way" and leads them out. Then cuts to a bomber pilot, who is supposed to be the same kid later on, navigating to a bomb site. Then it goes on about having the right stuff....

Edited March 8, 2006 by Lt32

[+otterbob]

Saw an article in the local paper Saturday about Geocaching. Kind of funny seems how i just got into it last week. Wish i would had got into it 3 years ago when i bought my first GPS. I never figured there was a following around my area.

[+ranger-rob]

Hate to be the spoilsport here but a geocaching movie could be the worst thing to ever happen to the activity... <snip>

 

I agree. The very worst thing (short of all of the sats getting ko'ed) that could happen would be Hollywood getting their mittengrabbers on this. The craze following the movie would surely get the government and LEO's even involved because, inevitably, someone would do something stupid and blame it on Geocaching [1]. And just imagine the potential plot lines, international terroism, drug dealing, kidnapping, and anything else with a track record for selling bazillions of movie tickets. Although, the merchandising end could be entertaining, the official "Geocaching the Movie" cache box, official "Geocaching the Movie" trail mix, ... back pack, water bottle, hiking pants, hiking staff, car seat cover, first aid kit, spare tire cover, infant onsie, breakfast cereal, GPS holster, etc, etc, etc.

 

 

 

[1] much like violence in video games gets blamed for a slew of things and skateboarding has been all but banned in some places

Edited March 13, 2006 by ranger-rob

[Jeepers4340]

There is a geocache in the Phoenix area that was created just for the purpose of media exposure.. check out this link:

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...91-8ed9dd23ca9e

[Lost in confusion]

heard one yesterday while I was in the garage for REI. It asked if your idea of hide and seek invoved a Gps, I had to laugh when i heard that.

[+frelancr]

there was an episode of Law and Order in which part of the storyline was geocaching, but it was kind of inaccurate, in the episode they had the caches actually buried in the middle of the desert! As if some micros weren't already hard enough!

 

Just to be precise, it was an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (they're downstairs at the pier) and not "Law & Order" the mothership , they're upstairs at the pier....

 

it was episode #87 "The Unblinking Eye" and aired 5-8-05

 

(gotta love Google)

 

M

[+style70]

I saw a show on TLC or travel channel, topic of show was top 10 places to find treasure in the US, and listed Geocaching as 4 or 5, showed a couple caching in the Northwest and followed them to cache and they got a couple plane tickets as the FTF prize. the most in depth iv seen actually explaining it and showing it. in cluding the history of caching.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

there was an episode of Law and Order in which part of the storyline was geocaching, but it was kind of inaccurate, in the episode they had the caches actually buried in the middle of the desert! As if some micros weren't already hard enough!

 

I believe that the show which you are referencing was an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, which aired in May 2005. The storyline showed a young woman hunting a cache in a forested area supposedly located in a state park in the lower Hudson Valley of New York State, just north of New York City, and so it was not a desert setting. I suspect your memory of a show depicting caches buried in a desert setting may have come from a recent adventure or horror movie, but for the life of me, I cannot remember the name of the movie. By the way, the depiction of geocaching on the aforementioned May 2005 episode of the TV show was somewhat stilted:

 

First, the young woman is shown seeking a buried cache and digging with a trowel or small shovel to retrieve it. In reality, buried caches are technically illegal; there are only a handful of buried geocaches listed on geoaching.com and located in the USA, and even those few buried caches of which I am aware are buried in such a way that the lid of the container is exposed, thus requiring no digging.

 

Second, in the latter parts of the episode, the detective played by Vincent D'onfrio is shown holding the GPSr upside down.

[The_Brownies]

CBS Evening News did a story Monday on Geocaching. Now everyone's going to want to do it.

[ninorth]

I saw a show on TLC or travel channel, topic of show was top 10 places to find treasure in the US, and listed Geocaching as 4 or 5, showed a couple caching in the Northwest and followed them to cache and they got a couple plane tickets as the FTF prize. the most in depth iv seen actually explaining it and showing it. in cluding the history of caching.

 

That show is how I found out about geocaching about 3 years ago.

[+icefall5]

CBS Evening News did a story Monday on Geocaching. Now everyone's going to want to do it.

Do you have a link?

[+JSWilson64]

Have you heard of the GPS Movie?

GPS The Movie

 

That looks AWFUL! Blair Witch meets Geocaching. Maybe it'll go straight-to-DVD so we won't have to deal with so much bad press...

[+GryphonLord]

Sunday Morning had a segment on geocaching. That's how I discovered it.

[+Lone Duck]

Have you heard of the GPS Movie?

GPS The Movie

 

Say it ain't so!

[+icefall5]

Ok!

It ain't so!

Doesn't look that good. Blech. The only good part about it is the contest they're doing, and even that's screwed up. The sign-ups are nowhere to be found, even the page marked "Sign-ups"!

Edited May 7, 2006 by icefall5

[+greyhounder]

There's a meteorologist at a local news station who recently started geocaching (after his station did a great story on it!) He hides a cache monthly (not on gc.com, only through the station website) and talks about geocaching almost every night.

 

Bec

[+OHMIKY]

Hate to be the spoilsport here but a geocaching movie could be the worst thing to ever happen to the activity. All too often (following movies that profile specific activities) misguided, uninformed or uninitiated people make haste to get involved. That can lead to lots of newbies running around the countryside ignoring rules and proper protocol. If the sport gets spotlighted due to an increase in complaints from the general, nonparticipating public to local officials then more ordinances, restrictions and regulatory laws will follow. The number of active cachers in any area tend to put them in a sub-minority catagory. In our area we probably constitute somewhere less than .0002% of the local population of over a million people. Who do you think the local politicians will side with if caching becomes a political issue. My personal hope is that the movie goes straight to DVD and stays under the general public's radar. I hate to be so negative but I've been around long enough to have seen similar problems in other activities I have been involved in. By all means, introduce geocaching to everyone you know and others you feel are trustworthy but be extremely wary of making it known to the masses.

 

 

no wonder there are so many gay cowboys around these days

[+Team LaLonde]

There's a commercial on the Travel Channel for Montana tourism (I think) that shows people using GPS units to explore the countryside and mountains. They don't come right out and mention geocaching, but they show a person looking at a GPSr and then a target zooms in on a mountainside. The first time I saw it I instantly thought of geocaching.

[+Hockeyhick]

Check these out!

 

http://www.talesfromthesurface.com/Talegate.htm

 

These are done by Tales (Ron) and his family.

 

If there ever was a great PSA, the one labled "Priceless" is IT!

[+eagsc7]

Reading all the posts, and I might have most of you beat.

 

I was working in Tucson, AZ a couple weeks ago, and turned on the late night news after a afternoon of caching... What comes on, but this story....

 

http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b46/sme0...CacheStory1.flv

http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b46/sme0...nt=MVI_8080.flv

 

The PW to view is geocaching.

 

And yes, that is some great ameture videography... I had the tripod out and digitalized the story. Ohh yeah, I did e-mail the station to see of they would webcast the video, but have heard no reply as of yet. so for the note...*NOTE: This is a video of a Brodcast TV Newscast. The story was done by the Tucson, AZ affiliate of CBS. *

 

Thanks

The Steaks

[+sillygirl & jrr]

never mind

Edited June 30, 2006 by sillygirl & jrr

[+bobbyfrass]

I just checked out that GPS movie trailer....major cheese. I can't see that doing very well. I don't think anyone has to worry about that thing bringing the geo-world down.

[+imfrog2002]

http://kutv.com/local/local_story_175220807.html theres a whole bunch in SLC but that is the biggest one

[flyingandys]

There are tons of examples on Garmin's blog -- www.garmin.blogs.com

[+NatureGuy360]

I was thinking of taking a vacation in Missouri and came across a short article in the Branson Vacation Guide about Geocaching. Also here recently a friend of mine sent me a full three page article from a Tampa news paper called "Cache Me If You Can." Very interesting reading! Especially of the Geocachers standing in front of a security camera in the "phoon" position to meet the requirements of a geocache find.