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Poll: How Many Geocachers Have Laptops For Field Use?


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I would be all for the Thumbdrive TB, as long as it makes it's way here :lol:

 

And as for the PC vs Mac thing....

 

Well I'm a PC man myself, howver where I work we use macs for everything. I don't ever believe the "They don't lock up story" I swear I've had those Mac's quite/crash/lock-up on me more than I've ever had my PC do.

 

As for viruses... the only reason Mac's don't get as many as PC's is the fact that they are designed for large scale. Design a virus for macs and you get a smaller percentage of people vs. PC's

 

And yes... my PC decision does rely heavily on gaming. It's what I do, and with consoles... they upgrade their games.... you have to buy their new console. Computer games upgrade... download the updated software or buy just a new video card... easier and cheaper.

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Just to touch on computer gaming vs. consoles. Before the X-Box there was nothing that could touch the PC in terms of gaming. X-Box 360 is about as advanced as a console has ever been and it's designed to use its power for gaming. However, the X-Box 360 will be surpassed by PC technology before its next iteration is available. PC games are more in-depth and advanced than console games, always have been. It's unfortunate that many game developers are catering to the X-Box first and the PC second. What happens is they develop a game for the X-Box and then port it to the PC. You get a dumbed-down interface and often times a lesser game than what it would've been on the PC alone. If it weren't for the X-Box 360 consoles would be lagging severely behind PC technology.

 

There's so much more happening on the PC. More programming and development. It's no wonder there are also more viruses. We all know Windows XP has more holes than swiss cheese, but keep in mind if the roles were reversed and Apple was used as much as the PC they would have similar problems. People just aren't interested in the Apple for everyday use (internet, chat, web, business/productivity) or gaming. It's a great machine and the designs Apple have put out are so elegant, but these systems only appeal to hardcore Apple geeks and graphics design professionals. The market just isn't there like it is for the PC. Remember when Bill Gates had to bail out Apple to keep it alive?

 

I've been going through the whole Apple vs. PC debate for at least 20 years now. Apple II vs. IBM PC. Remember when PC's were called IBM compatibles? It's an argument that will never end until one or the other is defunct. Even then people will wax nostalgic for their favorite. The PC has a greater following because it's an extremely versatile machine and has a versatile operating system. It always has. People have been pushing the limits of the PC since the early days of DOS. Everyday people that want to be creative and make their computers do something they never thought possible. One only has to look at Sourceforge to see how far we've come with the PC. You can argue about simplicity of the OS or less viruses, but it all boils down to what you like and what you need.

 

I need a PC because it is constantly evolving in every aspect. Software, hardware, OS. If Apple were to surpass the PC or equal its capabilities and following I might make the switch. Right now I just think Apples are overrated and overpriced, albeit well-designed and thought out. I have nothing against Apple at all. I think they're beautiful machines. I just don't want left out in the cold when it comes to software development and the uses I can get out of my computer system. The PC is the obvious choice.

 

As for using memory sticks, it's bound to become a staple for caches. 10 years ago computers weren't in practically every household in the US. 15 years ago you'd have been hard-pressed to find a few people on your street that owned a computer. Now look at how the technology has progressed... thanks to the PC, Microsoft and the internet.

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People just aren't interested in the Apple for everyday use (internet, chat, web, business/productivity) or gaming. It's a great machine and the designs Apple have put out are so elegant, but these systems only appeal to hardcore Apple geeks and graphics design professionals. The market just isn't there like it is for the PC. Remember when Bill Gates had to bail out Apple to keep it alive?

 

bzzt...thanks for playing that sad old tired tune....at the time, Apple had $3B cash and was in litigation with MS because it seemed a chunk of Apple code was found in some MS stuff...they bought $150M of non-voting stock & had to promise to keep developing Office for 5 years....they also made a bundle when they sold the stock...

 

hardly a bail out to keep them 'alive'...please do a bit of research...Google is your friend

 

also, according to the latest quarterly report, almost 50% of sales in Apple stores were to switchers....I guess those people are all graphics people? more likely people who just need their machines to work, and not spend their time futzing with the registry

 

you also forgot to include video/film editors, audio professionals, and IT geeks that love the UNIX underpinnings....and lack of swiss cheese holes

 

thanks to the PC, Microsoft and the internet.

 

you forget that without Apple, there would be no Microsoft....and without the Mac OS, there would be no Windows...who would they copy?

 

we can go around this stump forever....a computer is simply a tool for getting a job done...I made a comment based on people's fear to putting a 'unknown' USB drive in their machine, Mac users do not have this fear because of the inherent security of OSX (silly things like NOT being able to run at root without a password, an alert before running an execute for the first time, not having an intergrated Explorer)...

 

[rant]

oh yeah, and I generally run around with a bit of a chip because of the fight with GPSr manufacturers making windows-only software....kinda like going to a website that says you HAVE to use IE....when Safari, Opera, Firefox & Camino are all better browsers and MORE standards compliant to IE...some dweeb just decided to put a tag in there looking for the browser type...usually all I have to do is change a quick pref to trick it...but it's very annoying...it would be better if the HTML coders just used accepted standards...

[/rant]

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Oh, geez. On behalf of geocachers everywhere, can we NOT do the Mac vs. PC/Apple vs. Microsoft battle here?

 

I mean, not to sound like a jerk or anything, but consoles vs. PC, which is better - mac or PC, blah, blah, blah. None of it is really pertinent to the original post or topic of the thread. It's a debate that can never be won, because at the end of the day, there IS no right answer, it all boils down to personal preference. I myself prefer PC with a Linux OS, because in MY OPINION and for my uses, it suits me better and isn't propiatary. For someone with different preferences and needs of use, my setup won't suit them. So this whole debate is just going to turn into a flame war. We might as well just start arguing which religion has it right while we're at it.

 

So. Back to the original topic.

 

I drove around last night, did some thinking, and had another idea of how to do the logging for this cache. And how to make more "geeky" for the geeky kids.

 

Instead of all the e-mailing, and all that, what I think might do it is this - Me and two of my friends will set up a seperate network at home. And by seperate, I mean:

 

Modem to hub, hub to two seperate routers, one wireless, one hardwired. (Good old RJ45) Each router will have a seperate IP, and ergo, be seperate and independant networks. The hardwired RJ45 will be our home networks. The wireless will be an open network. Just a small, basic computer with an OS (Linux, winX, whatever) and the thinking is, a cacher can go to a coord that would put them within range of one of these wireless networks. Since the wireless network is completely seperate from the other, none of us would be leaving ourselves open to attack from anyone with skills enough to move from the cache network to our home networks.

 

Anyways. Using the open wireless network, a cacher would use their laptop to access the web, and sign a bravenet guestbook that would log the IP. Then, you could match the IP to the guestbook and verify the log. A text file on the USB drive in the cache would have the coords to the hotspot, you'd then copy the text file to your HD, go to the hotspot, log the visit on the guestbook, then log the visit on GC.com. Any finds/logs made without the confirmation of IP's would just be deleted as non verified.

 

My friend was thinking too that a webcam could be set up that streams to a webpage, and that a cacher could log onto the webpage, and do a screencap of themselves and post that as proof of their visit. My thoughts are that to do that, you'd have to have the webcam in the front window of your home or something, and then you'd basically be broadcasting the location of your private residence on the web, and that wouldn't be good. (Would be ok if you lived in a large apartment high rise or something, I suppose)

 

I think that would be more geeky than just firing an e-mail from home.

 

Thoughts?

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Modem to hub, hub to two seperate routers, one wireless, one hardwired. (Good old RJ45) Each router will have a seperate IP, and ergo, be seperate and independant networks. The hardwired RJ45 will be our home networks. The wireless will be an open network. Just a small, basic computer with an OS (Linux, winX, whatever) and the thinking is, a cacher can go to a coord that would put them within range of one of these wireless networks. Since the wireless network is completely seperate from the other, none of us would be leaving ourselves open to attack from anyone with skills enough to move from the cache network to our home networks.

 

Anyways. Using the open wireless network, a cacher would use their laptop to access the web, and sign a bravenet guestbook that would log the IP. Then, you could match the IP to the guestbook and verify the log. A text file on the USB drive in the cache would have the coords to the hotspot, you'd then copy the text file to your HD, go to the hotspot, log the visit on the guestbook, then log the visit on GC.com. Any finds/logs made without the confirmation of IP's would just be deleted as non verified.

 

My friend was thinking too that a webcam could be set up that streams to a webpage, and that a cacher could log onto the webpage, and do a screencap of themselves and post that as proof of their visit. My thoughts are that to do that, you'd have to have the webcam in the front window of your home or something, and then you'd basically be broadcasting the location of your private residence on the web, and that wouldn't be good. (Would be ok if you lived in a large apartment high rise or something, I suppose)

 

I think that would be more geeky than just firing an e-mail from home.

 

Thoughts?

 

If you did the hotspot thing, you'd have to give the coords of your home as well, unless you pony up the cash to install another Internet link somewhere else. Also, most ISPs don't give multiple IP addresses; you probably will have to pony up more cash for another address, right?

 

Aaron

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If you did the hotspot thing, you'd have to give the coords of your home as well, unless you pony up the cash to install another Internet link somewhere else. Also, most ISPs don't give multiple IP addresses; you probably will have to pony up more cash for another address, right?

 

Aaron

 

No, I have 2 IP addy's with my ISP, and I'm only using 1. And as I'm sure you know, with a router, you only need 1 IP anyways, as the router lets you make as many net connections off of one IP anyways. If I use the second IP, I'll have two seperate networks with 2 seperate IP's.

 

As for having to broadcast my home address for the hotspot.. Not really. You'd be close, but exactly which house was mine would be anyones guess. Mind you, even if someone was able to figure out exactly which house was mine, I don't think I'd really be at any huge risk.

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I like the idea..... but to make it even geeker :ph34r:

 

If you set up a seperate computer (doesn't have to be fancy, even a small low end system would work) to your wireless network theres some networking tools that allow people to leave messages. "NetSend" and "WinPopup" are two that come with most computers. Netsend does not work with Windows 95/98 though... recieving wise.

 

Also doing a search there are a few free commercial software programs that you can download that set's it up specifically for recieving/sending. Most of these should be Netsend, WinPopup compatible so you don't need to purchase them in order to hunt the cache.

 

*Note: Other than Netsend I havn't tried experimenting with any of these as my network consists of 3 computers... 2 of which are right next to eachother :huh:

 

Also most only work if your connected to the same workgroup so this would have to be published on the cache page. As being with the same workgroup experienced crackers could probably do some damage I recommend not using a computer with any files you would want to keep.

 

This would be an effective log as they would have to be connected and know how to send a message. Adding to the "Geekiness"

Edited by Nuttycomputer
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Anyways. Using the open wireless network, a cacher would use their laptop to access the web, and sign a bravenet guestbook that would log the IP. Then, you could match the IP to the guestbook and verify the log. A text file on the USB drive in the cache would have the coords to the hotspot, you'd then copy the text file to your HD, go to the hotspot, log the visit on the guestbook, then log the visit on GC.com. Any finds/logs made without the confirmation of IP's would just be deleted as non verified.

 

My friend was thinking too that a webcam could be set up that streams to a webpage, and that a cacher could log onto the webpage, and do a screencap of themselves and post that as proof of their visit. My thoughts are that to do that, you'd have to have the webcam in the front window of your home or something, and then you'd basically be broadcasting the location of your private residence on the web, and that wouldn't be good. (Would be ok if you lived in a large apartment high rise or something, I suppose)

 

I think that would be more geeky than just firing an e-mail from home.

 

Thoughts?

 

how about locking down the wifi with a WAP or even ASCII password, which is on the thumb drive?

 

and you don't need to have a webcam out the front window, either, you could get a wifi cam & stick it in a tree...create a page that only takes a pic when called for (& therefore not sending out pics of an empty street & using up bandwidth)

 

how about for the web log, make it only a local 'intranet' page so that only people in the WiFi LAN can access it & post the find.....keep you from having to check IP logs...

 

cool & geeky & wish it is going to be near me

 

M

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I've just recently converted from PDA to laptop in my car. Loving it so far, and trying it out this week on a geovacation.

 

But, sorry, I wouldn't search for your cache. I don't have any way of knowing what's on that thumb drive.

 

Odd, I've actually made it my goal to move FROM the laptop TO the PDA! So much lighter and easier to carry around! Not to mention TomTom on my iPaq is my best friend in the car. :ph34r: It Really beats out Street Atlas USA and MS Streets & Trips for on-road navigation.

 

Anyway, back to the topic at hand - I'd much rather find an SD card in a cache than a thumb drive, because my PDA can read SD cards. If I knew ahead of time that I'd need a laptop, it wouldn't be a problem to bring it along... but there's no way I'm lugging it far away from the car. Too heavy, and too much risk of damage.

 

As far as the virus threat, everyone knows if you take a 3 foot long USB extension cable and use it to plug a thumb drive into your PC, the drive never gets close enough to your laptop to pass along any viruses. Just make sure the thumb drive and the laptop never come into contact with each other. And after you disconnect, use rubbing alcohol to wipe off the end of the cable the thumb drive was on. No risk of infection at all! :huh:

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I'm working on a rather unique geocache idea that would require use of a laptop computer. To get an idea of practicality, I'm asking how many geocachers own laptops that they can take with them and use while out hunting?

 

Thanks!

What, schlep a computer into the woods so I can connect a thumb drive that contains who knows what? Ummm....no.
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What, schlep a computer into the woods so I can connect a thumb drive that contains who knows what? Ummm....no.

 

Like it was stated earlier, this cache will be aimed speciafically at people who are more computer savvy than your average gerbil. You know, the kind of people that don't epitomize every tired cliche about people who have computers that own them, rather than the other way around? Yeah, that's who this is for, not people like you that live in terror of boogymen that don't exist.

Edited by Team GeoMacs
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Poison ARP and TCP splicing. . . Hey - you wanted geeks (and presumably geekettes)!

 

I'm done with this topic. Personally, I'm fed up with doomsayers pointing out every possible way that this idea for an original geocache can be perverted for the sake of doing people harm.

 

Quite frankly, I'm amazed that anyone even geocaches, period. I mean, it's such a high risk activity that is spoiled by people running around doing their best to bring harm to the game and the people who play it. Good god, I'm amazed you're not cowering under your bed, terrified of all the bad things that MIGHT happen. How do you sleep at night?

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I'm working on a rather unique geocache idea that would require use of a laptop computer. To get an idea of practicality, I'm asking how many geocachers own laptops that they can take with them and use while out hunting?

 

Thanks!

 

I have always had a loptop in the cachemobile. Lately due to a required update I have wi-fi abilities also.

jack99

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I'm a computer network engineer so i might not really count but i have my laptop wiht me everywhere. when im geocaching the laptop is always in the car.

 

even if it wasnt always with me. if i saw in the cache page that i would need it, i would make sure to take it along. internet access is another thing because remember wifi isnt everywhere

 

No, but wireless broadband is getting there!

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Yeah,

I'm one of those idiots that will risk being blown up, being bitten by a West China Rattle Bird Flu Pneumonia infected snake, or seeing an obese person wearing a thong, but I won't risk my PC's health by putting a thumb drive into the USB port and allowing who knows what to affect my computer. Sorry, but while I like the idea, I'm out.

Cracker

 

Edited because I'm a non typing fool.

 

Simply sticking a USB drive into your machine isn't going to do anything. You *do* have autorun disabled, of course, don't you?

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I would be all for the Thumbdrive TB, as long as it makes it's way here :)

 

And as for the PC vs Mac thing....

 

Well I'm a PC man myself, howver where I work we use macs for everything. I don't ever believe the "They don't lock up story" I swear I've had those Mac's quite/crash/lock-up on me more than I've ever had my PC do.

 

As for viruses... the only reason Mac's don't get as many as PC's is the fact that they are designed for large scale. Design a virus for macs and you get a smaller percentage of people vs. PC's

 

LOL, somebody actually GETS it! If anybody out there actually bothered to USE Macs in the real world, I assure you the script kiddies would be writing malware for them.

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LOL, somebody actually GETS it! If anybody out there actually bothered to USE Macs in the real world, I assure you the script kiddies would be writing malware for them.

 

keep dreaming and crawl out of yer Dilbert cubicle...

 

there's millions of us Mac-heads out there....just waiting for the 'go' code....

 

prepare to be assimilated....

 

M

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What, schlep a computer into the woods so I can connect a thumb drive that contains who knows what? Ummm....no.

 

Like it was stated earlier, this cache will be aimed speciafically at people who are more computer savvy than your average gerbil. You know, the kind of people that don't epitomize every tired cliche about people who have computers that own them, rather than the other way around? Yeah, that's who this is for, not people like you that live in terror of boogymen that don't exist.

Dude, I ran a university computer center for years, and I now manage a high-end consulting practice. I know all about the boogeymen, and have testified against a couple of them.
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I'm working on a rather unique geocache idea that would require use of a laptop computer. To get an idea of practicality, I'm asking how many geocachers own laptops that they can take with them and use while out hunting?

 

Thanks!

 

We do. We don't take it in the woods, though. It stays in the car.

 

Additionally, even if someone had a laptop it would have to have the ability to read a thumb drive. A Win98SE needs extra drivers, etc. Logistically, there are problems. Heck, you can't even do it with a 3.5" floppy as so many computers don't have those. There is nothing I can think of off the top of my head that is common enough to go in the direction you're thinking.

 

However, have you considered a cheap PDA and beaming info? Most paperless cachers have PDAs. While I don't know about PPCs, with a Palm you can request that the finder beam his eCard to your PDA.

 

If they can't beam their eCard to the PDA you can request they manually enter it into the contacts.

 

A beat up m105 can be had for pretty cheap. Permanently glue a 2D cell holder to the back both to discourage "borrowing" and to power for several months. You answer the question of security and compatibility as you are providing the computer. Plus, you encourage folks to explore their PDA further and they learn how to beam their card.

 

Just thinking out load here. Hope this helps.

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I'm working on a rather unique geocache idea that would require use of a laptop computer. To get an idea of practicality, I'm asking how many geocachers own laptops that they can take with them and use while out hunting?

 

Thanks!

A Win98SE needs extra drivers, etc.

 

Microsoft drops all support for 98 in a month or two. So why should he be worried about supporting it? No self-respecting geek (which he's effectively said he's looking for) would be caught dead near 98/SE. The requirements for running 2k aren't effectively different than for running 98...

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I'm working on a rather unique geocache idea that would require use of a laptop computer. To get an idea of practicality, I'm asking how many geocachers own laptops that they can take with them and use while out hunting?

 

Thanks!

A Win98SE needs extra drivers, etc.

 

Microsoft drops all support for 98 in a month or two. So why should he be worried about supporting it? No self-respecting geek (which he's effectively said he's looking for) would be caught dead near 98/SE. The requirements for running 2k aren't effectively different than for running 98...

That was just one issue. There were plenty of other issues to overcome before it becomes feasible.

 

Additional issue that would worry me is what if someone accidents deletes the log or over writes everyone else's entries? I'd hate to the be the butt-head that screwed up the log or the owner that allowed 50 finders' log be lost.

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I'm working on a rather unique geocache idea that would require use of a laptop computer. To get an idea of practicality, I'm asking how many geocachers own laptops that they can take with them and use while out hunting?

 

Thanks!

A Win98SE needs extra drivers, etc.

 

Microsoft drops all support for 98 in a month or two. So why should he be worried about supporting it? No self-respecting geek (which he's effectively said he's looking for) would be caught dead near 98/SE. The requirements for running 2k aren't effectively different than for running 98...

That was just one issue. There were plenty of other issues to overcome before it becomes feasible.

 

Additional issue that would worry me is what if someone accidents deletes the log or over writes everyone else's entries? I'd hate to the be the butt-head that screwed up the log or the owner that allowed 50 finders' log be lost.

 

He suggested he'd be maintaining it frequently. Have rotating log files, and back 'em up regularly. If you have people resave the log file with the date.log, then the worst loss is that day.

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That's an awful lot of maintenance.

 

On the issue of the hotpot and logging, check out this. It should solve your security issues without too much complication.

 

Another solution without the network is simply a stand alone computer with a wi-fi card. Run a web server on it with PHP and database. Write your own logging script. You could put this anywhere you can talk someone into using their space and electricity, no need for the internet.

 

Of course, you don't have to use it as a logging requirement--something I've not fond of--but as part of the hunt. Properly created this step can be integrated into the cache in a way that forces the searcher to do it. You could create a theme for it, a reason for it. A high-tech spy mystery, for instance. "Agent X is missing and here is his contact address. Wi-fi in and determine what he was working on and find his secret stash before the other side finds it. Good luck."

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I'd do it and have no fear of a virus from the drive. I have up to date antivirus software, know how to avoid having something run when I put it into the machine, and can restore my drive from an image in a very short time. Any one of those will protect me. All it takes is a little common sense and you will be safe.

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Well, this particular cache would be a drive up cache. I'd make the media card, whatever kind it might be, (I only suggested USB because I happen to have one sitting on my desk that is a measly 128 meg, and is never used) it would be well hidden, and quite the challenge to find, as it would be cleverly disguised.

 

I have the geocaches all made up and ready to go, just have to figure out exactly how to incorperate the media card. I want to make this a geeky kind of cache that would appeal to only a select handful of geeks..

 

You might want to check out this cache: GCMCDD

 

It has five different media cards, and the finders are to leave something on one of them -- a photo, an audio or video clip, etc. I could easily visit his one, slip the SD card into my camera and fulfull the requirement.

 

BTW, I've never taken my laptop on a cache hunt, but I'd love to get a decent PDA. I'm convinced paperless is the way to go. Just can't keep all of those print outs straight.

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How about a SD card insted of a USB thumb drive. Some cachers have a pda/smartphone that could read and write to the card.

 

I don't know how much they cost but you wouldn't need a big one 8MB should do.

 

Just saves takeing the laptop and even if the cacher doesn't have a pda i bet there computer has a card reader.

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How about a SD card insted of a USB thumb drive. Some cachers have a pda/smartphone that could read and write to the card.

 

I don't know how much they cost but you wouldn't need a big one 8MB should do.

 

 

Until someone sticks it in their 6 megapixel camera and takes a high resolution picture that fills up the card :mad:

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