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Matching log book names to on-line found logs


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I'm just curious as one of my caches is nearing the point where it will have a full log book and need to be swapped out.

 

As a CO is it good practice to match the log book to the cache page logs and weed out any potention bogus posted found logs?

 

Normally I'm not that concerned about bogus logs but ignoring that type of behavior only has the potential to continue the practice of arm-chair logging.

 

Should I consider this a part of the responsibility of cache ownership or should I just let sleeping dogs lie?

 

What do you do?

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No it is not SOP for cache owners. A few owners do this, most do not care.

 

I personally would only do it if I had a particularly hard puzzle or terrain cache. Armchair logging on such a cache cheapens the find for the people who really work for it.

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No it is not SOP for cache owners. A few owners do this, most do not care.

 

I personally would only do it if I had a particularly hard puzzle or terrain cache. Armchair logging on such a cache cheapens the find for the people who really work for it.

 

While I in no way endorse bogus logs, and would delete such a log if I noticed it, I don't think it cheapens legit logs. Those who solved the puzzle or made the trek know what they accomplished. Those who did not, well, they know what they accomplished.

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I've never checked a paper log against online and don't intend to start.

 

I've deleted one online log when the subject of an armchair logger hitting our local caches came up in our local forum.

 

If you find a signature in the paper log and there's not a matching online log are you going to add one for them? That's only fair if you are going to do the opposite!

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No it is not SOP for cache owners. A few owners do this, most do not care.

 

I personally would only do it if I had a particularly hard puzzle or terrain cache. Armchair logging on such a cache cheapens the find for the people who really work for it.

OK, semantics. The Guidelines state that "The responsibility of your listing includes quality control of posts to the cache page. Delete any logs that appear to be bogus, counterfeit, off topic, or not within the stated requirements.".

 

How that's accomplished and to what degree it happens is up to the CO. As stated above, most owners don't worry about it too much.

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I'm just curious as one of my caches is nearing the point where it will have a full log book and need to be swapped out.

 

As a CO is it good practice to match the log book to the cache page logs and weed out any potention bogus posted found logs?

 

Normally I'm not that concerned about bogus logs but ignoring that type of behavior only has the potential to continue the practice of arm-chair logging.

 

Should I consider this a part of the responsibility of cache ownership or should I just let sleeping dogs lie?

 

What do you do?

 

I tried it once, deleted all the logs that were not on the paper log, got lots of hate mail, lost friends, created enemies, and created my new personal SOP that I don't care what people do because its a GAME and I value friendships and don't need to make people mad.

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I've never checked a paper log against online and don't intend to start.

 

I've deleted one online log when the subject of an armchair logger hitting our local caches came up in our local forum.

 

If you find a signature in the paper log and there's not a matching online log are you going to add one for them? That's only fair if you are going to do the opposite!

 

Naw, I never check either. If someone did, they'd find well over half of my 1,700 some finds signed as TWU, rather then TheWhiteUrkel. Am I in trouble? :rolleyes:

 

More so in the olden days (not as much anymore, at least in my experience), what you'd find is many signatures of people who never logged on the website. And no, I don't cross them out, or erase them as a couple of smart alecks have suggested. :blink:

Edited by TheWhiteUrkel
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I don't do that as standard practice but give me a reason to look and I will. I have deleted a few over the years that had no sig in the physical logbook - usually after I saw some strange logging patterns and decided I needed to look.

 

Yes, we had a couple of notorious ghost loggers pass through the area. 20 caches in a snowstorm, with no logic to the finds? Yes. Checked that out.

Oddly, I just got a find logged from a year and a half ago. Even more oddly, I had the log book in front of me. Yep! Signature is there. Strange...

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I've checked them. SOP? I'd say so. So does the listing guidelines every owner agrees to. Do most owners do it? I'd say not--especially considering many of the replies you've already received.

 

Do what you feel is right. If you don't care if anyone signs the log, then don't reconcile. If you care that folks have actually earned the smilie they claim, check on any discrepancies.

 

Me, I'd rather toss the whole "Found It" thing out the window.

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No it is not SOP for cache owners. A few owners do this, most do not care.

 

I personally would only do it if I had a particularly hard puzzle or terrain cache. Armchair logging on such a cache cheapens the find for the people who really work for it.

 

Thank You!

I don't know of any member of my local Geocaching community that regularly checks the paper log, and deletes online logs. I have replaced paper logs and looked at them out of general curiosity. I have never felt the need to delete any online logs because of an omission on the paper log.

 

I have placed 135 total caches with 2811 "Found It" logs. I have confidence that all but five are legitimate, and I don't really have enough proof that the cacher of those five logs, really didn't visit my caches. What I have is wordy online logs that describe the trail and spots where the caches are hidden. He gets the benefit of doubt.

 

I have only been compelled to delete a single log which was from a sock puppet account that was quickly banned by Groundspeak, as he was quickly posting logs on caches all over the world, boasting that it wasn't necessary for him to physically sign the logbook.

 

I have had one situation where a guy finding caches 2000 miles away, logged the third of five caches on a three mile trail. He was very receptive to my friendly email that he had the wrong GC#.

 

(edit, spelling)

Edited by Don_J
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I don't do that as standard practice but give me a reason to look and I will. I have deleted a few over the years that had no sig in the physical logbook - usually after I saw some strange logging patterns and decided I needed to look.

 

Yes, we had a couple of notorious ghost loggers pass through the area. 20 caches in a snowstorm, with no logic to the finds? Yes. Checked that out.

Oddly, I just got a find logged from a year and a half ago. Even more oddly, I had the log book in front of me. Yep! Signature is there. Strange...

 

Say - up here (NY & Michigan) we do it for real buddy:

 

f01b9b72-e6d7-4185-bad7-f997450f1c6f.jpg

 

Winter Caching in Michigan at it's Best!

Some snow I had to trek through to get this cache in negative 10 degrees Fahrenheit!

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I found this topic interesting. While I have not hidden any of my own caches as yet and am relatively new to this sport.

 

A couple of times I have downloaded a cache that I am certain I have found previously but it does not appear this way on the website... it could be that I forgot to post a log or that the owner deleted my log for some reason.

 

If a log is deleted is the "finder" automatically notified? or does it depend upon the CO to contact the finder if he or she so wishes.

 

I for one would like to know why my find was deleted, if nothing but to understand and learn what I have done wrong and to avoid repeating it in the future.

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I found this topic interesting. While I have not hidden any of my own caches as yet and am relatively new to this sport.

 

A couple of times I have downloaded a cache that I am certain I have found previously but it does not appear this way on the website... it could be that I forgot to post a log or that the owner deleted my log for some reason.

 

If a log is deleted is the "finder" automatically notified? or does it depend upon the CO to contact the finder if he or she so wishes.

 

I for one would like to know why my find was deleted, if nothing but to understand and learn what I have done wrong and to avoid repeating it in the future.

 

Yes, you should receive an automatic email from Groundspeak in the form of "CacherX has deleted your log". If they simply click the "Delete" button, that is all that you would receive.

 

I personally could not conceive of deleting another players log without offering a separate, private email explaining why I did so, (except in the case of the armchair logger that I mentioned previously.)

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I found this topic interesting. While I have not hidden any of my own caches as yet and am relatively new to this sport.

 

A couple of times I have downloaded a cache that I am certain I have found previously but it does not appear this way on the website... it could be that I forgot to post a log or that the owner deleted my log for some reason.

 

If a log is deleted is the "finder" automatically notified? or does it depend upon the CO to contact the finder if he or she so wishes.

 

I for one would like to know why my find was deleted, if nothing but to understand and learn what I have done wrong and to avoid repeating it in the future.

 

Yes, you should receive an automatic email from Groundspeak in the form of "CacherX has deleted your log". If they simply click the "Delete" button, that is all that you would receive.

 

I personally could not conceive of deleting another players log without offering a separate, private email explaining why I did so, (except in the case of the armchair logger that I mentioned previously.)

 

Yep! Comes into your mailbox with the subject "log deletion notice". I know this because I've had "will attend", and "TB drop" type notes deleted from large event cache pages. Never a physical cache log deleted. Yet. :rolleyes:

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The only log I deleted was for someone who accidentally selected a "Found It" log when their online log clearly stated they didn't find the cache because of the snow. I emailed them and gave them a chance to change it and then deleted it after a week, after emailing them again inviting them to re-log as a DNF.

 

I had someone who failed to upload a picture on one of my Earthcaches within the stated timeline and I had a number of locals encouraging me to delete his log (internal in-fighting in the community) but I didn't because nothing good could come from it.

 

We do have one local cacher who is notorious for matching his online logs to the physical logbook and deleting entries, but that is mostly because the challenge of his caches is actually getting to the logbook once you spot the container. He has plenty of warnings about this on his cache pages (if you don't sign the actual logbook your log will be deleted) but it still has caused some hard feelings with newer cachers who weren't aware of the nuances of his caches.

 

Like most things, I weight the cost vs. the benefit. I do compare the physical to the online when I replace a a logbook, but there would have to be something very fishy about an online log before I would delete it just because I couldn't find a corresponding entry on paper.

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Yep! Comes into your mailbox with the subject "log deletion notice". I know this because I've had "will attend", and "TB drop" type notes deleted from large event cache pages. Never a physical cache log deleted. Yet. :rolleyes:

 

Well now we get into a whole other topic, but why would someone delete a "Will Attend" from their Event cache? I can understand the excessive "TB Drop" notes, (I delete mine as soon as I post them), but the "Will Attend" logs helps me make a decision if I want to attend, especially if the event is a significant distance from my home. It also helps me set up car pools and possible pre-event caching runs.

 

I have never held an event, but I would think that the "Will Attend" logs would be a very important tool to help me understand exactly what I have gotten myself into.

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The only case where I deleted a Found It log was when a newbie posted twice with different narrative. I sent them an e-mail initally explaining that they could edit one of the posts to include all of the information and then delete the other. They responded with a "Will Do" but never did. I deleted one of them.

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Thanks for all the replies. I probably will look at the logs just out of curiosity but don't plan on deleting anything unless something looks very unusual - and if I did so, I would send a courtesy email.

 

Personally, I have had one log deleted without explanation (even after I sent an email asking why). This was from a local cacher who has a reputation for being difficult (I believe he has been banned from the forums too) so I just let it go in the end. Some people have control issues and no amount of reasoning will fix that with this person, I'm afraid. ;)

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I don't really check, except when I took my daughter caching to some of my hides and when she signed, the names didn't match. Sent emails and they corrected their mistakes.

 

I got deleted on an earth cache (my wifes entry) for not having her picture posted, but of the 20 or 30 pictures taken, all were of me and the kids because she always holds the camera. Pointing this out, he wouldn't let us re-post, his right, bummer for us.

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I got deleted on an earth cache (my wifes entry) for not having her picture posted, but of the 20 or 30 pictures taken, all were of me and the kids because she always holds the camera. Pointing this out, he wouldn't let us re-post, his right, bummer for us.

That's too extreme. Of course, lesson learned, I guess. Have the kids take your pictures at all Earthcaches!

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When we first started placing caches, we would on occasion try to match up the logs with online postings and discovered there were more logging in the logbook than online. Then we found out there are geocachers who never participate online except to get the cache coordinates.

 

In a nutshell, we stopped trying to compare the log book to online.

 

Its not worth it.

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I check the log just to see the names. I’ve had some sign their name and not log in on line. The other day I got an email of a find log on a cache I closed 2 years ago. I keep the log books of my closed caches so I looked back through it and it looks like a family found it back then and now one of the little one got her own cache name and was back logging her finds. I almost deleted it, so it a good idea to keep your old log books.

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I'll give the log a quick glance, but not very detailed. However, there is one semi-local cacher who if he logs a find, I will check and make sure he did sign the log. I do that because he "found" 60 local caches in one day, and having my doubts, looked for his name on several that I later found (within a week). No signature at all. I also went back to a couple of easy ones I had already found that he claimed to have found, and again no signature.

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I had one cache I found but couldn't get the container opened without damaging it. Logged a find and sent the CO a private note describing what and where I found along with the explanation of why I didn't sign the log, and requesting s/he delete the log if I had not in fact "found" it. Log was not deleted.

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I keep the log books of my closed caches so I looked back through it and it looks like a family found it back then and now one of the little one got her own cache name and was back logging her finds. I almost deleted it, so it a good idea to keep your old log books.

Another good idea when doing something like this is to append something like "Logged as xxxx when caching with dad/mom, now creating own account and relogging old finds". Gives the cache owner a heads-up.

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I'm just curious as one of my caches is nearing the point where it will have a full log book and need to be swapped out.

 

As a CO is it good practice to match the log book to the cache page logs and weed out any potention bogus posted found logs?

 

Normally I'm not that concerned about bogus logs but ignoring that type of behavior only has the potential to continue the practice of arm-chair logging.

 

Should I consider this a part of the responsibility of cache ownership or should I just let sleeping dogs lie?

 

What do you do?

 

This is a game and the only one that the numbers matter to is the one posting the find. If they are going to lie, and say that they found it when they didn't they are just lieing to themselves, because at the end of the day no one else cares. I don't check the logs at the cache against the online logs.

 

Scubasonic

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Oddly, I just got a find logged from a year and a half ago. Even more oddly, I had the log book in front of me. Yep! Signature is there. Strange...

 

Was it me? :D

 

Sometimes I fall behind. Sometimes i fall reeeeeeeeaaaaally behind. Sometimes when I'm catching up I miss one or two, and once in awhile PolskiKrol will notice and tell me. Speaking of which he told me he spotted one I didn't log, but didn't tell me which one, I have to bug him!

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I matched online against physical logs once, and found 2 bogus logs, 1 double log, several group logs with individual logs online, some physical logs with notes online, and a few who never logged online. Total: 70 physical logs, 70 online found it logs.

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When I started I tried to match up the logs but had too many that I couldnt read, some that logged the cache but not the web, etc etc. I actually scanned one log sheet after replacement and posted with the cache page. But Ive had more cache logs un-recoverable due to muggling, cache disappeared, logs to wet to read, or in one case burned in a controlled burn.

 

Now I don't bother unless I get a hint or feeling a particular cacher is logging a find and not actually doing so - especially on one particular difficult find (many return visits to find).

 

I think as previously stated that the only person a web logger is hurting if they dont actually find it is themselves. Like cheating at solitare or crossword puzzles.

 

There have been instances that I was not able to physically sign a log and claimed the find online (usually by CO permission)

Cases like:

cache was missing but I described in detail where it should have been

or in one case a series of vituals that information was to be verified at a checking site that no longer worked, owner hadnt been online for an extreme period, and Never sure if recieved an email from me using the email address since no reply.

 

My wife has often done puzzles and virtuals in far away locations (been there sometime in the past or researched the information) and CO allowed the find anyway. Even then I don't log them as finds on my account since I havent figured them out even though I could simply ask her for the answer.

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I don't do that as standard practice but give me a reason to look and I will. I have deleted a few over the years that had no sig in the physical logbook - usually after I saw some strange logging patterns and decided I needed to look.

 

Ditto. Don't actively look but if I did, would not feel bad about a delete.

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I never sign celerystalker - sometimes Amber (my real name), sometimes Amber and Riley (my dog).

At first I didn't realize you HAD to sign the log - so my first "real" find (keycache! I was so proud of myself that I found it!) doesn't have my name in it.

Of course, it's near my house and just a half mile walk, so if the owner ever complains, I'll go back to it.

It's big and would be good for travel bugs - I might buy some and go back.

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I make my wife sign the logs, and she's been known to put our names down and not put my geocaching id in the log, so someone doing this would end up deleting my logs probably. If they did, so be it. The only thing that would probably annoy me is that I'd guess it would now show up as an unfound cache in the pocket queries? That'd probably get annoying pretty quick.

 

But really, the difference between 123 finds and 125 finds is not exactly high on my list of things that are going to ruin my life. I know there's a couple of caches I've found on vacations that I never got around to logging online anyways.

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I had one log deleted because I wrote about the cache being dangerous. Other's had been complaining about that cache for a while. He wrote one line to me: "thanks for the support" I wanted to write back: "thanks for putting others safety first" but let it drop instead. Others carried the fight and the cache was disabled.

 

I didn't appreciate that because others should know if the cache is too dangerous for kids.

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My wife has often done puzzles and virtuals in far away locations (been there sometime in the past or researched the information) and CO allowed the find anyway.

 

There was a thread on this recently where a couple (at least) of people in germany were logging virtual finds all over the world on the same day.

 

In other words, his log would state germany, Italy, Florida and New Mexico all in one day. He had hundreds of finds like this.

 

It's not how the game was meant to be played, but the game is also set up so you can play how you want, as so many people do.

 

Someone was right as it being like cheating at solitare. They're only cheating themselves.

 

(heck for all we know they're wheelchair and house bound and are caching the only way they can)

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