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GeoBug... dipping? abuse?


Arrow42

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It's a personal TB. Some of us hold and log a bug through every cache we visit.

 

Personal Travel bugs are typically ones held by the owner and never released to be picked up by other cachers. The owner will log it into a cache they visit and then log it back out so it shows a history of every cache the owner has been to. Or perhaps they only log it through a few caches or perhaps no caches at all. They could just show it to other cachers allowing them to log the bug but not carry it away. That would track the cachers the owner has met.

 

Personal travel bugs are kind of a unique use of a traveler and not anyone has one.

Edited by BlueDeuce
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(Edit: ignore this - got an error, refreshed and didn't realize the first posted fine)

 

Off topic, but when you time out while posting a message, refrain from refreshing. That seems to be what causes double posts. Instead, just go back in to the forums the normal way and you'll usually find that it posted just fine.

 

I think that others have pretty much answered your main question.

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(Edit: ignore this - got an error, refreshed and didn't realize the first posted fine)

 

Off topic, but when you time out while posting a message, refrain from refreshing. That seems to be what causes double posts. Instead, just go back in to the forums the normal way and you'll usually find that it posted just fine.

 

I think that others have pretty much answered your main question.

And, if it seems to be taking a bit longer than it should, copy the text to your clipboard first. Then exit. go back into the forums and if it's not there, you can paste it in again.

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The otherone isnt working either.

 

What exactly is the issue?

 

What the heck is with this place... lol

 

Bug TB22J2B has been dipped into 600 caches since 4/26/2009. Ok, so, is there something going on here I just don't get? I'd e-mail the cacher, but I don't speak German.

 

I bet there is a totally reasonable explanation and I just don't get it.

 

Yeah, so... there. 600 caches in a month and a half.

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Bug TB22J2B has been dipped into 600 caches since 4/26/2009. Ok, so, is there something going on here I just don't get? I'd e-mail the cacher, but I don't speak German.

 

I bet there is a totally reasonable explanation and I just don't get it.

 

Yeah, so... there. 600 caches in a month and a half.

 

and whats wrong with it? Its a personal TB. There is nothing in the TB FAQ against it.

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and whats wrong with it? Its a personal TB. There is nothing in the TB FAQ against it.

 

This thread wasn't meant as a "OMG BANZORZ DIS GUY NAOW!" it was more of a... "Ok, what the heck is going on?"

 

Just seemed like weird behavior to dip a TB into 600 caches that it didn't actually visit.

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Yeah, so... there. 600 caches in a month and a half.

 

Well doing a spot check I see an associated Found it log on the caches. I suppose if he's armchair logging caches it could be considered abuse of a bug.

 

:lol:

 

The person's "found its" seem like they are spaced out in a reasonable fashion. 600 or so over the course of a 2 years.

 

I wonder if he's just going though his finds and dipping the bug into all of them? *shrug*

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Yeah, so... there. 600 caches in a month and a half.

 

Well doing a spot check I see an associated Found it log on the caches. I suppose if he's armchair logging caches it could be considered abuse of a bug.

 

:lol:

 

The person's "found its" seem like they are spaced out in a reasonable fashion. 600 or so over the course of a 2 years.

 

I wonder if he's just going though his finds and dipping the bug into all of them? *shrug*

 

Probably.

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I wonder if he's just going though his finds and dipping the bug into all of them? *shrug*

 

Ah yes. I looked at the bug logs and they were dated starting from May of 2007. Now that I look at the release date it would appear that he is simply back-logging his personal tb through previous finds.

 

600+ would be terribly tedious work.

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(Edit: ignore this - got an error, refreshed and didn't realize the first posted fine)

 

Off topic, but when you time out while posting a message, refrain from refreshing. That seems to be what causes double posts. Instead, just go back in to the forums the normal way and you'll usually find that it posted just fine.

 

I think that others have pretty much answered your main question.

 

To elaborate, without hopefully getting too technical.

 

Whenever you access a web page there is a basic workflow. Although there are means for accessing a web page from outside a web browser, lets assume, a browser is being used.

 

1. You click on a link on a web page or go to a location in your browser by typing in a URL (aka a website address), for example, http://www.geocaching.com

 

2. Your browser resolves the location of the web page and sends a "HTTP" request to the server hosting the web page (it can get more complicated than that but lets keep it simple).

 

3. There is a web server where the web page is located that is listening for HTTP request. When the server detects a request it will parse out pieces of the URL to figure out what to do. In the case of a URL like http://www.geocaching.com it might look for a file on the server in a specific location called "index.html" (the server can be set up to use some default file names when none is provide).

 

4. The server will read the file (which is coded using HTML). The server will then construct a response containing the contents of the file and send it back to your browser as a HTTP Response.

 

5. Your browser understands the HTML format and will render the content of the page you requested.

 

For web site like this forum, it get a bit more complicated...

 

Say, for example, the URL you click on is something like this:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showforum=6

 

In this case, rather than just returning the contents of a file (index.php), the server knows that this type

of file can do some processing and return content that dynamically produced. Note the "showforum=6", it is also sending additional information to the server (showforum=6).

 

In this case, the server will pick up that information, do some processing with it, and based on the additional

information provide, dynamically produce an appropriate response. In this case, the index.php "program" (it's not technically a program, but that's not important) will pickup the "6", and look up some information in a database (a listing of forum titles in the Geocaching Topics forum), produce some HTML content that includes that list as well as all the other stuff you see on the page, and return it as a response to your browser.

 

So what causes "duplicate posts"? When you submit a post to a forum, all the the information you've typed in to the form is sent as part of the request, then on the server, that information is processed and stored into a database. Then I starts to construct a response, and if everything works, it will send it back and you'll see a list of forum posts again with yours on the bottom.

 

But what if somethings goes wrong? The server can be set up a "request time out". In other words, once it starts serving your request it only has so much time it can spend on processing it before the request "times out". When that happens, it would stop any processing it was doing, and construct a response that indicates that an error has occurred and send "that* back as a response. If the time-out occurs *after* your post has been saved in the database, but before it was able to construct the more complex response, and you click on "Add Reply" a second (or third) time, another copy of your post will get stored in the database.

 

Occasionally, when the system is really busy, the server will "time-out" before it's even saved your post.

 

BTW, if a server didn't have a request time-out you might click on "Add Reply" and your browser could potentially hang up forever while waiting for a response that may never come.

Link to comment

(Edit: ignore this - got an error, refreshed and didn't realize the first posted fine)

 

Off topic, but when you time out while posting a message, refrain from refreshing. That seems to be what causes double posts. Instead, just go back in to the forums the normal way and you'll usually find that it posted just fine.

 

I think that others have pretty much answered your main question.

 

To elaborate, without hopefully getting too technical.

 

Whenever you access a web page there is a basic workflow. Although there are means for accessing a web page from outside a web browser, lets assume, a browser is being used.

 

1. You click on a link on a web page or go to a location in your browser by typing in a URL (aka a website address), for example, http://www.geocaching.com

 

2. Your browser resolves the location of the web page and sends a "HTTP" request to the server hosting the web page (it can get more complicated than that but lets keep it simple).

 

3. There is a web server where the web page is located that is listening for HTTP request. When the server detects a request it will parse out pieces of the URL to figure out what to do. In the case of a URL like http://www.geocaching.com it might look for a file on the server in a specific location called "index.html" (the server can be set up to use some default file names when none is provide).

 

4. The server will read the file (which is coded using HTML). The server will then construct a response containing the contents of the file and send it back to your browser as a HTTP Response.

 

5. Your browser understands the HTML format and will render the content of the page you requested.

 

For web site like this forum, it get a bit more complicated...

 

Say, for example, the URL you click on is something like this:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showforum=6

 

In this case, rather than just returning the contents of a file (index.php), the server knows that this type

of file can do some processing and return content that dynamically produced. Note the "showforum=6", it is also sending additional information to the server (showforum=6).

 

In this case, the server will pick up that information, do some processing with it, and based on the additional

information provide, dynamically produce an appropriate response. In this case, the index.php "program" (it's not technically a program, but that's not important) will pickup the "6", and look up some information in a database (a listing of forum titles in the Geocaching Topics forum), produce some HTML content that includes that list as well as all the other stuff you see on the page, and return it as a response to your browser.

 

So what causes "duplicate posts"? When you submit a post to a forum, all the the information you've typed in to the form is sent as part of the request, then on the server, that information is processed and stored into a database. Then I starts to construct a response, and if everything works, it will send it back and you'll see a list of forum posts again with yours on the bottom.

 

But what if somethings goes wrong? The server can be set up a "request time out". In other words, once it starts serving your request it only has so much time it can spend on processing it before the request "times out". When that happens, it would stop any processing it was doing, and construct a response that indicates that an error has occurred and send "that* back as a response. If the time-out occurs *after* your post has been saved in the database, but before it was able to construct the more complex response, and you click on "Add Reply" a second (or third) time, another copy of your post will get stored in the database.

 

Occasionally, when the system is really busy, the server will "time-out" before it's even saved your post.

 

I'm aware of how it works. I resubmitted the post because the error I got was from the PHP demon and seemed to indicate a problem with the connection to the SQL server. I was actually right to refresh&resubmit - the original topic was malformed and the contents was not received correctly. I edited this thread before actually checking the message from the other.

 

BTW, if a server didn't have a request time-out you might click on "Add Reply" and your browser could potentially hang up forever while waiting for a response that may never come.

 

Actually, what you say is not entirely true. Browsers have a built in time-out to prevent exactly what your talking about. That's been a feature in browsers since.... well, at least since Netscape 3.0 Gold was king. :lol:

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I wonder if he's just going though his finds and dipping the bug into all of them? *shrug*

 

Ah yes. I looked at the bug logs and they were dated starting from May of 2007. Now that I look at the release date it would appear that he is simply back-logging his personal tb through previous finds.

 

600+ would be terribly tedious work.

 

I did 300 when I activated mine, and it was brutal. And I even deleted the notes posted to the caches. :lol: I eventually retired the personal TB after about 5 years and 15,000 miles. It was taking waaaaaaay to long to log it through the caches.

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Thats what cool about this game is there is some flexibility...

 

""To Me"" the idea of a Travel Bug, Coin or other trackable is to put it in a cache you found, then someone picks it up and takes it to either hopefully toward a goal you have set or to the next farest cache they can find to eventually see how far the trackable can go... It is sorta a passing the torch/coin community driven game... Not see how far I carried my favorite coin...

 

But thats just me... Its not a hard fast rule that I know of and each person can dip or do with "Their" trackable as they please...

 

If its just to keep track of your sites hit, look at yor profile or keep a log... I do both... But again, thats me...

 

Just have fun with it!!!

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I wonder if he's just going though his finds and dipping the bug into all of them? *shrug*

 

Ah yes. I looked at the bug logs and they were dated starting from May of 2007. Now that I look at the release date it would appear that he is simply back-logging his personal tb through previous finds.

 

600+ would be terribly tedious work.

 

I did 300 when I activated mine, and it was brutal. And I even deleted the notes posted to the caches. :lol: I eventually retired the personal TB after about 5 years and 15,000 miles. It was taking waaaaaaay to long to log it through the caches.

 

That doesn't seem disingenuous to you? To me it seems like your reporting something that didn't actually happen. "This bug visited this location" when it didn't really do that.

 

What exactly is the point of back-dipping bugs?

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That doesn't seem disingenuous to you? To me it seems like your reporting something that didn't actually happen. "This bug visited this location" when it didn't really do that.

 

What exactly is the point of back-dipping bugs?

Why would it be disingenuous? In this particular case I think the TB is supposed to be a representation of himself. It allows him to keep track of the miles he traveled from cache to cache, and has a nice map view.

 

To TWU : do you log them into DNFs as well?

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That doesn't seem disingenuous to you? To me it seems like your reporting something that didn't actually happen. "This bug visited this location" when it didn't really do that.

 

What exactly is the point of back-dipping bugs?

Why would it be disingenuous? In this particular case I think the TB is supposed to be a representation of himself. It allows him to keep track of the miles he traveled from cache to cache, and has a nice map view.

 

To TWU : do you log them into DNFs as well?

I purchase a vehicle TB a few months ago and I dip it into every cache I visit, even the DNFs.

 

I find I can upload spoiler photos to a certain cache without it showing on the cache listing.

 

I considered back dating all my finds but decided against it.

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... What exactly is the point of back-dipping bugs?

Why would it be disingenuous? In this particular case I think the TB is supposed to be a representation of himself. It allows him to keep track of the miles he traveled from cache to cache, and has a nice map view.

 

That's my motivation. You don't have to understand it. And since the actual TB is a sticker on my truck, there's no physical way for me to leave it in a cache anyway.

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That's my motivation. You don't have to understand it. And since the actual TB is a sticker on my truck, there's no physical way for me to leave it in a cache anyway.

 

This all seems completely redundant to the system... it already tracks what caches you visit.

 

I just don't get it... :lol:

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That's my motivation. You don't have to understand it. And since the actual TB is a sticker on my truck, there's no physical way for me to leave it in a cache anyway.

 

This all seems completely redundant to the system... it already tracks what caches you visit.

 

I just don't get it... :lol:

 

True, you can download the My Finds query and do all sorts of things with that. Nobody ever said I was normal.

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Actually, personal TBs can be a good way of tracking your distance travelled. That's what a lot of cachers use them for.

 

Seems like a lot of extra work to be redundant to a PQ and Google earth. And... all for a grossly inaccurate stat.

 

Just saying...

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Actually, personal TBs can be a good way of tracking your distance travelled. That's what a lot of cachers use them for.

 

Seems like a lot of extra work to be redundant to a PQ and Google earth. And... all for a grossly inaccurate stat.

 

Just saying...

 

I just got a personal TB, and I'm in the process of back-dipping all the Finds I've had, all 37 of them! Sure, I could just run a My Finds PQ, but the TB will show the order I found them all in on a map, plus all the miles. And I really don't care if you understand like the idea or not, I'm not doing this for anyone but me.

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Logging a personal bug through every cache can be tedious and I'm not even talking about back-logging. You have to be dedicated to a somewhat pointless effort. It is definitely not for everybody.

 

'Tracking' caches and mileage is one thing but my personal bugs go to the cache. (Yes I have more than one). My main one is logged through every cache I visit and revisit. A couple others just go on special trips and I even loan them out to other cachers to take with them and return.

 

I think a personal travel bug should be personal and part of the caching experience. It is really a travel bug that is really traveling around, it's just with the owner.

 

If you only want cache tracking and mileage there are much easier ways of getting that data.

Edited by BlueDeuce
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I have a bug, "Jackalgirl", that I carry with me when I cache. It's to track my mileage, yes, but the logs also serve as a kind of geocaching journal. I write up the log entries while the visit's still fresh in my mind, and describe what the whole family did. It's a way not just to track the caches I've found in chronological order, but also other associated stuff (stories, feelings, whatever).

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I have a bug, "Jackalgirl", that I carry with me when I cache. It's to track my mileage, yes, but the logs also serve as a kind of geocaching journal. I write up the log entries while the visit's still fresh in my mind, and describe what the whole family did. It's a way not just to track the caches I've found in chronological order, but also other associated stuff (stories, feelings, whatever).

 

Then what do you put in the cache log?

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I have a bug, "Jackalgirl", that I carry with me when I cache. It's to track my mileage, yes, but the logs also serve as a kind of geocaching journal. I write up the log entries while the visit's still fresh in my mind, and describe what the whole family did. It's a way not just to track the caches I've found in chronological order, but also other associated stuff (stories, feelings, whatever).

 

Then what do you put in the cache log?

 

Here's how this works, in excruciating detail...

 

A) Find cache

:D sign log (trade swag, take or drop TBs and geocoins as appropriate)

C) at home, write up your log on the cache's page

D) highlight and copy the log

E) highlight your personal geocoin/TB (as well as any that you physically left in the cache)

F) submit the log

G) go to the cache page; scroll down to the list of travelers in the cache; click on your personal goodie

H) paste your cache log into the big box; type in the ID #; highlight "Retrieve from..."

I) submit this info

 

The traveler is now back in your inventory, with the exact same log as there is on the cache page.

 

We and two other cachers have the personal geocoins of each other on our respective watchlists. When the others go caching, we get e-mails of their travels, and they of ours. This let's us know where they've been, any interesting adventures they've had, neat caches they've found, etc., and vice versa. This is a lot more efficient than going on a trip and writing an e-mail to them, telling them all about our caching. Certainly, we'll write them, but we won't need to give them blow-by-blow accounts of the caches, as they already have those.

 

And another thing; the geocoin page loads a *lot* faster than the listings of all of our Finds in our Profile.

 

Hope this helps :laughing:

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I just registered a TB as my personal TB. The only back-dipping I have done was near a cache right by my house to start mileage. Otherwise I'm not doing any back dipping.

 

The only time I dip my personal TB is at events. That's it. It's an event only TB where I meet other cachers and they can discover me.

 

If I run into a cacher while hunting, they can discover me then too. but I won't dip the TB into traditional caches.

 

That's about it.

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I just registered a TB as my personal TB. The only back-dipping I have done was near a cache right by my house to start mileage. Otherwise I'm not doing any back dipping.

 

The only time I dip my personal TB is at events. That's it. It's an event only TB where I meet other cachers and they can discover me.

 

If I run into a cacher while hunting, they can discover me then too. but I won't dip the TB into traditional caches.

 

That's about it.

 

That's just fine. Some people just log a bug through maybe one cache if they've taken a long trip. Or they do as you do.

 

It's all good.

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I have a bug, "Jackalgirl", that I carry with me when I cache. It's to track my mileage, yes, but the logs also serve as a kind of geocaching journal. I write up the log entries while the visit's still fresh in my mind, and describe what the whole family did. It's a way not just to track the caches I've found in chronological order, but also other associated stuff (stories, feelings, whatever).

 

I read through your jackalgirl bug page, and I really enjoyed it. And I can see why you'd keep it separate. I think I may use that idea!

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