In the Year 3000

[+goosefraba1]

Now that we have begun a new decade, what is in store for the future of geocaching?

 

-Will we have GPSr's that are too sensitive?

 

-Will geocaching appear as an olympic sport?

 

-Will there be extreme geocaching on mars?

 

Seriously though, will geocaching be able to remain what it is today... or will the onset of many new cachers change the game?

 

Just some thoughts,

Goose

Edited January 21, 2010 by goosefraba1

[+Castle Mischief]

"Dude, this PN-3000 is going back to the Retail Planet. It's got to be off by like 4 centimeters. I spent all day looking in the DNA of a grass leaf for the clues to a difficulty 3.125* multi today! Turns out I was looking in a fescue leaf and the clue was in the Bermuda. DUH! Average your coordinates people!"

 

 

*In the World of Tomorrow, the terrain and difficulty ratings will be much more granular.

[+StarBrand]

The tools may change. The guidelines may alter. The law may restrict it. Hoardes may get involved. Containers may get smaller.

 

but...

 

If you stick to some of the original mantra - some form of it will keep going long into the future.

 

"Geocaching - where you ARE the search engine"

 

The urge to seek out new places and new things will keep us going.

[+Castle Mischief]

Forums topics of the Future!

 

- If my robot finds the cache for me and signs the log, can I claim a "found it"?

 

- Are caches hidden the Metaverse real geocaches?

 

- Bring back the Virtuals!

 

- German cachers claiming armchair finds on both Mooncaches and Marscaches without visiting locations.

 

- Proper terrain ratings for non-Terran caches

 

- Multi final is hidden in pocket dimension inside NPS boundary; is extra-dimensional space really "inside a property"?

 

- What do I do with my Extra-Orbital Shuttle Travel Bug window sticker?

 

- For the noobs- a history of how ODS almost destroyed caching in the early 21st century.

 

- Nural Implants as Travel Bugs- is this against the rules? Would you install it to your cerebral cortex?

[+JBnW]

Forums topics of the Future!

 

- If my robot finds the cache for me and signs the log, can I claim a "found it"?

 

- Are caches hidden the Metaverse real geocaches?

 

- Bring back the Virtuals!

 

- German cachers claiming armchair finds on both Mooncaches and Marscaches without visiting locations.

 

- Proper terrain ratings for non-Terran caches

 

- Multi final is hidden in pocket dimension inside NPS boundary; is extra-dimensional space really "inside a property"?

 

- What do I do with my Extra-Orbital Shuttle Travel Bug window sticker?

 

- For the noobs- a history of how ODS almost destroyed caching in the early 21st century.

 

- Nural Implants as Travel Bugs- is this against the rules? Would you install it to your cerebral cortex?

 

-"I just had a great idea! How about a cache rating system!"

[Skippermark]

I'm looking forward to the first live GPS with live satellite images so you can see yourself on the screen looking for the cache.

[oakenwood]

Geocaching got much tougher after the neo-Luddite revolution of the 24th Century.

 

It's no fun getting chased by villagers with hatchets because they spotted your GPSr. Batteries and the solar cells to recharge them have gotten really expensive on the black market. It was awful tough after the GPS constellation fell into disrepair. Fortunately, GLONASS is still up and running. The sad part is, you have to pay three quadrillion yuan to some really shady characters for the access codes. Every dadgum year, too. Next year it'll probably be four quadrillion.

 

And don't get me started on the quality of swag. I found a cache last week that had toenail clippings, a couple of rocks, and a semi-used bandaid. Since I always trade up, I left a 21st Century guitar pick. Whatever "tortex" is, it sure lasts.

Edited January 22, 2010 by oakenwood

[+brdad]

Year 3000. The lack of cache hiders obtaining proper permission and the quest for the numbers has all but exterminated caches as we know them. Caches now are smaller than today's nanos and cannot be opened. Instead they are equipped with radio frequency identification, much like the electronic toll passes of yesteryear. Cachers carry a receiver with them which fits in their wallet.

 

Cache hiders can buy a bag of 1000 of these caches for $1,000,000,000 Progressive States of Obama currency, which equates to $2.95 in 2010 currency. They are magnetic, self gluing, and have claws so they can attach to any surface when thrown out the vehicle window. They can be programmed to self seek the closest light pole, street sign, or telephone pole. When it senses being attached to a surface, a signal is submitted automatically to gc.com with the coords and any other pertinent area information. Gc.com has further relaxed it's rules due to the accuracy of GPS, the minimum limit is now 5.28 inches.

 

As cachers walk, bike, fly, or otherwise travel, their receiver picks up the signals automatically and log the cache as found and update their stats page in real time. For those that want to be notified of their find, their receiver can emit a beep for each 1000 finds or every minute, whichever is longer. If the signal is too weak to properly obtain all the cache information, a DNF is automatically logged. This can be remedied by later logging into Google Cache view and updating your find manually.

 

There are still a few old timers who long for the old days, when a find meant something. Back in their day, they had to open a door and lift a lamp post skirt to claim their find. Sometimes they even had to walk across parking lot or drive off paved roads. A few were even in the deep woods, almost out of sight of the road! These folks are chastised for their views and reminded they should just let everyone cache the way they want to, and reminded since they have not hit the 5,000,000 cache find mark, their opinion means nothing.

 

While this was meant to be humorous, you will not catch me saying it will never come to this.

Edited January 22, 2010 by brdad

[+goosefraba1]

In the future, not only will the National Park Service continue to not allow caches in National Parks, but will create a special ops team responsible for muggling any cache posted on geocaching.com. This will continue until all national parks are destroyed by global warming and/or atv's.

[+va griz]

Forum topics:

 

Can I adopt a great great grandfathered virtual?

 

I know the guidelines say 100 feet, but the closest cache is 95 feet away and it's a guideline, not a law!

 

From which century is the oldest cache in your state/sector?

[+Kryten]

Web 2.0 version of website to be released any time now.

 

How do I change my username

 

Bring back virtuals

 

We hate Femtos

 

Can I have an RSS feed

 

Is there a website API

 

There's too much whitespace on my holographic retinal implant

[CacheCoeur]

This topic is soooo fun...

But, seriously, isn't the world supposed to finish in 2012?

[+rob3k]

In the Year 3000... Geocaching has become so popular that the cache saturation guideline has been reduced to 10 feet to allow new caches to still be placed. It's not unusual to wait in a 30 minute line to sign the log at a popular nano cache. Caches requiring a hike of greater than 100 feet are generally available with no waiting.

[+goosefraba1]

This topic is soooo fun...

But, seriously, isn't the world supposed to finish in 2012?

The world will end in 2012, but we will get a jumpstart from an alien civilization called upon by the NPS.... This is how they will gain their power. The world will reboot in 2012 1/2.

[knowschad]

Will be have Time-Travel Bugs?

[+Castle Mischief]

Will be have Time-Travel Bugs?

 

We may already have them!

[+brdad]

Will be have Time-Travel Bugs?

 

I picked one up just next year!

[+DragonsWest]

"We have found a rectangular metal container, which appears to have been part of a war-like ritual in the past. There is actual paper within the container! Upon the paper appear to be names of finders - some of whom are among the earliest known Geocachers. Astounding they carried pens and pencils and traded some of the items within. This artifact is going to the museum at Cache Polytech for further examination."

[+Sioneva]

I've been to the year 3000

Not much has changed,

but we live underwater

And your great-great-great granddaughter

is doing fine...

[+Moose Mob]

Geocaching would be too expensive since film canisters can only be bought at the antique store and empty food containers will biodegrade within 30 minutes after opening.

[+ki4byz]

Caching in the year 3000

 

Why do people keep putting these things in and around the cache,

I thing they were for a old game called ………golf

[+DragonsWest]

Just returned from 3000. Had a devil of time getting a blinky moving cache (these were re-introduced following the Second Great Geocache-Flamewar of 2730) which was attached to a bending unit. When it found out it was carrying one it was p***ed.

[+goosefraba1]

Just returned from 3000. Had a devil of time getting a blinky moving cache (these were re-introduced following the Second Great Geocache-Flamewar of 2730) which was attached to a bending unit. When it found out it was carrying one it was p***ed.

 

I seriously just Laughed Out Loud (Lol)... this is an old expression from the dawn of the internet.

[+The VanDucks]

I don't care how geocaching looks in the year 3000 - as long as I am still geocaching, I will be perfectly happy!

[+bittsen]

This topic is soooo fun...

But, seriously, isn't the world supposed to finish in 2012?

 

Yes, it's not going to be totally destroyed but with the impending Yellowstone eruption being discussed in Off Topic, the fate of the world is grim.

[+bittsen]

The greatest part of caching in the year 3000 is the caches are automatically logged on the Virtuweb as soon as you find the cache. It records all of your activities leading up to the cache as well as environmental conditions. No more TFTC.

It wouldn't be possible except the automatic brain scan chip was enhanced in 2993 to eliminate that annoying half second delay.

[+BrrrMo]

What happened to "In the year 2520" I think that is in a song by someone.

[+bittsen]

What happened to "In the year 2520" I think that is in a song by someone.

 

It's the year 2525

 

And basically the song goes that if man survives to 2525 he may find 3535. Which implies that if we can survive till 2525, then we will survive till 3535.

 

The question is, will we?

[+BrrrMo]

What happened to "In the year 2520" I think that is in a song by someone.

 

It's the year 2525

 

And basically the song goes that if man survives to 2525 he may find 3535. Which implies that if we can survive till 2525, then we will survive till 3535.

 

The question is, will we?

 

I am not much on music, just that this thread brought that to my mind.

[+BrrrMo]

What happened to "In the year 2520" I think that is in a song by someone.

 

It's the year 2525

 

And basically the song goes that if man survives to 2525 he may find 3535. Which implies that if we can survive till 2525, then we will survive till 3535.

 

The question is, will we?

 

By then I will have to put new batteries in my Garmin 60csx.

[MikeB3542]

Y'all are assuming we will still have birds in the air -- some of them are expected to start failing THIS YEAR, and the USAF has bungled the program set up to maintain and replace the current constellation which was put in place 20 years ago. That and lack of cheap gas might doom the hobby in 10 years, much less 100 or 1000 years.

Edited January 23, 2010 by MikeB3542

[+keehotee]

By the year 3000 everybody will realise that there are 1000 years in a millennium, 100 years in a century, 10 years in a decade - and there was no year zero

[+Loony Londo]

Y'all are assuming we will still have birds in the air -- some of them are expected to start failing THIS YEAR, and the USAF has bungled the program set up to maintain and replace the current constellation which was put in place 20 years ago. That and lack of cheap gas might doom the hobby in 10 years, much less 100 or 1000 years.

I would have thought we would have solar powered bicycles in 3000 and there is always walking using the strange things at the end of your legs.

I would also have thought that in 3000Groundspeak would be running its own constellation of satellites which would be armed with lasers to zap non approved or rogue caches!

Edited January 23, 2010 by Loony Londo

[+DragonsWest]

Y'all are assuming we will still have birds in the air -- some of them are expected to start failing THIS YEAR, and the USAF has bungled the program set up to maintain and replace the current constellation which was put in place 20 years ago. That and lack of cheap gas might doom the hobby in 10 years, much less 100 or 1000 years.

I would have thought we would have solar powered bicycles in 3000 and there is always walking using the strange things at the end of your legs.

I would also have thought that in 3000Groundspeak would be running its own constellation of satellites which would be armed with lasers to zap non approved or rogue caches!

 

There will be more than just satellites, as we'll have moved on to 3D location in space, GPSr will operate off Red Shift from given stars. There will also be the additions of the following cache types:

 

Space Caches (like Earth Caches, but in the Asteroid Belt, near M42, etc.)

Virtual Reality Caches (you must find them in a programmed Holodeck)

Multi-Dimension Caches (you must find a stage in each dimension, but please leave no Geo-Traits)

Intergalactic Geodetic Survey Benchmarks

Wave Length Caches (require special equipment to find and survive, most are in 6 to 10 * T/D)

 

Also..

 

Non-terrestrial caches must be 5.28 million miles apart.

Caches in open space, outside solar systems, must be a minimum of 5.28 parsecs apart (excepting Space Caches, which maybe closer to other types.)

Power trails in excess of 1,000,000 caches will not be allowed.

Edited January 23, 2010 by DragonsWest

[+Radnord]

Will be have Time-Travel Bugs?

 

If there are, geocoin thieves will steal them...

[+gelfling6]

Let's see.. set transporter for area N 40 35.724' W 073 32.742 , wide area scan, energize....

 

Sign log , return to transporter, beam it back... set coordinates for next cache, repeat process...

 

Kinda takes the fun out of getting out, doesn't it?

[+bittsen]

Let's see.. set transporter for area N 40 35.724' W 073 32.742 , wide area scan, energize....

 

Sign log , return to transporter, beam it back... set coordinates for next cache, repeat process...

 

Kinda takes the fun out of getting out, doesn't it?

 

Heh, heh, you are still doing it the OLD way.

I beam the cache to me and then have my robot sign the log, then beam the cache back.

[Trinity's Crew]

Now that we have begun a new decade, what is in store for the future of geocaching?

 

-Will we have GPSr's that are too sensitive?

If GPS units become too sensitive you can obfuscate the coordinates. (I always wanted to type obfuscate)

 

-Will geocaching appear as an olympic sport?

Not likely,

 

-Will there be extreme geocaching on mars?

I won't rule it out.

 

Seriously though, will geocaching be able to remain what it is today... or will the onset of many new cachers change the game?

The dirty little secret is that most cachers float in and out. Those that stay are more serious and are pretty responsible. Yes I'm generalizing but what the heck...

 

Just some thoughts,

Goose

[runner_one]

What happened to "In the year 2520" I think that is in a song by someone.

 

It's the year 2525

 

And basically the song goes that if man survives to 2525 he may find 3535. Which implies that if we can survive till 2525, then we will survive till 3535.

 

The question is, will we?

 

I am not much on music, just that this thread brought that to my mind.

Love that Song.

The Year 2525 on YouTube

[+DragonsWest]

What happened to "In the year 2520" I think that is in a song by someone.

 

It's the year 2525

 

And basically the song goes that if man survives to 2525 he may find 3535. Which implies that if we can survive till 2525, then we will survive till 3535.

 

The question is, will we?

 

I am not much on music, just that this thread brought that to my mind.

Love that Song.

The Year 2525 on YouTube

 

You will not get that song stuck in my head!

 

Go this one stuck in there already.

[Tahosa and Sons]

Tahosa has finally reached 1,053. Not Caches found but his 53rd birthday after his first millenium. And attributes his long life to looking for Ammo Cans, not them pesky nanos.

Edited January 26, 2010 by Tahosa and Sons

[+bittsen]

Well, I just loaded up the last 4000 caches published in my area last night into my old trusty Garmin Andromeda 6500TS. Even though it's an antique, it gets me by. It still has the Topo/Space maps from 2972 but the universe hasn't changed much, has it?

I'm going to check the nuclear fusion reaction compartment. I might need to add more anti-matter since I've been using it for 3 years since the last time I checked.

Yeah, I know what you are thinking. How could I be so attached to the Andromeda when the Garmin Nuclei came out 6 months ago and has the new proton scanner in conjunction with the preloaded interspacial transfigurator but I'm all about being old school. Sometimes I will even walk the last 5 feet or so to a cache when it's on Earth. Of course it would be suicide to try that on Saturn but that's why we have the cacheporter built into the Garmins, right?

[+JBnW]

Well, I just loaded up the last 4000 caches published in my area last night into my old trusty Garmin Andromeda 6500TS. Even though it's an antique, it gets me by. It still has the Topo/Space maps from 2972 but the universe hasn't changed much, has it?

I'm going to check the nuclear fusion reaction compartment. I might need to add more anti-matter since I've been using it for 3 years since the last time I checked.

Yeah, I know what you are thinking. How could I be so attached to the Andromeda when the Garmin Nuclei came out 6 months ago and has the new proton scanner in conjunction with the preloaded interspacial transfigurator but I'm all about being old school. Sometimes I will even walk the last 5 feet or so to a cache when it's on Earth. Of course it would be suicide to try that on Saturn but that's why we have the cacheporter built into the Garmins, right?

If this were "Off Topic", I might mention the word 'Troglodyte'. but since we're here, I say stick with what works for ya!