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Visual summary of first 2000 finds


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I'm nearing the 2000 cache milestone, and I thought it would be fun to making some graphs to visualize my first 2000 (okay, actually 1981) finds. The results turned out pretty cool, and might be descriptive of some larger trends in geocaching, such as the increase in micro placement.

 

Here's a graph of the sizes of caches I've found, excluding virtuals and "not chosen." The large drop labeled SH is due to the creation of a large series of micros in cemeteries around Dayton, OH. I thought maybe ODS would show up on the graph, but I guess I didn't find that many. I think the gradual increase in average size since 2008 is interesting. I wonder if that's a bias on my part or if more regulars are being placed. Or perhaps it's a result of finding more caches in Missouri instead of Ohio. 1=micro 2=small 3=regular 4=large.

size.jpg

 

Difficulty of caches over time. Hasn't changed much.

diff.jpg

 

Neither has terrain over time. The squiggly white line is a two week average. Large short-term jumps in terrain usually occur when I go on hiking or highpointing trips.

terr.jpg

 

Elevation of all my caches. This is probably my favorite graph because many of my favorite finds stand out due to elevation. Most of the 200-300 meter caches are in the Midwest, primarily Missouri and Ohio. Those close to 0 are obviously near the coast somewhere.

ele.jpg

 

I set this all up in excel. I think it would be cool to see other people's graphs. If you want to send me an excel or csv file of your finds (GSAK export) I can make some graphs for you. Email martin@weezed.com

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You can also use Google Earth in time lapse mode to create a video showing the chronological order your finds are made, displayed on a map. What I haven't figured out is how to make each dot appear then fade away.

 

This video shows the opening of Walmart stores across the U.S. That's sort of the effect I'm looking for.

 

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You can also use Google Earth in time lapse mode to create a video showing the chronological order your finds are made, displayed on a map. What I haven't figured out is how to make each dot appear then fade away.

 

This video shows the opening of Walmart stores across the U.S. That's sort of the effect I'm looking for.

 

That's pretty cool. Cool enough for me to copy it :D

 

 

For some reason the original looks better. Part of it was cpu slowdown, but I also think having my waypoints so close together messes up the images. Also random note... the method used in the original video doesn't seem to work on Google Earth versions beyond 5.11 (OS X). Not sure why.

Edited by benji55545
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Nice! Please share how you did that!

 

I can see where you went on a long road trip in July 2009 :)

 

Next time for music you could pick the unofficial anthem of geocaching : U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" :lol:

 

(I also like "Don't Tell My Wife I'm Out Geocaching" by Rob Pearce)

 

Hah, good call on the U2 song. And yes, I did go on a long road trip. The animation would look a lot cooler if I went on a bunch of long road trips while caching the entire way!

 

Anyway, as you probably know the GE time slider appears when you add valid <TimeSpan> tags to your placemarks. To get the falling/fading dot animation, you need to create a series of placemarks with slightly different icon sizes and opacity values. Their <TimeSpan> should be contiguous but not overlapping.

 

Let me show you some .kml code. First, define the icon sizes and colors. 4fffff11 is the color's hex value plus a number for opacity.

 

<Style id="sh_10"><IconStyle><color>4fffff11</color><scale>5</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_9"><IconStyle><color>5fffff22</color><scale>4.5</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_8"><IconStyle><color>6fffff33</color><scale>4</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_7"><IconStyle><color>7fffff44</color><scale>3.5</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_6"><IconStyle><color>8fffff55</color><scale>3</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_5"><IconStyle><color>9fffff66</color><scale>2.5</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_4"><IconStyle><color>afffff77</color><scale>2</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_3"><IconStyle><color>bfffff88</color><scale>1.5</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_2"><IconStyle><color>cfffff99</color><scale>1</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_1"><IconStyle><color>ffffffaa</color><scale>0.4</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>

 

Then you need to have duplicate placemarks for every Geocache, one for each style defined above. Notice how the <TimeSpan> tags are contiguous from one style/placemark to the next. This makes the cool animation. I haven't figured out a way to make GE's animation any slower than it already is. I used a time difference of 2 weeks between each animation frame (placemark).

 

<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-04-12T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-04-26T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_10</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-04-26T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-05-10T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_9</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-05-10T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-05-24T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_8</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-05-24T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-06-07T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_7</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-06-07T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-06-21T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_6</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-06-21T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-07-05T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_5</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-07-05T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-07-19T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_4</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-07-19T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-08-02T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_3</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-08-02T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-08-16T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_2</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-08-16T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-08-30T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_1</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-08-30T00:00:00z</begin><end>2011-12-11T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_1</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>

 

The above code is for just one geocache find. So you need to duplicate it for every find, with the beginning time of the first placemark being the date you found the cache. Doing this all by hand would be incredibly tedious, so I modified a Visual Basic script to make it for me. If some people want to send me an excel file with coordinates and dates I'll make one for you. Especially if you've gone on a lot of road trips :D

Edited by benji55545
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Nice! Please share how you did that!

 

I can see where you went on a long road trip in July 2009 :)

 

Next time for music you could pick the unofficial anthem of geocaching : U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" :lol:

 

(I also like "Don't Tell My Wife I'm Out Geocaching" by Rob Pearce)

 

Hah, good call on the U2 song. And yes, I did go on a long road trip. The animation would look a lot cooler if I went on a bunch of long road trips while caching the entire way!

 

Anyway, as you probably know the GE time slider appears when you add valid <TimeSpan> tags to your placemarks. To get the falling/fading dot animation, you need to create a series of placemarks with slightly different icon sizes and opacity values. Their <TimeSpan> should be contiguous but not overlapping.

 

Let me show you some .kml code. First, define the icon sizes and colors. 4fffff11 is the color's hex value plus a number for opacity.

 

<Style id="sh_10"><IconStyle><color>4fffff11</color><scale>5</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_9"><IconStyle><color>5fffff22</color><scale>4.5</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_8"><IconStyle><color>6fffff33</color><scale>4</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_7"><IconStyle><color>7fffff44</color><scale>3.5</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_6"><IconStyle><color>8fffff55</color><scale>3</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_5"><IconStyle><color>9fffff66</color><scale>2.5</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_4"><IconStyle><color>afffff77</color><scale>2</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_3"><IconStyle><color>bfffff88</color><scale>1.5</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_2"><IconStyle><color>cfffff99</color><scale>1</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>
<Style id="sh_1"><IconStyle><color>ffffffaa</color><scale>0.4</scale><Icon><href>http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/shapes/shaded_dot.png</href></Icon></IconStyle></Style>

 

Then you need to have duplicate placemarks for every Geocache, one for each style defined above. Notice how the <TimeSpan> tags are contiguous from one style/placemark to the next. This makes the cool animation. I haven't figured out a way to make GE's animation any slower than it already is. I used a time difference of 2 weeks between each animation frame (placemark).

 

<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-04-12T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-04-26T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_10</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-04-26T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-05-10T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_9</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-05-10T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-05-24T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_8</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-05-24T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-06-07T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_7</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-06-07T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-06-21T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_6</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-06-21T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-07-05T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_5</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-07-05T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-07-19T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_4</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-07-19T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-08-02T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_3</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-08-02T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-08-16T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_2</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-08-16T00:00:00z</begin><end>2010-08-30T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_1</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>
<Placemark><TimeSpan><begin>2010-08-30T00:00:00z</begin><end>2011-12-11T00:00:00z</end></TimeSpan><styleUrl>#sh_1</styleUrl><Point><coordinates>-84.159283,39.645117,0</coordinates></Point></Placemark>

 

The above code is for just one geocache find. So you need to duplicate it for every find, with the beginning time of the first placemark being the date you found the cache. Doing this all by hand would be incredibly tedious, so I modified a Visual Basic script to make it for me. If some people want to send me an excel file with coordinates and dates I'll make one for you. Especially if you've gone on a lot of road trips :D

My brain hurts even more-

 

Edit: typed bran instead of brain

Edited by sword fern
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Thanks for sharing the technique! My map coverage is a lot less interesting than yours, unfortunately :)

 

(going to try my hand on a GSAK macro to generate this...)

That would be awesome!!!

 

The good thing with Google Earth is you can easily zoom in until your close enough to make it interesting :D

A GSAK macro would be awesome. I considered making one myself but you should go ahead because I'd probably never finish it. Let me know if you need any clarifications on the method. And like I said, it doesn't seem to work with newer versions of GE on the mac, but I'm probably just using some deprecated code.

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You can also use Google Earth in time lapse mode to create a video showing the chronological order your finds are made, displayed on a map. What I haven't figured out is how to make each dot appear then fade away.

 

This video shows the opening of Walmart stores across the U.S. That's sort of the effect I'm looking for.

 

 

One of the coolest mapping visualizations I've seen was one done that showed changes to OpenStreetMaps in Haiti just after the earthquake a couple of years ago. Before the quake there were only a few major roads mapped in the capital city. A call went out for people to help maps the city to help rescue efforts. Within 24 hours the results were amazing.

 

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