Jeopardy's Ken Jennings talks about GPS, Google Earth and more...

[+luvvinbird]

I just saw this on CNN. Ken Jennings

Edited December 20, 2011 by luvvinbird

[+lamoracke]

nothing on Geocaching in that article, so perhaps its best for off topics. However, there is some Geocaching references in that book he was there for. Have talked to him a few times about puzzles, though, did not realize it was him when I first talked to him.

 

Definitely feel like I am in the minority, knowing where all the countries are on a map, but I taught that to myself while being bored while being babysat as a kid.

[+hydnsek]

Definitely feel like I am in the minority, knowing where all the countries are on a map, but I taught that to myself while being bored while being babysat as a kid.

I knew all the countries as a kid, too, cos I collected stamps. I could've even told you which countries changed names/regimes during the '60s-'70s.

 

As for our local Jeopardy genius and geocacher, Ken Jennings, I just bought Mapheads for myself as a Christmas present after jcar told me he enjoyed it.

 

Ok, really I posted this so I could see how my shrunken avatar looks. At least it's in focus again, so I don't feel like I forgot to put my contacts in.

Edited December 21, 2011 by hydnsek

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Definitely feel like I am in the minority, knowing where all the countries are on a map, but I taught that to myself while being bored while being babysat as a kid.

I knew all the countries as a kid, too, cos I collected stamps. I could've even told you which countries changed names/regimes during the '60s-'70s.

 

As for our local Jeopardy genius and geocacher, Ken Jennings, I just bought Mapheads for myself as a Christmas present after jcar told me he enjoyed it.

 

Ok, really I posted this so I could see how my shrunken avatar looks. At least it's in focus again, so I don't feel like I forgot to put my contacts in.

 

I read Maphads awhile back and really enjoyed it. After reading his chapter about geocaching I came away with the impression that he really understands all the nuances of the game, mostly because he's not just writing about geocaching, but because he *is* a geocacher.

[+Andromeda321]

I asked for Mapheads for Christmas. I live out of the country so I could've just bought it on the Kindle months ago but then realized illustrations suck on a Kindle as they refuse to do high quality versions so folks can download them quicker, so decided to wait.

 

Crossing fingers that Santa listened!

[+tomfuller & Quill]

Was Santa good to you? I've had my copy of Maphead for over 2 weeks. There is only 1 graphic in chapter 10. The end of the chapter is Ken's experience doing a terrain 5 cache near a series of waterfalls.

The 1 minor error I have read so far is that he referred to Dave Ulmer as the grandfather of geocaching. In two paper logs I have seen Dave refers to himself as the "father of geocaching".

[+Andromeda321]

Indeed! Not at all that far yet cause there were a few other things under the tree to also enjoy, but enjoying the read so far.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Skimmed the book, read Chapter 10. Found it cool that I know most of the folks he talks about and have cached with several of them.

 

The Joy of Geocaching is also interesting if you want to read about the game and more cacher's experiences.

Edited December 27, 2011 by TheAlabamaRambler

[+Andromeda321]

Finally polished the book off! Rather nice description indeed about geocaching and even got two chuckles out of it- one regarding how people often place a geo prefix in front of words to the point of silliness, the other regarding his first FTF attempt.

 

Regarding the rest of the book, I rather enjoyed the chapter regarding visiting random countries just to say you did as I've done this for sure, and overall have a new nerd crush now, but some of the earlier chapters dragged a bit and smacked too much of trying to be an edgy Bill Bryson or some such but not quite succeeding. Would definitely recommend the book overall though.

[+Fredact]

Surprised there's not more discussion of Mapheads on this forum.

 

I got the book for Christmas (on audio), and am listening to it as I commute. Excellent, very entertaining, but then I love maps. Iidentify with him in almost every chapter--from loving maps as a kid, to being fascinated by historical maps, etc. When I got to the Geocaching chapter, it was as if I was reliving my own entry into the hobby--from what the heck is this, to holy cow this is great.

 

I highly recommend the book.