Barcode cache type? Use smart phone QR reader ap

[+TomToad]

Here's another thought. If your goal is to bring people to a location where a physical cache is not allowed, there are already ways to do that. If you can get permission for a laminated tag, just make a multicache. Put the final coordinates on the tag and place the cache in a convenient location. Also, you can do a Wherigo or an offset cache, neither require anything physical to be placed at the location except the final, which can be anywhere.

[+hzoi]

It was even difficult to convince many parks to accept earthcaches. It took me six months to get the first one approved at the Grand Canyon. It took even longer for Yosemite to approve the first one. The manager of federal lands in my area told me he would be never approve physical containers and I doubt he would see much difference with QR codes. But at the same time, who is to say what is restricted? Some national parks in the US have begun to accept physical containers.

 

It's nice to see that things are changing. It took a few phone calls and emails, but I was able to get two earthcaches approved out at Dry Tortugas National Park four weeks after I first contacted park staff. Made phone calls and followed up with emails on January 28th, did some back and forth coordinating with the site supervisors, and got the go ahead last Thursday. Got them published this past weekend.

 

I'm willing to bet it would not have gone as smoothly if I was the first guy to ask, so I definitely appreciate your efforts with Grand Canyon and Yosemite.

[+northernpenguin]

I toyed around with the "other" game that uses barcodes. The net effect around here is that we have spent a few outings where we did nothing but walk between lamp posts in a parking lot for an entire evening, and we didn't get the parking lot cleared out.

 

In my opinion, the barcode cache would become the new "nano" and would cause another explosion of not-thought-out hides or fuel the numbers game. I would rather keep geocaching about the caches. Some of us are still caching for the experience over the numbers.

[+wuliwup]

A compromise would be physical caches with a QR-Code instead of a logbook. Especially a nano with a QR-Code would make sense, becaus it is often not very funny to get out the logbook (especialle in winter).

[+northernpenguin]

A compromise would be physical caches with a QR-Code instead of a logbook. Especially a nano with a QR-Code would make sense, becaus it is often not very funny to get out the logbook (especialle in winter).

 

Right. Because the logs that say "+1", "TFTC", "." are already too wordy.

 

Call me old fashioned, but I really like when people sit down and write things in logbooks. Failing that, as most caches these days are sign and run off to the next one, I at least like to see how people scribe their handles in the log books, different inks, stickers, handwriting styles. It adds a bit to see that different people with different stories have been to that spot.

[team tisri]

A compromise would be physical caches with a QR-Code instead of a logbook. Especially a nano with a QR-Code would make sense, becaus it is often not very funny to get out the logbook (especialle in winter).

 

... aside from the practical issues of printing a QR code small enough to fit into a nano and taking a picture of it tucked inside the cap of a nano.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

A compromise would be physical caches with a QR-Code instead of a logbook. Especially a nano with a QR-Code would make sense, becaus it is often not very funny to get out the logbook (especialle in winter).

 

... aside from the practical issues of printing a QR code small enough to fit into a nano and taking a picture of it tucked inside the cap of a nano.

 

and that would be one of the only reasons I would support some sort of QR code based location game. It might be interesting to see how creative people could be in placing a QR someplace that be difficult to find or involved all sorts of contortions in order to scan it. Unfortunately, it would be far more likely that we' see QR code stickers slapped on the base of every lightpost in a parking lot.

[+northernpenguin]

A compromise would be physical caches with a QR-Code instead of a logbook. Especially a nano with a QR-Code would make sense, becaus it is often not very funny to get out the logbook (especialle in winter).

 

... aside from the practical issues of printing a QR code small enough to fit into a nano and taking a picture of it tucked inside the cap of a nano.

 

and that would be one of the only reasons I would support some sort of QR code based location game. It might be interesting to see how creative people could be in placing a QR someplace that be difficult to find or involved all sorts of contortions in order to scan it. Unfortunately, it would be far more likely that we' see QR code stickers slapped on the base of every lightpost in a parking lot.

 

Yup. Got that t-shirt. Came right back to geocaching after that night - one night in a parking lot and never cleared it out. Now the upside is security doesn't care much about people waving phones about as they didn't bother hiding the QR codes.

 

I am much happier cracking open a logbook, even if it's a rolled up one in a nano it is still part of the game to, you know, log the cache.

[+Pink Paisley]

As this debate goes on, I found myself thinking that it would be a good idea for use as a method of logging caches by phone. And then thinking about just how this would work in practice.

 

The problem of using the technique in a nano or even a film can has been covered. And we all know that film cans suck in water but never spit it out. I can see that in no time there would be QR codes that are wet, de-laminated, unreadable. And would the initially enthusiastic wannabe M*nz** setter be committed to replacing the pseudo M*nz**? Would they decide not to bother maintaining when there was a wet or full log book because there was a M*nz** in there - which may be useless to many geocachers?

 

I was warming to the idea of these but when I think it through, I see no benefit at all over the old virtual or an earthcache or as suggested a thoughtfully placed multi (however, we do know that multies just take too much time for some people to bother with don't we.)?

 

My initial thought was 'please no!'. I was coming round to the idea. I am back to thinking 'please no' again. This is a complication for the sake of using a technology that we just don't need. Wherigos have hardly been a resounding success have they?

 

And as I mentioned before, there are already M*nz**s out there. If that is what you are after and add up both of your scores if that is what floats your boat.

 

PP.