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New type of cache: First Webcam cache?


Guest leskowitz

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Guest leskowitz

I think I created a new type of cache. I have not seen another one out there yet. I got the idea when my brother was in London this week. I took his pictue from the webcam outside a London pub. I plan on caching it too when I get the coordinates. Anyone knows map of London that show coordinates.

See the first webcam cache at here in Houston at http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=8671&Nocache=0.7055475

I am not very good at html so somehow I messed the page up a little. I hope people will upload their pictures. This one should put me in geocaching history.

 

Jeremy what do you think of a new cache type?

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Guest Peter Scholtz

I've got a webcam focussed on Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. As most of my caches are in this area, I include a web cam picture on each of my caches in the area. At least you can check what the weather is like. I'll need a telescope connected to my web cam to see any of my caches ...

 

For example: Cape Town City Bowl Multi-Stage Micro-Cache

 

Table Moutain Web Cam

 

------------------

Peter Scholtz

www.biometrics.co.za

 

[This message has been edited by Peter Scholtz (edited 12 October 2001).]

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Guest Markwell

I saw this cache come up today, and it really got me thinking. I plan on doing a knock-off of it (maybe with some possible improvements due to the available webcam) around my area. Watch for it soon and I'll post the link here.

 

Very cool! icon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gif

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Guest Markwell

I saw this cache come up today, and it really got me thinking. I plan on doing a knock-off of it (maybe with some possible improvements due to the available webcam) around my area. Watch for it soon and I'll post the link here.

 

Very cool! icon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gif

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Guest leskowitz

You guys know that caching webcams can be big, right? Think about all the webcams that are out there. This could be a whole seperate hobby. www.camcaching.com. Wait until the gps comes on phones, mark my words, this is the next coming.

 

Another idea I had is if somehow you could send a email from the cell phone to trigger the web page that showing the camera to be save. That would be a bonus. Then would not need anyone to help you get the image.

 

Jeremy can make a deal with snapfish/photopoint to store the photos and get money off reprints. There is an angle for you, free of charge.

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I worked on a similar idea using WAP enabled phones and locally placed webcams. I'll have to dig up the code. It was a neat idea, but I figured some things out:

 

1. WAP Sucks

2. Nobody uses WAP.

3. WAP really sucks.

 

J

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Hmm... I do have some other ideas on how to make this work. Maybe I'll add the features to the web site. It would be nice to document all the web cameras' field of vision and allow people to remotely "shoot" themselves. I'll see what I can work on.

 

The code did work, and I was able to shoot downtown's Pike Place market. Unfortunately I was in the Bagel Shop slightly out of view. But if everyone created a banner with their username and flashed it for the camera, that'd be pretty fun.

 

Here's a link to my playaround code. I believe the posting of webcams still work, though I can't verify it at the moment.

 

http://www.Groundspeak.com/snapme/

 

Jeremy

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Guest Peter Scholtz

What a fun idea!

 

I'd imagine a database of longitudes/latitudes of where you will be in the web cams view.

 

Then you need to save the picture to the cam cache details page via some device ...

 

The only limiting factor would be how to activate the capture of a picture.

 

I can send email and ICQ with my cell phone via SMS. Or I can use my phone and Palm and use a browser. WAP is also an option. I tested geocaching.com/wap successfully.

 

------------------

Peter Scholtz

www.biometrics.co.za

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Guest leskowitz

The picture is in. Someone hit my London cache and took a picture of themselves Link above. It almost counts. I can't wait until we have cachers mooning the webcam. That can be a new sport.

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Good job MW,

 

That looks like it will be a fun cache to watch. With the interactive pan/zoom feature it should give everyone lots of options for posing in creative ways. I wonder who will "MOON" the cache camera first? icon_biggrin.gif

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Good job MW,

 

That looks like it will be a fun cache to watch. With the interactive pan/zoom feature it should give everyone lots of options for posing in creative ways. I wonder who will "MOON" the cache camera first? icon_biggrin.gif

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Guest glenn95630

I?m trying to get a handle on these webcam things. As far as I can tell there are six.

 

The one in London

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=8697

 

The one in Chicago

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=8943

 

The one in Houston

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=8671

 

The one in the Netherlands

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=8924

 

The one in Belgium

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=9131

 

and the one in Sacramento

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=9342

 

Are there any others out there?

 

Thanks, Glenn95630

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Guest glenn95630

I showed a (non-geocaching) friend these web-cam geocaches and we played around with the webcams for awhile. Then he asked me, ?Did someone invent these in case the government turns on the Selective Availability again or were these invented as ?beginner caches? for kids or people who don?t know how to use GPS units??

 

I told him that these were considered geocaches with a different twist.

 

He asked, ?Isn?t a basic assumption of a geocache, something that a GPS unit would help you find? Why are these considered geocaches? The finder does not need a GPS unit.?

 

He then went on and said that these look more like something the Tourism Board would put on their web sites. He used a made up example that went like this...

 

"The Chicago Tourism Board has made up a Chicago Scavenger Hunt. Can you find the location shown in the photo and map below? Go to TrueLook's® Chicago View and use the view finder panorama at bottom of screen to gather more info (camera's default direction looks northwest)."

 

Anyway, I?m having trouble explaining to him why it is important to use a GPS unit to find these locations. Can somebody help me out? Or if you agree with my friend, that would be interesting to hear about also.

 

Glenn

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Guest Growley

Sorry, don't have link-posting abilities. Here are the names for the North Carolina Webcam Caches:

 

Mountaineer Cache-Cam GC25D2

Catamount Cache-Cam GC25B6

Catamount Cache-Cam #2 GC25B7

Sun n' Surf Cache-Cam GC2585

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Guest Markwell

I probably come across a little defensive here, but here goes...

 

Since I put up the Chicago one, I'll anty up. With most of the cam-caches (mine included) and virtual caches, there's a verification that can only be solved by visiting that particular lat/lon. Can you tell me the month and year the man entered the cosmos?

 

The same argument of not needing a GPS could be said about basically ANY virtual cache. For example, I could say, "Go to the visitor center and hike north about 50 steps, cross the bridge and follow the path. This will lead you to a pavillion. Inside the roof of a pavillion is a code number for the shelter. Take that code back to the visitor center and get your prize." While this description is not on a cache, if you used the maps on the website and the description above, you could claim your prize without even turning on your GPS. Instead, the creator of that cache only gives the coordinates and indicates that there's a four digit code at the site.

 

Likewise, good cam-caches have the finder verify his/her location with something that resides at that location.

 

IMHO, this is no different from setting up a virtual cache at Old Faithful in Yellowstone, (since real caches aren't allowed) and allowing the seekers to verify their presence through a specific code visible from the location.

 

While this is not really a "cache" per se, neither is ANY virtual cache.

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Guest glenn95630

I'm a little confused by part of the last post. Does the post say that most virtual caches don't require a GPS unit or is the post saying that most virtual caches could have detailed instructions added to the cache descriptions so that a GPS unit would not be required?

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Guest Markwell

Forgive my incoherent ramblings. I'll try to clarify.

 

What I was trying to say was that (by giving an example) I could have very easily turned a virtual cache into something that is NOT a cache by just giving a detailed description. This is comparable to the Chicago Tourism parallel that you mentioned.

 

My point was that in the Chicago Cache-Cam (Cam-Cache?), I made it so that you HAD to use your GPSr to verify that you had been to that location. The verification requires you to go to those precise coordinates and answer a question. The only reason I didn't put a cache there was that the area is so wide open and public that I was sure a cache would be gone within days of being planted.

 

The muddled examples I gave were to illustrate that I agree with the fact that just naming a place and having a web-cam there (IMO) does NOT constitute a cache. Nor does giving specific instructions in how to get there without the need of a GPSr (that's a letterbox).

 

For more talk about what constitutes a virtual cache, Jeremy started a thread over here.

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Guest EyezOfTheWorld

quote:
Originally posted by leskowitz:

You guys know that caching webcams can be big, right? Think about all the webcams that are out there. This could be a whole seperate hobby. Wait until the gps comes on phones, mark my words, this is the next coming.


 

Why would I need GPS on my phone??? Why would I need it when I'm sitting in my living room talking to someone, it more than likely won't work indoors and how many people are going to ask me, "Where are you exactly right now?" And if for some moronic reason someone did ask me that, couldn't i just grab my Garmin?

 

Oh wait... you mean GPS on a cell phone? It almost sounds like you're assuming everyone has one or should. Many people, like me, don't own one. Many people, also like me, have no desire to ever own one and think they're a mostly useless waste of money. (You know, I've actually had people think I'm an idiot for not owning one.)

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Guest rockamole

We have a number of webcams on the local beaches in Florida. New Smyrna Beach and also South Daytona. Waterproof GPS on a surfboard?

Perhaps the first SurfCache. Only time will tell.

 

Rockamole'

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