Wheresgeorge.com

[+YodaDoe]

Well, I managed to obtain "hot topic" status on only my second original post, so I feel empowered to overstay my welcome...

 

I have been a participant of WheresGeorge.com (W.G. from here on out) for about three years now -- have entered over 10k bills. And I participate in the forum there pretty regularly. So I have read many threads about geocaching there. I am interested to know what opinions this community has about WheresGeorge.com, specifically, the practice of putting W.G. bills into geocaches. I've searched the forum here and not found a satisfactory answer to my question. (I placed a couple of W.G.-marked $2 bills in my cache this weekend!)

 

I do want to mention that I know about the so-called conflict in guidelines between geocaching and "georging." Hank (owner of the W.G. site) has stated that he has no problem with the placement of W.G. bills in geocaches. He simply disables those particular bills from eligibility from the "Top Bills" lists. The conflict comes when W.G. bills are treated as Travel Bugs. The guidelines at this website apparently state that you can pass the bug around between friends so everyone can log it. But doing this with a W.G. bill violates an important (and enforced) rule at W.G. that you cannot give a bill to someone specifically so that they can re-enter it. (Many abuses of the website have prompted the enforcement of this rule.) So unless someone actually uses a W.G. bill as an official Travel Bug, this should not even BE a conflict. The concept of tracking currency with W.G. may be similar to Travel Bugs, but that doesn't mean they ARE Travel Bugs. And just 'cause a W.G. bill is found in a geocache doesn't mean you can go onto the W.G. website and ignore the guidelines for the use of that website....

 

So anyway, sorry for the slight tangent, there. I promise that I won't get offended if you want to vent your spleen about W.G. here. But I will respectively defend W.G. if I deem it unfair. And feel free to ask me any questions about W.G. here, or privately. Thanks,

 

YodaDoe

 

P.S. If you're interested, here is my W.G. profile.

[+bigredmed]

When I see them in a cache or in circulation, I spend them without registering them. I don't want to sign up and thus I can't track the bills I put in. If I am out on a cache hunt and find a bill in cache 1 and put it into cache 4, I can't register the bill later as I have to have posession of it at the time of registering.

 

Mostly I just don't care for all the pop-ups and flash ads on the site. If they have a problem with geocachers, particularly those who hunt them like I do, where I may go for 5-10 in a day, so be it, but I won't be registering bills or accessing their site.

[+YodaDoe]

I don't want to sign up and thus I can't track the bills I put in.  If I am out on a cache hunt and find a bill in cache 1 and put it into cache 4, I can't register the bill later as I have to have posession of it at the time of registering.

 

In case you wish to know, there is a reason why you aren't allowed to enter a bill if you don't have it in your possession. It's possible that someone else could find and enter that bill before you could get home to enter it yourself. The result would be an inaccurate account of the bills' travels.

 

Yes, the pop-ups and all that suck. I joined the $6/month membership to make them go away, since I use the site so much.

 

Anyway, I'm just telling you these things for general information. Thanks for your comments.

 

YodaDoe

Edited January 21, 2004 by YodaDoe

[+The Cheeseheads]

I usually don't move bills from cache to cache. If I take one from a cache, I'll log it in, then spend it like normal. I "george" my own bills as well, and occasionally put them into caches, but not usually.

 

I agree that using bills as TBs is probably not what the WG owner had in mind, but what can you do? I can't see WG bills making too big of an impact on the site, as it would seem that after being placed in a few caches, they would eventually be found by someone who just says "Ohh... money!" and keeps it, just like what happens to TBs now and then.

[+briansnat]

They're very popular in NJ. Most of the veteran geocachers trade them, some exclusively. Any cache is bound to have $2-$5 worth of georges in it. I don't usually move them from cache to cache. I add an item and take a George or two and release them back into the wild (hey, find 2 caches and you've paid for breakfast ). I do make sure I log them on the site...and I agree that it stinks with all those pop up ads, but I'm only on it for a minute or two every few days, so it isn't a big deal to me.

 

They are also great for traveling. When I went to Sacramento last summer, I didn't have room to bring a lot of trade items, so I registered $50 worth of georges and used them in caches. And if you find something really nice in the cache that you want, you don't feel bad taking it if you're leaving 6 or 7 georges. They also have the benefit of fitting nicely into micros.

Edited January 21, 2004 by briansnat

[+E = Mc2]

I tried registering with their site the other day, and I still couldn't get anything done. It seems that you MUST view the pop-up ads and also allow them to put cookies on your drive. Until this point, I had never handled them, but I picked one up in Clevland, OH last week and put it in a cache in KY. I like the idea of putting them in caches, but their web site has put me off WG until they clean up their act... or at least the website!

[+fosterbass]

I don't enter all my money into wheresgeorge like some people do, but I always take one or two registered dollars with me when caching. Most of the caches around here have nothing but crap in them, so rather than trade nothing, I'll swap dollars. It's nice to be able to make a trade - for the sake of trading - even when the local cachers have all traded down.

[+yumitori]

I trade WG dollars in and out of caches, but I don't get around to registering them on the site. As others have mentioned, it's just too inconvenient most of the time...

[+wimseyguy]

I'll log bills that pass across my desk at my restaurant onto WG, but I don't start any bills myself-I see too much cash already.

I'll trade for a WG bill I find in a cache since I usually have some gold weegie$'s with me. If that isn't trade fairly I'm not sure what would be.

I do make a point of logging these bills into WG.com.

I find it mildly interesting to track the money.

I think TB's are one of the best parts of geocaching too. (Besides the hunt of course.)

Edited January 21, 2004 by wimseyguy

[dead_white_man]

When I see them in a cache or in circulation, I spend them without registering them. I don't want to sign up and thus I can't track the bills I put in. If I am out on a cache hunt and find a bill in cache 1 and put it into cache 4, I can't register the bill later as I have to have posession of it at the time of registering.

 

Mostly I just don't care for all the pop-ups and flash ads on the site. If they have a problem with geocachers, particularly those who hunt them like I do, where I may go for 5-10 in a day, so be it, but I won't be registering bills or accessing their site.

I do wg and enjoy tracking my bills. I don't notice any pop-ups as I have a pop-up killer on my browser. I never get pop-ups!

[+rover-r-us]

i do make a piont of logging G.W. and then spend the money on food

[+Sparky-Watts]

I've found a couple of WG bills in caches, one I traded for, the other I left. I, too, log most of my own bills on their site, but it's just a time-killer for me more than a hobby. Just way too far between hits to be exciting enough for me.

[+E = Mc2]

To add insult to injury, when I complained about the fact that I could not navigate their web site, I got a VERY insulting email from 'Hank'. In it, he basically called me an idiot for not wasting my time wandering about the site trying to find an answer. Then he went on to say that my attitude needed adjusting, and that he didn't want my support. Well, ^$%# me! I guess he won't get my support in any fashion, monetary or otherwise!

[+carleenp]

I try to avoid WG dollars because, like others, I don't like dealing with the pop-ups on the site and generally find the site difficult to navigate. So, if I see a WG in a cache, I leave it there. If I accidentally come across one in circulation, I go and log it. That has only happened a few times.

[+Divine]

I am interested to know what opinions this community has about WheresGeorge.com, specifically, the practice of putting W.G. bills into geocaches.

I really can't tell much about my W.G. opinions, because I don't have many, but maybe you'd like to hear my Eurobilltracker opinions?

 

I've entered only two WG$ into system, other of which I found in a geocache here in Finland. Now, looking back, I probably wouldn't entered it at the first place for two reasons: 1) Finland is one location only in WG.com. When someone else entered the bill later, it didn't move at all at the site, though in reality it moved more than 200 km. 2) I just don't consider getting a hit from a bill that moves from a geocache to another wit hinstructions to enter it in WG.com as a very interesting hit.

 

Eurobilltracker is heavily moderated system. They're listing only the interesting hits. They moderate all hits which seem to be born from deliberate moving of bills. That is, if I entered my Euros there, and handed them to my brother afterwards to enter them there so that we could get hits, the hits will get moderated. That's why the current top amount of hits is only 3, and there are only 3 of such bills listed. When the first geocache-Euro appeared, they let it get three hits, but moderated it off the interesting hits list when the fourth hit came. (Of course, one of the reason for such a small amount of hits is also due to the young age of Euro currency.)

 

EBT.com doesn't encourage its members to write or stamp anything on bills either, mainly because messed bills (ones with e.g. writing on them) are bound to get removed from the circulation by bank offices.

 

My opinions (finally ) on entering EBT bills: I try to enter every bill I get into my hands. That means I also visit my wife's pockets every now and then. I really don't consider it an interesting hit if I tried to force hits somehow, like writing URL on them, or putting them to geocaches expecting people to enter them again. I know many people say any circulation is normal circulation, but to me not all circulation is interesting. Putting a bill to a geocache for others to enter would be same if I gave bills to my friends and told them to enter them. If someone enters 'my' bill without knowing it's entered before that's interesting.

 

Just my 2 Euro cents (about 2,5 US cents).

[+beejay&esskay]

I discovered geocaching.com while I was searching the WG site, so I have some fondness for their site.

 

When I find a WG dollar in a cache, I log that and put it in the next reasonable cache.

 

I also log my "normal" money, although I don't add the URL. Still waiting for a "naked George" to be logged by someone else.

 

Recent (1-2 months ago) changes to the WG site make it much easier to enter multiple bills.

[+bob393]

I log them and spend them. I have put several hundred out on my own and don't see too many logs come back.