+flgAZ Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 As a cache owner it is interesting to know where my visitors hail from. But most people just put the bare minimum of information in their profiles. I don't think it would be too intrusive to require at least country and state. It's not like your giving too much away with "Bill from California". As it is now, if they don't put anything in the "location" field, you need to go to their profile then browse through their founds and look for what State they found most of their caches. I'm sure I'm not the only one doing this and it taking up some of the bandwidth of the website that could be used elsewhere. Link to comment
+bons Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 I realize that you would rather not abuse the server to appease your curiosity, but why give people another excuse to not get an account and not log finds online? Link to comment
CoyoteRed Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 "Mandatory" just for your curiosity? I think not. Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 This comes up every now and again. If you need to know ask. I do at least log caches. Link to comment
Jeremy Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 As cool as it may be, at Groundspeak we believe it is up to the user to determine whether they want to give out their personal information. If it takes additional bandwith to determine a user's stomping grounds, it's no big hit on our servers. Link to comment
+gnbrotz Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 And even if it were a required field, what's to keep folks from being dishonest? Even though I have my info listed, I could really be "Sandy from Saskatchewan" Link to comment
+fireflyfan Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 If you really want to know just look at the caches they have hidden. Since you must be able to maintain your hides you probably live nearby. Link to comment
Pto Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Since you must be able to maintain your hides you probably live nearby. That isn't always true. "Minnesota" is about all you could figure out from looking thru This Cachers' Stats. Of course, thats a unique situation, but the approvers have allowed almost state wide hides, so . . . . .. Link to comment
+flgAZ Posted May 19, 2004 Author Share Posted May 19, 2004 This comes up every now and again. If you need to know ask. I do at least log caches. Thanks for the replies. I've had my caches out in the wild for a few months and in that short of time, I've gotten all kinds of different kind of finders (except the stealing kind, crossing my fingers). The active ones, a few being their first, and a couple who don't log on the site, but do log on paper. If mine is their first find, I do send a welcoming email. Why I brought this subject up. I got a log from a finder that I did not recognize their user name and they had 6 finds and I just happened to look at their profile. It said they had 1 find in Arizona and 5 finds in England. They were on vacation to the Grand Canyon. If you travel over 5000 miles to snag a find, Me thinks you deserve an extra pat on the back and I almost missed it (I did email them, and we had a pleasant email exchange). Since it has been awhile I went through the registration process I logged out and went through the first 3 pages of the registration. That thing is really well crafted as to assuring privacy (and the commitment Groundspeak abides to it). Mandatory was too Strong a word to use, just wondering if the third page of the registration process might be tweaked to encourage some input. Like put the box to release personal email address to the bottom of the page. As it is now it is the first choice. I don't even want to release my email address. If location was first perhaps more people would put something in that boxes until it got down to something they felt uncomfortable sharing, then they would stop. Link to comment
+fireflyfan Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Of course, thats a unique situation, but the approvers have allowed almost state wide hides, so . . . . .. However, the original poster was just looking for state information not street address: I don't think it would be too intrusive to require at least country and state. It's not like your giving too much away with "Bill from California". So, most likely, cache hides would give him this information Link to comment
+rusty_tlc Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 I recognize most of the local cachers now. If I see a different name I know its either an out of towner or a new player in town. Of course being located in the City of Reno, County of Washoe, State of Nevada, in the USA, most people log somthing like "In town for the weekend and found your cache." anyway. Link to comment
+Alan2 Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 (edited) I think it's more helpful in the forums. Knowing where a person is from helps when they post things like"I never lose locks with my etrex". Knowing the guy is from New Mexico in the south by desert would mean one thing and another if he lived in PA with all the woods. Many answers lose their meaning out of context if location is not given. Most times I won't look up their logs to try to determine where they hail from. I just skip their posts with their suggestions or point of view. I think that's unfortunate because often their posts would be very informative if you knew where they were from. Also, location adds a "face" on the poster and make the forum more of a community. Alan Edited May 20, 2004 by Alan2 Link to comment
+rusty_tlc Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 A very good point. Suggesting cookie tins for cacher in FL would be bad, around here they could last for decades. I cover that by putting my location in my sig line, I'd markwell the thread I got that from but I'm feeling lazy. Link to comment
+Team GPSaxophone Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 I think it's more helpful in the forums. Knowing where a person is from helps when they post things like"I never lose locks with my etrex". Knowing the guy is from New Mexico in the south by desert would mean one thing and another if he lived in PA with all the woods. Many answers lose their meaning out of context if location is not given. Yeah, pick on the guy living in New Mexico Actually, I don't lose lock. In our "woods", trees grow only 10 feet tall and don't grow close to each other. Link to comment
+TEAM 360 Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Actually, I don't lose lock. Then what excuse are you using for not being able to find any caches? Oh, I forgot....you have a Garmin.... Link to comment
+Team GPSaxophone Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Actually, I don't lose lock. Then what excuse are you using for not being able to find any caches? Oh, I forgot....you have a Garmin.... Uh, you're the one with no finds... Link to comment
+TEAM 360 Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Uh, you're the one with no finds... Yep, and PROUD OF IT Where have I been? How many have I found? Only the Shadow knows, cuz ya can't track me! Link to comment
+New England n00b Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 As a cache owner it is interesting to know where my visitors hail from. But most people just put the bare minimum of information in their profiles. I don't think it would be too intrusive to require at least country and state. It's not like your giving too much away with "Bill from California".As it is now, if they don't put anything in the "location" field, you need to go to their profile then browse through their founds and look for what State they found most of their caches. I'm sure I'm not the only one doing this and it taking up some of the bandwidth of the website that could be used elsewhere. Mandatory, huh? If that ever happens (and Jeremy said it wouldn't), I'll go "Team 360" all over this site. Gad, I hate peoples nosiness. Link to comment
WH Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 I have no problem telling you where I'm from but making it mandatory would only drive people away. Indulging your curiosity is no excuse to invade someones privacy. Link to comment
+TotemLake Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Agreed. If you're really curious about that person, you'll go to their profile and read their logs. That'll give you general idea of their location and what they like or don't like all at the same time. Even asking the person would be more socially acceptable over making it mandatory in a profile. I just cringe when people feel a need to make things beyond the basics mandatory. Link to comment
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