Law And Order

May 7, 2005

As cool as Sunday (May 8th's) episode of Law and Order may prove to be, I'm afraid that geocaching's purity and fun may be damaged by too much exposure. What twisted TV viewer will decide to ruin it for us? I hate to speculate, but I wish it could have remained a secret.

May 7, 2005

I too am a little concerned as to how they will show the sport. I will of course watch and I hope the game is seen in a positive light.

May 7, 2005

Thanks for agreeing. Even if it's shown in a positive light, who among the wackos out there watching the show will decide to join the game and ultimately end up ruining it somehow? I hope I'm being mistakenly paranoid here.

May 7, 2005

Geocaching isn't exactly a secret. Nothing that is all over the web is much of a secret... Unless they portray us to be a bunch of body hiding murderers, I don't think there will be a bad effect from the episode.

May 7, 2005

It's not the way that we geocachers are portrayed that worries me! It's the idea that someone (who wouldn't have known about geocaching otherwise) might decide to join in and throw some unpleasant or (heaven forbid) unthinkable twist into the game. I see horrendous regulations on the horizon as a result of abuse. Here's hoping I am very wrong about his.

3.8k · May 7, 2005

My guess is they will portray geocachers as a little geeky, but otherwise, pretty cool people. And as Gas Guys said, the game isn't a secret at all. Media all over the world are picking up on geocaching, and basically presenting it in a favorable light.

"Bad guys" getting into the sport is inevitable, as is the growing popularity and media coverage. I am not looking forward to that.

3.9k · May 7, 2005

I just hope that at no stage does the geocaching action take place within 1000 feet of a cemetery...

5k · May 7, 2005

I'm afraid that geocaching's purity and fun may be damaged by too much exposure.

That happened long, long ago.

Jamie

38.2k · May 7, 2005

Thanks for agreeing. Even if it's shown in a positive light, who among the wackos out there watching the show will decide to join the game and ultimately end up ruining it somehow? I hope I'm being mistakenly paranoid here.

How is it any different than TV news segments on geocaching and articles about geocaching in newspapers and nationally distributed magazines?

This stuff has been going on since the sport began and there are plusses and minuses. Negatively, it has exposed us to land managers where we were flying under the radar and yes, a handful of wackos have tried to ruin the sport in some areas.

As a positive, it legitimatizes the sport and brings in new blood. Without growth, the sport would have died a long time ago once the few participants found the few caches out there.

I think the positives far outweight the negatives.

May 7, 2005

I hope they use an ammo can for the cache, so that anyone who decides to start geocahing as a result of the show will follow suit. I love the clicking sound when you open an ammo can latch . . . it is the sound of victory.

May 7, 2005

I'm afraid that geocaching's purity and fun may be damaged by too much exposure.

That happened long, long ago.

Jamie

*sigh*

yeah, that's about right

3.9k · May 7, 2005

That happened long, long ago.

Jamie

It was on June 13, 2003 I believe.

6.7k · May 7, 2005

I wish it could have remained a secret.

A secret? From whom?! When five of us in Alabama learned that there was such a thing we immediately had a picnic to get to know one another, 20-something attended, soon formed an association and are now approaching 600 members, with a very publicized web page!

I do everything I can, as do most AGA members, to promote and introduce our game to the public.

We have been the subject of two internationally syndicated news articles and AGA geocachers have been featured in at least a dozen local-interest television and newspaper stories.

If this game's a secret it ain't our fault!

Having said all that we've had 2 TB Hotels (located very close together) and perhaps 5 (that I know of) muggled caches in three years and 1267 caches!

Anything open to the public will draw a few bad actors, but they soon dissapear and leave no lasting harm. Be not afraid of change, for it is inevitable - instead be a leader and keep the changes positive!

Ed

6.5k · May 7, 2005

That happened long, long ago.

Jamie

It was on June 13, 2003 I believe.

Of course it was

3k · May 7, 2005

I hate to speculate, but I wish it could have remained a secret.

If it was a secret, you probably wouldn't have discovered it, and neither would I.

Know what bothers me? There are other great activities going on all over the place which are secret, and since they are secret, I don't get to enjoy them!

At least, I think there are.

edit: must learn to read before submitting

Edited May 7, 2005 by cache_test_dummies

May 7, 2005

Thanks for agreeing. Even if it's shown in a positive light, who among the wackos out there watching the show will decide to join the game and ultimately end up ruining it somehow? I hope I'm being mistakenly paranoid here.

Well, the first time I ever heard of geocaching was on the Travel Channel. They had a 30 minute show a few years ago that showed how the 'rich' people had this game where they flew all over the world looking for 'treasures' hidden by other rich people.

I thought it sounded like a pretty good idea, so I searched on the Internet and found geocaching.com. :wub: I've been a law-abiding cacher ever since! (well most of the time)... :mad:

Since then, I've seen a few local newscasts do stories on geocaching. Most people i know consider it a "geeky" hobby, similiar to HAM radio or the like. The fact that you need to buy a GPS seems to turn off most people.

Who knows, maybe in a few years, we will be talking about the "Golden Days of Caching", - when it was pure.... and everyone signed logs, traded fairly, and never trespassed ....

May 7, 2005

I just hope the cache they show has some decent swag in it.

May 7, 2005

Actually, geocaching is an open secret. There are caches all over the place, and listed online, but very few people really know about them. At least in my area, Baton Rouge, there aren't very many cachers, and I'm always explaining what geocaching really is. Maybe I should just be quiet so we can remain an open secret. As for the "Golden Days" I suspect they lasted about a week.

Zephyr

Edited May 7, 2005 by Zephyrpl

11.3k · May 7, 2005

I was explaining this phenomenon to a friend . . . I told her to put her zip code into the search on the home page of GC.com . . . and she said it was like "some sort of alternate universe."

There are lots and lots of caches around the San Diego area and the portion of the population that know about them is probably below 1%.

9.4k · May 7, 2005

Thanks for agreeing. Even if it's shown in a positive light, who among the wackos out there watching the show will decide to join the game and ultimately end up ruining it somehow? I hope I'm being mistakenly paranoid here.

You found out about it. You could have been a wacko.

Think about it. It's not exactly like this is an exclusive club.

Fortunately there is still a barrier to entry right now (price of GPS). I'm more concerned about when cell phones have GPS units in them. That's when you'll see the "AOL affect"

No offense to AOL users.

3.9k · May 7, 2005

No offense to AOL users.

None will be taken. They won't understand the joke.

From what I've seen of cellphones with GPS built-in, the features are not suitable for geocaching. I've yet to see one where you could set a waypoint and go to it.

My car's built-in navigation system (Nissan Birdview) is cool, but the only evidence of lat/long is on the status page (with a couple of pretty flashing satellite icons), and even that's limited to displaying in dd.mm.ss format (so 25-30 metres each way). Even if I could remove it from the car, I couldn't go caching with it.

May 8, 2005

No offense to AOL users.

None will be taken. They won't understand the joke.

From what I've seen of cellphones with GPS built-in, the features are not suitable for geocaching. I've yet to see one where you could set a waypoint and go to it.

My car's built-in navigation system (Nissan Birdview) is cool, but the only evidence of lat/long is on the status page (with a couple of pretty flashing satellite icons), and even that's limited to displaying in dd.mm.ss format (so 25-30 metres each way). Even if I could remove it from the car, I couldn't go caching with it.

actualy i think nextell has one you can plug waypoints into. A felow cacher was asked by nextel to test one out for a mounth and see what she thought of it. Said it wasnt bad but she still liked here normal gps better. Also the cost of the phone is $300-400 much more exspencive then a gps.

As for more meda coverage I'm all for it. If it wasnt for the meda I would have never found this sport. Also at this point every couple weeks I har about a new story or broadcast about geocaching I think its great.

And one last note the more people that know about it In my view the less people will wory about people walking around with gps accting strange. Thuss less cop calls.

I understand your point of view but I think the benifits out weigh the potential probs.

May 8, 2005

I'm afraid that geocaching's purity and fun may be damaged by too much exposure.

That happened long, long ago.

Jamie

Yeah, it did... the hard-core purists out there insist that caches that DON'T require climbing gear, boats, 8-mile hikes (or all the above...) aren't "real" caches! :unsure: It may be that GC has gone too far the other way, making it very easy to post caches every(lightpole)where, but the 500' rule will help and the pendulum swings back and forth...

May 9, 2005

Well I found out about the sport just two months ago. Glad I got in under the wire of "Non Wacko-ness".

Seriously though... will peeps figure out that we are "For real" ? I mean will they figure out that Geocaching really does exist? Unlike "toothing" ?

The "Terminal Decision" plot was bogus. TerminalDecision.com links to L/O CI.

And that was just on in the past week.

Also. I dare open the can of worms. what was June 13 2003 or whatever?

6.5k · May 9, 2005

Well I found out about the sport just two months ago. Glad I got in under the wire of "Non Wacko-ness".

Seriously though... will peeps figure out that we are "For real" ? I mean will they figure out that Geocaching really does exist? Unlike "toothing" ?

The "Terminal Decision" plot was bogus. TerminalDecision.com links to L/O CI.

And that was just on in the past week.

Also. I dare open the can of worms. what was June 13 2003 or whatever?

How did you know this terminal whatever thing doesn't go anywhere?? :unsure:

May 9, 2005

May 9, 2005

No offense to AOL users.

None will be taken. They won't understand the joke.

From what I've seen of cellphones with GPS built-in, the features are not suitable for geocaching. I've yet to see one where you could set a waypoint and go to it.

My car's built-in navigation system (Nissan Birdview) is cool, but the only evidence of lat/long is on the status page (with a couple of pretty flashing satellite icons), and even that's limited to displaying in dd.mm.ss format (so 25-30 metres each way). Even if I could remove it from the car, I couldn't go caching with it.

I don't use waypoints anyway. I just follow the numbers and walk around in circles lol.

1.6k · May 9, 2005

ACK!

She bured the cache!

Wulf

1.3k · May 9, 2005

yep...looks like she had to dig it up first too....

4.8k · May 9, 2005

ACK!

She bured the cache!

Wulf

ACK!

May 9, 2005

man i though i was gona get the first post about it being beried

2.7k · May 9, 2005

Thanks for agreeing. Even if it's shown in a positive light, who among the wackos out there watching the show will decide to join the game and ultimately end up ruining it somehow? I hope I'm being mistakenly paranoid here.

You found out about it. You could have been a wacko.

Think about it. It's not exactly like this is an exclusive club.

Fortunately there is still a barrier to entry right now (price of GPS). I'm more concerned about when cell phones have GPS units in them. That's when you'll see the "AOL affect"

No offense to AOL users.

Don't forget the barrier of having access to a computer with Internet access and being able to interact with web pages.

May 9, 2005

I wanted to see if LO made Terminal Descison up or not. To see if we have problems to worry about...... but then they went and a cache burried......

Whats June 13 2003?

Law And Order

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