All About Geocaching? 80
It doesn't come easy wonders: "While surfing the net, I ran across this commentary on Geocaching by Erin Joyce. My wife is keen on trying Geocaching one of these days and I began to wonder if anyone on Slashdot participates in this pastime? If you do, what do you use (equipment-wise) and what's your opinion on the sport?"
Satellite-assisted wandering (Score:2)
Have you tried the FAQ? (Score:5, Informative)
Personally, I think it's fun, except when I see a lot of people walking noisily to a location, with a handheld GPS out in the open, etc. The idea is to be circumspect and enjoy the environment or the weird urban places you visit, not how quickly you can cross a cache off your list as a hit. And when you're obvious about it, people who aren't geocachers might go looking for the cache and destroy it or walk off with it. It happens a lot.
Re:Have you tried the FAQ? (Score:2)
Some of the "virtual cache" places in urban areas are cool.
This word already has a definition. (Score:2, Troll)
Geocaching is transparently caching an origin server so that the content is being served from somewhere close to the person seeking it. It's what Akamai do for Microsoft and Yahoo and Apple etc. with their Linux boxes.
Geocaching is not wandering around with a GPS.
Pick another word.
Re:This word already has a definition. (Score:2)
Re:This word already has a definition. (Score:2)
I posit that pastime names are like trademarks: priority is won by predominant use, not the earliest use. The predominant use of "geocaching" is for hiding and finding kits of stuff via latitude/longitude coordinates - not a technique in a niche techology. This predominance is clearly indicated by Google, by wikipedia, and by DNS entries for geocaching.
Given these circumstances, your response does not constitute an interesting riposte, but m
Re:This word already has a definition. (Score:2)
Yes, language is dictated by use. It doesn't mean that the people used to the orginal definition of a word don't have thr right to be annoyed when the word is used to describe something else.
If I'm a snob, your assumption that I don't have that right makes you a fascist. And portrays you in an unfavorable light.
Re:This word already has a definition. (Score:2)
You have an unfettered right to act as you wish. I was merely advising you how you appeared to some of us.
- David Stein
Oh, you think I'm the one who called it that? (Score:4, Interesting)
The name's been used for this since 2000 [wikipedia.org]. Even the whois for the domain name reports it was registered July 3rd of that year.
Put "akamai geocaching" into Google. There's nothing about geographically-based content delivery, there, at least not on the front page. Put "geocaching" into the search engine at akamai.com: nothing there, either. And to answer your follow-up post, try "bind geocaching" and "squid geocaching," also. Guess what Webster's [reference.com] says?
If I sound slightly annoyed, it's because I expected someone to do a little more thinking and research before telling me that hundreds of thousands of people are misusing the term. You're a little early for Troll Tuesday.
Re:Oh, you think I'm the one who called it that? (Score:2)
I didn't. That was you as in 'vous'. The collective one. I just wanted to post on top of the thread.
When I Google for geocaching, the first page is an article about the thing that's being talked about here, and it says the 'first thing I thought of was Akamai'. I expected you to do a little more research.
People have been using geocaching as a type of caching since before 2000. I guess Akamai are tired of people using their term. A technical site with an article tha
Re:Oh, you think I'm the one who called it that? (Score:2)
I did. I don't get the same links you did, obviously. Please provide a link to the article you found on the front page of Google that refers to your definition of geocaching, since my search keeps bringing up the one I'm talking about.
Re:Oh, you think I'm the one who called it that? (Score:2)
If you search for NT on Google you might get lots of articles about Windows NT or the Northern Territory in Australia, or other uses of 'NT'. That doesn't make one of them wrong. Nor does it mean I should come up with an OS and call it NT.
Re:This word already has a definition. (Score:2)
Anyone going to find my NailerFellatesHorse today?
Re:This word already has a definition. (Score:2)
The domain is available in all the major top levels (.com, .net, .org), so sounds good to me.
Re:This word already has a definition. (Score:2)
Re:This word already has a definition. (Score:2)
Obviously.
Re:This word already has a definition. (Score:1)
Computers already have a few homonyms anyway, like "key". I press a key to create a letter, and I use a key to encrypt a letter to Grandma.
I've gone a few times (Score:4, Informative)
Of course, I'm into the tech- technically, all you need is one of those cheap $50 recievers that gives you your current coordinates, speed and direction. But that's doing it the hard way.
Re:I've gone a few times (Score:2)
Re:I've gone a few times (Score:5, Interesting)
For some of us, it's the fun way, the more adventurous way. Go find that path. While you're looking around, you might learn a lot more about the place you're in, whether it be a park, a shopping center parking lot, etc.
Re:I've gone a few times (Score:3, Informative)
My one problem, I've yet to find a good way to carry everything- I'm thinking about putting some velcro on the shoulder of my ScottEVest so I get better GPS data (just velcro the GPS unit to my shoulder, turn it on and off I go).
Re:I've gone a few times (Score:3, Informative)
If you think that you want a shovel to geocache, you'd probably better re-read the listing guidelines [geocaching.com]:
"Caches may be quickly archived if we see the following
Definitely a universal rule for geocaching (Score:2)
Not just the "geocache.com" listings either, in case it isn't obvious to anyone - "burying" a cache (partially or otherwise - basically anything that requires cutting into the ground) seems to be universally considered, at the very least, "bad etiquette" (and is quite probably illegal on a lot of public land). Cache placement should disturb the area
Re:I've gone a few times (Score:2)
I'll trust that to be up to date and complete when Hell freezes over.
But that's doing it the hard way.
Going on a roundabout walk through marked trails seems harder than making a beeline for the cache. You sound like a typical city slicker.
Speaking of easy, why not just log the find without ever visiting it?
Good times. (Score:3, Interesting)
I use a Magellan Meridian Pro. Does a decent job for my purposes.
Staff too long!They're digging in the wrong place! (Score:3, Interesting)
It's treasure hunting. The idea that there are thousands upon thousands of hidden capsules with little pieces of plastic, burned cds full of pictures, half used disposable cameras hidden in urban and rural settings hints towards a magical realm which is only available to those who are willing to look.
The possiblities and types of caches are endless. It is an excuse to explore your outside world is terrific. It will not appeal to everyone, nor should it, but it is a way of exploring the world that does very little harm.
Also see: Letterboxing (Score:2)
Letterboxing is less tech, more puzzle solving.
Both get you out of the house looking for hidden "treasures".
Also see: Armchair Treasure Hunting, where you solve puzzles, usually in a book, to find REAL treasure buried or hidden somewhere.
Examples: Masquerade, David Blaine's Mysterious Stranger, etc.
I'd provide links, but given the topic, you should be able to find your own way with just some clues!
Re:Also see: Letterboxing (Score:2)
Letterboxing (.org if you are too lazy to google) is great fun, and I'd venture to say somewhat more challenging IMHO than Geocaching, since you aren't given exact coordinates. Rather, you get clues (look for the 10th tree, go west 100 paces, etc) which can be rather fun to figure out, and sometimes downright frustrating.
Definitely a fun time.
Great Family time (Score:3, Interesting)
We use a Magellan SportTrak for our adventures.
I work for a defense contractor that makes GPS units for the military but I haven't taken one of the handheld units out for a test drive yet.
Navicache.com (Score:2)
I personally was seriously turned off by the terms of service of the commercial "geocache.com"[1] (complete with the traditional "all your copyright are belong to us" provisions and "only premium subscribers can see this cache data" sections, and the proprietary fit (my potentially uninformed interpretation) they seem to have thrown about Their data being plotted for geocachers at Buxley's Maps [brillig.com] site, but the sport itself is a huge amount of fun.
Although they don't yet have as many cache sites in their data
Re:Navicache.com (Score:2)
Re:Navicache.com (Score:2)
The interface is described in This thread [navicache.com] in the Navicache forums. Just pass it the relevant information in the query and you get back an XML file with the data. When it first came out, I had to write a script to parse and import it, but it looks like the current GPSBabel [gpsbabel.org] understands the layout of the file natively, if you have space to dump the entire batch into your GPS unit. I grabbed the entire set some time ago, and now just periodically fetch "caches added or updated since" the last time I updated.
And for the UK? (Score:2)
Does anybody know any similar sources of information for the UK?
I once managed to download a list of speed camera lat/long co-ords, but street map data would be amazing.
Re:Navicache.com (Score:4, Interesting)
Yeah, the parental/ownership attitude about the sport from the Groundspeak folks has cooled my interest a bit. That and the indefinite moratorium on Locationless (Reverse Virtual) caches. I thought they were some of the more interesting things to seek.
Also, they recently launched www.waymarking.com, which I guess is where most of the non-standard caches will go. Right now, only Geocaching.com Premium members can get in for a look. That's fine, but the site doesn't even tell the public ANYTHING about what is going to be there. All pages, including "contact us" link back to the same "check back in a couple of weeks" message. No other explanations.
Re:Navicache.com (Score:2)
Aside from Navicache I THINK there are a few other geocaching location sites out there as well, though I haven't looked recently. (I'm quite happy thus far with Navicache). I'd be very interested, though, to know what anyone thinks of any of the other sites aside from the obvious "geocache.com" site as well.
Wait, you're complaining... (Score:2)
...that a company which offers a free service - completely free to both retrieve and list caches - has a TOS that prevents you from using their data outside of your personal and non-distributed use and plasters their name all over the place?
It's free. The only features you get if you pay are convenience features, like the ability to generate cache lists to move into mobile devices and GPSr's. The most restrictive parts of their TOS refer to two parts - the site engine/layout/content itself with the exce
Mobile Geocaching is also possible (Score:2)
There's also some details on finding your cache with your Palm + Plucker [plkr.org] over here [geocaching.com] as well.
I may cook up a little mod_perl app that allows people to upload their .gpx file to convert to Plucker format at some point in the future if there is enough demand for it.
Any requests for something like that?
I tried plucker, and was sorely disappointed. (Score:2)
I found Geotoad [sourceforge.net] and Cachemate [smittyware.com] are a much saner way to go.
Cachemate isn't free (or Free), but if you're dropping a couple hundred (at a minimum) for a GPS+PDA, the extra $10 is definitely worth it.
Re:I tried plucker, and was sorely disappointed. (Score:2)
You must be using it in a very odd way, there are literally THOUSANDS of Geocachers who prefer to use Plucker for this, because the output file from the various Geocaching sites is XML, or easily converted to HTML from whatever format it is in.
Works great for everyone else. What did you find "useless" about it?
Re:I tried plucker, and was sorely disappointed. (Score:2)
Uh, yeah. Then you'll have no problem pointing me to the place where this was discussed by those THOUSANDS, right?
And as the old saying goes, "Eat shit, 50 billion flies can't be wrong!"
the output file from the various Geocaching sites is XML
Umm, no, the output from Geocaching.com is HTML, not XML.
What did you find "useless" about it?
Besides the fact that Plucker's interface (on the palm) blows large, stinky goats, I hated having
My Equipment and Experiences (Score:3, Interesting)
In terms of software, I use GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife, http://gsak.net/ [gsak.net]) for the majority of data manipulation and transferal, and Garmin MapSource (with Topographical Maps) to do mapping and routing stuff. On my Palm I use CacheMate (http://www.smittyware.com/palm/cachemate/ [smittyware.com]), which provides a cache-oriented interface, not just an html viewer, although some are satisfied with offline version of the cache description pages.
I do subscribe to the premium service at geocaching.com. The main benefit of this is that you can create specific search queries, and have them emailed to you (on a schedule) in GPX format (too lazy to look up acronym, but it is an XML file) that you can then import into GSAK/MapSource. I have also bought licences for GSAK and Cachemate; as much as the Slashdot community is against spending any money at all, I feel that it is the Right Thing to do. The authors provide wonderful programs, with free demos (fully functional indefinitely, IIRC in the case of GSAK). Also, these people are independent software authors trying to make a living, not $EvilCorporation. I think that nowadays, each of the software products runs $20-30, along with the $3/mo or $30/yr premium membership to GC.com.
I would like to note that you do not *have* to pay/buy anything (other than a GPS device) to have fun Geocaching (contrary to some implications by previous posters). As with most hobbies, you can spend as little ($400 for top of the line GPS, subscriptions, and more) as you want/are able to.
Geocaching is a fun activity for people of all age ranges: I know cachers of ages from 3 to their 70s. I know many families enjoy caching as a family activity; in a medium-sized city, there are bound to be caches that even kids can find.
Final words of advice: Get a good Silva-style compass and learn how to use it. In dense woods, your GPS may become useless within 100 feet of the cache (i.e. your accuracy is so low) that it is sometimes best to stop when the GPS says 100-150 feet, take a bearing on the compass, and use that to try to find the cache.
Oh, and, please please please DON'T leave McDonald's toys as trade items at a cache. Everyone hates them, and they are (mostly) worthless.
Re:My Equipment and Experiences (Score:1)
Some people hunt out historical markers, others shoto for caches that require miles long hikes through dense brush or require a half-day canoe trip. It's all about personal preference.
Cheers,
PittCaleb
Why it's fun (Score:2)
Re:Why it's fun (Score:2)
* It's a community. Many of my friends are people I've met through geocaching, often at "event caches." After three decades of working in high-tech, it's nice to hang with people who can converse about something other than Windows vs Linux.
That about sums it up for me. The events are probably one of the most enjoyable parts of geocaching.
I love geocaching! (Score:1)
Yum! (Score:1)
I just use my eyes and a fairly cheap (less than $400 CAD) handheld GPS. The sport is designed to be easy and not requiring a lot of equipment, yet still be entertaining..so what more help do you need? Go out there and do it
Another "Good Times" Reply (Score:2)
Stuff I use (Score:2)
I've used a Garmin GPS 45 (OOOOLD!!!), Garmin eMap (very nice unit - too bad it's discontinued), and Lowrance iFinder (Looks great on paper - SD expansion, "hot" receiver, numerous other nifty features, but TBH it sucks. Their MapCreate software for uploading map data to the unit SUCKS. It can't even do turn-by-turn routing on your PC, at least Garmin MapSource can do routing on the PC and then upload a route that won't clutter the unit with lots of trash waypoints, even if the unit itself c
Re:Stuff I use (Score:2)
Re:Stuff I use (Score:2)
You mean when bookmarking your current position? Could be some weird map datum inconsistency...
Re:Stuff I use (Score:2)
I found one by accident (Score:1)
It completly shocked us at first it was an ammobox with geocacache written on the side under a dead tree. We didnt know what to knink of it at first. I thought it was somthing to do with the GPS system so at first we were reluctant to open it. However after much debate we opened it and its like a treasurechest. People leave some really cool stuff in ther from time to time. As so we didnt ruin the g
Fun Pastime (Score:1)
I live near Minneapolis MN, and last fall I drove up to Duluth M
Geocaching (Score:1)
Find a site, find a clue, and go hunt!
PS I always think i
Geeks and Gadjets (Score:2)
geocaching: NOT fun (Score:2, Insightful)
geocacher 2: ALRIGHT!! now let's go to 47274.12N, 534.363E and we'll find something else "hidden"!!!
Re:geocaching: NOT fun (Score:2)
The non-military GPS system is not accurate, so you are usually at lease 30 feet off target.
Trees obscure your sat signal, so you can often have troubles.
Even when you use the cheat code for the cache to get the clues, it is sometimes hard to find just because the box is hidden, especially micro caches.
My wife loves this stuff, and I like to hike, but finding some of those obscure caches is a pain in my ass.
Re:geocaching: NOT fun (Score:1)
All of this from just following your gps. There's no challenge to it.
It's a good tool to learn how to use your GPS unit, but it gets boring quickly.
I have and use a GPS, but I find it much more enjoyable to unfold a map and use that to locate trails and attractions.
To each their own I guess.
Re:geocaching: NOT fun (Score:1)
No GPS, just Google Earth! (Score:1)
Geocaching Member (Score:2)
I started with a Magellan GPS315. It doesn't have a base street map, so it's the one I now use with my laptop and TOPO maps. For laptop free use, I use the Magellan MAP330. It has the advantage of taking advantage of the WAAS signal that the 315 didn't. I like the sport because it gets you to some very interesting spots that you would never find on yo
Garage Sale (Score:1)
Overcaching? (Score:1)
My one problem lately is the number of caches around. In my city, Bloomington, Indiana, the cache numbers within about 6-7 miles went from maybe 50-60 a year ago to over 120. That is just
Geocaching (Score:1)
Re:Geocaching (Score:2)
Just a comment about this:
Higher-end devices are often more accurate, more detailed, more full-featured, and equipped with brighter, more vibrant displays. They also have a drawback: You won't want to use them for geocaching. While geocaching, you will climb up and down steep embankments, pick through dirty areas, and ford streams. Are you comforta