Cache Spotlight: GCM5R6 “Tongue Wagger” August 24, 2009
Posted by kinzuakid in Cool Caches, Forums, Geocaching, Somebody Else's Stuff.Tags: Caching, GCM5R6, Lake George, Tongue Wagger
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I find fun stuff on the forums. If you’re looking for some adventure, those New Yorkers really know how to lay down a cache.
I’d love to give this one a shot, but since I’m in that area only in November it might not be a good idea then. Summertime for this one seems to be the best.
Enjoy those logs and pics. Some good caching is up there.
Another Frustrated Newcomer August 20, 2009
Posted by kinzuakid in Education, For the Newbies, Forums, Geocaching, Geocaching.com, Strategy and Tactics.Tags: advice, DNF, Forums, geocaching.com
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Newcomer? New player? I can’t say N00b because they sorta-kinda stopped playing and then started again. But on the forums I ran across this thread, which I would direct the newer cachers to view and take home some good advice from the commentators. The player and a muggle audience went 0-for-6 on a hunt and the experience is just turning him/her off to the game. Here’s some of the good highlights in the comments (Advice for the new player):
- Pick easy ones at first, nothing more than 1-2 stars of difficulty
- Read the last 5 logs to see if it has been found recently or if others have had trouble finding it
- If you’re using the iPhone, TomTom or Garmin Roadmate (a “car-focused” GPS) to cache, do some reading and make sure your GPS is “talking the same language” as Groundspeak. A note in the forums asking for a quick FAQ link or spot of advice will do nicely.
- Remember, the GPS doesn’t get you right to the cache. It gets you pretty darned close, which could be 30′ away.
- Employ patience. You have no idea what you’re looking for yet. After you find a few it will be easier.
- Enjoy yourself. If an outing with the family isn’t enough fun and the smiley is the only reason you’re playing, do a rethink.
- Read that last one again.
- Corollary to enjoying yourself: Log the DNF! Truly, this is your best source of a.) information to make the find and b.) finding a friend who can help (and who you might help)
It’s a good thread. I love lurking in the forums.
Fire at Groundspeak Data Center July 4, 2009
Posted by kinzuakid in Forums, Geocaching, Geocaching.com, In the News/Blogosphere.Tags: Geocaching outage, geocaching.com, groundspeak fire
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I finally got back on this AM. Looks like there was a fire near/in the same building as the Groundspeak data center. That link will take you to the forums where status notes are posted.
I would expect some delays in the PQ and notifications features while all the backlog is processed. Find logging is a bit slow, too.
Update: here’s a more full-featured news article. Happy Independence Day!
A Tale of Two Plates June 20, 2009
Posted by kinzuakid in Forums, Geocaching, Geocaching.com, Recreation, Somebody Else's Stuff.Tags: DNF, Dougandsuzy, GO4FTF, muggle, pictures
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I was trolling the GC.com forums and ran across the gem below. You can see the original right here:
Not So Successful
It seems Team Black Cat has an eye for the epic fail. I immediately wondered aloud about how many muggle vehicles are sporting an unintentional Geocaching abbreviation. Probably lots, which makes this super fun, but not so impressive.
Then I thought about my good friend the king of FTF bogarting (and I celebrate his selfishness), dougandsuzy:
dougandsuzy is in the house
Yes, that’s real, and that plate has been seen at over 2,000 finds.
Got any others out there? Shoot em over…
Why Is All the Swag Crap? April 28, 2009
Posted by kinzuakid in For the Newbies, Forums, Geocaching, Geocaching.com, In the News/Blogosphere.Tags: Forums, Geocaching, philosophy, SWAG
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An interesting question has been put to the forums by a new Geocacher: “What’s the deal with degenerating swag?“. The responses are right on the money and I think I am in agreement with the masses. The quality of Geocaching swag is directly related to three things:
- Difficulty
- Terrain+Length of approach to GZ
- Private versus Public cache listing
I’m no Edward Tufte but I think it can be charted:
Geocaching SWAG Quality Factors
I think the single most important factor in maintaining high quality SWAG is distance from parking. This of course limits the number of visits to a given Geocache, but it also touches on another fun bit in the thread, the interesting article links:
Most urban / suburban caches go through cache swag degeneration rather quickly. Any cache, easily accessible to all geocachers experiences the “The Tragedy of the Commons.”One of my all-time favorite essays. I first read it about 35 years ago and was blown away, and still consider it one of the important guides to life. Thanks for posting about it. The original is here.
And the analogy fits perfectly. I don’t trade SWAG myself, but people tend to get their greed turned on pretty quickly when nobody is looking. Caches that are only visited infrequently have much higher visibility to each individual visitor (and therefore have a higher shame factor for not contributing).
Enough philosophy. On to work!
