Cache Mania

Over the years I’ve watched how people enjoy geocaching and I think you can break them down into four types of players.   There is not “right” way to play the game.  It’s an individual choice.  Play it however you want so that you can get the maximum enjoyment out of it for you.   Knowing how someone prefers to play the game will help you understand why they like certain kinds of caches.

1. Challenge Cacher
2. Puzzle Cacher
3. Numbers Cacher
4. Casual Cacher

This doesn’t mean that a player has only one method of playing.  There is certainly crossover.   This diagram does a better job of describing what I mean:

Casual Cacher:  This is someone that will make caching part of an activity but doesn’t really go out of their way to geocache.  Maybe they’ll take the GPSr on vacation or when they go on a road trip.  These folks are not a real discriminating cacher.  They are just looking to have a little fun without too much work.   Prefers 3/3 or less.

Numbers Cacher:  Anyone that has found more than a few hundred caches will from time-to-time find themselves in this category.  There are some people however that are just numbers mad.  These cachers don’t care how lame a cache is they just want the numbers.   Prefers 2/2 or less but they’ll do anything if they can.

Puzzle Cachers:  Don’t like to be stumped?  Then you are probably a puzzle cacher.  These cachers thrive on the intellectual challenge of a cache.   Maybe they like to solve the puzzle that holds the clue or maybe they like a good camouflaged container.   Either way these cachers will spend a lot of time planning their geocaching outings.   Lots of 4-5 difficulty but lower terrain.

Challenge Cachers:   It is with these kinds of cachers that you’ll find the most crossover from other pursuits.  You might find rock climbers, boaters, scuba divers or people that like some kind of physical challenge.   That challenge might just be geocaching at night.  That is a whole different experience.   A good day for this kind of cacher is a 5/5 or a 5/4.

Does it really matter how you play the game?  Not at all.  As long as you are having fun.  How do you play the game?

Tags: challenges, numbers, puzzles
Posted in Rants | No Comments »

Well here is a little feature I just learned about today.  Google has made it so that you can send a location that you find on a map directly to your GPSr.  It’s a two step process.  I think I’ll be using this in the future.

Here’s a video from Garmin that explains how it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_p1x-fL2zc

Tags: Garmin, Google Maps, Transfer
Posted in GPS Hardware, help | No Comments »

Chances are you post pictures to flickr because you want other people to see them.   In some cases you only want friends or family to see them, in other cases you want to reach a larger audience.  Here are five things you should be doing to maximize or minimize the number of people that see your pictures:

1. Set the permissions on every picture.   There are four levels of permission available on your pictures – everyone, friends, family and just you.  If you set the picture to everyone then anyone that finds your profile will be able to see those pictures.  Friends and family are allow people that you have assigned to one of those groups to see your photos.  This is something you have to to do in advance and it requires that those people have a flickr account.  An lastly you can keep your pictures private.  There is one CAVEAT to these permissions.  Adding pictures to a group or sharing the private URL bypasses the permission settings you have created.
2. Set the licensing for your photos.  Photos that have a creative commons license will be viewed more often and may even be used on other websites.
3. Add meaningful titles, descriptions and tags to your photos.  At this time the only way to find a photos is to use a text based search.  In order for a text based search to work there must be some text to search.   You can make it easier for people to find photos from a particular cache if you include the GC number as a tag or in the title.  Keep in mind that people can search for a GC number to find the cache so if you photo includes spoilers you might want to leave the GC number off.  Alternatively you can tag the photo as a spoiler that way people can avoid those photos.  I sometimes add “spoiler” to the title of the image.  In this way people know to avoid the picture if they don’t want to spoil the surprise.   There is even a little script that will add links from the cache page directly to any flickr images that include the GC number.  Here is a link for more information – geocache2flickr
4. Add your pictures to relevant geocaching groups.  You have to join the group before you add your pictures to that group.   Keep in mind that you group permissions will override the permissions you have set for an image. Even if you have an image set to friends or family other members of the group will see it if you chose to share that image.  This is almost like a fifth permission level.
   Here are some groups I belong to:
   • Creative Cache Containers
   • Geocaching in Ontario
   • Geocaching
   • Geocoins
5. Add links to your flickr photostream from your other website profiles such as Facebook or your blog.  There are even widgets that will show some of your pictures on other websites if you chose to set one of  those up.    I actually have my Facebook account hooked up to one of my Flickr accounts so that pictures I post on flickr are automatically posted on my Facebook wall.

The steps I mention above will help you introduce your photos to more people.  Keep that in mind.  In some cases you won’t want to distribute your photos to a large audience .  Remember to “reverse” the steps outlined above if you want to keep an image private.

For the curious here is a link to my flickr photostream – cachemania.

This post covers posting pictures to flickr but the concepts apply  equally to other photo hosting services such as picasa.

Tags: descriptions, flickr, GC codes, photos, picasa, posting, tagging
Posted in help | No Comments »

I met yesterday with the managers of Ruthven Park to discuss placing a cache on their property.  The meeting went really well.  I think it went well because I was prepared for the meeting.

Here’s how I prepared for the meeting:

1. I brought along the cache I was going to place so they could see the cache and the contents.  They weren’t sure what would be found inside but seeing it helped them understand that better.
2. I thoroughly read their website to learn what their mission was and how geocaching could help them with that.
3. I had an idea of where I wanted to put the cache and why.
4. I had examples of cache listing pages with me.

I first contacted the park via email and I could tell from the reply that they were open to the idea.  I found out during my visit that they had contacted other facilities that have geocaches on their property to find out if it was a problem.  They had their own concerns and asked me to address them.  Their concerns were as follows:

1. Can we tell people where to park?  Yes, I’ll add a child waypoint for that.
2. Are we responsible for the cache?  No, all you are doing is giving me permission to place it, I’m responsible for it.
3. What will people leave in the cache?  I showed them examples.

This was the first time I’ve met with a property owner directly.  I hope all meetings go as well as yesterday.  I’ve submitted the listing for review.  I need to wait to see if it is approved.  I don’t see why it wouldn’t be.

Tags: Cayuga, geocache, Grand River, Lower Grand Land Trust, meeting, placing, property, Ruthven
Posted in Geocaches, Rants | 1 Comment »