I wrote last week that goecache placement saturation could be a problem as more geocache listing sites enter the market. After posting this I received a cryptic message from a contact at Garmin that indicated I would like what I see when the site is launched.
Now that the site is live I know what my contact meant. The data on opencaching.com is published using a creative commons license. Additionally Garmin has released an API that allows developers to access its data. This means that smart phone application developers could build an app to access the site data. It also means that other sites like opencaching.de or geocaching.com could access the data and check to see if a cache is placed close to one in their database.
Garmin also assigns an OX id to all caches you upload as part of your my finds import. Groundspeak has previously indicated that users own their data. According to the API documentation I should be able to look up an OX id cache in the database. Does that mean I can look up the details for a geocaching.com cache that someone has uploaded as part of their “my finds” import?
I tried using the API but the page did not work. This could be launch day issues.
teamvoyagr
I have been writing the cachemania blog since 2008. I'm interested in the development of geocaching and the many ways that people play the game.
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5 Comments until now
Well i was able to log into opencaching.com and play around for a while until the entire site seems to have frozen up.
Overloaded or overwhelmed?
Ed.
Woohoo, OX is very buggy! The worst thing of all is, that in the (partially incomplete) GPX files the mailaddress of the owner instead of his nickname is done publicly.
@Shcrottie, I am not seeing my email address in the GPX. The only email address I see is support@OpenCaching.com. Admittedly this is in the tag. When did you see real addresses in the GPX?
Err, Garmin has corrected the GPX files. Until yesterday there where in the sections and the mailaddress pf the owner. The fast reaction is good, but bad is was be the case at the launch of the site.
…the sections <groundspeak:placed_by> and <groundspeak:owner id=”$ID”>…
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