Return of the Virtual

There has been a lot of speculation about the return of virtuals, for those interested I quote Jeremy:

In the UserVoice updates I never said that virtuals were coming back in their previous form, but instead something would be available that should capture the interest in virtuals without the baggage (such as the subjective review process).

To me, this is the most exciting project that we've worked on in years, but it will take some time to iterate through the idea and I know we'll get some things wrong, but the framework is solid. We'll be investing a substantial amount of effort with this project moving forward.

Some points:

• It will be on Geocaching.com, not a new web site. It will be a separate section in the beta, but I expect it to be integrated into a joined search at some point.

• Currently they will not go towards your find count, but it might at some point. It won't at the beginning though.
• It will be a visible statistic, so you will see them on the profile, on the logs, etc.
• We'll be hopefully launching with mobile applications to compliment the activity. I expect that the majority of participants will be using smartphones, but we will have components (Pocket Queries, GPX file downloads, etc) for traditional GPS devices.

For the comments that we should involve the community more, we do. We don't have a public discussion about it, instead working with a smaller sampling of geocachers.

You may commence your celebration, complaints, and/or discussions now.

Update on 2011-07-25 22:29 by firennice

Geocaching accidental death and safety

Sometimes in the process of caching I find a story that saddens me.

This one came accross my computer today.

On Wednesday July 20th at around 2:20 pm the Creston RCMP, BCAS Services and Nelson Search and Rescue were dispatched to a roadside pull off area near Alkokli Creek Rd, where a 75 yr old man had fallen down a steep embankment after the group had stopped to locate a geocache site.

Despite the efforts of the man's family who were with him and another group of motorists who also assisted to provide first aid and CPR, the man died at the scene as a result of the injuries sustained in the fall.

It is sad to think what can happen.  I have ran into spiders that I were sure were going to kill me, and a few places that made me question my sanity.  My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family during this difficult time.

I teach the Boy Scout merit badge on geocaching.  One of the first sections is safety.  Often we toss that aside.  Some go crazy to grab a cache, but don't forget to look around.  Snakes, spiders, loose ground, cliffs, on a busy road, etc.  No cache is worth dying to try and get (except maybe the space station). 

People forget what is around them.  Take a moment when you look, and think before you go.  I know cachers that do slot canyons and cliffs.  They go prepared with helmets, ropes and safety gear.  Other friends that explore caves and old mines, they take helmets, ropes, multiple lights, and backup gear. 

Any cache is findable, but plan ahead and be safe.  I would be horror struck to find out that some cache of mine caused a death. I try and warn people beforehand.  Geocaching does not police the danger, that is up to the individuals.  The police in the article give some great advice.

We do caution people to consider the terrain at these sites, to ensure that it is safe to attempt to retrieve the item, if deemed that it's in rough terrain, simply skip it. -Cpl Dan Moskaluk

Update on 2011-07-25 20:16 by firennice

Time to geocache again

I have been busy this summer, camping with the family, sleeping, working, eating, sleeping, etc. 

There has been a lot going on so I thought that I would toss some stuff out that I noticed.

Tico Jeffrey

Latitude 47 the geocaching blog did an article on Tico Jeffrey.   I have been happy over the last few years to see a number of his caches listed.  So it was cool and a surprise to have him highlighted. Congrats for all your caching, and the article

Geocacher of the Month

Also on Latitude 47 is the geocacher of the month.  Geocaching.com is going to select outstanding cachers.

Groundspeak needs your help acknowledging a geocacher each month that stands out by inspiring other geocachers with their innovation, creative hides and/or logs, respect for the environment, and geocaching etiquette.

It goes with the focus this last year to improve he hides and highlight outstanding caches and now cachers.   There will be a special coin, hat, and certificate given out.

So if there is someone that inspires you.  They may be creative in hiding, or showing respect for others and the environment around us.  Email geocacherofthemonth @ groundspeak.com

Every nomination must meet the following requirements. Please include your name, the name of your nominee, their username, at least one picture of the nominee and description (in 500 or fewer words) explaining why he or she deserves to be the Geocacher of the Month. Please inform your nominee that you’ve submitted them for the award. Nominations for the first Geocacher of the Month must be received by August 4^th.

It is a great way to point out to others cachers that have contributed to the community we are a part of.  Perhaps they have found 200 but share experiences with others.  Perhaps they have placed a number of creative hides, make logs that are interesting.   Toss out their names.

Munzee

A munzee is a little barcode tag that you hide.  Similar to a geocache.  Someone hides it and then you go find it and scan it with your phone.

I thought the idea was cool, as I played with it for a while.  However it quickly lost its luster as I began to think why I would place one instead of a geocache.  It is just as much work, more difficult to create the tags, then activate them.  They are not as usefull in the mountians (looking for a little tag)

So thought they are interesting.  I would much rather place a micro cache then go out and place a munzee. No offense to the munzee folk, but it is the same reason I would rather deal with geocaching than opencaching.   There are more, they are reviewed so you dont place a cache in a sensitive spot, phone GPS are mediocre. (for placing and finding).  Plus there are not enough players and none around. Bleh... back to my wherigo I am working on... actuall one of my two wherigos, or is it three I am working on.

Update on 2011-07-22 05:19 by firennice

The apes go down for good.

Well after a weekend of speculation Jeremy put it to rest today.

We were working on bringing a new series of caches back for the new movie, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but decided against it. Instead, with the exception of the Brazil Project APE cache, we are closing the chapter on Project APE.

Lack of support by FOX, angst over devaluing the original caches and the ape theme being unrelated to geocaching were several factors for us making this decision.

and his follow up

It's too bad that geocachers today can't find an APE cache unless they go to Brazil, but the APE caches had to be retired at some point. For almost 10 years there was a cache here in Seattle. Sometimes we need to accept that things come to an end and move on.

It made me sad.  I was really exited when he announced the return, and that groundspeak was going to push it.

There were a number that complained that all the caches that they found years ago would be worth less if more were placed.  I don't buy that argument at all.  They are different caches, in a different time.   Early times are different than today, and I think it could have worked.  However it is not my call, and they moved on.  Hopefully they can plan something new and cool for the future.

Update on 2011-07-14 23:13 by firennice

C:Geo Going Away

For those who did not see the message yesterday, the writer of the c:geo is closing the doors, and dropping out of caching, and he tosses all the blame on Groundspeak.

Really?   That makes little/no sense to me.  c:geo is part of the group that is testing the API with groundspeak.  They are getting what they wanted, a chance to operate within the rules and be a legitimate program. 

It just seems fishy.  He gets in the door to run the API, and he gets tired of caching and walks away.

He knew there were problems...

During the c:geo development, I had to keep my eye on GroundSpeak. They didn't like c:geo. Ive read their TOS many times and I saw some parts there with the potential to eventually kill c:geo.

With a ban for a while in the forums, he knew that Groundspeak was displeased.

This also caught my eye

I've decided to leave geocaching (the game) behind and find something else to do for fun instead. I won't support such company anymore. And that also means it's the end of the active developement of c:geo. It will stay on Market, unless/until it stops working due to changes on geocaching.com. Sources will be available on github as they are right now.

He is tired of caching and the mess I am sure.

Some have said that Groundspeak is actively trying to destroy it.  Why?  They know it has brought people into caching.  I have seen many conversations about it, I moderated the Android forums at Groundspeak for a while and a lot of discussion took place.  I saw no active discussions to "kill" android behind the scenes.

On the contrary, there has been a major overhaul of the site planned for the last year or more.  Rewriting the code for entire sections, adding more features.  If someone is pulling from the site and Groundspeak is upgrading, then you will get burned.  Each monthly update created a headache.

The answer .. use the new API.  I am sure that came with certain rules.  If you use the API you will have to follow certain rules.  That could mean, some activity that C:geo was engaged in would have to stop.  It would be able to survive the monthly updates, but some changes would have to be made.

My summary

I don't know for sure.  I am betting that he did not want to rewrite the entire code.  Did not want to deal with the hassle of a complete top to bottom shakeup.  Especially if he was tired of caching.  Why put energy into something that you don't have an interest in.

Groundspeak will continue to upgrade the site, and it will break soon.  People will cry, and other programs will jump up to replace it, some on the new API and some on the old.  

People seem to be crying to Groundspeak, but they are the ones that are opening up to others with an API development.  They are not the ones that threw in the towel and walked away.

Update on 2011-06-28 15:12 by firennice

An update from Jeremy on facebook

I don't have enough information to have a take on c:geo development at this point, but his post is faux-naïf.

He is well aware that the application violates our site's TOU, but instead of us trying to shut down his application we reached out and offered him early access to our new API, the same version being used by our Android and WP7 applications now. We just haven't allowed our partners to use the production version until we can ensure that it is scalable.

I can only assume he is tired of programming an application he offers for free, and we're a convenient excuse, however disingenuous, for him to quit supporting it.

and

Even if that application doesn't continue, there are other developers that could create their own applications, or spin that one off and make it legit. It is, after all, open source.

Update on 2011-06-28 15:10 by firennice