› Forums › Geocaching in Wisconsin › General › Cut and Paste logs
- This topic has 51 replies, 26 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 11 months ago by
zuma.
-
AuthorPosts
-
02/10/2010 at 4:21 pm #1729559
At first I wasnt going to respond to the debate on this issue that sprang up in an unrelated thread, but I couldnt resist since I have mixed feelings on the issue myself, but in general my feeling is that cache finders have a debt of gratitude to cache placers for caches that they enjoy, and the only way to pay that debt is by posting a decent log.
Also, it occured to me that I already had addressed the issue in logging a find in Texas, that is relevent, that I am going to cut and paste here. (Ironic, huh?)
By background, 9Key, a sometimes visitor to these forums from Texas placed the first cache along the Chapparel Trail in Texas, a trail now with hundreds of caches along it. On many of his cache pages he includes this interesting line: “”Cut and paste” logs will be deleted.” (See GCWZWT)
Anyway, I found several of his caches, and here is one of my logs that addressed the issue then, and pretty much sums up my mixed feelings on the issue;
January 11 by zuma! (11810 found)
Visiting from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and enjoying caches without a foot of snow. Day 3 of my caching adventure to Texas, spending the evening exploring the Chaparral Trail, and enjoyed the walk along the nice trail here.I have several caches hidden along the Chippewa River Trail in Wisconsin, and trestles always are great spots for caches. I was lucky here as I have one hidden in the same manner so looked here first. Plus there was a muddy boot print right where a muddy boot print would not normally be, and right where I needed to put my muddy boot.
Also, I cant help but comment on the “No cut and paste logs” and the cacher who logged a find prior to myself that thinks that this is unfair. First of all, a decent log is the only payment that the cache placer gets for placing their cache, so if ya enjoy a cache you owe a debt to the cache placer of saying so, and posting a decent log. Second, I have noticed that the people most likely to not want to post a decent log, are the same people who go and find caches, and never give anything back to the caching community and never place caches themselves.
Third, I can relate to your pain as only a cache owner with the same experience can. See GCR4CF for details. That is a cache that I placed in 2004 along the Woodville trail in Wisconsin, and is a pretty decent cache, judging from the earliest logs and my own biased opinion. It was the first cache along the trail, and for the first couple of years, it received interesting to read logs. Then came the other caches along the trail, and the trail is now a power trail, not much unlike the trail here. All that cache gets now is cut and paste logs. The cache has not changed, but the attitudes of the people finding it have.
And fourth, on the other hand, I do understand the cut and paste logs in cases of caches that you just cannot recall a specific cache when ya find a bunch along a trail. The whole experience of enjoying the trail is one thing, and each individual cache sometimes can be a murky recollection. I myself did a few along this trail, that just dont ring a bell, now logging my finds several days later. I remember the warm temps, the brown prairie and dodging wet spots, but some individual caches get lost in my aging memory. So, I see both sides of the issue, but am biased to agreeing with you because I have had the same experience. Anyway, I recall this one pretty good because I found it so quick due to the muddy boot print, and I really liked this one.
Thanks for the cache. Keep On Cachin In The Free World.
(By way of full disclosure, the first and final paragraph was cut and paste itself, used on several caches, with differing middle paragraphs as circumstances warranted.)
zuma
02/10/2010 at 4:42 pm #1921932If we go out and find just a few caches I write individual logs for each. When we find more than 10 or if we do a series of caches I’ll create a “cut and paste” and then add to it for each individual cache. Besides giving an account of how we enjoyed or didn’t enjoy the hide, we try to give pertinent info that will also help future visitors and the owner. I read all of the logs on our finds and it disappoints me when someone visits several and the all have the same log or even worse nothing more than a TFTC. We hide them for your enjoyment. let us know if you did please.
02/10/2010 at 5:11 pm #1921933I think your not looking at all sides here. Your forgetting those of us who do not have full use of our hands or those of use who can only use them for so long because they become painful (mines an industrial accident and not arthritis.) Accidents happen and sometimes you physically need to cut and paste or you would never finish logging your finds. I do explain when I do why, that’s the least I can do.
02/10/2010 at 5:19 pm #1921934The only counterpoint I would add to Zuma’s post is that everyone does have differing levels of communication abilities. That statement is not to degrade anyone; it is to say that, for example, if my daughter logs a cache, it is difficult for her to think of something to say. But we work on it, and she hunts and pecks her way around the keyboard. It doesn’t have to be a tome to be unique or appreciated.
Yes, it is not “in the rules” that you should avoid cut and paste logs. And sometimes the best that can be said about a cache is “TFTC.” However, this is a game that includes an online experience for finders and hiders alike. This contrasts greatly with the related game of letterboxing, where there is no online forum and you simply get a “status update” to let you know that a box has been found–if even that, because many players do not log their finds online.
So, we should not only be happy that geocaching.com has provided this forum, but be willing to use it, to the reasonable extent of our intellectual and physical abilities. After all, we all find the time to get out and find caches in the first place.
In other words, the comment box of the log is there for a reason. It is not required to write something unique about each cache, just like it is not required to thank somebody for holding a door open for you. But in both cases, is the polite thing to try to do.
On the Left Side of the Road...02/10/2010 at 5:28 pm #1921935We certainly plead guilty to copying and pasting on a few occasions: days with quite a few finds when we didn’t take good notes, or, as Zuma noted, when finding several along a trail and memory was fuzzy on some. However, if we had a choice for our caches, we’d definitely would prefer a copy and paste log with some substance (hopefully with a sentence or so about the specific cache) than the all-too-common “SL TFTC!”. We agree, however, that copying and and pasting is to be avoided, but may be necessary in certain situations, especially such as Jerry’s Dad mentioned in his post.
02/10/2010 at 5:32 pm #19219369Key is just another cache owner that wants to play the game by his own rules. He THINKS he’s the only one thats right and every one else is wrong. Show me where it says on GC.com that what he is doing is right. SO whats next?? Does he have the right to say that your log was not long enough, because it was only 37 words and not the required minimum of 50 words! Sounds to me like another ALR. I think that he just likes to have his ego stroked…. GET A LIFE.
02/10/2010 at 5:35 pm #19219379Key is just another cache owner that wants to play the game by his own rules. He THINKS he’s the only one thats right and every one else is wrong. Show me where it says on GC.com that what he is doing is right. SO whats next?? Does he have the right to say that your log was not long enough, because it was only 37 words and not the required minimum of 50 words! Sounds to me like another ALR. I think that he just likes to have his ego stroked…. GET A LIFE.
02/10/2010 at 5:39 pm #1921938I’ve always tried to use the Difficulty / Terrain ratings to guide my logs. What? you ask. Well here’s my best explanation.
1/1 P&G – Unless you get stopped by the police, have an accident, etc. There’s generally not a whole lot of unique things to say about these easier caches.
5/5 – Chances are there is some challenging aspect to this type of cache. Maybe a puzzle component, a long hike, etc. These things should be commented on.
Obviously it depends on the cache and finder but I generally write longer logs than many others. It’s just my style and enjoy it. I also find myself writing longer logs on the harder caches and very short logs on the easy ones. I think the CO’s should also expect this and understand the logs on a P&G are going to generally by “TFTC”. Personally it rubs me when someone logs a 2/2 (or harder) that I’ve done and all they put is “TFTC.” These caches generally have something unique about the location, the weather, the flora / fauna, the container, etc. that is worth commenting on.
My daughter struggles as well putting the experience into words, so I normally have her add a note saying “Caching with my dad (CodeJunkie)” so folks get a better understanding of the situation. I always try to encourage her to come up with at least 1 thing unique about each find that’s worth commenting on.
02/10/2010 at 5:45 pm #192193902/10/2010 at 5:51 pm #1921940@gotta run wrote:
The only counterpoint I would add to Zuma’s post is that everyone does have differing levels of communication abilities. That statement is not to degrade anyone; it is to say that, for example, if my daughter logs a cache, it is difficult for her to think of something to say. But we work on it, and she hunts and pecks her way around the keyboard. It doesn’t have to be a tome to be unique or appreciated.
Yes, it is not “in the rules” that you should avoid cut and paste logs. And sometimes the best that can be said about a cache is “TFTC.” However, this is a game that includes an online experience for finders and hiders alike. This contrasts greatly with the related game of letterboxing, where there is no online forum and you simply get a “status update” to let you know that a box has been found–if even that, because many players do not log their finds online.
So, we should not only be happy that geocaching.com has provided this forum, but be willing to use it, to the reasonable extent of our intellectual and physical abilities. After all, we all find the time to get out and find caches in the first place.
In other words, the comment box of the log is there for a reason. It is not required to write something unique about each cache, just like it is not required to thank somebody for holding a door open for you. But in both cases, is the polite thing to try to do.
Ditto.
02/10/2010 at 5:53 pm #192194102/10/2010 at 5:54 pm #1921942The length of the logs I write is usually inversely proportional to the number of caches found that day.
There have only been one or two caches that I simply couldn’t remember a thing about, so I wrote a nice, but generic log. It happens less often since I now stop and look around, read the cache name again and find SOMETHING to remember about the area.
Your Woodville’s Norwegian Troll cache that you mentioned was one of over 40 found that day. None of them got a cut/paste log, and the Troll got 250 words, so while generally it’s true, not “All that cache gets now is cut and paste logs”.
I don’t begrudge anyone who posts only a TFTC log. I usually just mutter “You are f!$@(# welcome” and go on to the next.
02/10/2010 at 5:58 pm #1921943Well, we now live in the age where you can instantly log a cache via you phone. So a TFTC is short and sweet. And then if you have a GPS that uploads you fiels notes, it quick and simple logs Also , to those who just care about the numbers, the log really doesn’t matter now does it. I try to make a short note about all the caches I find. The most I have ever found in one day was 25 and that was at the WGA picnic. I have to admit, I could not remember all 25. I enjoy reading logs of not only my caches, but other caches that I am watching to hear the story of the the hunt of that cache. As Zuma and others say, It’s all on how you chose to play the game. I do know of one poster in this thread that all is to his log was and I quote ” . “. But there were circumstances for that I’m sure.
02/10/2010 at 6:05 pm #1921944💡 @Mister Greenthumb wrote:
If we go out and find just a few caches I write individual logs for each. When we find more than 10 or if we do a series of caches I’ll create a “cut and paste” and then add to it for each individual cache. Besides giving an account of how we enjoyed or didn’t enjoy the hide, we try to give pertinent info that will also help future visitors and the owner. I read all of the logs on our finds and it disappoints me when someone visits several and the all have the same log or even worse nothing more than a TFTC. We hide them for your enjoyment. let us know if you did please.
💡
➡ Ditto cut ‘n paste hybrids at times other times all totally individual logs…..depends on the circumstances, etc.
SGH & BB
“OK, so who’s going to log all of these when we get home anyway?”
02/10/2010 at 6:09 pm #1921945@Team Black-Cat wrote:
I don’t begrudge anyone who posts only a TFTC log. I usually just mutter “You’re f!$@(# welcome” and go on to the next.
I agree with maybe 2 exceptions, where I would expect at least a HAHA or Neat, but when I don’t they get saluted with the number one and life goes on. What would deleting the log get me or them? Nothing worth the time or effort.
I feel a picture coming in this thread soon.
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.