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Best wishes guys! I know you will be enjoying EarthCaches and marching for multis together forever! 🙂
And enjoy the rest of what has now become your honeymoon… please don’t spend ALL your time geocaching. 😉
Bump.
For those of you who have already voted, thanks for your time and careful consideration of the candidates, and please ignore the rest of this message. 🙂
For those that have NOT voted, which includes a number of people who I know visit these forums on a regular basis, you have until the end of this weekend (Sunday at midnight) to get your votes in. If you think your voice doesn’t matter, take a look again at the results from the past two elections:
2008 Board Election Results
2007 Board Election ResultsI can’t give too much away, but I will say that this year’s race is even more competitive and all candidates can still win a seat on the Board. Your one vote could be the deciding factor… the one that determines who serves on the Board and who doesn’t.
@seldom|seen wrote:
I don’t know specifically how you’d set up the system to do this and by what time and area constraints caches would be evaluated, perhaps it’s all too complicated to pull off, but it is an idea worth exploring and since i haven’t heard or seem anything on the subject for over a year…. consider this a bump.
I’ve seen a link to this on a couple MN caches:
I think there might be other similar services? These are sort of like the puzzle checkers… something most puzzle cache owners want to have, but for some reason geocaching.com doesn’t provide this functionality.
@zuma wrote:
There was enthusiastic cheating last month. There were 37 votes for the cache that won COTM. However, the cache was only found 17 times.
I also will tell you that 8 of the 37 votes for last month’s winner were by people who joined the WGA the same day as they cast their vote, from folks we have otherwise not heard from
All the votes for the January 2009 COTM were certified as legitimate, and no cheating occurred. Plus even without these votes from new users or non-finders (again, all of which are legit under the current rules), the cache in question still would have had enough votes to win.
As for whether COTM votes from non-finders should be allowed, the Board will definitely consider restricting this going forward. It would add an extra layer of administration / checking / policing to the COTM contests which I’m not sure is really necessary.
@marc_54140 wrote:
I think the best for anyone interested in going paperless to to connect with another cacher, and have a one-on-one session, in person, with your setup.
For once I agree with Marc. 😉 A class or online materials can describe the basics of going paperless and may work for some people. But for others it really takes a little personal assistance. Without some one on one work, likely many people who attend a paperless class either would try it and get frustrated because of issues, or not even attempt it at all.
This is a lot like teaching a beginning geocaching class. You can spend a lot of time trying to describe what geocaching is, what a cache container looks like, how to use a GPSr (you can only talk in generalities because they are all different), etc. This is enough for some people. But a lot of people I’ve encountered at classes didn’t have the “little lightbulb go off” and truly understand geocaching until a GPS unit was put in their hand and they used it to find a cache or two.
@Mister Greenthumb wrote:
It sure would be nice if the WGA or someone nice (like Marc) would offer a class on the basics. We would definately be interesed and a youngster like the Pharmgirl definately needs help before she runs out of money.
Surely you aren’t referring to marc_54140 when you say you want help from someone nice?! 😀
Seriously, Marc, if you are willing to share your paperless presentation materials, we can get them posted here. They may help some people who are stuck.
I believe Marc’s classes are only geared towards Palm devices, so they wouldn’t help some of the other cases (PPC, Blackberry) we’ve been discussing here. And everyone usually has their own unique gotcha or two to overcome (like dealing with HotSync and Vista problems, running out of Palm application memory, computers crashing when generating the CacheMate file, having a memory card that won’t work because it wasn’t formatted… just some of the problems I’ve encountered).
It is sort of like downloading waypoints to a GPS unit… there are so many different device types, cables, and ways to do it, that “simple” / “one-size” tutorials just don’t cut it for everyone. The good news is once you get all the bugs worked out and have a process down, loading cache info (and logging found caches) by repeating that process is a breeze.
@TheBalks wrote:
Are there any similar software packages for Blackberrys?
Depends on what kind of berry you have… this is the CacheMate equivalent for the Blackberry, but it doesn’t work with all types:
This actually might be a better solution for the original poster of this inquiry, although it means she would be putting her expensive phone in jeopardy while using it out in the field. I personally carry an ancient Palm worth approximately $2 so I’m not sad when I smash it on a rock or drop it in a river (it has happened).
Just a follow up. For some people running PPC 2002 and therefore unable to use the newest applications, there may be an upgrade/update available to 2003 for your device. However, considering the cost of the update ($30-$50+) you might be better off just buying a new device.
@lone_gunman wrote:
I concur, is there a projected eta?
This will probably occur around the same time we switch out logos on the website and offer cache page banner images with the new logo. I’ve got to get at least some of this done work done before the Board meeting at the end of February (or the new Board will yell at me! :)) so watch for it then.
Gwyn, see my post over here about Pocket PCs. I would go with CacheMate on the Pocket PC, since I assume that is what you are using on the Palm so you’d be used to the interface.
As for particular models, you need something running Windows Mobile 2003 or later plus a GPS device (either built in to the unit or an external card / add-on) to use Wherigo. Here is a list of known verified hardware:
http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=200249
If you could find an older Garmin iQue you’d be set. Or if you have big $$$, a new Pharos Traveler would work (also has an integrated GPS receiver that is supposedly on par with Garmin 60Cx). http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XWZO9M
All Pocket PCs have a color LCD screen that is “backlit” (same as a laptop screen). Now some of these may be difficult to read in bright sunlight…
@thepharmgirl wrote:
Hi Jeremy….help, please? 🙂
For anyone else with this vintage of Pocket PC (2002 or earlier) your (limited) choices are to use the following applications on your device:
– GpxView
– GPX Sonar (older versions)
– CacheMate for PPC (has issues with 2002, but maybe not older versions?)If you have a newer Pocket PC, these would be the preferred options:
– CacheMate for PPC
– GPX SonarIt really comes down to what interface / display format you prefer, and whether you are willing to shell out $10 for CacheMate (GPX Sonar is free). Personally I like the CacheMate interface, probably because it is what I’m used to on my Palm.
In some ways dealing with Pocket PCs is easier than Palm units, as for all the options above to get the cache information loaded you simply copy GPX files to the device (i.e. you could just copy an entire Pocket Query as received from Groundspeak… no additional processing required). This is done by using ActiveSync or if you have a memory card you could just pull the card out and transfer the file over using a card reader.
As for the PPC vs. Palm debate, Marc is right, Wisconsin is a Palm state. But if you have a memory card, the download folks at any Wisconsin geocaching event would be able to give you a GPX file of the caches and you’d be set.
The Past
The WGA logo banner images are already on a bunch of cache pages and they are working to drive traffic to the WGA site. Just a couple stats on its use… in December 2008:
– The “large banner image” was downloaded 80,000+ times in that month. This seems like a lot, but it isn’t a reflection of the number of times it was actually viewed, as web browsers cache the image and don’t request it from our server again. So the actual number of views is probably significantly MORE, maybe a million per month?!
– 9900+ people visited the WGA site by clicking a banner image on a cache page. I’m guessing the people clicking on the banner image weren’t all unfamiliar with the WGA or potential new members … some members may not have the WGA site bookmarked and this is how they get to it. Still this was the most popular way people arrived at the WGA site from another location (via a Google search was the second place method).
The Present
I agree that finding the HTML to add these images to a cache page isn’t exactly easy. Last month I offered to add a direct link to the Help Spread The Word page to the Main Menu block IF someone gave me a shorter / better title. No one came up with anything. 🙁
I did edit the About Us page to make the Help Spread The Word portion / link more visible. I don’t know who suggested this ;), but it was a heck of an idea.
The Future
When we create new WGA banner images using the new logo, we plan to include two new features:
– Dynamic images. You will be able to optionally select a banner graphic that will dynamically / periodically change (this change will be automatic; you won’t touch your cache page HTML). We will use this to “advertise” upcoming WGA events and important activities. Right now, it would probably have something about voting for the Board and Cache of the Year. Again, this will be optional… you will still have the ability to use simple banner images with just the WGA logo that will not change.
– Dynamic WGA link. Instead of having the cache page banner images link to the WGA home page, the plan is to link to a special dynamic page. For non-members (those not logged in to the WGA site), this page would display information about the WGA and link to the form people can use to join. For members, we’d have a listing of important recent WGA news AND have information on how they can add a similar banner graphic to their own cache pages. For everyone, if the visitor clicked on one of our dynamic images “advertising” something, we’d also display information about that event or activity.
Do you just want the incumbent information published here, or somehow printed on the ballot? I’d hate to give candidates an advantage or disadvantage by marking or not marking them specially on the ballot. We work very hard to make sure there is a level playing field by randomizing the order of candidates on the ballot, only allowing a single web link per candidate, etc.
The only two incumbents running for re-election are:
Ralph Edwards
zuma
Has served one term on the Board: 2007-2009Anne Elsenpeter
Cache_boppin_BunnyFuFu
Has served one term on the Board: 2007-2009Yes, these login problems are almost always cookie issues of some sort.
Try to clean up / remove all the cookies from your web browser as they may be messed up (contact me if you don’t know how to do this in your particular web browser). Make sure that you don’t have the acceptance of cookies turned off in your browser, or have some sort of firewall / internet security / antivirus program running that is blocking cookies. Finally, make sure your computer clock is set properly… if you set it too far in the future, the cookie you receive from the WGA will time out immediately.
Interesting idea. Do people envision this as being a separate forum? Something posted in the Off Topic forum? Sticky topics posted in the regional forums (could make it easier to find “reviews” by location)? Something not even in the forums, like a wiki page or pages?
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