OT: brdad - love your tag line
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OT: brdad - love your tag line
We have passed the 6000 caches published mark this week.
Maine Geocaching Stats
Where do you get archived caches from?
Platinum members get access to all archived caches. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by cano
But anyone else can get most of them by going through every log of every cacher who has ever placed or found a cache in Maine and checking every cache that person has hidden in Maine and saving the individual gpx file from there. It was tough when I started saving this data in 2003, I can imagine it'd be a lot tougher now.
I still have to maintain my archiveds somewhat manually - every week I check for caches in my database that did not come through on the PQs, and then the logs are loaded for that cache, because I use the log dates to determine what day they were archived and by who. I could automate this process some and I might in the future, but doing it manually helps me remember which ones are gone.
I am still not 100% sure I have every cache published in Maine, but I should be real close.
Several new stats this week, mostly cache hider stats:
Number of days since Maine's first cache was placed
Average number of caches placed per day since Maine's first cache was placed
Average number of caches placed per cache hider
Total cache to cache distance by placed order
Top Ten cache hiders
Most caches placed by cache type
Most caches placed by cache size
Most caches placed by cache difficulty
Most caches placed by cache terrain
Cachers who have hidden more than 20 unique difficulty/terrain combinations
Cachers who have hidden more than 10 unique cache type/size combinations
Avid promoters of geocachingmaine.org
Number of cache hiders who hid their first Maine cache by year
Maine Geocaching Stats
Some interesting topics there. Thanks Dave.
Stats have been updated. I see a few new people on the "Avid promoters of geocachingmaine.org" list!
Maine Geocaching Stats
OK, OK, I'm working on it.
You need to check mine again.. I think I am at 100% now. But I may have missed one or two.Quote:
Originally Posted by brdad
According to my database, 27 of your 44 active caches link to the site, for a percentage of 61%. If you have just updated some of the caches in the past couple days, my PQs may have come in before you changed them and it will be reflected in the next update. Here is the list I have, a 0 means the cache does not link to the site and a 1 indicates it does.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mainiac1957
Sorry for the poor cut and paste formatting!
A View of the Lake (A Rescue Rangers Cache) mainiac1957 0
Airline TB Inn and Resort Annex mainiac1957 0
B.C.F. East Trail mainiac1957 0
B.C.F. Gas Saver mainiac1957 0
B.C.F. Grouse Trail mainiac1957 0
B.C.F. Veazie Railroad Bed mainiac1957 0
B.C.F. West Trail mainiac1957 0
Camp Roosevelt Cache Brewer Boy Scout Troop 1 0
Dorothea Dix Maine Geocachers 0
Engineer's memory Maine Geocachers 0
Falls-away Maine Geocachers 0
Fisherman's Park mainiac1957 0
Home Run! mainiac1957 0
Kan Koozie Kache mainiac1957 0
Kineowatha Maine Geocachers 0
Lo and Behold.....it's another micro mainiac1957 0
Penobscot River Trail mainiac1957 0
Brewer by the Numbers mainiac1957 1
China School Forest Maine Geocachers 1
Coos Canyon Cache mainiac1957 1
Don't Pushaw your luck mainiac1957 1
Down at the boat launch mainiac1957 1
Five years of the Bashe - cache mainiac1957 1
Island Hoppers mainiac1957 1
Jock's Dream mainiac1957 1
Maine's Resident Rock Star mainiac1957 1
Mainiac1957's Map 38 Cache mainiac1957 1
Remember When...Civil Defense mainiac1957 1
Remember When...Dow A.F.B. mainiac1957 1
Remember When...The Bangor Twin Drive-In mainiac1957 1
Route 2 Mystery Tour mainiac1957 with Quilting Mom and Mike 1
Route 2 Tour Veterans Memorial Park mainiac1957 with Quilting Mom and Mike 1
Route 2 Tour-East Mercer Cemetery mainiac1957 with Quilting Mom and Mike 1
Route 2 Tour-Lake George West mainiac1957 with Quilting Mom and Mike 1
Route 2 Tour-Lufkin School mainiac1957 with Quilting Mom and Mike 1
Route 2 Tour-Palmyra Veterans Park mainiac1957 with Quilting Mom and Mike 1
Route 2 Tour-Philbrick Park mainiac1957 with Quilting Mom and Mike 1
Route 2 Tour-Ranger Station mainiac1957 with Quilting Mom and Mike 1
Route 2 Tour-Road to Nowhere mainiac1957 with Quilting Mom and Mike 1
Route 2 Tour-State Line mainiac1957 with Quilting Mom and Mike 1
Route 2 Tour-The Old Bridge mainiac1957 with Quilting Mom and Mike 1
Sherwood Forest Series (George A Green) mainiac1957 1
Stacked on the Stillwater mainiac1957 1
WWFM-VI TBA? mainiac1957 1
If anyone else is working on their links and would like a list of their caches I have listed as not being linked, let me know and I can PM them to you.
You can add me to the list. Banner is on both, but perhaps the link is wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brdad
Your links are fine and will show up in the next update. On your Bennet/Wilson cache, not everything was pasted in correctly, that is why the banner is on the left with the description starting right after it. But it still links to the site.Quote:
Originally Posted by pm28570
Thanks Dave, will play with it when I get back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brdad
I thought we were going to pass 5000 available caches this week, but we're not quite there yet, but soon!
I think everyone who asked about being on the promoters of the site list have been added with this update.
Maine Geocaching Stats
We have passed the 5000 available caches mark!
Maine Geocaching Stats
As quality has given away to quantity... Sheesh!Quote:
Originally Posted by brdad
I KNOW!! Shame on everyone who has taken the time to contribute to geocaching by hiding a cache! How dare they do that. We all know there are no quality caches anymore and that this is only an issue that has occurred recently! :eek::eek::eek::pQuote:
Originally Posted by WhereRWe?
Yet again, an interesting read. Thanks, Dave.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brdad
Sarcasm noted. But no - it is not a recent occurrence. It's been a gradual slide, and I'm afraid so see where it ends. Remember when nearly every cache log said something like "We'd never have found this place if it hadn't been for geocachng"? How often does a "new" cache say this?Quote:
Originally Posted by TRF
But if you like GRC/LPC/stop sign caches - go for it. We don't. It's not what geocaching is all about - IMHO. Perhaps it needs a different name - like "Waypointing", or something.
:D:D
This is always a touchy subject and probably should be in it's own thread, but I'll weigh in a bit and TRY to be fair minded about it.
Fact: There are more micros now than there ever were, and there is a much much higher percentage of micros than there ever were.
Fact: Micros are not necessarily low quality, nor are low quality caches necessarily micros. This has been true since caching started.
Fact: Everyone has their own opinion of what constitutes lesser quality in a cache, whether it is location, size, container, hide method, or whatever.
Now comes the opinion mixed with some fact:
I don't think the ratio of what I consider a lesser quality cache has been consistent with the number of caches placed. I think the event which caused the largest jump in the percentage of these caches was the removal of virtual caches from gc.com. Why they removed a cache type that the placer was required to explain why the spot was worthy and replace it with a type that could be haphazardly placed is beyond me. The other largest thing that I think promotes lesser quality cache hides is the promotion of 'the numbers'. This has existed since caching started and has had upswings and downswings through time.
That being said, I am not sure if the percentage of what I consider to be lesser quality caches is much greater than it ever was. If, when I started, 10 of the 150 (6%) caches available were 'lame', that same percentage would be 331 of the available caches now. I do know my expectations have lowered - that my definition of a lesser quality cache has lowered.
Exactly!Quote:
Originally Posted by brdad
We like to congratulate fellow cachers for reaching milestones: 100 caches found, 500, 1,000, etc. There was a time when reaching one of these milestones meant a lot of miles driven and a lot of paths walked. But now, when you can do 100 caches in a day on 1 tank of gas, the significance of the "milestone" is much less, IMHO. If it's easy to do, why do we even consider it an accomplishment?
The Delorme Challenge is a good example of one of the remaining REAL accomplishments. It takes time, effort and planning.
hey, thanks for letting me know what a REAL accomplishment is...I think that is where people get frustrated - others deciding what is REAL, or LAME, or QUALITY caching is. If you don't like the style of caching, don't do it...
People rate everything, TV shows, motor vehicles, amusement rides, books - there are very few if any things that humans do not rate. People have to remember that discussions of this sort are purely opinion. I think most cachers would agree that a well maintained cache in a durable container adds to the quality of a cache, but there will always be those few that would not care if a cache was nothing more than a wet log in a ripped ziplock bag.
And while it is fact that all caches and types of caches get easier with time including challenges, the level of accomplishment is dependent on the individual cacher and their methods and abilities.
LOL, Is this a parody of "The Hitchers Guide to the Galaxy." by Douglas Adams?Quote:
Originally Posted by WhereRWe?
"The meaning of Life is .....!", and a true geocaching accomplishment is "... ... REAL accomplishments. ... ... It takes ....."
He hehaaaa
:D:eek::D:p
Where have all the micros gone, Brdad?
All the micros are gone? There is a God! :D
Looks like I must have mistakenly had them filtered out last time I ran the stats. I usually double check things when I run them but I know I didn't last week. GSAK is waiting on one PQ due today and then I will run them again. Check again later today.
TeamHorwich...... you have accomplished nothing, apparently!
Even if TeamHorwich had never hidden a micro, anyone would still have to respect their accomplishments. I hear praise for their caches mentioned at events and in chat. Sure, micros may be the larger percentage of their hides, but if that's the only criteria you re using for one's accomplishments, that's a bit shallow IMHO.Quote:
Originally Posted by CARoperPhotography
Anyway, stats are updated, including micros this week. ;)
Maine Geocaching Stats
No one said that micros are the ONLY criteria for one's accomplishments. Please do not put words on my keyboard that I did not type.
However, micros are the majority of what TH, myself, and others such as Lex and Ekidokai have hidden. Many of them are GREAT hides. Because a cache is a micro does not mean that it is a simple guardrail park n grab.
I could not agree more, but I only know of one LPC ammo box cache.
http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/...a6a566e86e.jpg
HA HA! Gotta give you a thumbs up for that one.... looks like some caches I have seen :-)
2010 - The Year of the Regular Cache Container
Could it be?
While I like micro caches I am a firm believer that micro caches should only go where a regular cache cannot. IMOHO, there are way to many micro caches that are placed where other more appropriate sized caches could be. Geo-cacher University had a nifty piece about what is appropriate for where.
I am getting a bit concerned about the dramatic increase in small sized caches. I think we can do better.
There, you now have two things that BRDAD and I have similar feelings about although on this one my view may not be quite as narrow as the other persons view.
Cache on!
That is an actual cache - placed by the self-proclaimed "Number one non-cheating Geocacher in the world"!Quote:
Originally Posted by CARoperPhotography
I knew you'd come around! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Gob-ler
Brett does a great job with the Geocacher University web site.
And I'll agree I am more narrow minded on most subjects. But I am truly concerned with how the game is presented and perceived, particularly to new cachers and non-cachers - perhaps a bit more than I need to.
Give it up, I thought HD had that title.:DQuote:
Originally Posted by brdad
Remember how we always used to remark that "I/we would have never been to this place if it hadn't been for geocaching"? Sheesh! You can say the same think about the back side of many shopping mall stores! LOL!Quote:
Originally Posted by brdad
;);)
Yeah, the only difference unlike many of the "older style unique areas", some of the stores I have been behind to get a cache I will never return to! I'm not sure if it's that hiders don't notice or don't care, or if the conditions changed since they last checked on it, but it's very hard to enjoy a cache when there are hypodermic needles, used condoms, or other unsanitary conditions nearby. And I know this is common around other caches as well (as in the case of Old470), but many areas behind businesses are never cleaned up and it's quite obvious they are not the best place to be hanging at, let alone bringing your kids to.Quote:
Originally Posted by WhereRWe?
When we were in Memphis caching this Spring, we came up on a cache behind this run down convenience store. I got a funny feeling driving up and before I even stopped, Lee told me to keep going. A month or so ago I was talking to a cacher who lives in the area and had lunch with on our trip - he told us of a big drug operation that was busted at that store just a few days before. Sometimes you have to go with your gut.
And yet, I hear another 'Let people play the way they want" and/or "If you don't like them, don't do them" speech coming soon. Sorry, I can't buy that in these cases. There are some areas that caches should just not be placed near.
There is nothing more to piss me off, than a micro DEEP in the woods....
.... and.... in response to Gobbler's comment, I think that before he criticizes other's oddly placed caches in locations that don't quite make sense, I can name off a few of his that make me wonder..... I mean, the Centum cache in Scarborough? Please..... tell me you couldn't find a better spot than the back of a store to place that!!!
Then applying your logic to other life issues, we should not fly on certain airline carriers because they tend to be "terrorized" more often. Or we shouldn't visit certain cities because the crime rate is too high. Or we shouldn't buy certain cars because they don't rate as well as others in specific areas.Quote:
Originally Posted by brdad
Why do we need to tell people what is or is not good for them? As you pointed out in relaying your anecdote, go with your gut feeling. More murders and muggings and drug deals happen in Central Park NY, NY than in all of Maine but I would still bring my kids to visit. I wouldn't bring them at midnight on a Saturday but I would think I'd betray them by denying them the opportunity to see the place. At one time Washington DC was the "murder capital" of the US. I'd bring my kids there too, I just would use common sense and not walk down back roads that I wasn't familiar with.
Also, I've heard of horror tales of people camping in Baxter State Park who have had horrific encounters with other people. On the other hand I would never say that you shouldn't go there. What about the murders along the Appalachian Trails, should we ban Rick from hiking that? or just that section of the trail?
My point being, is I don't need anyone to make decisions for me. I would appreciate and respect anyone who shares honest information with me but lets me make up my own mind. I can make good decisions without someone telling me what decision I should make. (I've made my share of bad choices too but attribute that to being given dishonest information for the most part.)
I can't help but respond to these comments when I feel that the freedom offered to geocachers to cache how they see fit, where and when they want, is being assailed by folks who believe they represent a purist view of a sport that was obviously intended to evolve and grow. Considering that geocaching is a "newer" sport I feel it short sighted to say that the way it was is the way it should be. I'm sure glad that Thomas Edison didn't say, Candles are the only acceptable way and there is no reason for any other way to illuminate our world. ;) We wouldn't be geocaching for sure, although maybe someone would have come up with the term geo-dowser. Hmmmm, now that would be a purist way to find a cache.