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Thread: Geocaching.com killed the Google Earth KML

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by squirrelcache View Post
    Even w/all the compliments and comments about all the work hide_from_the_kids did on the BK discount cards....to this day there have only been 6 purchased!! 100% of the purchase money goes to the site!? That's unheard of.......and w/20% return each use...you're return is fast and in no time you're actually Saving Money while supporting the site.

    Human nature....gotta love it. We're interesting creatures......aren't we!?
    I think a lot of the reason is, despite seeing the number of comments, it is still a low number of users who are actually aware of it. It probably could stand some more promotion. And then there's people like me, who just haven't goten around to ordering them yet. And some may be waiting buy them in person.
    DNFTT! DNFTT! DNFTT!

    "The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it..."

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by brdad View Post
    Why did you need them stitched together? Other than PQ routes can't be over 500 miles long, there is no reason you can't make longer routes.

    For my long trips, I often make my entire route first using Google Maps adjusting for the caches I want to do, then when I have decided on my final route I make 500 mile sections to create the PQ with. I can load the 500+ mile route I create with Google Maps into Google Earth as well. That's where I liked the Google Earth KML; I could load my entire route and then see what caches were near that route.
    In Google maps, I was able to make very detailed routes, but couldn't export them into something that I could get a PQ along the route. With Google Earth, I could derive a PQ, but the routing was very chunky, you pick your endpoints and GE picks a route.
    In a 500 mile PQ I sometimes had 15 start/end points in GE. Once I had all of them, I would export to a text editor, remove the headers and footers to make them all one path and request a PQ on that 500 mile stretch, whereas in Google maps I could have defined the route on the screen with no drama. I only discovered this after defining a 3800 mile route in Google maps and had to throw it away after I couldn't get a PQ with it.

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by squirrelcache View Post
    I'm amazed how many complaints are heard from folks when referring to something that's generally offered for Free. You see it all the time w/IM or e-mail programs. And we see it w/geocaching I'm sure.

    Ever done the research to see how many caches are offered to non-members. This site/forum's resources alone are greatly taxed by folks that don't help support it financially.

    Google's kml queries were offered free. If someone was plotting a route using 200 waypoints, they would query Google’s servers 200x200 = 40,000 times. Like all the e-mails and forum posts on this site. It all adds up quickly and causes the need for more equipment/resources. It's not surprising that many of us GC.com members are noticing and complaining about the speed and accessibility these days. It all costs money.........from somewhere.

    Even w/all the compliments and comments about all the work hide_from_the_kids did on the BK discount cards....to this day there have only been 6 purchased!! 100% of the purchase money goes to the site!? That's unheard of.......and w/20% return each use...you're return is fast and in no time you're actually Saving Money while supporting the site.

    Human nature....gotta love it. We're interesting creatures......aren't we!?
    I agree that people often complain about the free stuff. (I play Mafia Wars in Facebook and for a free program, it's amazing how many people complain about every little item of the game).
    I suspect that most of the people using kml files with Groundspeak are the more serious, higher volume cachers (and would hope that most of them are premium members). I would be willing to pay more than $3/month just to add that service back in. If I look at what I spend on gas/batteries/wear and tear on the car for a big day of caching, the Groundspeak charge is a drop in the bucket.

  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by squirrelcache View Post
    Even w/all the compliments and comments about all the work hide_from_the_kids did on the BK discount cards....to this day there have only been 6 purchased!! 100% of the purchase money goes to the site!? That's unheard of.......and w/20% return each use...you're return is fast and in no time you're actually Saving Money while supporting the site.

    Human nature....gotta love it. We're interesting creatures......aren't we!?
    RULost2? and I don't care for Burger King. Can we get a coupon for McDonalds or Wendy's?

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sudonim View Post
    In Google maps, I was able to make very detailed routes, but couldn't export them into something that I could get a PQ along the route. With Google Earth, I could derive a PQ, but the routing was very chunky, you pick your endpoints and GE picks a route.
    In a 500 mile PQ I sometimes had 15 start/end points in GE. Once I had all of them, I would export to a text editor, remove the headers and footers to make them all one path and request a PQ on that 500 mile stretch, whereas in Google maps I could have defined the route on the screen with no drama. I only discovered this after defining a 3800 mile route in Google maps and had to throw it away after I couldn't get a PQ with it.
    Ah. I make a rough route in Google Maps for the entire trip just for reference, and then I make detailed 500 mile routes in Google Maps, starting at the ending point of the previous route. I then export those sections to make PQs...
    DNFTT! DNFTT! DNFTT!

    "The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it..."

  6. #26
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    I think the feature that was disabled must be something I never used in the first place, lol, because the only thing I used the .kml files for was piecing together routes the way Sudonim described. I just logged in and it looks like that functionality is still available. In another thread TeamHorwich pointed out that gc.com is using the Google Maps API to allow routes with multiple points so stitching together files isn't needed anyway.

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by benandtina View Post
    I think the feature that was disabled must be something I never used in the first place, lol, because the only thing I used the .kml files for was piecing together routes the way Sudonim described. I just logged in and it looks like that functionality is still available. In another thread TeamHorwich pointed out that gc.com is using the Google Maps API to allow routes with multiple points so stitching together files isn't needed anyway.
    The difference was that before the kml support was dropped, you could make the detailed maps in Google Maps (without having to stitch segments together) and get a PQ on the whole 500 mile route. Much less involved, and less chance of making mistakes.

  8. #28
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    I don't know what KLM feature are you missing, but it is possible to view geocaches in Google Earth in realtime without making PQs.
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  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by cano View Post
    I don't know what KLM feature are you missing, but it is possible to view geocaches in Google Earth in realtime without making PQs.
    They restored the functionality with a few changes, limiting the number of page refreshes allowed, a couple of months ago.

  10. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by cano View Post
    I don't know what KLM feature are you missing, but it is possible to view geocaches in Google Earth in realtime without making PQs.
    Is that using the new "Google Earth Viewer"? Because the Google Earth Viewer is still a kml that replaces the old kml. And as before, the caches may be up to 100 feet off, and you are limited to so many views a day (250 for premium members, and 25 for basic members). And you can't see more than 500 caches in any given view at a time.
    DNFTT! DNFTT! DNFTT!

    "The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it..."

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