Information AboutGeocaching |
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Geocaching ( Pronounced /ˈdʒiokæʃɪŋ/) is an outdoor Activity that most often involves the use of a Global Positioning System ("GPS") receiver or traditional navigational techniques to find a "geocache" (or "cache") placed anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small, waterproof container containing a logbook and "treasure", usually trinkets of little monetary Value . Participants are called geocachers. Geocaching is similar to a much older activity called Letterboxing . The major difference is its use of the GPS and the Internet . Some variations of the game now include point systems to enhance game play. HISTORY Geocaching was made possible by the "turning off" of the , 2000 , it had been found twice and logged once (by Mike Teague of Vancouver, Washington ). Well over 200,000 geocaches are currently placed in 220 countries around the world, registered on various websites devoted to geocaching. Origin of the name In the early beginning the activity was originally referred to as ''GPS stash hunt'' or ''gpsstashing''. This was changed after a discussion in the gpsstash discussion group at EGroups (now Yahoo! ). On May 30 , 2000 , Matt Stum suggested to change the name "stash" into "cache" and also mentioned "geocaching" as the name of the activity.[http://geocaching.gpsgames.org/history/geocacheword.txt] GEOCACHES ]] For the traditional geocache, a geocacher will place a waterproof container, containing a log book (with pen or pencil) and treasures, then note the cache's Coordinates . These coordinates, along with other details of the location, are posted online. Other geocachers obtain the coordinates from the Internet and, using handheld GPS receivers, seek out the cache. The finding geocachers record their exploits in the logbook and online. Geocachers are free to take objects from the cache in exchange for leaving something of similar or higher value, so there's Treasure for the next person to find. Typical cache treasures aren't high in intrinsic value. Aside from the logbook, common cache contents are Two Dollar Bills or other unusual Coin s or Currency ; small toys; ornamental buttons; and CDs or books. Also common are "hitchhikers" (a.k.a. travelers or Travel Bug s), which are objects moved from cache to cache, and whose travels may be logged online. Occasionally, higher value items are included in geocaches, normally reserved for the "first finder", or those locations which are harder to reach. ]] Geocaches can range in size from "microcaches", too small to hold anything more than a tiny paper log, to those placed in five-gallon buckets or even larger containers. If a geocache has been vandalized or stolen, it is said to have been "muggled" or "plundered". The former term plays off the fact that those not familiar with geocaching are called "geo-muggles" or just Muggle s, a term borrowed from the Harry Potter series of books. If a cacher discovers that a cache has been muggled, an e-mail to the cache owner is appropriate so it can either be deactivated, repaired, or replaced. VARIATIONS There are many types of caches. Some are easy enough to be called "drive-bys", "park 'n' grabs" ("PNG's"), or "cache and dash". Others are very difficult: under water , many staged multi-caches , 50 feet up a tree , after long offroad drives , on high mountain peaks , on the . Variations of geocaches include:
Geocaching.com , currently the largest caching website, no longer lists caches without a physical object, including locationless/reverse, virtual, webcam, and earth caches (however, existing virtual, webcam, and earth caches have been grandfathered in and "finds" to them can still be logged at the site). Groundspeak, Inc. , the site's owners, have created a Waymarking website, at Waymarking.com , to handle non-physical object caches. TerraCaching.com embraces virtual caches along side traditionals, and has a large selection of locationless caches integrated into the web site. INTERNET There are a number of Web sites that list geocaches around the world. The first, and best known is Geocaching.com , which dates from 2000. This site has members worldwide, and hundreds of thousands of caches available. Caches are published by regional approvers and the site stresses family oriented caching. The second best known site is TerraCaching.com , whose goal is to have members place and seek caches that are somewhat higher in quality, either from the difficulty of the hide or from the quality of the location. Cache aproval is handled by other members through a sponsorship system. Members peer review the quality of other members' caches. It is also worldwide game, with caches numbering in the thousands. The third site frequently used for geocaching is NaviCache.com . Navicache has pockets of popularity worldwide. Some of the Navicache listings can also be found at Geocaching.com. In the United States , where most geocaching services are hosted, coordinates are not protected by copyright but cache data are. Commercial Web sites listing geocache data are generally protective of their data. People scraping data from geocaching.com have been threatened with lawsuits by Groundspeak, Inc., owners of the site. One of the most notable examples of this is that of Ed Hall who in 2001 was threatened with a lawsuit. According to Hall, the threat was due to Groundspeak's request that he provide a copyright notice attributing Groundspeak as the owner of the cache data. However, Groundspeak claims the dispute occurred after Hall refused a request to remove a cache listing from his maps at the request of a cache owner. As a result, his site now acknowledges the various sources of cache data he uses, but after a disagreement about licensing, he longer includes any data from geocaching.com. {Link without Title} SEE ALSO
EXTERNAL LINKS Geocache Listing Sites In alphabetical order.
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