Over the last year and a half, Geocaching.com has created more than 40 videos designed to help new geocachers learn about the activity, share the stories of Geocaching.com milestones and showcase the best of geocaching. Those new to geocaching should check out the “Getting Started with Geocaching” tab on the videos page, which includes videos such as “Finding Your First Geocache” and “Basics of hiding a Geocache.” For those trying to understand how to use some of the more advanced Geocaching.com features, the page also includes instructional screencasts.
The majority of our videos focus on the geocaching community. We have interviewed, gone geocaching with and even showered with geocachers from around the world to bring you the stories of some of the most interesting caches, events, people and trends in the geocaching community. These videos will inspire you to be a better geocacher and make it easy to share with friends what geocaching means to you.
Congratulations to all the Geocacher of the Month nominees. The geocaching community is comprised of inspirational individuals – who go above and beyond in geocaching innovation, creativity, respect for the environment and helpfulness. Each nominee should be congratulated as exceptional geocachers and individuals. We should all be proud that each of the cachers are part of our worldwide community.
The choice for the first Geocacher of the Month was difficult. A panel of Lackeys, relying on voting and community comments, could ultimately choose only one.
haksu10 August Geocacher of the Month
haksu10 is the August Geocacher of the Month. Dozens of geocachers wrote in to share stories about haksu10’s humble dedication to geocaching, geocachers and his local community. haksu10 created geocache.fi site, used by most Finnish geocachers daily. He also placed nearly a hundred creative and engaging caches. One of the most memorable is GC16QCH Haksulandia. According to a Finnish geocacher, “What makes it special, though, is that it is located at haksu10′s yard. According to the description, the cache is equipped with an electric outlet in case you need to charge anything. Call before you arrive (or just ring the doorbell) and haksu10 will make you some coffee.”
haksu10 will receive a collectors Geocacher of the Month geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat and certificate acknowledging their contributions signed by the founders of Geocaching.com: Jeremy Irish, Bryan Roth and Elias Alvord.
The other two outstanding finalists Dale & Barb and De broekies will also receive special gifts from Geocaching.com, and we hope the recognition from geocaching community for their truly outstanding contributions. We can all be inspired by reading the testimonials and comments about all the nominees from other geocachers in this blog post. Community members are encouraged to renominate those who were not awarded Geocacher of the Month.
Every nomination must meet the following requirements. Please include your name, the name of your nominee, their username, at least one picture of the nominee and description (in 500 or fewer words) explaining why he or she deserves to be the Geocacher of the Month. Please inform your nominee that you’ve submitted them for the award. Nominations for the September Geocacher of the Month must be received by September 3rd.
Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose the top candidates and post them on the Latitude 47 blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so we might learn from each other.
Groundspeak needs your help acknowledging a geocacher each month that stands out by inspiring other geocachers with their innovation, creative hides and/or logs, respect for the environment, and helpfulness. More than a hundred geocachers submitted outstanding nominees from around the world.
The Geocacher of the Month celebrates geocachers for their contributions. A panel of Lackeys had the difficult task of selecting four of the most outstanding nominees. You can help name one of these nominees the “Geocacher of the Month.”
Each geocacher you see below displays extraordinary geocaching qualities including generosity and inventiveness. Write a comment on this blog post about which of these three geocachers you’d like to see as the first “Geocacher of the Month.” All those not awarded or nominated are encouraged to submit nominations again next month.
Read the testimonials below and leave a comment with your suggestion. Some testimonials have been edited for length.
Nominated by ZeroOne: “When I read about your Geocacher of the Month project, I naturally started thinking who would be the most suitable Finnish cacher for the nomination. It took me a while because the person is so humble, but when it came to me it was obvious: username haksu10.
Haksu10 is extremely devoted to the Finnish geocaching community — I dare to say there’s no one more devoted than him. He has single-handedly created and is constantly developing the geocache.fi site, used by most Finnish geocachers daily.
I don’t know when, but in the middle of maintaining the site haksu10 also seems to find the time to occasionally go geocaching. Last summer it almost cost him his life, though. He was bitten by a poisonous snake and was hospitalized. Luckily he recovered in a few days and was back developing the site. Haksu has already found almost 2000 caches and owns almost a hundred caches. The most special of his caches is probably GC16QCH Haksulandia.. What makes it special, though, is that it is located at haksu10’s yard. According to the description, the cache is equipped with an electric outlet in case you need to charge anything. Call before you arrive (or just ring the doorbell) and haksu10 will make you some coffee.”
Nominated by Joshism: “I am nominating ‘Dale n Barb.’ Dale and Barbara have been very active in geocaching for several years. They have organized or assisted in numerous events with both their Space Coast Geocaching Association and the larger Florida Geocaching Association. I live more than hour’s drive away, but still attend their events; I know many more who drive even farther. They have worked with parks and the geocaching community, including numerous CITO events. They are the owners of “A Cool Cache” (GC15RQB): the most Favorited non-Virtual in the state of Florida. They encourage others to “Take Pride In Your Hide” and live that motto, with thoughtful well-maintained hides that have never disappointed me. They are a huge asset to the Florida geocaching community in every way possible.”
kdv writes, “I would like to nominate “De broekies.” They are spending most of their spare time helping the Dutch (and international) geocaching community enjoy their geocaching experiences even more. They run a successful geocaching website (www.globalcaching.eu) and offer a lot of functionality and fun to all its users and guests.
They often give away Geocoins and other stuff to visitors. Plus they often help out other websites too, hosting items that require special technical knowledge, for instance to run a Geocoin race. And I have never even met him in person! Robert is just a great person, and I can honestly not think of anyone more deserving of this title. Actually, Geocacher of the Decade would be even more appropriate!
Marcel en Micha writes,”With this email I would like to nominate Robert of the Broekies for Geocacher of the Month. The reason I would like to nominate him is for his outstanding commitment to the Dutch geocaching community. I think he is a good example of how to make the geocaching community a better place. Every country in the world should have a ‘Robert’.”
Geocoin front and back
A panel of Lackeys will use your comments to help decide the Geocacher of the Month award on August 20, 2011 at the Geocaching Block Party in Seattle, Washington, USA. Each Geocacher of the Month will receive an exclusive special edition ”Geocacher of the Month” Geocoin along with a Geocacher of the Month hat and certificate acknowledging their contributions signed by the founders of Geocaching.com: Jeremy Irish, Bryan Roth and Elias Alvord.
Every nomination must meet the following requirements. Please include your name, the name of your nominee, their username, at least one picture of the nominee and description (in 500 or fewer words) explaining why he or she deserves to be the Geocacher of the Month. Please inform your nominee that you’ve submitted them for the award. Nominations for the September Geocacher of the Month must be received by September 3rd.
Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose the top candidates and post them on the blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so we might learn from each other.
Watch the first Geocaching.com Presents video from Germany. Join a group of German geocachers as they explore an abandoned Lost Place Cache that thousands of soldiers used to call home. Lost Place Caches take geocachers to a location that has been all but forgotten by the modern world. Follow along as geocachers search a decommissioned Soviet military base to log a smiley on a difficulty 3.5, terrain 3.5 Multi-Cache. The cache, Stadt im Wald, is located in what used to be East Germany.
"Stadt im Wald" Lost Place Cache
The video is spoken entirely in German. Click the CC button for English or German subtitles.
The next Geocaching.com Presents video from Germany is scheduled to post on August 11th. Go behind the scenes with the German geocaching bloggers and musical talent (they even have their own geocaching CD) known as Dosenfischer.
"Stadt im Wald" Lost Place Cache
Sehe das erste „Geocaching.com Presents“ Video aus Deutschland. Schließ dich der Gruppe von deutschen Geocachern an, als sie einen Lost Place, der sie zur einer ehemaligen sowjetischen Militärbasis führt, erforschen. Das Video ist komplett in deutscher Sprache.
Klicke auf die CC-Taste für die englischen oder deutschen Untertiteln. Das nächste „Geocaching.com Presents“ Video aus Deutschland soll am 11. August veröffentlicht werden. Blicke hinter die Kulissen mit den deutschen Geocaching Bloggers und dem musikalischen Talent (sie haben ihre eigenen Geocaching CD), das als Dosenfischer bekannt ist.
Using your GPS device in the United States to find the latest geocache could end with nothing but signal interference. That’s if the current proposal before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by the multi-billion dollar communications giant LightSquared™ is approved. According to press reports, LightSquared’s current proposal could render tens of thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands of GPS receivers obsolete starting as early as next year. But there is something you can do about it.
The LightSquared proposal involves offering an open wireless broadband network in radio frequency bands adjacent to those used by GPS receivers. LightSquared plans to use both satellites and land-based towers to provide this service.
A report delivered to the FCC in June shows significant interference to GPS receivers from LightSquared’s operations.
Groundspeak has joined a group of those willing to raise their voices in objection to this current plan. The group is called A Coalition to Save Our GPS. We ask that you add your voice to the conversation. Tell the FCC that the current proposal by LightSquared could affect the family friendly activity of geocaching. Here’s why.
The LightSquared cell towers reportedly cast a signal significantly more powerful than the distant GPS satellites. GPS devices cannot filter out the stronger signal, resulting in interference. Tests reported to the FCC using a simulated LightSquared network reportedly jammed GPS devices used for aviation, surveying, agriculture, the U.S. Coast Guard and personal GPS navigation devices. Tests also confirmed that ambulance and police cars lost their GPS reception within 600 – 1,000 feet of a LightSquared tower.
The FCC has asked for feedback from the public on the report. Comments will be taken until Saturday, July 30. The “reply to comments” period then lasts until August 15. After the public comment period is closed, the FCC can announce a decision at any time. We’re asking that geocachers, and anyone who cares about GPS, rally to make the voices of GPS device users heard.
What can I do?
Everyone who cares about GPS should let the FCC know about the threat that LightSquared poses. In writing to the FCC, we encourage you to cover the following points in your own words:
How you use GPS technology in your business and/or personal life
What would happen to your business/personal life if GPS became unavailable or unreliable
While more capacity for wireless broadband services is important, it should not come at the expense of GPS, which is critical to the global economy
The results of the testing that was performed at the FCC’s request show that GPS reception on certain devices could be affected by LightSquared’s proposed service.
Now that the test results have shown interference to GPS, the FCC shouldn’t allow LightSquared to keep trying out modified versions of its plan to use the spectrum near the GPS band. LightSquared’s operations and GPS are fundamentally incompatible and the FCC should order LightSquared out of that band.
How do I tell the FCC to save GPS?
The FCC has an easy-to-use portal on its website to submit feedback on the testing results:
(2) In the box which says “Proceeding Number,” type: 11-109. It is important to include this docket number with your comments.
(3) In the designated boxes, enter (a) your name or your company’s name, and (b) your mailing address/city/state/zip.
(4) In the box which says “Type in or paste your brief comments,” do so. Click “Continue.”
(5) A review page will load listing all of the information entered. If correct, click “Confirm.” (6) If you have trouble, contact the FCC ECFS Helpdesk at 202-418-0193 or e-mail at ecfshelp@fcc.gov.
Over the last year and a half, Geocaching.com has created more than 40 videos designed to help new geocachers learn about the activity, share the stories of Geocaching.com milestones and showcase the best of geocaching. Those new to geocaching should check out the “Getting Started with Geocaching” tab on the videos page, which includes videos such as “Finding Your First Geocache” and “Basics of hiding a Geocache.” For those trying to understand how to use some of the more advanced Geocaching.com features, the page also includes instructional screencasts.
