[FEATURE] Certified Found It log attribute

[+frinklabs]

It is my understanding that there are other smart-phone-based geolocation games whose logging availability is a function of the device's proximity to their version of ground zero.

 

I was thinking of proposing to add a feature leveraging the capabilities of the official Groundspeak apps to include the location of the phone in an API call triggered by having the distance remaining to the cache currently active in the app fall below a specific value.

 

This information could allow Premium Member Only caches that would include a "certified-by-Groundspeak-Official-was-really-there" attribute on their found it log entries submitted from smart phone users.

 

Then I thought that someone else who thought of this, who was more paranoid than me, might wonder how much information is being sent back by the app when it is in use (and possibly logged somewhere).

 

So before I actually propose such a thing, I am wondering if there is a way to get a log or report of all my API calls, to allow transparency to those with privacy concerns?

[AZcachemeister]

Just because you were 'actually really there' doesn't mean you 'actually really found the cache and signed the log'.

[+tozainamboku]

Just because you were 'actually really there' doesn't mean you 'actually really found the cache and signed the log'.

Well then put a QR code in the log book and have them scan it.

[+kunarion]

I was thinking of proposing to add a feature leveraging the capabilities of the official Groundspeak apps to include the location of the phone in an API call triggered by having the distance remaining to the cache currently active in the app fall below a specific value.

So now everyone will know how lousy my cache coordinates are?! No thank you!

 

OK, actually, that's a pretty cool idea, kinda like a Wherigo cache with one only one spot. Have the App pop up a “Verified I Was There” with a tone, when within the proper range. Cachers can decide later when or if they wish to send the souvenir icon to the log. It doesn't have to be sent immediately -- although if there are “concerns”, posting any log by phone poses similar concerns.

Edited March 7, 2013 by kunarion

[+kunarion]

Just because you were 'actually really there' doesn't mean you 'actually really found the cache and signed the log'.

Well then put a QR code in the log book and have them scan it.

Everyone is to make nose prints on the log. You can't fake a nose print.

[+palmetto]

maybe could ask them to sign that log to certify that they found the cache...

[+kunarion]

maybe could ask them to sign that log to certify that they found the cache...

Those QR codes fill up with signatures so fast. I wish COs would maintain their stickers.

[+Semper Questio]

Just because you were 'actually really there' doesn't mean you 'actually really found the cache and signed the log'.

Well then put a QR code in the log book and have them scan it.

 

It could be called a "Funzy", or something similar.

[+J Grouchy]

Just because you were 'actually really there' doesn't mean you 'actually really found the cache and signed the log'.

Well then put a QR code in the log book and have them scan it.

 

It could be called a "Funzy", or something similar.

 

It's a nice thought...confirm or verify a visit...

 

Then I realized I don't really care. If your life is so sad that you have to pretend to have actually found the cache, fine...claim the find and move along. When you're on the honor system, there are always people who will "cheat". It can't be helped.

[+kunarion]

Just because you were 'actually really there' doesn't mean you 'actually really found the cache and signed the log'.

Well then put a QR code in the log book and have them scan it.

 

It could be called a "Funzy", or something similar.

 

It's a nice thought...confirm or verify a visit...

 

Then I realized I don't really care. If your life is so sad that you have to pretend to have actually found the cache, fine...claim the find and move along. When you're on the honor system, there are always people who will "cheat". It can't be helped.

It can if the OP's idea were implemented. Sometimes a Cache Owner doesn't even know if the cacher was in the general area. With a Certified log, they'd know. But they'd have to use nose prints. That's the best way. With a fluorescent orange ink pad.

 

Or a panel of judges. Just keep moisture out of the judge box. You don't want them to get moldy.

Edited March 7, 2013 by kunarion

[+Michaelcycle]

It is my understanding that there are other smart-phone-based geolocation games whose logging availability is a function of the device's proximity to their version of ground zero.

 

I was thinking of proposing to add a feature leveraging the capabilities of the official Groundspeak apps to include the location of the phone in an API call triggered by having the distance remaining to the cache currently active in the app fall below a specific value.

 

This information could allow Premium Member Only caches that would include a "certified-by-Groundspeak-Official-was-really-there" attribute on their found it log entries submitted from smart phone users.

 

Then I thought that someone else who thought of this, who was more paranoid than me, might wonder how much information is being sent back by the app when it is in use (and possibly logged somewhere).

 

So before I actually propose such a thing, I am wondering if there is a way to get a log or report of all my API calls, to allow transparency to those with privacy concerns?

 

I hunt geocaches with the aid of a GPSr.

[+kunarion]

It is my understanding that there are other smart-phone-based geolocation games whose logging availability is a function of the device's proximity to their version of ground zero.

 

I hunt geocaches with the aid of a GPSr.

That's unfortunate. You'll never know if you find a Geocache.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[team tisri]

It can if the OP's idea were implemented. Sometimes a Cache Owner doesn't even know if the cacher was in the general area. With a Certified log, they'd know. But they'd have to use nose prints. That's the best way. With a fluorescent orange ink pad.

 

Or a panel of judges. Just keep moisture out of the judge box. You don't want them to get moldy.

 

A certified log, like a photo of the cache container, or a mark on the log book, or a detailed description of exactly where the container was and what it looked like?

 

If nose prints are to be used I think the ink should be bright red. It looks better, on the log and on the nose.

[+kunarion]

If nose prints are to be used I think the ink should be bright red. It looks better, on the log and on the nose.

Red! Of course! That's perfect!! I'll go place red stamp pads in my caches right away.

 

Edited March 8, 2013 by kunarion

[+J Grouchy]

Just because you were 'actually really there' doesn't mean you 'actually really found the cache and signed the log'.

Well then put a QR code in the log book and have them scan it.

 

It could be called a "Funzy", or something similar.

 

It's a nice thought...confirm or verify a visit...

 

Then I realized I don't really care. If your life is so sad that you have to pretend to have actually found the cache, fine...claim the find and move along. When you're on the honor system, there are always people who will "cheat". It can't be helped.

It can if the OP's idea were implemented. Sometimes a Cache Owner doesn't even know if the cacher was in the general area. With a Certified log, they'd know.

 

Which is why I said after giving it some thought, I decided I just don't really care if they were actually there. I've come to the conclusion that I'll play the game the way I want and understand that others don't do it that way.

 

Some think it's enough to see the cache, not bothering to sign it.

 

Some just want a higher number next to their name and will lie to get it.

 

Some folks in here - I imagine - would look at me with disdain for using only a smartphone to play. They're entitled to feel that way, but it doesn't make me enjoy it less because I didn't spend $200 or more that I can't afford right now on a GPS device.

 

My one instance of not signing a log had me itching to go back and sign it days later just so I could come by my number honestly.

 

Way I see it, unless it's some special awesome radically evil puzzle I created and waited six months for someone to find, I'm probably never going to go back and compare the paper and online logs. I won't feel like some special justice was doled out by deleting someone's 'found it' log.

[+kunarion]

I've come to the conclusion that I'll play the game the way I want and understand that others don't do it that way.

I don’t think the Topic is a particularly great idea. But it would be an OK idea in certain situations.

 

Here’s a situation that happened on one of my caches, where “Certified” location would have been handy. It wasn’t about cheating or people doing it their way. It was a DNF log (and to make matters worse, on another listing site where members can’t contact each other). The cachers were evidently in the wrong place, making a log about “all the no trespassing signs”, “someone’s back yard”, which was odd stuff to say about a cache in a park. It would be handy in that case, if the Certified Cache App did two things:

 

- Let the cachers know they aren’t in the right spot (they know because it hasn’t popped up “Certified” on screen yet).

 

- Somehow let me know where they were in relation to the cache, their closest approach maybe.

 

I don’t know if it would do both, but that could help me figure out why some people can’t find it. Is there a locked gate? Are they coming from a direction I didn’t expect? Then I could offer better help & hints.

 

[i think the cause of the DNF was a severe Android compass problem, in the (then) new OS 4.0. It tended to point in a wrong direction, so I could imagine people following blindly and ending up outside the park, and in the neighborhood instead (and it was the cachers' first cache). The actual coords were fine, but the compass always pointed away from GZ, on a variety of Android devices at the time. This has little to do with the Topic, it's just a good story.]

Edited March 8, 2013 by kunarion

[+StarBrand]

maybe could ask them to sign that log to certify that they found the cache...

good idea!

[+wmpastor]

maybe could ask them to sign that log to certify that they found the cache...

A beefed-up variation of this idea is to bring along a notary, who notarizes your signature in the logbook.

[+TeamRabbitRun]

maybe could ask them to sign that log to certify that they found the cache...

A beefed-up variation of this idea is to bring along a notary, who notarizes your signature in the logbook.

 

wmpastor - that's just silly.

 

Why? Because a Notary Public will charge you $2.00 to notarize your log entry, and that would violate GS's regs vis-a-vis commercialization. Get real, will you?!

 

(On the other hand, I see an opportunity here!)

[+hzoi]

Conundrum. I am a military notary, but I can't notarize my own cache affidavits...sigh.

 

Maybe instead of throwing one more thing on the pile for the programmers at Groundspeak, we just return to integrity, with a dash of peer pressure or ostracism thrown in for enforcement. We'll take people's word about their logs unless they give us reason to think otherwise, at which point we are free to snicker, whisper about them at events, and post about them on the forums.

[+Don_J]

It is my understanding that there are other smart-phone-based geolocation games whose logging availability is a function of the device's proximity to their version of ground zero.

 

I was thinking of proposing to add a feature leveraging the capabilities of the official Groundspeak apps to include the location of the phone in an API call triggered by having the distance remaining to the cache currently active in the app fall below a specific value.

 

This information could allow Premium Member Only caches that would include a "certified-by-Groundspeak-Official-was-really-there" attribute on their found it log entries submitted from smart phone users.

 

Then I thought that someone else who thought of this, who was more paranoid than me, might wonder how much information is being sent back by the app when it is in use (and possibly logged somewhere).

 

So before I actually propose such a thing, I am wondering if there is a way to get a log or report of all my API calls, to allow transparency to those with privacy concerns?

 

If I was in the market and the meat case had "Certified" meat and "Not Certified" meat, guess what meat I would I buy?

 

I'm against any system that elevates the value of one log above that of another, especially if it's simply because one cacher has more expensive technology than the other.

 

Of course, there is always the fact that just because I was at GZ, it doesn't mean that I found a cache.

[+wmpastor]

If I was in the market and the meat case had "Certified" meat and "Not Certified" meat, guess what meat I would I buy?

The "not certified" because it's cheaper?

 

But on point, what's being sold here? Bragging rights?!

[+Student Camper]

Just because you were 'actually really there' doesn't mean you 'actually really found the cache and signed the log'.

Well then put a QR code in the log book and have them scan it.

 

And if you do this, you may very well put an end to my geocaching days as I do not use a phone for the purpose and am not likely to.

I am quite sure I'm not alone in this.

[CantCacheToday]

Some folks in here - I imagine - would look at me with disdain for using only a smartphone to play. They're entitled to feel that way, but it doesn't make me enjoy it less because I didn't spend $200 or more that I can't afford right now on a GPS device.

 

So you look with disdain at people who didn't spend $200 or more that they can't afford right now on a smartphone and smartphone subscription.

[+J Grouchy]

Some folks in here - I imagine - would look at me with disdain for using only a smartphone to play. They're entitled to feel that way, but it doesn't make me enjoy it less because I didn't spend $200 or more that I can't afford right now on a GPS device.

 

So you look with disdain at people who didn't spend $200 or more that they can't afford right now on a smartphone and smartphone subscription.

 

Non sequitur.

 

I have a smartphone as part of my everyday existence, using it for my primary means of communication and mobile access AND, as it just so happens, it has the added convenience of global positioning for various purposes (only one of which is geocaching). A GPSr is only useful for one specific purpose, therefore is a redundant tool. I don't typically spend hundreds of dollars on redundancy like that when the purpose isn't even of any great importance. Maybe for external hard drives and backing up important and personal data...but not for finding hidden bison tubes.

Edited December 1, 2014 by J Grouchy