Bryan makes a very good point. My Sunnyvale, CA neighbors who were ham radio operators (three nearby at the time) were considered very nerdy until we had the World Series Earthquake. Guess what. The police and fire radio systems went out, and hams were the only way they managed to stay in touch. Staying up on GPS technique is going to become a very useful skill someday... Brit Conner -----Original Message----- From: Bryan Roth [mailto:bryan@geocaching.com] Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2000 11:39 AM To: gpsstash@egroups.com Subject: RE: [gpsstash] Re: NY Times Article Slant
The article seems negative to me. Why bash Geocaching? Jeremy's "tricking eggheads and bugs" quote are used, I believe, as a tool to bring disfavor to the sport. After all, who really likes to be tricked and who likes bugs [gee, sign me up!] This is bullshit, espcially considering that Jeremy happens to be one of the most pro-geocaching people around. I have no doubt that he had better things to say in his interview. I guess that this is similar to the author's characterization of Dave Ulmer as having moved on... A lack of understanding is really no excuse for slanted journalism. The rest of the article appears so deliberately slanted against geocachers, referring to them as eggheads and yuppies, using solely negative quotes from slashdot and most of the others interviewed, and repeatedly referring to geocaching as a waste of time. The limited positive points are so buried in crap that they are likely lost [ie, "Mr. Casinghino stands up for his hobby. "I get a lot of 'Why bother? What's the use? Go out, find a bucket, write your name on a piece of paper, leave? It's a waste of time,' " he said. "The same can be said of just about anything. Why sit in front of a computer 24-7? Why read this book? Why watch that TV show?" This is recreation, he said. "And Sometimes recreation is supposed to be a waste of time" , "...someone else's garbage"] A day trek into the mountains with a goal... a waste of time? No way. As someone who enjoys Geocaching, I am simply dissappointed. Yours, Rothstafari PS: On a positive note, the hyperlink, cover placement and mention are, well, a hyperlink, cover placement and some mention.