----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Ulmer" To: "Mike Teague" Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2000 4:14 PM Subject: Geocaching Targeted by Sierra Club
> The article from the NYT was distributed by a Sierra Club list server, and > they are studiing the game for action, I am told... Please copy to gpsstash > email list. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "David E. Bybee" > To: "Dave Ulmer" > Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2000 1:51 PM > Subject: NYTimes.com Article: What to Do With G.P.S > > > > ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- > > From: INTERNET:donp@bestweb.net, INTERNET:donp@bestweb.net > TO: Post List-SC-OA-GC, INTERNET:OA-GC-OUTINGS-LEADERS@LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG > DATE: 10/26/2000 3:20 PM > > RE: NYTimes.com Article: What to Do With G.P.S > > This article from NYTimes.com > has been sent to you by Don Pachner donp@bestweb.net. > > Andrew Johnson > > Andrew & David, I'm trying to send the article on geostashing...hope this > goes through. Let me know whether you think Sierra Club should take a > position on this increasingly popular sport...if it expands, it could > imperil some ecologically fragile areas. > > Don Pachner > Leader, Atlantic Chapter Outings Committee > Chair, Lower Hudson Group Trails Committee > Atlantic Chapter Webmaster > donp@bestweb.net > Check out our web site at: http://www.atlantic.sierraclub.org > > Don Pachner > donp@bestweb.net > > /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ > > > Sign up for NYTimes.com's Campaign Countdown E-mail > > With the presidential election around the corner, > we are offering a daily campaign e-mail to bring > you the latest developments in the race for the White > House. Our Campaign Countdown e-mail will include > information on the candidates' daily activities, the > latest campaign news, the most important poll results > and more. > > http://email.nytimes.com/email/email.jsp#campaign?eta4 > > > \----------------------------------------------------------/ > > What to Do With G.P.S > http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/26/technology/26HUNT.html > > October 26, 2000 > > By JOHN SCHWARTZ > > EARLIER this month, Robert A. Casinghino took a walk in the woods. A > student at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., he had driven into > the Dutchess County countryside in an old Chevrolet that he had > borrowed from his parents. He was seeking the perfect place to > leave a two-gallon paint bucket with a modest treasure trove: a > waterproof brass match case, a few packages of field rations, a set > of camping utensils, a log book and a pencil. > > Mr. Casinghino found a pretty spot in a green thicket. ("It just > felt right," he said later.) He then pulled out his bright yellow > Global Positioning System receiver to record the precise location > and drove home to post the location on the Internet. > > He was geocaching, the latest fad in the never-ending pursuit of > ways to use sophisticated technology to accomplish useless things. > Players leave caches and others find them, often hiking for hours > and enduring physical hardships to do so. For hundreds of > enthusiasts worldwide, this high-tech Easter egg hunt is something > to do with gadgets they have bought but may not have much use for. > > "I got it, honestly, because it was just a neat toy," Mr. > Casinghino said. "Unfortunately, I'm kind of a geek like that. I go > for every gadget I can afford." > > That is one of the reasons he is so excited about geocaching, he > said. "Now with this sport starting up," he explained, "I actually > have a use for it and I don't have to look at people and say, > `Well, I got it to play with.' " > > Since May, at least 120 caches have been hidden in 31 states and > 13 countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Chile. "I'm > amazed that it took off like it has," said Mike Teague, an early > player from Vancouver, Wash. > > Mr. Casinghino, however, said that he had to work at convincing > friends "that it isn't a complete waste of time." > > Caches (also called "stashes" by players) generally include a log > book, a disposable camera and inexpensive goodies like backpacking > equipment, batteries or beer. The game resembles an earlier game > called letterboxing, which shuns yuppie toys for the romance of > maps and compasses. But the key to geocaching is the love that > gadgeteers feel for their G.P.S. devices. > > The Global Positioning System was developed by the Defense > Department for the military. An orbiting network of 24 satellites > transmits signals that can be picked up by receivers anywhere in > the world; the devices determine location by using those signals to > triangulate. They have been used for years by hikers, boaters and > lovers of high-tech toys. The prices of G.P.S. devices continue to > slide downward as their popularity grows; these days, a handheld > receiver can be had for less than $100. > > Until this year, however, the military gave itself an advantage > over any enemies who might use the same network of satellites by > giving the system a form of technomyopia. Under a policy called > selective availability, encryption was used to degrade the signal > for most users, ensuring that while the military would be able to > pinpoint locations within a few yards, most civilian devices would > have a built-in imprecision of about 330 feet. > > On May 1, President Clinton announced that he was ending selective > availability, bringing the accuracy of devices for users worldwide > down to within several feet. Mr. Clinton predicted that the > benefits would be plentiful. "For example," he said, "emergency > teams responding to a cry for help can now determine what side of > the highway they must respond to, thereby saving precious minutes." > > > Of course, hobbyists had other plans. Two days after Mr. Clinton's > announcement, Dave Ulmer, a G.P.S. enthusiast from Beavercreek, > Ore., posted a simple suggestion at alt.geo.satellite-nav. He > wrote, "Now that S.A. is off, we can start a worldwide Stash Game." > There would be just one rule: "Get some stuff; leave some stuff." > > In a telephone interview, Mr. Ulmer said he had bought a receiver > for snowmobiling. But he immediately grasped the fact that shutting > off selective availability meant that "for the first time in the > world, you could just be given coordinates and find a small object > on the planet Earth." > > The next day, Mr. Ulmer announced that he had left a stash near > Portland, Ore., and gave the coordinates. Mr. Teague read the > notice and found the cache on May 6. > > "I was hooked in right there," Mr. Teague said. "I had actually > found something with my G.P.S." (The five-gallon plastic bucket > contained software disks, a can of beans and a slingshot.) Mr. > Teague, in turn, buried two caches in the lava mounds and fields > near Mount St. Helens. > > Within days, caches were popping up around the nation, with a > quick- and-dirty Web site (www.triax.com/yngwie/gps.html) to keep > track. > > The geocachers say that there is more to finding a cache than > simply following an arrow on a screen. Getting to the caches can > involve strenuous climbing and hiking, and then a little looking > around. In doing so, they happen upon great natural sites and > vistas. > > Jeremy Irish, a Web site designer in Bellevue, Wash., who > maintains the leading site for the game, www.geocaching.com, found > one of Mr. Teague's stashes one of eight that he has hunted down. > "There were bugs all over the place," he said. "But it was worth > it." > > Mr. Irish said he hoped that his polished site would promote the > game through corporate sponsorship of expensive caches true > treasures. But, he said, the real fun he derives from the game is > "tricking eggheads to go out there and do some hiking to seek out > these caches." > > Getting the tech set to trek outdoors is no small feat, Mr. > Casinghino said. "The people I live with here at Marist, and > especially the people online, they're all hard-core computer > users," he said. "When they're not at class or at work, they sit in > front of their machines all day. There's this mind-set that if you > can't do it with a good computer, it's not worth doing." > > Mr. Casinghino said he chafed at that. "You can't do everything in > life sitting in front of a monitor," he said. "You have to go out > to do stuff." > > Mr. Casinghino experienced the culture clash on Slashdot, a Web > site where the geekerati discuss technology, popular culture and > issues of the day. A brief article about geocaching was met with > scorn. > > "This sounds like a very good idea for people other than me," > wrote a participant in the discussion. "It's not like I am going to > travel a couple of hours (at the least) to go rooting through > someone's garbage." > > Another wrote: "I'm not opening no bucket someone left somewhere, > thank you very much." > > 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." > > Mr. Ulmer, however, said he had moved on. "I have no problem with > geocaching," he said. "But it just got a little old to me, finding > a bucket full of goodies." > > > > The New York Times on the Web > http://www.nytimes.com > > /-----------------------------------------------------------------\ > > > Visit NYTimes.com for complete access to the > most authoritative news coverage on the Web, > updated throughout the day. > > Become a member today! 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