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Post by SSO JOAT on Dec 10, 2013 21:01:34 GMT -9
I'll use TFTC before or after, so long as it's accompanied by more. How about SL TN LN? Is that better than the stand alone TFTC? As a stand-alone, I'd consider SLTNLN to be even less than TFTC as there is nothing that stands for "thanks". |
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Post by ladybugkids on Dec 10, 2013 21:20:38 GMT -9
My anti-TFTC sentiment is in the context of those four letters being the only thing posted with the log. I think it's plenty appropriate if, after a descriptive log is written, to close with a variant of TFTC.
In my opinion, TNLNSL, even though it appeared some years ago on a license plate in the Interior, is dismissive, if it is the only thing written.
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Post by NeverSummer on Dec 11, 2013 8:55:16 GMT -9
I'll use TFTC before or after, so long as it's accompanied by more. How about SL TN LN? Is that better than the stand alone TFTC? That's a good question. I haven't seen it as a standalone log. When I first started caching I saw many logs that talked about the find, then ended "TNLNSL TFTC". It was shorthand, and it was "cool" because it was shorthand.  I think that, with the increase in user base, cachers came into the game learning those acronyms, but not necessarily their use. As time went on, I started to see more logs with just a "TFTC". As more time went on, it seemed that "TFTC" as a standalone log was getting attention from some upset folks in the forums who thought that cache logs should have more information about the cache, the hunt, etc. Some on the forums have voiced that they use it as a way to say a cache has no redeeming value; a "thanks for the smilie, the rest was 'meh'." Others say that is is a sign of a "bad" or uneducated cacher. My personal feeling is that "TFTC" is a great thing to say...at the end of an otherwise normal log. If used as a standalone, it makes it seem like I don't have the time to write more, provide some context of the hunt, etc. I think, in the dark cluttered back corner of my memory, that I have used a standalone "TFTC". It was during some dark days of caching back when I lived in MN, and realized that the culture of geocaching wasn't really inclusive, and some cachers didn't like it when you mentioned that their cache needed some attention due to a broken margerine container with a completely soaked and mildewed log. So, rather than saying anything, I just said "TFTC". Now that I realize how that looks, I try to APaPP...  |
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Post by NorthWes on Dec 11, 2013 16:34:28 GMT -9
As a matter of practice, I believe if you're earning a smiley  for finding the hide someone placed, you need to give something back in return for the smiley, as a thank-you for the cache owner's efforts in putting out a logsheet for you to sign and publishing the cache listing. It doesn't have to be much - but it should be something more than just a four-letter shorthand remark (for which I think most everyone in this thread shares agreement). I don't have to hunt caches if I don't like their style (sorry, evil twins, my insurance agent wrote a specific rider banning me from ladder-caching in Alaska!), and I'm not often gifted with the time to get after some of the urban hides around Anchorage. The whole time issue is why literally half of my cache finds are more than 500 miles from home; my caching time increases dramatically when I'm on vacation, away from my too busy schedule. I try very hard to have something nice to say for those 'outsider' caches, even if it's a brief note (and I almost always leave the 'Found by a Sourdough Member of GeocacheAlaska! Inc. photo). So when we had the 31 Days of August caching series pop up, I tried to make time to find local urban hides (and I made the streak & earned all the souvenirs too). I found myself thinking "how do I say thank you above and beyond 'thanks for keeping my streak going' sort of stuff?" The solution I adopted for many of those August caches was to shoot photos in the cache area focusing on foliage, then edit them together into one square photo collage using PicStitch as a way to say "here's what I saw around the cache site which was good for me to see today." I was able to do that for about a third of those finds. I've since used that while traveling, and have been amazed at some cachers' reactions. It's pretty incredible to have someone outside email you and say "I'm going to look for cache XYZ because your photo makes the area around it look very interesting"... especially when the area's not necessarily THAT interesting! It's been a great tool for helping me slow down and appreciate something about each hide location, rather than just rushing through the find. I'm amazed at how many flowers grow wild around town, even in the industrial side streets - but you don't see them if you're in a hurry! |
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Post by NorthWes on Dec 11, 2013 16:43:48 GMT -9
Earlier in this thread, LBK mentioned the cookie-cutter posts folks place on powertrails (or worse, on their entire caching vacation list of finds). I don't like those, but I just left a series of them on over 200 caches I found while doing parts of the Eldorado Power Trail south of Boulder NV (outside Las Vegas). I had a great time driving on sandy / rocky desert utility roads (trails, in some cases...), and managed during some timespans to find a cache every 3 minutes. Sometimes. However, beyond the boredom I experienced (I was caching solo) and the physical wear and tear on my body of dismounting/mounting a Ford Pickup every three minutes (I never thought I'd get knee pain from the twisting the knee endures like that, for example), I found myself wondering how to differentiate my posts. One of the things I noted in earlier posts from the power trail was the utter lack of specific comments regarding the condition of the roadbed, so I settled on a series of posts which talked about the road conditions along a specific section of the power trail (more valuable for future readers than the story of my life, or how many beers I'd had the night before - both of which I'd seen on prior posts).
So, future travelers on the Eldorado Power Trail will have road condition reports specific to each section of that trail which I drove. And - I made thanks for the cache series, and the power company for their great maintenance too!
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Post by akgh519 on Dec 11, 2013 18:32:19 GMT -9
NorthWes, I don't know how you did that many on a power trail solo! You must be wanting numbers?!?!
Good idea ie your photo idea...will have to take a look and see if that would be a faster way to load more than one pic at a time to geocaching.com.
Oh and btw...you don't have to have a ladder to do any ET hides...however, you might need to be a cat of some kind....a 'JACK' cat perhaps ?!?!?
HaHaHa!!!!
Might be time for some new 'insanity' hides....
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Post by fuzzybelly on Dec 11, 2013 21:45:56 GMT -9
I don't like those, but I just left a series of them on over 200 caches I found while doing parts of the Eldorado Power Trail south of Boulder NV (outside Las Vegas). I found myself wondering how to differentiate my posts. One of the things I noted in earlier posts from the power trail was the utter lack of specific comments regarding the condition of the roadbed, so I settled on a series of posts which talked about the road conditions along a specific section of the power trail (more valuable for future readers than the story of my life, or how many beers I'd had the night before - both of which I'd seen on prior posts). I heard recently that the creators of power trail don't even get the e-mail notification of all of their power trail caches, and they only watch the #1 cache. So they like for the whole power trail journey post to be written on #1. It makes since to me otherwise how many e-mail notifications do you think they might receive? In that case I would think TFTC would be fine. |
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Post by SSO JOAT on Dec 11, 2013 21:56:57 GMT -9
Depends on how they published the caches. If they used their regular GC login that they cache under, then they'll get the owner logs for everything. If they use a sock puppet account, then they can channel the email notifications off into cyberspace.
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Post by akgh519 on Dec 11, 2013 22:18:57 GMT -9
Good to know....I might have to figure out how to do so ie channel into cyber space...can you imagine being the ET highway cache owners? Wouldn't want all those emails!
Who knows...there might be an 'ET' power trail of a different kind next year.....might even end up in Alaska!!!!
TeeHee!!!!
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Post by ladybugkids on Dec 12, 2013 6:50:32 GMT -9
Depends on how they published the caches. If they used their regular GC login that they cache under, then they'll get the owner logs for everything. If they use a sock puppet account, then they can channel the email notifications off into cyberspace. Exactly, because every cache is posted from an account that has a validated e-mail address. Groundspeak expects Cache Owners to monitor the e-mail stream for their caches so they can respond to maintenance, land owner or other issues. Unfortunately, some power trails are placed with a sock puppet account that has an e-mail that is not monitored or the e-mails are auto-deleted so the inbox doesn't go over quota. The Cache Owner' solution has been to put a container of film canisters at either end of the trail with a request for the Cache Seekers to replace any missing or broken containers. This has spawned the practice of Cache Seekers scooping up several containers at the beginning of the power trail, signing the logs, and then swapping containers out as they drive the power trail. I've talked to more than one Cacher who has said it's been weird to be caching along and come across a cache log with their signature already in it because another team had leap-frogged past them and swapped containers. Strange things happen along the ET Highway... |
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Post by GreatlandReviewer on Dec 12, 2013 7:00:34 GMT -9
Wouldn't want all those emails! That's certainly something to consider before becoming the owner of a power trail, being accountable for so many caches, and Groundspeak's expectation that as a Cache Owner, one is accountable for maintaining each and every cache. Hopefully, the ET Highway and other power trail owners use e-mail filtering to move the "Needs Maintenance," "Needs Archiving," and "DNF" logs into a separate folder to separate them from the thousands of copy and paste "Found It" logs, so they can quickly identify caches in need of help. |
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Post by fuzzybelly on Dec 12, 2013 7:53:36 GMT -9
The way I understood it was that the CO's set up all the other caches, except the first one, to only notify them of DNF's, notes, needs maintenance, or needs archived.
TFTReply
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Post by SSO JOAT on Dec 12, 2013 8:02:44 GMT -9
Easy stuff with online email service such as gmail. You make a new email account and then use that to create a new account on GC. Publish your caches under that account. Go into the email account and set up filters to tag those types of logs. Every email coming out of GC has a log type tag built into the subject line. So filtering these is very simple. Probably the easiest way is to make a "found logs" category and have gmail pluck every found it log, mark it as read, and move it to that category and under a separate folder. Since gmail has no size cap on your email, you wouldn't have to worry about the account locking up from being "full". Alternatively, they could set the filter to just auto-delete every found it log that comes in. Then only the non-find logs would appear in the inbox. Hopefully, the CO would still log into the account to check for such messages on occasion.
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Post by ladybugkids on Dec 12, 2013 10:24:16 GMT -9
The way I understood it was that the CO's set up all the other caches, except the first one, to only notify them of DNF's, notes, needs maintenance, or needs archived. All logs for a cache go to the account under which the cache is placed. What others can do is place a watch on a cache for specific log types (DNF, Needs Maintenance, etc.). |
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Post by NeverSummer on Dec 12, 2013 11:18:22 GMT -9
The way I understood it was that the CO's set up all the other caches, except the first one, to only notify them of DNF's, notes, needs maintenance, or needs archived. All logs for a cache go to the account under which the cache is placed. What others can do is place a watch on a cache for specific log types (DNF, Needs Maintenance, etc.). Can you set up notifications for specific caches and specific log types on those caches? I know I can set up notifications for log types, but I'm unaware of a way to get specific notifications for specific caches. |
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Post by ladybugkids on Dec 12, 2013 11:37:13 GMT -9
All logs for a cache go to the account under which the cache is placed. What others can do is place a watch on a cache for specific log types (DNF, Needs Maintenance, etc.). Can you set up notifications for specific caches and specific log types on those caches? I know I can set up notifications for log types, but I'm unaware of a way to get specific notifications for specific caches. Good catch! I mixed apples and oranges. Apple: Place a watch on a cache and receive notifications for all logs written to that cache. Orange: Create an instant notification for certain log types on certain cache types within a specified radius of a set of coordinates. |
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Post by akgh519 on Dec 12, 2013 12:22:47 GMT -9
Good info for what I am planning...keep it coming
And thanks
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Post by NeverSummer on Dec 12, 2013 13:15:02 GMT -9
Can you set up notifications for specific caches and specific log types on those caches? I know I can set up notifications for log types, but I'm unaware of a way to get specific notifications for specific caches. Good catch! I mixed apples and oranges. Apple: Place a watch on a cache and receive notifications for all logs written to that cache. Orange: Create an instant notification for certain log types on certain cache types within a specified radius of a set of coordinates. Bummer! I was hoping there was some new feature that I didn't know about yet... |
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Post by SSO JOAT on Dec 12, 2013 13:20:41 GMT -9
Notifications can be set to as small a radius as 0.1 mile. So essentially you can put in the cache coordinates at the center point, select the type of cache it is, which logs you want notification on, and then put the radius as 0.1 mile. If the caches are stacked at exactly 528-foot increments, you might get notifications on 2 or 3 caches at the most. But it would basically be a notification on the cache at your CP. I think a watchlist and then using gmail to filter the results would be better. But that's just me. |
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Post by ladybugkids on Dec 12, 2013 16:23:37 GMT -9
Since this thread is sort of about caching etiquette, here's some Goofus and Gallant etiquette for y'all. |
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Post by SSO JOAT on Dec 15, 2013 7:45:49 GMT -9
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Post by NorthWes on Dec 16, 2013 11:00:16 GMT -9
What an incredible treasure trove of information... but along the original theme of this thread... 1) Why would I place a cache which I didn't want to receive a notification about? Aren't I (as the 'owner') responsible for the hide? And with the way you can 'program' Gmail to handle your incoming mail, there's no excuse for 'too much info'... 2) It's incredible to realize that Gallant / Goofus thread on the Groundspeak forum (which Mike linked to above) is over a decade old... some things have been with us since the beginning of this game, haven't they? Mere possession of a GPS and a groundspeak account apparently don't make people automatically act as 'Gallant' says we should. 3) This thread's give and take has been great, and I appreciate fuzzy's original intent of spurring us all to have something nice to say about a cache when we take a smiley (whether it's blue or yellow) away from our experience with the cache. I'm sure we could come up with exceptions to the guideline 'Always Post a Positive Post' (if, for example, the cache placement actually violates land manager rules, and we get busted by the cops as we search for the cache... cough, cough, - great memories with Tribal Police in California with LBK & scobey... but to their credit, the cache owners archived the cache which caused we three so much angst the evening before!), but the intent of this thread focuses on a recommended 'best practice' for geocachers - which is to be positive. |
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Post by ladybugkids on Mar 7, 2015 22:41:47 GMT -9
I just came across the "Madlib" style log when doing some route planning for an upcoming cache run outside of Dallas. While I am not a fan of copy and paste logs, this log shows more creativity than the variations of TFTC/TFT$/MPLC, etc., that have become commonplace.
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Post by NorthWes on Mar 9, 2015 10:59:47 GMT -9
NorthWes, I don't know how you did that many on a power trail solo! You must be wanting numbers?!?! Good idea ie your photo idea...will have to take a look and see if that would be a faster way to load more than one pic at a time to geocaching.com. I was faced with the choice of hanging around LV Strip hotels all day, or doing a numbers run. I'm banned from any hiking or really challenging stuff 'solo' on trips like this one (Carol wants to go along on the really fun stuff), but when I presented a plan to drive and stop drive and stop drive and stop endlessly across the desert floor south of Boulder NV, she said 'yes'... I was for the most part so bored.beyond.belief... There were a few redemptive moments punctuating the routine (which was 'board the truck / shut the door / boost to 25 / slow down quick / stop / dismount / leave door open / crack open film can / sign log / replace cache / board the truck' - over and over and over and over again), and those caches got extra credit at logging time. I did take the time to write on every single log a comment... after all, I got a smiley for it, so it was worthy! Boring, yes - but worthy. Note that I'll only do numbers runs when its not convenient / possible to do more interesting stuff. Numbers can be nice, I'll admit... once in a great while. And it would be fun to do with more folks along too. Mike - that madlib is a great guide for what to say, isn't it? On my recent run through the lower Columbia Gorge, there was no end of nice things to say about the caches I found, even the film canisters. It was so gorgeous (bad pun) that I couldn't help but have nice things to say about every location I'd chosen to search for that smiley. Fuzzy, this is a great thread worthy of continued conversation! |
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for finding the hide someone placed, you need to give something back in return for the smiley, as a thank-you for the cache owner's efforts in putting out a logsheet for you to sign and publishing the cache listing. It doesn't have to be much - but it should be something more than just a four-letter shorthand remark (for which I think most everyone in this thread shares agreement). 
