Book of Lies ties Novel to Series of Geocaches

Had to pass this along - a new book has been released and has an accompanying set of progressive Geocaches that correspond to events in the book. The first Geocache is located in the MD area, and offers the clue to the next Geocache, and so on. The book, "Book of Lies" is a mystery novel that offers a bit of intrigue, using Bible stories as a backdrop for the modern day tale. You can read more about the Geocaching, the plot and read the first chapter for free at the author's website.

Check out Brad Meltzer's website for more information.

Apisphere Geomate Jr - 250,000 Preloaded Geocaches

The Geomate Jr. is an out of the box Geocaching GPS that comes loaded with thousands of Geocaches so it's ready to go without connecting it to a computer. The database of 250,000 geocaches is impressive, and the simple interface can get you from here to there in a child friendly way. I will say that if you are sitting in your house, and want to go geocaching, there is a bit of a decision process to go through around location, difficulty, and Geocache type that I find using the Geocache website helpful to screen through the list of possible geocaches out there. From the review at CNet, the unit seems simple enough for kids to use, and enjoy getting outdoors.

For $69 it's a cheap way to get into Geocaching. At REI - The Apisphere Geomate Jr

Delorme "Send to GPS" on Geocaching

Owners of the powerful PN-40 can now head over to Geocaching.com and download the details of the geocache directly to the unit, instead of programing it in manually. This is a big boost for frequent users of the hide and seek game played with a GPS. The ability to add the cache details directly to the GPS saves time and a lot of aggravation especially when you are running through several caches.

More at Delorme and Geocaching

Geocaching with your iPhone

Well it's about time that the GPS enabled 3G iPhone got out in the woods and found a little treasure! We've seen that it can go running with you via RunKeeper, and now the latest iPhone can get you into Geocaching. It's not a big surprise to see, but you'll have to keep yourself close to civilization so that you have at least Edge network coverage while searching.

Geopher Lite (iTunes Link) is a new application that allows you to access the Geocaching database to search Geocaches around your current location, and then go out and find them. The application is a work in progress with more features coming including managed Geocache lists and GPX file management. The price now is a measly $1.99; cheap. Read more at their Blog/website.

Also in the news, Groundspeak/Geocaching has let it be known that they have also submitted their own Geocaching application for consideration and review to Apple. It should be posting to the iTunes App store in the coming days. See below for a screenshot of the new application. The retail price will be $9.99.

Finally there is iGeoCacher (iTunes Link) that is a full featured Geocaching application for the 3G iPhone, which at $15 tops the list in terms of price. It is able to search by location at the Geocaching site, and by bringing up details of the Geocache, you are able to download its ket information enabling paperless geocaching.

Got Colorado? Free Premium Membership Trial For Geocaching

Geocaching is offering a free trial to the premium membership level of their service if you are one of the people who recently bought a Garmin Colorado handheld. Registration of your handheld at MyGarmin.com allows you to get this free membership, which entitles you to a discount on Garmin accessories, and a lot of capabilities that make the process of Geocaching a lot easier. The one I think sounds great is the ability to search and then download Geocaches along a route. Much like looking for a restaurant along your route for a place to eat, I know a lot of people will hit a few caches as they are traveling somewhere to pick up or drop off travel bugs. Pretty cool.

More at Geocaching

Another Geocache, another Bomb Squad

This chapter of the same book takes place in North Carolina where a geocache was attached to a Starbucks sign. The cache was being hidden at the time when some "Muggles" came by and noticed the activity, got nervous and called the police. After the police learned that there were no explosives, they logged into Geocaching.com and recorded their visit...... well maybe they did everything right up until that last part.

ReadMore

Geocaching as Advertising

Students are cleverly using Geocaching to promote Coke these days in an advertising competition. Longtime the promoter of Garmin GPS units and Jeep SUV's geocaching has gone more mainstream and caught the eye of these students as a way to connect with consumers. So the idea is just an idea, not an actual event.... yet.

The idea is to go to the Coke Geocaching website, plug in your zip code to find a Coke Geocache and when you do you find a big box of Coke schwag. Don't know how you keep the first person from raiding the treasure chest, but I like the idea.

ReadMore at RedandBlack.com

Cops Jump on Another Geocache

This time it’s in New Hampshire. Apparently a tiny Altoids box, affixed magnetically to the underside of an electrical box outside a Shaw’s supermarket sparked some concern and Police at looking to talk to the owner of the cache. The cache was put on private property, which is not recommended by Geocaching in their guidelines without the permission of the property owner: by placing a Geocache “you have adequate permission to hide your cache in the selected location.” As more people get into Geocaching, and more people get uptight about finding bomb-like mysterious boxes in strange places (maybe rightfully so), we’ll continue to see this kind of stuff. Geocaching goes on to say that another stipulation is: “Caches near or under public structures deemed potential or possible targets for terrorist attacks. These include but are not limited to highway bridges, dams, government buildings, elementary and secondary schools, and airports.”

Recently in Boston, the whole city was nearly paralyzed after some light boards, which were part of a gorilla marketing campaign for Turner Broadcasting, were thought to be bombs. After several were found around the city, the bomb squad had their hands full, and traffic was snarled for hours. Apparently after 9/11, a law was passed essentially saying that you can’t cause panic associated with placing something like this if its interpreted as a dangerous item…sounds like Geocaches are in a similar position. Put in the wrong place, and interpreted as dangerous by a reasonable person (i.e. the bomb squad and a judge), you’d be in trouble.

Via

Geocaching with your Mobile Phone

Trimble announced that it has a new application for your mobile phone that will allow you to use the GPS-enabled phone for geocaching. While this is a nice move to involve those without a handheld device, it somehow sends the vision of a bunch of mobile phone talking idiots out there in the mud getting their italian loafers all dirty. Anyway, I suppose if you aren't cut out for walking in the woods, you wouldn't dream of trying it. This adds to Trimble's set of mobile phone based GPS programs including a training aid and an off-road navigation program.

Continue reading: "Geocaching with your Mobile Phone"

Geocaching gone Bad

A lot of people with handheld GPS units have at least heard about Geocaching, and many have participated in the hide and seek game of finding hidden treasures via latitude and longitudinal coordinates. Well, one geocaching event recently went bad. Some Geocachers were searching out the Cache, "Don't be a Horses..." and apparently some of the local citizen's were concerned that the cache was a bomb. Apparently, the cache is located outside a bank, and after the police, the bomb squad, and the FBI got involved things were finally resolved.

ReadMore

Geocaching Contest - October Theme - "Adventure"

If you aren't out in the woods looking for a Jeep Travelbug, you're missing out. The contest will ask you to take photos and submit them for judging to Geocaching. Garmin is the official sponsor/GPS of Geocaching. This month's theme is "Adventure" so go out and take those pictures with a Adventure theme and submit them to win a new Garmin GPSMap 60Cx . There will be one overall winner who gets the Jeep Compass at the end of the contest in January.

Get more details at Jeep Geocaching

Geocaching Contest - September Theme - "Freedom"

If you aren't out in the woods looking for a Jeep Travelbug, you're missing out. The contest will ask you to take photos and submit them for judging to Geocaching. Garmin is the official sponsor/GPS of Geocaching. This month's theme is "Freedom" so go out and take those pictures with a Freedom theme and submit them to win a new Garmin GPSMap 60Cx . There will be one overall winner who gets the Jeep Compass at the end of the contest in January.

Get more details at Jeep Geocaching

Geocaching Contest - August Theme - "Discovery"

This year's Geocaching Contest has begun. If you aren't out in the woods looking for a Jeep Travelbug, you're missing out. The contest will ask you to take photos and submit them for judging to Geocaching. Garmin is the official sponsor/GPS of Geocaching. This month's theme is "Discovery" so go out and take those pictures with a Discovery theme and submit them to win a new Garmin GPSMap 60Cx . There will be one overall winner who gets the Jeep Compass at the end of the contest in January.

Get more details at Jeep Geocaching

Win a Jeep Compass SUV or a Garmin GPSMap 60Cx

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your Jeeps and grab your GPS. This year's Geocaching Contest has begun. If you aren't out in the woods looking for a Jeep Travelbug, you're missing out. The contest will ask you to take photos and submit them for judging to Geocaching. Garmin is the official sponsor/GPS of Geocaching. Monthly winners of the photo contest will win a new Garmin GPSMap 60Cx . There will be one overall winner who gets the Jeep Compass - this will be in January.

Get more details at Jeep Geocaching