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By Greg Bartlett

A treasure hunt . . . to most people, it’s fascinating. Never mind that it’s not officially called a treasure hunt. Now it’s called geocaching. And it’s a little more precise since you’re using a GPS system to find the “treasure.” But the idea’s still the same: somewhere out there is the “treasure” you’re looking for, and now you have to find it.

Rock formation in the California desert found while geocaching

High school students aren’t the only ones interested in “treasure” hunting. In Utah, a geocaching “treasure” hunt which takes place on historical sites has gained a lot of popularity. As soon as the geocaching hunt is announced, people begin making plans to come, bringing their GPS locator so that they can find the planted “bugs.” The hunt itself is reward enough for most people, but it is also a family activity, so even if the hunters don’t find anything, they get to spend a fun day with their family “treasure” hunting.

GPS tracking systems can be used for a fun activity which can involve the whole family. Young children, teenagers, adults, and grandparents can all participate and enjoy the excitement of “treasure” hunting. It’s a safe and fun activity which can also be very educational by teaching people how to use navigational skills.

Geocaching can also be a great activity with friends or can be a way to make new friends. For instance, some of the students from the high school in Colorado are planning to plant a couple of “bugs” when they make a school trip to Italy and Greece. The progress of the “bugs” can be followed on a website, where each new finder will tell where the “bug” was found and where to look for its new location.

Whether you’re looking for a fun activity for the family or a new hobby to do by yourself, you should consider geocaching. All you need is a GPS locator, something to hunt, and a desire to find your “treasure.”

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Preparing for the Adventure
By Jackie Gately

When geo cachers embark on an in-person quest to locate a specific “hidden treasure” identified on the Internet, they prepare as for any trip by thinking about what they will need, and understanding cultural norms. Consider these tips to make your own geo caching trip a success.

What To Bring

• Dress and pack appropriately for the season, including hiking boots, long pants, layers, and seasonal outerwear.
• Thoroughly read Internet notes about the geo caching location to find out if you’ll need site-specific clothing, like mosquito netting or rubber boots, in addition to basic wear.
• Check whether you’ll need special equipment to accommodate rough terrain that involves rock climbing, cave exploration, underwater diving or other advanced geo caching environments.
• Estimate the time to complete the hunt. Plan your water, food, and sleeping supplies accordingly.
• Bring a GPS unit or GPS-equipped cell phone to help locate the geo caching coordinates. Make sure the unit is in working order, batteries are charged (spare batteries are a good idea) and you know how to use it.
• Bring traditional navigation tools, like a map and compass, as routing aids and as a backup system to your GPS locator.
• Pack binoculars, a camera or video recorder, and anything else that will help you enjoy the scenery and record your travels.
• Bring basic hiking First Aid supplies, as well as sunscreen and insect repellant if you use them.
• Stock up on trinkets, dime store toys or other treasures you wish to replace or add to the geo cache.
• Remember to carry a pen or pencil to sign the logbook.

Geo Caching Etiquette

• If you remove a trinket or treasure from the cache, replace it with something of equal or greater value. Refrain from putting explosives, ammunition, knives, drugs, alcohol or food in a cache.
• Write a note in the cache logbook or simply sign the log sheet. Consider including an interesting or entertaining story about your travels.
• When you return home, log your experience online. If unable to find the cache, indicate so online. Also note missing or full logbooks and damaged caches.
• Do not move a cache or tell non-seekers of a find so other players can find the cache.
• Respect local laws and property boundaries. In the United States, do not place caches on caches on government property or in airports. Don’t enter fenced properties. Let the cache owner know a cache is fenced by listing it on the site.
• Always remember to respect the environment. Avoid damaging trails, littering and other harmful practices.

Jackie Gately is a freelance writer. She can be reached at jackiegately.wordpress.com.

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Geo Caching the World
By Jackie Gately

Replace a crusty, sea-worn, treasure map marked by an ‘X’ with an electronically-marked “treasure” and a Global Positioning System (GPS) and you’ve got geo caching. The object of the quest is simple: embark on an in-person adventure to find a location someone posted on the Internet; then let the geo cashing community know you found it. Each “cache,” or hiding place, offers a visitor’s log and small reward item. But it’s the thrill of the adventure that’s the real prize.

Geo caching can range from a local, outdoor adventure that lasts just a few hours, to the highlight of your cross-country or intercontinental travel plans. It is an addictive hobby enjoyed year round by all ages as a family adventure, mystery date, or a peaceful escape for one.

How Hard Can It Be?

A geo cache may be placed anywhere on the globe. Once placed, the location is pinpointed using GPS technology, then shared on the Internet so anyone with a GPS unit can try to find it. You can choose your geo caching destination by skill level and geographic area at sites like Geocaching.com.

Should be simple, right? It’s not as easy as it sounds.

Before you embark, it’s a good idea to note your starting point on your GPS system. It’s a bit like leaving a virtual trail of breadcrumbs so you can find your way back home.

Navigating to a geo cache location—even with a GPS tracker in hand—can be tricky. Perhaps the cache is placed high on a mountainside, deep within a glen, or on a marshy trail. You might have to find a way around or over a stream, or through some rough terrain. Specialty and advanced geo caches may require rock climbing or SCUBA equipment. Even urban caches may be skillfully placed above and below ground or on the outside of buildings.

Keep in mind on your search that the intention is to keep the cache from easy view so it is not disturbed, and that your current position as determined by the GPS device is not exact.

What Will I Find?

Eureka! You found it! A geo cache always contains a logbook or log sheet, which may contain information about the owner, visitor notes, and other valuable or entertaining information. One or more “treasures,” like dollar-store toys, mini-books, trading cards, inexpensive jewelry and other trinkets, might be in the geo cache for the taking—provided you leave something in return. Some geo caches contain a trackable item, like Travel Bugs®, Traveler Tags, or geocoins that are meant to be moved from cache to cache.

After you’ve collected your treasure, signed the logbook, and returned safely home, be sure to share stories of your discoveries and photos online. It will inspire the next geo caching adventurer to set sail.

Jackie Gately is a freelance writer. She can be reached at jackiegately.wordpress.com.

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By Chris O’Toole

With weapons technologies at their apex, it’s surprising that less and less is heard about Endangered Species. Humans have evolved from the bow and arrow to the Barett M107 Sniper Rifle that can easily pick the fur off of a target from over a mile away. Yes. A mile.

So, what changed? Did hunting lose its blood luster? Did humanity’s conscience shift? Not particularly. Actually, hunting continues to be a rapidly growing and profiting industry. It’s popularity expands exponentially and the increase in hunting would likely yield to more illegal hunting. After all, one bullet can fetch a rare rug in an economy where almost everyone is pinching pennies.

This free ride to riches and humanistic barbarity is severed by one thing: GPS. The Wildlife Foundations wised up and they aren’t leaving the lives of animals that are teetering on the brink of extinction in the hands of maniacal sportsmen who are searching for the next big thrill in life, no matter at what cost the thrill comes. Even if a hunter is positioned behind the trigger of an M107 and they do happen to shoot an Ibex in the hindquarter, they are not nearly far enough away to escape the wrath of criminal charges.

See, its common practice for conservationists to tranquilize the members of an endangered species and tag them with a GPS locator. When the animal wakes up, it is miraculously granted “the Force”. Anyone that tries to perturb this specimen through any means will meet an array of Jeeps and helicopters in the matter of seconds that it takes for the Conservationist Base Camps to notice that one of their animals has immediately and unexpectedly deceased and/or stopped moving entirely.

GPS tracking systems keep sacred nature alive when humans outmaneuver the laws of basic society. It can be argued that many animals must be hunted for food, but today’s hunters don’t even think about laying siege to the delicate and unique creatures of nature that were never meant to be rugs or meals. A GPS locator is nature’s bodyguard.

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By Chris O’Toole

Did you not get what you wanted for Christmas or Hanukah? Perhaps the economy didn’t allow for it. Or perhaps… you were savagely manhandled like I was. The beatings and the abuse nearly killed me!

Hello, reader. My name is Larry the iPhone and I am the gift that you didn’t get. The Smiths saw me when they were visiting family and decided I would be the perfect gift for their young boy. It seemed like a simple process. Put the package on a plane and let the people do the rest. Let me take you through my itinerary for December 24th. (You thought your job was rough).

6:00 A.M.: Who wouldn’t love to wake up to their face being dropped on the concrete? Well, I wouldn’t. But some oaf wearing thick gloves couldn’t hold on and so now I am in need of facial reconstruction. A nice crack right across my nose.

7:30 A.M.: Good morning, this is your captain speaking. Looks like we are going to lovely Italy today! 77 and sunny. (That’s funny because I thought the bold print on my box said “SHIP TO ATLANTA, GA”). I hope this flight serves meals.

1:00 P.M.: So, I arrive in Italy and I wait there until the packaging company realizes someone loading the plane made a costly blunder. Oh by the way, I saw that, Postal Worker #4542B. That diamond necklace looks stunning on you, but not nearly as stunning as the cheap replica you put back in the box.

December 28th, 6:14 A.M.: Well, the packaging company hit some bad weather coming over the east coast and so my arrival was delayed a few days. (I’m gonna guess that they could have driven from Houston to Atlanta if they had got the shipping location right the first time). Oh well. Happy Holidays, Smith Family! I’m sorry that your son only received an excuse and an apology on December 25th. I might have been on time and in pristine condition if someone could be held accountable with GPS. But now, no one knows who made the mistake and even if they did, nothing could be proven. And they know that.

It’s really simple folks. Take the “trust” factor out of package delivery and include your personal GPS tracking device next time you ship something. If this seems unreasonable, at least make sure you are shipping with a company that employs GPS in their deliveries beforehand. It could make all the difference.

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By Chris O’Toole

‘Twas the night before Christmas and you know the story

The children, they waited for a man, aged and hoary.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

But it was doubtful if Saint Nicholas would ever be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their bed,

Each child’s mind raced wild with dread.

With Mother in her kerchief and I in my cap,

We gazed out the window and feared a mishap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I distinctly heard the sound of a splatter.

Away to the window I tore with a flash,

And I saw Poor Santa had a terrible crash!

The moon on the breast of new fallen snow,

Could not be seen for it was thirty below.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear,

The sky was dark and stormy, not clear!

When a little old driver, so lively and quick,

Shouted “GPS would have done the trick!”

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

But with no clue where to go in this semi-hurricane.

“Now Dasher, Now Dancer, Now Prancer, Now Vixen!

We need directions! This Christmas needs fixin’!”

It was just then that Elf Central had called,

“We tracked your sleigh Santa, Don’t worry at all!”

Santa, with relief, let out a sigh

Then with much happiness began to cry.

The Christmas is saved! Hooray for GPS tracking!

No presents will these children be lacking.

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”

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Love is in the air…Valentine’s Day is coming up and at this time of year everyone is thinking or talking about love and romance. But with all the talk of affection, there are some people who find this time week less than thrilling.

For some of you out there, this is also a time of puzzlement and confusion. Perhaps you suspect that the one you love… is loving someone else. There are ways you can find out if your suspicions are correct or if you’re in the wrong. Getting the details can provide relief or give you the impetus you need to make some important decisions.

A GPS tracking system can provide you with information about where your spouse or partner is going. If a GPS tracking device is places in an inconspicuous place in the vehicle that this person drives, it can provide information about where they are going to and how long they are spending at various locations.

You have to be careful to place the device in a place where they are not going to find it. If you know that your spouse places a book under the front seat, then don’t put the tracking device there. Make sure that it is in a place where they will not look.

Be aware that even if your suspicions are correct, you may not get evidence that provides a tell-tale location right away. For this reason, you have to be patient and choose a high-quality GPS device. Sometimes you get what you pay for and an inexpensive device may not work as well for as long as you need it to work.

You can get reports from the device. Reports can be delivered in several modes, including as e-mail messages and text messages. These reports will tell you where they went and how much time they spent there.

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Recently, I was thumbing through a magazine and there was an article about how to tell your elderly parents that you are taking away their car keys. That is definitely a touchy subject.

Although we have never managed to discover the fountain of youth, we have made enough advances in medical technology to live a lot longer than our ancestors. This longer life expectancy is paired with another expectation: that we can and should remain independent for as long as possible.

Last week, I wrote about how GPS tracking systems can make parents feel more comfortable letting teen drivers out on the road. Now it is time to look at the other end of the spectrum, what happens when you are not inexperienced, but very experienced? Really it is two sides of the same coin. If you are a part of the sandwich generation, you’ll find that your teenage children and your own parents both desire independence, while you desire to keep them safe.

I don’t need to tell you that as we age our faculties slow down and don’t work as they used to. But aging doesn’t mean we need to give up all of our activities. Many senior drivers drive with no difficulty. There are some people who continue to do so well into their 90s and beyond.

Still, aging does mean that we need to be more careful. If your parents or elderly relatives are competent drivers, you should still consider installing a GPS tracking device in their vehicles as a precaution.

Or perhaps you are a happily independent older driver…you don’t want to admit that you worry about being out on the road alone, but sometimes you do. Having a GPS tracking device installed in your car could give you a little piece of mind. If something were to happen, someone would know how to get to you.

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I bet that while you were at a Super Bowl party, sitting on the couch happily munching on chips or chowing down on pizza and subs, you never gave one thought to how GPS tracking helped to make it all possible, did you?

Well, let me tell you that it did.

Throughout the week prior to the Super Bowl the security teams for the Giants and the Patriots were involved in a little scrimmage of their own—each team had to make sure that all of the appropriate team members and staff were where they were supposed to be at the time they were supposed to be there.
And they did so, in part, by employing a GPS tracking system. GPS tracking devices were on all of the team buses. This was how security was able to keep up with players and coached to know when they arrived somewhere and when they left. They knew when the buses arrived for practice, when they whisked players off to press conferences, and when and where the empty buses parked to await the next day’s activities.

And this is exactly what a GPS tracking system can do for you. Whether you are hauling lumber, transporting a championship football team, or delivering pizzas, installing GPS tracking devices in your vehicles can make all the difference.

If you need to know who or what is arriving at a certain time, how long they stayed, and when they departed, then a GPS tracking system is definitely the way to go. You can monitor vehicle speed, idling time, and set up alerts. These alerts can let you know if one of your vehicles breaks the speed limit or crosses the county line. You’ll feel a lot better knowing where your vehicles are and where your people are. You don’t have to wonder if they got there, you’ll not only know that they got there, you will know when they got there as well.

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In a recent news story, police were able to apprehend a criminal who stole a van because the van was equipped with a GPS tracking device.

A felon spotted a van that was property of a county in New York state and hopped in for a ride. As you probably know some crimes are planned, but many are simply crimes of opportunity. An idling van, an open door…these are the kinds of temptations that criminals find hard to resist.

The employee who had been entrusted with the van was quick to alert his employer and they in turn called the police. Because of the GPS tracking device inside, the police were able to find the van outside of a fast food restaurant. Without the GPS tracking device, who can say how long it would have taken for them to find the vehicle? It surely wasn’t the only county-owned van on the streets. So police would have had to be on the lookout for both the van, not really knowing exactly where it was or who was driving it. A detective in an unmarked car attempted to get the suspect to end his joy ride. The suspect left the vehicle and made a run for it.

Eventually the van thief, someone who had been arrested 17 times in the past, was apprehended.

There is another side to this story though—what about the employees who left the car running and accessible to an opportunistic thief? We didn’t get to read about the end of that person’s story. I’m sure the county was glad that this employee came forward quickly and did not try to hide the theft.

As great as GPS technology is and as much as it can do to help make things more efficient, it doesn’t beat old-fashioned common sense. Most employers would prefer of their employees didn’t leave company vehicles idling, but having a GPS tracking device can add an extra layer of security in the event that something like this does happen.

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