Hands Free Geocaching Navigation: We Are So Close.

More Power Allocation For Smartphone Navigation

Without trying to get into the GPSr versus Smartphone navigation debate I wanted to share some insights I have discovered after recently pairing up my phone with my new geocache-mobile. Yes after seven years and 225,000 miles of servitude. My 2005 Chevy Malibu has been traded in for a 2012 Chevy Malibu and with that a whole new set of functionality to play with.

For example, all the hands free goodness which I plan on utilizing when I go out geocaching. Now I can hook my Galaxy S3 directly into the nice little USB port just under the radio. This to me is a big plus because I now have an alternate power source for my smart phone and it opens up my cigarette lighter port for something else. *Note this car also has another port and a standard 110 plug just behind the center console -  slick. So outlets are no longer an issue but is there enough juice going through to keep up with the phone? Read on.

Next is the fun part, the Bluetooth communication. Now I can hook my phone right into the smarts of the car via Bluetooth connector (you can go through USB for other things but not for discussion here). Once paired you have direct access thru your steering wheel to tell your car/phone to do anything from getting directions to a nearby restaurant, send a text, find out the weather, to even just plain calling someone and everything goes through the car's sound system. Very cool but not perfect, the technology is getting there but I have found some bugs when testing these features. Over all, very cool to not have the phone in your hand to do all of this BUT and you knew there was a but, there are indeed some major power drain on the smartphone depending on what you use it for. I noticed very quickly that if you use the phone for navigation either with Google Maps, Waze or any other app you are utilizing the GPS functionality  Now add in the Bluetooth power drain and you can almost watch the battery die right before your very eyes. Even when it is plugged in. Cap'n - We Need More Pow'r.

So maybe this is a good argument for having multiple devices in your car when geocaching. I mean I always have used my smart phone for one or two geocache find runs. Though if you are planning on doing a geocaching afternoon or day. You may want to utilize that cigarette lighter outlet for your auto GPSr unit to get to the geocache site and then use your smart phone or hand GPSr unit for finding your geocache. Right now there is just too much of a drain or not enough battery capacity to put everything on your smartphone.

Now let's see: -=BLING=- Bluetooth -> Voice -> Navigate -> Directions to nearest Geocaching Event -> Engage!

-HHH

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Paperless Geocaching

Andy HeadHardHat Smith host of Geocaching World (RVNN.tv)

Last night on Geocaching World (RVNN.tv) we discussed what once was a very hot subject within Geocaching but I am not sure if it is still the concern it once was.

Paperless Geocaching has been ingrained so much into the activity that it is more of a given than a conscious effort. It was not always so, in the beginning, like all of about four years ago, there was no paperless Geocaching per-say. Geocachers were forced to write or print out listings of Geocaches, descriptions of Geocaches, maps or the general area a geocacher wanted to search. This would result in reams of printed content that was usually discarded once the Geocaching run was completed. To add to that Geocaching finds were recorded by hand in paper log books before finally being typed into a listing service.

Fortunately the demand to save trees came to be and GPSr units started having the ability to store caches internally via .loc and .gpx files. Stored within these files included meta data that also gave some of the same information that was found on the geocache pages. Usually a connective cable was used between the GPSr and a computer for the file transfer itself. It was not a perfect solution but it did cut down some of the paper being used to describe a geocache find.

Now bring in the gadgets. As GPSr units slowly started to incorporate and display more and more meta data devices like PDA's (Handspring, Palm) were found to be able to run programs like Cachemate that could display almost all of the meta data found in the .gpx files. Even though the PDAs did not have GPS functionality they did allow the geocacher the ability to load, display and log thousands of Geocaches with very little effort. Data could be easily transferred between the PDA and the computer. WiFi was a plus with the use of PDAs.

By the time the PDAs were becoming obsolete GPSr units were focusing on much more paperless functionality. Net books and laptops were becoming much more instruments of the paperless Geocaching society. Computers would allow full electronic functionality via programs like GSAK to create routes and easier logging. You no longer needed to print out maps because it was right there on the computer. It also allowed realtime logging directly into a listing web site. The beginning aspects of tethering was being explored. This allowed phone connectivity with a computer anywhere there was phone service. This was a step up from just having WiFi.

Smart phones quickly have made their mark in the paperless Geocaching world. Having the ability of realtime Geocaching, built in GPS functionality and powerful applications. Smart phones have a favorable all in one quality that many geocachers like. This is in direct competition with GPSr units that are struggling to keep up with the same functionality. Currently the big draw for GPS units is their rugged outdoor stability in contrast to a smart phone that is not made for rough or wet terrain.

Now that net books are in the process of being phased out, tablets and there equally powerful apps can contain all the functionality of real-time paperless Geocaching. This is currently directly in competition with the Smart phone market. Tablets can have 3G or other direct wireless communications. Geocaching applications are just as powerful as computer based programs in a device that can fit in your hand. By this time very little to no actual physical paper is needed. All data and information is transferred and stored electronically.

Where do we go from here?

I can see GPSr units incorporating new and more specific functionalities. They are already starting to have features like cameras, voice recordings and basic SMS texting. Who knows what will be available in even the short term future but one thing is for sure. There will be a whole lot more trees growing because of it.

What are your thoughts?

-HHH

Geocaching World (RVNN.tv) is an OTT (Over The Top) show viewed all over the world via the internet, Roku, Boxee, iTunes and much, much more. 

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Behind The Scenes: Geocaching Podcast - #214: Munzee

You can tell that you have a really good subject to discuss when doing a podcast. Especially when you run a good 10 to 15 minutes over your standard show time then an additional hour of discussion between the show guests and the chat room audience. Thus was our Geocaching Podcast episode last night when we talked with Josh aka "Wanderer" and Scott aka "Coolant" who are some of the creators of Munzee.

What is Munzee you ask?

The skinnied down explanations describes Munzee as a geocaching-like game in which Munzee players place Munzee cards that contain a QR Code on the front of it. A smart phone like Iphone or Android scan the QR Code and mark it in place via the smart phone GPS. Munzee finders use a map on the smart phone to search for the hidden Munzee cards and then scan the QR Code as proof of the find itself. You are awarded points for hiding, finding and when someone finds your Munzee placements.

Here is a recent post explaining Munzee in more detail if you would like to see:
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/2011/07/enjoying-my-munzee-madness.html

At any rate Darrylw4 and myself had a lot of fun talking about this new activity with creators Josh and Scott. Mainly because we both had been actively doing Munzee placements ever since we found out about Munzee. Darrylw4 in Michigan had put out a goodly amount while I placed about 20 so far in North Carolina.

Munzee has really taken off and the discussions both good, bad and greatly creative can be seen on Google+, Twitter, Facebook and most other social networks. It was really cool being able to discuss many of those key points right there with the guys who created it.

Interested in Munzee? To get all the details you will just have to download the show and give it a listen. There I believe you will find that Munzee is not going to be a replacement for geocaching. It will though be a really great compliment to it. I personally believe that Munzee will find it's own niche in the electronic explore and find arena . Who knows what innovated ideas that will come from this.

Just a quick note that XpunkX was not with us for last nights show. We missed him not being there and look forward to him being back again next week for our Cacher Coffee episode.

You can participate in the Geocaching Podcast chat room every Wednesday at 9:30pm EST when we record the show live. Go to http://www.geocachingpodcast.com for all the show information and details.

UPDATE:
Here is the actual show you can listen to right now!
http://geocachingpodcast.com/episode-214-munzee-com/

-HHH

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Munzee Card Dunk Test - No Punch Holes

Munzee card. Thumb covering
QR Code.

There is a new electronic game that I have taking a liking too. It's called Munzee and it is a lot of fun.

In short Munzee is similar to Geocaching. That is you go to a website http://www.munzee.com and make an account. Once registered you can then make Munzee Cards. Each Munzee Card has a QR code on it. The QR code has all the information about that particular Munzee Hide. You activate the actual Munzee Hide by using your smartphone and the Munzee app by scanning the QR code at the place you want to hide the Munzee card.

To find a Munzee card you simply use the same app on your smart phone and look at the local map. You can zoom in enough to get a pretty good bead on where it is at. When found scan the QR code to earn your points.

That's pretty much all that is to it. The nice thing is you can either choose to hide your Munzee card in a container like a geocacher or place it on or behind a magnet. There will be tons of ways invented I am sure.

Now for the reason of this post. One of the ways that I saw a Munzee card hidden was with a lamintation similar to the photo above. The hider used a hole punch and a tie to attach it to a tree branch. The second I saw this I wondered how waterproof the hole now made the Munzee card?

To The Dunk Test!

The first of a series of tests was to see exactly how water resistant a hot lamintation would be. To test it I used a plastic container filled with some water and a business card of mine. The size of it is about the same as a standard Munzee card.

I sunk the card which was no problem and let it sit for an hour. I figured that would be  pretty consistent of a couple of rainy days in the wild.

Hot Lamination Dunk Test - No Hole
Time - One Hour 
Result - Stayed perfectly dry!

No surprise here. The biggest problem in the wild would be heat and the edges finally splitting but the initial test shows a Munzee card will stand up if not tampered with.



Sir You Have A Hole In Your Munzee...








The next dunk test was to duplicate what I had seen in the wild. I took the same card and punched a whole into it. You can see it here right next to my face. I let it sit submerged for another hour. Guess what happened?









We Have Found Leakage!


Not too much of a surprise when I looked at the card after being under water for an hour. On one side enough water seeped in to discolor half of my face and down into the text making it smear. Imagine all the things that would start happening after a few showers and then mold and anything else that made it inside over time. I would suspect this would not last very long before becoming unreadable.

Hot Lamination Dunk Test - With Hole

Time - One Hour 

Result - Moisture Leaked In!

Side Two Really Shows The Leak.

When I flipped the card over I really could see how much moisture entered through the hole. Almost half of the card was wet and most of the ink was smearing. 

End Result: laminations either hot or cold do not glue to the objects inside when sealed. In the case of hot lamination it tightens slightly when the plastic is heated but only the plastic to plastic bonds together. The hole when created opens enough so that the inside of the hole exposes the paper within to the air and thus moisture. This causes the leakage and the problem.

So if you are going to put Munzee cards out do not put a whole directly into the paper area of the lamination. Try this. Before printing, shrink down the size of the Munzee in the print options to 70% instead of 100%. Then put the card towards the bottom of the sleeve when doing the lamination. This will leave enough of clear plastic to plastic which will bond together. Punch your hole through that area and no leaks! Hope you found this useful and also whetted your appetite for playing Munzee.

Have fun out there.

-HHH


Update:

Printed 83% to fit room for a sealed hole

Here is what it looks like when you print the Munzee Card at 83% instead of 100%. This leaves more than enough room for your sealed hole to be made.










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Behind the Scenes: Geocaching Podcast - Episode #205: GPSr vs. Smartphones?

Well tonight's episode recording of Geocaching Podcast was interesting I will give you that. We did things a little different than usual and held, well a debate of sorts and with any debate you have to take a side. Regardless how you actually feel about the subject your role is to give the best points you can for your side of the debate. Tonight Darrylw4 took the side of Smartphones and their GPS usage against me who took the side of the tried and true GPSr. XpunkX was the casual passerby who was not sure which he wanted.

We really had a lot of fun with this and each of us had great points of which was better. Darrylw4 would make one of his informative insights and I would counter with a witty, ha-ha-ha and parry with a nugget of truth from my end. Well okay I didn't ha-ha-ha, but there was some times I really wanted to.

The end result was you the listener received a wealth of knowledge about both GPSr units and Smartphones so you can decide for yourself. If you want to see if I left Darrylw4 in the dust or if I am going to be coughing up dust bunnies for the next week. You will just have to listen to episode #205 when it comes out in the next couple of days. Truth is you will be glad you did.

Until next week........ oh WAIT. Almost forgot!!!  Next week is this month's Cacher Coffee so when you come to the Live recording on Wednesday at 9:30pm EST be sure to bring geocaching subjects of which to discuss. We want to hear from you. So don't forget!!! http://www.geocachingpodcast.com

Now, Until next week......

-HHH

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Solving A Puzzle Geocache - Bring on the Android Apps.

It was an amazingly nice spring day recently and as I was finishing my lunch I sorted over some of the geocaches that were relatively close to me. For whatever reason a puzzle cache series caught my eye. There were three in total and all with the same first name. For example lets call these geocaches Geoseries #1, Geoseries #2 and Geoseries #3.

Geoseries#3 was a puzzle geocache and to resolve it you had to find the first two and somehow come up with the final coordinates. This sounded like fun and a great way to spend a few hours geocaching. What I did not realize at the time was all the tools that I would need to get through the series. Fortunately for me I already had them on my Android phone. Let me show you how.

Geoseries#1 was a traditional geocache. The terrain was pretty rough with the amount of thick briers one had to go through to get to it. Yet once I did the find itself was pretty straight forward. To do my geocaching on the fly I used my Android phone and a Geocaching Application. There are several out there and many really well done ones are free. If you are a GroundSpeak die hard you can pay your $10.00 for their geocaching application. I will be doing a complete review of the GroundSpeak App in the not too distant future. The point is, if you do not have your GPSr with you, having a geocaching application on your phone is a sweet way to go.

Once I found Geoseries#1 I was given instructions on what I needed to do next. The OP set up a "target" for me to find and some coordinates to get there. In this case there was a sign with some words on it. After a short drive and search I was able to write down those specific words for use later.  To save the words exactly I used my Smart Phone Camera. Cameras are pretty much a staple on just about any mobile phone out there and with the afford-ability of SD cards for storage we can take thousands of photographs. This is also a really nice tool to have with you while geocaching.

Geoseries #2 was done the same way as Geoseries #1. Inside was another set of coordinates and another target to find. Again I took pictures of everything including the clue cards which gave the instructions. I did not want to have to come back through these dense brier patches.

With all the information now in my hands, err, camera. It was time to do some problem solving. What needed to be done initially was the words found on the signs were to be converted to numerics. To do that was a simple conversion where a letter needed to be substituted with a number. For example, A=1, B=2, Z=26. Now I could have taken the time to write all 26 letter-number combinations but I happened to have GCC: Geocache Calculator on my phone. This app has over 80 different encryption decoders at your fingertips with one of them being this format. All I had to do was plug in the words found earlier and I instantly had the numbers that I needed.


Finally all was needed was to take the numerics I had just decrypted and compute a mathematic formula which was in the description of the geocache itself. Again using a geocaching app to verify everything was great and to do the computations I had my handy dandy phone Calculator. The next thing you know I had the coordinates for the final geocache but was my conclusions correct? In this particular case the only way to know that was to go and find the final geocache. Luckily for me I was correct and my prize was waiting for me. There is however a really cool geocaching validator available called Geochecker. What geochecker allows is for the geocacher to put in the correct answer to the puzzle which in this case is the coordinates and see if you are correct BEFORE actually taking the chance at being incorrect.

So there you have it. A really sweet puzzle cache series that needed a series of tools now easily found right on your smart phone. Now does this mean you have to have a smart phone to go geocaching? Not at all, just remember that if you do attempt puzzle caches that you may need to bring some other ways of resolving them as you go geocaching...

See you out on the trails...

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Geocaching and Photography

When it comes to the activity of geocaching there are so many side aspects that people can enjoy. In other words there is more to this amazing obsession than just finding Tupperware in the woods, for example photography.

Geocachers love to take photos. Either of themselves at the geocache site, points of interest around the geocache, etc. You would be amazed at all the fun, weird and exciting things you run into. Being in the age of digital everything it is so easy to capture our adventures. Remember the good Ole days when we had 24 shots of film and that was it? There was no "delete" and redo. You took your shots and hoped for the best. Those rolls of film were expensive too. Now with SD cards you can take literally thousands of photos and not even break a sweat. Remember when we had to turn in our film and wait over a week to get them developed? How things have changed.

The casual geocacher usually has a phone with a camera built in. This is extremely convenient to have with you at all times. Many of the smart phones have high end mega-pixel cameras that can rival standard digital cameras. I have found I personally use my phone camera much more now just because it is right there with me. Even beyond that the video camera on a smart phone gives you that option as well.

Digital cameras still have their place but I would hazard a guess that you will see them change in ways to make  them more competitive with the smart phones. I still use my digital camera because it can easily be placed on a tripod or on one of those cool bendable tripods so you can put your camera on a tree branch or hiking pole.  Let's face it, you can only extend your arm so far for a shot and being able to put a camera on a platform with a timer does give you more options. They are still very handy and can fit in a pocket or pouch while geocaching. A definite plus to have with you.

SLR cameras rock but you really need to be a photographer who wants to put some investment into the hobby. The rewards though are quite simply breathtaking. The main difference is the interchangeable lens. There is just something more crisp and clear with a glass lens as opposed to one you would have with a digital camera or smart phone. You also have complete control of what goes into a picture, light, speed, focus. It does really make all the difference in the world and it usually takes experience to make a photo pop. The nice thing again is you are able to save your shots digitally and can take loads of them. If there is one thing about taking photos no matter what camera you use is to take A LOT of photos. It costs you nothing and the difference between photo number one and number two can be huge. Take tons of shots! As you go through your photos you will see what worked and what didn't, that is how you become a more effective photographer.

So there you go. Geocaching and photography go together like peanut butter and jelly. If you haven't tried taking pix while you are looking for that micro or ammo box, give it a try. You will be amazed how many places you experience or things you will see and when you say to yourself, "Wish I brought the camera". It will be right there in your pocket. Have Fun.

-HHH


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Android Apps Used For Geocaching

It is amazing how the smart phones have become so much a part of our lives. Believe it or not there was a time in the not too distant past when people actually went from coast to coast with nothing more than a road map and sometimes not even that. Now for many of us if we forget our phone at home we turn around and go back and get it before venturing out. We are that attached to our technologies.

I personally have taken the leap from my Blackberry phone recently and purchased an HTC Incredible. An android phone that quite frankly has completely assimilated me. Included in that assimilation are an entire host of useful tools to help while geocaching. I am not talking about the standard geocaching apps themselves. I will be doing several articles about them soon enough. No I am talking about all the other helpful apps out there for Android phones you may not have thought of.

Below are two lists. The first is a list of favorites that I have on my phone right now that I use for geocaching. The second is a list that was provided by fellow geocachers. I hope you find these items useful in your geocaching en devours.

These are in no particular order:

HeadHardHat's Favorites:
Android Flashlight App - No more trying to use your phone for a weak flashlight. This app which comes standard on many androids uses the high powered camera LEDs for a very powerful beam.

Voice Recorder - Sometimes it is just too clumsy to try and type your information while geocaching. Here you have a digital recorder you can just say what you want and it is right there at your fingertips.

Evernotes - For those times you need to type in what you want Evernotes rocks. Not only can you access all sorts of documents on your phone but on your PC as well. Since it is synced in the cloud you always have your documents available.

Loopt - Want to tell where you are via GPS? Loopt is a great application that allows you to check in where you are. Either at a restaurant, watering hole or out in the woods a gps record can show where you at when you want that information to be noted. Sends to twitter, facebook, etc.

Car Locator - You may have seen this application in a car commercial recently. I personally love it. Mark where your car is and then use the application radar to find it when needed.

From The Geocaching Forums:
Android Browser - (Default Installed)

- Connection to Internet information and websites

- Can download .gpx files

- Boulters Geocaching Basecamp - http://boulter.com/geocaching/ - a toolkit of utilities for calculating coordinates, distance, etc.

GPS Status and Tools - http://eclipsim.com/gpsstatus/

Display your GPS and sensor data: Shows the position, number and signal strength of GPS satellites. Check your position, GPS accuracy, speed, acceleration and bearing. A magnetic compass is included which displays both magnetic and true north. Use it as a leveling tool or detect magnetic anomalies in your area.

ROT13 Translator App - http://www.appbrain.com/app/rot13-translator/de.zieren.rot13

Plain and simple ROT13 encoder/decoder. Friendly copy/paste buttons. Useful e.g. to decrypt geocaching hints. No ads, requires no permissions.

Blackmoon File Browser App - http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-blackmoonit-android-filebrowser-qCD.aspx

Browse, open, rename, manage, copy, move, delete or even email files found on your phone. Aware of 100+ registered file extensions.

Google Docs - http://docs.google.com

Create and share your work online and access your documents from anywhere. Managedocuments, spreadsheets, presentations, surveys, and more all in one easy place.

Droid RPN Calculator - http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/tools/droid-rpn-calculator_loqa.html

An advanced calculator useful for those tricky puzzle geocaches.

WhereYouGo - http://www.androlib.com/android.application.menion-android-whereyougo-Dmmq.aspx

Android client for Wherigo Geocaching game! Core based on OpenWig client (well tested). Enjoy Wherigo hunt.

Barcode Scanner - http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-scanlife-jzj.aspx

ScanLife turns your camera phone into a all-in-one bar code reader - one of the only apps that can scan QR Codes and UPC Codes found on products.
Scan regular UPC/EAN barcodes from most products like DVDs, books, and food to see comparison pricing, reviews, accessories local prices (US only) and nutritional information (US only). You can even buy the product right from Amazon or over 25 other retailers.
Also scan any 2D barcode (QR Code, Datamatrix, EZcode) that you find in print, packaging, or business cards to launch specific websites, videos, or contact information.

Camera - Gallery Apps - Adobe Photoshop Express For Android - http://mobile.photoshop.com/android/

Perfect your pictures with Photoshop Express on your Android phone. Simply drag your finger to crop, adjust color, apply effects — you name it.

Navigation Apps - 3D Google Maps - http://www.google.com/mobile/maps/3d/

Get Google Maps on your mobile phone for free, and never carry a paper map again. Use your mobile phone to search for local businesses, and then get driving. 

Waypoint - http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/tools/waypoint-free_krxt.html

Use it to save the location of your house, work, car, finshing, or hunting spot and see how far you are from the waypoint or find your way back. Also serves as a speedometer. 3 waypoints allowed in free. Accuracy depends on your GPS signal and your device.

Locus - http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/travel_and_local/locus_hglj.html

Fast and useful Online/Offline map viewer. 

GPS Averaging - http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/tools/gps-averaging_irwl.html

Allows to save GPS location much more precisely. Great geocaching tool for placing new geocaches. Can be used to precisely pinpoint any location. Altitude support, GPX export.

My Tracks - http://mytracks.appspot.com/

My Tracks is an application for your Android^TM phone that enables you to record GPS tracks and view live statistics – such as time, speed, distance, and elevation – while hiking, biking, running or participating in other outdoor activities. Once recorded, you can share your tracks, upload them to Google Spreadsheets and visualize them on Google My Maps.

Sundorid - http://www.appbrain.com/app/sundroid-sunrise-sunset/uk.co.sundroid

Calculates sunrise, sunset, twilight, golden hours, length of day, moonrise & moonset times for anywhere in the world. Handy for photography, hunting, outdoor activities, planning holidays and astronomy. Four widgets are included so the information is at your fingertips when you need it.

Critter Browser - http://www.androidzoom.com/uk/android_applications/books_and_reference/critter-browser_kjy.html?nav=recategorized

Look up animal/plant species by scientific or common name, accompanied with pictures, or explore the scientific classification system.

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HeadHardHat Has A New Toy - Geekness Warning

HHH Gets His GEEK button pushed.

If you read my geocaching based posts or watch our GeoSnippits videos you will many times see me holding a BlackBerry Curve 8310 smartphone. I have used and abused that phone for over two years now. For me it was the center of my electronic life. Not only only could I use Geocache Navigator for some very accurate and real time geocaching but most of my Social Networking was used with it as well. Sure there were drawbacks like having to pull the battery out of the phone every few days otherwise it would lock up. That sort of thing. All in all it kept me electronically "connected" with the world. That was then this is now.

I have been watching the greener pastures of Iphones and Droids for quite a while now. Waiting for the opportunity to get just the right combination of camera, Internet, GPS and hyper-drive capabilities. Then with the sound of knocking rattling my brain I was able to get an HTC Incredible Android Smartphone. For Free to boot. My original contract had expired a while ago so I was able to get the phone on a special rate provided by a rather popular electronics store. Sweet!

This is where the geekiness goes into overdrive. I have been a geek since Pong. I have been there when Atari was king and an 8088 computer had a 10 Mhz turbo mode. I hooked up my stereo directly into my computer system before there was something known a sound card. Watched every advance in PC computer gaming since the original joystick. Spent up to $5000 on one once to have the ultimate gaming system. My daughter calls it our junk computer now. Anyhow I have not had my geek button pushed like with this new phone since the days back the gaming world was finding it's niche.

Seen above with a gel cover just like HHH's

This incredible Incredible gave me my first WOW factor right about the time I turned it on. I unlocked the screen with the swipe of my finger and it was like watching the opening of a stage play. It illuminated, immediately told me the time and weather and behind the partly cloudy sun a drape of background clouds parted reveling the actual wallpaper scene behind them. Wow.

Comparatively speaking, this phone is a rocket against the BlackBerry's old grey mare. The phone's build in features are amazing. 8 Gig of initial memory, 1Ghz processor, 8 Mp camera, oh and don't forget the hyper-drive.

Then there are the apps, TONS of apps, mountains of apps with a boat load that come already with the phone. Go to the Android or Google store and you have a choice of over 100,000 apps at your disposal. I spent three days going through just what I wanted to start with and all except two were FREE. I paid $4.00US for the two I purchased and yes they were games. With all the built in memory it is going to take me some time to fill up this puppy. Even when I do a 16 or 32 gig SD card will set things right. So cool.

WiFi is a life saver for me. I personally live in an area that has poor phone reception. It is in a low area and no matter what carrier I get a bar at best. So when I turned on my wireless WiFi functionality I now can stream video or download files in a flash by bypassing the phone connection and load things right off my router. That opened everything for me with using my phone.

Geocaching apps were definitely on my list as well. The second everyone heard that I now have an Android I was flooded with requests to do reviews on the available geocaching apps. I have C:Geo loaded already and all I can say is WOW. I will be doing a review on it and all the rest A.S.A.P., keep watch on my blog and most likely GeoSnippits videos as well.

So what can I say, I am so hooked on the Incredible. Right down to the Star Trek Tricorder app I am currently playing with to the amazing video quality to the ability to lock the front for a much needed lack of butt dialing. The one draw back that I do need to mention is that currently my carrier does not allow free tethering to my netbook. Not without a rather substantial fee. This is no longer a big deal due to all the things I can already do with my phone but it is my hope that down the line that tethering once again becomes a free service. Oh well you can't have everything.

If you are wondering if getting a smartphone is right for you all I can say is do your research for what is right for you. Be it a BlackBerry, Iphone or Droid. Know what you want and after you make your choice hold on to your potatoes because it is one heck of a fun geeky ride.

-HHH

* Hyper-drive not really included - yet.

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
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Twitter me at
@headhardhat

Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at
http://www.geosnippits.com

A Random Geocaching Thought - Crossover GPS Units with Internet Hook Ins

I was sitting in a local establishment today enjoying a warming bowl of soup when another of my random geocaching thoughts came to mind. It regarded what the next big technology for handheld GPSr units and what it may be. Things like better accuracy would be nice but that is already down to 3ft or less now a days. I jokingly thought that it would be easier if we just received that magical GPS chip that all we had to do was plug it in the back of our heads and be done with it. A little futuristic for now but I bet we come up with a workable concept in the not too distant future. What else?

Then it dawned on me that maybe a GPS / Smart Phone crossover would be cool. How about having a handheld GPS unit which is rugged and durable for outdoor use having the ability for limited (or unlimited) internet connectivity? Think of it. One of the best reasons we use geocaching applications on our smart phones is the ability to be anywhere and can pull the nearest geocache to us on a whim. That is key functionality right there.

Why not have that ability on a GPS unit? Simply pull out your GPS handheld, press a button and it automatically shows the nearest X number of geocaches to you. It can plot them on the map and maybe a bare bones description of the geocache you point to. How difficult can this be? There are already auto GPS units out there that have limited internet accessibility why not this? I am sure there are plenty of interesting ways small programs could be incorporated to show "near to you" points of interest besides geocaches that would be useful to hikers, bikers and outdoors related folks. Wouldn't it be cool to be able to go to a state park for example and instantly download all the trails and point of interest right from your GPS? Sure you can do some of this from your computer but to have it built in would be that much better.

What do you think and oh if someone does invent this I want some royalties off of this one, hokay?

-HHH

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
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Twitter me at
@headhardhat

Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at
http://www.geosnippits.com

Here's A Neat Geocaching Tip If You Have A Smart Phone

Ever have one of those "Why didn't I think of that," moments?

That's what I had when fellow geocacher Kiltedkacher informed me of a rather obvious tip.
When I go geocaching there are many times that I want to take extensive notes. Sometimes it's something as simple as a travel bug code. Another example would be when I want to remember some location's coordinates and what I liked about it for a future hide. To do that I have used the notepad application that was provided on my smart phone. Similar to texting, it gives a relatively simple way of saving information.

What I realized via Kiltedkacher's suggestion is that many smart phones also have a voice recorder application. I always knew it was on my phone but never thought of actually using it to take notes while geocaching. When used it is clear and easy to save large amounts of spoken data.

Next time out, give it a try instead of manually typing your notes.

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?

http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/ 

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Twitter me at
@headhardhat

Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at
http://www.geosnippits.com

Geocaching Instant Gratification With Smart Phones

It wasn't that long ago really that if you wanted to go geocaching you had to download a .gpx or .loc file from somewhere on the internet and then upload that file into your GPSr unit. By doing that you were sort of trapped to only that location and if you wanted to venture past that area you had to get another file. How times have changed.

Now many high end GPSr units have the ability to wireless transfer data from one GPSr to the next but you still have to have someone else to do this. The big question is what happens if you are in a totally unknown area where you do not normally geocache? The answer is smart phones.

For almost all of the smart phones these days there are applications (some are free, some you pay) that allow you to be just about anywhere and you can find geocaches. The kicker is you have to be able to connect to the internet through your phone but if you have that ability you are in like Flynn. This is absolutely fabulous if you suddenly find some time to kill or just want to go geocaching because you can. Then all you have to do is bring up the application, connect to the internet via your phone and start geocaching. Instant gratification.

Keep in mind though that when you go geocaching with your smart phone that they are not made for outdoor use. In other words dropping them on a rock or into a stream or pond is not a good thing. A genuine GPSr is made for such things and can take the punishment. So use your smart phone at your own risk.

Speaking of geocaching, I am about to head out and do some. I have never geocached in the area I want to go but no worries.. I have my smart phone ready to take on the challenge.

See you out on the trails...

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
-------------------------------------------------------
Twitter me at
@headhardhat

Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at
http://www.geosnippits.com

Black Berry Phones Powering Down - My Findings

I have worked in computer support for a combined 15 years so I am putting in the disclaimer here. My situation may not be the exact same as yours so you will have to do a little research to see if this will indeed work for you. When in doubt check with your carrier for more details... yadda.. yadda... yadda...

So here's the situation. I own a BlackBerry 8310 also known as a Curve. It has worked fairly well for me for over two years now, until recently. The issue I was having would be the unit powering itself off regardless of what the visual indicater stated was left of battery life.

• Pressing the power button did nothing
• Using a power adapter or charger would restart the phone when connected
• The battery indicator would usually show a significant drain when the phone reinitialized.

What to do? It literally was at the point that if you pulled the battery and put it back in the phone would again power down a moment or two after booting yet the indicator still stated there was at least 1/4 of battery life left.

This was very frustrating. Nothing like being 100' from a geocache only to have the phone die and no way of getting it back up. That is also why I am mentioning this on my blog because it easily can be geocaching related. To The Internet!!!

The Internet gave many ways of potentially resolving the problem. Everything from reseating the battery to wiping your operating system and restoring. The problem is very common and you can find example after example all over the net. I had no problem doing a wipe of my phone but if there were any workable solutions before going through all of that I wanted to give a shot. So I did do the remove the battery for several minutes trick. It actually seemed to work for about 30 minutes before going back to bad habits. Then I read that you should replace your battery. Hmmmm, I thought. If I am going to spend the $50 for a new battery I better be able to return it if the phone insists on being uncooperative. So I made sure I kept the receipt before proceeding.

Needless to say I replaced the old battery with the new one and for the last week or so it has been working flawlessly. Well as much as a Black Berry can anyways. So if you are having troubles similar to mine I suggest you trade with a friend that has a new battery to see if it goes back to working correctly or go buy a new one like I did. For me it was the best solution and this time I did not have to reinstall all the software.

I hope this information proves useful to you.

-HHH

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
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Twitter me at @headhardhat

Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at http://www.geosnippits.com