Boy, I am so out of the loop lately. Here I am continuing to curse the forums and they are actually working now!! You guys could have told me! Well, Bruce actually did tell me.
I browsed through a few different threads and it didn't seem like there were any crazy Web-battles going on, which was nice. The constant grousing was really getting on my nerves. It seems like actual debate is an art that has been lost, at least online.
I also missed out on the town hall that Groundspeak held last Wednesday. My plan was to re-learn how to connect to the damn thing because I am hopeless with those types of things and then join in. However, time got away from me and by the time I remembered it was 6:30pm and well into the conversation so I didn't bother.
So, what have I missed in the forums over the last 4-6 months since I've been a regular there? Any major discussions? Any threads that I should take the time to go back and read? Any that I shouldn't read? ;)
Hope all is well with the waymarking masses and that there are good things coming in the near future as far as Website functionality goes.
Showing posts with label Groundspeak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Groundspeak. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Playing Catch Up
I promised I'd post about our awesome camping trip, but life got ahead of me and I've been trying to catch up all week. Each day I promised myself I'd get around to posting in my 2 blogs, but was unsuccessful. Heck, I haven't even finished editing my photos from the camping trip, let alone posting a few waymarks. Right now I'm trying not to think of the backlog or I'll get overwhelmed.
A waymarker and I were exchanging a bit of brief e-chat this week and she was talking about how she wasn't waymarking as much because she gets overwhelmed by the steady stream of new categories and can't keep track of them all. She had this awesome idea - a monthly Groundspeak LoBot with links to all of the new categories that have been approved within that month. When a bunch of new categories come through it can be easy to miss a few and this doesn't seem like it would be too tough of a solution. All the new waymarks in an area would be overwhelming, but new categories would be really helpful. Just a thought.
Okay, time's up and I have to get back to my crazy, hectic life. Just thought I'd check in and throw out the above idea. Hopefully I'll get the Whidbey Island photos edited this weekend and will get a chance to at least get them on Flickr, and maybe even get a few waymarks posted.
A waymarker and I were exchanging a bit of brief e-chat this week and she was talking about how she wasn't waymarking as much because she gets overwhelmed by the steady stream of new categories and can't keep track of them all. She had this awesome idea - a monthly Groundspeak LoBot with links to all of the new categories that have been approved within that month. When a bunch of new categories come through it can be easy to miss a few and this doesn't seem like it would be too tough of a solution. All the new waymarks in an area would be overwhelming, but new categories would be really helpful. Just a thought.
Okay, time's up and I have to get back to my crazy, hectic life. Just thought I'd check in and throw out the above idea. Hopefully I'll get the Whidbey Island photos edited this weekend and will get a chance to at least get them on Flickr, and maybe even get a few waymarks posted.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Profile Page Updates
The team at Groundspeak has yet again added some goodies to the profile sections of the Website that will make the game even more addictive for those of you who love watching your number of waymarks posted and visited slowly (or quickly in some folks case) rise.
On the forums awhile back folks were talking about wanting some kind of award icon added to users' profile pages to let folks know what level they've reached in their total waymarks. Yeah, I know. There's already the little red and white box showing the count, but isn't it fun to get ribbons? A little like the gold stars you earned on school work back in elementary school. The awards start at 25 waymarks and go all the way up to 5,000.
There are other treats, too. On the right sidebar of your profile page you'll see a new box. In it are some great new site functions that you'll be sure to enjoy. You can now click on the "view gallery" link in this box to see all the photos that you've posted to Waymarking.com - your own personal Waymarking photography gallery. If you have Google Earth on your computer you can click on the "Waymarking Footprint" link to see the areas you've waymarked around the world highlighted on the globe. Another Google Earth feature is that you can now click on "Download all My Waymarks" to download your waymarks in .kml format to Google Earth in one fail swoop, rather than page by page, like you used to have to do.
There are probably additional upgrades that I haven't noticed yet, so if you guys see anything that I missed be sure to add it in the comment section of this post.
OH! I almost forgot! The Geocaching.com and Waymarking.com profiles have now been separated so you can personalize each profile to its own Website. Don't panic when you click on your profile page and much of the previous info that you entered is missing. Just go over to geocaching.com and copy the old parts you want to use from your geocaching profile over to your waymarking profile. Here's our new Waymarking specific profile. I love that this has been separated.
Not to be ungrateful, because I LOVE the new profile page set up, but I had one more suggestion for the U.S. map section of the profiles. It might be cool to have a key to the map along the side that shows the different shades of blue and what they stand for (i.e. "1-10 waymarks" and a small box with the lightest blue in it). Just a little extra something, in case you're bored and looking for things to do over there at Groundspeak now that this update is up and running. :)
Seriously, thanks to everyone over at Groundspeak for constantly continuing to upgrade the Website making it more user friendly and just all around a fun place to hang out on the Internet.
On the forums awhile back folks were talking about wanting some kind of award icon added to users' profile pages to let folks know what level they've reached in their total waymarks. Yeah, I know. There's already the little red and white box showing the count, but isn't it fun to get ribbons? A little like the gold stars you earned on school work back in elementary school. The awards start at 25 waymarks and go all the way up to 5,000.
There are other treats, too. On the right sidebar of your profile page you'll see a new box. In it are some great new site functions that you'll be sure to enjoy. You can now click on the "view gallery" link in this box to see all the photos that you've posted to Waymarking.com - your own personal Waymarking photography gallery. If you have Google Earth on your computer you can click on the "Waymarking Footprint" link to see the areas you've waymarked around the world highlighted on the globe. Another Google Earth feature is that you can now click on "Download all My Waymarks" to download your waymarks in .kml format to Google Earth in one fail swoop, rather than page by page, like you used to have to do.
There are probably additional upgrades that I haven't noticed yet, so if you guys see anything that I missed be sure to add it in the comment section of this post.
OH! I almost forgot! The Geocaching.com and Waymarking.com profiles have now been separated so you can personalize each profile to its own Website. Don't panic when you click on your profile page and much of the previous info that you entered is missing. Just go over to geocaching.com and copy the old parts you want to use from your geocaching profile over to your waymarking profile. Here's our new Waymarking specific profile. I love that this has been separated.
Not to be ungrateful, because I LOVE the new profile page set up, but I had one more suggestion for the U.S. map section of the profiles. It might be cool to have a key to the map along the side that shows the different shades of blue and what they stand for (i.e. "1-10 waymarks" and a small box with the lightest blue in it). Just a little extra something, in case you're bored and looking for things to do over there at Groundspeak now that this update is up and running. :)
Seriously, thanks to everyone over at Groundspeak for constantly continuing to upgrade the Website making it more user friendly and just all around a fun place to hang out on the Internet.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Goggling Google Earth
Groundspeak unveiled the new Google Earth networking function on waymarking.com this week and it seems like it will be a fun new addition to the features on the Website. Not being a techie-type person, I'm still mucking around, trying to figure out what I'm doing. At this point I haven't found a way that it can make my life any easier, however, it is fun to look around at where a category's waymarks are located.
I did notice that I had typed in the coordinates of one of my "Musician Statue" waymarks wrong when I submitted it which showed the statue of classical composer, Grieg, somewhere out in the middle of the Cascade mountains rather than in the middle of the University of Washington campus in Seattle. Nice to get that fixed as there's a geocacher that checks the coordinates of many of my waymarks and emails me whenever he finds a mistake. I don't even know the guy, so it's a little creepy.
Anyhow, I think that the Google Earth feature will at first be just a fun addition, but as it is refined will become a useful tool. I'm looking forward to the day when you can waymark along a route - a feature available on geocaching.com. Of course, there may be some amazingly helpful feature to Google Earth that I'm missing. I mean, we're over a month into the new updated search functions and I'm still figuring out how to use them to their full capability. I'd love to hear how you guys are using Google Earth, so send some comments as to how you are incorporating this new update into your waymarking routine.
PS: How often are the photos on Google Earth updated? I looked at the Seattle Sculpture Garden arial and in the pic it showed it before construction started. The shot of my neighborhood is at least 8 years old. Call me an airhead, but I thought this was live - you know, like you could catch a guy picking his nose or something?!
I did notice that I had typed in the coordinates of one of my "Musician Statue" waymarks wrong when I submitted it which showed the statue of classical composer, Grieg, somewhere out in the middle of the Cascade mountains rather than in the middle of the University of Washington campus in Seattle. Nice to get that fixed as there's a geocacher that checks the coordinates of many of my waymarks and emails me whenever he finds a mistake. I don't even know the guy, so it's a little creepy.
Anyhow, I think that the Google Earth feature will at first be just a fun addition, but as it is refined will become a useful tool. I'm looking forward to the day when you can waymark along a route - a feature available on geocaching.com. Of course, there may be some amazingly helpful feature to Google Earth that I'm missing. I mean, we're over a month into the new updated search functions and I'm still figuring out how to use them to their full capability. I'd love to hear how you guys are using Google Earth, so send some comments as to how you are incorporating this new update into your waymarking routine.
PS: How often are the photos on Google Earth updated? I looked at the Seattle Sculpture Garden arial and in the pic it showed it before construction started. The shot of my neighborhood is at least 8 years old. Call me an airhead, but I thought this was live - you know, like you could catch a guy picking his nose or something?!
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