"The long sobs of the dead clams wound my heart with a monotonous languor as they dance at midnight". From klaus23
Cache Acronyms

Just wanted to point out something from this article that was partially incorrect...

It’s the acronym used by cachers in the Northwest of the USA termed ‘DPM’. According to them it means des palourdes mortes; "taken from a French phrase". Translated, it means "The long sobs of the dead clams wound my heart with a monotonous languor as they dance at midnight". In other words, it denotes a cache of poor quality.

I would like to point out that although interesting, it is not the correct ‘phrase’.

The line is an amended version of the first line from a French poet called Paul Verlaine, which is quoted from the Chanson D’Automne - or the "Song of Autumn", and is correctly written as:

"Les sanglots longs des violons de l'automne blessent mon Coeur d'une langueur monotone"

This correctly translates as "The long wails of the violins of autumn hurt my heart with a monotonous languor".

So although it sounds interesting, it seems that poetic licence has indeed been taken. Curiously, that poem should have a greater place in American hearts as it was used by the BBC World Service to signal the impending D-Day invasion to the French Resistance. If you do a web search for "Verlaine D-Day" you’ll find many results.

The Dave Ulmer's 1st GPS Stash video is a fake. From Scott Robuck, aka Team GeoDillo
Dave Ulmer video is a fake

The Dave Ulmer's 1st GPS Stash video is a fake. The first cache (by Dave Ulmer) was hidden on MAY 3rd, not April 3rd as is shown in the video (4-3-00). How do I know this? Well:

1) President Clinton didn't turn off Selective Availability until May 1st 2000

2) Geocaching didn't start until SA was turned off

3) Dave's first post in the sci.geo.satellite-nav newsgroup regarding this was posted on May 2nd, 2000

4) Here is Dave's post with the coordinates of the first GPS Stash

I'm surprised that Today's Cacher got fooled. Look's like somebody didn't do their homework!

Editor's Note:We certainly understand why you may think this video is fake. However, we assure you that it is genuine. As you pointed out, the dates don't match. Have you ever made the transition to a new month, but, from habit, used the previous month? I can attest to the fact that the voice you hear on the video is indeed that of Dave Ulmer, having spoken with him at length. Also, when I did the interview with him, he told me the original log book was dated incorrectly. There are also cache contents that are shown in the video that Dave told me were in there, such as the Ross Perot book and the slingshot handle, and that information hasn't been previously published, as far as I know--Jerry Carter, Publisher, Today's Cacher

Thanks for reassuring me it's the GPSr and not me! From bigbunch
The Coords are Off 23 Feet!

I enjoyed your article "The Coords are Off 23 Feet!" in the Todays Cacher. Would like to share my experience. My first GPS receiver was a Magellan 310. It only displayed coordantes to 2 decimal places and distance to .01 miles! I still found caches but envyed those who had the more advanced models until I went to a geocaching event and found caches sooner than those with the advanced models. Now I use a Magellan Sport Trac and have come up short finding the cache. Thanks for reassuring me it's the GPSr and not me!

...recently in our area some of the cache logs have been not so wholesome. From Julia A. Jackson, aka julia51
Concern for children reading cache logs

I have just discovered your on-line magazine and have learned so much already! I'm sort of new. I have been wondering where I could voice a small concern I have and I think I have found it! I have been so impressed with the wholesome, family orientated nature of the geocaching sport, its so refreshing! But recently in our area some of the cache logs have been not so wholesome. I was so sorry to see this happen, because lots of kids are involved in this sport. Maybe someone who can express this a little better could write a caution for everyone to remember who may be reading their logs. Thanks so much, enjoy your new mag!

Editor's Note: We certainly believe that logging caches should be done in a responsible, respectful manner. However, as in other situations, a certain amount of parental supervision is necessary when caching with children. Not every cacher will use language appropriate for children to read in a log book.