Attention dumbass gamers
From WBIR:
Traffic on Campbell Station Road was re-routed for a short while Tuesday morning as investigators from the Knox County Sheriff’s Office followed reports of a suspicious package in the area.
According to Knox County investigators, the “suspicious package” was actually a “geocache,” or part of a GPS game where clues are left online for contestants to find a prize.
The geochache was inside a military ammunition can.
Gamers, three days after Al Qaeda tries to blow up various parts of Britannia why would you place a GPS sender geocache for a GPS game in a used military ammunition can?
A section of Kingston Pike had to be shut down due to a bomb scare. While everyone is pleased it was a false alarm, what the hell?
Can you possibly see how dumb that is? Not cool.
For those at home that have no idea what GPS gaming is you can learn more here. I don’t see how GPS gaming is a cool game in today’s environment. Can’t you just surf porn or something? I hear Halo 2 rocks. Buy a Wii. Just don’t put your stupid GPS someplace where you scare people half to death. Is that too much to ask?
A few more observations. WBIR had this being at Kingston Pike and Campbell Station Road. The Knoxville News Sentinel had the better location at 12000 block of Kingston Pike near Hobbs Road. Guys, if there is a bomb, how about getting the address right?
Update: Turns out it is not unusual for old ammo cans to be used to store the geocache. Interesting. Thanks to gattsuru and Sebastian for clarifying the GPS game. I guess the question is, how do you play this game without scaring people and having inadvertent bomb scares?
July 3rd, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Er, I don’t think they have proof Al Q did or was tied to this one, yet.
You also usually don’t leave a “GPS sender” in a geocache, whatever a ‘gps sender’ is (I assume you’re not referring to the sats). Typically you leave little trinkets in a waterproof, sealed, weatherproof container, along with a logbook.
I don’t quite see how the ammo case should be particularly suspicious, here, given that it’s not a classical way to leave a bomb in public — one might in fact say the opposite — while other geocache materials (such as a 5 gallon bucket, a hiker’s backpack, or anything else) could be just as problematic.
It should have been labeled as a geocache, but I don’t think we want police to stop searching a suspicious box because someone tagged it.
July 3rd, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Geocaching is more like a GPS assisted treasure hunt. It’s interesting to do once or twice, but it’s mostly something you do with the kids, because they find the knick knacks and other goodies people leave in the caches to be interesting. Yeah, old ammo cans are the preferred storage container, but usually they get located in the woods, and not on urban streets.
July 3rd, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Geocaching is wonderful. It is beyond something to just do with the children. If your business has you traveling a lot, it is a great way to quickly be introduced to an area. When I consulted for a month in Franklin TN Geocaching led me to Civil War battlefield just two miles from where I was working. Without it, I would have never gotten off the main drag choosing instead to eat at the McDs. It also led me to downtown Franklin and past some interesting eateries that I otherwise would have not discovered.
In Dallas, I was able to introduce some natives to parks they never realized were near their house.
In the 37919 area code there are over 1500 caches. Geocachers help clean up the environment. Geocaching introduces people to modern navigation and sometimes leads people to learn more about orienteering. Geocaching is fun and also educational.
All that said, ammo cans typically make great caches for woodsy areas. Putting an ammo can in a pedestrian area is dumb. When we set caches with ammo cans we always painted “Geocaching Game” and our phone number on the side of the can. But in more trafficed areas, a clear container should be used.
I’ve wondered when paranoia or someone actually placing a bomb would end the game. I hope neither the bomb nor the end of the game comes anytime soon.
July 3rd, 2007 at 1:58 pm
The guys have covered Geocaching pretty well, but I’d only add that we have no idea how long this cache has been there. It may have been placed well before last week’s events.
And I agree with Doug that an ammo can is far from the best choice of containers in an urban/pedestrian setting.
July 3rd, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Odds are that the cache was in place for months before the recent terror thingys.
I’m surprised that the ammo can lasted that long. Although they are only a few bucks around here ($4 for a .30 cal to $9 for a 20mm can), that wouldn’t be something I’d just leave in the woods. Most caches are in Tupperware, with a few 5 gallon buckets thrown in for good measure
I like finding the cache, but the trinket swapping thingy is for the kids. GeoCaching gets me outside and it gets me more exercise than surfing pr0n.
Oh, and you don’t leave your GPS anywhere, you use it to find a box of dollar store trinkets. Google a similar game called “letterboxing”
July 3rd, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Well, you could spray-paint the can to cover over the ammo numbers, remove the handles, and put “Geocache Games” on the side. Or you could replace it with a similarly-sized, sealable garbage can. Or a mailbox. Or anything else waterproof and the same size.
It wouldn’t actually do anything as to the ability to hide an explosive device in plain sight (clear plastic, thin layer of crappy toys, thermite), but it might scare the nervous nancies less.
From what I can tell, it looks like the geocache may have been there for up to three months, or was positioned very close to an existing geocache or two that had been there for three months.
July 3rd, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Sounds like some standards and practices need to be discussed and developed to play this game in a urban and suburban setting.
It also sounds like this is much more popular than most people know. I had not heard of it before today.
The site this was found on was a Church. I can see how parks might be okay but how do you decide when it is appropriate to place the geocache on private property? Is it ever?
I agree it is likely this was placed before the attempts in Britain. That had not occurred to me. With Wednesday being the Fourth of July, I may have the radar turned up too much. Situation awareness is hard to turn off.
July 3rd, 2007 at 2:25 pm
I can see how parks might be okay but how do you decide when it is appropriate to place the geocache on private property? Is it ever?
If it’s publicly accessible, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a law against leaving a toy there. It probably won’t be there when you get back, particularly if you don’t ask permission first, of course.
If you have permission from the property owner, I can’t see it being wrong at all, as long as they understand the thing. That’s the requirement Geocache.com places, and often checks out.
July 3rd, 2007 at 2:26 pm
The rules for placing a cache state that it should not be near a bridge or other structure that may be a terrorist target to avoid this problem.
Its a fun activity – we’ve found a lot and planted one ourselves – hidden in a tree trunk in woodlands. Many smaller ones are found in urban settings – one here in Michigan is even attached to the 9-11 memorial.
http://www.geocaching.com
July 3rd, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Son and I were geocaching just last night. While he still gets excited about the toys (hey, he’s 5) he is starting to get more excited about the natural treasures out there too (we found a shed antler last night and he saw a killer overlook well off the beaten path on Pigeon Mountain).
Geocaching is a great game. Sorry guys, just because you haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exists. There are caches EVERYWHERE.
A better question than – where is an appropriate place to stick one would be where do they grown nanny staters who think everything not instantly identifiable is a “suspecious package” or bomb.
Other items used to cache with are pvc pipes, tupperware, etc. Depending on the location, I like the pvc pipes best cause you can easily hide them in hard to find places.
Geocaching.com is a great place to start.
July 3rd, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Remember the Lite-Bright “Bombs” in Boston a while back?
Same-same.
There is absolutely no way to predict what pants-pissing, GFWs will decide is a threat. Law-abiding citizens should get to go about their law-abiding business. Period.
All the above ideas about appropriate markings for GPS caches? Useless, because a bomber will adopt them as camouflage.
And again, a serious bomber will disguise his bomb as a car, a trash bin, a briefcase, a shopping bag, a mailbox, himself….
It’s like guns, people. You cannot go around fearing inanimate objects. The fix is stamp out the bombers, not try to outlaw the infinite and unlimited ways to disguise bombs.
July 3rd, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Refugee beat me to the Lite-Brite “bomb” comment.
Dittos to what he said.
July 3rd, 2007 at 3:41 pm
“All the above ideas about appropriate markings for GPS caches?”
The idea is that if I set the cache and have my phone number emblazened on it, they can call me and I’ll come out and open it for them.
July 3rd, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Refugee beat me to the Lite-Brite “bomb” comment.
Dittos to what he said.
That was my first thought also.
July 3rd, 2007 at 4:05 pm
“The idea is that if I set the cache and have my phone number emblazened on it, they can call me and I’ll come out and open it for them.”
OK, then.
We’ll just make a law that every container larger than, say, a can of beans be either transparent or have a contact phone number printed on it. That way, the entire world economy can be brought to a screeching halt as everyone is employed either calling those numbers or answering the calls and verifying that every single non-transparent object over the size of a can of beans really is safe….
Or, no, I have it, we’ll just put an RFID tag on every object everywhere, and require the owners of objects to maintain a publicly accessible registry of every object they own with an identifying photo, intended location, and an affidavit that the object is harmless….
No. Sorry, but no. From gun registration and control to object registration and control.
NO.
July 3rd, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Refugee, you went the wrong way with that. I was just stating my thought on the caches I personally have set. I am a strong believer that locks simply keep honest people honest. I belief airport security is a puppet show. I believe someone with serious intent to hurt someone is going to find a means to do it and it will be hidden right in front of our eyes (if hidden at all). I believe in treating problems and not symptoms.
But I also believe that if the police come across a cache I have set (and we haven’t geocached in 2 or 3 years), they need to call me before calling the bomb squad. And that’s why my phone number is clearly marketed on the outside of the container.
July 3rd, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Also, putting a phone number on a “suspicious package” sounds more like a good way to end up with SWAT breaking down your door than a good way to actually deal with the issue.
I mean, jeez, you’re a bomb squad member, and you see something that might turn you into a long red stain, with a phone number on it. You call and :
a) Joe Blow tells you it’s a geocache, or his homework, or a dropped box, and he’ll be there in thirty minutes to pick it up. Comes by, carefully pops it open, and somehow magically manages to avoid being arrested when the police realize they’ve spent an hour staring at a box worth of a man’s spare socks.
b) Terrorist Schmoe tells you it’s a geocache, or his homework, or a dropped box, and he’ll be there in thirty minutes to pick it up. Comes by, carefully detonates six carefully planted car bombs at the typical circumference for a police cordon, turning said bomb squad into a long red stain.
Note that the only difference comes after the explosion.
July 3rd, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Umm…
Not “dumbass” gamers.
Geocaching has been around for a long, long time. Lots of people store lots of things in surplus ammo cans. Why would a terrorist use an ammo can when a run of the mill cardboard box is a) cheaper and b) more readily available.
And if you feel like infringing on this sport (Geocaching), just imagine what will be next (hint, it rhymes with “shooting”).
SB
July 3rd, 2007 at 9:05 pm
In an era where lite-brights are terrorist bombs, I wonder how we can do _anything_ these days…
July 4th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
I respectfully disagree with the response you made to this. Calling people who enjoy getting outside and using map, compass and GPS to locate a cache “dumbass gamers” seems totally out of line. Like sport shooting, hunting, gun collecting, and other legal sports, geocaching should not be limited because of Islamic terrorism. How about we go after the enemy, destroy, them, drive them from our shores and get back to enjoying the freedoms we share?
Failing to do this, and continuing to restrict the rights and freedoms of everyone in an attempt to somehow make us safe while terrorists live and work in our midst will result in all of us living like the Israelis, where you can’t leave a car unattended (parked) on a public street with out attracting the attention of the police.
Face the problem. Here’s a hint: It isn’t geocaching.
July 4th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
I respectfully disagree with the response you made to this.
I think you are right, as were many commenters.
Face the problem. Here’s a hint: It isn’t geocaching.
I know you are right on this.
July 5th, 2007 at 9:57 am
[…] came from a Law & Order:Smart Guy From Mystic Pizza episode. But now it seems as though real-world Geocachers have started their own ruckus. Gamers, three days after Al Qaeda tries to blow up various parts of […]
July 7th, 2007 at 2:55 am
Clearly, the answer is to paint urban ammo-can caches with the famous, reassuring ping and lavender bARbie-15 colors!