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2005 - The Year of Patience
2005 has me going into my 15th year teaching golf. From day one, I thought that if I could come up with a technique that was fast and easy to learn I would be a pretty popular guy. Well, I did ... and I am. So what is fast and easy? Does it...
Eating Disorders And The Use Of Yoga In Prevention And Treatment
It was not so long ago that eating disorders, such as bolimia and anorexia, were thought to be purely the result of mental conditions. More recently, though, some physical factors have been attributed to these conditions. It is now thought that...
Fantasy Baseball - Why Traditional 5x5 leagues are outdated.
The "fantasy" in fantasy baseball stands for what a team would be like with a collection of stars gathered together, not for an alternate universe where value has no relation to reality. Fantasy baseball is all about capturing players' performance...
Is your personal trainer any good?
Hiring a personal trainer can be a significant investment – even with hourly rates differing vastly across regions and countries – you are still paying a fair amount of money for the expert knowledge that will help you achieve your health and...
That's a home run!
Its a Hit!
Baseball is a favorite game of the Americans. No wonder it is the national sport of the United States of America. No one can say with much certainty when this game originated but according to some accounts it is said to have begun...
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Geocaching -- The New High--Tech Sport
There are about 150,000 of them spread throughout 213 countries and you need satellites to help you find them. What are they? They're geocaches and geocaching is a sport that is quickly gaining popularity.
The geocaches come in all different sizes and shapes. Usually stored in a waterproof container, these caches are treasures of minimal value. The container is often a Tupperware container or ammo box. The "treasures" can be just about anything you can imagine: a mini-stapler; a toy soldier; foreign coins.
How do you find them? That's the satellite part. If you haven't been in a cave for the last five years, you've probably heard of the Global Positioning System, or GPS. Just in case you're one of the cave people, GPS is a system of 24 satellites orbiting the earth at an altitude of 11,000 miles. A small handheld receiver, a little larger than a cell phone, picks up signals from the satellites and can pinpoint your position anywhere on earth, sometimes as accurately as 3 meters.
If you go to Geocaching.com you can enter your location by ZIP Code, state, or country and get a list of caches in your area. Each listing has a log of who found the cache, when it was found, and usually what trinkets were taken and left.
You are given the coordinates of the cache in degrees of longitude and latitude. Enter those numbers in your GPS and start following that little handheld device. It may
sound easy, but depending on the individual cache, it can be a challenge.
Some examples of hiding places are in holes at the base of large trees, holes in the face of a cliff, and some are even found in urban areas. One is under a bridge accessible only by rope. Another clever place was created when a cable company worker attached an empty cable connection box to the side of a building.
As you can imagine, public parks are popular places for hiding caches. However, they're not allowed in National Parks in the U.S. Geocachers, being outdoor sort of people, are mostly ecologically--minded, and there is even a "cache in trash out" program that promotes participants picking up trash that they may find while hunting treasure. Many places require permits for placing caches. Park authorities' main concern is damage to sensitive areas such as wetlands or locations of endangered flora or fauna.
GPS receivers start at about $75.00 US and can be purchased at some department stores, sporting goods stores, or ordered online. Amazon.com often has very good prices. Geocaching really is a lot of fun and it's a great way to get outdoors and get some exercise.
About the Author
J. Chartwell has developed Maps GPS Info.com which provides practical information on GPS and maps that everyone can use. The website includes product reviews and a maps/GPS glossary. Visit http://www.maps-gps-info.com/gp.html
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