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Grímnismál

Grímnismál (Old Norse: ; 'The Lay of Grímnir') is one of the mythological poems of the Poetic Edda. It is preserved in the Codex Regius manuscript and the AM 748 I 4to fragment. It is spoken through the voice of Grímnir, one of the many guises of the god Odin. The very name suggests guise, or mask or hood. Through an error, King Geirröth tortured Odin-as-Grímnir, a fatal mistake, since Odin caused him to fall upon his own sword. The poem is written mostly in the ljóðaháttr metre, typical for wisdom verse.

Structure and history
The work starts out with a lengthy prose section describing the circumstances leading up to Grímnir's monologue. The monologue itself comprises 54 stanzas of poetic verse describing the worlds and Odin's many guises. The third and last part of the poem is also prose, a brief description of Geirröth's demise, his son's ascension, and Odin's disappearance.

The prose sections were most likely not part of the original oral versions of Grímnismál. Henry Adams Bellows suggests that they were added in the 12th or 13th century and based on some sort of narrative tradition regarding the poem. This is not entirely certain. The poem itself was likely composed in the first half of the 10th century.

Synopsis
Odin and his wife, Frigg, were sitting in Hlidskjalf, looking out on the worlds. They turned their eyes towards King Geirröth, who was reigning in the stead of his late father, King Hrauthung. Geirröth and his older brother Agnarr had been raised by Odin and Frigg, respectively. The god and goddess had disguised themselves as a peasant and his wife, and had taught the children wisdom. Geirröth returned to his father's kingdom where he became king upon his father's death, while Agnarr dwelt with a giantess in a cave.

In Hliðskjálf, Odin remarked to Frigg that his foster-child Geirröth seemed to be prospering more so than her Agnarr. Frigg retorted that Geirröth was so parsimonious and inhospitable that he would torture his guests if he thought there were too many of them. Odin disputed this, and the couple entered into a wager in this respect. Frigg then sent her maid Fulla to Geirröth, advising him that a magician would soon enter his court to bewitch him, and saying that he could be recognised by the fact that no dog was fierce enough to attack him.

Geirröth heeded Fulla's false warning. He ordered his men to capture the man the dogs wouldn't attack, which they did. Odin-as-Grímnir, dressed in a dark blue cloak, allowed himself to be captured. He stated that his name was Grímnir, but he would say nothing further of himself.

Geirröth then had him tortured to force him to speak, putting him between two fires for eight nights. After this time, Geirröth's son, named Agnarr after the king's brother, came to Grímnir and gave him a full horn from which to drink, saying that his father, the king, was not right to torture him.

Grímnir then spoke, saying that he had suffered eight days and nights, without succour from any save Agnarr, Geirröth's son, whom Grímnir prophesied would be Lord of the Goths. He then revealed himself for who he was, as the Highest One, promising Agnarr reward for the drink which he brought him.

Shifting from prose to poetry for Odin-as-Grímnir's monologue, Grímnir describes at great length the cosmogony of the worlds, the dwelling places of its inhabitants, and himself and his many guises.

Eventually, Grímnir turns to Geirröth and promises him misfortune, revealing his true identity. Geirröth then realized the magnitude of his mistake. Having learned that he is undone, he rose quickly to pull Odin from the fires, but the sword which he had lain upon his knee slipped and fell hilt down, so that when the king stumbled he impaled himself upon it. Odin then vanished, and Agnarr, son of the dead King Geirröth, ruled in his father's stead.

In popular culture
The 12th album of the comic Valhalla is loosely based on the poem.

In the 2017 Starz television adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods, the character Mad Sweeney refers to Mr. Wednesday as Grimnir. Mr. Wednesday later emulates Odin's reveal of his identity through his various names when revealing his own true nature.

title: Grímnismál


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George Peppard

George William Peppard (October 1, 1928 – May 8, 1994) was an American actor. He secured a major role as struggling writer Paul Varjak when he starred alongside Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and later portrayed a character based on Howard Hughes in The Carpetbaggers (1964). On television, he played the title role of millionaire insurance investigator and sleuth Thomas Banacek in the early-1970s mystery series Banacek. He played Col. John "Hannibal" Smith, the cigar-smoking leader of a renegade commando squad in the 1980s action television series The A-Team.

Early life
George William Builder Jr. was born October 1, 1928, in Detroit, the son of building contractor George Builder Sr which is on his father's grave in Dearborn Michigan, and music voice teacher Vernelle Rohrer. He changed his name to Peppard for theatrical reasons. His mother had five miscarriages before giving birth to George. His family lost all their money in the Depression, and his father had to leave George and his mother in Detroit while he went looking for work. He graduated from Dearborn High School in Dearborn, Michigan in 1946.

Peppard enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on July 8, 1946, and rose to the rank of corporal, leaving the Corps at the end of his enlistment in January 1948.

During 1948 and 1949, he studied civil engineering at Purdue University where he was a member of the Purdue Playmakers theatre troupe and Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He became interested in acting, being an admirer of Walter Huston in particular. "I just decided I didn't want to be an engineer," he said later. "It was the best decision I ever made."

Peppard then transferred to Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1955. (It took longer than normal because he dropped out for a year when his father died in 1951 and he had to finish his father's jobs.) He also trained at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. While living in Pittsburgh, Peppard worked as a radio DJ at WLOA in Braddock, Pennsylvania. While giving a weather update, he famously called incoming snow flurries "flow snurries". This was an anecdote he repeated in several later interviews, including one with former NFL player Rocky Bleier for WPXI.

In addition to acting, Peppard was a pilot. He spent a portion of his 1966 honeymoon training to fly his Learjet in Wichita, Kansas.

Theatre
Peppard made his stage debut in 1949 at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. After moving to New York City, Peppard enrolled in the Actors Studio, where he studied the Method with Lee Strasberg. He did a variety of jobs to pay his way during this time, such as working as a disc jockey, being a radio station engineer, teaching fencing, driving a taxi and being a mechanic in a motorcycle repair shop.

He worked in summer stock in New England and appeared at the open air Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon for two seasons.

In August 1955 he appeared in the play The Sun Dial.

Television
He worked as a cab driver until getting his first part in "Lamp Unto My Feet".

He appeared with Paul Newman, in The United States Steel Hour (1956), as the singing, guitar-playing baseball player Piney Woods in Bang the Drum Slowly, directed by Daniel Petrie.

He appeared in an episode of Kraft Theatre, "Flying Object at Three O'Clock High" (1956).

In March 1956 Peppard was on stage off Broadway in Beautiful Changes.

In April 1956, he appeared in a segment of an episode of "Cameras Three" performing from The Shoemaker's Holiday; The New York Times called his performance "beguiling".

In July 1956, he signed to make his film debut in The Strange One directed by Jack Garfein, based on the play End as a Man. It was the first film from Garfein as director and Calder Willingham as producer, plus for Peppard, Ben Gazzara, Geoffrey Horne, Pat Hingle, Arthur Storch and Clifton James. Filming took place in Florida. "I wouldn't say I was nervous," said Peppard, "just excited."

On his return to New York he performed in "Out to Kill" on TV for Kraft. In September he joined the cast of Girls of Summer directed by Jack Garfein with Shelley Winters, Storch and Hingle, plus a title song by Stephen Sondheim. This reached Broadway in November. Brooks Atkinson said Peppard "expertly plays a sly, malicious dance teacher." It had only a short run.

The bulk of his work around this time was for television: The Kaiser Aluminum Hour ("A Real Fine Cutting Edge", directed by George Roy Hill), Studio One in Hollywood ("A Walk in the Forest"), The Alcoa Hour ("The Big Build-Up" with E.G. Marshall ), Matinee Theatre ("End of the Rope" with John Drew Barrymore, "Thread That Runs So True", "Aftermath"), Kraft Theatre ("The Long Flight"), Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("The Diplomatic Corpse", with Peter Lorre directed by Paul Henreid), and Suspicion ("The Eye of Truth" with Joseph Cotten based on a script by Eric Ambler). The Strange One came out in April 1957 but despite some strong reviews - The New York Times called Peppard "resolute". - it was not a financial success.

In September 1957, he appeared in a trial run of a play by Robert Thom, The Minotaur, directed by Sidney Lumet.

Peppard played a key role in Little Moon of Alban (1958) alongside Christopher Plummer for the Hallmark Hall of Fame. The Los Angeles Times called him "excellent".

In May 1958, Peppard played his second film role, a support part in the Korean War movie Pork Chop Hill (1959) directed by Lewis Milestone. He was cast in part because he was unfamiliar to moviegoers.

In May 1958 he appeared in stock in A Swim in the Sea.

MGM
In October 1958 Peppard appeared on Broadway in The Pleasure of His Company (1958) starring Cyril Ritchard, who also directed. Peppard played the boyfriend who wants to marry Dolores Hart who was Ritchard's daughter; The New York Times called Peppard "admirable". The play was a hit and ran for a year.

During the show's run Peppard auditioned successfully for MGM's Home from the Hill (1960) and the studio signed him to a long-term contract - which he had not wanted to do but was a condition for the film. In February 1959, Hedda Hopper announced Peppard would leave Company to make two films for MGM: Home from the Hill and The Subterraneans.

Home from the Hill was a prestigious film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Robert Mitchum, who played Peppard's father. It featured several young actors MGM were hoping to develop, including Peppard, George Hamilton, and Luana Patten. During filming Peppard said "Brando is a dead talent - I saw him in The Young Lions” but said Peck is "a man of integrity as a star and a person. Lee Strasberg is the only person I know who is brilliant."

"I want to be an actor and proud of my craft," said Peppard. "I would like to be an actor who is starred but being a star is something you can't count on whereas acting is something I can work on." It was a success at the box office, although the film's high cost meant that it was not profitable.

Peppard's next film for MGM was The Subterraneans, an adaptation of the 1958 novel by Jack Kerouac co starring Leslie Caron. It flopped and Peppard said "I couldn't get arrested" afterwards.

He had meant to follow The Subterraneans by returning to Broadway with Julie Harris in The Warm Peninsular but this did not happen. In April 1959 Hedda Hopper said he would be in Chatauqua but that was not made until a decade later, starring Elvis Presley, as The Trouble with Girls (1969). At the end of 1959 Hopper predicted Peppard would be a big star saying "he has great emotional power, is a fine athlete, and does offbeat characters such as James Dean excelled in." Sol Siegel announced he would play the lead in Two Weeks in Another Town. (Kirk Douglas ended up playing it.) He was also announced for the role of Arthur Blake in a film about the first Olympics called And Seven from America which was never made.

Peppard returned to television to star in an episode of the anthology series Startime, "Incident at a Corner" (1960) under the direction of Alfred Hitchcock alongside Vera Miles.

He played Teddy Roosevelt on television in an episode of Our American Heritage, "The Invincible Teddy" (1961).

Film stardom
His good looks, elegant manner and acting skills landed Peppard his most famous film role as Paul Varjak in Breakfast at Tiffany's with Audrey Hepburn, based on the novella of the same name by Truman Capote. Director Blake Edwards had not wanted Peppard, but was overruled by the producers. He was cast in July 1960. During filming Peppard did not get along with Hepburn or Patricia Neal, the latter calling him "cold and conceited".

In November 1961, a newspaper article dubbed him "the next big thing". Peppard said he had turned down two TV series and was "concentrating on big screen roles." His contract with MGM was for two pictures a year, allowing for one outside film and six TV appearances a year, plus the right to star in a play every second year. "In a series you don't have time to develop a character," he said. "There's no build up; in the first segment you're already established."

He was meant to appear in Unarmed in Paradise which was not made. He bought a script by Robert Blees called Baby Talk but it was also unmade.

Instead MGM cast him in the lead of their epic western How the West Was Won in 1962 (his character spanned three sections of the episodic Cinerama extravaganza). It was a massive hit.

He followed this with a war story for Carl Foreman, The Victors (1963), made in Europe. He was offered $200,000 to appear in The Long Ships but did not want to go to Yugoslavia for six months. He was going to do Next Time We Love with Ross Hunter but it was never made.

He starred in The Carpetbaggers, a 150-minute saga of a ruthless, Hughes-like aviation and film mogul based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Harold Robbins. The cast included Elizabeth Ashley, who had an affair with Peppard during filming and later married him. She described him as "some kind of Nordic god – six feet tall with beautiful blond hair, blue eyes and a body out of every high school cheerleader's teenage lust fantasy." Ashley claimed Peppard "was never late on set and he had nothing but scorn for actors who weren't professional enough to keep that together."

She added that Peppard: "Never was one of those actors who believes his job is to take the money, hit the mark and say the lines and let it go at that. He felt that as an above-the-title star he had the responsibility to use his muscle and power to try and make it better and that has never stopped in him. He was unrelenting about it, to the point where a lot of executives and directors came to feel he was a pain in the ass. But the really talented people loved working with him because of all his wonderful creative energy."

"My performances bore me", said Peppard in a 1964 interview, adding that his ambition was to deliver "one great performance. And I must say I feel a little presumptuous to shoot for that. But that's the goal, like a hockey goal. I figure I've got a choice ... not of the outcome but of the objective. And my objective is that one performance."

Peppard returned to television to do Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, "The Game with Glass Pieces". In March 1964 he tried to break his MGM contract to make The Great Adventure for Anthony Mann.

For MGM he appeared in Operation Crossbow (1965), a war film with Sophia Loren. It was the first film he made under a new contract with MGM to do one movie a year for three years.

He was meant to follow this with an adaptation of the play Merrily We Roll Along but it was never made.

"I'm an actor not a star," he said around this time, adding that he looked for "three things" in a film, "a good director, a good part and a good script. If I get two out of three of those I'm satisfied."

Peppard starred in a thriller, The Third Day (1965) with Ashley who had become his second wife. The film was directed by Jack Smight who claimed Warner Bros only agreed to finance it because they had a deal with Peppard. Peppard said when he made the film "I wasn't just broke I was up to my ears in debt."

He was announced for The Last Night of Don Juan for Michael Gordon but it was not made. He was cast as the lead in Sands of the Kalahari (1965) at a fee of $200,000 but walked off the set after only a few days of filming in March 1965 and had to be replaced by Stuart Whitman. Paramount sued Peppard for $930,555 in damages and he countersued.

Ashley later wrote: "What tormented George so badly was that he was caught between being an actor and a movie star. He did not start off as an untalented pretty nothing who had to be grateful for any piece of meat that was thrown his way. He was intelligent and talented but because he was six foot tall with blond hair and blue eyes he had been put in the slot of being a movie star at a time when the movie studios were still very powerful and expected you to play the game by their rules... I don't think it was possible to be a male movie star who looked like he did and got hot when he did and not be trapped by it." He had a huge hit with The Blue Max (1966), playing a German World War One ace, alongside James Mason and Ursula Andress, directed by John Guillermin. "He could carry these big films," said Filmink.

Film critic David Shipman writes of this stage in his career: "'With his cool, blond baby-face looks and a touch of menace, of meanness, he had established a screen persona as strong as any of the time. He might have been the Alan Ladd or the Richard Widmark of the sixties: but the sixties didn't want a new Alan Ladd. Peppard began appearing in a series of action movies, predictably as a tough guy, but there were much tougher guys around — like Cagney, Bogart and Robinson, whose films had now become television staples.'"

Peppard played a German Jew fighting for the Allies in Tobruk (1967) alongside Rock Hudson. "It's a big mistake to think I'm making a lot of money and turning out a lot of crap," he said in a 1966 interview.

Decline
Seeking to ensure his financial security, Peppard bought a cattle ranch. The funding required by this venture prompted Peppard to sign a multi-million-dollar, five-picture contract with Universal in August 1966 – two films for the first year, then one each in the following three. Ashley claimed this ultimately hurt Peppard's career.

The first two films under the contract were Rough Night in Jericho (1967), a Western with Dean Martin, and What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968), a comedy directed by George Seaton with Mary Tyler Moore; these were followed by a detective film directed by Guillermin, P.J. (1968), and House of Cards (1968), a thriller directed by Guillermin and shot in Europe. None of these films was particularly successful at the box office. Ashley says that doing these films caused Peppard to start drinking. She also claimed Peppard turned down The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter because he did not want to play a weak or possibly homosexual character.

In 1967, he bought the script Midnight Fair by Sheridan Greenway, to produce. In 1968 he announced he had co-written a script, Watch Them Die, which he planned to direct, but not play a starring role. It was never made. Neither was a version of The Most Dangerous Game for MGM, announced in 1967.

Peppard starred in the crime drama Pendulum (1969), directed by George Schaefer with Jean Seberg, and traveled to England to star in The Executioner (1970) opposite Joan Collins.

In Cannon for Cordoba (1970), Peppard played the steely Captain Rod Douglas, who has been put in charge of gathering a group of soldiers on a dangerous mission into Mexico. It was not a success. Neither was One More Train to Rob (1971), another Western. Ashley wrote "he became more and more frustrated and disillusioned from hating the kind of pictures he had to do. There were no good scripts, no good directors and at some point it became icily clear that there weren't going to be any."

In September 1970, he toured Vietnam with a USO show.

Television
In March 1971 Peppard announced that his company, Tradewind Productions, had optioned a novel by Stanley Ellin, The Eighth Circle, but it was not made.

Peppard starred in a Western TV movie The Bravos (1972) with Pernell Roberts. He returned to features with The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972) co starring Michael Sarrazin, shot in Canada for Universal; Peppard's fee was $400,000.

In August 1971, Peppard signed to star in Banacek (1972–1974), part of The NBC Mystery Movie series, starring in 90-minute whodunits as a wealthy Boston playboy who solves thefts for insurance companies for a finder's fee. Sixteen regular episodes were produced over two seasons. Peppard also did some second unit directing. "Ever since The Carpetbaggers I've played the iron-jawed cold-eyed killer and that gets to be a goddamned bore," he said in 1972. "Acting is not the most creative thing in the world and when you play a man of action it gets to be a long day. Banacek is the best character I've played in a long time."

In February 1972, Peppard stood trial in Boston, accused of attempting to rape a stripper in his hotel room. He was cleared of the charges. The same year, he and Ashley were divorced, with Peppard to pay her $2,000 per month alimony plus $350 per month child support for their son Christian.

Peppard starred in Newman's Law (1974), an action film originally called Newman. When Banacek ended Peppard wanted to take time off to focus on producing and directing, including a project called The Total Beast. However alimony and child support obligations forced him back to acting. He made some TV movies One of Our Own (1975), a medical drama, and Guilty or Innocent: The Sam Sheppard Murder Case (1975), as Sam Sheppard, for which his fee was $100,000. One of Our Own had been a pilot for a TV series which was picked up - Doctors' Hospital (1975) lasted 15 episodes.

Peppard starred in the science-fiction film Damnation Alley (1977), which has gone on to attain a substantial cult following in the years since. Peppard's role in the film was reportedly turned down by Steve McQueen because of salary issues. The movie cost $8.5 million - Peppard said Jack Smight's original director's cut was "wonderful" but claimed many of the key scenes in the film were cut when it was re-edited by executives.

With fewer interesting roles coming his way, he acted in, directed and produced the drama Five Days from Home in 1979.

Five Days from Home
Peppard later said the low point of his career came over a three-year period around the time of Five Days from Home. "It was a bad time", he said in 1983. "I was heavily in debt. My career seemed to be going nowhere. Not much work over a three-year period. Every morning I'd wake up and realize I was getting deeper and deeper into debt".

He had to sell his car and take out a second mortgage on his home to finance Five Days from Home. Eventually, he got his money back and was able to concentrate on his career. "I'm quite proud of it," he said in 1979. "I sold many assets to help make it but I don't mind. It was the best time of my life."

He had the lead in the TV movies Crisis in Mid-air (1979) and Torn Between Two Lovers (1979) and went to Europe for From Hell to Victory (1979).

In a rare game show appearance, Peppard did a week of shows on Password Plus in 1979, in which he could often be seen smoking cigarettes while filming. Out of five shows, the first was never broadcast on NBC, but aired much later on GSN and Buzzr, because of on-camera comments made by Peppard regarding personal dissatisfaction he felt related to his treatment by the NBC officials who supervised the production of Password Plus. As a result of this, Goodson-Todman banned Peppard from appearing on any of their game shows ever again for that incident, which cost them a lot since they had to film an extra episode two weeks later to make up for the pulled episode.

In April 1979, Peppard said "I want to act again - and I need a good role. The Sam Shepherd story I did for TV was the only good role I've had in the last seven to ten years." He added he was developing two movies and a TV drama series plus an educational series.

Dynasty
In 1980, Peppard was offered, and accepted, the role of Blake Carrington in the television series Dynasty. During the filming of the pilot episode, which also featured Linda Evans and Bo Hopkins, Peppard repeatedly clashed with the show's producers, Richard and Esther Shapiro; among other things, he felt that his role was too similar to that of J. R. Ewing in the series Dallas. Three weeks later, before filming of additional episodes was set to begin, Peppard was fired and the part was offered to John Forsythe; the scenes with Peppard were re-shot and Forsythe became the permanent star of the show. Joan Collins says she was pleased he didn't get the role as she "hated him" following a sexual assault incident.

"It was a big blow," Peppard noted subsequently, adding he felt Forsythe ultimately did "a better job (as Blake Carrington) than I could have done." Ironically, this led to his being available to be cast in NBC's The A-Team, the number one rated television show in its first season in 1982.

"I'm so glad I wasn't drinking," he said later, having stopped in 1979. "I bet a lot of people thought when I did certain things, I had been drinking and now they found out it wasn't the booze at all. It was me."

During that same period, Peppard also had a role as a cowboy in the science fiction film Battle Beyond the Stars (1980). He travelled to Canada to make Your Ticket Is No Longer Valid (1981) with Richard Harris, to New Zealand for Race for the Yankee Zephyr (1982) and Spain for Hit Man (1982).

"I almost disappeared for awhile, between ages 45 and 55," he later reflected. "Nobody wants to work with someone who quits three series. They think you're insane to quit a series with all the millions of dollars to be made there. It gets to be like crossing the mob. You find out some people you thought were your friends aren't really."

The A-Team
In 1982, Peppard auditioned for and won the role of Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith in the television action adventure series The A-Team, acting alongside Mr. T, Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz. In the series, the A-Team was a team of renegade commandos on the run from the military for "a crime they did not commit" while serving in the Vietnam War. The A-Team members made their collective living as soldiers of fortune, but they helped only people who came to them with justified grievances.

As "Hannibal" Smith, Peppard played the leader of the A-Team, distinguished by his cigar smoking, confident smirk, black leather gloves, disguises, and distinctive catchphrase, "I love it when a plan comes together." Peppard was attracted to the role partly because Smith was a master of disguise enabling Peppard to play a variety of characters. "I love the character of Hannibal," he said. "It inspires my fantasy. And, frankly, I need the money."

"I wanted to change from leading man to character actor for years now but have never been given the chance before," he added.

The show started filming in late 1982 and premiered in January 1983. It was an instant ratings success, going straight into the top ten most watched shows in the country. The series, which ran for five seasons on NBC from 1983 to 1987, made Peppard known to a new generation and is arguably his best-known role. His fee was reportedly $50,000 an episode. This went up to $65,000, making him one of the best paid stars on television.

Peppard said "the first year of the show "it was kind of like Monty Python - absolutely ridiculous. It was fresh, it was fun, it was silly - building an airplane out of a lawn-mower engine - fun stuff done very straight." After that, though "it became very boring to me and not very good."

It has been reported that the role was originally written with James Coburn in mind, but Coburn declined, and thus it went to Peppard. Peppard was reportedly annoyed by Mr. T upstaging him in his public image, and at one point in their relationship, refused to speak directly to Mr. T. Instead, he sent messages through intermediaries (including at times fellow cast members, particularly Dirk Benedict), and for this, Peppard was occasionally portrayed by the press as not a team player. Melinda Culea claimed it was Peppard who got her fired after the first season.

"It's the first time I ever had money in the bank," Peppard said later. "Four California divorces and 25 years of alimony will see to it you have no money in the bank. It was a giant boost to my career, and made me a viable actor for other roles."

During the series' run Peppard guest starred on the Tales of the Unexpected episode "The Dirty Detail" (1983).

Later career
Peppard's last series was intended to be several television movie features entitled Man Against the Mob (1988) and set in the 1940s. In these TV detective films, Peppard played Los Angeles Police Detective Sgt. Frank Doakey. The second film Man Against the Mob: The Chinatown Murders was broadcast in December 1989. A third film in this series was planned, but Peppard died before it was filmed.

In his later years Peppard appeared in several stage productions. In 1988, he portrayed Ernest Hemingway in the play PAPA, which played a number of cities including Boise, Idaho; Atlanta, Georgia; and San Francisco. Peppard financed it, and played in it. In 1988, he said, "Once I saw this thing, I knew that if I was going to do it, I'd have to stick with it. I've got a couple bucks in the bank, so I'm not working on anything else. I got an adrenaline rush when I first read this play - part joy, part fear." Peppard said he understood Hemingway. "We were both married four times; that's one similarity. Up until ten years ago I used to drink a lot, as he did. And then, he had to deal with living the life of a famous person."

The play was well received. Peppard said of his image, "There's a George Peppard out there that I don't know. He's been written about, and various people have interpreted him various ways. There are people who've made up stories, apocryphal, about me. There are people who didn't like me much."

He appeared in Silence Like Glass (1989) and Night of the Fox (1990). In 1989, he said "I'm afraid I'm typecast. It was discouraging when it first happened. I was sad. I had hoped to do lots of different kinds of roles. But fear and insecurity guides casting decisions. Movies and TV have to make money. And people get used to you playing a part and doing certain things. If you don't do it, they get disappointed and it shows up at the box office."

In 1990, he was seeking financing for The Crystal Contract, a film about an international cocaine cartel in which he would produce and star (but was never made)." I would like to do another series because it would mean steady work - and because I would like one more hit."

In 1992, he toured in The Lion in Winter, in which he played Henry II to Susan Clark's Eleanor of Aquitaine. "I haven't been as happy as I am for a long time," he said. "When you find a part you are right for and you love, it's a source of happiness, believe me... If I could have my wish come true, I'd spend the next two years doing nothing but this play."

His last television role was guest-starring in a 1994 episode of Matlock entitled "The P.I". The episode, co-starring Tracy Nelson, was meant to serve as a backdoor pilot for a series about a father and his estranged daughter both working as private investigators. The episode aired eight days before Peppard's death.

Personal life
Peppard was married four times and was the father of three children.
 * Helen Davies (1954–1964): two children, Bradford and Julie. Ms. Davies never remarried. She appeared in one movie.
 * Elizabeth Ashley (1966–1972), his co-star in The Carpetbaggers and The Third Day: one son, Christian. In accordance with their 1972 divorce settlement, Peppard paid Ashley $2,000 per month in alimony for four years, and $350 per month in child support for their son Christian Peppard. Ashley's two awards were nullified in 1975 when she married James McCarthy, whom she divorced in 1981.
 * Sherry Boucher (1975–1979), a realtor from Springhill, Louisiana, who subsequently married John Lytle.
 * Alexis Adams (1984–1986), also known as Joyce Ann Furbee, a TV actress.

In 1990 he said, "Getting married and having a bad divorce is just like breaking your leg. The same leg, in the same place. I'm lucky I don't walk with a cane."

Peppard resided in a Greek revival-style white cottage in Hollywood Hills, California, until the time of his death. His home featured elegant porches on three sides and a guest house in the back. Later owned by designer Brenda Antin, who spent a year renovating it, the small home was purchased by writer/actress Lena Dunham in 2015 for $2.7 million.

Later years and death
Peppard overcame a serious alcohol problem in 1978, after which he became deeply involved in helping other alcoholics. "I knew I had to stop and I did," he said in 1983. "Looking back now I'm ashamed of some of the things I did when I was drinking."

Peppard smoked three packs of cigarettes a day for most of his life. After a diagnosis of lung cancer in 1992 and an operation to remove part of one lung, he quit smoking.

Despite health problems in his later years, he continued acting. In 1994, just before his death, Peppard completed a pilot with Tracy Nelson for a new series called The P.I. It aired as an episode of Matlock and was to be spun off into a new television series with Peppard playing an aging detective and Nelson his daughter and sidekick.

On May 8, 1994, while still battling lung cancer, Peppard died from pneumonia in Los Angeles.

Peppard was born and raised in Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit, and was one of Dearborn's most famous residents, after Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford and legendary long-serving Congressman John Dingell.

Critical appraisal
David Shipman published this appraisal of Peppard in 1972: "'George Peppard's screen presence has some agreeable anomalies. He is tough, assured and insolent — in a way that recalls late Dick Powell rather than early Bogart; but his bright blue eyes and blond hair, his boyish face suggest the all-American athlete, perhaps going to seed. The sophistication is surface deep: you can imagine him in Times Square on a Saturday night, sulky, defiant, out of his depth, not quite certain how he wants to spend the evening.'"

In 1990, Peppard said, "An enormous amount of my film work has been spent charging up a hill saying, 'Follow me, men! This way!' Even though I did Breakfast at Tiffany's, nobody seemed to think I could do comedy. I always played the man of action. And men of action are not terribly deep characters, and not real vocal characters."

He added, "I trained for seven years before I started getting screen work as a stage actor. I love working for an audience. Aside from that, despite all the uniforms and the guns, I think I am at my base a character actor... Being a star has never interested me. Stars, per say [sic], are a pain. Stars to me are in the sky. The important question is, "How good an actor are you?" And now I have some hope, because I'm of an age where I could be considered for character roles."

Shortly before he died, he said, "If you look at my movie list, you'll see some really good movies and then the start of ones that were not so good. But I was making enough money to send my children to good schools, have a house for them and give them a center in their lives."

Awards

 * 1960 NBR Award (National Board of Review of Motion Pictures) for Home from the Hill as Best Supporting Actor
 * 1961 British Academy Film Award nomination, Category: Most Promising Newcomer To Leading Film Roles for Home From The Hill
 * Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (Category Motion Pictures, 6675 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles)

Select theatre credits

 * Girls of Summer (1956–1957)
 * The Pleasure of His Company (1958–1959)
 * The Sound of Music (1982)
 * Papa (1988)
 * The Lion in Winter (1991–1992)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: George Peppard


text:
Talk:Global Positioning System

Atomic clock in sync will only need 3 satellites to get a fix
We need a WP:RS for this. Valery Zapolodov (talk) 04:25, 13 July 2022 (UTC)
 * It is a fundamental fact due to the intersection of three spheres around the satellites, determined by the current time and location on Earth. There must be good references for this. David Spector (talk) 22:25, 23 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Note that four satellites are needed to include a fix vertically (feet above sea level). I don't have a reference for this, but I learned it in a satnav project. David Spector (talk) 19:34, 6 November 2022 (UTC)
 * If the clock in the receiver is known to be in sync with the three satellites, there are two solutions to the governing equations (except in some degenerate cases). One of them is the location of the receiver, the other one is moving rapidly through space. Comparison to earth's radius or a repeated measurement will show which of the two is correct. This is a 3-dimensional measure, long, lat, and elevation. If the clock is not synchronized accurately enough, a fourth satellite is needed and the equations are solved for position and receiver time simultaneously.−Woodstone (talk) 07:26, 7 November 2022 (UTC)

Relativistic time corrections are buried
The GPS implements two major corrections to its time signals: one for the special theory of relativity and another for the general theory of relativity. Mention of this is buried in the History section, and is entirely omitted from the Timekeeping section. Ideally, there should be a bit of explanation of the cause of each correction, and the reason for the direction of the correction. David Spector (talk) 22:23, 23 September 2022 (UTC)

 * it's filed under time dilation: Time_dilation. fgnievinski (talk) 19:01, 6 November 2022 (UTC)

 * Thank you muchly, I'll do the edit. David Spector (talk) 19:23, 6 November 2022 (UTC)
 * I added a reference to the Timekeeping section, but I'm not certain this is the right section. Certainly "History" is not the right section. David Spector (talk) 19:31, 6 November 2022 (UTC)

Relativistic corrections again
User:Marquinho keeps deleting any mention of relativistic time corrections based on their interpretation of a 1996 paper from Aerospace Corporation. I agree that the section needs to be improved and cited, but I object to both their arguments and their methods. First, the 1996 paper states that the relativistic corrections it dismisses would need to be considered for space-based receivers as well as for receivers that are not subject to selective availability and therefore need better accuracy. Second, the paper does not claim that relativistic corrections aren’t needed; it states that the mixture of reference frames in use, plus a relativistic time correction applied to satellite time, result in terms cancelling sufficiently for Newtonian mechanics to suffice for the real-time calculations in ground-based receivers. Meanwhile, both the size of the time correction in the satellite’s clock, and the mixture of reference frames chosen, were derived from relativistic considerations. What the 1996 paper claims is that the formula used by receivers for real-time interpretation of the satellite signal does not incorporate relativistic effects. That is very different than claiming that relativistic effects can be ignored in GPS. This paper even refutes a claim in the 1996 paper, as well as emphasizes the many ways that relativistic effects come into play in GPS. And finally, I object to this business of just deleting instead of discussing and improving. I would appreciate some collaboration from other editors. Strebe (talk) 19:16, 8 December 2022 (UTC)

 * There is no doubt relativistic corrections to the **radio frequency** - but it doesn't take a reference to know that no corrections are needed to timekeeping (though I did include a reference)
 * The atomic clocks themselves, when produced, have a delta, i.e. they don't all run at the same rate. That delta is greater than the delta from time dilation.  So the GPS system already needs to account for the delta between clocks regardless of time dilation & as such adjustments due to this are unnecessary Marquinho (talk) 18:55, 9 December 2022 (UTC)
 * The paper that Strebe just cited is quite clear that it is referring to shifts in the frequency of the **clock**, not the radio frequency. MrOllie (talk) 20:51, 9 December 2022 (UTC)
 * The issue is that the paper Strebe points to is a random paper by a single physicist, whereas the one I linked to is literally a manual by employees of the GPS Joint Program Office, giving direction on how to implement in high-speed aircraft.
 * Aren't the people who actually created the system & understand the software for it more trustworthy than some random person writing a paper assuming how it works? Marquinho (talk) 22:33, 9 December 2022 (UTC)
 * And even the paper included by Strebe, in fact, says that the clocks are synchronized on the ECI coordinate system:
 * "For the GPS it means that synchronization of the entire system of ground-based and orbiting atomic clocks is performed in the local inertial frame, or ECI coordinate system"
 * In other words, as I mentioned previously, because each clock can have a different drift (not all atomic clocks are exactly the same), they already have a synchronization mechanism which synchronizes the clocks and as such whether or not there's time dilation is irrelevant as the clocks are synchronized anyway Marquinho (talk) 22:47, 9 December 2022 (UTC)
 * An additional reference:
 * "The master clock for GPS is provided by the United States Naval Observatory (USNO). In two facilities, with an ensemble of masers and cesium and rubidium atomic clocks, the USNO keeps GPS clocks accurate. Without intervention, GPS clocks could drift nanoseconds a day, giving errors unacceptable for navigation"
 * In other words, GPS was designed with the expectation that satellite clocks would drift & they are synchronized by the base station. So, even if time dilation applies, or clock error, etc. it wouldn't matter, because the clocks are synchronized to ground station & as such there's no need for complex time dilation calculations. Marquinho (talk) 23:03, 9 December 2022 (UTC)
 * You've got it backward, Wikipedia considers peer-reviewed sources (especially more recent peer-reviewed sources) as the best to follow. And while it is true that clocks do need to be synchronized periodically, that does not actually contradict the sources we have that detail the corrections needed due to relativity. MrOllie (talk) 23:25, 9 December 2022 (UTC)
 * So the fact that both sources give an exact measurement for the internal frequency to compensate for relativity (10.22999999543 MHz) but neither gives an exact measurement of the delta in time drift doesn't at all give you pause?
 * In other words, if the source was accurate, would it not give an exact measurement, instead of some hand-waving? Especially when it does give an exact measurement for the delta in radio frequency? Marquinho (talk) 19:23, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * And yet again I'll make the point that this wikipedia article contradicts itself, here saying that time dilation is calculated for (without an exact value of how the atomic clock reading is adjusted to account for this), while at the same times saying: "The GPS satellites carry very stable atomic clocks that are synchronized with one another and with the reference atomic clocks at the ground control stations; any drift of the clocks aboard the satellites from the reference time maintained on the ground stations is corrected regularly"
 * In other words, the system is designed with the expectation that the clocks will drift & as such has auto-correction with the reference time on the ground stations Marquinho (talk) 19:29, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * As of '96, perhaps. Changes have been made to improve accuracy since then - all of the satellites that were used for GPS when your source was written have been decommissioned and replaced. At any rate, wrangling about details like this is not really what we should be doing on Wikipedia (WP:NOR). That the clocks need to be synchronized is irrelevant. If no corrections are needed for relativity, you should be able to present sources that say exactly that - and given that we already have sources that say the opposite, what you present will need to be more numerous, more authoritative and recent. MrOllie (talk) 19:38, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * That's not how wikipedia should work "someone said this without proof, so until you give proof against it, it stays" - again, what is the exact value of the time drift?
 * Any reliable source would be able to give an exact value by which the satellite atomic clocks are adjusted and why this would be necessary when the GPS system already has time synchronizing to base station.
 * If a statement is going to be made about how GPS adjusts for time drift from time dilation, should it not also state what the value is & why the built-in synchronization mechanism doesn't suffice? Marquinho (talk) 19:45, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * That's a straw man argument. The citations in the article are the proof. You want to remove well-sourced content based only on your own say-so. That is not what we do here. MrOllie (talk) 19:46, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Not at all - what I'm saying is that there are 2 sources, both reliable, which conflict & contradict each other
 * The one from the GPS joint program office says that adjustments to drift due to relativity are not necessary
 * The one by Neil Ashby:
 * 1) Does not give an exact value of the time drift adjustment
 * 2) Does not justify why it's necessary when the clocks synchronize with the base station (which, again, is a well-source fact)
 * As such, I am calling into question the Ashby article & making the case that the GPS Joint Program Office article has more sources (in regards to time synchronization with base station) to back it up Marquinho (talk) 19:55, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * They only contradict each other if you engage in original research - making inferences that are not actually in the sources. I contend that they do not contradict at all. If you want to make this argument, you need sources that actually contradict, by stating something plainly like 'no correction due to relativity is needed'. MrOllie (talk) 19:58, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * So, again, what is the actual numerical value being used for adjustments? A clear value is given for frequency adjustments.
 * If this source is so trustworthy, what is the adjustment value? And if one cannot be given, how can the source be trusted? Marquinho (talk) 20:01, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * This question is also irrelevant. If a source says 'the sky is blue' it does not have to specify the precise shade. MrOllie (talk) 20:02, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * We're not talking about verifiable facts, such as the color of the sky - more importantly, you're making the claim that if a study says "actually, that study that said the sky is blue, is incorrect - the sky is red" - that you would take that update to wikipedia!
 * We're talking about contradicting sources, one which calculates the value & claims it's irrelevant, the other which disputes that claim, claims it's necessary, without giving a quantitative value nor having an explanation as to why the corrective system of time synchronization doesn't suffice
 * Surely basic reason counts for something? Or am I to believe that if a statement doesn't make logical sense, that as long as it got a peer review, one can apply the changes, no matter how irrational the claim is? Marquinho (talk) 23:28, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Or am I to believe that if a statement doesn't make logical sense, that as long as it got a peer review, one can apply the changes, no matter how irrational the claim is? Not how I would phrase it - but yes, that is how Wikipedia works. We value the judgment of reliable sources above that of individual Wikipedia editors. No amount of 'basic logic' can really overrule a high-tier source such as a peer reviewed publication. Also, once again, I do not agree that the sources are in conflict. MrOllie (talk) 23:38, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Technology and Culture
— Assignment last updated by Thecanyon (talk) 05:33, 12 December 2023 (UTC)

Lead section too long warning
It's four sentences long. MOS:LEADLENGTH says remove. nogamehere1 (talk) 06:35, 10 December 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Global Positioning System


text:
Geocaching

Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called geocaches or caches, at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world. The first geocache was placed in 2000, and by 2023 there were over 3 million active caches worldwide.

Geocaching can be considered a location-based game. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and sometimes a pen or pencil. The Geocacher signs the log with their established code name/username and dates it, in order to prove that they found the cache. After signing the log, the cache must be placed back exactly where the person found it. Larger containers such as plastic storage containers (Tupperware or similar) or ammo boxes can also contain items for trading, such as toys or trinkets, usually of more sentimental worth than financial. Geocaching shares many aspects with benchmarking, trigpointing, orienteering, treasure hunting, letterboxing, trail blazing, and Munzee.

History
Geocaching was originally similar to the game letterboxing (which originated in 1854), which uses clues and references to landmarks embedded in stories. Geocaching was conceived shortly after the removal of Selective Availability from the Global Positioning System on May 2, 2000 (Blue Switch Day ), because the improved accuracy of the system allowed for a small container to be specifically placed and located.

The first documented placement of a GPS-located Cache took place on May 3, 2000, by Dave Ulmer of Beavercreek, Oregon. The location was posted on the Usenet newsgroup sci.geo.satellite-nav at 45.291°N, -122.41333°W. Within three days, the Cache had been found twice, first by Mike Teague. According to Dave Ulmer's message, this cache was a black plastic bucket that was partially buried and contained software, videos, books, money, a can of beans, and a slingshot. The Geocache and most of its contents were eventually destroyed by a lawn mower; the can of beans was the only item salvaged and was turned into a trackable item called the "Original Can of Beans". Another Geocache and plaque, called the Original Stash Tribute Plaque, now sits at the site.

Geocaching company Groundspeak allows extra-terrestrial Caches, e.g. the Moon or Mars, although presently, the website provides only earthbound coordinates. The first published extra-terrestrial Geocache was GC1BE91, which was placed on the International Space Station by Richard Garriott in 2008. It used the Baikonur launch area in Kazakhstan as its position. The original Cache contained a travel bug (the first Geocaching trackable item in space), which stayed on the station until it was brought back to earth in 2013. Due to fire restrictions on board the station, the Geocache contained no official paper logbook. As of June 2024, only one confirmed Geocacher (on November 17th, 2013) has actually found the geocache, although others have claimed to have found it providing varying amounts of evidence. To commemorate the occasion, Groundspeak allowed specialized Geocaching events to be published across the world, allowing attendees to obtain a virtual souvenir on their profile.

The second geocaching trackable in space is TB5EFXK which is attached to the SHERLOC calibration target on board the Mars Perseverance Rover, which landed on Mars on 18 February 2021. Geocachers were given the opportunity to virtually discover the trackable after the WATSON camera sent back its first photographs of the calibration target that contained the tracking code number. The code is printed on a prototype helmet visor material that will be used to test how well it can withstand the Martian environment. This will help scientists in creating a viable Martian spacesuit for future crewed missions to Mars.

The activity was originally referred to as the GPS stash hunt or gpsstashing. This was changed shortly after the original hide when it was suggested in the gpsstash eGroup that "stash" could have negative connotations and the term geocaching was adopted.

Over time, a variety of different hide-and-seek-type activities have been created or abandoned, so that "Geocaching" may now refer to hiding and seeking containers, or locations or information without containers.

An independent accounting of the early history documents several controversial actions taken by Jeremy Irish and Grounded, Inc., a predecessor to Groundspeak, to increase "commercialization and monopolistic control over the hobby". More recently, other similar hobbies such as Munzee have attracted some Geocachers by rapidly adopting smart-phone technology, which has caused "some resistance from geocaching organizers about placing caches along with Munzees".

Geocaches
For the traditional Geocache, a Geocacher will place a waterproof container containing a log book, often also a pen and/or pencil and trade items or trackables, then record the Cache's coordinates. These coordinates, along with other details of the location, are posted on a listing site (see list of some sites below). Other Geocachers obtain the coordinates from that listing site and seek out the cache using their handheld GPS receivers. The finding Geocachers record their exploits in the logbook and online, but then must return the Cache to the same coordinates so that other Geocachers may find it. Geocachers are free to take objects (except the logbook, pencil, or stamp) from the Cache in exchange for leaving something of similar or higher value.

Typical Cache "treasures", also known in the Geocaching world as SWAG (a backronym of "stuff we all get"), are not high in monetary value but may hold personal value to the finder. Aside from the logbook, common Cache contents are unusual coins or currency, small toys, ornamental buttons, CDs, or books. Although not required, many Geocachers decide to leave behind signature items, such as personal geocoins, pins, or craft items, to mark their presence at the cache location. Disposable cameras are popular as they allow for anyone who found the cache to take a picture which can be developed and uploaded to a Geocaching web site listed below. Also common are objects that are moved from cache to cache called "hitchhikers", such as Travel Bugs or geocoins, whose travels may be logged and followed online. Cachers who initially place a Travel Bug or Geocoin(s) often assign specific goals for their trackable items. Examples of goals are to be placed in a certain Cache a long distance from home, or to travel to a certain country, or to travel faster and farther than other hitchhikers in a race. Less common trends are site-specific information pages about the historic significance of the site, types of trees, birds in the area or other such information. Higher-value items are occasionally included in Geocaches as a reward for the First to Find (called "FTF"), or in locations which are harder to reach.

Dangerous or illegal items, including weapons and drugs, are not allowed and are specifically against the rules of most Geocache listing sites. Food is also disallowed, even if sealed, as it is considered unhygienic and can attract animals.

If a Geocache has been vandalized or stolen by a person who is not familiar with geocaching, it is said to have been "muggled". The term plays off the fact that those not familiar with Geocaching are called "muggles", a word borrowed from the Harry Potter series of books which were rising in popularity at the same time Geocaching started.

Variations
Traditional Geocaching gave birth to GeoCaching – an active urban game of the Encounter project. The game is quite similar to Geocaching but has time limitations and hints.

Geocaches vary in size, difficulty, and location. Simple caches that are placed near a roadside are often called "drive-bys", "park 'n grabs" (PNGs), or "cache and dash". Geocaches may also be complex, involving lengthy searches, significant travel, or use of specialist equipment such as SCUBA diving, kayaking, or abseiling. Different Geocaching websites list different variations per their own policies.

Geocache containers range.jpg Geocache in the City of London.

Bottom: a large bucket geocache in the Czech Republic.]] Container sizes range from nano, particularly magnetic nanos, which can be smaller than the tip of a finger and have only enough room to store the log sheet, to 20-liter (5 gallon) buckets or even larger containers, such as entire trucks. The most common Cache containers in rural areas are lunch-box-sized plastic storage containers or surplus military ammunition cans. Ammo cans are considered the gold standard of containers because they are very sturdy, waterproof, animal- and fire-resistant, and relatively cheap, and have plenty of room for trade items. Smaller containers are more common in urban areas because they can be more easily hidden.

Geocache types
Over time many variations of Geocaches have developed. Different platforms often have their own rules on which types are allowed or how they are classified. The following Cache types are supported by geocaching.com.

 * Traditional Cache: The simplest form of a Geocache. It consists of a container with a log sheet, and is located at the posted coordinates. Cache containers come in many different sizes.
 * Multi-Cache: These Caches include at least one stage in addition to the physical final container with a log sheet. The posted coordinates for a Multi-Cache are the first stage. At each stage, the Geocacher gathers information that leads them to the next stage or to the final container. Multi-caches can consist of physical stages (i.e. the first stage contains coordinates for the next stage and so forth) or virtual stages (i.e. the first stage is a historical marker where geocachers have to answer questions to calculate the coordinates to the final physical container).
 * Mystery Cache: Also called a 'puzzle cache', players might need to solve a puzzle or bring a special tool to reveal the next waypoint or final coordinates. Most often, the final container is not at the posted coordinates which is noted in the Cache description. Some puzzles can be easy and involve basic math operations or they can be quite difficult, with some of the more challenging ones requiring a firm understanding of computer programming. Geocaching Toolbox, a website dedicated to create and solve puzzle geocaches, provides a comprehensive list of common puzzle cache ciphers.

Mystery-type
Geocaches that do not fit into other categories are usually classified as mystery-type caches. Some examples listed below:

 * Challenge cache: This requires a geocacher to complete a reasonably attainable geocaching-related task before being able to log the cache as a find online. It does not restrict geocachers from finding the cache and signing the logbook at anytime. However a geocacher is not allowed to log a find on the geocaching website unless they qualify for the challenge specified in the cache description. Examples include finding a number of caches that meet a category, completing a number of cache finds within a period of time, or finding a cache for every calendar day. Since 2017, Groundspeak has required new challenges to have a geochecker in which users can put their name into an algorithm to see if they qualify without the need of physically checking all of one's previous finds. These geocheckers can be requested using the ProjectGC forums where volunteers can write and create scripts for specific challenges. Groundspeak also has been more strict into what types of challenges are published. For example, prior to 2017 it was possible to create a challenge cache to find 10 caches that have a food item in the title. Under current guidelines, this is no longer allowed because it restricts geocachers to find specific geocaches. Instead, Groundspeak has encouraged new challenges to be more creative. Acceptable challenges include finding caches in 10 states, finding 100 traditional geocaches, or finding 1000 geocaches with the "wheelchair accessible" attribute.
 * Moving or travelling cache: These are found at a listed set of coordinates. The finder hides the cache in a different location, and updates the listing, essentially becoming the hider, and the next finder continues the cycle. This cache has been discontinued at geocaching.com and those that have been grandfathered in are solely declining and are being archived.

 * Chirp cache: Also known as a wireless beacon cache. This is a Garmin-created innovative on multi-caches using wireless beacon technology. It is a physical game piece, about the size of a half dollar that can be hidden anywhere. Powered by a small battery, it is able to transmit a signal detectable on Garmin devices. The Chirp stores hints, multicache coordinates, counts visitors, and can confirms the cache is nearby. These caches caused considerable discussion and some controversy at Groundspeak, where they were ultimately given a new "attribute". These types of geocaches can also be listed as a traditional, multi-cache, or letterbox. It is up to the cache owner to designated the cache type for wireless beacon caches.

 * Night cache: These are multi-stage and intended to be found at night by following a series of reflectors with a flashlight to the final cache location. Considered a variant of the Mystery cache on geocaching.com.

 * Geocaching HQ Geocache (GCK25B): This is an official geocache located inside the Groundspeak headquarters office in Seattle, Washington. It is technically classified as a separate cache type under mystery caches, with its own unique icon both on the geocaching app and on one's profile statistics tab. Since publication in 2004, it has over 20,000 finds as of June 2024.

 * Wherigo Cache: A multi-stage cache hunt that uses a Wherigo "cartridge" to guide players to find a physical cache sometime during cartridge play, usually at the end. However, not all Wherigo cartridges incorporate geocaches into gameplay. Wherigo caches are unique to the geocaching.com website. Wherigo is a GPS location-aware software platform initially released in January 2008. Authors can develop self-enclosed story files (called "cartridges") that are read by the Wherigo player software, installed on either a GPS unit or smartphone. The player and story take advantage of the location information provided by the GPS to trigger in-game events, such as using a virtual object or interacting with characters. Completing an adventure can require reaching different locations and solving puzzles. Cartridges are coded in Lua. Lua may be used directly, but a builder application is usually used. The Wherigo site offers a builder application and a database of adventures free for download, though the builder has remained in its Alpha version since its last release in May 2008.  The official player is only available for Pocket PC.  A built-in player is available on Garmin Colorado and Oregon GPS models. The Wherigo Foundation was organized in December 2012.  The group is composed of all Wherigo application developers who, up until that time, had been acting and developing separately.  Their goal is to provide a consistent Wherigo experience across platforms, connect Wherigo applications via an API, and add modern features to the Wherigo platform.  While Groundspeak is aware of this project, the company has yet to take a position.

 * Reverse Wherigo: An RWIG provides three lines of code composed of 9 digits each that a player can type into the RWIG cartridge. Instead of following a story or interacting with characters, and RWIG gives you the distance to the final cache, but not direction. It requires geocachers to get closer to the final geocache by process of elimination. Once you are within 25 yards, the final coordinates are given to provide a more accurate location for the geocache.

 * Letterbox Hybrid: This is a combination of a Geocache and a letterbox in the same container. A letterbox has a rubber stamp and a logbook instead of tradable items. Letterboxers carry their own stamp with them, to stamp the letterbox's log book and inversely stamp their personal log book with the letterbox stamp. The Hybrid Cache contains the important materials for this and may or may not include trade items. Typically, Letterboxes are not found at the given coordinates which only act as a starting location. Instead, a series of clues are given as to where to find the Cache such as "take a left past the bridge" or "about 25 paces past the big oak tree".

 * Project A.P.E. Cache: (Also simply Ape Caches) These are a special type of Traditional Cache that were hidden in conjunction with 20th Century Fox and Groundspeak to promote the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes. There were 14 APE geocaches placed around the world and each one contained a prop from the film. As of 2023, only 2 APE caches are still active with one near Seattle, Washington ('Tunnel of Light', GC1169) and the other in Brazil ('Southern Bowl', GCC67). Of those two, the Brazil APE cache is the only surviving original APE cache because GC1169 was muggled in 2016. However, the original container was later found by a Groundspeak led survey in April of that year. What remains of "Tunnel of Light" is an "official" replacement of the original ammo can that was left in 2001.

Virtual Geocaches

The following cache types don't contain a physical logbook. Groundspeak created a waymarking website to handle all other non-physical caches.

 * Virtual cache: Coordinates for a rather interesting or unique location, usually with a described object such as an art sculpture or a scenic lookout. Validation for finding a virtual cache generally requires one to email the cache hider with information such as a date or a name on a plaque, or to post a picture of oneself at the site with a GPS receiver in hand. As of 2005, new virtual caches are no longer allowed by Groundspeak as it is considered a legacy cache. On August 24, 2017, Groundspeak announced "Virtual Rewards", allowing 4000 new virtual caches to be placed during the following year. Each year, eligible geocachers can opt-in to a drawing and some selected with the opportunity to submit a virtual cache for publication. From 2005 to 2017, the geocaching website no longer listed new caches without a physical container, including virtual and webcam caches (with the exception of earthcaches and events); however, older caches of these types have been grandfathered in (except for locationless or reverse, which are completely archived and transferred to Waymarking.com).

 * EarthCache: A type of virtual Geocache that is published not by a local reviewer, but by a volunteer regional reviewer associated with the Geological Society of America. The Geocacher usually has to perform a task which teaches an education lesson about the geology of the Cache area. Visitors must answer geological questions to complete the Cache which can be as simple as describing the color and thickness of layers in an outcrop or can be as complicated as taking measurements of stream velocities or fault offsets. Earthcaches covers geologic topics such as: rock formation, mineralogy, earthquakes, fluvial processes, erosion, volcanology, and planetary science (among others).

 * Locationless Cache: Similar to a scavenger hunt. A description is given for something to find, such as a one-room schoolhouse, and the finder locates an example of this object. The finder records the location using their GPS receiver and often takes a picture at the location showing the named object with their GPS receiver. Typically others are not allowed to log that same location as a find. Since 2005, all Locationless Caches have been archived and locked, meaning they are unable to be logged. However, with Geocaching's 20th anniversary in 2020 Groundspeak decided to publish a special Locationless Cache for Geocachers to "find" at various Mega- and Giga-Events around the world. The first Locationless Cache in 15 years (GC8FR0G) required finders to take a picture of themselves with the geocaching mascot, Signal the Frog, at Mega- and Giga-Events during 2020. The Cache was made available to log starting 1 January 2020. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all planned Mega- and Giga-events were cancelled for the year, including the planned 20th anniversary celebration event in Seattle, Washington. Therefore, Groundspeak decided to extend the deadline to log this Geocache through 1 January 2023. With 22,500 finds it is the second most logged geocache in history. The second published Locationless Cache since 2005 (GC8NEAT) required visitors to take a photo of them picking up trash and cleaning up their local area. Geocachers were able to log this cache from 6 February 2021 through 31 December 2022. It has been logged over 33,500 times and holds the title for the most "found" Geocache. On 17 August 2022, Geocaching made available the 3rd Locationless Cache to be logged since 2005 (GC9FAVE). Instead of finding Signal or picking up trash, this cache encouraged Geocachers from around the world to share their favorite Geocaching story. This Geocache was archived and locked on 1 January 2024.

 * Webcam Cache: A type of virtual cache whose coordinates provide the location to a public webcam. The finder is required to capture an image of themselves through the webcam for verification of the find. New webcam caches are no longer allowed by Groundspeak as it is a legacy cache. Webcam caches are a category at Waymarking.com.

 * Adventure Lab®: A type of virtual Cache that typically consists of a set of 5 or 10 waypoints, with each waypoint counting as a "Cache find". The waypoints usually have an overall theme such showcasing the history of a small town and are often created as a walking tour of a city or park. An example would be Route 66 or the Lincoln Highway, which are a nationwide series of Adventure Lab sets of 10 that stretch the entire route across the United States. Adventure labs were first introduced in 2014 as a way to test market ideas through Groundspeak. Initially, Geocachers would find a key word at a designated site where they could then enter it onto a website to claim "credit". Soon after, they were made available to "find" at select Mega-Events. In 2020, Groundspeak released the "Adventure Lab" app, separate from the Geocaching app. The app made it possible to enter a geo-fence when, once inside, a question will appear that can be answered either in the form of a written answer or a multiple choice answer. This question can be answered at anytime once activated, however, some Adventure Labs must be completed sequentially implying that one must answer the question to move on to the next waypoint. Most, but not all, Adventure Labs have a physical bonus cache associated with them that are listed as a "Mystery Cache". Coordinates to the bonus Cache, if applicable, can be seen in the journal entries once a user has correctly answered the question at a waypoint.  Geocachers can create their own Adventure Lab, but must first opt-in to receive an "Adventure Lab credit" which allows for the creation of 1 set of 5 waypoints, with each of the 5 waypoints counting towards a Cache find. If selected, Adventure Labs can be created using the Adventure Lab builder. Adventure Labs, unlike all other Geocaches, are not subject to review and are published at will by the creator. However, Adventure Labs can at anytime be archived by Groundspeak if they are in violation of terms of use. For example, placing an Adventure Lab in a place that requires people to pay a fee to visit such as airports or theme parks may get the Adventure permanently removed from the Adventure Lab app.

Events
There are several kinds of events Geocaches. While encouraged, events do not require visitors to sign their name a logbook to prove they attended an event. Attendees of Event Caches can log that they 'attended', which will increment their number of found caches.

 * Event Cache: An Event Cache is a gathering of local Geocachers or Geocaching organizations. The Event Cache page specifies a time for the event and provides coordinates to its location. Event Caches have to be longer than 30 minutes, and can publish no less than 14 days away from the planned event date. Event caches typically last from 1 to 2 hours.

 * Cache-In Trash-Out Event: Cache In Trash Out® (CITO) is an environmental initiative to clean up and preserve the natural areas that Geocachers frequent. These events are gatherings of the Geocaching community that can focus on services like litter clean-up, removal of invasive species, planting trees and vegetation, and trail building. CITO is an ongoing environmental initiative created by Groundspeak and encourages Geocachers to clean up parks and other areas in which they frequently visit while Geocaching. CITO events must be no less than 2 hours long. Just like Event Caches, CITOs have to be published no less than 14 days prior to the date of the CITO. CITO typically last from 2 to 4 hours.

 * Mega-Event Cache: A gathering that consists of 500 or more Geocachers. Mega events are typically organized by a local geocache organizations in conjunction with local municipalities and promotion from Groundspeak. Often, mega events last an entire day and have various activities planned in the days before, during, and after the main Mega-Event. These activities can range in raffles and silent auctions, of which funds help offset the costs of organizing such an event, photo ops with Signal the Frog, a plethora of new Geocaches, and panels with local Geocachers, lackeys (Groundspeak employees), and reviewers. Mega-Events often have vendors where people can purchase geocoins, cache containers, and food.

 * Giga-Event Cache: A gathering that consists of 5,000 or more Geocachers. Like a Mega-Event, Giga-Events offer a plethora of actives and are typically held in large areas to accommodate such crowds. Activities typically include a GPS Adventures Maze, panels, vendors, live music, and carnival rides. Usually the week before and after are filled with smaller gatherings which attracts Geocachers from around the world who often make a vacation out of it.

 * GPS Adventures Maze Exhibit: The GPS Adventures Maze is a traveling exhibit designed to teach people of all ages about GPS technology and Geocaching through interactive science experiences. It may accompany a Mega- or Giga-Event. These "events" have their own cache type on geocaching.com and include many non-Geocachers. These are considered one of the rarest cache icon types because only a handful of GPS Adventures Maze Exhibits have existed, and typically only in the US.

 * Community Celebration Event (CCE): A type of event that is meant to celebrate the 10th and 20th anniversary of Geocaching. First issued in 2010 as "Lost and Found" events, Geocachers could host one to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Geocaching. In preparation for the 20th anniversary in 2020, Lost and Found events were rebranded as Community Celebration Events. Geocachers could opt-in to receive a CCE credit to host. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, Groundspeak allowed CCEs to be hosted until 31 December 2022. The next time CCEs will be available will be in 2030.

Obtaining data
GPX files containing information such as a Cache description and information about recent visitors to the Cache are available from various listing sites. Geocachers may upload geocache data (also known as waypoints) from various websites in various formats, most commonly in file-type GPX, which uses XML. Some websites allow geocachers to search (build queries) for multiple caches within a geographic area based on criteria such as ZIP code or coordinates, downloading the results as an email attachment on a schedule. In recent years, Android and iPhone users can download apps such as GeoBeagle that allow them to use their 3G and GPS-enabled devices to actively search for and download new caches.

Converting and filtering data
A variety of Geocaching applications are available for Geocache data management, file-type translation, and personalization. Geocaching software can assign special icons or search (filter) for caches based on certain criteria (e.g. distance from an assigned point, difficulty, date last found).

Paperless geocaching means hunting a Geocache without a physical printout of the Cache description. Traditionally, this means that the seeker has an electronic means of viewing the Cache information in the field, such as pre-downloading the information to a PDA or other electronic device. Various applications can directly upload and read GPX files without further conversion. Newer GPS devices released by Garmin, DeLorme, and Magellan have the ability to read GPX files directly, thus eliminating the need for a PDA. Other methods include viewing real-time information on a portable computer with internet access or with an Internet-enabled smart phone. The latest advancement of this practice involves installing dedicated applications on a smart phone with a built-in GPS receiver. Seekers can search for and download Caches in their immediate vicinity directly to the application and use the on-board GPS receiver to find the cache.

A more controversial version of paperless Caching involves mass-downloading only the coordinates and cache names (or waypoint IDs) for hundreds of Caches into older receivers. This is a common practice of some Cachers and has been used successfully for years. In many cases, however, the Cache description and hint are never read by the seeker before hunting the Cache. This means they are unaware of potential restrictions such as limited hunt times, park open/close times, off-limit areas, and suggested parking locations.

Mobile devices
The website geocaching.com now sells mobile applications which allow users to view caches through a variety of different devices. Currently, the Android, iOS, and Windows Phone mobile platforms have applications in their respective stores. The apps also allow for a trial version with limited functionality. The site promotes mobile applications, and lists over two dozen applications (both mobile and browser/desktop based) that are using their proprietary but royalty-free public application programming interface (API). Developers at c:geo have criticised Groundspeak for being incompatible with open-source development.

Additionally, "c:geo - opensource" is a free opensource full function application for Android phones that is very popular. This app includes similar features to the official Geocaching mobile application, such as: View caches on a live map (Google Maps or OpenStreetMap), navigation using a compass, map, or other applications, logging finds online and offline, etc.

Geocaching enthusiasts have also made their own hand-held GPS devices using a Lego Mindstorms NXT GPS sensor.

Ethics
Geocache listing websites have their own guidelines for acceptable Geocache publications. Government agencies and others responsible for public use of land often publish guidelines for Geocaching, and a "Geocacher's Creed" posted on the Internet asks participants to "avoid causing disruptions or public alarm". Generally accepted rules are to not endanger others, to minimize the impact on nature, to respect private property, and to avoid public alarm.

Reception
The reception from authorities and the general public outside Geocache participants has been mixed. Cachers have been approached by police and questioned when they were seen as acting suspiciously. Other times, investigation of a cache location after suspicious activity was reported has resulted in police and bomb squad discovery of the geocache, such as the evacuation of a busy street in Wetherby, Yorkshire, England in 2011, and a street in Alvaston, Derby in 2020.

Schools have been evacuated when a Cache has been seen by teachers or police, such as the case of Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado in 2009. A number of caches have been destroyed by bomb squads. Diverse locations, from rural cemeteries to Disneyland, have been locked down as a result of such scares.

The placement of geocaches has occasional critics among some government personnel and the public at large, who consider it littering. Some geocachers act to mitigate this perception by picking up litter while they search for geocaches, a practice referred to in the community as "Cache In Trash Out". Events and caches are often organized revolving around this practice, with many areas seeing significant cleanup that would otherwise not take place, or would instead require federal, state, or local funds to accomplish. Geocachers are also encouraged to clean up after themselves by retrieving old containers once a cache has been removed from play.

Geocaching is legal in most countries and is usually positively received when explained to law enforcement officials. However, certain types of placements can be problematic. Although generally disallowed, hiders could place caches on private property without adequate permission (intentionally or otherwise), which encourages cache finders to trespass. Historic buildings and structures have also been damaged by geocachers, who have wrongly believed the geocache can be/has been placed within, or on the roof of, the buildings. Caches might also be hidden in places where the act of searching can make a finder look suspicious (e.g., near schools, children's playgrounds, banks, courthouses, or in residential neighborhoods), or where the container placement could be mistaken for a drug stash or a bomb (especially in urban settings, under bridges, near banks, courthouses, or embassies). As a result, geocachers are strongly advised to label their geocaches when possible, so that they are not mistaken for a harmful object if discovered by non-geocachers.

As well as concerns about littering and bomb threats, some geocachers have hidden their caches in inappropriate locations, such as electrical boxes, which may encourage risky behavior, especially by children. Hides in these areas are discouraged, and cache listing websites enforce guidelines that disallow certain types of placements. However, as cache reviewers typically cannot see exactly where and how every cache is hidden, problematic hides can slip through. Ultimately it is also up to cache finders to use discretion when attempting to search for a cache, and report any problems.

Laws and legislation
Regional rules for placement of Caches have become complex. For example, in Virginia, the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Wildlife Management Agency now forbids the placement of Geocaches on all land controlled by those agencies. Some cities, towns, and recreation areas allow Geocaches with few or no restrictions, but others require compliance with lengthy permitting procedures.

The South Carolina House of Representatives passed Bill 3777 in 2005, stating, "It is unlawful for a person to engage in the activity of Geocaching or letterboxing in a cemetery or in a historic or archaeological site or property publicly identified by a historical marker without the express written consent of the owner or entity which oversees that cemetery site or property." The bill was referred to committee on first reading in the Senate and has been there ever since.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources requires Geocachers who wish to place a Geocache at any Illinois state park to submit the location on a USGS 7.5 minute topographical map, the name and contact information of the person(s) wishing to place the Geocache, a list of the original items to be included in the Geocache, and a picture of the container that is to be placed.

In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the township of Highlands East, Ontario, Canada temporarily banned Geocaching, over concerns that Geocache containers could not be properly disinfected between finds.

Notable incidents
Several deaths have occurred during the course of Caching.

The death of a 21-year-old experienced Cacher in December 2011 "while attempting a Groundspeak Cache that does not look all that dangerous" led to discussions of whether changes should be made, and whether Cache owners or Groundspeak could be held liable. Groundspeak has since updated their geocaching.com terms of use agreement to specify that Geocachers find Geocaches at their own risk.

In 2008, two lost hikers on Mount Hood in Oregon, U.S. stumbled across a Geocache and phoned this information out to rescuers, allowing crews to locate and rescue them.

Three adult Geocachers, a 24-year-old woman and her parents, were trapped in a cave and rescued by firefighters in Rochester, New York, U.S. while searching for a Geocache in 2012. Rochester Fire Department spokesman Lt. Ted Kuppinger said, "It's difficult, because you're invested in it, you want to find something like that, so people will probably try to push themselves more than they should, but you need to be prudent about what you're capable of doing."

In 2015, members of the public called the British coastguard to check on a group of Geocachers who were spotted walking into the Severn Estuary off the coast of Clevedon, England, in search of clues to locate a Multi-Cache. Although they felt they were safe and able to return to land, they were considered to be in danger and were airlifted back to the shore.

In October 2016, four people discovered a crashed car at the bottom of a ravine in Benton County, Washington, U.S., while out Geocaching. They spotted the driver still trapped inside and alerted emergency services, who rescued the driver.

On 9 June 2018, four people in Prague, Czech Republic were searching for a cache in a 4 km long tunnel when a storm surge carried them through the tunnel to its terminus at the Vltava river. Two of the Geocachers died, while two others were rescued from the river.

Websites and data ownership
Numerous websites list Geocaches around the world. Geocaching websites vary in many ways, including control of data.

First page
The first website to list Geocaches was announced by Mike Teague on May 8, 2000. On September 2, 2000, Jeremy Irish emailed the gpsstash mailing list that he had registered the domain name geocaching.com and had set up his own Web site. He copied the caches from Mike Teague's database into his own. On September 6, Mike Teague announced that Jeremy Irish was taking over cache listings. , Teague had logged only 5 caches.

Geocaching.com

The largest site is Geocaching.com, owned by Groundspeak Inc., which began operating in late 2000. With a worldwide membership and a freemium business model, the website claims millions of Caches and members in over 190 countries and all seven continents including Antarctica. Hides and events are reviewed by volunteer regional cache reviewers before publication. Free membership allows users access to coordinates, descriptions, and logs for some Caches; for a subscription fee, users are allowed additional search tools, the ability to download large amounts of Cache information onto their GPS at once, instant email notifications about new Caches, and access to Premium-Member-only Caches. Geocaching Headquarters are located in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States.

Opencaching Network
The Opencaching Network provides independent, non-commercial listing sites based in the cacher's country or region. The Opencaching Network lists the most types of caches, including traditional, virtual, moving, multi, quiz, webcam, BIT, guest book, USB, event, and MP3. The Opencaching Network is less restrictive than many sites, and does not charge for the use of the sites, the service being community-driven. Some (or all) listings may or may not be required to be reviewed by community volunteers before being published and although cross-listing is permitted, it is discouraged. Some listings are listed on other sites, but there are many that are unique to the Opencaching Network. Features include the ability to organize one's favourite caches, build custom searches, be instantly notified of new caches in one's area, seek and create caches of all types, export GPX queries, statpics, etc. Each Opencaching Node provides the same API for free (called "OKAPI" ) for use by developers who want to create third-party applications which can use the Opencaching Network's content.

Countries with associated opencaching websites include the United States at www.opencaching.us; Germany at www.opencaching.de; Sweden at www.opencaching.se; Poland at www.opencaching.pl; Czech Republic at www.opencaching.cz; The Netherlands at www.opencaching.nl; Romania at www.opencaching.ro; the United Kingdom at www.opencache.uk.

The main difference between opencaching and traditional listing sites is that all services are open to the users at no cost. Generally, most geocaching services or websites offer some basic information for free, but users may have to pay for premium membership that allows access to more information or advanced searching capabilities. This is not the case with opencaching; every geocache is listed and accessible to everyone for free.

Additionally, Opencaching sites allow users to rate and report on existing geocaches. This allows users to see what other cachers think of the cache and it encourages participants to place higher-quality caches. The rating system also greatly reduces the problem of abandoned or unsatisfactory caches still being listed after repeated negative comments or posts in the cache logs.

OpenCaching.com
OpenCaching.com (short: OX) was a site created and run by Garmin from 2010 to 2015, which had the stated aim of being as free and open as possible with no paid content. Caches were approved by a community process and coordinates were available without an account. The service closed on 14 August 2015.

Other sites
In many countries there are regional geocaching sites, but these mostly only compile lists of caches in the area from the three main sites. Many of them also accept unique listings of caches for their site; these listings tend to be less popular than the international sites, although occasionally the regional sites may have more caches than the international sites. There are some exceptions, such as how, in the territory of the former Soviet Union, the site Geocaching.su remains popular because it accepts listings in the Cyrillic script. Additional international sites include Geocaching.de, a German website, and Geocaching Australia, which accepts listings of cache types deprecated by geocaching.com, cache types such as TrigPoint and Moveable caches, as well as traditional geocache types.

GPSgames
GPSgames.org was an online community dedicated to all kinds of games involving Global Positioning System receivers. GPSgames.org allowed traditional geocaches as well as virtual, locationless, and traveler geocaches. The site's geodashing game generated a large number of randomly positioned "dashpoints", requiring players to reach as many as possible, competing as individuals or teams. Shutterspot, GeoVexilla, MinuteWar, GeoPoker, and GeoGolf were among the other GPS games available.

GPSgames.org was 100% free since 2001, through donations. The site was retired on 30 June 2021.

NaviCache
Navicache.com started as a regional listing service in 2001. While many of the website's listings have been posted to other sites, it also offers unique listings. The website lists nearly any type of geocache and does not charge to access any of the caches listed in its database. All submissions are reviewed and approved. In 2012 it was announced that Navicache was under transition to new owners, who said they "plan to develop a site that geocachers want, with rules that geocachers think are suitable. Geocaching.com and OX are both backed by large enterprises, and while that means they have more funding and people, we're a much smaller team – so our advantage is the ability to be dynamic and listen to the users." However, as of 2021 the site is mostly dormant, and the most recent cache listing is from 2014.

TerraCaching
Terracaching.com aims to provide high-quality caches made so by the difficulty of the hide or from the quality of the location. Membership is managed through a sponsorship system, and each cache is under continual peer review from other members. Terracaching.com embraces virtual caches alongside traditional or multi-stage caches and includes many locationless caches among the thousands of caches in its database. It is increasingly attracting members who like the point system. In Europe, TerraCaching is supported by Terracaching.eu. This site is translated in different European languages, has an extended FAQ and extra supporting tools for TerraCaching. TerraCaching strongly discourages caches that are listed on other sites (so-called double-listing).

Extremcaching
Extremcaching is a German private database for alternative geocaches with a focus on T5 / climbing caches, night caches, and lost place caches.

Geocaching Australia
Geocaching Australia is a community website for geocachers in Australia and New Zealand. Geocaching Australia also has many unique cache types such as Burke And Wills, Moveable_cache & Podcache geocaches.

title: Geocaching


text:
Geographical mile

The geographical mile is an international unit of length determined by 1 minute of arc ($1⁄60$ degree) along the Earth's equator. For the international ellipsoid 1924 this equalled 1855.4 metres. The American Practical Navigator 2017 defines the geographical mile as 6087.08 ft. Greater precision depends more on the choice of the Earth's radius of the used ellipsoid than on more careful measurement, since the radius of the geoid varies more than 100 m along the equator. In any ellipsoid, the length of a degree of longitude at the equator is exactly 60 geographical miles. The Earth's radius at the equator in the GRS80 ellipsoid is $6,378,137 m$, which makes the geographical mile 1,855.3248 m. The rounding of the Earth's radius to metres in GRS80 has an effect of 0.0001 m.

The shape of the Earth is a slightly flattened sphere, which results in the Earth's circumference being 0.168% larger when measured around the equator as compared to through the poles. The geographical mile is slightly larger than the nautical mile (which was historically linked to the circumference measured through both poles); one geographic mile is equivalent to approximately 1855.3 m.

Historical units
Historically, certain nations used slightly different divisions to create their geographical miles.

The Portuguese system derived their miles (milha geográfica) as one third of their league of three separate values. When each equatorial degree was divided into 18 leagues, the geographical mile was equal to $1⁄54$ degree or about 2.06 km; when divided into 20 leagues, the geographical mile was equal to $1⁄60$ degree, approximating the values provided above; and when divided into 25 leagues, the geographical mile was equal to $1⁄75$ degree or about 1.48 km.

The geographical miles of the traditional Dutch (geografische mijl), German (geographische Meile or Landmeile), and Danish systems (geografisk mil) all approximated their much longer miles—equivalent to English leagues—by using a larger division of the equatorial degree. Instead of using one minute of arc, they all used four—$1⁄15$ degree—to produce a distance now notionally equal to 7408 m but actually differing slightly depending on official measurements and computations. (For example, the Danish unit was computed as equivalent to about 7421.5 m by the astronomer Ole Rømer.)

Relationship with the nautical mile
The geographical mile is closely related to the nautical mile, which was originally determined as 1 minute of arc along a great circle of the Earth but is nowadays defined by treaty as exactly 1,852 m. The US National Institute of Standards and Technology notes that "The international nautical mile of 1,852 meters (6,076.115 49... feet) was adopted effective July 1, 1954, for use in the United States. The value formerly used in the United States was 6,080.20 feet = 1 nautical (geographical or sea) mile." This deprecated value of 6,080.2 feet is equivalent to 6,080.2 ft. A separate reference identifies the geographic mile as being identical to the international nautical mile of 1,852 m and slightly shorter than the British nautical mile of 6,080 ft.

Scandinavians used their own version of the geographical mile as their nautical mile up to the beginning of the 20th century, causing it to be more well known as the sea mile in Danish (sømil), Norwegian (sjømil), and Swedish (sjömil).

Use
The unit is not used much in English-speaking countries but is cited in some United States laws. For example, Section 1301(a) of the Submerged Lands Act defines state seaward boundaries in terms of geographic miles. While debating what became the Land Ordinance of 1785, Thomas Jefferson's committee wanted to divide the public lands in the west into "hundreds of ten geographical miles square, each mile containing 6,086 and 4-10ths of a foot" and "sub-divided into lots of one mile square each, or 850 and 4-10ths of an acre".

title: Geographical mile