The Go Day press release from 2009 stated that today’s kids are more likely to live shorter lives due to their parents inactive indoor lifestyles and evidenced by the obesity epidemic in children we are seeing grow with each passing year. A disturbing thought to say the least. In an effort to combat this problem GO Day events “will offer a mix of information centers and “active fun” areas – places where guests, and especially kids, can use a fishing pole, go geocaching, help pitch a tent and more. The sites will provide photo opportunities with characters like Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl and other interesting creatures. Many sites also feature areas that focus on other aspects of healthy living, including sustainability and good nutrition. In addition to the GO Day events, participants will be invited to nearby follow-up activities called EchO events occurring throughout the summer, which include introductions to mountain biking and fly-fishing, hikes with rangers to see wildlife, kayaking and rafting and much more.” according to the National Get Outdoors website. Each partner in this effort deserves a massive round of thanks for attempting to combat the current epidemic of obesity in this country.

David Sikes of Texas in his recent article on caller.com entitled Key to happy, healthy child might be in the woods, references a book by Richard Louv, The Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. Sikes states, “Louv suggests that children with a more intimate relationship with nature are less likely to suffer from obesity, attention disorders and depression. I further contend that hunting, fishing, paddling, camping and other wilderness activities provide children with a lasting perspective on life that cannot be found on a television or computer screen.” I have to agree with him on this, but not just for children.

Whatever our age, an active lifestyle has massive benefits including reduced stress, improved sleep, better muscle tone, improved posture which helps ease back pain and healthier immune systems. Additional benefits are seemingly side effects, but are actually just as important as the physical benefits already mentioned. By being outdoors and interacting with nature, seeing wildlife in it’s own habitat as opposed to a zoo or computer screen, cements within us a bond to the land and it’s creatures that is lasting. We come to realize that we are not just observers of an eco-system; we are a participants of “the eco-system”. What we do matters. I can’t think of a better way to actually feel the truth of this, than by being outside in a space that is bigger than us. A space that is still mostly wild. A place where we as humans are not the main focus of the spaces existence. So this Saturday, June 12, 2010, drag yourself away from the screens in your life and got to a local GO Day event or visit a State or National Park with your kids. You won’t regret a minute of it.

Update: The Whibbit early Alpha release is offline while the Groundspeak Lackeys go over the preliminary data and do a bit of tweaking. The next release will likely be by invite only, but we will keep an eye on the site for the latest information. You never know, it may be back up this week… Lackeys can work pretty quickly with all the space they have over at the new LillyPad!

Now that special someone could be you!!

Steve and Sascha, two geocachers in Germany, have found a really great way to support and expand the geocaching community by creating TB-Rescue.com. TB-Rescue.com is a site dedicated to making ordinary geocachers into Travel Bug Super Heros! Just register with your geocaching name and search the map for stuck TB’s. If there is one near you, click to commit to go rescue it and then go pick it up. Once you have it in hand, go to it’s page on Geocaching.com and log it. TB-Rescue will pick up the log and Wa-Lah!! Your a TB-Superhero!!

You can also register your stuck Travel Bugs and get them rescued. Lots of us here in the US are going to love this site. I’ll be registering a couple here soon if they don’t get moving by spring.

Now, here is a bonus for all you “It’s ALL About the Numbers!” geocachers. A new badge for you profile!

Head on over to TB-Rescue.com and become a TB-Super-Hero today!

Signal the Frog is a registered trademark of Groundspeak, Inc.

On December 3rd, Groundspeak enlisted the help of geocachers nationwide to participate in a social networking/GPS technology challenge commissioned by the, Defense Advanced Research Project Agency of the United States, or DARPA. The challenge was designed to “…explore the roles the Internet and social networking play in the timely communication, wide-area team-building, and urgent mobilization required to solve broad-scope, time-critical problems.” according to the DARPA Challenge website. The Challenge was to be the first group to correctly submit the locations of 10 moored, 8 foot, red, weather balloons stationed at 10 locations in the continental US. A $40,000 dollar first prize amount was set for the first person/group to correctly report all 10 locations. If Groundspeak won they offered to put up and additional $10,000, to bring the total to $50,000 and to donate the entire amount through DonorsChoose.org to help fund school programs in need of GPS equipment. A fantastic gesture and a wonderful investment in our children’s education and future.

The date of the Challenge was set for December 5th, 2009. It wasn’t a lot of notice from Groundspeak to its troops in the field, but geocachers from all over the US responded to the call. A blog “10 Balloonies – Groundspeak’s DARPA War Room” was set up to help keep geocachers informed of the challenge as it unfolded and a temporay Twitter account was set to keep the information flowing.

The action was hot and heavy that Saturday. MIT proved to be the victors being the first to correctly locate all 10 balloons. Groundspeak and it team of Geocahers found a total of 8 balloons for a respectable showing. It was a successful social networking experiment for both DARPA and Groundspeak. Here’s hoping that this trend for Groundspeak continues.

Groundspeak and the Groundspeak Lackey’s, decided to honor the contributions of all the participating geocachers by donating the $10,000 dollars they offered to put up if they won.  They will be choosing the programs to donate to over the next couple of weeks. It was a Win-Win Saturday for geocachers and Groundspeak, geocaching for a good cause.

UPDATE:

• Here is a related article that details MIT’s strategy: Random Connections: DARPA Challenge Update
• And and update from Groundspeak: After the Challenge, What have We Learned