Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore
Foursquare offers lots of general badges that can be unlocked anywhere, but sometimes it’s the really specific ones like Far Far Away that are most fun to earn. A new badge appeared this afternoon that could be the most specific yet: You’re not in Kansas anymore.
The unlock text simply reads:
There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place…
This is just a guess, but it looks like you’ll actually have to leave Kansas to earn the badge. For those of you in Kansas City, it should be pretty easy to earn, but for the rest of you, it should be a fairly difficult one to get.
The badge design represents the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy remarked to her dog, Toto, “I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
I must unlock this badge, I own a Cairn Terrier myself. “Terry” was the Cairn Terrier in Wizard of Oz.
The really sad thing is that I looked up directions to Kansas City on Google Maps before I even posted this one. Unfortunately, it’s a 10 hour drive from Cincinnati.
Actually it’s only 9 hours. I did the drive all the time when I lived in KC.
I will have to keep an eye on my “friends” from Indonesia. They will have it within a few hours if they are onto of things.
Lol I think I know what you mean, there is a girl on my “friends†list that always gets badges that seem impossible, from London, to Dallas, how is she everywhere and how are they doing this? I don’t know what language she speaks, but it may be Indonesian.
A quick search shows that 2 of the 3 guys that unlocked it live in Kansas but unlocked it in Missouri
Lol I think I know what you mean, there is a girl on my “friends” list that always gets badges that seem impossible, from London, to Dallas, how is she everywhere and how are they doing this? I don’t know what language she speaks, but it may be Indonesian.
Please disregard that comment, it was meant for Mark above, oops!
So I’ll be visiting Vegas in a few weeks, and on the way back we have a layover in Kansas City. The Kansas City airport is in Missouri, so it’ll be interesting to see whether or not I get the badge. (I would assume not, but…)
I live in Kansas but travel over the line to Missouri a lot. For once, I will have an easy badge get!
I believe that two check-ins in the state of Kansas should get you this badge. I’m sure all you K.U. Jayhawks are on top of this.
It’s not two checkins in Kansas. I Live in Lawrence and have checked in at several places. I think you need to checkin in Kansas, and then later outside of Kansas.
So I have a few indo friends I used to use to keep up with badges and whatnot… and there is a venue called “Rourke’s Moms House” in Kansas City MO that have sooo many jumpers from Jakarta, its on the verge of a Super Duper Swam….
For Shame and Soooooooo Lame.
I feel bad for Rourkes Mom.
have=has & Swam=Swarm
(not leaving myself vulnerable to the grammatical haters)
When someone learns the secret of this badge for sure, please fill us in. We’re trying to figure out how soon we can roadtrip up to Kansas and come back into Oklahoma if that’s how it is earned. TravelOK would love to promote it to folks traveling south on I-35 or those that live or visit southern Kansas!
I got got the badge, and all of my last three check-ins have been in Kansas, albeit VERY close to the MO line (within five miles) for two of them.
I’d be interested to know how I actually got it, since I didn’t leave the state today
Okay, after looking through my history and thinking about it for a minute, this is what I’ve come up with. I didn’t leave Kansas today, and I’ve checked; even the venues close to the state line actually show up in Kansas.
It’s almost like you get it if you check-in IN Kansas, as in the name is just referring to the best-known phrase about Kansas, instead of being a literal observation.
One of my “Indonesian” friends literally got this badge early today. Pretty quick aren’t they?
Well, it looks like my “Indonesian friends” checked into Liberty Fitness in Liberty, Missouri http://foursquare.com/venue/5384074 and got their badges there.
how do you check in there if you’re not anywhere near it?
foursquare mobile site. cheaters.
Sorry PA, if you dont know by now, I dont think anybody should tell you…. seeing as how “jumping” is turning into a fairly big problem, and really does take the fun out of it for everybody else who actually makes the rounds and efforts….
…but Im sure you could find out all on your own if you tried…. Or just play the game as it was meant to be played.
And NO… Im not the foursquare police… I just think one less jumper makes the 4SQ world a better place… Thats all…
I think foursquare should do away with the mobile site because it’s not fair and let’s face it foursquare is a location based app/game or whatever u want to call it. Sorry if you don’t have a smartphone or iphone but you should get one to use foursquare.
@5square @dee I completely agree with you. The whole jumping and cheating thing really turns me off and I’m sure it’s turning off a ton of foursquare users as well.
I don’t want to defend cheating in any way, shape or form. However, the mobile site can come in handy not only for users wihtout a smart phone, but also in locations where you can’t get phone service. I vacationed in the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone area and frequently couldn’t check in because there was no cell phone reception. So, later when we were within range, we could use the mobile site to catch up. I think that’s a reasonable use. I’ve also been somewhere that I really wanted to check-in at and had my cell phone battery die. So the mobile site can be used later to record that check-in.
So did we ever figure out *exactly* how to earn this badge? Like I said, mine popped up on my third KS check-in after they released the badge. Then again, I hadn’t left KS that day, either.
@J…
as much as I understand that… its kinda the nature of the beast. I lost out on my one chance for the “banksy” badge because I didn’t have reception. But without a GPS to verify your location, the mobile site will consistently be used to cheat. Therein taking most of the fun of badge hunting.
So please… I understand the usefulness of the mobile site for your purposes… and think that you should be able to use it to simply “check-in” but…. I also feel that any badge or mayorship opportunities should be revoked if they’re being obtained by using the mobile site.
As of right now, 75% of the ski resorts in the Midwest currently have Mayors living in Jakarta and Indonesia… all for the ‘Ski Bum” badge. Soon, the whole state of Kansas and the outlying areas of MO. will be the same way.
Its just a shame and because of the mobile site, Foursquare is losing it luster to me… and I know I’m not the only one.
And Im not blaming you “J”, just playing devils advocate as to why I think it (the mobile site) should be shut down.
When I started using the app (about 6 months ago), I was able to check in anywhere. I only did it once or twice (because my iphone user friends didn’t believe me) to see if it would work & haven’t done it again recently. The Android app has never told me that I’m out of the area or too far away or anything like that. I don’t even have to have the standalone gps turned on to check in to foursquare.
I’m only bringing this up to prove that it’s not just the mobile site that allows this.
The apps allow it up to a point. They’re pretty smart about it, actually. You can check in from anywhere a few times and foursquare chalks it up to your GPS being off. After that the radius they allow gets smaller and smaller the more checkins you try to make from long distance. Eventually you get to a point where you have to be within 100-200 meters of the venue to check in (and get points at least), no matter what.
My only checkin today was on the MO side of Kansas City and I got it. I was a little over a mile from the Kansas state line.
I’m traveling to KC, Kansas for business in 2 weeks, woo hoo!
The mobile site is handy for users who visit moving targets such as food trucks; they don’t show properly if you use the app. I live in southern California and employ it (properly) then. There are legit uses!
Just for the record: you no longer need to use the mobile site for food trucks; haven’t in a while. Certain “moving target”-type categories — including food trucks, have had the GPS element removed from checking in to them from the actual phone apps (iPhone, Android, etc.). Sure, there’s a 97% that they won’t show up in your Nearby Places but if you just do a search for the truck name, it should show up — it might be listed as being a dozen-plus kilometers away — and you can check in just fine. No need to go through the mobile site for those; you get full credit for points, badges, whatever. My friends and I check into food trucks all over the city, from Echo Park to downtown L.A. to Beverly Hills to El Segundo, with most trucks having pins placed in downtown L.A., and it’s no problem doing it with the native apps rather than the mobile site. Foursquare changed the coding on certain categories specifically because of the “moving target” issue.
I’m sure this will just make things more confusing, but I got this badge last night for checking in at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Wichita. I haven’t been out of the state in months.
[...] other two badges that are available are the You’re Not in Kansas Anymore Badge and the Hangover Badge. I think unlocking the Hangover Badge is going to be quite fun, as [...]
I got the badge after checking in at a Kansas Rest Stop then a cafe in Wichita. Only two checkins *in* Kansas. I was driving through Missouri on the way and did check in at a BBQ place in Kansas City previous to these checkins. Didn’t have to leave Kansas to acquire.
I went home to Kansas for Christmas and checked in at a few places. Now I’m back in Texas and checked in here. I haven’t unlocked the badge. Did I miss something?
Just took a frustrating five hour road trip to Wichita from Oklahoma City to try and get this badge.
Here is what did not work:
Checked in at home in OK before the drive.
Checked in at the Belle Plaine Rest Area just over the KS/OK border.
Checked in at a Wichita cafe
Checked in at a Wichita bakery
Checked in at aWichita grocery store
Checked in at a Wichita tanning salon (got GTL badge)
Drove back to OK stopped at first OK rest area, no badge.
Thought you might need Kansas in a checkin name created Leaving Kansas venue, no badge
Checked in along the way home twice more and once again upon getting back to Oklahoma City, no badge.
This was supposed to be a fun badge hunt which turned into frustration. I love the badge but it sure doesn’t make sense on how you get it.