DaveReading
Don't suffer fools gladly (must try harder!)
- Location
- Reading, obvs
Well that would certainly work if we lived in a one-dimensional world.
What3Words Going Mainstream?
- Thread starter Lovacott
- Start date
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Well that would certainly work if we lived in a one-dimensional world.
classic33
Leg End Member
But calls for help have been made, and answered from the UK.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/may/09/british-family-rescued-navy-falklands
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Lovacott
Über Member
If I ask Google Maps for a bike route from Land's End to John O'Groats, it sends me along the A30, the A38, and a series of unrideable canal towpaths... so maybe not the most flattering of comparisons.
It's a tricky one for a general navigation tool like Google Maps to offer up the best cycling route.
It doesn't know what type of bike you've got or what kind of rider you are.
Where I am (North Devon), it offers me three routes for my commute, one of them being the A39 during rush hour which I would never even consider. The route I take (the shortest) would destroy a road bike within a week (lots of mud, gravel and very poor surfaces).
I suppose over time and as they gather more data, the options could be expanded so that you could specify bike type, ability and fitness?
Still, it's a million times better than tracing out a route in the local paperback A to Z.
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Lovacott
Über Member
I was a member of The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) as a Coastguard until 14 years ago.
The MCA monitors emergency radio channels and will either respond or help to co-ordinate marine rescue wherever it happens in the world.
The link you posted is not related in any way to the What3Words issue of a mispronunciation,misspelling or misinterpretation of a word.
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Lovacott
Über Member
I spent six months working the IT help desk of a London Borough back in 1995 when most people I dealt with didn't even know where the power button was on their desktop.
Did my frickin head in.
classic33
Leg End Member
Just an example of a call for help, from way outside the country, being answered.
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Lovacott
Über Member
But they were not calling the local emergency services. They were using a global emergency radio channel and the MCA monitors it 24/7/365.
swansonj
Guru
Latitude/longitude and OS Grid references are free and, because their construction is public domain, will remain so for ever. If one supplier tries to charge me to get it, I can switch to another.
W3W is not public domain. It is operated by a commercial concern whose interest is in making money not in providing a public service. The assiduous way they protect their product from becoming public domain confirms that they intend to operate commercially.
The serious concern is that if they can succeed in becoming the de facto geolocation app, if they can embed themselves to the point where we've all become dependent on them, they can then start charging us all - and we will have acquiesced in privatising something (geolocation) that ought to be a communal resource.
W3W is not public domain. It is operated by a commercial concern whose interest is in making money not in providing a public service. The assiduous way they protect their product from becoming public domain confirms that they intend to operate commercially.
The serious concern is that if they can succeed in becoming the de facto geolocation app, if they can embed themselves to the point where we've all become dependent on them, they can then start charging us all - and we will have acquiesced in privatising something (geolocation) that ought to be a communal resource.
classic33
Leg End Member
It's taken them eight years to get where they are, a name most have heard of.
There's too many other ways of getting your location.
Nomadski
I Like Bikes
- Location
- LBS, Usually
You should try setting up my dads smart TV on the phone...
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Lovacott
Über Member
I totally feel your pain mate.
I've spent the best part of today trying to show my 82 year old Dad how to work his telly.
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
You can, but then you can’t tell anybody what that location is.
Supersuperleeds
Legendary Member
- Location
- Leicester
Was in Lowestoft earlier in the week and they had the what3words location on the emergency notice boards on the sea front.
Chris S
Legendary Member
- Location
- Birmingham
warm white facialI guess you have seen some of the smutty ones
Profpointy
Legendary Member
We had PCs where the power button was right next to the disk eject button, and we used floppy disks a lot back then. After losing work by an accidental switch off, most of us sellotaped a plastic cup over the power button
