FFS
Member
As usual, in front of my laptop when I'm here
Posts: 2,797
|
Post by FFS on Oct 18, 2021 10:02:50 GMT 1
I recently (re)discovered this application, what3words, which can now be downloaded as a free app. I'm sure if delivery companies had it as part of their drivers' equipment, there'd be no more lost parcels.
|
|
|
Post by lapourtaider on Oct 18, 2021 11:41:19 GMT 1
I have it on my phone, and have occasionally used it. Now used a lot by the emergency services in the UK. Not much by the french though as far as I'm aware.
|
|
JohnnyD
Member
Mayenne (53) When Covid allows..........Which isn't very often these days........
Posts: 2,014
|
Post by JohnnyD on Oct 18, 2021 11:46:54 GMT 1
Its seriously flawed i believe, there are instances of errors which they say cannot happen, examples on twitter I saw a few weeks ago
|
|
Veem
Member
Posts: 12,014
|
Post by Veem on Oct 18, 2021 12:16:19 GMT 1
A friend out riding came across a couple who had had an accident in the middle of nowhere and no way of telling the emergency services their location. My friend fired up what3words on her mobile and help arrived in no time..
We had a delivery this morning. The driver couldn't find out lieu dit St M........ No wonder as there are 3 of them within 2 km radius of each other. Two have only one house (one is ours) and the other has 2 and only one shows on GPS. That one isn't ours!! I can see it being very useful if it's not as JD says, seriously flawed.
|
|
|
Post by Dominic Best on Oct 18, 2021 17:45:38 GMT 1
A basic problem for a lot of people is that the locations are language specific. If the App is set to English it will give a three word code for any location but change it to French and the three words it gives for the same place are completely different. There has also been a fair bit of publicity about how by mis-producing some words your location can be confused with another perhaps thousands of kilometres away.
|
|
|
Post by traveller on Oct 18, 2021 18:30:57 GMT 1
Do you have to pay for the App?
|
|
FFS
Member
As usual, in front of my laptop when I'm here
Posts: 2,797
|
Post by FFS on Oct 18, 2021 19:46:28 GMT 1
A basic problem for a lot of people is that the locations are language specific. If the App is set to English it will give a three word code for any location but change it to French and the three words it gives for the same place are completely different. There has also been a fair bit of publicity about how by mis-producing some words your location can be confused with another perhaps thousands of kilometres away. If someone is lost in France, a location in Alaska is not going to be very confusing. On the website, the three words you give are listed along with similar versions, eg doctor.spout.trouble is shown along with doctors.spout.troubles, so it's not that difficult to make a mistake in identifying the location. (I picked those three words at random and it's somewhere in the middle of Inner Mongolia; the two other options shown on the website were doctors.spout.trouble (in Lagos) and doctor.spouting.trouble (in Wuhan, China)) Do you have to pay for the App? No, it's free.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2021 19:51:29 GMT 1
Apparently there are a few where very similar (ie a pleural ) words have ended up close to each other which could cause an issue
|
|
FFS
Member
As usual, in front of my laptop when I'm here
Posts: 2,797
|
Post by FFS on Oct 18, 2021 19:58:52 GMT 1
Apparently there are a few where very similar (ie a pleural ) words have ended up close to each other which could cause an issue "Apparently" - have you got a source for that, eddie, or are you just glomming together any and all bad press you might have read? And it's 'plural'.
|
|
|
Post by Dominic Best on Oct 18, 2021 20:36:18 GMT 1
A basic problem for a lot of people is that the locations are language specific. If the App is set to English it will give a three word code for any location but change it to French and the three words it gives for the same place are completely different. There has also been a fair bit of publicity about how by mis-producing some words your location can be confused with another perhaps thousands of kilometres away. If someone is lost in France, a location in Alaska is not going to be very confusing. On the website, the three words you give are listed along with similar versions, eg doctor.spout.trouble is shown along with doctors.spout.troubles, so it's not that difficult to make a mistake in identifying the location. (I picked those three words at random and it's somewhere in the middle of Inner Mongolia; the two other options shown on the website were doctors.spout.trouble (in Lagos) and doctor.spouting.trouble (in Wuhan, China)) Do you have to pay for the App? No, it's free. You’ve missed the main point of my post. The location car.cat.cod on the English app will not be voiture.chat.cabillaud, it will be three other random words. Sending car.cat.cod to a 112 operator or whatever in France won’t help. An English speaking person reading voiture.chatte.cabillaud won’t help either. It’s a good system but flawed.
|
|
|
Post by Dominic Best on Oct 18, 2021 20:42:53 GMT 1
PS I’m not anti it, I have the app on my phone and have done for a couple of years. I’m simply pointing out what I’ve heard. My phone also gives me my latitude and longitude even when I haven’t got a mobile signal. That’s actually far more useful because if you mobile provider doesn’t have coverage where you are you can still phone 112 if there’s any available mobile signal. There again I can also just push the button on my PLB and that will automatically send a signal via a satellite telling the emergency services who i am, where I am and the fact that I’m in trouble. 🙂🙂
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2021 20:52:24 GMT 1
There’s lots of information out there available on a simple search but I can’t upload it unfortunately
I take it your autocorrect has never misprinted anything, and you have failed to notice it ?
|
|
|
Post by lapourtaider on Oct 18, 2021 21:01:42 GMT 1
As long as you know which language was used to create the 3 words, it is very simple to switch between languages.
|
|
|
Post by ForumUser2 on Oct 18, 2021 21:38:30 GMT 1
Like any tool it has its uses but also limitations.
I had to use it recently for a furniture collection and it was much easier giving fish.fancy.fireside (I made those up) rather than "the gate to the left of the road sign after you've passed the laurel hedge but before the cattle grid". If you put our post code into a sat nav you end up trying to get into a field where we don't live. It's not helpful.
|
|
|
Post by wanderer on Oct 19, 2021 0:18:57 GMT 1
Apparently there are a few where very similar (ie a pleural ) words have ended up close to each other which could cause an issue "Apparently" - have you got a source for that, eddie, or are you just glomming together any and all bad press you might have read? And it's 'plural'. Here's one for you; 'impacts.townhouse.then' given as the scene of a mountain incident in the Lake District. The actual correct reference was 'impact.townhouse.then'. If you want examples of other errors, just ask!
|
|