Briefly, this is a system by which any location on Earth (to within 3 metres) can be represented using three simple English words, the idea that skills.winner.learn is easier to remember and pass on than 18 Baginton Road, Warwickshire, CV3 6FX, United Kingdom.

The front steps at 10 Downing Street are 51.50332 N, 0.12760 W, or as we say now, alarm.sugar.years.

I have no idea whether this will catch on, it’s a bit of a gimmick, but I appreciate the principle. Bit for bit, humans seem to be better at remembering simple words than the equivalent in numbers or other symbols. what3words state that the are able to uniquely identify 57 trillion locations. To a computer, 51.50332 N, 0.12760 W is more compressed than alarm.sugar.years, but that’s not how it feels to a human.

XKCD alluded to this property, in the context of passwords: https://xkcd.com/936/

I’ve had a bit of a play with it. Near as I can tell, they’ve eliminated homophones: no nose, eye, pear etc. This appeals to me because it means it can be transmitted vocally without spelling or clarification.

http://what3words.com/about/

The world is poorly addressed. This is frustrating and costly in developed nations; and in developing nations this is life-threatening and growth limiting.
what3words is a unique combination of just 3 words that identifies a 3mx3m square, anywhere on the planet.
It’s far more accurate than a postal address and it’s much easier to remember, use and share than a set of coordinates.
Better addressing improves customer experience, delivers business efficiencies, drives growth and helps the social & economic development of countries.

Interesting. In training people to describe their current position, I am always talking about three types of information: Address, Location and Guides.

As for how one might learn their current position (according to this system), well… what happens when the battery on the transponder goes flat?

Rule 303 said:

Interesting. In training people to describe their current position, I am always talking about three types of information: Address, Location and Guides.

As for how one might learn their current position (according to this system), well… what happens when the battery on the transponder goes flat?

I don’t think this system is related to such problems.

dv said:

I don’t think this system is related to such problems.

Which problems is it related to?

If I understand this correctly, this system divides the world up into 3mx3m squares and gives each square a name, so it simplifies addressing any location in the world from a number system starting at 0 in a defied location to 180.00.00 east or west or 90.00.00, to memorising a random sequence of words. Distances on the planet can be easily computed by … ummmm… using a GPS? As long as your GPS receiver is working, and the GPS satellites are open for public use (the US military have said that they’ll be dedicated to military use (and public use will be disabled) in the event of a major war) everything’s fine. What a great idea!

Rule 303 said:

dv said:

I don’t think this system is related to such problems.

Which problems is it related to?

Remembering and passing on a known location simply. How practical it would ever be but I can imagine it would be easier to say “apple.ear.tables” to give my address over the phone rather than having to spell shit and say numbers.

I think it is a concept.worth expanding. Using these simple word set you can get about 16 bits per word so you can give an IP address using two words (or 3 for IPv6), or two words to specify any given household or phone number (though probably the number of active phone numbers will grow over 2^32 soon).

>the idea that skills.winner.learn is easier to remember and pass on than 18 Baginton Road, Warwickshire, CV3 6FX, United Kingdom.

What happens if you get one word wrong?

It might mean the parcel will end up anywhere, whereas a conventional address gives many more clues to the intended recipient, in the event of an error in the address.

Bubblecar said:

>the idea that skills.winner.learn is easier to remember and pass on than 18 Baginton Road, Warwickshire, CV3 6FX, United Kingdom.

What happens if you get one word wrong?

It might mean the parcel will end up anywhere, whereas a conventional address gives many more clues to the intended recipient, in the event of an error in the address.

Well I won’t deny there are conceptual problems.

what’s it like, living in donkey.dick.central

Dropbear said:

what’s it like, living in donkey.dick.central

snort

LOL

any idea why they use 3 words?

wouldn’t it be simpler to divide the earth into 3mx3m squares and have 1 word relating to lat and one to long?
on a flat (stretched) map, you’d need 27million words for that to work

dv said:

Remembering and passing on a known location simply. How practical it would ever be but I can imagine it would be easier to say “apple.ear.tables” to give my address over the phone rather than having to spell shit and say numbers.

You should get the local council to change the street name.

stumpy_seahorse said:

any idea why they use 3 words?

wouldn’t it be simpler to divide the earth into 3mx3m squares and have 1 word relating to lat and one to long?
on a flat (stretched) map, you’d need 27million words for that to work

Based on land area only, with uniform 3×3 squares, you would need just over 4 million words with 2 word locations, or about 25,500 with 3 word locations.

For the whole planet you would need 38,400 words with 3 word names.

Dropbear said:

what’s it like, living in donkey.dick.central

I’ve got used to it

stumpy_seahorse said:

any idea why they use 3 words?

wouldn’t it be simpler to divide the earth into 3mx3m squares and have 1 word relating to lat and one to long?
on a flat (stretched) map, you’d need 27million words for that to work

Well it seems you have answered your own question

The Rev Dodgson said:

dv said:

Remembering and passing on a known location simply. How practical it would ever be but I can imagine it would be easier to say “apple.ear.tables” to give my address over the phone rather than having to spell shit and say numbers.

You should get the local council to change the street name.

You overestimate my influence as a local celebrity.

So how do you get the words for any particular location?

The Rev Dodgson said:

So how do you get the words for any particular location?

Well you go to the website. Or there’s an app for that.

>The world is poorly addressed

No it’s not

Oh, this is fun.

dv said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

So how do you get the words for any particular location?

Well you go to the website. Or there’s an app for that.

so there isn’t a way if working the words out without the app/website?

Dropbear said:

what’s it like, living in donkey.dick.central

I was just thinking the same sort of thing. Wouldn’t it be funny if one of the poshest residences in town got called stinky.dung.heap or something like that.

On a serious note, I think 3 × 3 m squares are overkill. It means that your front door, your back door, your carport and your loungeroom window all have different addresses.

Would you state your address as the front door or the letterbox by the street?

party_pants said:

Dropbear said:

what’s it like, living in donkey.dick.central

I was just thinking the same sort of thing. Wouldn’t it be funny if one of the poshest residences in town got called stinky.dung.heap or something like that.

On a serious note, I think 3 × 3 m squares are overkill. It means that your front door, your back door, your carport and your loungeroom window all have different addresses.

Would you state your address as the front door or the letterbox by the street?

Offensive words and homophones (sale & sail) have been removed. Simpler, more common words are allocated to more populated areas and the longest words are used in 3 word addresses in unpopulated areas.

From website

I was skeptical at dumbing down things until I read this

Around 75% of the world (135 countries) suffers from inconsistent, complicated or inadequate addressing systems.

This means that around 4 billion people are invisible; unable to report crime; unable to get deliveries or receive aid; and unable to exercise many of their rights as citizens because they simply have no way to communicate where they live.

For example, it means that in remote locations water facilities can’t be found, monitored and fixed; and schools, refugee camps and informal settlements remain unaddressed.

dv said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

So how do you get the words for any particular location?

Well you go to the website. Or there’s an app for that.

I went to the web-site, had a look at the map, found my house, but couldn’t find a way to get the words.

Arts said:

party_pants said:

Dropbear said:

what’s it like, living in donkey.dick.central

I was just thinking the same sort of thing. Wouldn’t it be funny if one of the poshest residences in town got called stinky.dung.heap or something like that.

On a serious note, I think 3 × 3 m squares are overkill. It means that your front door, your back door, your carport and your loungeroom window all have different addresses.

Would you state your address as the front door or the letterbox by the street?

Offensive words and homophones (sale & sail) have been removed. Simpler, more common words are allocated to more populated areas and the longest words are used in 3 word addresses in unpopulated areas.

From website

I deliberately chose dung rather than shit.

(I suppose I should have read the website first, but that’s just not the kinda guy I am)

party_pants said:

Dropbear said:

what’s it like, living in donkey.dick.central

I was just thinking the same sort of thing. Wouldn’t it be funny if one of the poshest residences in town got called stinky.dung.heap or something like that.

On a serious note, I think 3 × 3 m squares are overkill. It means that your front door, your back door, your carport and your loungeroom window all have different addresses.

Would you state your address as the front door or the letterbox by the street?

lol, looking at that, this block has 764 different 3 word combos…

which ones to choose?…

Which lucky duck gets to live at purple,monkey,dishwasher?

http://www.sciencealert.com/did-the-vikings-use-crystal-sunstones-to-discover-america

stumpy_seahorse said:

dv said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

So how do you get the words for any particular location?

Well you go to the website. Or there’s an app for that.

so there isn’t a way if working the words out without the app/website?

There’s a developer’s pack you can download and reverse engineer if that is what you are into

The Rev Dodgson said:

dv said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

So how do you get the words for any particular location?

Well you go to the website. Or there’s an app for that.

I went to the web-site, had a look at the map, found my house, but couldn’t find a way to get the words.

It is at the bottom, below the map

dv said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

dv said:

Well you go to the website. Or there’s an app for that.

I went to the web-site, had a look at the map, found my house, but couldn’t find a way to get the words.

It is at the bottom, below the map

d’oh

karate.psychiatry.slops

I think I like that.

(I don’t care if you look it up, I have nothing worth stealing in the house. But I shall keep the location of my shed secret).

party_pants said:

karate.psychiatry.slops

I think I like that.

(I don’t care if you look it up, I have nothing worth stealing in the house. But I shall keep the location of my shed secret).

So is it true that you relish.further.dweller?

The Rev Dodgson said:

party_pants said:

karate.psychiatry.slops

I think I like that.

(I don’t care if you look it up, I have nothing worth stealing in the house. But I shall keep the location of my shed secret).

So is it true that you relish.further.dweller?

Yes, and I also have a psychic.unlicensed.laundry on the premises.

What’s wrong with the current system? A local example…

976 Kangaroo Creek Rd
Kangaroo Creek
2460

Without recourse to the majic decoder ring anyone can tell:

- The state and country
-The exact distance down the road
-An idea of the geography
-The fauna likely to be present

Ian said:

What’s wrong with the current system? A local example…

976 Kangaroo Creek Rd
Kangaroo Creek
2460

Without recourse to the majic decoder ring anyone can tell:

- The state and country
-The exact distance down the road
-An idea of the geography
-The fauna likely to be present

Bald Knob Rd would be interesting then…

poikilotherm said:

Ian said:

What’s wrong with the current system? A local example…

976 Kangaroo Creek Rd
Kangaroo Creek
2460

Without recourse to the majic decoder ring anyone can tell:

- The state and country
-The exact distance down the road
-An idea of the geography
-The fauna likely to be present

Bald Knob Rd would be interesting then…

There’s a Yorkeys Knob up here & a Bones Knob

dv said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

So how do you get the words for any particular location?

Well you go to the website. Or there’s an app for that.

What if all your mail is addressed to a post office box, which common in country areas, or flats in cities, etc.

Witty Rejoinder said:

Which lucky duck gets to live at purple,monkey,dishwasher?

Somebody out in the woods of SE Colarado.

party_pants said:

Witty Rejoinder said:

Which lucky duck gets to live at purple,monkey,dishwasher?

Somebody out in the woods of SE Colarado.

What about WTF?

sibeen said:

party_pants said:

Witty Rejoinder said:

Which lucky duck gets to live at purple,monkey,dishwasher?

Somebody out in the woods of SE Colarado.

What about WTF?

We couldn’t find any results for what.the,fuck

Refer above, Arts has banned them from using rude words… or something.

party_pants said:

sibeen said:

party_pants said:

Somebody out in the woods of SE Colarado.

What about WTF?

We couldn’t find any results for what.the,fuck

Refer above, Arts has banned them from using rude words… or something.

You think I read her posts?

sibeen said:

party_pants said:

sibeen said:

What about WTF?

We couldn’t find any results for what.the,fuck

Refer above, Arts has banned them from using rude words… or something.

You think I read her posts?

that’s why I felt I needed to direct you to it, you may have missed it earlier.

Sounds like a fairly stupid idea…

furious said:

Sounds like a fairly stupid idea…

It doesn’t have “stupid” but fairly.silly.idea is in Nevada.

legendary, awesome, genius

chez wookiemeister

Illegal immigrant is arrested over murder of American nanny in Austria after she took him in to stop him being deported – and is revealed to have raped underage girl

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3433995/Illegal-immigrant-arrested-murder-American-nanny-Austria-took-stop-deported-revealed-raped-underage-girl.html#ixzz3zOAulE2y
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

we need to bring in 50,000 refugees immediately

Ian said:

What’s wrong with the current system? A local example…

976 Kangaroo Creek Rd
Kangaroo Creek
2460

Without recourse to the majic decoder ring anyone can tell:

- The state and country
-The exact distance down the road
-An idea of the geography
-The fauna likely to be present

probably nothing but, as stated above, this system is to give everyone a location..

I quote again for you
“Around 75% of the world (135 countries) suffers from inconsistent, complicated or inadequate addressing systems.

This means that around 4 billion people are invisible; unable to report crime; unable to get deliveries or receive aid; and unable to exercise many of their rights as citizens because they simply have no way to communicate where they live.

For example, it means that in remote locations water facilities can’t be found, monitored and fixed; and schools, refugee camps and informal settlements remain unaddressed.”

sibeen said:

party_pants said:

sibeen said:

What about WTF?

We couldn’t find any results for what.the,fuck

Refer above, Arts has banned them from using rude words… or something.

You think I read her posts?

Shebs is the smartest, best looking, most creative and all round superest person I know…

Shebs is the smartest, best looking, most creative and all round superest person I know…

arts wants her handle back sibeen.

Arts said:

Ian said:

What’s wrong with the current system? A local example…

976 Kangaroo Creek Rd
Kangaroo Creek
2460

Without recourse to the majic decoder ring anyone can tell:

- The state and country
-The exact distance down the road
-An idea of the geography
-The fauna likely to be present

probably nothing but, as stated above, this system is to give everyone a location..

I quote again for you
“Around 75% of the world (135 countries) suffers from inconsistent, complicated or inadequate addressing systems.

This means that around 4 billion people are invisible; unable to report crime; unable to get deliveries or receive aid; and unable to exercise many of their rights as citizens because they simply have no way to communicate where they live.

For example, it means that in remote locations water facilities can’t be found, monitored and fixed; and schools, refugee camps and informal settlements remain unaddressed.”

how many of those 135 countries would have access to:-
a) the app/website to determine the 3 word location
b) the means of deciphering the 3 words and directions to that location?

stumpy_seahorse said:

Arts said:

Ian said:

What’s wrong with the current system? A local example…

976 Kangaroo Creek Rd
Kangaroo Creek
2460

Without recourse to the majic decoder ring anyone can tell:

- The state and country
-The exact distance down the road
-An idea of the geography
-The fauna likely to be present

probably nothing but, as stated above, this system is to give everyone a location..

I quote again for you
“Around 75% of the world (135 countries) suffers from inconsistent, complicated or inadequate addressing systems.

This means that around 4 billion people are invisible; unable to report crime; unable to get deliveries or receive aid; and unable to exercise many of their rights as citizens because they simply have no way to communicate where they live.

For example, it means that in remote locations water facilities can’t be found, monitored and fixed; and schools, refugee camps and informal settlements remain unaddressed.”

how many of those 135 countries would have access to:-
a) the app/website to determine the 3 word location
b) the means of deciphering the 3 words and directions to that location?

I guess it is determined by the system becoming universal. Basically, they have taken places that are not addressable (eg refugee camps and informal settlements) and have given them a locatable location, in the event of emergency etc. The uses for this system are probably nor even realised yet, but it seems valid on more levels than just getting your National Geographic magazine delivered

Arts said:

stumpy_seahorse said:

Arts said:

probably nothing but, as stated above, this system is to give everyone a location..

I quote again for you
“Around 75% of the world (135 countries) suffers from inconsistent, complicated or inadequate addressing systems.

This means that around 4 billion people are invisible; unable to report crime; unable to get deliveries or receive aid; and unable to exercise many of their rights as citizens because they simply have no way to communicate where they live.

For example, it means that in remote locations water facilities can’t be found, monitored and fixed; and schools, refugee camps and informal settlements remain unaddressed.”

how many of those 135 countries would have access to:-
a) the app/website to determine the 3 word location
b) the means of deciphering the 3 words and directions to that location?

I guess it is determined by the system becoming universal. Basically, they have taken places that are not addressable (eg refugee camps and informal settlements) and have given them a locatable location, in the event of emergency etc. The uses for this system are probably nor even realised yet, but it seems valid on more levels than just getting your National Geographic magazine delivered

I don’t see any advantage of using this over lat vs long other than maybe definition.
1 second of lat vs 1 second of long is about 31×25m at the equator.
it’s easy to work out directions to addresses with only a compass

Boris said:

Shebs is the smartest, best looking, most creative and all round superest person I know…

arts wants her handle back sibeen.

I’m not immune to flattery.

stumpy_seahorse said:

Arts said:

stumpy_seahorse said:

how many of those 135 countries would have access to:-
a) the app/website to determine the 3 word location
b) the means of deciphering the 3 words and directions to that location?

I guess it is determined by the system becoming universal. Basically, they have taken places that are not addressable (eg refugee camps and informal settlements) and have given them a locatable location, in the event of emergency etc. The uses for this system are probably nor even realised yet, but it seems valid on more levels than just getting your National Geographic magazine delivered

I don’t see any advantage of using this over lat vs long other than maybe definition.
1 second of lat vs 1 second of long is about 31×25m at the equator.
it’s easy to work out directions to addresses with only a compass

Considering people have much more trouble remembering numbers than they do words, I can see advantages.

stumpy_seahorse said:

I don’t see any advantage of using this over lat vs long other than maybe definition.
1 second of lat vs 1 second of long is about 31×25m at the equator.
it’s easy to work out directions to addresses with only a compass

I think I can memorise psychic.unlicensed.laundry more easily than I could memorise the lat/long.

also lat long is pretty hard to measure without the right gear.

I’ve looked, but for the life of me I can’t find out what my 3 word address is on that site …

:-/

Witty Rejoinder said:

I’ve looked, but for the life of me I can’t find out what my 3 word address is on that site …

:-/

in the red bar across the bottom of the screen

Boris said:

also lat long is pretty hard to measure without the right gear.

like a map?

ROFL:

You’ll like this one, Boris, I’m a record fence builder :)

record.fence.builds

Witty Rejoinder said:

I’ve looked, but for the life of me I can’t find out what my 3 word address is on that site …

:-/

Never mind. I found the map.

And I used to live at curve.crisis.drank

wity, just post your address and we’ll get it for you

droppy’s at lace.logo.mute…

unshaven.habitat.freckles – my shed.

will they put in a 4th word for multiple story buildings?

brushing.rebounding.orchestral

party_pants said:

unshaven.habitat.freckles – my shed.

roger….

my guess is that this is just a clever ploy by Big Brother to gain as many known addresses as they can and link them back through ISP’s . They will build a database connected through a worldwide system so future criminal activity and/or times of cover up need within the Illuminati can pin point an innocent person and create a trail that leads back to them. Purple.monkey.dishwasher.

not all maps have lat long, infact i would say the vast majority don’t.

sibeen said:

And I used to live at curve.crisis.drank

I am still there.

layers.sloshed.psycho is about 12m in across the front of the block.
(all up including the roads around us there are 1000 combos to choose from…)

though it depends on what room i am in as to the 3 words.

Boris said:

not all maps have lat long, infact i would say the vast majority don’t.

yet it can be added very easily.
How would you go about adding the 3 word system to a map?

Arts said:

wity, just post your address and we’ll get it for you

Danger Will Robinson danger!

even lat long is useless unless you have a means of determining it. i doubt anyone here knows the lat long of their house. and if you had no means to determine it then it would be just as useless to you.

Witty Rejoinder said:

Arts said:

wity, just post your address and we’ll get it for you

Danger Will Robinson danger!

oh for goodness sake… you can trust us.. well maybe not Shebs or DV.. but you can certainly trust wookie

Boris said:

even lat long is useless unless you have a means of determining it. i doubt anyone here knows the lat long of their house. and if you had no means to determine it then it would be just as useless to you.

why would that be?

if you can determine the lat long of where you want to go, and teh lat/long of where you are, you have a fair idea of the distance east-west you need to go and north-south.

if i said to you you are at task.amount.round, meet me at struck.lists.else and we’ll head to lace.logo.mute, you have no idea which direction or which distance to go.

I was interested in you 3d element question, Stumpy, so I went and checked the FAQ… and here is what they say

FAQ: Do you do height or indoors?

Most postal or address systems only work in 2D (e.g. ZIP codes or postal codes in the UK). These always need additional information to specify height: e.g. Flat 6, 5th floor, 12 Lonsdale Road. With what3words, we recommend a similar approach, e.g. Flat 6, 5th floor, jelly.translated.sadly

In terms of indoor addressing, what3words covers all locations in 2D, but the supporting technology (indoor positioning, indoor mapping, indoor navigation) is not yet widespread enough for there to be any great benefit of specifying a point with height included.

However, if and when height becomes helpful to specify, we have various options for including this information with the 3 word address.

——-

so a few bugs to iron out, I guess, but it’s still pretty clever and well thought out for what it is. IMO

I suppose, the biggest advantage is to locate places that before this system had no formal address..

My old pub, now closed, has an address dine.jukebox.gangs.

Quite appropriate.

In the best traditions of the forum, I haven’t bothered to read the basic information. But why is this thing in English. Aren’t there more Chinese speakers in the world than English?

buffy said:

In the best traditions of the forum, I haven’t bothered to read the basic information. But why is this thing in English. Aren’t there more Chinese speakers in the world than English?

Developers were racists.

Nah, just read the OP… developers seem to be in Britain.

english is spoken by more people from different language groups.

buffy said:

In the best traditions of the forum, I haven’t bothered to read the basic information. But why is this thing in English. Aren’t there more Chinese speakers in the world than English?

In everyone’s language

We have rolled out our 3 word address system in 9 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, Russian, German, Turkish & Swedish. We are adding to those every month and are currently working on Italian, Greek, Arabic and more.

The 3 word address in one language is not a translation of the 3 words used in a different language version and you can use the language you are most comfortable with.

You can choose the 3 word language that we display 3 word addresses to you in, but you never have to tell us what language you are inputting the 3 word addresses in: we will recognise the language automatically.

buffy said:

Nah, just read the OP… developers seem to be in Britain.

it’s been translated into a number of languages

it’s the linguine franka of the world.

stumpy_seahorse said:

buffy said:

In the best traditions of the forum, I haven’t bothered to read the basic information. But why is this thing in English. Aren’t there more Chinese speakers in the world than English?

In everyone’s language

We have rolled out our 3 word address system in 9 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, Russian, German, Turkish & Swedish. We are adding to those every month and are currently working on Italian, Greek, Arabic and more.

The 3 word address in one language is not a translation of the 3 words used in a different language version and you can use the language you are most comfortable with.

You can choose the 3 word language that we display 3 word addresses to you in, but you never have to tell us what language you are inputting the 3 word addresses in: we will recognise the language automatically.

So the bastards still ain’t doing Chinese, eh.

stumpy_seahorse said:

buffy said:

In the best traditions of the forum, I haven’t bothered to read the basic information. But why is this thing in English. Aren’t there more Chinese speakers in the world than English?

In everyone’s language

We have rolled out our 3 word address system in 9 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, Russian, German, Turkish & Swedish. We are adding to those every month and are currently working on Italian, Greek, Arabic and more.

The 3 word address in one language is not a translation of the 3 words used in a different language version and you can use the language you are most comfortable with.

You can choose the 3 word language that we display 3 word addresses to you in, but you never have to tell us what language you are inputting the 3 word addresses in: we will recognise the language automatically.

Layer upon layer of complexity. I thought it was supposed to be simple. And as 303 mentioned near the beginning, it’s horribly reliant on electrons, towers and satellites all being co-operative.

Arts said:

buffy said:

Nah, just read the OP… developers seem to be in Britain.

it’s been translated into a number of languages

not translated apparently, the words are different.

I would imagine the poor bastards that have to deliver the mail, would need to know the combination of names for every house.

stumpy_seahorse said:

buffy said:

In the best traditions of the forum, I haven’t bothered to read the basic information. But why is this thing in English. Aren’t there more Chinese speakers in the world than English?

In everyone’s language

We have rolled out our 3 word address system in 9 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, Russian, German, Turkish & Swedish. We are adding to those every month and are currently working on Italian, Greek, Arabic and more.

The 3 word address in one language is not a translation of the 3 words used in a different language version and you can use the language you are most comfortable with.

You can choose the 3 word language that we display 3 word addresses to you in, but you never have to tell us what language you are inputting the 3 word addresses in: we will recognise the language automatically.

in another section they talk about having mapped the oceans also in English, however, due to word limitations in some languages oceans have not been ‘mapped’

Arts said:

stumpy_seahorse said:

buffy said:

In the best traditions of the forum, I haven’t bothered to read the basic information. But why is this thing in English. Aren’t there more Chinese speakers in the world than English?

In everyone’s language

We have rolled out our 3 word address system in 9 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, Russian, German, Turkish & Swedish. We are adding to those every month and are currently working on Italian, Greek, Arabic and more.

The 3 word address in one language is not a translation of the 3 words used in a different language version and you can use the language you are most comfortable with.

You can choose the 3 word language that we display 3 word addresses to you in, but you never have to tell us what language you are inputting the 3 word addresses in: we will recognise the language automatically.

in another section they talk about having mapped the oceans also in English, however, due to word limitations in some languages oceans have not been ‘mapped’

bugger…

how will you remember all the good fishing spots?

stumpy_seahorse said:

Arts said:

buffy said:

Nah, just read the OP… developers seem to be in Britain.

it’s been translated into a number of languages

not translated apparently, the words are different.

oh, I stand corrected.. thanks Stumpy

stumpy_seahorse said:

Arts said:

stumpy_seahorse said:

In everyone’s language

We have rolled out our 3 word address system in 9 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, Russian, German, Turkish & Swedish. We are adding to those every month and are currently working on Italian, Greek, Arabic and more.

The 3 word address in one language is not a translation of the 3 words used in a different language version and you can use the language you are most comfortable with.

You can choose the 3 word language that we display 3 word addresses to you in, but you never have to tell us what language you are inputting the 3 word addresses in: we will recognise the language automatically.

in another section they talk about having mapped the oceans also in English, however, due to word limitations in some languages oceans have not been ‘mapped’

bugger…

how will you remember all the good fishing spots?

use the English version

drink.drink.drink is just off the east coast of Russia.

Arts said:

stumpy_seahorse said:

Arts said:

in another section they talk about having mapped the oceans also in English, however, due to word limitations in some languages oceans have not been ‘mapped’

bugger…

how will you remember all the good fishing spots?

use the English version

I guess that will be handy for saving the whales…

:P

PermeateFree said:

I would imagine the poor bastards that have to deliver the mail, would need to know the combination of names for every house.

That’s why I was thinking would you put down the name for the letterbox on the street, or your front door. I guess the letterbox is best.

But I don’t know if it will be for that. It will be a bonus for pirates hiding treasure in remote places though. Just remember three words and you’re within 3 m of the treasure. No more of this stagger stagger stagger, crawl crawl crawl stuff to do.

BTW purple.monkey.dishwasher is a remote location in Colorado

hi there

windows 10 now functioning satisfactorily after no small amount of poking and thumping

Ian said:

hi there

windows 10 now functioning satisfactorily after no small amount of poking and thumping

and that’ll be the wrong thread

Arts said:

BTW purple.monkey.dishwasher is a remote location in Colorado

Don’t you read my posts ?

kicks dirt

buffy said:

stumpy_seahorse said:

buffy said:

In the best traditions of the forum, I haven’t bothered to read the basic information. But why is this thing in English. Aren’t there more Chinese speakers in the world than English?

In everyone’s language

We have rolled out our 3 word address system in 9 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, Russian, German, Turkish & Swedish. We are adding to those every month and are currently working on Italian, Greek, Arabic and more.

The 3 word address in one language is not a translation of the 3 words used in a different language version and you can use the language you are most comfortable with.

You can choose the 3 word language that we display 3 word addresses to you in, but you never have to tell us what language you are inputting the 3 word addresses in: we will recognise the language automatically.

Layer upon layer of complexity. I thought it was supposed to be simple. And as 303 mentioned near the beginning, it’s horribly reliant on electrons, towers and satellites all being co-operative.

they say you can access it offline.

sibeen said:

drink.drink.drink is just off the east coast of Russia.

seems reasonable

How would you access it offline?

party_pants said:

Arts said:

BTW purple.monkey.dishwasher is a remote location in Colorado

Don’t you read my posts ?

kicks dirt

awww sorry p_p, must have passed that one in he skim through.. don’ worry, I’m going out to eat steak soon, I’ll be all ironed up and reading more clearly

I guess everything is already mapped. you must download all the information and just access it at will

“Offline

what3words functions without a data connection. This solves a perpetual constraint when in remote and unaddressed locations, or in areas with poor connectivity.”

Arts said:

I guess everything is already mapped. you must download all the information and just access it at will

“Offline

what3words functions without a data connection. This solves a perpetual constraint when in remote and unaddressed locations, or in areas with poor connectivity.”

What? Like a paper map? Or do they mean you have to download it and carry it with you?

Ian said:

sibeen said:

drink.drink.drink is just off the east coast of Russia.

seems reasonable

Where is drink.drink.drown then?

buffy said:

Arts said:

I guess everything is already mapped. you must download all the information and just access it at will

“Offline

what3words functions without a data connection. This solves a perpetual constraint when in remote and unaddressed locations, or in areas with poor connectivity.”

What? Like a paper map? Or do they mean you have to download it and carry it with you?

yes.

it’s just an app.. like any other. you can often access apps without data connection.

Arts said:

it’s just an app.. like any other. you can often access apps without data connection.

So at some point you have to be able to download it. Still a problem for places with poor connectivity.

what it probably doesn’t do (offline) is give you a route to get from current location to searching location… bu it is a map so a few navigation skills would help .. like a paper map

buffy said:

Arts said:

I guess everything is already mapped. you must download all the information and just access it at will

“Offline

what3words functions without a data connection. This solves a perpetual constraint when in remote and unaddressed locations, or in areas with poor connectivity.”

What? Like a paper map? Or do they mean you have to download it and carry it with you?

don’t think it would be physical map. at about a 10pt font, you’d only fit 60m on an A4 sheet

stumpy_seahorse said:

buffy said:

Arts said:

I guess everything is already mapped. you must download all the information and just access it at will

“Offline

what3words functions without a data connection. This solves a perpetual constraint when in remote and unaddressed locations, or in areas with poor connectivity.”

What? Like a paper map? Or do they mean you have to download it and carry it with you?

don’t think it would be physical map. at about a 10pt font, you’d only fit 60m on an A4 sheet

And a screen is smaller.

buffy said:

Arts said:

it’s just an app.. like any other. you can often access apps without data connection.

So at some point you have to be able to download it. Still a problem for places with poor connectivity.

initially, I would say so. the site says they are working toward connecting their data with google maps, so you can imput the three words into google maps and it will lead you there. For the moment it is a separate platform.

As I said before, this is probably not a system for places that have great addressing systems already .. but it does solve some issues for areas of the world where their current system isn’t as good. Just because it’s not for “us” doesn’t mean it’s a bad system or irrelevant for he rest of the world.

buffy said:

stumpy_seahorse said:

buffy said:

What? Like a paper map? Or do they mean you have to download it and carry it with you?

don’t think it would be physical map. at about a 10pt font, you’d only fit 60m on an A4 sheet

And a screen is smaller.

imagine having a physical map of 60 × 20 3word combos and trying to find the one combination you are after

Interestingly, even in the poorest countries, most people are glued to mobile phones. Indeed, mobile phones are the banking system in many countries. Money can be added to the account and withdrawn from it. Payments to merchants can be done cashless via the mobile phone, by transferring some of the balance of one’s account to the merchant.

So, mobile phones are ubiquitous. Most have GPS built in. No need for a three.word.game. A standard.geographic.reference is at most people people’s fingertips.

sock.puppet.handle is in North Dakota USA.

I think more people should read the website

:)

party_pants said:

sock.puppet.handle is in North Dakota USA.

Hahahahahaha!

Michael V said:

Interestingly, even in the poorest countries, most people are glued to mobile phones. Indeed, mobile phones are the banking system in many countries. Money can be added to the account and withdrawn from it. Payments to merchants can be done cashless via the mobile phone, by transferring some of the balance of one’s account to the merchant.

So, mobile phones are ubiquitous. Most have GPS built in. No need for a three.word.game. A standard.geographic.reference is at most people people’s fingertips.

Perhaps with smart phones having speech recognition technology there might be a use for it.

there is no fat.lady.sings

party_pants said:

there is no fat.lady.sings

is there a party.pants.town?

stumpy_seahorse said:

party_pants said:

there is no fat.lady.sings

is there a party.pants.town?

Nearest I could find is party.trousers.town in southern Mexico.

I can see some good applications behind this, but you would probably have to turn off predictive text or you could end up anywhere if you were not paying attention.

AwesomeO said:

I can see some good applications behind this, but you would probably have to turn off predictive text or you could end up anywhere if you were not paying attention.

…or if you spelt like Boris.

pot.kettle.black is somewhere in essendon. apparently.

Boris said:

pot.kettle.black is somewhere in essendon. apparently.

pot.kettle.black doesn’t actually exist.

They certainly missed out there.

Boris said:

pot.kettle.black is somewhere in essendon. apparently.

Is mystery.needle.injection the Essendon football club change-rooms?

there’s a dank.mystery.needle – in the North Pacific off the coast of Vancouver Island.

Boris said:

pot.kettle.black is somewhere in essendon. apparently.

LOL!

They have eliminated colours, it seems

lucky black isn’t a colour then.

;-)

fight.club.rules is in Togo

dv said:

They have eliminated colours, it seems

Now you’ve upset both me and Arts.

So, the consensus is relocate this thread to..

fogging.stupid.idea

Seems they don’t have stupid but fogging.silly.idea is in Siberia

Oh.. my bad

Sounds great doesn’t it? An easy-to-remember 3-word ‘address’ for any location on the globe. So whither this blue whale sized flaw that your curmudgeonly author speaks of?

Well, the thing is that, in the What3Words system, neighbouring addresses are completely unrelated. So, where your house’s W3W address might be Camel.Rhododendron.Mousetrap, your next door neighbour on one side might live at Fork.Wallaby.Knickers and your next door neighbour on the other side at Cheese.Hat.Plunger.

I’ll just give you a second or two to contemplate the monumental idiocy of that for yourselves, and imagine that system extended to cover the entire planet, before I stick the boot in.

Possibly The Stupidest Idea Of All-Time

Does the what3words concept also address multi story buildings? If it only defines the footprint of the building then everyone living above that footprint will have the same address…

Ian said:

Well, the thing is that, in the What3Words system, neighbouring addresses are completely unrelated. So, where your house’s W3W address might be Camel.Rhododendron.Mousetrap, your next door neighbour on one side might live at Fork.Wallaby.Knickers and your next door neighbour on the other side at Cheese.Hat.Plunger.

That’s regarded as the advantage.

dv said:

Ian said:

Well, the thing is that, in the What3Words system, neighbouring addresses are completely unrelated. So, where your house’s W3W address might be Camel.Rhododendron.Mousetrap, your next door neighbour on one side might live at Fork.Wallaby.Knickers and your next door neighbour on the other side at Cheese.Hat.Plunger.

That’s regarded as the advantage.

As a rural firefighter I know most of the roads in the district & can proceed to that road when called out. A 3word address gives me no clue as to its location.

dv said:

Ian said:

Well, the thing is that, in the What3Words system, neighbouring addresses are completely unrelated. So, where your house’s W3W address might be Camel.Rhododendron.Mousetrap, your next door neighbour on one side might live at Fork.Wallaby.Knickers and your next door neighbour on the other side at Cheese.Hat.Plunger.

That’s regarded as the advantage.

I don’t think it really is.

sibeen said:

dv said:

Ian said:

Well, the thing is that, in the What3Words system, neighbouring addresses are completely unrelated. So, where your house’s W3W address might be Camel.Rhododendron.Mousetrap, your next door neighbour on one side might live at Fork.Wallaby.Knickers and your next door neighbour on the other side at Cheese.Hat.Plunger.

That’s regarded as the advantage.

I don’t think it really is.

Probably