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Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:05 am
by PaulB2
Yeah, the tectonic plate Australia sits on is slowly moving north a couple of inches a year. The other end of the plate is the Himalayas which are slowly growing.
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:08 am
by ScotRoutes
Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:05 am
As an ex-Royal Mail employee
I read that as ex-Royal Marine ... dunno why but it surprised me
Ha. So did I
I guess the military using the wrong address could have dire consequences.
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:47 am
by jameso
This was the twitter post I saw,
https://twitter.com/cybergibbons/status ... 5490219009
'sheet' vs 'sheets' , 2 sides of a valley in Scotland.
https://twitter.com/cybergibbons/status ... 5108250626 - one thread showing some of the W3W locations that are close in proximity and phonetic/spelling.
eg
A chunk of the Highlands.
There are a lot of 2km-5km pairs here. These are in the dangerous range for confusion in mountain rescue IMHO.
Interesting that nearly all of the blue pairs and yellow pairs have the same angle/distance.
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:25 am
by voodoo_simon
GregMay wrote: ↑Sun Apr 25, 2021 4:45 pm
voodoo_simon wrote: ↑Sun Apr 25, 2021 4:33 pm
There was a rumour years ago about texting a number at home and then this would enable the emergency services to trace your phone in the future if needs be. Any truth in this?
No, but you can set your phone up so that you can text emergency services:
https://www.emergencysms.net/registerin ... _phone.php
Even if you have no signal it'll piggyback on any available network.
Cheers, just set this up
Here’s hoping I don’t need it
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:26 am
by voodoo_simon
Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:05 am
As an ex-Royal Mail employee
I read that as ex-Royal Marine ... dunno why but it surprised me
Probably because Dave swears like a trooper...
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 11:20 am
by Dave Barter
Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:05 am
As an ex-Royal Mail employee
I read that as ex-Royal Marine ... dunno why but it surprised me
I've become buff in lockdown
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:11 pm
by GregMay
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 1:17 pm
by Bearlegged
Seems this has now hit the big time:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56901363
A
thread on Twitter discussing it has also seized on its use by Hermes, which has led to one wag noting:
W3W from Hermes:
dropkick.over.fence
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 2:56 pm
by Zippy
Here's the thread when we were talking about it 4 years ago...not much has changed other than it annoys me more and Greg 's opinion has evolved with further exposure to it.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10684&p=178022
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 4:29 pm
by Specialist Hoprocker
Interestingly I had to call an ambulance yesterday. Speaking to the operator I immediately said 'I have the What3Words ref.', she said no thanks and asked me the what road I was in, which I then looked at the map on teh What3Words app to give her.
I was in central London though, so maybe things are a bit different.
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 5:01 pm
by Alpinum
Zippy wrote: ↑Fri Apr 30, 2021 2:56 pm
Here's the thread when we were talking about it 4 years ago...not much has changed other than it annoys me more and Greg 's opinion has evolved with further exposure to it.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10684&p=178022
On a more positive side:
BigdummySteve wrote: ↑Thu Aug 31, 2017 1:30 pm
I like the system a lot and offers opportunities to find the rudest/ most humorous bivvy locations
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 10:06 pm
by GregMay
I can see the Daily Mail headline:
"Man changes opinion! And he's not even BRITISH!"
And so forth.
Unsurprised dispatch officer asked for street/postcode. It's how the system works.
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 11:51 pm
by lune ranger
GregMay wrote: ↑Fri Apr 30, 2021 10:06 pm
I can see the Daily Mail headline:
"Man changes opinion! And he's not even BRITISH!"
Probably partially responsible for the death of Princess Diana as well....
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 8:39 am
by whitestone
Stu, I believe W3W/3LW started out as a means of locating premises/places in countries that don't have a post code type system.
Greg - is Phonefind the new name for SARLoc? The one time I've had to call MR (well Police and ask for MR) was on the first JennRide - a woman had sprained her ankle, I was sent a SARLoc text, clicked on it, my GR was automatically returned to them. Only needs a signal and sufficient battery to connect, no app to install.
Unfortunately for the few people, like my brother, who don't have a smartphone neither system will work.
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 1:14 pm
by GregMay
Yep same thing.
Limitation for certain with those without smart phones. Triangulation based of telecoms towers is used in some cases, but it's a very poor substitute. Usually, we just ring the person :)
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 2:21 pm
by Cheeky Monkey
whitestone wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 8:39 am
Stu, I believe W3W/3LW started out as a means of locating premises/places in countries that don't have a post code type system.
Greg - is Phonefind the new name for SARLoc? The one time I've had to call MR (well Police and ask for MR) was on the first JennRide - a woman had sprained her ankle, I was sent a SARLoc text, clicked on it, my GR was automatically returned to them. Only needs a signal and sufficient battery to connect, no app to install.
Unfortunately for the few people, like my brother, who don't have a smartphone neither system will work.
If you believe the marketing (I was bombarded by video ads for a while) it was developed by a bloke who managed bands and needed them / their crews to go to the right doors / venues
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 10:33 am
by Dave Barter
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2021 6:36 pm
by ScotRoutes
Swaledale MRT just posted on Facebook suggesting folk stick to an OS Grid Ref as the W3W they'd been given was 50 miles out.
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Sun May 16, 2021 8:45 am
by Rapideye
I had my first night out the other night. Was only a couple of miles from the house, so not far. Was to give the Wife the W3W reference and that had me about a mile east than I actually was.
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Wed May 19, 2021 11:21 am
by mikejd
Just seen this link to an interesting blog and discussion around the problems with W3W.
[https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/03/why-b ... hree-words
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Wed May 19, 2021 1:43 pm
by Lazarus
Just seen this link to an interesting blog and discussion around the problems with W3W.
the link does not work
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Wed May 19, 2021 1:54 pm
by Boab
Lazarus wrote: ↑Wed May 19, 2021 1:43 pm
Just seen this link to an interesting blog and discussion around the problems with W3W.
the link does not work
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/03/why-bo ... hree-words
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Wed May 19, 2021 2:12 pm
by Lazarus
Thanks
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Wed May 19, 2021 2:25 pm
by ScotRoutes
Lazarus wrote: ↑Wed May 19, 2021 1:43 pm
Just seen this link to an interesting blog and discussion around the problems with W3W.
the link does not work
Intentional irony?
Re: 3LW - problems?
Posted: Wed May 19, 2021 2:42 pm
by Lazarus
unfortunately:not:true
