5 ms·

Also, it's not hierarchical with most and least significant words, so changing any of the words would send you some indefinite distance from where you're trying

Also, it's not hierarchical with most and least significant words, so changing any of the words would send you some indefinite distance from where you're trying to go. Open Location Codes (in Google Maps, for instance) seem to solve all of these problems except for not having arguably memorable words. It also doesn't change in line with earthquakes or other shifts, though I would argue that's a benefit more than a drawback. You can even omit the first few most significant digits by listing the municipality (where those exist) making it somewhat compatible with existing political divisions. In places with poor addressing, I regularly have to send Google Maps location links, and this provides an open alternative that can be easily transferred onto paper or spoken through a telephone.

Piskvorrr 7y ago
That's a feature, IMNSHO. "I'm in the general vicinity of Wherever, Midsommer, UK, my code is horse.battery.staple" checks out, whereas "battery.horse.staple" is supposed to be halfway around the world, and thus unlikely to get confused.
- vinay427 7y ago
  I suppose it depends on the specific application. If I were talking to emergency responders and they happened to mishear part of the message, I'd much prefer the chance that they have an idea of my vicinity than having a likely infeasible number of possible word combinations, a few of which might provide reasonable locations if it were possible to check them all. In other words, your example would hold true if they heard and remembered the three words correctly in the wrong order, but that's not a gamble I'd want to take particularly if the API to check codes is restricted.
  - Piskvorrr 7y ago
    Sure, there are other concerns here.; the "unhash impossible" being the largest.
    - vinay427 7y ago
      Yep, and I didn't make this clear in my previous reply but I think your example would actually prove very useful for specific applications. Just not for the uses I was imagining in my head, I guess... :)

Piskvorrr 7y ago

That's a feature, IMNSHO. "I'm in the general vicinity of Wherever, Midsommer, UK, my code is horse.battery.staple" checks out, whereas "battery.horse.staple" is supposed to be halfway around the world, and thus unlikely to get confused.

vinay427 7y ago
I suppose it depends on the specific application. If I were talking to emergency responders and they happened to mishear part of the message, I'd much prefer the chance that they have an idea of my vicinity than having a likely infeasible number of possible word combinations, a few of which might provide reasonable locations if it were possible to check them all. In other words, your example would hold true if they heard and remembered the three words correctly in the wrong order, but that's not a gamble I'd want to take particularly if the API to check codes is restricted.
- Piskvorrr 7y ago
  Sure, there are other concerns here.; the "unhash impossible" being the largest.
  - vinay427 7y ago
    Yep, and I didn't make this clear in my previous reply but I think your example would actually prove very useful for specific applications. Just not for the uses I was imagining in my head, I guess... :)