4 ms·

W3W have shorter words for urban areas and longer words for rural areas. And this in various languages (all incompatible to each other, obviously).

by mbirth 5y ago

anfilt 5y ago
I think the bigger problem is W3W some how got a patent on basically using a fixed pointed number (aka fixed size grids) as a look up into a table. Nothing is too complicated or really innovative about using bits to look up words in a table. Their table has about ~40000 entries. And all it basically does is concats the two fixed point numbers into one longer binary number and splits that into 3 different numbers. Then each number is used to lookup a word. It's also quite bad compared to other geo-hashes that have hierarchical structure that can get more accurate as you specify more information.
hef19898 5y ago
Yeah, why would international compatability be good thing for a location service? Snarkiness aside, I never understood the benfit of W3W ompared to existing things like coordinates and location sharing using Googlemaps, Whatsapp and so on.
- shakna 5y ago
  > Snarkiness aside, I never understood the benfit of W3W ompared to existing things like coordinates and location sharing using Googlemaps, Whatsapp and so on. Relaying coordinates over static-filled radios, with background noise like the sea, etc. Basically, emergency situations where if you can't hear a number clearly it can be significant. Unfortunately, W3W encodes using words that can create problems in those circumstances too. (Like plurals misdirecting rescuers. [0]). [0] https://twitter.com/isleofmandan/status/1386455377949122561 https://twitter.com/isleofmandan/status/1386455377949122561
  - hef19898 5y ago
    Ah, so what e.g. the military does with their maps? Deviding them into "code worded" grids, only being public? Yeah, that's a use case. But in order to use that, don't you need: - GPS in order to know your location - some type of communication (cell,...) to tell someone W3W being an app implies cell phones, sending a set of ccordinates, even by SMS, is much faster in these cases, isn't it? Unless you are in the total wilderness, only radio. Which either limits range (handhelds) or means you have a range (CBS,...) which requires a license and proper training in most places. And communicating your position should be basic stuff during training I assume.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

W3W have shorter words for urban areas and longer words for rural areas. And this in various languages (all incompatible to each other, obviously).

by mbirth 5y ago

W3W have shorter words for urban areas and longer words for rural areas. And this in various languages (all incompatible to each other, obviously).

anfilt 5y ago

I think the bigger problem is W3W some how got a patent on basically using a fixed pointed number (aka fixed size grids) as a look up into a table. Nothing is too complicated or really innovative about using bits to look up words in a table. Their table has about ~40000 entries. And all it basically does is concats the two fixed point numbers into one longer binary number and splits that into 3 different numbers. Then each number is used to lookup a word. It's also quite bad compared to other geo-hashes that have hierarchical structure that can get more accurate as you specify more information.

hef19898 5y ago

Yeah, why would international compatability be good thing for a location service? Snarkiness aside, I never understood the benfit of W3W ompared to existing things like coordinates and location sharing using Googlemaps, Whatsapp and so on.

shakna 5y ago
> Snarkiness aside, I never understood the benfit of W3W ompared to existing things like coordinates and location sharing using Googlemaps, Whatsapp and so on. Relaying coordinates over static-filled radios, with background noise like the sea, etc. Basically, emergency situations where if you can't hear a number clearly it can be significant. Unfortunately, W3W encodes using words that can create problems in those circumstances too. (Like plurals misdirecting rescuers. [0]). [0] https://twitter.com/isleofmandan/status/1386455377949122561 https://twitter.com/isleofmandan/status/1386455377949122561
- hef19898 5y ago
  Ah, so what e.g. the military does with their maps? Deviding them into "code worded" grids, only being public? Yeah, that's a use case. But in order to use that, don't you need: - GPS in order to know your location - some type of communication (cell,...) to tell someone W3W being an app implies cell phones, sending a set of ccordinates, even by SMS, is much faster in these cases, isn't it? Unless you are in the total wilderness, only radio. Which either limits range (handhelds) or means you have a range (CBS,...) which requires a license and proper training in most places. And communicating your position should be basic stuff during training I assume.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]