I mentioned this on the Smart Motorway thread. I can't find it's own dedicated thread and I think it deserves one for awareness.
There is a phone app called what 3 words (what3words.com/about-us/ - download for Android at play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.what3words.android&hl=en , dunno about IoS) which has the whole world divided up into 3m squares, each of which has a unique three words associated. This is now accessible by the emergency services in many countries.
I've put it on my and SWMBOs phone, thinking that in the event of us needing to explain where we are when out walking in the countryside (i.e. offroad) it could be a lifesaver, or if something happened abroad where we don't speak the local lingo.
In the other thread CGN replied
"I believe that was used in the recent rescue of some idiots in trainers lost on Ben Nevis. Mountain Rescue got the walkers to download the App to explain where they were"
Wrt BTs comment about not having signal - as the product works directly from the GPS satellites it can still give you a three word address, although the maops won';t load. It can also be used to navigate but won't be as good without maps. See www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JBwRxjCq-k&t=3s
EDIT you can also input the three words in many satnav apps rather than typing in an address or postcode. Some businesses are now publishing their location using it.
RE-EDIT and you can have hours of fun (!!!) thinking up three words and seeing where it is, if it exists
Last edited by: smokie on Mon 17 Feb 20 at 12:48
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It is becomin more popular. The Mongolian Post Office are apparently unsing it as well as the AA
:-)
Some rescue services are a bit sceptical. SARLOC a phone location system that does not require you to have the App is considered more useful.. However it is a great app for individual to individual use
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Won't work for Zero. He doesn't think spelling matters.
I'm not a fan. One small spelling error and your 'coordinates' are useless. Ordinary decimal lat/Long is easy enough. Just fire up Google maps or the car sat nav.
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An OS map reference is the preferred option for walkers.
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>> An OS map reference is the preferred option for walkers.
Still use 'em.
It tells you directly which sheet you need for a start. And you don't need any technology, proprietary or otherwise (PROVIDED you know where you are!)
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>>I'm not a fan. One small spelling error and your 'coordinates' are useless
I'm not sure what I think.
You're right about spelling errors, but surely a mistake can be made in a Lat/Long address also.
They say that with similar addresses they *try* to keep them as far apart as possible. I'm not a huge fan of the word "try".
And the addresses can be very similar. The example they give is;
"For example, ///limit.broom.flip is in London, UK while ///limit.broom.slip is in Washington, USA".
Now clearly those two are very far apart, but it does show how easily a mistake could be made.
I can't easily think of an example where what3words would work and another system would not. I think the only thing that comes to mind is that it is very simple to use and an 'address' very simple to remember and to communicate and perhaps that's a good enough reason for it to exist.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Mon 17 Feb 20 at 13:52
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>> Won't work for Zero. He doesn't think spelling matters.
He also thinks its a waste of time re-inventing the wheel. If your phone has a GPS based app, you can give the emergency services your grid reference, a system thats existed long before three stupid words.
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I thought you were cruising the high seas. Where in the world are you? Can you give us your location. Three words should do it
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....I don't think you'll get more than two.....
;-)
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>> I thought you were cruising the high seas. Where in the world are you? Can
>> you give us your location. Three words should do it
Back home again
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Hope you had a good time.
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I had a fantastic time, the highlight was the pretty small ferry along the Panama canal, through the Miraflores locks, facing the massive lock gates with a stonking great bulk ore carrier behind one!
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>> >> I thought you were cruising the high seas. Where in the world are you?
>> Can
>> >> you give us your location. Three words should do it
>>
Back home again
>>
.....anyone with the app like to check where that maps to....?
:-)
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>> .....anyone with the app like to check where that maps to....?
Why would you need an app?
what3words.com/
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>> >> you give us your location. Three words should do it
>>
Back home again
>>
>
>.....anyone with the app like to check where that maps to....?
The back garden of;
308, Roosevelt Ave
West Memphis
Arkansas
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...so it does. (I finally worked out how to search on Windows).
Don't know what he's doing there - I thought he lived in Surrey (though I suppose it's just another redneck area) .
;-)
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Yeee Haw, where's me "Make America Great" again cap.
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I live in ///underemployed.lazy.troublemaker
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>> Can you give us your location. Three words should do it
Mind You Own
;)
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I mentioned the marker-posts in the Smart motorway thread, I didn't use W3W on that occasion because I thought the motorway breakdown services would be more attuned to their own location means. I had W3W on my phone - my BiL introduced me to the concept some 6 or 7 years ago when it was an interesting observation looking for a use. W3W really comes into its own when there is nothing else that you can relate to.
Around 12 years ago when I was surveying power-lines, I drove along to a sub-station up a mile-long track, well away from any housing etc. It was early morning and I came across a parked mini with a length of hosepipe attached to the exhaust. I checked the guy out, then dialled 999 from my mobile. When I got through to the control; centre, I was able to give full OS map reference details - but I might as well have been talking in Chinese. Maybe because W3W is so phone-friendly, it will catch on with everyone in the near future - I hope so.
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>> I checked the guy out, then dialled 999 from my mobile. When I got through
>> to the control; centre, I was able to give full OS map reference details -
>> but I might as well have been talking in Chinese.
I've had a couple of similar experiences.
One involved summoning the emergency services to an office in London's Chancery Lane - a well known and historic thoroughfare at heart of 'legal London' linking Fleet St and High Holborn. I might has well have been mentioning a back jigger in Brixton. Ceased to be a problem as the patient who was having a diabetic fit recovered in seconds after first aider provided sugar in one form or another.
Another involved a breakdown service for whom at the junction of a B road and A road, the numbers of which I read from a sign, outside Bakewell was apparently insufficient.
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One involved summoning the emergency services to an office in London's Chancery Lane - a
>> well known and historic thoroughfare at heart of 'legal London' linking Fleet St and High
>> Holborn. I might has well have been mentioning a back jigger in Brixton. Ceased to
>> be a problem as the patient who was having a diabetic fit recovered in seconds
>> after first aider provided sugar in one form or another.
The call handler was probably out side of London and was more than likely unfamiliar with the area. In fairness outside of people who work its not very well known, it's not exactly buckingham palace.
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>> The call handler was probably out side of London and was more than likely unfamiliar
>> with the area. In fairness outside of people who work its not very well known,
>> it's not exactly buckingham palace.
If they're a call handler for the LONDON ambulance service they ought to be familiar with the significant streets in the City, the West End and the bit in between. Tooks Court or Bell Yard might be different but Chancery Lane, while not Oxford Street or The Mall, isn't exactly insignificant. It was for many years home to the Public Record Office, the Law Society has been at number 119 since God was a boy, Royal Insurance was at No5 until the eighties. Several legal publishers lurk up there along with Ede and Ravenscroft = tailors and wig makers to the legal profession since before 1800.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 17 Feb 20 at 20:52
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>>but Chancery Lane, while not Oxford Street or The Mall, isn't exactly insignificant.
Of course it is, to the vast majority of the population; Insignificant, uninteresting and of no value.
Just an address.
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>> Of course it is, to the vast majority of the population; Insignificant, uninteresting and of
>> no value.
>>
>> Just an address.
Bit of you're a call handler for the emergency services or a breakdown company surely you should know your patch?
Pretty obvious what that means in London.
Equally if you're on a national service you should make the link from Bakewell to Derbyshire and know where, on a map of the UK, to look for Derbyshire?
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>> If they're a call handler for the LONDON ambulance service they ought to be familiar
>> with the significant streets in the City,
Possibly but I doubt it. Probably just works on
>> Tooks Court or Bell Yard might be different but Chancery Lane, while not Oxford Street
>> or The Mall, isn't exactly insignificant. It was for many years home to the Public
>> Record Office, the Law Society has been at number 119 since God was a boy,
>> Royal Insurance was at No5 until the eighties. Several legal publishers lurk up there along
>> with Ede and Ravenscroft = tailors and wig makers to the legal profession since before
>> 1800.
Exactly, I'm sure well known if you work there but if you don't you'll have probably never heard of them.
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>>I mentioned the marker-posts in the Smart motorway thread...
I have had to call the emergency services three times in the last six months on the motorways to report a crash or broken down vehicle in a dangerous position.
Each time the motorway marker didn't help and I had to resort to this example..."two miles north of the Watford Gap services, southbound lane" to get any meaningful response. They just did not have a record of where the markers were.
One was for kids playing just behind the barrier where the cone is here:
www.google.com/maps/@51.30114,0.1486384,3a,75y,269.12h,86.47t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1srEJ9mD6I6Kc8tDPmKNYnPg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Car broken down just a bit further along!
Last edited by: zippy on Mon 17 Feb 20 at 15:31
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"Each time the motorway marker didn't help..........."
I must admit that, when we rang in, our reference to post 139/1 seemed to take a while to sink in; looking back, maybe I could sense a little embarrassment that they knew less than I did about motorway signage. They were more interested in 'what's the next junction?' - which is not very helpful if the sign for the next junction is, say, a mile or more away and you're not familiar with the area.
As an aside, when you are walking along the side of the hard shoulder in the near-dark, the biggest hazard is looping bramble stolons that have grown down from the embankment. They re-root as soon as they can and form trip wires; I crashed down on more than one occasion.
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>> When I got through
>> to the control; centre, I was able to give full OS map reference details -
>> but I might as well have been talking in Chinese. Maybe because W3W is so
>> phone-friendly, it will catch on with everyone in the near future - I hope so.
>>
I had the same with the AA a few years ago when a hose went on an unclassified road. I gave the co-ordinates to the lady in the call centre in Bristol and she told me they don't go by those. I had to give some complicated directions of how to get to me via a village called Eglywswrw which was great fun on a crackly phone line while I was standing astride a gate to get any signal at all.
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It seems that the concept of latitude and longitude are beyond the ability of most people - even the emergency services.
But three words are much easier to handle - even by reasonably bright six year olds. Readers of tabloids should have no problems providing they are short words. (with apologies to those who actually enjoy them!)
Last edited by: Terry on Mon 17 Feb 20 at 17:01
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If people are silly enough to attempt Ben Nevis in Winter ill-equipped then I'm not entirely sure exactly what concept of positioning they would be able to grasp.
This particular incident resonates strongly with me. My first ascent of Ben Nevis was on a February day some 40+ years ago. Everything was green to approximately 1500ft, but a complete white-out (mainly mist and cloud over deep snow) and freezing conditions above that. I was one of a party of four, heavy-laden with ice-axes, crampons, ropes and full winter survival gear. We were overtaken whilst still in the green by two Dutch lads in trainers, each equipped with that vital piece of winter gear, an umbrella, and nothing else.
We attempted to turn them back, but to no avail, and as they were carrying nothing, they disappeared into the mist in front of us. They certainly didn't make it to the top (We did, though we had to rope-up for part of the day. We saw only two other people, on the top; I have photos to prove it, though you can only just make any people out).
We think that, in the mist they diverted off the summit path along the route to the CIC hut under the North face, which was more obvious at the split. Certainly, after we had descended (nearly all the way sledging on a survival bag) the Mountain Rescue were out most of the night looking for someone.
Having tried quite strongly to turn them round, we didn't feel particularly guilty!
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>>heavy-laden with ice-axes
Are you sure that they weren't ice hammers?
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"It seems that the concept of latitude and longitude are beyond the ability of most people"
I disagree - the concept is very simple, it's just that most people do not have a need to regularly use it. They do it at school ......... then forget its practical applications.
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Interestingly the Greenwich Meridian and the 0.000 meridian used by Satnavs are slightly different. The latter lies 100 metres East of the Greenwich Meridian.
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I have the app on my phone....hope I never need to use it. As an ex Boy Sprout I always have my Anker battery pack with me, fully charged of course, and a head torch ( with spare batteries).
My U.K. walking group use 6 figure map references and sheet numbers to show the start point of our walks.
Here in Spain, the CBMW ( C Blanca Mtn Walkers) Group use latitude and longitude. Walks regularly start well off the beaten track, so putting in these two reference numbers into Google maps, then using Apple Car Play via a hard wired USB I get precise directions to the start of the walk on the 6.5” screen on my Fiesta. For a Luddite I sometimes amaze myself.
This Saturday’s walk (22/02) Guadalest 38.65651, -0.19681 if anyone wants to join us! Being led by a Scarborough lass
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Sounds fun. Are cruises the way to go? Never been on one myself though could be tempted. Might try a small one next year and see how it goes.
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>> Sounds fun. Are cruises the way to go? Never been on one myself though could
>> be tempted. Might try a small one next year and see how it goes.
Its my last I think, done 5 and scratched that particular itch. Its all about the itinerary, if you find one that does places you want to see, its ace. I would suggest the Adriatic as a good starter cruise, on one of the smaller Marella boats.
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I wouldn't want to go on one of those massive ships. I appreciate that people have different tastes and they enjoy things that I don't, however I would go on a small ship if there was a chance. Many years ago the banana boats that came into Cardiff offered very limited passenger space, now that appealed to me very much, at a push I'd do one of those Med. cruises.
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Out of season cruise ships are sometimes used for large meetings that they want to hold undisturbed.
So I've been on cruise ships, but not on a cruise. Quite big ones. They're really great. I could absolutely spend time on one of those. Especially with the added bonus of various stop overs.
However, I don't think I could be in that close proximity with that many people. I'm not very good with large crowds in my social life. Strangely it doesn't bother me when I'm working, but otherwise I don't do well.
Ultimately I think, for me, it's a floating Butlins. And Butlins is a thing that I dearly loved as kid, not something I'd do now, simply because you're enclosed with the same people.
Depends on your preferences I guess...
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>> Ultimately I think, for me, it's a floating Butlins. And Butlins is a thing that
>> I dearly loved as kid, not something I'd do now, simply because you're enclosed with
>> the same people.
>>
>> Depends on your preferences I guess...
And that was the line that was crossed from time to time on this boat. By the standards of the big floating blocks of flats/resorts it wasnt that big, and was beautifully appointed, with loads of classy facilities, but with 2000 pax it was over my line in the sand. Ok with experience of the vessel you can find what you want with respect to a bit of class, relaxation, entertainment, food, but at some point every day you came into contact with benidorm sur le maindeck.
I figured it might, but this one was all about two things, the destinations and the weather, both delivered in spades.
There are smaller more intimate friendly boats around to try out.
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If you want to try a small one CGN then I highly recommend ScicSailing. A small company run by a Dutch lady.....she leases a small fleet of gulets which operate different itineraries off the Turkish coast and around the Greek island. 7/10/14 days duration. All inclusive. Beautiful small boats with a fantastic friendly crew of 4. Fabulous fresh food, eaten around one table on the aft deck. Cabins are fine, but most of us opted to sleep outside on deck under the stars. Comfy mattress, clean sheets. At sunrise dive overboard, swim a few laps around the gulet, kayak, snorkel, shower off then a delicious breakfast on deck. No itinerary for the day....look at the charts with the skipper, decide where you want to sail, or not and away you go. To my knowledge one of the few gulet charter companies who actually raise the sails, wind permitting.
Eleven pax on my last trip...including 2 S Africans, 2 Dutch, 3 Turks, 1 German. We all got on like a house on fire.
Fabulous cruise
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>> If you want to try a small one CGN then I highly recommend ScicSailing. A
>> small company run by a Dutch lady.....she leases a small fleet of gulets
A gullet is not a bluudy cruise is it!!!!! < slaps head in dispair >
This would be a good one, seen a few of the ships about in ports, great for the "underemployed" among us.
www.fredolsencruises.com/destination/south-and-central-america
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>> It seems that the concept of latitude and longitude are beyond the ability of most
>> people - even the emergency services.
>>
>>
Probably why the emergency services don't teach call handlers to bother with it. If the public don't know or use it its a waste of time for the very small number of people that use it.
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I can remover three words from an app to then put my phone to my ear to narrate it to a handler. I would need pen and paper to note all the numbers for longitude etc to then read them back. Alternatively need to use phone on hands free whilst fiddling about with phone and keeping apps open.
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What 3 Words app - CGNorwich
