FixPhrase – open-source, patent-free what3words alternative
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Re: FixPhrase – open-source, patent-free what3words alternative
#2What stops W3W legal team shutting down this ohe like they did to the other open source implementation?
Re: FixPhrase – open-source, patent-free what3words alternative
#3What stops W3W legal team shutting down this ohe like they did to the other open source implementation?
I would also like to know why this isn't considered patent infringement.
https://patents.justia.com/assignee/what3words-limited
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I've poked around the website. They claim an "open-source, patent-free algorithm" is used, and therefore the entire concept doesn't infringe on W3W's patents. Yikes. They can expect letters and lawyers.
https://source.netsyms.com/Netsyms/fixphrase.com/wiki/How-It...
Re: FixPhrase – open-source, patent-free what3words alternative
#4It looks like the key difference between this and what3words is that squares near each other have mostly the same words. With only the last word changing for adjacent squares, and even then they are similar. I can see the motivation for this (you can abbreviate to fewer words for a general area), but alto suspect it is partially about the W3w patent. However it also increases the risk of being slightly wrong with a location, w3w is good for things like emergency rescue as you can’t be slightly wrong.
Re: FixPhrase – open-source, patent-free what3words alternative
#5I picked a random location and got "daringly kleenex sloppily very". Are there any issues with the fact that "kleenex" is a registered trademark?
Re: FixPhrase – open-source, patent-free what3words alternative
#6I'm trying to think of a use case for such a service. Any ideas?
Re: FixPhrase – open-source, patent-free what3words alternative
#7neither this nor w3w are as useful as googles already open source https://maps.google.com/pluscodes/ in my opinion.
With plus codes you can both have a short, memorable address and gauge relative distance with other nearby addresses. I'm not sure I can think of a reason to ever use fixphrase or w3w as an alternative to this already existing open standard.
Re: FixPhrase – open-source, patent-free what3words alternative
#8It looks like the key difference between this and what3words is that squares near each other have mostly the same words. With only the last word changing for adjacent squares, and even then they are similar. I can see the motivation for this (you can abbreviate to fewer words for a general area), but alto suspect it is partially about the W3w patent. However it also increases the risk of being slightly wrong with a l…
"However, security researcher Andrew Tierney demonstrated in 2021 that the What3words algorithm does not sufficiently protect against confusion between nearby locations because it may assign words that are similarly spelled or pronounced, which can limit the value of the system when a precise and unambiguous location is required, like safety-critical applications. Analysis by Tierney showed that close repetitions and the use of plurals occur in physically close locations. The company says that this has a one in 2.5 million chance of occurrence, but Tierney's analysis has highlighted areas where the odds are around 1 in 500."
Re: FixPhrase – open-source, patent-free what3words alternative
#9I picked a random location and got "daringly kleenex sloppily very". Are there any issues with the fact that "kleenex" is a registered trademark?
Kleenex is widely viewed as a genericized trademark and appears as an English word in the Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries, which this may use as a source.
Re: FixPhrase – open-source, patent-free what3words alternative
#10neither this nor w3w are as useful as googles already open source https://maps.google.com/pluscodes/ in my opinion. With plus codes you can both have a short, memorable address and gauge relative distance with other nearby addresses. I'm not sure I can think of a reason to ever use fixphrase or w3w as an alternative to this already existing open standard.
w3w considers the disambiguity an asset. Almost like a check sum. If you enter an address, and it's in the middle of the Pacific, you know you wrote it down wrong.