A Quartet of Joys

[jesse_the_k]

1. MyGuy picked up some books at my local branch, where a librarian's T-shirt proclaimed “bookmarks are for quitters“
2. Found a light-hearted, short podcast called "What the Hell is my Job?!". Each episode is two people anonymously describing their job (with lovely sound design, although I could do without the constant music bed). The host is Irish and queer and so far the contributors are all from the UK. There are transcripts on their site under each episode. So far I’ve learned about band managing, freelance percussionists, a Task Rabbit rabbit, and a union dogsbody. They’re soliciting more unusual job-havers: https://whatthehellismyjob.com
3. Learned about What3Words, a global wayfinding app that’s divided the world into 3 metre squares and gave each square a unique combination of three words. It’s the easiest way to find and share exact locations. I appreciate that 3m is close enough to see or hear someone — it’s human scale navigation. I'm delighted they decided to signal a location with three leading back forward slashes, a design that nicely rhymes with three syllables as well as the RL file location. Sadly doesn't (yet) work with Google or Apple Maps, but it is supported by a bunch of navigation apps aimed at blind travelers as well as free Apple and Android apps.
4. Strolling in the dog park yesterday, I encountered ocean waves in Wisconsin at ///riders.loft.scout. The grass is left long by Wingra Creek: in the past three months it’s been hammered by wet snow, internally mauled by -40° temps, and then flattened by breezes. The remnants of last month’s snow are reverse whitecaps on the tattered brown creek side.

Any joy in your days?

ETA: 19 Feb corrected w3w's indicator.

Comments

[sonia]

Great photo and great description leading up to it!

What3Words is interesting. I looked for more info on their company, and their About page didn't say much. Their Wikipedia entry has more. If their apps are free to use, then they're presumably selling location data to someone. At least they're from England and not Silicon Valley, but I still wouldn't trust them.

I noticed they're covering the world in English words, and was pleased to see that one can get three word addresses in other languages.

[jesse_the_k]

Good point about their ///w3w's lack of funding model!

I learned about Organic Maps https://organicmaps.app thanks to your pointing me to the Opt Out Project. The OpenStreetMap data is very rich for my part of town. To my delight, Organic Maps supports four other alternate coordinate systems. I'm intrigued by the notion of open source mapping ... I see some gratifying rabbit holes in the days ahead.

[sonia]

OrganicMaps is cool! I downloaded it now that you mentioned it. I look forward to any tidbits you share from your rabbit hole explorations.

[mific]

Ha, I thought at first What3Words was assigning meaningful words that described the 3m, but of course not - impossible task - they'll be randomly assigned by a computer. My garden area is: ///jolt.mascara.mascots, and my front door is ///accountancy.adhesive.bellowing!

[jesse_the_k]

They are definitely not meaningful, but they could be good band names!

I was delighted to learn that 10 Downing Street (British Prime Minister's residence) is ///slurs.this.shark

[mific]

!!! :D

[chanter1944]

Thank you for the wayfinding rec! I also super appreciate both you pointing out its accessibility for blind travelers, and the fact that it's accessible in that way in the first place. :D

Unrelated: Your icon! <3 Aww.

[jesse_the_k]

You're most welcome. I think three words are infinitely easier to remember than the long strings of longitude and latitude.

Unrelated: that's your Bosco icon, right?

[chanter1944]

I'm sorry to learn they're not meaningful words, though! I was absolutely imagining a meaningful word string. Whoops. :P

Yep, that's Mr. Labby. This is a shelter kitty I knew in college, long since happily adopted by a fellow volunteer.

[luzula]

Oh, that's a lovely photograph!

[jesse_the_k]

Ah, thanks.

[seascribble]

Ooh that podcast sounds like my jam!

[jesse_the_k]

I'd love to hear what you think of it.

[starshipfox]

My dad was in Mongolia about four years ago, and he said "what3words" was used all the time there, because people tend not to have traditional street addresses, and some of them are nomadic. So it's become used by everyone, including the postal service.

My wife (also a librarian) has a bookmark that says "bookmarks are for quitters". She loves to read a book in one big gulp!

That makes so much sense

[jesse_the_k]

...how w3w would be useful in Mongolia!

I remember the gulping days, when I was young and energetic. Now I'm in savoring mode.