explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2069: Wishlist

2018-11-10T07:26:50Z

Smurfix: Clippy was, but intelligent it was not.

{{comic
| number = 2069
| date = November 7, 2018
| title = Wishlist
| image = wishlist.png
| titletext = Disappointed that they caved to fan pressure and went with Ruth Bader Ginsburg over Elena Kagan.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please only mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
''{{w|Super Smash Brothers}}'' (also titled as ''Super Smash Bros.'' and usually shortened to ''Smash'') is a crossover fighting game series published by Nintendo, primarily featuring Nintendo characters. As of publish date, there are 77 playable characters across the 5 games in the series. Starting with the third game, ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'', characters from third-party franchises (non-Nintendo) have been made available, though most of them had at least made major appearances on a Nintendo system at some point. This comic is a parody of various fans' wishes for the roster of ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', which was announced in 2018 along with multiple trailers revealing new characters to appear in the roster. In the November 1st trailer it was stated every new character in the launch version of the game had been announced, though with five more characters coming in 2019 as {{w|downloadable content}}.

Throughout the series fans have suggested new characters to add; however, developer acquiescence to these requests is rare, with only five characters out of 77 (King Dedede, Sonic the Hedgehog, Ryu, Bayonetta, and Ridley) having been added this way. On November 3rd, the developer studio Sora Ltd. made a statement on Twitter telling fans that the unrevealed DLC characters were finalized and they were not accepting further requests.

This comic lists 16 "characters" that Randall supposedly wishes were made available in ''Super Smash Bros.'', ranging from plausible playable characters, to the absurd.

; Mario / Luigi hybrid
: {{w|Mario}} and {{w|Luigi}} are characters in the {{w|Super Mario}} series, one of Nintendo's flagship franchises. They are both playable characters in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series. A hybrid of these two characters would be quite interesting, even though such a concept does not exist within the Super Mario series. When considering how Mario and Luigi have evolved throughout the Smash series, one could argue that {{w|Dr. Mario}} is a hybrid of these two in terms of moveset.

; The SkiFree monster
: {{w|SkiFree}} is a computer game for Windows released in 1991. The player controls a skier trying to avoid obstacles. After the end of a full run, a {{w|Yeti|white furry monster}} appears, and tries to catch the player. The SkiFree monster was a subject of the [[667: SkiFree]] comic. Unlike most of the characters on this list, the SkiFree monster at least has had an appearance on a Nintendo system, as the game had a Game Boy Color port as part of the "The Best of Entertainment Pack" in 2001.

; Siri
: {{w|Siri}} is the name given to Apple's personal virtual assistant for iOS, macOS, and its other operating systems. Siri is generally a voice without a visual representation, so it is unclear how Siri would be a playable character in ''Super Smash Bros.''

; Ellie from ''Up''
: Ellie is one of the characters in ''{{w|Up (2009 film)|Up}}'', a 2009 Pixar film. In the beginning of the film, Ellie passes away, leaving her husband Carl alone, and leading him to start his adventure in Paradise Falls. While there was a tie-in video game based on the movie released in the same year for multiple systems (including the Wii and Nintendo DS), Ellie was not playable in it.

; Zordon
: {{w|Zordon}} is a fictional character from the ''Power Rangers'' franchise who serves as the mentor for the earlier Ranger teams. While he is technically trapped in another dimension, he is usually depicted as a blurry head in a tube. He occasionally has lightning powers, and had a robot sidekick (Alpha 5) who might be able to move him around. Alas, he is currently dead, having used his life energy to remove all evil from the galaxy at that time. While there have been many Power Rangers video games over the years, including on Nintendo platforms, Zordon would be an unlikely character not only due to his lack of extremities, but also due to the fact that the Power Rangers franchise is primarily built on stock footage of the Japanese ''Super Sentai'' series.

; Clippy
: Clippit, commonly nicknamed {{w|Clippy}}, was one of the Office Assistants for Microsoft Office (versions 1997 to 2003). It was an intelligent (though most users would place heavy sarcasm quotes around that word) user interface that assisted users. Clippy (and the other Office Assistants) was negatively received by users, and was eventually removed in Office 2007.

; The Sarlaac [sic]
: The {{w|Sarlacc}} is an alien monster that lived in {{w|Tatooine}} in the ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' universe. It is most prominently shown in the film ''{{w|Return of the Jedi}}'', when the main heroes are sentenced to death by being dropped into the Sarlacc's mouth. Notably, the Sarlacc is a large, stationary creature embedded in the ground (essentially, a pit).
: This could be a reference to the Piranha Plant being confirmed as a DLC character, as Piranha Plants are typically stationary and embedded in the ground, and also have their big, toothy mouth as a primary feature.
: While the Sarlacc was featured in 1994's {{w|Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi}} for the {{w|Super Nintendo Entertainment System}}, its lack of mobility would make it a poor choice for a character.

; InstallShield Wizard
: A ''wizard'' is a type of UI that simplifies configuration of an app or process by guiding the user through a number of screens in sequence. A user makes one decision on each screen, and the overall process puts less cognitive load on the user.
: {{w|InstallShield}} is a proprietary software tool for creating installer applications (or software packages) for Microsoft Windows. When the created package is being installed, the installer application can be shown in form of a 'standard Windows Wizard' dialog. Depending on the creativity of the user creating the package, the Wizard can display images while different stages of the installer are being executed.
: There are known instances of The InstallShield Wizard showing a wizard-like character images. Also, the standard wording of the installer text shown to the user ('software-to-be-installed is preparing the InstallShield Wizard, which will guide you through the program setup process') suggests that the Wizard is a 'real character'.

; Mr. Clean
: {{w|Mr. Clean}} is a brand and mascot for Procter & Gamble used for all-purpose cleaners and melamine foam cleaners.

; Comet Cursor
: {{w|Comet Cursor}} was Windows software that allowed users or websites to customise the mouse cursor. It was often installed with minimal user interaction and was accused of tracking users and being "spyware".

; Beto O'Rourke
: {{w|Beto O'Rourke}} is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. Representative for Texas's 16th congressional district since 2013. He was the nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2018 Texas U.S. Senate election (which was held the day before this comic appeared), running against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz. O'Rourke received much media attention leading up to the election, with many considering the election abnormally competitive. He ultimately did lose against Ted Cruz.
: While not a video game character, it is more than possible to create a Mii Fighter based on Beto O'Rourke in the game. However, the game does not come with a Beto O'Rourke Mii, and Nintendo has not created an official Mii of Beto O'Rourke.

; The Monopoly boot
: The "boot" is one of the classic pewter tokens from the board game ''{{w|Monopoly (game)|Monopoly}}''. Despite the absurdity of the request, the boot appeared in the 1999 ''Monopoly'' video game adaptation for the Nintendo 64. In 2017, the boot token was retired from the standard version of ''Monopoly''.

; Lot's wife
: Lot and his wife are characters from the book of Genesis in the Bible. According to the book of Genesis, Lot and his family had to {{w|Sodom_and_Gomorrah#In_the_Book_of_Genesis|flee the city of Sodom}}, which was being judged by God for its wickedness. They were commanded to flee and not look back at the city. However, Lot's wife looked back at the city and was turned into a pillar of salt. It is unclear which version of Lot's wife Randall wishes to be playable in the game.

; D.B. Cooper
: {{w|D.B. Cooper}} is the name popularly used to refer to an unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft on November 24, 1971. He extorted $200,000 in ransom and parachuted out of the plane. His identity and whereabouts have never been discovered. D.B. Cooper was a subject of the [[1400: D.B. Cooper]] comic. As mentioned above, an enterprising player could easily make a Mii Fighter based on D.B. Cooper, though no such Mii has been provided by Nintendo.

; The Blair Witch
: The Blair Witch is the titular character of the ''{{w|The Blair Witch Project}}'', a 1999 "found footage" supernatural horror film. The film became one of the most successful independent films of all time. The witch is never actually shown in the film, making it difficult to turn into a character in the game.

; Mavis Beacon
: ''{{w|Mavis Beacon (character)|Mavis Beacon}}'' is a fictional character and the mascot of the ''{{w|Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing}}'' software series.

The title text refers to two US Supreme Court Associate Justices who were considered as additions to ''Smash''. {{w|Ruth Bader Ginsburg}} was appointed by Bill Clinton; {{w|Elena Kagan}} was appointed by Barack Obama. Both are considered to be on the "liberal" wing of the court, but Ginsburg’s forceful dissenting opinions may explain why she would have been a more popular character for Super Smash Bros. Additionally, Ginsburg has been parodied on ''{{w|Saturday Night Live}}'', adding to her popularity: [http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/cast/kate-mckinnon-15056/impersonation/ruth-bader-ginsburg-100221]

==Transcript==
:[In a frame a bullet-list is shown:]
:Mario/Luigi hybrid
:The SkiFree monster
:Siri
:Ellie from ''Up''
:Zordon
:Clippy
:The Sarlaac
:The InstallShield Wizard
:Mr. Clean
:Comet Cursor
:Beto O'Rourke
:The Monopoly boot
:Lot's wife
:D.B. Cooper
:The Blair Witch
:Mavis Beacon

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Super Smash Brothers never did end up adding anyone from my wishlist.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Video games]]

Talk:1999: Selection Effect

2018-05-30T20:42:09Z

Smurfix: you can leave an MRI scanner while it's running

The selection effect is a bias in the results of a study because the study participants are not a random sample of the general population. For example, a study performed on college students may be biased toward better-educated people, or a study on social interaction may be affected by how many participants have the same first language as the investigators.

[[User:The Dining Logician|The Dining Logician]] ([[User talk:The Dining Logician|talk]]) 19:17, 28 May 2018 (UTC)

One more comic until we hit 2000!
Which means on July 11th, the comic number will finally match up with the date (and will certainly be the only time ever). Like an eclipse!
[[User:Some Commenter|Some Commenter]] ([[User talk:Some Commenter|talk]]) 12:23, 28 May 2018 (UTC)

:Just 49 to go until a big round-number milestone! (and just 1 until a big round number kilometerstone) --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.4|172.68.54.4]] 21:54, 28 May 2018 (UTC)

:Well, arguably only two more to go, as there was no comic for #404 (Found this out on accident a few minutes ago looking for something unrelated.) But that means the 1000th comic was the 999th too.[[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 12:47, 29 May 2018 (UTC)

There was no comic #404 because Randall intended the "Page Not Found" error as comic #404. [[User:The Dining Logician|The Dining Logician]] ([[User talk:The Dining Logician|talk]]) 20:18, 29 May 2018 (UTC)

As I recall Mr Munroe's 404th comic was something that he created to mess with us: I remember being surprised by it, looking at the source code of the page and deciding that it was not an error. SDT [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.52|108.162.216.52]] 02:25, 30 May 2018 (UTC) addendum: a /very/ good April fool's joke: Even if it wasn't (it was) he's still got me ;p SDT [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.52|108.162.216.52]] 02:39, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

I don't think escaping from MRI is that easy. There is reason why it's known to be problem for claustrophobic people. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:46, 28 May 2018 (UTC)
:It it not that it is hard to escape from an MRI, unless you are somehow restrained or disabled. It is just that it feels that way because your head is in a tunnel. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.220|141.101.88.220]] 13:31, 29 May 2018 (UTC)
:Is it dangerous to leave an MRI mid-scan? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.115|172.68.189.115]] 18:57, 29 May 2018 (UTC)
::No. [[User:Smurfix|Smurfix]] ([[User talk:Smurfix|talk]]) 20:42, 30 May 2018 (UTC)
It could be if your escape attempt brings something metallic into the MRI field. [[User:The Dining Logician|The Dining Logician]] ([[User talk:The Dining Logician|talk]]) 19:37, 29 May 2018 (UTC)

Should we mention trivia of comics using the same platform? https://xkcd.com/1781/ [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.252|172.68.65.252]] 16:58, 29 May 2018 (UTC)

https://xkcd.com/1453/ is a simliar, meta-research thing comic. There seems to be several of these now, perhaps a category or at least a mention should be appropriate? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.186.28|172.69.186.28]] 08:03, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

2000: xkcd Phone 2000

2018-05-30T20:38:48Z

Smurfix: it's => its

{{comic
| number = 2000
| date = May 30, 2018
| title = xkcd Phone 2000
| image = xkcd_phone_2000.png
| titletext = Our retina display features hundreds of pixels per inch in the central fovea region.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an XKCD PHONE 2000 USER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is the seventh entry in the ongoing [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phone series]] after [[1889: xkcd Phone 6]]. This time a nonconsecutive version number is used to match the milestone comic number.

List of features (clockwise from top-center):

*'''Dockless:''' It was common practice for older standard cellphones (i.e. non-smartphones) to use a docking station for charging. "Dockless" could be a catchy marketing term for wireless charging.
*'''Silent:''' Implying perhaps that the phone is unable to produce sound entirely. Labelled at the location where a headphone socket would traditionally be, although some recent phones have discarded the traditional headphone jack in place of wireless headphones.
*'''Quad Camera Takes Four Copies of Every Picture:''' Recent phones have added up to three rear-facing cameras, offering different fields of view, monochrome cameras for low light, and a wider base for emulating depth of field effects. At the time of writing no phone on the market has four rear-facing cameras. However, YouTube personality nigahiga created a parody of the iPhone (iFhone 8) that has four cameras structured similarly, e.g. taking a picture of a letter K gives 4K. An alternative interpretation is that the cameras take four ''identical'' pictures simultaneously, which would use up storage space at 4 times the rate of a standard camera while providing no advantage.
*'''Front-Facing Camera Obscura:''' A {{w|Camera_obscura|camera obscura}} is a dark room or box with a small hole allowing light to enter. The size of the hole causes light travelling in straight lines to project a dim inverted image on the back of the room or box; the concept is the predecessor to a modern camera, which uses a lens to allow more light to enter. A camera obscura is not strictly speaking a camera as in an image capture device (although there are pin-hole cameras which use the same mechanism). Actual phones have front-facing conventional cameras, allowing selfies, video calling, etc.
*'''3D Facial Contour Analysis Shows You a Realistic Preview of Your Death Mask:''' Recent computational photography effects implemented on mobile phones support facial analysis, allowing for artificial relighting or the creation of avatars. A {{w|death mask}} would be a new take on this.
*'''Sponsored Pixels:''' Presumably this means that parts of the screen (pixels) can be bought in a sponsoring deal. If enough pixels are sold, your screen would be rendered unusable. It is common for advertisers to buy part of the screen real-estate on a service web site (in fact, {{w|The Million Dollar Homepage}} hosted nothing but a 1000x1000 pixel grid of advetisements), and "images" the size of individual pixels can be used to track site access without being intrusive to the user. For the XKCD Phone 2000, it appears that advertisers have access to part of the screen (worryingly, right in the middle). Slightly less intrusive approaches have been used in bookstores selling customised versions of the Kindle, for example, and it is common for cell phone networks to insist on network-specific software to be installed on a phone.
*'''Front and Rear Pop-Out Grips:''' There are accessories that stick to the rear of a phone and can be "popped out", offering a grip, a stand, or somewhere to store headphone cables. Integrating such a feature into the phone design is novel, although some phones have incorporated kick stands. Pop-out grips are normally placed on the back of the phone to make it easier to hold with one hand. Having a second grip to the front of the phone does nothing except block part of the screen. There could be a small screen on the top of the grip since the grip is shown to contain "Sponsored Pixels".
*'''Humidity-Controlled Crisper:''' A crisper is a drawer in a refrigerator meant to control the humidity to keep vegetables from drying out and getting limp.
*'''Antikythera Mechanism:''' The {{w|Antikythera_mechanism|Antikythera Mechanism}} is an ancient Greek clockwork device for predicting astronomical positions. It is one of the earliest known analogue computers.
*'''New York Times Partnership: All Photos Taken with Camera App are Captioned in Real Time by Reporter Maggie Haberman:''' Modern phones can use machine learning techniques (usually in the cloud) to identify and tag camera content - this makes it possible to search, for example, for photos containing a particular person or subject without requiring user input. Cellphone photos are often used in contributions to social media with some form of user-provided caption. This phone appears to combine the two, using {{w|Maggie Haberman}} to provide automatic captions for photos taken by the phone's owner (although whether this is explicitly for social media use or internal to the phone is unclear).
*'''Spit Valve:''' A spit valve is used for emptying saliva out of wind instruments, particularly large brass instruments. It is to be hoped that less saliva accumulates in a smart phone than a tuba. (best not to think about it){{Citation needed}}
*'''Standard USB Connector:''' a USB 3.0 A port is displayed. Unfortunately, a "standard" USB connector, according to the USB standard, would be a USB B port as a phone typically acts as the "slave" device, rather than the "host" as a USB A port would imply.
*'''Coin Purse-Style Squeeze Access:''' presumably, the casing is flexible in this region, and when squeezed at the sides (a bad idea, considering the next design item) reveals the USB A port and spit valve.
*'''Hollow-Ground:''' a {{w|Grind#Typical_grinds|hollow grind}} is a type of knife (or similar sharp tool) edge noted for sharpness and general fragility, often seen in razors and certainly not what you'd want on the edge of a phone.
*'''Absorbent:''' Many modern phones are designed to be waterproof, to avoid accidents and allow use in the rain. It's also common to have some form of oleophobic coating on the screen to reduce smearing as fingers are used on the touchscreen. This phone seems to have the reverse feature, and be explicitly designed to absorb things (presumably liquids--perhaps that's why it needs a spit valve).
*'''Keyboard Supports Dynamic Typing:''' {{w|Type_system#Dynamic_type_checking_and_runtime_type_information|dynamic typing}} is a computer programming concept, and has nothing to do with typing on a keyboard.
*'''Backflow Preventer:''' A {{w|Backflow_prevention_device|backflow prevention device}} is a mechanism that avoids the possibility of liquid (usually water) travelling in the opposite direction from the normal intent if the expected pressure is inverted. Since there is not normally any liquid flowing through a phone (unless in this case relating to the spit valve), this would not normally be a useful feature. However, some smart phones do contain pressure measuring devices such as barometers (which can also be used in some cases to detect the phone being squeezed), so maybe this phone is intended to be resilient to such conditions.
*'''Swiss Army Partnership: Folding Knife (Unlocks Only if Switzerland is Invaded):''' A {{w|Swiss Army knife}} is a folding knife, traditionally with many secondary "blades" for multiple uses such as can openers and files. {{w|Switzerland}} is known for remaining neutral (and not being invaded) in both of the World Wars of the 20th century despite war raging across surrounding countries, suggesting that it is unlikely that the knife would ever been unlocked. While such a feature on a phone (or phone case) may be useful, it is likely to be a safety concern, and a phone does not provide the ideal grip for a knife blade - especially if force is to be applied to it. This may also reference the Swiss military practice of soldiers keeping military rifles in their private homes but only being given ammunition in the event the army is mobilized.
*'''100% BPA-Free PCB Construction:''' {{w|Bisphenol A}} (BPA) is a chemical used in plastics such as waterbottles. Recent studies show that BPA can leech estrogen-like compounds into liquids, so BPA-free water bottles have become popular. PCB probably refers to a {{w|Printed Circuit Board}}, which contains the electrical components that control most modern electronic devices such as phones. It may also refer to {{w|Polychlorinated biphenyl}} (PCBs), a category of persistent organic pollutants which are not used very much any more; it would be far worse than BPA for anyone concerned with the issue.
*'''AMOLCD Display (7-Segment):''' {{w|AMOLED}} is a display technology often used in cell phones, providing thin and emissive displays. {{w|Liquid-crystal_display|LCD}} is another display technology used in phones, and works by blocking light from a separate backlight. A {{w|Seven-segment_display|7-segment display}} is a device made of seven independently-controlled segments (usually either LCD or LED) which can be used to display a single digit; as such the technology is common in traditional digital watches. In contrast most phone displays are made of a uniform high-resolution pixel grid that allows arbitrary content to be displayed, although some very old (pre-smart) cellphones and land lines did use this technology in displaying a phone number. The technology cannot represent the entire alphabet without modification, so it is inappropriate for text messages, let alone graphics.
*'''Runs on Battery for the First 6 Hours, then Uses Gasoline:''' A nod to the increased popularity of gas-electric hybrid vehicles. This would be a fantastic breakthrough for fuel cells. There have been many attempts to create a highly portable fuel cell that can be used to power phones. Although having to use gasoline instead of a USB cord would likely cause more problems for the average consumer a fuel cell does have some notable advantages over a standard lithium-ion battery. When comparing a fuel cell to a battery of equal size the fuel cell will be capable of powering an object for far longer than the battery. This includes lithium-ion batteries which are commonly used for powering phones and are typically the majority of its mass. This would mean one could shrink the size of the battery substantially yet still be able to provide the same amount of power. The smaller battery can be kept as is in order to reduce the weight of the phone or can free up space for more features to be installed into the phone. This might simply be the first XKCD phone that mentions that it does this. Providing a possible explanation to how the manufacturer of the phone is capable of fitting so many unusual features into the phone to begin with. Another advantage of a fuel cell powered phone is that it is independent from a working power grid (useful for disaster situations where thousands of people would no longer be capable of staying in contact with others or people who are stranded and alone) and there is no need for a bulky generator to convert the gasoline into electricity first. This is not the first time Randall has talked about this before, with much of the information here coming from what-if #128: {{what if|128|Zippo Phone}}.
*'''Sharpie® Dual Stylus (Dry-Erase + Permenant)''' "Permenant" is curiously spelled incorrectly, perhaps comically highlighting that the permanent portion of the dual stylus would be unable to correct any typos that a dry-erase marker would allow.
*'''Mouse Cursor:''' A feature of Blackberry smartphones which has gone out of favor due to the popularity of touch screens. However, Android phones, at least, still support bluetooth HID access, and on some devices it is possible to pair the phone with a mouse (and keyboard) and access the screen through a mouse pointer. This can be particularly useful if the phone is exporting its display to a large external screen - and {{w|Samsung_DeX|some manufacturers}} have provided tethering systems based around pairing a phone with a mouse. A mouse pointer is relatively useless when a touch screen is in use, since the user's finger usually covers the pointer.

The tagline for the phone says that the marketing team hopes that 2000 still sounds like a futuristic number. It was common for a time to have futuristic science-fiction take place on or around the year 2000 (e.g. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Knight Rider 2000, Death Race 2000, Space: 1999), and many devices marketed in the late 20th century had a "2000" as part of their product name in order to sound futuristic. However, since the year 2000 was 18 years ago at the time of this comic's publication, this is no longer the case. The number 2000 also represents the fact that this is the 2000th xkcd comic.

The title text refers to {{w|Retina Display}}, a term used to describe Apple products with higher pixel densities. The XKCD Phone marketing team would be unable to use the term due to Apple's having registered it as a trademark. Additionally, the {{w|Fovea centralis|Central fovea region}} is a portion of your eye's retina (confusing the biological retina with the electronics display of the same name). {{w|Foveated rendering}} is a genuine computer graphics technique intended to increase performance by rendering with higher quality to the regions of the display where the user is looking, and lower quality at the edges of vision; it is expected to be useful for virtual reality (one of the uses for cell phones) as a way to deal with the required high pixel densities while managing power consumption. There are displays with variable density, in specialist uses, but such a feature is not practical in a phone because the whole area of the display is typically useful and needs to provide high resolution (as the user's eye moves across it).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Dockless
:Silent
:Quad camera takes four copies of every picture
:Front-facing camera obscura
:3D facial contour analysis shows you a realistic preview of your death mask
:Sponsored pixels
:Front and rear pop-out grips
:Humidity-controlled crisper
:Antikythera mechanism
:New York Times partnership: all photos taken with camera app are captioned in real time by reporter Maggie Haberman
:Spit valve
:Standard USB connector
:Coin purse-style squeeze access
:Hollow-ground
:Absorbent
:Keyboard supports dynamic typing
:Backflow preventer
:Swiss Army partnership: folding knife (unlocks only if Switzerland is invaded)
:100% BPA-free PCB construction
:AMOLCD display (7-segment)
:Runs on battery for the first 6 hours, then uses gasoline
:Sharpie® dual stylus (dry-erase + permenant)
:Mouse cursor

:Introducing
:<big>The xkcd Phone 2000</big>
:We're still hoping this sounds like a futuristic number®®™®©™<sup>®</sup>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:xkcd Phones]]

Talk:1598: Salvage

2015-11-02T20:40:55Z

Smurfix: don't be stupid

as randall points out, the whole rice thing is a myth. either there isn't water inside your phone, in which case it's going to work anyway, or there is and the rice will only get the moisture off the outside and it won't. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.8|108.162.216.8]] 13:40, 2 November 2015 (UTC)
:Ahah! I just inserted something along those lines. (Also, the Wiki's server clock looks to be fast.) While I didn't go into it myself, the biggest problem is water pooling in the casing and being held by surface-tension between two planes (e.g. circuit board and plastic frame). It's possible that absorbing rice (or other substance) in concact with the vents could draw water (or other liquids!) through the vents, like a wick, even from further inside, but I'd normally dismantle a device as much as I'd dare (certainly not beyond the point that I'd obviously break it ''more'') and leach off the liquid directly with appropriate material.
:A careful dab/wipe wash in distilled water (or suitable non-water cleaning liquids) is sometims also necessary for long-standing residues (e.g. of coffee that went into laptop keyboards), but the absolute main thing is to turn off a device ''as soon as possible'' after a soaking, including removing batteries, so that you've not already pre-ruined anything delicate by a spurious back-voltage.
:But don't take my word as definitive, because it depends on the device, the degree of soaking and what it's soaked with and the rice might work sufficiently or nothing might... Go seek a professional, if you're not just feeling lucky. (Luck''ier'' than when you got it wet, anyway. ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.233|141.101.64.233]] 14:07, 2 November 2015 (UTC)
::And if it was salt water it got soaked in... well, good luck there. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 16:06, 2 November 2015 (UTC)

I used to have a digital clock that stopped when it got wet, and didn't start again until it dried out, 11.5 hours later.<br>The weird thing was that it was ''always'' 11.5 hours - I checked (to within a few dozen minutes) at least four separate times. To this day I have no idea why. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.81.78|141.101.81.78]] 13:44, 2 November 2015 (UTC)
:More mysterious than the precise timing of your digital clock's resurrection is what you were doing to get it wet so often. :) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.210|162.158.90.210]] 14:00, 2 November 2015 (UTC)
::Also saying always 11.5 hours when you also says that it is to within 1 hour is not so precise. The one hour comes from the fact that [[1070: Words for Small Sets |a few means 2-5]], and 5 x 12 minutes = 1 hour ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:10, 2 November 2015 (UTC)
:::It was the sort of clock that is worn on hands (I think that type of clock is also called "watch"), so washing hands the wrong way could do it.<br>And yes, I know of the weird precision - the whole thing happened about 15 years ago, and while I distinctly remember the weirdly precise figure, I cannot remember any measurement of it more precise than "a few dozen minutes" :-) --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.81.78|141.101.81.78]] 15:10, 2 November 2015 (UTC)

Could here be an additional joke from the old movie {{w|Raise the Titanic (film)}}?I'm not sure how this will be pronounced in different part of the English world, but could it be pronounced just like '''''Rice''' the Titanic''? That would be a joke where you do not need he title text to get it... (Which is usually the case - the title text often just adds and extra layer to the joke). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:14, 2 November 2015 (UTC)
:That's impossible. ''Rice'' is /raɪs/ and ''raise'' is /reɪz/. Too many differences. An English speaker who hears ''rice'' when ''raise'' was pronounced is like another who hears ''chip'' when ''sheep'' was pronounced. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.17|108.162.221.17]] 14:32, 2 November 2015 (UTC)

::There are so many weird English dialects. There's probably one in England (or more) where they say raise like Americans say rice. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.241|108.162.236.241]] 15:52, 2 November 2015 (UTC)
:::Not 'English', and not that way round, but I can think of an Ulster (Northern Ireland) pronunciation where "rice" rather like Americans "raise". (But then "raise", itself, also suffers from vowel-shifts/etc.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.233|141.101.64.233]] 18:35, 2 November 2015 (UTC)

If you Google "rice cell phone" there is quite a bit of information, such as https://www.gazelle.com/thehorn/2014/05/06/gazelles-guide-water-damage-truth-rice-galaxy-everything/. Not sure what belongs in this article. [[User:Matchups|Matchups]] ([[User talk:Matchups|talk]]) 14:24, 2 November 2015 (UTC)

Is this the first strip to use "my hobby" in the title-text rather than the actual comic? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.52|173.245.54.52]] 14:29, 2 November 2015 (UTC)
:Nope, there's also [[1480: Super Bowl]]. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.39.207|162.158.39.207]] 15:05, 2 November 2015 (UTC)

Yeah, the way to fix a wet phone, is just to remove the battery and let it dry out, once the battery is out you can even rince it in case what you got all over it wasn't just water.. Oh you can't remove the battery, you say? Well, then you are truly fucked.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.222|162.158.114.222]] 15:56, 2 November 2015 (UTC)

I always thought that the rice myth came from people who misunderstood, mis-told or heard but forgot the joke affirmation that "If you put your broken phone in rice overnight, chinese workers will be attracted and repair it". The joke could be from the myth, but I wouldn't be so sure. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.239|141.101.66.239]] 16:04, 2 November 2015 (UTC)

In case anyone needs anything more about it, the first reference to drying-with-rice that I thought of was [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2312764/synopsis the pilot episode] of CBS's Sherlock Holmes show 'Elementary. I forget if this version of Sherlock thinks it's a valid idea (but he at least knows that the phone's owner thought it so...) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.233|141.101.64.233]] 16:43, 2 November 2015 (UTC)

;RMS Titanic name
While RMS Titanic was a Royal Mail Ship, and as such had RMS as part of its title, I don't think RMS Titanic had the inscription RMS. It was just Titanic. See for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic#/media/File:RMS_Titanic_3.jpg [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.87|141.101.80.87]] 14:31, 2 November 2015 (UTC)