Split (1)

train · 14k rows

q_id stringlengths 6 6	title stringlengths 4 294	selftext stringlengths 0 2.48k	category stringclasses 1 value	subreddit stringclasses 1 value	answers dict	title_urls listlengths 1 1	selftext_urls listlengths 1 1
gocoqs	how are 16:9 and 4:3 not the same aspect aspect ratio?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frf2lbt", "frf2y2w" ], "text": [ "\"A 4:3 aspect ratio means that for every 4 inches of width in an image, you will have 3 inches of height. In mathematical terms, that comes out to the screen being 33% wider than it is high. A 16:9 aspect ratio means that for every 16 inches of width in ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gody1g	. Since VPNs can change your IP address, can you connect to a WiFi even if your device is originally blocked from that same WiFi?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frfb0lc" ], "text": [ "Imma go with no. When your device connects to wifi it doesn't actually use an IP address initially, but uses the MAC address, which is kind of like your device's personal signature. It is possible to change your MAC address, but a VPN isn't where that happens. Wifi rout...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
goekrg	I kind of get how the old computer mouse with the ball would work. How do the newer ones with a red light work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frfe04n", "frfe6wt", "frfdx7f" ], "text": [ "Optical mice have an LED (the red light) that shines downward onto the surface before it reflects back and is picked up by a sensor. A lens collects the reflected light and forms an image. It would appear as a small black and white section ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gog7sp	- with captchas, multi factor authentication, email verifications and so much more at disposal how are the biggest social platforms still riddled with bots in high percentages ?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frfm9n6", "frfmr2g", "frg01lh", "frft97u" ], "text": [ "A lot of these processes can be done programmatically. Often times its more of an annoying hindrance than an impassable boundary.", "Bots can be written to handle multi factor authentication and email verifications. And i...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gogccq	How does Astronomers discover Planets and other space objects Billions of light years away?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frfnfij" ], "text": [ "They don't in general directly observe the planet, but as they pass in front of the star (between the star and us) they block some of the light from the star, when this happens on a regular time pattern you can work out that it is an object (planet) passing in front of ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gohz5i	What do all these Headphones Audio Features specs mean?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frfxwpr" ], "text": [ "Speaker diameter is basically the size of the driver you're putting on your ears; its a useless spec. Speaker sensitivity is how loud the headphones get with 1mW of power (i think its 1mW), unit of measurement: decibel/mW (db/mW); quite useless as well, unless you're an...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
goj7n8	Why does it take half a year to decode an airplane's black box?	In light of the recent plane crash in Pakistan, reports suggest that it will take 6-7 months to decode the black box. The company that made the black box surely knows how to decrypt their encryption, so why would it take so long? Also, assuming the encyrption is super-complicated, what sensitive data would warrant such...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frhagv6", "frg2h9c", "frhtuhq", "frg9q73", "frgvlgw", "frhp0d8", "frgdue8", "frh3nkm", "frhc7dl", "frh2mul", "frhr64j", "frhfw0b", "frihe52", "frhacp3", "frhk898", "frhb0xm", "friee0w", "frhheun", "frgb3rj", "frhk2h4", "f...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gomd3b	; Where exactly do our pictures go when deleted from phone?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frgmncl", "frgmoel", "frgnqra", "frgmuwy" ], "text": [ "Most computers don’t delete files right away. When you delete something on a computer or phone, the space is just marked as available to be written over by something else. Eventually, something will come along and overwrite t...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
goo2cd	How does computer memory actually work?	So I might be overthinking it, but I understand that machines store information in certain locations on a drive but how exactly does it work? Like how can a usb drive store thousands of songs? Edit: just to be clear I mean how does it physically work	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frgy18x", "frh8hqw" ], "text": [ "First: how does it work conceptually? Data is stored in the form of ones and zeros using binary. Any type of data can be encoded this way, including songs. A USB drive contains space for many, many ones and zeroes and so can store many songs. So how does ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gosg5a	Why can't .exe files be opened on a Mac?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frhv6xi", "frht30l", "frhy4go" ], "text": [ "Programs are like pilots and a computer is like an aircraft. A Mac has a cockpit that has different levers and buttons than a Windows cockpit. An exe is a program that only knows how to do stuff in a Windows cockpit. Stick that pilot in a M...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
goss8p	Why are source code leaks for games so bad?	When source code is leaked it always seems to be big news, but wouldn’t people already have the code the moment they downloaded the game?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frhr1nn" ], "text": [ "The version distributed to users is compiled machine code: code that computers can execute but humans can't read. This code is generated by a compiler, and trying to guess the original source from the compiled code is typically very difficult if not impossible. In simpl...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
govsfa	What is recursion and why is it used instead of iterative loops in programming?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frijaq8", "fribcbd" ], "text": [ "Recursion in programming is a function that calls itself to do some sort of task. The way recursion was first explained to me was trying to answer the question “Who are your ancestors?” The answer would be your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, g...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gowaea	Why is a kindle screen easier to read in sunlight than an iPhone?	Or just different types of screens	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fridtjs", "frim1eq", "fridnbb", "frjdhh7" ], "text": [ "Assuming you're talking about a black and white Kindle, these screens are made of e-ink. Basically imagine a grid of little tiny balls that are black on one side and white on the other. Turning some of those to black and some...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
goyf1f	What’s the difference between a circuit breaker and a fuse and what are their advantages and disadvantages?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "friqmj4", "frisxvl" ], "text": [ "A fuse has a piece of metal in it or something similar that when it gets too hot it melts breaking the connection. While a circuit breaker uses a filament made of material that contracts causing the switch to close under the same conditions. The main adva...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gozhmz	Can GPU’s be used as a normal computer processed? If they can why aren’t they if they are so much more powerful?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frix49k", "frj4lxs" ], "text": [ "A modern CPU has a small number of powerful cores. A modern GPU has a large number of significantly less powerful cores. \"Normal\" programs wouldn't get much use from having a lot of cores in the same way that games do (games need to run a bunch of easy ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gp04hr	How do “clock” websites (that track things like global population, national debt) work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frj173u" ], "text": [ "They simply take the best statistics available and calculate the rate of change over time. For example, if the UN estimated the world population to be 7 billion one year and 7.1 billion the next, this would mean that the population increased by 0.1 billion (100 million)...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gp2i44	How do computers turn binary information into your usual computer programme?	I dont know anything at all about the inner workings of a computer. For example, how does it turn «electricity on/off in this part of the computer» into «this pixel on the screen should be this color»?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frje2i2", "frjtico", "frjqz1q", "frjeeq9", "frjit4w", "frjeegc" ], "text": [ "A CPU has two main components, the processing unit and the control unit. The processing unit can store small amounts of data, do basic math and number manipulations, and other sorts of calculatio...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gp38xw	How can a CPU handle workloads better but still have lower fps than another CPU?	I saw a meme about it and I just got really confused - if it's faster at completing tasks, shouldn't it deliver higher frames? Sorry for my spotty PC knowledge. I'd appreciate any help!	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frji636" ], "text": [ "Most games are not optimised for parallel processing/multi threading very well so they benefit from higher clock speed more that high CPU core count. Workloads that are multithreaded optimised will better utilise high core count CPUs without huge regard for clock speed....	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gp56x8	Why is there such a difference in mirror appearance and photo/selfie appearance?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frjsl53", "frjw9hw", "frjw60c", "frjy0ao", "frjzqmg", "frjylki", "frk2co3" ], "text": [ "In your mirror your image is flipped horizontally. That is how you most often see yourself and that is how you expect yourself to look. Selfie cameras show your image not flipped, ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gp5yvz	For cameras, when you slow a video down, you see frames; you zoom in and see pixels. For audio, is there an equivalent? Can one mic make more data points than another and can each data point be of higher/lower quality compared to other mics?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frjxwmx" ], "text": [ "The equivalent of a pixel in digital audio is a sample. This is a measurement of the pressure change at a given time. The highest frequency you can accurately represent is half the sample frequency. And similar to pixels an audio sample can also have varying number of b...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gp6jlj	How do green screens work?	1. Why only green?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frk19ue", "frk4bh9" ], "text": [ "In a nutshell, you bring your green screen footage in and tell the computer to ignore any pixels that are green, leaving behind whatever else is in the shot. Generally any process that involves using colour information to separate objects in a frame is ca...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gp7rdw	VPNs. What are they? Are they Legal? Are they free to use? Are they completely secure too?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frk9hbl" ], "text": [ "> ELI5: VPNs. What are they? Ever thought of using somebody else's computer to check on something that might raise suspicion at home? Eg, you want to download some porn, but your parents would really frown on that. So you go to a friend's house instead, because their pa...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gp8l2l	why did CRT TVs leave a small dot in the middle of the screen when they were turned off.	Title. Like what was happening?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frkdaz6" ], "text": [ "CRTs make pictures by shooting a little beam of stuff at the screen, basically little bullets of energy. When it hits the screen, chemicals on the screen light up. Unfortunately we can't move the little gun that shoots this stuff. But what we figured out is we can use m...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gpbwgx	Why did so many computers use “control alt delete” to “unlock,” was there a reason?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frkxxd7", "frky8u3", "frkxzve" ], "text": [ "Ctrl-Alt-Delete is a special set of keys that Windows doesn't pass through to programs on the other side which makes it a bit more secure and very unlikely to happen accidentally When you press keys on your keyboard they get handed to the m...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gpgg2n	How does a pacemaker work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frlznb2" ], "text": [ "Your heart has a little battery connected to it called a neuron. This battery sends itty bitty electrical shocks to the muscles in the heart to get the muscles to work in the right order. A pacemaker is a second battery that watches the heart’s battery. If the pacemaker...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gpk5vx	How are we able to take photos of astronomical objects that are so far away and so large?	I have very little knowledge of space in general. I saw [this]( URL_0 ) post on r/space, and saw that just a small portion of the photo was labelled to be 5 light years long. That got me thinking, how does the technology that allows us to take photos of things so ridiculously large and far away from us even work?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frme5qx", "frn24m9" ], "text": [ "Really, and I can't stress this enough, really large telescope mirror for a camera. URL_0 Video shows how they made 1 mirror for a three mirror setup.", "How long an object is irrelvant. When there is a full moon put up your arm and stick up your thum...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gpkrww	What enables satellites in space to not bump into each other, seeing that there's so many of them up there?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frmjhg6", "frndi8k", "frn14qe", "frmk1nu", "frmij3t" ], "text": [ "It's mostly that they are so far apart, but having information on their orbits helps quite a bit, similar to being a flight controller at a large airport, if you're a space agency you would keep track of the or...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gpolc1	Why is the time estimated on computer installation/download/repairs etc. ALWAYS wrong?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frnvfff", "frnk7e5", "frnkqif", "frnt2fn", "frnvkze", "frnwewr", "frnlreo", "frny1ex", "fro6hyv" ], "text": [ "Downloads are actually pretty good to predict (as long as the connection is somewhat stable) because what the program is doing is fairly uniform: Down...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gpoqq5	Grind in games		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frnkmr6", "frnjg11" ], "text": [ "There is a strong correlation between hrs played and money spent on games so game companies are trying to create gameplay loops that keep you playing. Grind is part of that. Where this gets messed up is creating bad loops. Habe you ever played a game and ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gpq5ug	How can Microsoft release one updates for Windows 10 and all devices get it while only few devices get Android updates?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frnxrda", "fro1hp7" ], "text": [ "Windows 10 is Windows 10, but since Android is open source, every phone manufacturer home brews its own version. When Google puts out a new Android release, it goes to all eligible Google-manifactured devices, but Samsung, Sony, HTC, etc all have to modif...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gps7wr	How do the different computer languages work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frodwsp" ], "text": [ "The computer is basically full of things that act like switches and can be turned on or off. When you write your code, the second you touch the keyboard or mouse, you flip some of these milloins and millions of switches. This is computer memory. The display of your comp...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gpsnjc	I've read that Earth is overdue for a reversal of its magnetic fields. If this occurs, how would it impact our everyday lives?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frogfts" ], "text": [ "The poles do reverse every so often but they don't flip in an instant the poles weaken and migrate slowly to the other location. This will effect migrating animals like birds which use magnetism to navigate, however most of it will have little daily effect. The problem ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gptuum	How do file archivers work?	What happens, besides compression, when computer files are put in an archive such as zip, rar, tar, etc?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frqfl7e" ], "text": [ "Archiving is nothing more than concatenating binary file contents together into one big blob, and keeping an index of where each file starts and ends in the blob. So if file 1 is 0011001 and file 2 is 101101011001 then the contents of your archive file is 00110011011010...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gputlq	why do photos look better on the screen of the device you took them with (smartphone, camera, etc.) than when you look at them on a laptop or PC?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "froxut6", "frov2aj" ], "text": [ "Part of it is the pointless \"Megapixel Wars\". Cameras are tricky things, miniature phone cameras doubly so. Consumers don't want to hear about focal length, ISO, contrast ratio, dynamic range, universal vs rolling shutter and many more technical details...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gpvb7o	how does a electric Microphone work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "froy9gz", "frpad0w" ], "text": [ "Microphones and speakers are basically the same thing. Sound waves push and pull on a mechanical layer. Those movements are converted to electrical signals thanks to a magnet on the microphone and passed to a computer for processing. Obviously, Microphone...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gq3fjj	How are video games ported from one console to another without having to completely remake the game?	I imagine some complex piece of software responsible for porting assets. But how is porting really done?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frr1719", "frquh5q" ], "text": [ "Layers of abstraction. When you develop any kind of software, you very rarely need to develop close to the actual hardware - mostly because you don't often even know what hardware you're running the software on. If you think you should play the sound, you...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gq3phw	What is the least significant bit when it relates to steganography and how does it help find the encrypted information?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frqixx1" ], "text": [ "Steganography is a way to hide information in images. In a digital image file, one way to do this is to make small changes that won't easily be noticed when viewing the image. Let's say that an image file contains three numbers for every pixel in the image - Red, Green,...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gq5df5	Why AES encryption is the standerd		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frqs4bx" ], "text": [ "Because it was specifically designed and chosen to be the standard. Since 1977, the encryption algorithm called DES (Data Encryption Standard) was used, but by the 1990s it became increasingly weaker (as computers grew more powerful), so NIST (National Institute of Stan...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gq6p5u	How does the internet work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frqz9vl" ], "text": [ "Basically it's a giant network of devices connected, identified by an IP number for the other networks, and a MAC direction for the same network devices, also, every device has a route table to choose what's the next jump avaliable to send the messages for reaching the ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqcqvh	How do they send data back from far outer space?	my wifi can't even reach my bedroom	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frrxgsv", "frrybd7", "frrxqsb" ], "text": [ "Your wifi router has a small antenna, probably no more than 10cm long. Your phone's wifi antenna is even smaller. There's also a lot of interference from hundreds of other devices that are also using wifi. Meanwhile, deep space probes are l...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqdm91	- Subnet Mask	Hello, i know this question has been asked numerous times, but it never managed to truly explain it, and it's quite frustrating. So far i understand that a Subnet Mask is used to divide an internal IP address into a Network Portion and a Host Portion. I'll make the SOHO example because that's what i'm used to, never sa...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frs2shz" ], "text": [ "I think what you're missing is the subnet mask isn't always 255.255.255.0 The subnet mask tells you which part of the address is considered local and which isn't. What if you wanted a subnetwork of only 8 addresses, with everything else treated as remote, and those 8 lo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqj1uy	Why can’t you exchange some of your normal storage on a computer for more RAM?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frsyrxg", "frsyo9l" ], "text": [ "You can, and already do. It's called [paging]( URL_0 ). Your operating system will use disk space like extra RAM if it needs to, and will move less-frequently-accessed data from RAM onto the disk in some situations. You can configure the size of your page...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqjmfw	If humans can't see ultraviolet wavelengths of light, what is a blacklight?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frt473z", "frt7x7z", "frt2oyt", "frt2nel", "frt4olv", "frtj034" ], "text": [ "Florescent pigments absorb uv light that's invisible and then re-radiate some back at a lower frequency. That's why only some things glow in a blacklight. It's also how dayglo pignents work.", ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqkw4q	How does Akinator actually do the thing?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frtao23", "frtau2n", "frtb31y", "frtfr07" ], "text": [ "By having a very large database with things/people/animals and their properties. Then it just ask about random properties and if you say that your answer has that property, it eliminates all the answers that don't have them. ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqmffy	Why are the capacitors so big, while the transistors are tiny?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frtl9gb", "frtkf2i" ], "text": [ "They are very different kinds of devices. All a transistor (in a computer) is doing is controlling the flow of a tiny current. This doesn't need the transistor to be large, in fact it can be very small and still do its job brilliantly. However if we look ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqny54	What's the purpose of complicated network servers?	I sometimes see these gigantic servers made for internet connection used for home networks. Why do average consumers use giant 24 port switches and other various things I barely even know about? What is the benefit of using those, when you can go to best buy and get a simple router?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fru06va", "frtwk78" ], "text": [ "Most home users do not need a 24 port switch. However there are cases where it can be needed at home. 1) you have a home theater and have shitload of devices you want to plug into internet. Sling box, Roku, chrome box, Xbox, ps5, Wii, some other internet ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqofcc	Why does swapping order of two "dead" batteries provide more output?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fru0luc", "fru224o" ], "text": [ "It's not the swap, but the removal. It rubs a little oxidation off the terminals, reducing the contact resistance.", "Electrical resistance in a layer of oxidation on the battery contacts will reduce the output of a weak discharged battery, in a way t...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqpxl5	How exactly does a compiler convert readable code into binary		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frudhl5", "fruko1c" ], "text": [ "The compiler translates the code into a much simpler coding language called an assembly language. We don't generally write code directly in assembly because each instruction in assembly tells the processor to do one specific thing. The assembly then gets ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqs0ia	Apple makes iPhones that they themselves cannot break into. How is that possible?	I would love an analogy or simple explanation of how someone can design a system that is locked/unlocked using a number string, but also have no possible way to reverse engineer or figure out that number string, having intimate understanding of how that system works. Is there a way to illustrate this using like, simple...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frul1te", "frujc5y" ], "text": [ "Take the formula Z x Y = 100. If we don't know what either Z or Y is then you there' s no way to solve that problem. You can come up with a list of possible solutions - Z = 2 if Y = 50 is a possible solution, for example. But we have no way to know if tha...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqsut4	How does downloading stuff work?	How can my computer take files off of a website, download them, and even continue to download them even if I closed the tab where the files came from.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frunzns" ], "text": [ "Basically once you click on download your Computer makes a (completely separate) request to the Server for that file, the Server then (usually) simply starts sending you the File piece by piece until you've got everything, closing the tab doesn't stop the download becau...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqtiq9	How do logic gates work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frut53w" ], "text": [ "Logic gates take one one more logical inputs. These don't need to be electrical: it's perfectly possible, for example, to build logic gates that work on marbles, or dominos, or push rods, or water flowing. All that matters is that something can exist in at least two sta...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqui02	Why are power packs in Physics lessons so big, if e.g. the charger for a phone is so small?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fruxpko", "fruxt2b", "fruwq5a", "frvas13" ], "text": [ "The charger for your phone is not a battery pack, it's a transformer (voltage reduction), diode bridge (to convert AC to DC) and a bunch of control electronics. If you refer to power supplies, that has a lot to do with power ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqujnv	Why do green screens used for special effects have to be green? Why can't they be blue or any other color?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fruxa0b" ], "text": [ "They tend not to use colours such as red or orange as people have red based features such as red skin tones or hair" ], "score": [ 5 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqy3i8	Transistors and how are they important in computers and other devices		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frvmjr0", "frvmldb" ], "text": [ "Perhaps man's greatest true invention to date. A transistor is a Semiconductor device ( a material that can behave like an electrical insulator or a conductor depending on how it is made, and the conditions it is in.) A transistor is typically used in two...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqy5by	How does VirusTotal check files for viruses only with checksums?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frvii98" ], "text": [ "Essentially VirusTotal is a massive database that saves info from the first time the file was seen. If you upload a file or search for a checksum, VT looks to see when the file was last scanned and updates the results page accordingly. Files scanned 2-3 years ago, espec...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqz02t	How does FBI or Law Enforcement Agencies extract data from any Android device whose bootloader can't be unlocked and thus can't be rooted ?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frvrhtk", "frvv2qv", "frvrn13" ], "text": [ "They mount the storage medium to a different device. If they don't have a USB-based method of doing so, they can simply take the Android device apart, unsolder the storage medium, solder it into a compatible device, and read it that way. If...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqz9dm	What is the iot (internet of things) and why is it important?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frvp1ih", "frvox2d", "frvyvs4" ], "text": [ "IoT generally refers to appliances and common electronic items that use the Internet for enhanced functionality. For example, Samsung sells a gas stove and a kitchen fan that both have WiFi; the stove can tell the fan to turn on based on th...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gqzbtg	How exactly do websites generate valid gift card codes for other retailers?	Specifically, what's happening on the backend for these codes to be generated and validated?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frvuq56" ], "text": [ "the website doesn't generate them. the website backend calls the other retailer or the gift card network to generate a card number and pass it back to the website to pass to you" ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gr1ocs	Why does having console standard hardware in a PC cost so much in comparison to game consoles?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frw3xln", "frw4od9", "frw5nqy", "frwhc97", "frw44e0", "frwtmcx" ], "text": [ "Console's are mass produced and sold as a unit whereas computers are generally not, and even then far less are created using the same exact parts. If you pay for a bulk order of 50,000 units comp...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gr3as8	How do people in private islands get internet? Do they have their own ISP?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frwfd6c" ], "text": [ "They don't have their own Internet. They pay an ordinary ISP, probably for satellite Internet data service. Their provider takes their packets and puts them on the Internet." ], "score": [ 39 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gr50r4	Why can’t Twitter close its bot API to reduce the ongoing disinformation war?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frwp9wq" ], "text": [ "It could - it just doesn't want to. Twitter's valuation is based on its active user count - the number of 'people' that user Twitter on a regular basis. If they started pulling the bots, that number would drop dramatically (no one really knows by how much, because it is...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gr79kg	How do zip files work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frx5wwi", "frx5bov", "frx5pik", "frxd63b" ], "text": [ "Consider the string \"AAAAAAAAABBBAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCC\" You can very easily represent that as \"9A3B9A12C\" You have \"compressed\" 34 characters worth of data in to 9 characters. Lossless compression generally revolves aro...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gr9b19	How does one way glass work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frxh7hc" ], "text": [ "One side of the glass is reflective, but has many tiny holes in it to let light through. The other side is in a room that is darker than the room with the reflective side. Though some light gets reflected and looks like a mirror enough light goes through the holes you c...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gr9lx1	I understand early humans harnessing fire from brushfires or lightning strikes, but how did one of these cavemen make the mental leap to the process of friction, and that enough of it would generate fire?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frxlm9p", "frxjcf4", "frxjdd6", "fry15xw", "frxr4rc" ], "text": [ "Well my complete speculation is rubbing things together will make them progressively hotter via friction. Fire is very hot. Ergo, rubbing two things together for long and fast enough will lead to fire.", "W...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grbyql	How do modern 3D glasses work?	I'm pretty sure I get how the old school red/blue lenses work. Some stuff is red and some stuff is blue on the screen, and it makes each respective color invisible through its respective eye which tricks the brain. Sweet. But the modern ones are both just clear lenses and the image on the screen just has stuff that's b...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fry0263" ], "text": [ "Light is a wave, and that wave can be an up-and-down wave, a side-to-side wave, or some angle in between. This is called polarization. The lense over one eye only lets in side-to-side waves, and the other one only lets in up-and-down waves. There are two projectors with...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grccpl	how does a printer work? I’m still confused		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fry2rol" ], "text": [ "There are two main kinds of printer in the world that I'll discuss here. Inkjet printers work as the name implies: the ink cartridges spray a jet of very fine droplets onto the paper, which make up the image. Laser printers do not work like the name implies. T...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grdgj6	How do hackers find your password and hack into accounts?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fry8sf6", "fry8ntt" ], "text": [ "Two major ways: - From hacks from other sites. If say Adobe has a breach and you used password \"hunter2\" there, hackers can try that email/password combo on other sites. - Phishing: tricking you into giving up the password voluntarily. This can happen b...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grdqa9	What does RAM contain that allows it to do its job?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frya445" ], "text": [ "RAM is actually a bunch of capacitors. Think of it as many tiny batteries that's continually discharging a bit. If they want to set it to 1, they put some electricity in it. If they want to set it to 0, they drain it. Every now and again, they have to top up the capacit...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grds3m	How do you get sound out of a plastic disc?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fry9zl4" ], "text": [ "simply put, teeny tiny pits are burnt into the CD in an inward spiralling groove. when your cd reader plays it back, a laser tracks the pits and interprets them as ones or zeros, and then software decodes it into files, audio, video etc." ], "score": [ 5 ], ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grfus9	Why does adding a . (dot) after the URL remove website pay-walls?	URL_0 answers this question, but the answers there are too complicated! Please ELI5 them?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frymeik" ], "text": [ "Those websites are tracking you via data stored on your own computer. They do this to enable certain 'trial' functionality (or, first two articles free). If that data gets removed, you get treated as if you were a new user. (This is why deleting local browser data can r...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grfx7u	Why hasn't anybody managed to create a laptop or smartphone screen that you can use in the sun without huge amounts of glare yet? It seems impossible to use most devices in the sun without having to squint past your own reflection!		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frym3e4" ], "text": [ "Because the sun is extremely bright, like 100,000 lux on a sunny day compared to indoor lighting being below 1000 lux. Bridging that factor of 100 is not currently feasible for battery-powered devices. E-ink can solve the issue by being reflective, so it works fine outs...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grgdvt	How can 4KB take us to the moon but barely run a phone?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frytesn", "fryo9ve", "fryooar", "fryofqz", "fryqyel", "fryrwj0" ], "text": [ "First: 4KB is just the RAM the Apollo guidance computer (AGC) had for its computations, in addition to that it had about 70KB of read-only memory, containing all the program code. Second: With th...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grhrae	Why do some PDF documents open immediately in a browser while others need you to save it first before it can be opened?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fryw3pn" ], "text": [ "It depends on the server, specifically the [Content-Type]( URL_0 ) header. This header tells the browser what kind of content is expected in the file - an html page, an image, a video, an audio file, a pdf file, and others. If the Content-Type header is set to \"applica...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gri9jt	When you record song by phone, why the record result is (sometimes so much) different from what we originally listen to?	Mostly the voices/songs become so much noises, while when we call someone with our phone, it sounds as crystal clear on the other side, so it is definitely not a mic issue.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fryy6kk", "fryzkw5", "frz49gk" ], "text": [ "The original song was recorded with high quality microphones, then mixed by a trained sound engineer to become the song that gets distributed to listeners. When you record it with your phone, you are recording a recording (which will result...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grjr41	why do some US outlets have 2 prongs and others have three?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frz6e8g" ], "text": [ "The 3rd prong is for grounding the electronics. Typically the chassis or outer metal shell is connected with a direct wire to the ground, such that if any short were to happen between any wiring and the chassis, the current would flow through the ground and trip the bre...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grjw1l	What technology do ISP's use to store browsing history for which the feds have access too any time they want?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frz99ue" ], "text": [ "They can see what requests you make to view websites, they know your IP address so they can keep a record of which sites you visited For example if 179.75.85.2 connects to 65.171.13.6 they know who 179.75.85.2 is and that 65.171.13.6 is google (the number aree made up) ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grmfvw	Why does rearranging the “dead” batteries in a remote control make them “alive” again?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frzoiek" ], "text": [ "The remote probably had corrosion on the batteries or battery contacts. Moving the batteries scraped some of it off. If the problem comes back, try this as a permanent fix. URL_0" ], "score": [ 5 ], "text_urls": [ [ "https://www.bobvila.com/article...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grmg18	What is RAM?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frzsdhj" ], "text": [ "Imagine you run a kitchen that makes sandwiches. All the ingredients are stored in cupboards and refrigerators. That's your hard disk space. You have a counter area in front of you where you look at the ticket orders and take the ingredients and actually construct the s...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grn68z	what makes a TV movie look like a TV movie and not a big budget production?	I know it’s something to do with the cameras used, but what makes a big movie look different than a low budget TV movie or sitcom? Is it something to do with FPS, resolution etc?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs0bxia", "fs0gt29", "frzt2bi", "fs1ueck", "frzuq5n" ], "text": [ "In addition to the other comments here there are a few others things: * More close ups: Domestic TV screens were usually quite small compared with the movie experience. As a result directors tended to use more ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grnutu	How do motion sensor lights work? In a dark environment how can the motion sensor light detect movement?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "frzxsou", "frzyqth", "frzxqxg" ], "text": [ "Most motion sensors are what are called passive infrared motion sensors. Basically, they are always scanning their viewing area for infrared light, and if there is a large change in infrared light, they report that as \"motion\". Humans (al...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grrqka	How can data from my router come to my computer without being altered by all the walls and stuff in my house ?	If my router and computer are apart from each other in my house and that my computer is connected using WiFi, how can my computer still use the data that has been sent by my router even if there are walls and maybe my brother running in between ? Aren't the data affected by all that stuff ?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs0u2my" ], "text": [ "Data is constantly altered on the way from your router to your PC, at least if by \"data\" you mean the signal's waveform. Imagine it like listening to a talk show on an old AM radio. You might get lots of noise and crackling sounds and the signal might get louder or qu...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grt64h	How can lasers shutdown a drone whilst in flight?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs1307i", "fs0w9ba" ], "text": [ "Even a hundred civilian handheld lasers wouldn't be anywhere near powerful enough to damage a drone. Even a thousand wouldn't do it (also their beams would never line up anyway). What probably happened was the drone was being flown by camera (and not by e...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grtar2	What was done differently for SpaceX to create more fitted space suits than NASA ACES suit?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs0ypa9", "fs1067k", "fs0zflj" ], "text": [ "They hired the guy who designs all of the costumes in Disney movies (including the Marvel Cinematic Universe) to design the suit. That guy specifically designed them to look sleek and cool. One of the big changes he made was to not include ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grtf5r	how does whatsapp makes money ?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs0xkni", "fs1c7lp", "fs0yhne" ], "text": [ "Whatsapp is owned by Facebook. Facebook uses it to collect data on its users. Facebook then sells data and targeted ads about you to other companies. You, the user, are the product which Facebook and all of its branches sell.", "FB didn...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grthdq	Why do old cameras make a person’s eye appear red?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs0zr4h" ], "text": [ "It's not so much about the camera as it was the flash. In a dark room your pupils are very open, so a flash would shine light inside the eye, which would reflect back red. In those days you would hold the flash further away from the camera so the lens wouldn't line up w...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grubd2	How are microchips created?	Just watched this video on r/videos and it gives an explanation on how solid state memory works. However I'm completely baffled how something so complex could be manufactured at that size. Can somone eli5 how a chip like this is made? URL_0	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs15m9j" ], "text": [ "Basically, it's a microscope, but the other way around. The actual pattern of the extremely tiny transistors and wires are printed on a mask that is quite a bit larger than the actual chip. Then, they shine light through it, and bundle it together to etch the details ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grvjfg	How does a video game emulator work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs1brw0", "fs1xtz6" ], "text": [ "So, a video game is a complicated set of instructions for a computer about what to do. It tells the computer what to show on the screen, what to do if the player presses a button. Each type of computer, such as a video game console, has a special language...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grx1ns	Why do Space Launches have to go at an exact moment?	Today, Space X had a launch time of 4:33EST. The Nasa weather dude said "If we can wait 10 minutes, we can go." The mission was scrubbed. What's the reason they don't wait a reasonable amount of time?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs1l9b3", "fs1sh0k", "fs1w8li", "fs227td", "fs1n6hn" ], "text": [ "I could be wrong but if I’m not mistaken it’s because the space station is in constant movement and they have to launch at that specific time to line up with the space station.", "ISS missions have what's c...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
grxktt	How a game such as RDR2 or Skyrim can make the map feel so expansive and realistically large, yet you can travel from one end to the other in less than 10 minutes?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs1pjcm", "fs4ag5g" ], "text": [ "It has to do with what they pack into the space they have available. They scale distances way down so settlements are way closer together than what they would be in real life, and they utilize the space they have between them well. In the case of Skyrim, ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gryrfp	why are computer languages the way they are? why are there so many languages?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs1y0b7", "fs1yfp9" ], "text": [ "There are advantages and disadvantages to various languages. The advantage of Java is that it's virtual machine means the same code can run on multiple systems. The disadvantage is that it isn't necessarily optimized for those systems. Assembly allows you...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gs45tu	How do the new prosthetics work where people can seemingly control their new limbs with just their mind?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs2ssg0", "fs39ycx", "fs42c2q" ], "text": [ "It begins with a special operations surgery where the bone is removed but the muscles are left intact. This is so sensors in the limb can pick on impulses sent to your muscles from Your brain. Most amputations aren’t preformed this way, how...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gs4y2e	What are RAW images and how do they differ from normal images?	I’ve listened to many tech reviewers and photo editors saying that RAW images are better and have been intrigued by it. Also what are it’s merits and demerits?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs2xa8z", "fs2wtr9", "fs32auc" ], "text": [ "RAW images = what your camera sensor sees, normal images = what your screen shows. There are a few differences: A sensor doesn't really record colored pixels. Color is achieved by placing a filter in front of it - so some pixels will record...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gs6mu4	How does Google have the memory capacity to not only store every Google Doc ever, but also many versions of version history for each doc?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs381zl", "fs38ufb", "fs39rez" ], "text": [ "Well, for one thing, storage is cheap. $10 for a terabyte. That's $10 for 1 trillion bytes of storage. Second of all, text takes up very little space. A novel in text format might be 200 kilobytes. Which means 5 novels fit in a megabyte. Wh...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gsbuwy	What is an IP address, subnet, and gateway?	Please ELI5.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs4awxk", "fs47fgc", "fs47hds", "fs4eacr" ], "text": [ "IP address is the unique number associated with one connection to the Internet - like the address on your house is the unique number associated with your home's place on earth. The gateway is the address you have to send thin...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gsce65	how does a monitoring software know the clock speed, data transfert etc. of components at any given time (CPU/GPU/disk/...)?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs4kngu" ], "text": [ "Sometimes, the monitor will show what the component itself is reporting. The component knows it is using a certain amount of power, or is performing operations at a certain rate. The driver allows for the monitor to request and interpret this data. The monitor may also ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gse1op	How does a High Speed Camera work?	I’ve been watching a lot of slow mo guys recently and love their videos but I’ve been really interested in the technology of how high speed cameras work. How do they capture such incredible detail at such a high frame rate? Also, why does resolution and exposure matter for the frame rate?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs4l07b" ], "text": [ "The biggest hurdle is getting enough light. If your shutter is open for half as much time, you need to bring in twice as much light in order to see the same brightness. These cameras going at 10,000 fps need to bring in 160 times as much light as a regular camera, which...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gsm1xj	Why are all songs deeper pitched on an FM radio than they are digitally on my phone?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs63ejc" ], "text": [ "They aren’t, but you might be perceiving it that way because your stereo system has more bass response than the phone’s speaker or the earbuds most people listen to them with. Home stereos, car stereos, even your average boombox is better at sounding lower frequencies, ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gsm3xf	What does hacking actually LOOK like? For example, what interface is the hacker using, what's their goal, and are they typing in a bunch of passwords like in the movies?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs633nk", "fs67gmk", "fs6xif2", "fs62uyg", "fs6wo68", "fs6y2g7" ], "text": [ "Nothing like the movies. Most of it is writing a program at your leisure, depending on what you’re doing. It’s just exploiting over sights or weaknesses in a code or system. Very little is done i...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gsnxfh	Why use a suppressor for a weapon?	Obviously guns are loud. VERY loud. In movies we often see people using suppressors to make their guns virtually silent but obviously this is a completely fictional trope. It is my understanding that even with a suppressor a gun that is fired is still extremely loud, so why use them at all? Is there any other practical...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs6ebtf", "fs6dmmc", "fs6e5el", "fs6fzbl" ], "text": [ "As usual, the answer is more complicated. With the ar-15 shooting .223, the gun is still VERY loud. an AR shooting .300 blackout, its damn near silent. With most pistol caliber firearms, (handguns, MP5s, etc) it can be very v...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
gsnym8	How do scientists search for stars and galaxies millions of light years away?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "fs6ic3r" ], "text": [ "You must have heard of the HUBBLE Space Telescope. Launched in 1990, orbiting Earth at around 560 km altitude, with it's 2.4 meter objective, it's four main instruments can observe in the near Ultraviolet, visible and near infrared spectra. Hubble can see the dimmest an...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.