q_id stringlengths 6 6 | title stringlengths 4 294 | selftext stringlengths 0 2.48k | category stringclasses 1
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value | answers dict | title_urls listlengths 1 1 | selftext_urls listlengths 1 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
hzc206 | Computer RAM | Quick Question: I am getting a PC built and i ordered two sticks of 16 GB of Ram (Total of 32). The sticks were backordered, so we switched to 4 sticks of 8 GB of RAM. I was told RAM is like a highway and the more sticks you have, the more "lanes", better performance. Can someone tell me if this is true? What are pros ... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"In short, yes it's true. This is about channels, which is how many simultaneous access points your cpu has to your ram. This all depends on the ram sticks and the motherboard to all be compatible with each other. Read your product manuals. Putting a 4 stick kit into a d... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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hzdhke | Why does Laptop/Smartphone battery get worse overtime? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fzi7ii1",
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"text": [
"Smart/Laptop batteries are currently Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) or Lithium Polymer (Li-Po). Now to give an ELI5, There is something analogous to needles inside the batteries that change direction when you provide a voltage difference (basically when you connect... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
hzg59f | How do rovers sent to planets or outer space able to send data to Earth with such ease ? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fzio0b5",
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"text": [
"Same principles as RF (radio frequency) transmission in your car's radio and your cell phone. Just at higher wattages and in chunks of spectrum well suited for long distance transmission. We also have a series of relays/orbiters that can pass along signal... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
hzgwtf | Who is the owner of internet? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"No one. The internet is just a web of connected computers that provide content to one another. When you visit URL_0 , your computer connects the server farm that hosts the URL_0 content - Reddit owns the content, and leases space from whome... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
hzlpyc | Why does turning something 'off and on again' fix it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fzjtzch",
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],
"text": [
"I think it was on reddit that I read an explanation comparing a PC (or other device) to an orchestra, here’s my slightly sleep deprived version: When then device is running smoothly the orchestra is in time, playing a symphony. Over time so... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
hzscua | How do radio stations transmit text to your car? (Example: the song and artist name showing up on your car’s screen.) | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fzl1la0"
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"text": [
"The signal broadcasted for an FM transmission is actually pretty complicated. Not only do they transmit the audio for a left/right signal, they also send a mono signal, an RBDS signal (Radio Broadcast Data Signal), traffic data etc etc etc. The picture at URL_0 shows al... | [
"url"
] | [
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] | |
hzwptc | Why are well-known pirating sites not taken down? | Why are websites like MyFlixer and Soap2Day not taken down, despite it being well known they stream movies illegally? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Probably becuase their servers are spread over several countries. International police cooperation isn't a common thing. Imagine Sony finding out that an illegal stream is offered by a site having their servers in Canada, Mexico, The Nether... | [
"url"
] | [
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hzxh4s | what is inside a cpu, and how does it perform thousands of calculations a second? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Transistors, basically just lots and lots of transistors. A transistor switches electrical output. So it can switch from on to off or a 1 to a 0. These then make up logic gates. They have multipl... | [
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] | [
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hzxx11 | Why does high frame rates look fine in video games but tend to feel “weird” in normal videos (movies for example) | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"It’s a subjective thing to say it feels weird in television. If I had to say why, I would think because in games, a high refresh rate allows you interact more effectively/quickly than with lower frames. With tv, there is no interaction so image quality is... | [
"url"
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hzxylh | Trains seem like no-brainers for total automation, so why is all the focus on Cars and trucks instead when they seem so much more complicated, and what's preventing the train from being 100% automated? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The simplest answer is: trains have already been hugely automated, with not much noise and publicity. The... | [
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hzyjwp | How are humans so much more energy efficient than robots? | A human can eat two 1000 calorie meals (around 2 KWh) and then move around all day and run its brain and all other systems. A robot needs a lot more energy to perform the same tasks even if it's plugged in and doesn't need to carry a battery. There are sophisticated robots now that are as agile as humans if not more (l... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Human body efficiency is usually quoted at around 20%, meaning 80% of energy input will be lost to waste heat, while 20% will be converted to useful work, as defined by the task. A brushless DC electric motor w... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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i016gj | How does the codes from authenticator apps like (Google Authenticator) works even offline ? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The codes are generated based on an algorithm that has two key data inputs: - Your unique code (which was included in the QR code you scanned) - The current time Since both the app and the site requesting the code know both of those pieces ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i050nf | On a racing circuit, is the purpose of the rumble strips to slow down the car? | I understand they are used to denote entry and exit points as well as give the driver and car extra width to take corners faster. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzn6pau",
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"text": [
"The rumble strips are used to define the outside of the corners. Taking a wide line into a corner is often the fastest way to take that corner (called the racing line). The rumble strips both help the driver identify when they are on the limit (leaving th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i06dp2 | Why have we settled on 16:9 as the standard aspect ratio? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fznfegh",
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"text": [
"16:9 is the aspect ratio that can most easily handle all of the other historical aspect ratios (like 4:3 for broadcast TV, 2.2:1 for Panavision (movies), 2.39:1 for Cinemascope) with a minimum of picture loss and a maximum of the screen used. When they we... | [
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i0a8lm | Why has the progress and development of human society sped up so much in the last 150 years or so? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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... | [
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i0bezv | Why are some phishing scams so obviously phishing scams? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Because they are trying to find the dumbest people possible. If they fall for the obviously fake scam they will probably be stupid enough to actually send money.",
"Theory 1: select out the d... | [
"url"
] | [
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i0bpt5 | What does it mean that Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer program if computers didn't exist yet? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Basically, she did a lot of theoretical work about what would a computer be able to do, and what sort of math problems could you give a computer and get results from. She did a lot of brainstorming about how computers would work, based on the work of Char... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i0ewra | What prevents an internet provider from offering higher speeds? | I moved and the only provider available offers one plan. 3mbps for $49.99 a month. I feel like that should be illegal. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Absolutely no science behind my opinion but my first thought is greed. We pay for it but don’t receive it.",
"There are two different questions in your question. One is about technological limitations, the other is about business model.... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i0hk48 | Why do coins have “heads” and “tails”? | By that I mean, why do coins have different engravings on either side? Why can’t there just be the same picture on both sides of the coin? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"It’s kind of unclear but British coins (namely the 10 pence piece) have the Queen’s head on one side and a lion with a raised tail on the other. The Romans used to call the game ‘navia aut caput’ (Ship and head) because one side depicted a ship while the ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i0hnr5 | Why some websites crash when suddenly large number of people try to access at same time and apps like whatsapp , youtube instagram dont crash even if millions of people are using it same time? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Big websites and services like YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook etc are specifically set up to handle huge volumes of traffic. When someone posts a link to a tiny website on Reddit and millions of people hit it, it's more than the... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i0iyvz | Why are revolver cylinders still used? | I would have thought that using a magazine for a feeding system would have more advantages over using a revolver cylinder, such as higher capacity and maybe faster fire rate. Does the cylinder affect bullet velocity or power in any way? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Revolvers are a simpler mechanism, so usually must more reliable, magazine fed automatics, being more complex, are more prone to jam. The advantages of more rounds available, without reloading, are not that relevant to most gun owners.",
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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i0jmmw | Why did Zoom get more popular than Skype? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"I started using zoom several years ago in my startup because it was more reliable for quality, and it was more user-friendly. Skype was acquired by Microsoft, but they never made the tool easier to use. It still feels like a clunky 90’s too... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i0kj04 | How did some otherwise-advanced ancient civilizations, like the Maya, never develop the wheel? | The wheel was known to many/most ancient civilizations, yet some, like the Maya, never developed it. Why not? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"You need to have some reason for inventing it, for the wheel to be a practical solution to transport you need flat open areas that can be turned into a form of road and also preferably need some draft animal li... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i0mjys | why is 3D printing such a big deal? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzqaejb",
"fzqb7hf",
"fzqaolo"
],
"text": [
"Because it makes it easier to prototype, you can print models to see how they are without having to make molds for injection molding. You can design or download useful objects like replacement parts for yourself without having to pay a lot ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i0smcy | Why do different parts of The world use different types of electrical outlets? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fzsq033"
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"text": [
"Different countries developed the electrical networks/cabling/standards at different times and independently of each other. There was no particular reason to conform to a single standard because international travel was not a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i0trk6 | how does RAW option work on a camera? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fzs8oy7"
],
"text": [
"RAW is data from the sensor, as-is. JPEG is automatically processed data, after things like color correction, sharpening and white balance. Plus it's got less bit depth and has lossy compression. RAW is good if you want to do your own proce... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i0uts5 | In thermae of ancient Rome, how were they able to cool water and keep it cold? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzslcg0"
],
"text": [
"How cold did they need it to be? Water from pipes underground will generally be 60°F (15°C) or less, and that's plenty cold for a cold bath."
],
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i0xfdz | how do websites get redirected to spam pages, and why does it happen more often on mobile pages | I’m talking about pages like NYTimes being redirected to ‘you’re the 5 millionth visitor’ websites, how does this happen? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"1) You web browser or operating system could be compromised. 2) Many, many, many sites out there are WordPress or similar. These sites tend to be run by people will low or no technical skills. It's people that ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i0zqw5 | Why are there three and four letter alt-codes for foreign letter characters? What is the difference aside from the output? | Whenever I look for alt codes for special characters online, I see sites that show ones with 4 characters to be entered while holding alt, and sites with 3 characters to be entered. One place to see this is [here]( URL_0 ). Why is that? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzu4ph5"
],
"text": [
"The three-digit alt-codes where the original ones. From when computers where 8-bit, and there was no more than 255 characters available to choose from. The four-digit alt-codes, that still all start with a 0 if you look careful, are the newer ones that has popped up sin... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i100x7 | Why do power outlets all have three holes? Would they still work with more/less holes? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fztov6h",
"fztr1gx"
],
"text": [
"In most of the world, you have one hot lead, one return lead and one ground lead. The ground is mainly for safety. In Japan where I am currently, they don't use the ground, so only have two terminals. For safety, the devices are double insulated.",
"A... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i104ij | Why do countries have different shaped electrical outlets ? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fztqnnq"
],
"text": [
"Its been many years since the foundations of electrical grids have been laid. Many grids were established without some big single vision of what standards were needed. As these grids grew independently, they created their own standards. They had their own voltage, their... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i14fnf | What is a DDoS? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzui5yw",
"fzugolv",
"fzuhlma"
],
"text": [
"Imagine you are stood at your front door with a box to one side of you and a trash can to the other side. Your purpose is to wait for a piece of mail to come through the letter box and land on the floor. You will pick up the envelope, open ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i15919 | How does the weighing scale measures our weight? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzum61w",
"fzumi09"
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"text": [
"Your weight is a Force (in Newton) caused by earth gravity pulling you down proportionally to your mass. When you step on a scale, this force is exerted on a spring that deforms proportionally to your weight. This deformation is translated into a number t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i16fiu | How does a phone know what time it is? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzurm86",
"fzury51"
],
"text": [
"Your phone is never completely turned off, there are always (even if small) parts turned on, which include the counter for time.",
"Many devices with any computation ability will have time-keeping circuits in them. Even if your phone is turned off for... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i17ezt | What makes a Compact Disk (CD) so shiny? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzuy7j6"
],
"text": [
"Aluminum. A thin layer of shiny aluminum is sandwiched between two clear plastic layers. The data is recorded by burning tiny pits in this shiny surface."
],
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4
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i1adpn | How does switching the rotation of a ceiling fan decide whether the fan gives cool air or warm air? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzvpae9"
],
"text": [
"It doesn't. Rotation decides whether the fan is sucking the cold air up or pushing the hot air down."
],
"score": [
16
],
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} | [
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i1eyh3 | How are games like Kerbal Space Program, Space engineers optimized? | Kerbal space program and Space engineers allows player to build space ships with a large number of parts. The more parts you have, the worse the performace tends to be. How do games normally handle many moving parts, are there ways to get around this? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The majority of games tend to simply not allow many moving parts, to avoid this exact issue, and prevent players from making things that could cause this sort of issue. The more \"things\" you ad... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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i1h2tu | How are undersea fiber optic cables powered? | I know that undersea fiber optic cables are active and boost the signal every 80 mi or so. I know that the cables carry electricity for that purpose. But can you really have an electric line running thousands of miles from the source and maintaining a charge? Doesn't electric charge attenuate with distance too, especia... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzxeesr"
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"text": [
"High voltages are necessary meaning that each signal booster will include its own power supply to convert the voltage to something it can actually. I mean, we already have power lines going many miles at a time. That's how you do it - send it at high voltage. It's the c... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i1j7ox | how do satellites work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzxt8y0"
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"text": [
"Technically the definition of satellite is anything orbiting a planet. This would include our moon. Assuming you mean the science ones, a big rocket put it in orbit. They generally use solar power for electricity, and can communicate to earth using radio waves. If you a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i1jphh | Why wont Automakers bring back replicas of popular classic cars but with upgraded safety features? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzxwnvl",
"fzxwzd1"
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"text": [
"> I think Automakers would make a killing if they brought back some of the most popular models they ever made but with upgraded safety features I think you might be surprised. Car makers have done this repeatedly and they are frequently of questionable su... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i1k0ae | How does Wifi actually work? | Is it literally like radio in that you have an antennae connected to input and output pins to send and receive? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzy1xr5",
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"text": [
"So like, you know how you turn a flashlight on, and it shines around corners? And even if you used one in your kitchen in a pitch black house, you could probably see it a few rooms away? It's almost exactly like that. Your router spits out invisible light... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i1k5sc | "Bouncing" audio tracks? | I was just tweaking an audio file in GarageBand, and when I went to export it I got the message "Bouncing..." When I Googled this, it said it's a feature for when you're trying to save space on tapes. The way it apparently used to be done was you would record all but one track, mix them together, and move them to the l... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fzy0moo",
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"text": [
"You hit the nail on the head with your description. Bouncing, or ping-ponging, was a way to record more instruments / vocals back in the day when you were limited by the amount of tracks you could record on tape. On an 8 track recorder, you could record o... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i1lx41 | How do they keep your vital systems all intact when you are in a medically induced coma? | It is probably quite a simple answer but i have actually never heard the way they do it. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fzych2n",
"fzyxcd6"
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"text": [
"You're fed through a tube and piss through a tube, body does pretty much everything else on its own as normal. Your heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, etc. are all tracked and someone comes to intervene if something goes wrong. In the end you're just ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i1t2ao | Why can't game servers differentiate between people who get disconnected and those who choose to leave a match? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fzzj5rw",
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"text": [
"The game can only differentiate if they use a game function to quit the match, like pulling up a menu and choosing the \"quit game/quit match\" option. Otherwise, the game only knows it has stopped receiving data from that player, there's n... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i1ucmf | Why did intel 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 the contacts on their CPUs? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzzue1i"
],
"text": [
"The different number of contacts is mainly to make the parts physically incompatible so you can't put them in a slot they weren't made for. There are probably a dozen or so reserved but unused pins in each socket layout, and a hundred or so ground/VCC pins that they cou... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i1uy40 | Why do smartphones/laptops get slower and develop issues over time? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fzzx83y",
"g000l18"
],
"text": [
"Batteries degrade over time. That's just how they work. They're based on chemical reactions that don't work ideally, and various waste products and inefficiencies build up with each recharge. As far as speed, it doesn't really change in the hardware. Appl... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i24kxf | Why are video games region-locked? | What's the difference between NTSC and PAL? Are PC games region-locked? If I move to another country (region), will my PC games be affected in any way? I hope I'm using the right flair. Edit: thank you, everyone!! I think I got the necessary information to begin and dig deeper into this rabbit hole. Thank you kindly!! | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g01qijx",
"g01vubp",
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"text": [
"no PC games are not region locked. but depending on where you are, you may or may not be able to connect to that game's servers for online play. & #x200B; NTSC and PAL are different formats for displaying video output.",
"At this point ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i25tz1 | Whats the difference between AM and FM Radio? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g01zigb"
],
"text": [
"Imagine you had a stick in a still pond. You start whapping the water at a continuous frequency. The is your base frequency. You want to encode information in your whaps. Here are two options: you can either change how hard you whap the water (AM) or how often you whap ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i264w0 | How do laptop companies install the Operating System into their laptops? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g021hsv",
"g02n0c4"
],
"text": [
"TLDR: Imaging/hard drive cloning on an industrial scale We use similar techniques in Industry to prepare laptops and desktops for businesses. You install the Operating System on an example machine, install the drivers and any software that you want to pac... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i266f6 | Military jet trails. What causes the streak in the sky, and why does it linger so long? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g023q34",
"g02zn8w"
],
"text": [
"You're probably thinking about the trails left by the military jets at air shows. For those shows, there a machine that sprays oil into the exhaust. The exhaust heats up the oil making smoke. Sometimes that oil is even colored. It stays up because it's no... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i266j2 | How do they program computers to understand programming? | I understand computers run on programs, but how do they program the computer to do said programs? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g024nbu"
],
"text": [
"The chipset (CPU, etc.) has a set of very simple instructions, like \"copy the value from this spot in memory to that spot\" and \"add 5 to this\". They're very low-level, simple instructions, but when you combine them, you can build compilers/translators so that higher... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i2ds3i | how smart scales can give you all kinds of information about your body just by standing on it | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g03yp4g",
"g04b8u6"
],
"text": [
"Those types of scales generally run a very tiny current from one foot to the other. Depending on how well the current runs, it estimates your body-fat. If it knows how tall you are, it can convert that into BMI. It’s not particularly accurate, but it does... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i2g08e | How are scenes like Platform 9 3/4 filmed? | They run into a solid object but looks like they’re going through. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g04mitb"
],
"text": [
"It looks like it's probably a green screen. They have the actors run through a certain point on the green screen set and then record the station footage separately. If you notice, the shot of them running into the wall is static; the camera never really moves once they ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i2gcwo | How do Youtube view counts work? Like, if I exit a video before it's completely done, does it count as a view? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g04kyg0"
],
"text": [
"I’m not an expert on YouTube’s algorithms but I think if you watch at least 30 seconds of the video, then it counts it as a view. That’s what I’ve heard anyway"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text_urls": [
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} | [
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i2iozm | Why does the volume on my television have a 0-100 scale, yet any setting above a 10/100 is unusably loud? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g051fce"
],
"text": [
"The size of the room it is in may factor in also. Bigger tvs generally may have bigger rooms in mind. Having them in a smaller space could make those low volumes perfectly acceptable, whereas you may need to get I to the bigger numbers if you had it in a much larger roo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i2k7f6 | Why when downloading or installing something the amount of time remaining is always wildly inaccurate? | As an example, I’m downloading an update for my Mac currently and and I only have .27 GB left to download and it says I still have 5 hours remaining. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g05b212",
"g0585z1"
],
"text": [
"I have also heard on good authority that some loading bars and time remaining counters are basically aesthetic with no actual connection to the process",
"Time remaining is amount of data left to download divided by your current network speed. If the ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i2muru | why do we still use signatures if they're so easy to forge? | Signatures are really easy to forge, right? If somebody saw a signature, couldn't they copy it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g05pb2s",
"g05t8y8"
],
"text": [
"Signatures aren’t actually used much anymore; I use a PIN with my plastic cards, signing deeds and contracts is usually done digitally these days. That said, it’s really hard to accurately forge a signature. The ink flow is dependent on angle and speed, a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i2niwm | How does "I'm not a robot" verification actually work? Couldn't bots also check for the button and press it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"g05vmwq",
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"text": [
"Yes, but that would take time and computer processing. The button is there to stop bots from making thousands of request every second. The button might drop it to merely dozens per second. One of those \"type t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i2ovfp | Why is "turning it off and back on again" such a good fix for electronics? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g062fj9",
"g062so4",
"g062lbj"
],
"text": [
"It gives the operating system a chance to \"start over.\" If there is a process that has stopped for some reason, you can shut down the computer, and then when you boot it back up it will be started along with the rest of the operating syst... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i2ssfd | what makes a 5th gen fighter plane so superior to 4/4.5th gen? Why havent many countries been able to develop 5th gen fighters? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g06rtgq"
],
"text": [
"Some properties of 5th Gen Fighter aircraft, like: 1. Supercruise: ability to fly faster than and sustain speed of sound, in level flight, without using afterburner / reheat. The engine technology and materials required to achieve this, are simply not available in the p... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i2tnqx | Why are circuit boards often green of color? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g06y65f"
],
"text": [
"It’s a coating added to the board so the solder only sticks where they have to add components, making it easier to solder. Nowadays we can use different materials, but green was first Early circuit boards didn’t have this coating, making them look white with silver colo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i2uxfl | What is a nuclear reactor and what does it do | Not sure if physics is the right flair but I was bored researching Chernobyl and I realized I don’t exactly know what a nuclear reactor even is or what it does? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0759t7"
],
"text": [
"(God I hate the \"it just boils water\" explanation of a nuclear reactor. That's like saying an electric car works by friction, because its wheels touch the road. It's using the most mundane aspect of it to avoid talking about the part that actually is what makes it imp... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i2vfch | How does automatic Hover Mode in Helicopters detect wether you are flying or standing still relative to the ground beneath you? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g07zkz8",
"g093m2x"
],
"text": [
"The Tello has vertical computer-vision sensors; it remembers what it looked like 'before' and if the image is offset it knows how to move it back into alignment. It works best when there is some high-contrast item within view -- if it is over a flat matte... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i2vmcy | if 4G has better range than 3G, how come if I'm in the middle of nowhere, far from any antenna, my phone switches to 3G? Shouldn't it be a case in which only 4G has enough range to reach me? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"g07669b",
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"g076alm"
],
"text": [
"I'm not sure that 4g has better range because the higher the radio frequency the shortest it can travel.",
"It depends on a number of factors, but a big one could be carrier upgrades. If you're in the middle of nowhere, t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i2wp2t | if sound is, in simple terms, air vibrating in your ear, how are electronic devices able to produce sound from videos/ recordings? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"g07c687",
"g07c89w",
"g07cdj1",
"g07d54v",
"g07fq24",
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"text": [
"The use electricity to move magnets in speakers which physically move an object to create a sound wave.",
"we use magnets to move a membrane back and forth really fast. If you do it 440 times... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i2wso8 | Why is it a problem that "they" are farming our data? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g07cz67"
],
"text": [
"For most people it isn't a problem, it all depends on who is using it and why. So assume someone is waiting for a cancer test and has been searching online for cancer a lot just to be prepared, if that person then tries to get medical insurance the data about their sear... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i2xhn8 | All this new technology and we still cant take a $10 out the ATM. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g07hlj0",
"g07hvid"
],
"text": [
"It's just much easier to only stock an ATM with one type of bill. It only contains $20 bills, therefore it can only give you money in multiples of $20. If you did, say, half $10 and half $20, for the same number of bills it would contain on 75% as many do... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i2yp84 | how come scientists/developers cant make phones that capture and send odors,scents,smells? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g07r405",
"g07s4xx"
],
"text": [
"Smells are actually **particulate matter** that our olfactory nerves inside are noses bind to and send signals to our brains to tell us that that particle is a \" < fill-in-the-blank > \" smell. For phones to do that, then those devices would have to be a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i2yz0l | Why is a passphrase important for keeping your Home network secured? | Two questions I'm curious about: 1. Why should we change the preset passphrase on a router 2. Why should we create a guest passphrase for vistors. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g07t21a",
"g07u2jz"
],
"text": [
"Do you want everybody in your neighborhood to see what you are doing on your computer? If not, you need a strong passphrase. You you want everyone who drops buy to visit to see what you are doing on your computer? If not, then you need a separate guess pa... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i30i09 | How are the high quality photos of microscopic creatures taken and why do they look fake? | Not sure whether to put this in biology or technology lol. Talking about things like [this,]( URL_0 ) [this,]( URL_2 ) and [this.]( URL_1 ) They're always described as photographs but they look as if they're 3D models made by computers. I don't doubt they're photos but they look so different from anything we're used to... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g087j10",
"g087sw4"
],
"text": [
"They are not photos, at least not in any sense of the way most people understand photos. These are taken by a scanning electron microscope, then processed out into an image that we can recognize. So in a sense, yes they are computer generated 3D models, b... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i38zgi | Why do you have to wait 30 seconds after unplugging something before plugging it back in? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"g0ak5bs",
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],
"text": [
"Listen, I'm gonna be honest with you. You onl... | [
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] | [
"url"
] | |
i3944w | Why do digital displays have input lag? | As a gamer and collector, I love my retro and classic consoles. I always hear people talking about how CRT displays are better for playing with old systems due to having "zero input lag". But what isn't well explained is why digital displays (LCD, LED, Plasma, etc.) do suffer from input lag. So, explain it like I'm fiv... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g09yrd0"
],
"text": [
"By sheer virtue of being digital. Analog/CRT displays process image data in real time. It gets the signal, it uses it at the same time it gets it, 1:1. The instant it receives the input, it is using it to make the image. A digital display has to process data to figure o... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i3bb3p | Why do FAT32 Drives can only have upper case letters on its name? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0agnfn"
],
"text": [
"The really short answer is backwards compatibility. The longer answer is that the file names are not case sensitive, but the file system is case-insensitive. This means that a file named “file” and one named “File” are the same as far as the file system is concerned. Tr... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i3c0rk | how do the tube tv’s work | You know the tv’s that are super fat and have the tube thing in the back I never understood how they worked | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0aii3v"
],
"text": [
"They have three meshes at the front (screens) with red, green and blue phosphor on them. Then at the back is an electron gun — a cathode with a vacuum between it and the anodes, which are the screens. Electricity is run to the cathode, and then arcs across the vacuum to... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i3cxft | on a physical level what happens when data is written, read or deleted on a solid-state storage device? | i know that when data is read or written on a cd or dvd it is making physical changes on the dvd to store that data in the form of ridges ups and downs , on a hard disk there are platters and a reader that does a similar sort of thing what happens in a ssd or say a memory card that it is able to hold the data in it wit... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0apef4"
],
"text": [
"So basically a normal mosfet transistor turns on and off when you add or remove electrons from the gate. The gate is made of conductive metal so that electrons can pile in and out freely. The electric field from the buildup of electrons affects nearby silicon and allows... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i3d71k | In many video games, why do character models have transparent parts you can see through? | This can be a question for game devs who are part of this subreddit. Sometimes, when you look hard enough, you'll see a character model has a gap. For example, if you look up a character's bracer, you'll find that the character doesn't have a forearm underneath the bracer; instead, you only see a floating disembodied h... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0apmvq",
"g0axjru"
],
"text": [
"It is intentional. Things which are not supposed to ever be visible don't have textures or geometry because they soak up memory and graphics processing power for no benefit. Every graphic in a game has a performance impact and spending resources on things... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i3dfyw | Can anyone explain how Activision adding a 36 GB update to COD MW will decrease the games overall size ? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0artv1",
"g0arxcf",
"g0arud9"
],
"text": [
"Well, optimizing the code overall might bring a reduction of individual file size of the game. Is like you are copying a file with the same name but smaller and selecting overwrite",
"Let's say you have a very awkward house that has too... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i3eqvr | Why are solid state hard drives so much faster than regular hard drives? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0az2yj",
"g0az4pj",
"g0azbgd",
"g0b0z2v"
],
"text": [
"SSDs use NAND Flash memory, much like what's found in a USB stick. It's much closer to computer RAM then an HDD. This means it is as fast as the SATA connection will allow. (In reality, it's actually much faster than advertis... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i3f03l | Why do street lights turn off when people walk by them so often? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0b0fr9"
],
"text": [
"They don’t. This is confirmation bias (you only notice it when it happens so it feels like it happens really often). Street lights (In the uk anyway) have a sensor on the top, which causes the light to turn on and off at the appropriate light levels. For further details... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i3paae | Why do graphics cards have fans on the bottom and heat plates on the top, even though hot air rises? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to flip that design over and push hot air up? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0czqmr",
"g0d9uzf",
"g0d0anc"
],
"text": [
"The fans on graphics cards are intakes, not exhausts. GPUs actually exhaust through the back of the case, meaning that if you pointed the fans upward, they'd be sucking in warmer air, for exactly the reason that hot air rises. Not only that... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i3q9j6 | How do online multiplayer games work so well despite so many differences in the systems behind each user (processing power, internet speed, display refresh rates)? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0d8ijv",
"g0da4sd"
],
"text": [
"They avoid dealing with those issues at all tbh. What you send them isn’t what’s on your screen you send your inputs. Then your inputs get sent and the game reacts to them on your screen and the server. Lag is actually a result of this process being inter... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i3sie7 | how do network cables transmit data from thousands of people without interference? Like a phone cable for 5 houses not mixing up calls? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0dpk23",
"g0drgo6"
],
"text": [
"Long story short, each device has an unique number assigned to it and each communication is made using those numbers. Think of it as a a mailman, he has the exact address and gets you your mail. That s how packets work. For the not mixing part, the switch... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i3t15u | How come induction stove is more energy-friendly than gas stove (with gas cylinder), while induction stove is using electricity and gas stove is not ? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0dsf3m"
],
"text": [
"Induction is far more efficient. A gas stove burns fuel for energy. Energy is lost as light from the flame, heat escaping around the sides of the pot, heating up the stovetop itself, as unburnt gases escaping, etc. An induction stove works by utilizing a magnetic field ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i3ul0e | Why do some phone batteries have more capacity than laptop batteries? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0e7esp",
"g0e32d2"
],
"text": [
"They haven't. I'm pretty sure you are basing this on the amp-hours rating of the batteries. Let's take Apple for a second, and I chose that only because they sell both. iPhone 11 is a 3110 mAh (milliamp-hour) battery. MacBook Air is 4379 mAh. So those are... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i3ve5g | How do online video games connect multiple players together in a session | How do developers make it possible to render the same map and real-time events to people using different devices and living a thousand miles away? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0e9gqu"
],
"text": [
"Simply networking. There is a server that holds every player on. Each player connected to the server is a client. The server has to 'allow' actions from each client if each player wants to see what happens. For example, in a shooter game, A client (player) will press th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i3w393 | How does the Google Authenticator app work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0ee9m9",
"g0ftzq8"
],
"text": [
"It uses your phone's GPS clock and public encryption key(s). Every 30-60 seconds it encrypts the time using this key and displays the result on your phone screen. The servers that use it have a matching private key. They decrypt what you type and if it is... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i46aml | Why can’t you email “large” files? | You can send 10 minute videos through text but when you try to email, it can’t even handle a less than one minute video clip. Why? What is holding it back from sending through? It doesn’t make sense to me | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"g0g4zy6",
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"g0g60nb",
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],
"text": [
"Email was invented in 1971. It is almost 50 years old. It far predates digital audio or video. MMS was invented in 2002. It is less than 20 years old. It was specifically designed ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i4a0yg | Why adding @, & , *, #,%,etc makes your password stronger? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0gwk9c",
"g0h9m9d",
"g0hsq5w",
"g0huapq",
"g0hh948",
"g0hu2z0",
"g0ia8tk",
"g0hwl33",
"g0hnzst",
"g0hu6kb",
"g0i60sc",
"g0he6wo",
"g0i2cem",
"g0hw9sq",
"g0iav42",
"g0ho5de",
"g0ipeaw"
],
"text": [
"It makes for more different po... | [
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"url"
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i4a89t | Why do sites that work perfectly well in web browsers also have apps? | It seems like more and more sites are getting aggressive about trying to get people to install their apps. This includes things that work fine in web browsers, and don't have any obvious need for an app. Wouldn't it be easier for the company to just focusing on making their site work well, instead of having a site AND ... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0gx615",
"g0gyad1",
"g0h3b2y"
],
"text": [
"1. Once you install an app you are less likely to use another service as it forms habits. 2. With an app they can get know more about you.. your location, device and so on, making it easier to market to you.",
"It depends on what the pu... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i4ekb8 | What is BIOS? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0hrb80",
"g0hqw45"
],
"text": [
"The Basic Input and Output System. Put very simply, it's a mini computer that performs all the tasks necessary to start your actual computer. Like the electric starter motor in a car.",
"BIOS is ~~Built-In Operating System~~ Basic Input/Output System ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i4f9ig | What is used to determine how much power a power strip will provide? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0hvobw"
],
"text": [
"The first one is talking about the power available on the USB ports(5 volts DC). The second one is talking about the power available on the mains voltage plugs(120v AC)."
],
"score": [
5
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i4h310 | Why does the most powerful supercomputer in the world use ARM processors if x86 is faster? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0ia4fx",
"g0i72vx"
],
"text": [
"Imagine that you build a computer chip that adds numbers together very quickly. If you use it correctly, you can use that same chip to multiply numbers. For example, 5\\*5 is just 5+5+5+5+5. Even though the chip can't multiply numbers, you can still use i... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i4ihhv | Why are Windows BSOD messages so vague and unhelpful? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0ighwf",
"g0igrix"
],
"text": [
"A BSOD means something failed at the operating system level, which is usually many layers of abstraction below the programs you're actually running on your computer. The reason this usually displays some sort of memory address is that when something goes ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i4jy0a | what exactly is "about:blank"? i see it a lot in loading webpages.. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0ir4zo",
"g0j1iz6",
"g0ir1wn"
],
"text": [
"Browsers have \"about\" commands. They don't require internet connection, they just do things. about:blank is the way to show a blank page. about:credits is another one if you want to see who made the pieces of the browser (it should work i... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i4k12x | How do you build your own PC? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0iqvm8"
],
"text": [
"You pick up a list of compatible parts then put them in a box. URL_0 is super helpful"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text_urls": [
[
"Pcpartpicker.com"
]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i4kzv0 | Why does it take ages to encrypt and decrypt a hard drive, but you can access the data instantly by simply giving it the password? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0iybqk"
],
"text": [
"When you enable encryption, the computer has to read every byte of data on the drive, encrypt it, delete the old data, then write the new encrypted data back to the drive. This requires a read, a write, a delete, and some computation for EVERY piece of data. This is a m... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i4l4po | What is a virtual server and where it is used as opposed to physical servers? | Answers would be highly appreciated. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0izuxh",
"g0izayx",
"g0izc9p"
],
"text": [
"Here's a quick metaphor that I found helpful when I learned about virtual machines. Imagine we have a building, this is our server. In its current state, we house a family in this building (a computer program)... but that's it. It's a big b... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i4mmsd | How come a battery that's full weighs the same as a battery that's empty | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0j91qu",
"g0jiatq"
],
"text": [
"Because the only thing lost in most cases is the energy equivalent mass, ( e= m c^2) C is very large, so the change in mass is very small. There are some batteries that get heavier, like zinc air batteries. A battery is just a chemical reaction that spits... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
i4n5bn | If you change the file extension of a non-text file (like a video or a picture) to .txt and then try to open it in notepad, a bunch of gibberish appears. Why does this happen? | Eg: A .jpg renamed to .txt \[žð°@UQ5´ëÞPém”€móïûýûñ’\`„Ž›C|Éå:8 > ©ß(h¥¬(‹\_}6?OëÄAæ T.Ëß –¤6 ¾OßåÀ‰Ÿ2¾ñâNŒUæ=-Î ²Ú A$k{oïø‡·þÝ9EåÄ%}Aøïq\*=É \~ïÄÃã!W:'Øk{|É·¥T¾ï@5\^§úŒ\]B{,6÷ > ‡óàR | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0jaux9",
"g0jbhju"
],
"text": [
"It's because notepad will interpret the data as if it is text. Data is represented by bytes. No matter the type of data, it's still bytes. A byte is a number. If you want text, you might expect an A to be represented by the number 1. But if you have a jpe... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
i4n6f5 | What are inserts in a Digital Audio Workstation used for? What can I do with them? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g0jxa0z"
],
"text": [
"They are a place to put an FX plug in. The plug in is **inserted** into the signal path, hence the name. Insert FX are used when you want to change the original signal. Examples include EQ, compression, distortion etc. The alternative is **send** FX. These send some of ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
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