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
5zjth7	Why do batteries put in the freezer last longer, but my phone battery drains faster in cold weather?	First, are these assumptions correct? I've heard both, somewhat anecdotally, so I'm wondering about the interaction between batteries/electronics in general and temperature. Thanks!	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "deymlmv", "deymmmr" ], "text": [ "First, understand that you're probably talking about different kinds of batteries. \"Regular\" batteries are probably alkaline batteries. Your phone has a rechargeable battery and that's probably a lithium-ion one. Those batteries use different chemical r...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zjzcp	Why do bluetooth speakers make that odd noise when a mobile phone is brought close to them	You know, that odd , rhythmic sound they make when a mobile phone is within close range	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "deyv54r", "deyovc4" ], "text": [ "It only happens with GSM phones. The frequency GSM phones operate at is picked up by the speakers as a signal. The speaker then outputs the signal. It comes across as staticish because it's speaking cell phone not speaker.", "You mean this noise? URL_...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zk53u	How is a wire tap actually done these days?	I just remember seeing in movies the FBI sneaking into people's homes and taking apart their phone to "install" a "wiretap" or whatever. I was just curious, if the government has the "ok" to put a wire tap on someone's cell phone, or house phone, or business phone, how is this actually accomplished?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "deyp176", "deypl6t" ], "text": [ "Nobody sneaks into anybody's house to bug the phone. They tap the wires right at the phone company. Also keep in mind that just because you have a wireless mobile phone doesn't mean that your calls don't go through wires at the phone company. They absolut...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zkfzu	What is the worst that can happen if you turn off the computer when it states "Do not turn off your computer"?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "deyriis", "deyrkvf", "deyxytz", "dez8rrn", "deyrfjd" ], "text": [ "With older OS's you could really risk disk and registry corruption when the computer would lose sudden power, however, with Windows 10, I'm seeing little to no effect. My computer doesn't seem to run chkdsk or ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zlxbb	Why does youtube/netflix load videos so much quicker than facebook/twitter?	My internet is a bit rubbish a lot of the time. Even so, the majority of the time I can stream netflix and youtube videos fine. However, even when my internet is good, I'll often have to pause a facebook or twitter video to allow it to load before I can watch it without constant pausing for buffering. What's up with th...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dezcflb" ], "text": [ "Your internet is only as fast as the weakest link between you and a server. Youtube (and Netflix too, I'm sure) has a lot of load-balancing and caching servers that are very close to, or in an ISP's backbone network, which means the route from you to a lot of youtube co...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zmrel	How do we take pictures of space while the earth is spinning?	The earth is spinning at 30 m/s. Wouldn´t every single movement prevent us from taking clear and sharp images of galaxys/planets/stars? Especially at such distances?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dezbfmp", "dezbgxd" ], "text": [ "That's only one rotation per day, or roughly 0.25º per minute. Long-exposure photography of the night sky shows exactly the effect you would think, but on the timescale of less than a second, it's fine.", "That works out to only a degree every 4 minut...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5znsal	Why does wifi have seemingly random "slow days"?	Aside from running programs, what other factors would have an effect on the speed of wifi? If one were to keep the factors like "amount of people using" constant, and other controllable human factors, what else would make the wifi fast or slow on seemingly random days? I swear I'm not just searching for tech support, j...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dezqm0k", "dezkv4s", "dezkxdu", "df06unc" ], "text": [ "It's possible that multiple households have set their wifi signal to the same channels. Wifi occupies channels in the same way that televisions do. The difference is that multiple wifi sources can occupy the same channels and...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zs55q	If Pac-Man's maximum level is 255 because it's the highest decimal number you can store in 8-Bit binary, how come it can count the score up to millions in decimal even though it's still 8-Bit?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df0ktuk", "df11213", "df169a5", "df0kjs0", "df1bjr9", "df0l0lm", "df1mlar", "df1jazv" ], "text": [ "They only reserved 8 bits for the level, resulting in 255 being the maximum level. The maximum score for pacman is 3,333,360 points, but that limitation is determine...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zsjcm	Why is it still possible to turn your computer off when it's doing updates?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df0o2k5" ], "text": [ "It would be a problem if you couldn't. Imagine you're stuck in an update (common in Windows 10 now). Eventually you'll have to use your computer again, but if you had no way to force restart by forcing shutdown first, you've essentially bricked your computer. Operating ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zswyv	Why is it that nearly all minor computer issues can be solved by simply turning the machine off and on again?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df0r2jl" ], "text": [ "Stolen, shout out to u/CostcoTimeMachine A computer or smartphone is built around memory that is cleared when power is removed from the system. When you start your computer, software and data is loaded into memory from storage, such as a hard disk. The longer your compu...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zt5bz	Why are there caps on passwords?	Limitations and requirements are irritating enough, why do some things (in my situation, online banking) have a limit on how large your password can be?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df0t91y" ], "text": [ "Their databases were set up with maximum character counts per cell. When configuring a DB, you set character limits." ], "score": [ 12 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zteqx	I want to design a video game.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df0vx1h" ], "text": [ "I would recommend Unreal Engine for creating a video game. It's free at first, but if you're making over $5000 (?) a quarter you have to pay them 5%. It can look great and there is some great asset packs you can get started with. There is tutorials on YouTube for beginn...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5ztjyj	How does Google Analytics track and serve me targeted ads, even though I use a VPN and delete all my cookies?	Title is pretty self-explanatory. I tunnel all my traffic through PIA VPN service. I have Firefox set to delete all cookies once I close my browser. And yet, I will Google something and get targeted ads on third party sites. How are they tracking who I am, and what can I do to stop this?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df0xmg3", "df0wwkr" ], "text": [ "There is a process called fingerprinting, where a site gathers a lot of data on your computer's environment, rather than your internet connection. A web site can detect your screen resolution, browser type, processor type, windows version. With something ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5ztw13	How do the car key unlock button unlock a car and how does it open only that one specific car?	You know, how you press that button on your car key to open up your car from a few meters away. I don't know what it's called lol.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df10cng", "df1ds6r", "df10nqw" ], "text": [ "When you press the button, it sends out a radio signal with a unique identification number that your car recognizes and responds to. If someone with an identical car uses their remote key, your car would receive the signal, but it would not...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zucze	In order to answer voice commands, smartphones must be constantly listening for the commands: How is this not a massive battery drain?	Talking about the kinds of phones you can wake up or request stuff be done with voice commands like Siri or Ok, Google. In order to pick these up, it must be constantly listening, and that would be a massive battery drain no? Even if you set it up to only search for the commands above a certain volume threshold, that w...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df14slp", "df1jfq2", "df16o3u" ], "text": [ "It is a bit of a battery drain. That's why many people choose to disable those services after rooting. You can greatly extend battery life by disabling or limiting services you don't really need.", "I've read some on this: The ultra eff...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zwb4r	Why was Nazi Germany so fixated on Heavily armoured tanks rather than improving their anti-tank shells and technology to combat the Soviet KV tanks?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df1m6u5", "df1mygt" ], "text": [ "You phrase your question as if it were only just one or the other, when the reality was both options were pursued. But what does 'improving anti-tank shells' mean exactly? Well, there were two main types of anti-tank shells in common use by the Germans, y...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zx3jr	Each car has its own key. Why can't that same car key unlock other cars of the same brand and model?	Inserting the key into the lock is one point, but unlocking in terms of clicking the button on the key from a distance to unlock the car.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df1pua9", "df1rgqm", "df21kdc", "df27512" ], "text": [ "Because the keyless entry device sends a code that the car is configured to accept. Typically a second code (double click) is also configured to unlock every door, and not just the driver's. Obviously, designing them so that ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zy06l	What does it mean to "root" a cell phone or tablet?	ELI5: What does it mean to "root" a cell phone or other device (tablet)?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df1xjup", "df1x4ob" ], "text": [ "On UNIX systems, the superuser or administrator of the machine is often called root. If you are using a UNIX machine, you'll usually set it up so you are running as a normal user except when you need to execute specific commands on it that need superuser ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
5zyxcw	When you delete something off of a phone or camera, where does it go?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df25eqi", "df2585v" ], "text": [ "Nowhere. The data is still there. Your storage medium, be it a disk drive or flash memory, uses some storage space to keep a database of where your files are, physically, on the medium, as well as other meta-data. When you delete something, the minimum nu...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
6001cs	how is mobile data different than a network? If I am connected to an unsecured network, wouldn't I be at the same risk as if a malicious person were on the same mobile network?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df2g3e2" ], "text": [ "No, the protocols are different where the mobile network has individual encryption to each end user. A wifi network only has one encryption for all its users." ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
600fso	How do video game developers in a team share files and projects in a game?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df2icwz" ], "text": [ "Like any software development, there are various version control systems (VCS) applications that help keep track of source code an resource files, allowing different members of the team to access the latest and merge changes. A lot of open source projects use Git, hosti...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
6013jm	Why are we moving toward chip cards rather than swipe cards for our Credit/Debit cards?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df2nh8n", "df2qghc", "df2ozkc", "df2r8xt" ], "text": [ "Because the RFID cards generate a unique, encrypted code every time they are used, making them substantially more secure.", "They are much more secure. They use a 1-time code to verify the transaction. Swipe cards have al...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
601s50	What does MuleSoft do?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df31zbr" ], "text": [ "The basis of Mulesoft's offering is the mule Enterprise service bus (Mule ESB). For the non technical, a bus in computer science is something that can transport data for a variety of reasons. (Hence the term bus, it easily transports many different things). The ESB allo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
602pwq	Why is region lock a thing? Is it even remotely beneficial for anyone?	So I live in a country where the Netflix catalog is about 11% of the total library.. and even with a VPN, I may not be able to access the shows I want which is readily available in the US. Why is there a need to region lock? I also want to purchase Nier:Automata on Steam(a video game), but apparently this game doesn't ...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df315cg", "df34bmj", "df36qry", "df35p3m", "df35ssg", "df31241", "df3ag7t", "df3111g", "df38muv" ], "text": [ "There could be many reasons for content not being available in a specific region. A few examples: 1. The content owner wants you to get the content in...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
603nmz	How does Netflix and other services know I am using a VPN?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df38duh", "df39nbf", "df3feol", "df37ghx", "df3l1yl", "df3g5us", "df3i0eh", "df385ds", "df37xrw", "df3hh5u", "df3d32j" ], "text": [ "It's easy to determine which company owns which IP address. When you use a VPN your IP is changed from the one you are u...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
603zgr	Why arent all files zipped/compressed/packeted by default?	So files are zipped or compressed to save space mainly for when they are being emailed etc. Why arent they just all saved like that on all computers? With the speed of computers now, the time it takes to decompressed isnt even noticed. Why not save space across the entire computer and compress them all (apart from oper...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df3als9", "df39phn", "df39k8s" ], "text": [ "It takes processing power to de/compress stuff. You notice how smoothly video plays nowadays? Pretty much every computer now has a dedicated piece of silicon for decompressing h.264", "Many file formats use specialised compression algor...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
6045of	Isn't the freshwater we have to work with just going in a cycle? How are we losing fresh water?	You are told not to take long showers because you're wasting water, but the water goes through the sewers and is cleaned and returned to the water supply, right? Same thing with toilet water, dishwasher, sink, washer, etc? So, where are we actually losing water when we use it?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df3b7x1", "df3bviu", "df3i90q", "df3eomq", "df3ir9a", "df3cnf0" ], "text": [ "When the water ends up in the oceans, it slows down the cycling a lot. Water in aquifers (the stores under the ground that we access when we use wells) and water on Earth's surface are the cheape...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
604beh	How did the world operate before alarm clocks?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df3fkqv", "df3gk33", "df3c1dk", "df3kl00" ], "text": [ "While the other reply is correct and there used to be a \"waker upper\" what we're failing to realize is that in times that long ago, waking up \"on time\" just wasn't as important. Without widespread electricity it was unusu...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
604fuu	Why does rendering gameplay in video editor take significantly more time than recording live gameplay?	If you really think about it, each frame needs to be calculated, drawn and rendered, from scratch during live gameplay and can be recorded at crazy high fps, when compared to rendering the same footage after minor / light editing, when each frame in the video file is already fully drawn out and all the program needs to...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df3kyf2" ], "text": [ "Rendering a video is doing more than just putting images back to back and then creating a video that puts those images on the screen. It also does a lot of compression to the video so that the file size is much smaller and can be transmitted across the internet without ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
604s7n	How do chess games determine the best move	When you play chess against a computer im sure they brute force every move, but from having every possible move how does it determine which is best. Edit: explainning a very simple choosing algorithim would be nice as well	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df3gsvd" ], "text": [ "You're correct that computers simply brute force every possible move, but beyond that, every possible sequence of turns for x number of turns into the future. Every program has an algorithm for the value of a particular move, general based on the value of capturing spec...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
605dxo	What is Unix time and what is it used for		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df3kxj9" ], "text": [ "Unix time is how computers keep track of time. Unix time is the binary number for how many seconds have passed since 00:00:00 UTC on 1 January, 1970. It is used to keep track of the date and time in pretty much every application on computers and phones because it's such...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
605e86	How does Google & Youtube backup my files, videos, pictures and not deal with hard drives failing all the time?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df3l0v4", "df3ko14", "df3kuit" ], "text": [ "Hard drives are always failing. The drives are in arrays, your data is stored across multiple drives instead of just on one drive. Parity is used to reconstruct data when a drive in an array dies. For an example of parity we can use additio...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
605p26	How is a CPU die separated into different "cores" and "threads", and what even are threads as opposed to cores?	Is it a software thing, or are they partitions of transistors inside the die? If they're just partitions, how do the CPU manufacturers make "barriers" between each partition?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df3npmj" ], "text": [ "Traditionally, one core would handle one thread at a time. if it needed to process information from another thread, the first thread would be put on hold for a short amount of time until the core was done doing what it needed to do on the other thread. However, a core c...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
606u6w	How could whatsapp knows that I may have new messages even without internet.	Sometimes when my network data is off and im not connected to a WiFi I get this message and it is always true. However, sometimes my phone connects automatically to a saved WiFi that actually requires signing in which I didn't do.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df4npdu" ], "text": [ "Simple answer: they don't. They likely just want to entice you to get back on the platform. At most, they run a machine learning algorithm on the frequency at which you receive messages and store this locally in each person's phone, thus over time, predicting with some ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
606wzi	How do website advertisements generate revenue?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df3x5au" ], "text": [ "Depends, but generally both. \"Impressions\" are the number of times an ad is loaded. Impressions are very cheap; millions of impressions might only generate a few dollars. Clicks are \"interactions,\" these generate a TON more money for each interaction. That said, thi...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
6084fx	Are we obliged to give our right data to Google?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df483pj" ], "text": [ "> Are we obliged legally to give the right data to them? No. But they're also not obliged to allow you to continue to use their products/services if they find out that you've given them incorrect data." ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
608dui	Why do car batteries only need to be charged when fully dead?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df4am8l", "df4apus" ], "text": [ "They are actually charged every time you drive. This happens with a machine called an alternator. When your car engine is running, it also turns a little electrical generator that helps keep the car battery charged.", "Car batteries are kept charged b...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
609leu	How is international internet traffic separated and sent to the person who requests it?	If you visit a website where the server isn't in your country, it has to travel through the undersea communications cable. But if millions of people are doing the same thing, how are the individual signals separated?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df4k39d" ], "text": [ "The internet is based on a system called [packet switching]( URL_0 ), specifically [TCP/IP]( URL_1 ). When sending data between two computers, this data is broken into packets, and each packet contains the IP address of the remote computer (and also of the sender's comp...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
609w1l	How are the qualities of movies changed so seamlessly? (i.e a movie originally filmed in SD, then a DVD is released in HD)		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df4lz8v", "df4n5cd" ], "text": [ "Most movies in the past were recorded on film, which is a very high quality medium. However what was released on VHS and other forms had to be lower quality due to the nature of those mediums. By going back to the high quality film they can make a HD vers...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60as9y	What is the purpose and advantage of using prototypes in JavaScript rather than calling objects the classic way.	Javascript noobie here, I've been having quite a difficult time understanding the fundamental differences and what they mean between the classic way of calling objects and calling prototype objects. This has become a problem as i'm not always understanding code I read when it's "prototype oriented" Thanks	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df4uk0s" ], "text": [ "It's not clear exactly what you mean, but I'm guessing you've seen someone call eg `Array.prototype.forEach.call(x, fun)` rather than just `x.forEach`. In that case, the Array prototype has a function attached called `forEach` taking one argument, an anonymous function....	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60c1ef	When something claims to be water resistant up to 50 meters, what happens after 50 meters?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df53mtd", "df55qv0" ], "text": [ "The pressure of the water at that point would overcome any sort of resistance. The deeper down you go... The more water pressure is experienced.", "You also need to remember its pressure, if you slap the water really hard with your 30/50m water resist...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60dbgr	How is installing a program different from copying a file? Aren't they both just writing data but they work very differently?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df5h2rj", "df5h31j" ], "text": [ "Think of it this way. You move, and you pack up all your stuff. Copying is just moving boxes to the new house. Actually installing is unpacking your stuff and putting it where it belongs", "If the entire program is a single file, yes. Most programs th...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60dn9t	What is the difference between a muffler, a suppressor, and a silencer If there are only at all.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df5k3oi", "df5kchc", "df5nafr" ], "text": [ "A muffler goes on your car. Both the Silencer and the Suppressor are two terms for the same device.", "a silencer is a made up thing movies use. a suppressor is a real thing that actually makes a gun sort of quieter but not even remotel...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60e3sh	Why do current FM radio station channels only range from ~80 - ~105?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df5p1ss", "df5owya", "df5oyqz" ], "text": [ "That was the range assigned by various governments throughout the world for FM radio. Use of radio spectrum frequencies are regulated by the government. The reason being that if 2 people try to use the same frequency they could potentially ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60f5e4	Why were there black and white films still being made in the 60s?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df5xm6v", "df5y6fl" ], "text": [ "Night of the Living Dead, which was released in 1968, was shot on black and white film for one very important reason; black and white film was cheaper.", "It was cheaper. Not just the film stock itself, but also set design, props, costumes, and lighti...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60ftnb	Why do so many sites have a selection of pre-made security questions, rather than allowing users to create their own?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df61fdn", "df61hl7", "df62jdu", "df62tz8", "df661y8", "df66ij4", "df670fr", "df6a59c", "df69jkg" ], "text": [ "It ensures that the security questions are of some level of difficulty. If they allowed users to define their own questions then some would be \"My pa...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60fy5a	How can a single CPU core run multiple threads and how is that beneficial?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df63rb6", "df62njw" ], "text": [ "The problem is that when people talk about this subject, they cut out so many technicalities that they miss the entire point (like other threads about the same subject in this sub). I'll try to cut as much of the technical stuff that I can. So think of it...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60fz5v	Why do cars use a visual measurement for the engine's temperature rather than degrees?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df620vq", "df62e3a", "df6221s" ], "text": [ "This is a classic example of good instrumentation design. Must people don't know what a \"good\" temperature is, so showing the actual number requires them to learn and think more. A gauge that reflects meaningful analysis like cold, normal...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60g01q	How computers handles large numbers.	So I was sitting in front of my laptop yesterday when I decided to test the calculator. I realised something I've never thought about before. How can my 64 bit system handle numbers larger than 2^64 ? The calculator can calculate 3248! which is roughly equal to 1.97×10^9997 .	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df62ikb" ], "text": [ "There are two ways. Your calculator likely uses [floating point arithmetic]( URL_0 ). Instead of holding the number as-is, it holds two numbers - the mantissa (m) and the exponent (e) - which represent the number m\\*2^(e) (and one extra bit is used for the plus/minus s...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60g4jf	What happens with excess electricity from a generator?	Before anything else gets said, I'm asking on a single generator level, not a full domestic power grid. As in, the kind of generator you might bring on a camping trip for whatever reason. What happens if there's too much electricity being generated? Say like you have a gen that's putting out enough electricity to power...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df62z9i" ], "text": [ "If there really was excess electricity because the motor speed was too high, the voltage would rise. Voltage fluctuation is acceptable within certain limits, but past a certain point it could damage the devices attached to it. Generators you can buy have regulators to p...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60gpk6	How does white hat hacking work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df67s8r", "df686q0" ], "text": [ "It's the same as any hacking, it's just done with the express permission of the system's owner. You can hack your own computers, for example, all you want. EDIT: Typically white-hat resolves to reporting problems to the owner, helping them harden their sy...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60gq2y	I've seen this more and more, but why do people put their cell phones on speaker and then hold the phone an inch from their mouth?	I was out and about yesterday, and saw several people with their cells on speaker. Passerby could hear every word of the conversation. But they were walking down the street, and putting the cell phone mic directly in front of their lips for the entire conversation (or at least several minutes). When I first saw some pe...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df68rhq", "df693vt", "df67eq7" ], "text": [ "I don't know about men that do this, but women do it so you don't end up with a phone covered in make-up and hair products. Also, depending of your earrings, you can get a clanking sound when your earrings hit the phone. Source: my wife.", ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60ho0h	net neutrality		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df6g4d1", "df6ftyg" ], "text": [ "Let's say you get your TV and your internet from Comcast. Comcast owns the lines (with government oversight) that run from their hubs to your home. Comcast sees that you use a lot of your internet bandwidth to do things that compete with their TV service ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60hpsh	What "Run as administrator" does to a software?	I've encountered many problems with software (not starting, freezing, crashing, poor performance etc.) that were fixed by simply running the program as administrator. What actually changes when doing it?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df6grl3" ], "text": [ "Software runs on top of the operating system. Normally the software should not be altering the operating system that it's running on. Back in the 90s and early 2000s there were LOTS of problems with windows and viruses, mainly because Windows allowed any software to alt...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60i0mn	How can we communicate instantly around the world via cellphone, however when news broadcasters communicate on TV there is always a delay?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df6ixy2" ], "text": [ "Probably has to do with cell towers vs satellites... I mean no matter what you're trying to do with a satellite there will be a large delay of about .6 seconds at least in certain areas" ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60jrcg	How do phones make themselves vibrate?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df6xu2c", "df6xuvt" ], "text": [ "They have a small, off-centred weight that spins. Because it's off-centered, it's unbalanced and causes the vibration when it spins.", "They have a little motor in them with an unbalanced weight. Spin it really fast and the motor+weight shakes the pho...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60k092	What is happening to your computer when it goes to sleep?	How much functionality does it lose/retain when it cuts power usage?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df72j5g" ], "text": [ "The simplest analogy is that sleep mode is a pause button for whatever the state is of the computer. In sleep mode, power is still running to the memory to maintain its content. For background info, ram memory needs power to constantly refresh itself in order to retain ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60klhh	Why does a webpage jump around on its own if I am scrolling through it and it is still loading? Shouldn't it recognize that I am scrolling and not jump to where it wants to go?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df75np4", "df75dqn" ], "text": [ "A \"feature\" known as reflow. It's present in a lot of major web browsers. When the HTML of a page changes (not limited to but is the biggest culprit), it triggers a reflow. The web browser recalculates how it should display and by default it will bring ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60l9wt	How does computer hardware control software?	I am wondering how software controls hardware. How does what I type on the screen translate to an electrical signal that makes physical things move. For example, how does me right clicking in the dvd drive icon and ejecting actually make the dvd tray open?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df7cuac" ], "text": [ "Everything happens through the memory chips. Memory chips are banks of transistors and capacitors that can hold a voltage (+5 volts for example) that is interpreted as \"1\", or 0 voltage interpreted as \"0\". The CPU processor works on memory; it grabs, basically, one ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60m47b	Why are my old smartphones (2013) so slow today doing simple stuff like photos and internet browsing when it could run Playstation 3 graphics games with ease?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df7hyt2" ], "text": [ "Planned Obsolescence. URL_0 Basically, if you make the perfect product, then people would not need to replace or buy a new version. However, if you ensure that your product degrades over time, then you'll force your customers to make repeat purchases." ], "score": [...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60n2at	I've never heard 8 Track. What am I missing?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df7ns66" ], "text": [ "Nothing. They used the same media as cassette tapes but they had a method of skipping to the next track that you just can't do with a cassette, but they were much larger so less portable." ], "score": [ 5 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60ofsm	How can internet speeds be 1GB+ when computer's write speed is no where close to that?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df7z94y", "df879hq", "df7zt2x", "df7z5s0" ], "text": [ "1. You're conflating mega/giga BITS with mega/giga BYTES. 1 GigaBIT (if you had a gigabit connection) is 125 megaBYTES. 7200RPM hard drives can get 70-90MB/s so even without a SSD you'll get pretty close. SSDs can get ridicul...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60pirb	Why does turning the wifi router on and off again solve most problems with the connectivity?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df88kbo", "df8k41a" ], "text": [ "The same reason it works for a lot of technology. When you power on your router it loads its base firmware and your configuration from nonvolatile memory into volatile memory. This load represents the router in its perfect state. Then it goes to work. Ine...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60qjzv	When resetting an electronic device (modem, cable box, cell phone, etc.) why do instructions say to wait 10-30 seconds after unplugging/turning off? Once the device no longer has power, does it really register the passage of time?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df8hjyh", "df8hb1w", "df8nmfr" ], "text": [ "Lots of electronic devices have capacitors, which store a little bit of energy. It usually takes 10 seconds to empty all of these capacitors to fully turn off your device. 30 seconds is really just a generous amount to be almost certain.", ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60qo8o	Why are most smartphone touchscreens made out of glass instead of plastic?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df8kzm2", "df8ia0z", "df8i9ua" ], "text": [ "Even though plastic screens don't crack and cost less, glass screens are more durable in the end. Glass cracks sure, but they don't get scratched as much, which is mostly what happens. Most phones are scratched more often than cracked so it...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60qu7o	What is a patent?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df8jvzs" ], "text": [ "Basically, if you invent something the government gives you temporary exclusive rights to produce that thing, in exchange for telling the public exactly how it works. Basically, they exist to promote innovation. Inventors are motivated by the prospect of having a monopo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60r767	Why is there not a "make things cold quickly" counterpart to a microwave?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df8mpvc" ], "text": [ "There's a thing called an [anti-griddle]( URL_0 ), but that's more of an opposite to a cooking range than a microwave." ], "score": [ 5 ], "text_urls": [ [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-griddle" ] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60s3vk	How does audio get transmitted over a specific frequency or waves? (AKA Radio)	As in, how do we make audio (or even visual) data travel in a wave of light at a certain specific frequency? I don't know if anyone gets what I'm trying to get at.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df90zhh" ], "text": [ "Radio waves have two ways of being transmitted: AM (Amplitude Modulation) and FM (Frequency Modulation). The way a radio wave is created is by electrons running up and down radio towers. This is what creates the electromagnetic wave. (Think of it like holding the end of...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60sbfh	How are bugs created in programs?	To my understanding, they always work as long as everything is in place as long as I don't miss a punctuation or of the sort. So of everything is correct how/why are they made? Edit: I'm asking from my own experience when I was in high school/college and took a couple basic programming classes, and I've always been int...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df8wvt0", "df8wrk5" ], "text": [ "Because humans miss things. If I were to say, ask you to go build a house, how well would you do? I'm sure you considered wall placement and stair placement; but did you remember electrical or plumbing? What about hookups for water/gas/sewer? Any space fo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60sf4e	New to online gaming, what are ping and latency and how does it impact my gaming experience?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df8xn54", "df8xtry" ], "text": [ "Ping is how long it takes information from the host to reach your computer. You always want the lowest ping possible. Anything over 100 can start to really disrupt gameplay.", "When you ping a server (in this instance a gaming server) your computer si...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60skwj	Why is it when you translate a phrase through Google Translate from A to B and back to A, that the first A and the second A are not identical?	I was thinking about how I've been browsing /r/unexpected today, which has become a German speaking sub (rather unexpected, wouldn't you say?), and Google Chrome automatically translated the sub to English for me. I figure most of the English speaking posters in that sub used Google Translate today to post in German. S...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df8zs23", "df8z5yk" ], "text": [ "Because language structures differ too much. Context, syntax, etc. make things too complicated. Modern translators do not use syntactic rules or anything. They use statistical models to try to infer translations based on maximum likelihood. (In easy terms...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60sp30	Why where Semi Conductors a revolutionary discovery for electronics and computers?	I know the properties of a semi conductor but I think I'm not aware of why they are so important	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df90357" ], "text": [ "Semiconductors when they were developed solved several critical issues with computers at the time. 1) It made parts small. Before semiconductors, you'd have vacuum tubes and large apparatuses like punch cards or physically woven copper wire as a medium to store informat...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60tj0a	Why are bicycles so much more popular than tricycles?	I have been working on a project to evaluate different types of practical personal transport in a modern city. I have never ridden a tricycle, but seems to me that at least on paper an electric-powered tricycle (such as [this one]( URL_0 )) is a much better alternative to electric-powered bicycles. There's no need to b...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df96ejs", "df95q35" ], "text": [ "bikes are faster, handle better, and cheaper; in a generality. They are also easier to store. Bikes are available with multiple gears, which would be much more complex on a trike.", "I'm sure a large part is the stigma associated with tricycles. You r...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60vuy0	How do radio waves transmit data	I am trying to understand how wireless radio waves send information and how electronic devices can understand what they mean and decipher them into something meaningful. How does a wave mean different numbers and letters and sometimes even pictures or video?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "df9ooth" ], "text": [ "Okay, this is very basic, mind you. Imagine a radio wave is like a squiggly line, completely even on both sides, so you have even \"peaks\" and \"troughs\" (hills and valleys). Now imagine that by changing the power we put into transmitting this, we can change how high ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60wlpa	Why does some antivirus protection software (Norton, McAfee, etc.) make your computer run worse than it did before?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfa0r8p", "df9x89q", "dfaizlh", "dfaqu2w", "dfa7u20", "df9uv4w", "df9w2io", "dfajplk", "dfak9hv" ], "text": [ "Think of it this way. Let's say that you're a company that receives a lot of postal mail. You could have the mailroom receive that mail, then take it ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60xe1s	How is LastPass secure and not the weakest link to ALL my passwords?	Especially when you consider that many non-corporate PCs are probably not as secure themselves and the users and their setups don't always follow best practices for security, connecting to WiFi without a VPN, correctly securing their home router, etc.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfa20e2", "dfa30mq" ], "text": [ "It's both. LastPass, and password vaults like it, are the weakest link to all your passwords in that if anyone gets the password to the vault, they have access to every password stored therein (or at least, all passwords stored up until you next change yo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
60xy6g	Why isn't ultrasonic cleaning used more, it could be used in dishwashers, washing machines, and to remove carpet stains, why isn't it?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfa7l5s" ], "text": [ "Cost vs benefit. Ultrasonic cleaning is pretty expensive and isn't as easy as hot water and soap. And while it would clean your dishes better than hot water and soap, your dishes being that much more clean isn't of any better for you." ], "score": [ 3 ], "te...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
610qby	What exactly happens when you go to a huge website like Google? Are you communicating with only one computer or many?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfasrk2", "dfbd6hz", "dfau4gn" ], "text": [ "When you visit the google web page, A computer program run by one of the google computers will send you a web page (the search page), whilst this page looks clean and ready for your search request, it's a very special page, every keypress w...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
611s32	What did people do before IV's(Intravenous therapy)	I recently went to the emergency room because I was vomiting anything that I ate. In other words, I couldn't eat anything. So they hooked me up to an IV. What I'm wondering is what would have happened centuries ago when IV's were not invented? What was their way of treatment?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfazgva", "dfazdxu" ], "text": [ "Broth, gruel, or water by mouth until you shit yourself to death. Which is, uh, what happens to millions of people worldwide even today. Dysentery, cholera, rotavirus still kill people every minute of every day, millions of which do not have ready access ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
611vnn	What the Daya Bay Antineutrino detector is and what it does		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfb2969" ], "text": [ "Neutrinos and antineutrinos are subatomic particles that are emitted in nuclear reactions and can cause other reactions. Unfortunately they're really bad at causing reactions - most of them would just fly straight through the Earth without doing a thing. To detect the...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
6126q0	why do drive-thru speakers have such poor sound quality compared to phones, TVs, etc?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfb3oj1" ], "text": [ "They were installed in 1996 and there's never been a reason to change them. They also need to be rugged and survive years of direct weather exposure, sound quality was never the primary engineering concern." ], "score": [ 25 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
613bwt	How do submarines have the capability to communicate with aircraft or land from hundreds of feet underwater and many miles away?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfbd5ph", "dfbczrb" ], "text": [ "The short answer is they don't. Actually, they have a full range of military comms, but that only works when they are at or near the surface (they have to stick the antenna out of the water). Their other options are towed arrays and buoys, they can throw ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
6142y6	isps being able to sell our search history		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfbjp8a" ], "text": [ "When you surf Reddit data is sent from your computer to the Reddit server which processes your request and responds with HTML data that your browser uses to display that site. ISPs can track your network usage including all the sites you make requests too (including xbo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
614agg	How do programmers/game developers create procedurally generated worlds?	How would one code an infinitely generating world that is always different (e.g minecraft, terraria)?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfbnjfh", "dfblcpp", "dfbn3rj", "dfc39b9" ], "text": [ "Lets take Minecraft, for example. Minecraft's world is made up of \"chunks\" which are 16x16x256 blocks in size. So, every 16x16 square surface area can have parts of height from 1 to 256 blocks tall, randomly chosen. That al...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
614fa1	How can longer word documents be smaller in terms of file size than others that have a shorter word count?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfblvqn", "dfbmpg2" ], "text": [ "I don't know all the technical details of the Word document file format (I assume you're referring to the newer DOCX and not the older DOC) however I do have some experience working with the \"guts\" of those files. The actual text of the document takes u...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
617cwr	Why are phones not lasting longer despite constantly increasing "power efficiency"?	With every die shrinkage, chipmakers like Qualcomm have claimed stuff like "35% faster, and uses 20% less power than before!" And given how batteries have been pretty much constantly hovering around ~3000 mAh since forever, why isn't this power efficiency being translated into longer battery life?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfcarlv" ], "text": [ "A lot of power is used by your display, which does not reduce its power consumption with new generations nearly as fast as processors do. A lot of power used by a smart phone is not consumed by the actual CPU/GPU, and therefore, reducing CPU power consumption by 20% doe...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
618jin	If two people use the same piece of software, how can only one of them have problem with bugs?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfci2kd", "dfcjb7t", "dfckzxi" ], "text": [ "Because they are using different computers. Say you have installed the same bathtub as your friend, but yours spurts out too much water because you have a higher water pressure in your house.", "Different versions of the software would ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
618pkc	What are some of the implications of broadband providers being able to sell browsing history now?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfcjkk9", "dfcj7ux" ], "text": [ "If you ever want to run a political campaign in the US you can simply buy the browser history of your voters and know pretty well what they think. Thus you can make better political campaigns targeted at individuals. If you tell a lie in public you will b...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
6197mb	how does a VPN work? What is the difference of a proxy, VPN and Tor?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfcwnho", "dfcww1v" ], "text": [ "A proxy is where you send your traffic through a 3rd party instead of being sent directly. Lets say that you want to get a package sent to your house, but you don't want the sender to know where you live or you don't want your parents to see it when i...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
619jcz	What data does Google collect from users to sell to advertisers?	With the recent vote in the Senate to allow ISPs to sell your browser history to ad companies, many people have said Google and Facebook already do this. I already avoid Facebook, but what exactly is Google selling and/or collecting?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfcrnc7", "dfcr6di" ], "text": [ "OK. Google collects data from several sources. Anytime your browser loads a google add, visits a google search page or any other google page it is checked for a cookie. If it does not already have a cookie, it is given a cookie. Cookies are kind of funny,...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
61a2nv	do coax cables have any special properties compared to regular wire? Why is it used for things like TV and computers?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfcytvk" ], "text": [ "Coax cables are better at conducting high frequency analog signals than something like an extension cord because the signal on the center conductor is surrounded by a foil or braided ground conductor separated by a dielectric. The ground surrounding the center conductor...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
61air4	How is this post physically represented when saved on reddits servers?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfd8bau" ], "text": [ "It sounds like you're asking for the physical mechanics behind computer storage, so I'll try to give a brief overview. All data on a computer, when you look at the most basic level, is a true or false boolean value. Through mathematics, these true-false values are used ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
61aoi6	How do websites know I'm using an ad blocker?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfd1vyp", "dfdxsgi" ], "text": [ "Basically, using a script (in this case, javascript) to detect if some assets that are used to load ads, were loaded into the page. For example, when you enter a website, a lot of files are loaded for the page to work properly, images and javascript files...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
61c7bc	Why do mobile service and data providers have a monopoly on the market? Why can't new companies arise?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfde6ur", "dfdhtkm" ], "text": [ "Mobile service requires the use of radio waves. We are using higher radio frequencies. The FCC auctions the use of these to companies, reserving frequencies for the military, the police, emergency services, et cetera. For a new company to establish a cell...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
61e3wz	Why, despite all the advances in browser technology, does the screen still jump when an off-screen image or other part of the site loads?	If I'm reading a piece of text, I expect to stay on it. Something loading off-screen (common now that sites are so big and load lots of stuff via AJAX) shouldn't bounce me to a different position on the page.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfdtkkm" ], "text": [ "Because your browser still doesn't know how big that image is going to be until it downloads it, so it has no way of knowing how much space to leave. The people who design the website could plan for it, but many of them don't." ], "score": [ 18 ], "text_urls...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
61eiwi	Why do fake phone numbers start with 555?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfdx8zi", "dfe0t6x" ], "text": [ "Because no real phone number start with that prefix. This means shows can use a number without accidentally giving out a real person's number - 8675309.", "Fun fact, there are valid 555 numbers. For example, area code+555+4141 will get you 411 in that...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
61f3hs	I heard that recycling plants use magnets to sort aluminium from the rest of the rubbish. How, when aluminium isn't magnetic, does this work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfe0agp", "dfe2xpw", "dfeho78", "dfe526h", "dfe7ajm", "dfe2lab", "dfe9896", "dfef4n2", "dfe59en", "dfercqn", "dfe7cr1", "dfe3uam", "dfe6zgm", "dfe9726" ], "text": [ "They use alternating current to magnetize the sorting magnet. If you use pe...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
61f6kn	How much of our fingerprint do a reader need to be recognized uniquely?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfe0u5m" ], "text": [ "Source: I'm a final year forensics student and currently writing a paper on fingerprints. I'm in the UK so ymmv. Depending on what you mean by 'reader' and how sure you want to be the answer varies. Fingerprints are examined on 3 levels by people and databases. The firs...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
61fd8o	Why was Bitcоin designed with a block time of 10 minutes? Wouldn't lowering it to, for example, 10 seconds, significantly speed up transaction confirmations and make it more usable in the real world? What would be the downsides of a lower time?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfe5r4t", "dfe2vhh", "dfe5xvb" ], "text": [ "Personally I think that the creator probably chose the 10m block time so Bitcoin can run on more computers and use less bandwidth. This bandwidth is incredibly important as the currency grows, more bandwidth is needed for each update. It wo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
61fpe4	Whats the difference between AM and FM radio?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "dfe5rly", "dfe5qg5", "dfe5zxg", "dfe51sl", "dfe4zjw", "dfe9090" ], "text": [ "The analogy I saw was that you have a tower with a light on top that is used to send messages. AM is like changing the brightness of the light to send the message. FM is like changing the color t...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]

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