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
m47ki8	Where does crypto get its value?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqswibl", "gqswidg" ], "text": [ "Stocks don't give us products. 99% of the time you are buying the stock from someone else and no money goes to the company. The only reason why crypto had value is because people want it. Like gold, it's not really useful, but we give it value and use it ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m4asqb	How does a game like RDR2 spend 7+ years in development and release with such advanced graphics technology	When they started writing game code ~7 years ago didn’t they need to lock themselves into an engine? And wouldn’t that game engine be outdated visually by the time they release the game?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqth2q8", "gqthoay", "gqtrdep", "gqtuv9i", "gqtt45t", "gqtyuuy", "gqtretb", "gqtfvun", "gqtfobn", "gqu0872", "gqu61bu", "gqv154d", "gqu00w3", "gqubm23", "gqu0u50", "gqu2uj4" ], "text": [ "game devs often interact with hardware devs a...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m4hqgy	Why do Webpages on mobile devices especially still jump around frequently while loading? It goes as far as you cannot reliably trust what you about to hit will be still there when hitting it. Can't there be a load order that prevents that?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gquih3x", "gqufosw" ], "text": [ "Scripts load at various times, often triggered by other scripts and elements on the page. Also, many images are not properly coded with width/height info causing the image load to make the page fluctuate. A fun way to learn about how the web really works ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m4j6b2	why are plastic chocolate bar wraps so hard to tear apart when they have a smooth normal edge, but so easy to tear apart when they have a little dent on the side?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqup4kh" ], "text": [ "If you pull apart two ridges of the dented area all the force from you pulling is concentrated in a single point, where the two edges meet, allows the material to rip. If you're pulling apart a smooth piece the force gets evently distributed between your fingers." ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m4jlxw	Why are there auto-playing videos on so many websites?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gquoyag" ], "text": [ "10 seconds of content to get to 2 minutes worth of unskippable ads. They gotta pay the bills somehow, after all." ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m4qqg6	Why do video game graphics usually allow body parts to move through walls, capes to pass through your body, etc?	This is perhaps the most common, most visible, and most enduring "unrealistic" part of video games. For example, when your character is killed and they fall to the ground and their arm just flops through the nearby wall/barrel/person. Similarly, sheathing swords or wearing draped clothing usually results in your legs/e...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqvptsb", "gqvpxba", "gqvtnao", "gqvtwfv", "gqwpbcm" ], "text": [ "Yeah, it's a computational limitation. Flexible shapes mean expensive collision-detection/physics, and most games would rather invest their computational power elsewhere.", "So, generally entityes have a \"...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m4rjai	How do graphics cards actually work?	The title says it all. How do they work? I never fully understood how they did. I know that they help to render and display images, but how exactly? & #x200B; Edit: Thanks for all of the great replies! You guys really helped me to understand what exactly a GPU does, and why it's needed.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqvup74", "gqvtkua", "gqvujhn", "gqvx20h" ], "text": [ "Your CPU is good at doing general math calculations, and it's not really optimized for crunching anything specific at that hardware level. Your GPU is also really good at math, but it's specialized in doing math with matrixes...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m4wscx	How do electronics always finds themselves in situations where they need to be rebooted to work properly?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqwixdh", "gqwp5r1", "gqwmm8j", "gqwplh7" ], "text": [ "Imagine you have directions on how to drive somewhere. You just have all the turns you're supposed to make. Then let's say you get to an intersection and there's an accident blocking the way. You end up missing a turn. Maybe ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m50xe8	How did vacuum tubes work? What were the differences between them and some of the earliest transistors from Bell Labs?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqxcj12" ], "text": [ "In a nutshell the 'filament', sometimes known as the cathode, the part that heats up and glows, generates a potential stream of free electrons. The Anode, of the main output of the tube, collects these electrons. In between are typically one of more 'control grids'. The...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m56jus	Why is usb a serial port and not a parallel port?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqygn4d", "gqygaj7", "gqygyv8", "gqyh0bq", "gqyln0a" ], "text": [ "It is serial because the transfer speed that was required could be managed with just two data lines with differential signaling. It also has two wires for power so a total of 4 wires. If you can have fewer wire...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m5aiwm	What is actually a "military grade cryptography" we often see in action movies? What makes it different from regular cryptography?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqz0r2p", "gqz47vv", "gqz27eu", "gqz3o33" ], "text": [ "It's Hollywood buzzword jargon, basically. \"Military-grade crypto\" means a cryptographic standard that the military has adopted to protect its information. In 2021, that standard is AES-256 (for top secret data). But...your...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m5bkoy	How was early CGI transferred to film?	I fell down a rabbit hole of early examples of CGI from the late 50's through the 70's, and the vast majority of the videos I've found are film transfers, not video tape transfers (now that I think of it, would there be a difference in how it's transferred?). How on Earth did they transfer it from computer to film? My ...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqzmx7o", "gqzs0vo", "gqzepa6" ], "text": [ "The earliest examples of CGI were indeed recorded by taking photographs of the CRT screen, one frame at a time, on 35mm film. Once you have the animation on film, it's relatively easy to composite into live-action footage. People had been c...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m5cbpt	Sonar and Radar	Why are sonar and radar displayed as a line rotating around like a clock hand instead of a circle radiating out from the center?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqzbd9c" ], "text": [ "Because generally both devices work by having a directional antenna that sends out a pulse of radiation (or sound) and then detects the return pulses. In order to cover the entire airspace this antenna has to rotate, so you get the sweep effect on old radar screens. (Ne...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m5cug4	Really confuse about ddns		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqzdmqd" ], "text": [ "Ok so the internet is all numbers that are addresses like for houses. But numbers are hard to remember so people made domain names to hide the numbers that's dns. So unless you buy a static address your address constantly changes making it hard to attach a dns to that a...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m5d75j	What were those bank tubes in the 80s, and how did they work?	You would drive through and deposit your money into the tube. Then it would get sucked up and go in to the bank itself. Why did they use them and when did they stop?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqzesur", "gqzl76l" ], "text": [ "They are pneumatic tubes and are still in use at many banks. They use air to move the tube from the car to the window. It’s an easy way to have multiple lanes when there is only one drive up window", "Where are you from? Those are still very much in u...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m5eg59	how does the whole anti noise thing work in headphones to create noise cancellation?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqzm15r" ], "text": [ "A sound wave is a pressure wave. When we hear a sound, what our hearing system detects are rapid changes in how compressed or spread-out the air is (i.e. how closely the air molecules are packed together). What we perceive as a particular sound is determined by the spec...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m5fuiw	How do devs change the version number thing? (version 0.2.3, version 1.9.0)		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gqzseuz", "gqzvc8s", "gqzrbd7" ], "text": [ "General rules of thumb: * 0.0.x - Prototype builds * 0.y.x - Something resembling the intended product, getting better as y and x increase * 1.0.0 - First release, product as intended function wise * 1.0.1 - Bug fix/very small change over 1...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m5tlp8	how does the eco setting on a washing machine save energy and water by washing the laundry for longer?	Edit: Thank you to everyone that replied!	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gr1xfad", "gr2qjui", "gr1ycyr", "gr1urw4", "gr1w8v6" ], "text": [ "The motor of the washing machine uses very little power when it's just moving the clothes around. It's a bit more during the spin cycle, but that doesn't last very long. The vast majority of the power is used t...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m613i9	Why are graphics cards in such low supply?	Title mostly says it all. I know about crypto mining and such, but why is demand suddenly so high and supply suddenly so low? Also, why are they trying to stop people from crypto mining if they get to sell the cards anyway?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gr3b9pt", "gr3d9pb" ], "text": [ "The pandemic has affected supply of a lot of electronic items, graphics cards included. As for why graphics cards manufacturers wouldn't want miners to scoop up their entire stock, well, it looks bad for them if no \"normal\" user can get one of their car...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m654jo	How do computers remember to turn back on during the restart option? Isn’t it temporarily shutting the computer down?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gr470y1", "gr410uc", "gr4r9kx", "gr3w1h9", "gr4uf41", "gr42key", "gr5ftjz", "gr5z1vo", "gr4rr0h", "gr3zznz", "gr4fh3o", "gr4hhf8", "gr4yjck" ], "text": [ "Inside of your computer is a \"smaller computer\" (usually called an \"embedded controller...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m65rba	How do "smart" dishwashers know that the dishes are clean?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gr3yt69", "gr409su" ], "text": [ "They do a pre-wash cycle that rinses the dishes with plain water to see how dirty the water gets (basically shine a light through it) during this cycle. It then works out how dirty they are likely to be. That is also why you put the detergent in a closed ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m684g2	How did people get by before dentistry was a thing - did we simply lose all our teeth or suffer from the pain constantly?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gr4772k", "gr47jjf", "gr4hisd", "gr4imk4", "gr49nu4", "gr4aeuj", "gr4a2ad", "gr4ra7y", "gr4hp96" ], "text": [ "We mostly had far fewer dental problems because our diets weren't loaded with sugar. And we ate a lot more fiber which kind of help with 'brushing' yo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m6f2ru	What does a PC monitor do that a television does not?	It seems to me that over the last decade or so computer monitors and television technology has converged and, on the surface offer the same thing. But people are willing to pay a premium for a PC monitor. For example, I’m looking at this 32 inch monitor \[4k, 60h\] and they want $6k?! Meanwhile even if I wanted to spen...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gr5on78" ], "text": [ "At its core, nothing. But the specs tend to be different, as different things are more useful for TVs versus PCs. Apples to apples between resolution, size, refresh rate, response time, color space, brightness, and pixel density - they should be about the same price. PC...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m6q7rw	Why do videos from 10+ years ago have such potato quality these days when they looked fine back then?	Unless I'm misremembering, but I feel like I didn't struggle to make out details in some videos back then the way I do these days, because the quality seems so degraded.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gr75zpe", "gr775ge", "gr7h6zz" ], "text": [ "the best reason i can think of is that video looks best when it is the same or higher resolution than the screen you are watching it on. Lower res video looks better on a low res screen than it does on a higher resolution screen most of the...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m6v1w0	Why are old movies and videos are in a square frame and nowadays they are in a rectangle frame?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gr7ss15", "gr8tyd5" ], "text": [ "It's all relatively arbitrary. The old 4:3 square-ish look was chosen because 4:3 was the most common type of film on the market when movies started being a thing. TV came along later and the key players in early TV had the chance to choose a different fo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m6w342	How are security cameras around the world so easily accessible?	So today I saw the link of a website which apparently connects you to security cameras around the world. I want to know how is it possible? And since I did go to the website and did a few clicks (it was http), should I be concerned?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gr7wf1y", "gr7wjzy" ], "text": [ "It only links up to cameras that people put on the web, the vast majority of cameras store their information locally and not on the web.", "Most security cameras come default with the username as admin and the password as password. Many people don't c...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m72eqc	What's the difference in sound quality or comprehension between an MP3 at 320kbps and a 24 bit audio wav file. - Also, what effect will playing these over bluetooth have on the sound and sound quality.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gr8whb1" ], "text": [ "ok, there are 2 concepts you have to understand, Bitrate and sampling frequency a digital audio recording makes images/samples of a audio recording at a specific interval being the sampling frequency, and with a specific size which is the bit rate. a CD does 44.1Khz at ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m73ze1	How do rewritable CDs and DVDs work?	To my understanding, hard drives are magnetic, and an electromagnet can be used to alter data. A CD or DVD is more visual; it uses a laser to read and write physical pits/troughs in the disc. If the disc uses physical pits, how does the laser carve them out in the case of a domestic rewritable disc? And how does it fil...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gr9200e" ], "text": [ "To make a recordable disc, you start with a plastic substrate that has blank grooves rather than a predefined pattern of pits. The blank grooves can keep the drive on track before the data is written. In addition to a layer of metal, the media includes a thin layer of d...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m756pe	What does it mean when my phone says that my WiFi is not secure?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gr9a37o", "gr9a5x3" ], "text": [ "It means that the wifi doesn't have protections in place that prevent mean people doing bad things to you by watching what you send to the internet through your wifi. It's kind of like if the postal service had an open door policy where anyone could open ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m7c4sm	How an oversupply of solar energy could lead to a blackout	I live in South Australia where 35% of households have solar panels. Some of these panels were temporarily switched off recently in order to avoid a "state wide blackout". How does an excess in energy to the grid cause a blackout?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gradlaz", "grae461", "graemen" ], "text": [ "Traditional power plants (except hydro) can't switch on/off instantly, it can take hours or days and costs $$. And obviously solar can't generate during the night, so those power plants have to be on and generating at night. But they can't ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m7g6ey	what actions fulfill the statement "by continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies"?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grb2xu5" ], "text": [ "Cookies are small bits of text sent in the HTTP headers with the response. When you received that page, there are probably cookies. Those cookies may not be permitted to be stored on your system, which is to say that your browser shouldn’t remember them. This is done by...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m7gnwm	the difference between a chromebook and a normal laptop		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grb7545", "grb95po" ], "text": [ "Basically, a Chromebook's main function is to run the internet and cloud-based programs. As the name suggests, a Chromebook is integrated with Google's browser and apps. Since it's meant to be an internet machine, it has low-grade specs. It doesn't need a...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m7govv	How come two pictures that are the same size and taken with the same camera can have different file sizes?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grb5n3t", "grb5u5o" ], "text": [ "Compression. The camera saves storage space by compressing the image, and how well that works depends on how detailed and sharp the image is. The more information there is in the image, the harder it is to shrink down in size.", "Different amount of d...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m7hafr	What causes a computer's software to "stop responding", and why is it specific to certain tasks?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grba1nw" ], "text": [ "Software operates like baking a cake. You pull together all the ingredients. You find a bowl to mix everything in. And after everything is prepared, you fire up the oven to bake the cake. When you open up a Save As / Open dialogue box, the operating system these days sh...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m7ih1h	Why does military communication quality suck while my mobile can produce actual sounds?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grbg2rf" ], "text": [ "Your mobile would suck if someone shot a missile at your cell tower. Also you probably wouldn't get mobile reception in the middle of an active warzone (possibly due to missiles/mortars/insurgents with hammers). Military coms often can work without cell towers, but you'...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m7j1v8	What is an alternate reality game defined as? (ARG's)	And how does it different from augmented reality?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grbmoio" ], "text": [ "Augmented reality is augmented or changed/added to. Typically it involves a layover by looking througj some kind of glasses or tablet or such, where computer graphics will overlay against a real life background. Pokemon Go is a good example. You can see the pokemon agai...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m7jxoz	How does ownership of TV air time work? Do the broadcasting channels like ABC, CBS, or FOX own the specific channels? What would prevent me from having my own channel to broadcast whatever I wanted over the air?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grc93hf", "grcd741" ], "text": [ "In the US, control over broadcasting frequencies is through the FCC. Each broadcaster is awarded a certain frequency to broadcast on. You will be prevented from broadcasting over the air. It would be impossible to broadcast and not be detected and the loc...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m7w8l6	Worksheet that is "Illegal to post on Internet"		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grdy57k", "grdy9r4", "grdy7ok" ], "text": [ "You can’t post the entire text of Harry Potter online for people to download because it’s covered by copyright laws. This section of a digital math textbook likely is as well. You can’t own math of course, but you can copyright specific tex...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m7y711	how does motion capture work?	Like when an actor does things, does the animating team have to still animate it, idk how to explain it.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "greaoar" ], "text": [ "For most professional mocap, the actor wears a suit with special markers at key points on the body. As the actor moves, a camera records them and feeds it to a program. The program then creates a 3D 'skeleton' of the actor moving around - the markers help the program id...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m80gqq	How does cellular data work?	Ok I get it sends a signal to my device, but how does it know the specific data I want? Also, how does it find my specific phone when I receive calls?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grev90l" ], "text": [ "The cell tower doesn't know what specific data you want, any more than the post office knows what's inside your mail...it just knows it's got a \"packet\" addressed to you and it delivers it. Your phone is the one making the requests and processing the receipts. As far ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m82bh5	How do some electronic devices (phone chargers, e.g.) plugged into an outlet use only a small amout of electricity from the grid without getting caught on fire from resistance or causing short-circuit in the grid?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grf5rlr", "grf2foi", "grf2ldz", "grfac3j" ], "text": [ "Electrical engineer here: Low powered devices do the opposite of a short. They have such high resistance that they only let a small amount of electricity through.", "Devices only take the power they need. Like a firehose,...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m84egn	How does regenerative braking work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grfcutu" ], "text": [ "Electric or hybrid cars have electric motors and batteries. Electricity flows from the battery into the electric motor to make the car move. The opposite also works. The electric motor can convert motion into electricity that is put back in the battery. So regenerative ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m865k7	How do password manager work? What is the best one and does it work on mobile as well?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grfnbz6" ], "text": [ "Password managers are a secure vault to store your passwords and other sensitive information in. They work by storing your usernames and passwords in a way that can be retrieved easily, provided you remember the master password. The master password is used to decrypt th...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m87u3y	How do computers and phones keep track of the date and time, even when they're completely shut off?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grfwdul", "grfwfmw", "grfwkii", "grfy7yd", "grfylso" ], "text": [ "They're not completely shut off. Computers will have a small battery called a CMOS battery. It keeps the clock running, among other things. I don't know about phones, but I imagine they pull a tiny amount from ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m8b2qb	What is a plasma tv and why were they so popular but have now been forgotten?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grgooyk", "grge941", "grghuls", "grgnpbu", "grh4j6z", "grh9xhw" ], "text": [ "Plasma TVs work by using panels made of millions of small gas cells (think mini fluorescent light bulbs). These panels are relatively difficult to manufacture. They were very popular because they...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m8cpjm	why do computers get slower over times even if properly maintained?	I'm talking defrag, registry cleaning, browser cache etc. so the pc isn't cluttered with junk from the last years. Is this just physical, electric wear and tear? Is there something that can be done to prevent or reverse this?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grgls8t", "grgq7qg", "grh93bb", "grh7ix5", "grgntf4", "grgm0zi", "grh746e", "grh7xo6", "grguolg", "grhii02", "grh607p", "grhaih9", "grhu7dk", "grgllnu", "grh5dn6", "grgxppr", "grig08n", "grgzuk9", "grjjnoe", "grir5c4" ], ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m8hpj3	Why do liquor bottles sometimes have those thing that make it pour really slow?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grhakk1", "grhalhn", "grhk1xi", "grhe36x", "grih1c1", "gril33p" ], "text": [ "They are to measure the fluid. Barkeepers need to measure a lot of fluid in as short of an amount of time as possible. I don't know the exact figure, but they pour at around 1cl per second, so if...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m8lo2t	- Could we add some type of air compressor and blower system to clear solar panels and extend the life of planetary probes?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grhze7v", "grhzspx" ], "text": [ "Yes. However the degradation of the panels is planned for during the engineering design phase, and it's cheaper (and less launch weight) to simply oversize the solar panel than it is to add a complicated mechanism (~~air~~ atmosphere pumps don't have infi...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m8qb0l	What exactly is stopping me from making 20 email accounts and referring all of them using paid survey sites/apps to get loads of points?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grirkjv", "grirq2l" ], "text": [ "Nothing. Typically those sites/apps have some requirements meant to curb it and make inconvenient though. Such as minimums balance for payout, spend a certain amount, or wait an amount of time. Additionally, many of those sites pay terribly, you're better...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m8udfc	what exactly is disk defragment on computers do?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grjdmnc" ], "text": [ "Imagine a messy room where everything is thrown all over the place and u have to run to different places to get everything u need. When u defragment the computer is putting things back where they are supposed to be so it's easy to find Edit my best explanation: Pretty m...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m8vq5x	how do sounds travel down a phone? How is it the noise from my voice is transported and heard miles away?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grjlgnl", "grjl81l" ], "text": [ "A phone is two parts, a microphone that records your voice and a speaker that plays back the voice from the other end. A microphone works by having a tiny diaphragm that moves back and forth when a sound wave hits it. There is a coil of wire attached to t...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m8ydwb	What is special about some bricks and charging cables that make my Google pixel 2 phone "rapid charge"?	Some brick/cord combinations make it charge but not say "charging rapidly" and others make it tell me it's charging slowly and I should use the ones that came with it.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grk2n35" ], "text": [ "Fast charging requires a device and charger that are rated for higher amps. Amps is essentially a measure of flow, more amps mean more electrons moving. The device determines if it can fast charge or not, but it needs an adaptor capable of delivering the extra juice it ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m917re	Why is it common to see Intel or AMD processors in computers, but no other brands?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grkf9zb", "grkgcqw", "grkhrx6", "grkhw5x", "grkio4d" ], "text": [ "Those companies have the infrastucture, technology, and knowledge to manufacture processors on computers.", "Motorola used to be a big processor manufacturer. The Apple II and early Macs ran on their proces...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m9330s	Why is physically hacking into game studio's servers the only way to obtain game's source code?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grknzuc", "grknjgp", "grknifx", "grko31q" ], "text": [ "When it comes to code there is an important distinction between high level code and low level code. Source code is the highest level code that is available for any written project. Afterwards you translate that code through a...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m937jl	Why is it that some phones today have cameras with hundreds of megapixels but advanced DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras have only 64?	What are megapixels? How do they work? What is the difference between a 64mp mirrorless camera and a 24mp mirrorless camera of the same brand?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grko4sg" ], "text": [ "Images are made up of squares of a single color, pixels. A megapixel of course refers to a million pixels, 64 million pixels means 64 million tiny color squares. > Why is it that some phones today have cameras with hundreds of megapixels but advanced DSLRs and Mirrorles...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m94nch	Why are most cups and glasses designed with a smaller base and bigger top?	My first impulse was that it's easier to hold them like that, but it's also very common among coffee mugs that don't have handles and uncommon among large water bottles. It would seem like a larger base would make a glass harder to knock over, both because of a widened base requiring more force to destabilize, and beca...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grkv6w6", "grkubww" ], "text": [ "Aside from stacking, it's easier and more confortable to drink from a glass that widens to the top, than from a one that narrows, you'd have to tilt the glass and/or your head more to finish the drink.", "Glasses are made larger on top so they stack w...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m9715f	what can realistically happen if your IP address has been exposed?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grl5lqs" ], "text": [ "> What can they do with IP addresses? Send you a message that your router will then promptly ignore. You are sending your IP address to every single website you visit, it's inconsequential." ], "score": [ 6 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m98b03	How do touch sensitive lamps work?	I looked it up and it has something to do with capacity but to be honest I didn’t understand any of the explanations I found.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grltocz", "grlg2p1", "grlww1q" ], "text": [ "There is a common electronic component is called a capacitor, and we use them because they are able to store a little bit of energy, and release it in a way that we understand very well. We can design a circuit with a capacitor that causes ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m9dcmq	how do fireworks form those cool shapes?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grmm1yv", "grmdlht" ], "text": [ "The add various shaped charges into the firework to achieve different effects, different chemicals burn brighter and in different spectrum than others so will have different colours and intensities. Longer fuses and packaging create delays for the explosi...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m9umtt	Why do the individual frames of a video look blurry, while the video itself doesn't?	I was going through a video of a car looking for its license plate number, and I swear I can just about make out that it's a license plate in the video, but it just becomes a blurry mess the minute I pause on any individual frame. Is my mind making up details? Is the blending/compression of the video codec reducing det...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "groy0sc" ], "text": [ "Have you ever tried looking through a mesh wire screen and couldn’t get a good look at what was on the other side because too much was blocked by the metal screen, but if you move your head back and forth while continuing to look through it, the screen practically disap...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m9x55k	Do Ancestry tests like 23andMe misrepresent what genetics is able to objectively say about a person?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grpac03", "grp9wxj", "grpcr2d", "grpgs11" ], "text": [ "No - but anyone looking at genetics need to understand that different tests have different qualities of results AND we know a tiny % of what our DNA codes for. On top of that, the knowledge both of genetics and the interrelat...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m9y15y	How is it that a given website/service provider seemingly doesn’t know your password when you create an account, but it still knows it when you are trying to change it and it says “You can’t use a previous password” ?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grpdv5b", "grpjpq7", "grpdzan", "grpebde", "grq7xba" ], "text": [ "The result of a cryptographic hash function is what is stored and compared when you entered the password. This ideally produces a unique output value for any given input, but the original input can't be figured...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
m9zmf9	How is audio transmitted from my phone to my wireless earphones?	I understand that both devices are equipped with Bluetooth modules, but how the sound is able to play instantaneously baffles me.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grpqawv" ], "text": [ "Fundamentally it is just a radio transmission of data from your phone to the earphones, but there is a reason it took years to go from radio sets to Bluetooth headphones. Those chips are doing a lot and the process is very layered. How do you account for all the other s...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
ma01bq	Why are medical pill capsules usually white and some other colour? Why aren't they just one colour?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grppg83" ], "text": [ "The color combos and imprints helps medical professionals identify and distinguish one medicine from another easily" ], "score": [ 13 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
maf076	Why is a standard thermometer only legible from one specific viewing angle?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grs2y7d" ], "text": [ "The actual mercury tube you see is very very thin. When you can see it, you are looking through a lens that makes the hair-width tube look much wider. Like any lens, it has a specific viewing angle." ], "score": [ 17 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
maf8z2	How are MAC addresses generated for virtual or physical network adapters? Do they have to be globally unique and not reusable? If so, how is that guaranteed?	There are many types of network adapters, many different manufacturers, all on potentially huge internetworks. Adapters get removed, changed, and added all the time. Is a guarantee of ARP that the link layer address is unique? If so, how is that uniqueness ensured at that layer? If it is ensured by the nature of MAC ad...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grs56in", "grskthg" ], "text": [ "For physical devices, the manufacturers are allocated ranges of MAC addresses and are responsible for setting the default network address to be different for each device they manufacture. It's possible to configure network devices to use a different MAC a...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mafit9	How does Walmart send surveys to your email when you only provide them your name and phone number?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grs5wvs", "grsadpu" ], "text": [ "Youbgo to a data collecting company and buy the data on people you're trying to contact. Somewhere out there you must have filled out a form with your name and email together", "Its the job of data collection and/or ad agencies to collaborate all your...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
majyo3	Is there any limit for how powerful computers can get, as dictated by psysical laws as we understand them?	As the title says. As a follow up; is there any limit for how much information we can store digitally?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grspr43", "grt58kd", "grt2bj4", "grso9bb" ], "text": [ "Yes, but they are still far away. The main limits are in how small we can make the logic gates that the computer works on and how fast we can pass the signals between them. The speed of light is a fixed limit on the latter an...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
malk5m	Why can’t recycling facilities wash out the recyclable containers?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grswj69" ], "text": [ "Recycling facilities need to deal with incoming waste that isn't properly sorted. Ask the general public to give you glass bottles and you will get banana peels and used diapers in there as well because a significant portion of people are just terrible. So they need to ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
maqdum	How are integrated circuits made? And what are they made of?	I understand what integrated circuits do (equivalent of alot of transistors) , but what are they made of to be able to do that? They're clearly not a bunch of miniature transistors ,they're a single solid piece from what it seems. I understand that they're made of silicone with a specific chemical composition that only...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grtlldu" ], "text": [ "They are one solid piece but it's not all the same material. The base material is silicon but, during the manufacturing process, a whole bunch of layers are put down. This can include insulators, metal (which acts like tiny wires), and \"dopants\" (extra elements that a...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mav1ba	How does technology, generally, become more affordable as time goes on?	I’ve seen people talk about how the technology for any given item isn’t affordable for mass production yet, but I’ve never understood what difference time makes to change that.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grucg5k" ], "text": [ "Supply chains become more efficient and stable, process for manufacturing again become more capable, stable and efficient. Supply meets or exceeds demand etc. Many things play into the lowering of technology costs." ], "score": [ 7 ], "text_urls": [ [] ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mawiw5	physical media for movies has changed over the years. From VHS to DVDs to Blu-Rays it seems like they are constantly upgrading. Why haven’t music CDs done the same? Changing formats for better sound quality.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grulhom", "grulfmu", "grunoo5", "grumthl", "grullz4", "grur2ck", "gruoens" ], "text": [ "They have. First there was vinyl records, then we had 8 track cassettes, then we had tape cassettes, then we had cds, now we're working with digital formats only. The only real dif...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
maz1kp	How does data travel through a wire in for example a computer?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grv0dqf" ], "text": [ "Just like you can send messages to another person with dots and dashes (morse code) a computer can send data in 1s and 0s. Each combination of ones and zeros corresponds to a letter, number, or another character. The ones and zeros in the wire itself are just pulses of ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mb0jqn	How do the game servers and game clients communicate with one another in online games?	I was wondering earlier if you shoot a bullet in a game, how does the other person take damage? What kind of things are updated between a server and client? What about team games? Lets say I am on blue team, and the other team is the red team, who manages the spawn locations, the server or the client?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grvhe2g" ], "text": [ "For the purposes of this post, I'll use your example of a multiplayer shooter game. The simpler part of the question is the spawning positions: typically, that would be the server's job but there is no technical aspect why that wouldn't be done in the client (other than...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mb666w	why is joystick drifting a bigger problem for PS5/Switch controllers when compared to previous console generation controllers?	Like many of you, I have original/OEM controllers from console generations past that still work just fine (ignore N64 for now). So what gives, why now? What has changed with current console generation controller sticks that causes them to drift when we still have Wii/Gamecube/PS3/XB360 controllers that have no problem ...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grw6onf" ], "text": [ "I saw a teardown video of the ps5 remote and it turns out the plastic they use to house the joystick is cheap plastic that wears down easily. So they are made to break for us to go buy new ones. I think it was iFixit I saw it on." ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_ur...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mb778p	How does cruise control in a car work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grwdpyg" ], "text": [ "There's a speed sensor on the axle. It measures your ground speed. It sends a signal to a vacuum actuated link to increase or decrease throttle input so that the speed matches your setting. It basically just pushes or releases the throttle. That's the old way. A lot of ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mbco0v	how can a taser have high voltage but low amps	it's something you hear a lot that the amps kill you but I don't get how that works bcs ive always learned that your voltage is amps times resistance	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grx2sbn", "grx2e51", "grx2ugm", "grx2ue2", "grx2el1", "grxjb81" ], "text": [ "Taser has very high output resistance = > high voltage only if there is no load. That means that it can't really keep the voltage high, because once you connect something to the output of the tas...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mbdnqz	What does it mean to re-master audio?	Today I was listening to some Beatles songs on spotify and noticed that the titles said < song name > 2009 remastered. I can't hear any noticeable difference between the remastered and original recordings, as opposed to remastered video where I can usually see better quality in the remastered version. So what is the pr...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grxbfio" ], "text": [ "As a general rule, a song goes through three stages - recording, mixing and mastering. - Recording is when they lay down the actual music and vocals. Back in the day, this was all done to tape, but not most of it is digital - Mixing is when they take those recordings, s...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mbfydq	How are scam phone calls still a thing?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grxkn0m", "grxpmyn", "grxs57v", "grxl0jp", "gry8jb9", "gry5lme" ], "text": [ "Enough people fall for such scams that it's profitable enough in some countries to have people running such scam calls.", "I don't even answer my phone unless I recognise the number. If it's ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mbkshk	why does hitting electronics fix them occasionally		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gryfgkg" ], "text": [ "Most likely a loose connection somewhere and the vibrations of the hit reestablish the connection. Could be a poor connection with corrosion and the vibrations knock enough loose to reestablish connection as well. So it's not a magical fix, it did do something and is mo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mblo7q	What does 0 dollars down mean?	It gives me three phones to choose from Apple 11,Apple 12 mini and the samsung galaxy A71 5G All 0 dollars down and "18-mo. Lease	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grykf5z" ], "text": [ "It means you don’t have to pay any money at the moment of purchase. Rather you pay for it in installments over 18 months." ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mbp11q	How is sound recorded?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grz5vsx" ], "text": [ "The exact same way sound is produced - a moving diaphragm. Sound waves push the diaphragm backwards. There is a tube magnet on the back end of the diaphragm which moves in and out of a coil of wire (finger thru ok-sign style), inducing a current which can then be measur...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mbq6tg	What happens to emails that inexplicably never arrive?	I created an account with the IRS earlier to access my transcript and it required me to enter a code sent to my email; after a few minutes the email never arrived, so I clicked on Send Again, and it arrived immediately. I only ever received one email (yes, I checked the Spam folder). Come to think of it, this has happe...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "grzekiv" ], "text": [ "Email servers along the way (probably either the IRS servers or your email provider's server) decided it was junk and simply didn't sent it on. Thanks to the number of spammers, there's lots of effort to automatically delete spam email; sometimes real email gets caught....	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mbu0zj	- While streaming video, how/why do the audio and video tracks become out of sync?	I understand how audio and video are edited together, but it seems like they should be more formally “married” by the time the video reaches the broadcast or streaming stage. Also, it seems odd that simply backing out of the show (on Netflix, for example) and restarting will fix the issue. Is the source of the problem ...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs07b12" ], "text": [ "Most video formats (and streams) are actually multiple entirely separate containers with different parts of the film in each. For example, a film could include the video, a remastered version of the video, audio in English in surround sound, audio in English, French and...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mbywqa	I have seen people posting amazing photos of the moon and sky that they say were made using a method called 'stacking' and involves thousands of images. How is this done?	Links to related sites or videos also appreciated.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs1h5q8" ], "text": [ "Stacking can be done in many ways, but the way it works is broadly like this. Every camera will generate noise in the signal. What that is is random changes of brightness or colour that will appear on photographs that obscure the detail that's really there. If you take ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mc2aa8	Why are there few personal information leaks of celebrity despite the existence of data brokers?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs17zkl" ], "text": [ "There is no profit to be made, unless you work for a gossip tabloid. If you'd find a way to extort the extremely rich you can rest assured you'll get sued into bankruptcy. Profit from selling information can be made in bulk: selling a whole lot of it for small amounts a...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mc5rsz	How do green screens work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs1oxvu", "gs1pde5", "gs1r1u8" ], "text": [ "Basically, you're able to tell a computer \"hey get rid of everything that's X color\". In a case where you might want to have a background that's not physically possible or otherwise physically impractical (or even any sort of replacement)...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mccdsg	Why aren't all urinals no flush/ no water?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs2s3dz", "gs2s8uy" ], "text": [ "People here talking about odour don’t understand how sealant works in waterless urinals. It’s rarely ever an issue. There isn’t a solid reason why urinals aren’t all waterless other than it being relatively new (about 30 years) and requires certain plumbi...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mce0kx	Why can't we install small water turbines in California's expansive aqueduct system?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs31b43", "gs33mh3", "gs3b922" ], "text": [ "They already do, but... California aqueducts actually consume more energy than it creates. Anything created by the water’s potential energy via hydroelectric plants go right into pumping that water up slopes (i.e: Tehachapi Mountains)...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mcet1g	Why is it bad to unplug a computer when it’s updating it’s BIOS?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs35jn9", "gs35nw1" ], "text": [ "The BIOS is the first thing the motherboard accesses in order to start up and eventually access some storage device to load the operating system from. When overwriting this firmware, if something happened that leaves the firmware in an unusable state, suc...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mcftl0	Why so many programs are still 32-bit	Many programs i use on my computer ( steam for example ) are still using 32 bits according to task manager. Why is that ? Why haven't evertything moved to x86-64 ? According to a quick google search, the last 32-bits cpu was sold in 2002... so it can't be for compatibility reasons, can it ?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs3bvsr" ], "text": [ "The most important one is likely that there simply aren't reasons to produce a 64 bit implementation. Nothing's stopping a 64 bit machine from running 32 bit software. Why eat the cost of rewriting your software if the actual functionality will be, basically, unaffected...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mckab6	How does Cable TV work? The actual cable.	Is every channel broadcast on the same wire at the same time? How do they not just become a jumbled, unreadable mess? Does it have individual wires inside for each channel? It amazes me that they can fit 100s of channels with video and sound in one cable at the same time.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs42krw" ], "text": [ "So the cable that comes into your home is usually capable of handling signals from 5MHz to 1GHz. That gives the cable company 995MHz of bandwidth to play with. This 995MHz is split usually into chunks about 6MHz wide, just like over the air TV. The signals in this case ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mcnav5	Why can’t cameras and screens reproduce colors that are the same as real life? And why are they so different between devices?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs4jo7t" ], "text": [ "Screens can only produce so many colors, and cameras can only capture so many. Most screens and cameras have 3 channels (Red, Green and Blue, or RGB) and on most screens they can be any 8-bit value (between 0 and 256), which when you do the math adds up to 16.8 million ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mcosmb	Why does a car battery with barely any use die if I don't use the car for a half a year.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs4r9za", "gs4snpi" ], "text": [ "There's a thing called parasitic draw, all electronics in the car have a very minute constant draw and over time it drains the battery. Also, shifting in temperature, natural decay and other chemical reactions causes the chemicals in the battery to lose e...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mcseig	What is RAM and what does it do?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs595ul", "gs5bqrk", "gs5ai85" ], "text": [ "Random Access Memory. (Wich means, \"read/write any cell you want\") It's the \"shortterm memory\" of your computer. Your harddrive is very slow, so programs you want to execute are loaded into the RAM and then read from there into the CPU ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mcsgnh	Float vs double	Hi, currently studying first year in IT. I dont really understand the diffference between float and double, and when to use which. Thank you for the replies beforehand.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs59y5o", "gs5a1d5" ], "text": [ "A double is a float with twice the precision. Say a float can handle 6-7 significant digits. eg 0.123456 x 10^whatever A double would be able to handle 15-16 significant digits. eg 0.123456789012345 x 10^whatever. Say a float takes up 32bits, a double wou...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mcyby3	The point of crypto?	How is crypto more secure than cash or credit card or paypal? Literally anyone could see every transaction you make and how much money you have. Thats creepy as shit	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs63jrp" ], "text": [ "It is possible to see every transaction and how much money is in every account. However there is no reliable way to connect an account to a single person. So while you can get very detailed information about an account you do not know who controls that account or which ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
mczg8s	; why do binary letters start at 65 (01000001) with uppercase A?	I am curious	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs6ao70", "gs6a9b3", "gs6agob" ], "text": [ "It's part of ASCII Encoding. One thing with ASCII encoding is that the upper and lowercase letters have a perfect offset. A = 65 = 01000001 a = 97 = 01100001 You can see they're offset by 32, which means a single bit can be changed to easil...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
md2ojv	I have noticed on newer cars that when the directional (turn signal) is on, the headlight on the coinciding side goes off. What is the benefit, if any, of this function?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs6utj4", "gs6v2e3", "gs6y033" ], "text": [ "Turning off the bright headlight may make it easier to notice the turn signal, especially when it is otherwise dark out. I.e., If someone shines a bright light in your eyes, you may not notice any other lights near the light source.", "...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
md3gqk	What is Roko's Basilisk? Is knowing about it as dangerous as it is made out to be on the internet?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "gs717hd", "gs70r2g", "gs7i3un", "gs88lvo" ], "text": [ "The original Roko's Basilisk was a thought experiment posted by a user named Roko on the LessWrong forum. It used decision theory to postulate that an all-knowing, benevolent AI would inevitably end up torturing anyone with k...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]

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