q_id stringlengths 6 6 | title stringlengths 4 294 | selftext stringlengths 0 2.48k | category stringclasses 1
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md3te8 | How did the filming of the Apollo missions work? Was all lunar activity filmed? | How did filming the moon landings work? Was every event that took place on the Moon filmed, or was there some activity that took place off camera? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"There were cameras on the Moon missions, operated by the astronauts. There were also TV cameras, which had the big advantage that the recording was done here on Earth, where resources are plentiful. Landings were shot through the windows, relaunches were ... | [
"url"
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"url"
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mdahkj | Why can't voice changed audio be reversed to reveal the original audio? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Some changes are destructive, and leave no way to recover from them. Some have multiple plausible starting points. Eg, if I shift my voice's pitch up, how would you know? Maybe I actually shifted it down. If I do it well you have no idea wh... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mdd65v | How is calibration equipment...calibrated? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Using \"standards\" - there exist objects that represent units of measure, ounces, grams, cm, inches. For chemical analysis there are also standards but those are usually just pure samples of whatever they're measuring.",
"There are lev... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mdm6lv | if a monitor receives signals at a higher rate than its refresh rate, how does it handle such a request? | I've heard both that it doesn't matter so I should just cap my games and programs at whatever fps my monitor can display or that a higher frame rate than the monitor can refresh "gives my monitor more frames to choose from to display." Which is more accurate? If the latter, how does the monitor select which frames to d... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"gsa4z0p"
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"text": [
"Your monitor will always receive the frames at whatever frame rate it is running at, or more accurately it will run at whatever framerate it is receiving frames at. If that frame rate is too high (or too low) for the monitor to display, it will simply turn blank, and ma... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mdr3uy | Why to some high megapixel cameras in low-end mobile phones perform worse than lesser megapixel cameras in high-end mobile phones and what exactly creates the difference we notice? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"gsawhh1"
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"text": [
"Megapixels are only one of the factors that determine a good image. Others are optics quality, sensor size and noise levels, exposure time, stabilization, image processing, aperture et cetera. In fact, more megapixels can have a negative influence on e.g. noise, since i... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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mdyqsi | How do they record Voiceovers for movies? Like how do they put the actors on mute, but still keep the sounds in the background? | How do they manage to keep all the other sounds (special effects, music, etc.), while changing the actors' voices? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Im not an audio engineer myself, but my friend is and he’s done audio for some small movies and tv shows (although his primary work is music). Native voice audio for movies is often isolated with boom mics so the audio can ea... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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me33ff | How do pulse oximeters work? How does it measure oxygen from your finger? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"gsd8zwv"
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"text": [
"Technically, a pulse oximeter measures hemoglobin saturation, which corresponds to oxygen saturation generally, but can be erroneous because it also responds if your hemoglobin is saturated with e.g. carbon monoxide. The device works by having two light sources in it. O... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
me40pr | What is the difference between LTE and 4G? Is one “better” than the other? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"LTE is one of the 4th generation cellular networking technologies, and the only one in common use these days (WiMax never really took off), although some devices may label hspda+ as a 4th gen cell network technology",
"The difference be... | [
"url"
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"url"
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me89r6 | Why can we run over 1 tile gaps in videogames | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"gse6rey",
"gse6rh0",
"gse7i41"
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"text": [
"A lot of games have a 'grace period' after you run over an edge where you can still jump. In those games, sometimes the grace period is long enough that it lets you run across small gaps. This period of time is sometimes called 'Coyote Time... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
meey7i | What is spintronic and how it work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"gsgeboc"
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"text": [
"Spintronics is the study of using electron spin in electronic devices. Basically, electrons have charge and spin, which is a rather complicated concept that you can visualize as an arrow. The direction that arrow points can be changed by magnetic fields. Now, modern ele... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
meh926 | If you replaced your individual lightbulbs with pairs of lightbulbs wired together in series, would that cut the current flowing through each bulb in half resulting in the bulbs lasting much longer? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsgy5hl"
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"text": [
"It would double the resistance, which would effectively cut the current in half. However, doing so may mean that neither bulb has enough current to actually produce light."
],
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mej80u | why does a phone’s battery keep working if plugged in just before dying, but takes a few minutes to turn back on if plugged in after dying? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"gshjbbe",
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"text": [
"Because once the phone dies, it needs to boot back up. That boot up process is a bit more sensitive, a crash/the phone shutting down again during a boot up could possibly corrupt the files needed to run the boot. If that happens, you’re just dead in the w... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mekihw | How is an NFT bad for the environment? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gshrsul"
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"text": [
"So, the thing is that an NFT relies on computers doing computational work, consuming electricity to do so. Consuming more electricity means the power generation stations are doing more work, which releases more pollution into the environment."
],
"score": [
11
... | [
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] | [
"url"
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melo3h | Database Performance vs Latency | What's the difference between database performance and latency? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"gsi4qtd"
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"text": [
"Performance is a broader term, it includes things like latency and throughput and resource consumption and so on. Imagine a rubber tube that is connected to a fire hydrant. We can measure performance of the tube. Latency is: when you open a hydrant, how long does it tak... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
meme3d | How do batteries hold their charge for so long? How do they work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsic1w6"
],
"text": [
"Batteries contain chemicals that create electricity in some way or another. This is called electrochemistry. The electricity is harvested by the mechanism the battery is part of. There are many types of batteries, so exactly what type of chemicals and other materials th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
meobet | Why do phones have to download text documents and other files that computers can open up in a new tab normally with no download required? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"gsishxe"
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"text": [
"If your computer shows the document in another tab then is has downloaded it. If it was not downloaded how could you show the information? You are confusing downloading with saving to the device filesystem so it can be opened with another program versus displaying it in... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mesjw9 | Why are video games required to provide seizure warnings but movies are not? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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],
"text": [
"Movie theaters have been offering warnings and sites also have warnings. A lot of gamers play in dark rooms with their eyes right next to the screen. There's a difference in how people consume media.",
"Might depend on the country you'r... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mesnco | How exactly do cpu and gpu 'improve'? | How do they improve? for example what is the physical difference between RTX3080 and GTX1080? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsjjz43",
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"text": [
"There are basically 2 ways to make a CPU or GPU perform faster: 1 - get more computation done in one clock cycle 2 - get more clock cycles per second. You can achieve #2, just by making the clock chip pulse at a higher frequency. But faster pulses will a)... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
meta1z | What is www(World wide web) and how is everything stored on it? Does it have any data limit. Is it like a big drive or something like that? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsjn610",
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"text": [
"The internet is a bunch of computers with information in them, connected by a network (wires and devices designed to communicate information by sending electricity over said wires). The web is a sub-part of the internet, computers designed ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
meviui | How were CDs and DVDs professionally made? What computers, software, and printers are used? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsk2xxs"
],
"text": [
"They use a clean room and production line. Sound typically came from digital audio tape (in the '90s) and was then transferred on a glass disc called a master, using lasers. This master was then plated with metal to create a stamper. This entire process was relatively s... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mevosc | How do the new grocery scanners work where you just put stuff in a box do they work similar to book scanners | Link to what I mean URL_0 | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsk2wts"
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"text": [
"Typically, and this isn't necessarily the case in that one (simply because not there to see it), is something called an RFID tag. In short an RFID tag is coded with specific information, and when put near certain transmitters will send back whatever information is on th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mewzyt | What are Tensor and CUDA cores? | Need help understanding what exactly Tensor and CUDA cores are and what they do in graphics cards | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsk9ovd"
],
"text": [
"[Based on this answer in stack overflow]( URL_0 ) They're both essentially just a part of the GPU that is really good at a certain type of calculation. CUDA cores are good at multiplying two numbers and adding it to another number. Meanwhile, a tensor core is specialize... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
meyttz | How do contact lenses stay in correct position following your eye movement? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gskiua9",
"gslhvi9"
],
"text": [
"Your eyes aren’t actually perfectly spherical. The cornea bulges out slightly, and the contact rests on that bulge, so as your eye moves, so does the contact",
"Contact lenses for astigmatism also have a nearly imperceptible weight on the bottom to en... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mez50b | Why is it that a movie plays at 24 FPS and is buttery smooth, but then a video game at the same frame rate is like a slideshow? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gskkcmn",
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],
"text": [
"- It is not buttery smooth. The choppiness of 24hz is quite obvious if you have ever seen movies at a higher frame rate. - Film cameras have natural motion blur, which kind of smooths movement across multiple frames. In video games this has... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mf1ksg | What does computer hacking actually look like? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"gskxgp3",
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"text": [
"Either: a ) An email sent to someone working in the office with a dodgy link b ) A person opening a program and typing a few words in to a form before clicking \"scan\" c ) A very tired looking person looking o... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mf4s3k | Why are there so many conspiracies about 5G in particular, but not for preexisting cellphone networks? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsljjdz",
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"text": [
"Basically all new techs have some kind of conspiracy nutters (I’ve still got a non-gmo, anti-microwave aunt). Same thing happened with cell phones, and WiFi, and every tech that can’t be seen. The only reason t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mf880u | How were codes for Game Genie/Gameshark/Action Replay found/created back in the day? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsm4nuw",
"gsm9hos"
],
"text": [
"The other answer is talking about something different, actual cheat codes. Most game genie devices that I'm aware of don't do that. They alter memory addresses. The console stores everything in memory. Ammo, weapon, lives, points. The game genie forces th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mfbpt6 | How are DVD "easter eggs" created? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsmlh8x"
],
"text": [
"The DVD menu system is more complex than it seems. You can make buttons/links pretty much anywhere, make links only available at certain times, and act on simple variables. Most easter eggs are presented by abusing these features to hide a piece of video until someone f... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mfh3ni | Why your printer needs magenta just to print in black and white? | I get printers are way advanced now... but why do I need color(magenta) to simply print in black and white. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsnjfbf",
"gsnmlwu",
"gsnka85"
],
"text": [
"Because the people who made printers want you to buy a new printer cartridge. They make close to nothing on the printers, they make money on the inks. They've configured the computer programming parts of the printer to say you are out of in... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mfh4q4 | How do power plants actually make electricity? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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],
"text": [
"There are lots of types of power plants, but most work in one way or another by turning a turbine. The turbine spins magnets in a metal coil which pushes the electrons in that wire and that is what creates the electricity.",
"Something ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mfo5p9 | How did so many places learn to process and harness Copper to get out of the stone age? | I've been watching heaps of pre-history videos and people replicating how to make tools from copper, iron, etc. Copper alone seems like such a HUGE jump and complicated process. How would have people have known to mine and heat (put simply) copper ore into all these copper tools? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"gsohj5i",
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"gspitzx",
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"text": [
"Imagine you're using stone all your life to poke and chop things. You get irritated by the stone always chipping and breaking and you have to go find a new stone to do this... multiple times a day. But one day ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mfpeq6 | What does hexadecimal have to do with binary? | Confused sounds | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"gsons2j",
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"gsonu22",
"gsoq407"
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"text": [
"It’s a power of 2, 16 is 2^4, which makes it really handy, that means 4 bits is just one digit (number or letter A-F) in hex So for example 1100 is C in hex but 12 in decimal And a byte is just two letters, so 1100 0011 is C ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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mfq2gb | Are LEDs of varying color doped to get a certain frequency or do they use dyed plastic heads to get the color? | Do they dope the silicon with various element to get the bandgap which matches with the wavelength the color, or do they just dye a transparent LED head (or whatever it is called) and use a single frequency? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsoshex",
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"text": [
"Yep, the use different materials to get a specific frequency, you’ll sometimes see blue LEDs called “gallium nitride” because that’s what they use to make them. However white LEDs use just blue LEDs, but put a layer of phosphor on top in order to get all ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mfqjty | What do companies like Intel/AMD/NVIDIA do every year that makes their processor faster? | And why is the performance increase only a small amount and why so often? Couldnt they just double the speed and release another another one in 5 years? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"If they can improve speed by 10% and make a new product, they can release it now and start... | [
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mfs2d1 | Why are programming bugs seemingly impossible to eliminate? | It seems like with every type of software, no matter what it is, theres bugs, and sometimes hundreds to thousands of patches, and wet bugs persist. Why is it impossible to completely eradicate them? You’d think after enough patches there would be nothing left to fix | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Modern software is very complex, very large, and, crucially, highly-interdependant on both other parts of the software and common shared software that it's getting from the OS or other programs. That last point means that fix... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mfsr4l | How does "optimizing" code actually work? How can just changing a few lines improve a game's fps? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsp8u24",
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"text": [
"You're going over to a friends house, you know the house number and you know the block they live on. There are 10 houses on this block, They are numbered from the left end of the street to the right, but you can't see the house number unless you go up to ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mfuwxm | What does an ISP (or whoever owns the lines) actually need/do to make faster internet speeds? | I have a vague understanding of IT. But I've never really thought what is actually used for increasing speeds. I gather the obvious of new technologies allow for increases as a general statement. But, what are the physical things? Is it just more servers? More interconnections? I'm UK based. So how does my FTTC line go... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gspkreq"
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"text": [
"One of the major advantages about fiber optic communications is that the wires in the ground are capable of much higher speeds than we use today. In the future when newer technologies come out, all they have to do is put different transceivers at each end and the same c... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mfz2x5 | How do nuclear powered ships work compared to a nuclear powerplant? | I get the point that the ships operate with a running nuclear reactor which generates steam which powers the ship. But as far as i know its very important to keep a nuclear reactor as stable as possible and you can't just turn it off like a lightswitch. But what happens now when e.g. the ship is moving at full speed an... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsq9a95"
],
"text": [
"Both land based and ship based reactors are variable to a degree. Both have _control_ rods which are graphite rods that when inserted into the core of the reactor in amongst all the uranium undergoing fusion, slows down all the neutrons flying around - it slows the reac... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mg44lb | What is Marshal and De-Marshal in Computer Science ? | All of the function documentation on this particular feature tech not giving me any idea on how it is working. pls help da younglings | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsr3dt8"
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"text": [
"Marshalling usually means that you take an object, and turn it into another format for use by another piece of software that requires the object's data to be formatted differently. It's really similar to serialization in that respect. You may need to give more details h... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mg5y3p | Why is it recommended to not fully charge a battery for any device with rechargeable capabilities? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsrdwla",
"gsrvga4",
"gsrgx2b"
],
"text": [
"A strange analogy that kind of works is a bucket made of ice. If you pour some water into it, the bucket of ice will cool it down and hold the water. If you pour more water into that bucket, the water will slowly melt the bucket. If you kee... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mg7l1h | How are metal forges made if you need to forge the metal they're made of? | Or rather how can equipment that's made to work with very high melting temperature metals be possible to make? And if there is some non metal material that is used for forging high temp melting point metals, why not just use it for everything? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"In simplest form, early forges were made of dirt and mud. So over time (copper age, bronze age, iron age) more complicated materials could be forged and forges were improved. I guess you could compare it to coo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mg9bvk | How does Stephen Hawking's speech "computer" work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsrw4h6"
],
"text": [
"The software that the late Stephen Hawking used was custom-built just for him, because nothing similar existed at the time. Now, however, this sort of software is available for just about any computer and it comes built-in on iOS, Android, Chrome OS, macOS, etc. The gen... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mgg39k | What happens to my data if I ignore the "accept cookies" button on a website and continue to browse it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"That message is telling you they use cookies or might use them, it isn't asking your permission. You are accepting that you read the popup. Some sites will close if you hit no/canc... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mgkajl | How do computers use binary code? | I understand the basic layer of computation: computers work in binary signals (basically electricity/no electricity). But, what do they do with these signals? To what are they translated if so? What is the 'next layer'? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsth22j",
"gstj1qi"
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"text": [
"The basic structure of a computer is the transistor. It's basically a switch that when it's turned on, it allows current to flow from the input to the output. The real power of transistors comes when you start wiring them together. Now, the output of one ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mgmmhm | How does Apple manage to waterproof a phone that has ports, which, from my understanding, would be a way for water to make it into the device? Are certain ports easier to make waterproof? If so, is this part of the reason Apple decided to get rid of the audio jack on the iPhone 8 and on? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gstw3n3",
"gstv1u7"
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"text": [
"A well-made jack or port can fairly easily be made waterproof. Electrical signals can pass from the outside to the inside without any openings at all. A well-made phone body can also fairly easily be made waterproof, though this wasn't always done in the ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mgorp5 | How does a program become "unstable" after running for long periods of time? | Title, how do programs (like server software and sometimes operating systems) become unstable and need to be restarted after running for long periods of time? Does the code simply stop performing the function it's supposed to? Why? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsu91nv",
"gsua0h1"
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"text": [
"Cooking recipes tell you to use all sorts of spices and measuring cups and utensils, but they never tell you to put them away when you're done cooking. They don't need to, because a normal person would clean up the kitchen after a meal and make sure that ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mgywer | Whats a Trace Route? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsvw4b4"
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"text": [
"Internet traffic is made up of sending packets of data from point A to point B. Part of that packet of data is \"number of hops\" which means how many things it can go through until an error happens. This is included to prevent packets being stuck in a loop forever. A t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mgznpv | How come most things that get plugged into outlets (charging cables and appliances), the plug has a hole in each prong? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"These holes allow the wall socket to hold the plug more tightly by having small bumps that can slide part way into them. Think of the holes as little handles that the socket can use to hold onto the plug.",
"It was a stan... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mh6d6c | what is wifi ? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gswzmnt",
"gsx2z4l"
],
"text": [
"Wifi is a wireless version of a network cable. Many people will assume it has to mean internet but that's not necessarily the case. Wifi is used in Amazon warehouses by the hand-held scanners people use to scan boxes and items. But that wifi on those scan... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mh9er1 | What is the typing noises in the middle and at the end of robo calls? | For example, if you call hr block, you get a robot, after telling her where you want to go verbally, you hear typing noises. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsxl5ms",
"gsxh72r"
],
"text": [
"It's a \"spinning circle gif\" for your ears -- people are accustomed to hearing someone on the other end of the phone typing while not speaking, so they wait for a response. It's for a \"there will be a short wait\", versus being \"put on hold\" which me... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mhao1v | - How would a scammer get a phone number? I’m getting spoofed calls from scammers, and it’s throwing me off, but one number that I received a call from isn’t associated with me at all yet. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsxn7br"
],
"text": [
"I believe it depends on where you live but that phone numbers are listed publicly and it was fairly recently that cell phone numbers also got listed... I may be wrong tho I don't actually have factual information to present"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text_urls": [... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mhaqrp | Why are drives/memory/disks with more storage not physically bigger? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsxo3qs"
],
"text": [
"They're standardies sizes, especially for hard drives and SSDs, so even if you could fit the same amiunt of storage in less space, manufacturers choose to use standardised 2.5\" or 3.5\" inch form factors to ensure they fit in every case. Same thing for SD cards, they n... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mhdozf | Why do websites need to verify if you are a bot? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsy6nru",
"gsy5qr6",
"gsy6275",
"gsy6xav"
],
"text": [
"Imagine you work at the grocery store giving out cheese samples. The sign says \"one sample per customer\", but I'm a greedy cheese monster and I want a lot of cheese for free. & #x200B; If I know how to cheaply build robots ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mhfihk | Why is GPS free to use? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gsyi1uu",
"gsyhjd8",
"gsyhpju",
"gsyle1m"
],
"text": [
"In the states here, it's taxpayer funding. I guess I have to go to a quote. \"In 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 entered Soviet airspace after a navigation error and was shot down, killing all 269 passengers. This incident ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mhojo2 | How do people upscale 24/30 FPS animation to 60 FPS ? | Mostly talking about in some anime openings and edited scenes, like this one URL_0 . Do they really go in and draw extra frames, or is there a program that just adds in extra scenes? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt0364d"
],
"text": [
"The easiest would be just copy and paste previous frames. There are also programs that does motion smoothing and would fill in the frames in between. This is known as the soap opera effect."
],
"score": [
3
],
"text_urls": [
[]
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} | [
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mhpa0t | The difference between RGB and RYB. | I always remember learning that the three primary colors are Red, Yellow, and Blue. Many people rather insist that they are Red, Green, and Blue. When you take paints or markers or something else along those lines, combing RYB will give you all the colors, whereas RGB will not. Furthermore, electronic displays and ligh... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt06kzf",
"gt0588p",
"gt06j3q",
"gt0r03r"
],
"text": [
"There is no RYB: printers use CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black). Kids get taught that it's red and blue because those are familiar colours but the technical names as magenta and cyan. CMYK is the system for use with paints ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mhq4ny | what is happening when old school box televisions mess up and you slap em' up to fix them? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt0an4v",
"gt0av9z"
],
"text": [
"Older TVs had more electrical connections that were susceptible to oxidation resulting in poor contact. Smacking the TV created small movements that would break through the oxide barrier or otherwise help restore solid electrical connections.",
"Good ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mhruie | Why do phones have a camera bump? Is it a hard problem to solve? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt0jsfg",
"gt0ijar"
],
"text": [
"There are fundamental physical limits on image quality with miniscule lenses and sensors, so we can't just shrink them down and improve our lens/sensor tech - unfortunately physics doesn't allow that. So for good image quality, especially in low light, we... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mhvl69 | what does my ISP know about me ?? | and is there any way that i could minimize its "knowledge"? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt14ezf",
"gt13od0"
],
"text": [
"In this day and age, here's what your ISP can see. First, they can see your DNS requests. When you access URL_0 , you have to make a request to know which IP Address URL_0 is. DNS is a plain-text protocol, so your ISP sees all that. Second, they see the a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mi2rom | why do phones battery discharge slower when the phone is fully charged? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt2fbwy",
"gt2c0o9"
],
"text": [
"I assume you're referring to the fact that the drop from 100% to 90% take longer than 20% to 10%? Firstly, there's definitely a part of it in your head/due to useage. Another part is the phone never really knows how much it has left. It's an estimated gue... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
michi9 | How do kettles know when to turn off? | The electric ones, not the ones with a whistle | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt3xzr9"
],
"text": [
"They have a switch made of 2 different metals which expand at different rates. They're designed to move away from each other at boiling temperature. When they push away it opens the electrical circuit and it turns off. As they cool, they return to the original position ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mig82d | why do computers (motherboards) still have ps/2 ports by default, but no such keyboards or mice have been made in at least 20* years? | Sorry if wrong sub, couldn't think of where else to ask. *To my knowledge - not meant to be hyperbole, i think I'm probably underestimating here. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt4h0nj",
"gt4h5s8",
"gt4joo1"
],
"text": [
"All modern computers are built to the ATX standard in order to be compatible with all the hardware and software built for this. This means that they need all the components in place that is expected on the IBM 5160 from 1983. This includes ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mijlrn | What is the role of Cache in a CPU? | I’ve noticed some new processors have a difference of 16mb cache and 8 mb cache (I think), but I don’t what cache even does 🤔 | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt4whf2",
"gt4x0y5",
"gt4wo3a",
"gt4wl9l",
"gt4yv6e"
],
"text": [
"It's so the CPU can store a little bit of information without having to read it from RAM every time.",
"Think of it as super-ultra-fast RAM. RAM is already fast, but it's still not fast enough to keep the a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mil65x | How are RFID tags read with antennas and readers, and how is the information sent back and analysed by a computer? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt553hc"
],
"text": [
"An RFID tag is really two parts - a small chip and an antenna. When a reader scans the tag, it supplies a small amount of power over the air. The antenna picks up that power and it is _just_ enough to activate the chip. The chip then broadcasts a message, which the read... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mil6bx | Why emulated ps2/ps3/x360 games still run horribly on newest CPUs? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt5akmi",
"gt5a649",
"gt59km3",
"gt5cy7d",
"gt5b9hs",
"gt5866g",
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],
"text": [
"In order to run the games themselves, emulators need to also simulate the hardware the game runs on. Sometimes this can be as simple as translating some CPU instructions. Other tim... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
min6c7 | Why do different countries have different power outlets? Is it on purpose? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt5i3fd",
"gt5hyu1",
"gt6ictd"
],
"text": [
"Countries didn’t all develop their electric grids together, they were slapped together independently in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Eventually the entire developed world was electrified, but you had a problem at the borders - they hadn’... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mioely | the Hubble Telescope - how does it take the high definition space pictures that people post all the time? | I keep seeing all these high definition renderings of galaxies over my feed with the caption that says Hubble Telescope but I’ve never questioned it until now. Are they really photographs and if so how are they generated? Is the telescope like a really good camera? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt6l7ne",
"gt5p2jd",
"gt63n3i"
],
"text": [
"Well the camera isn't particularly super amazing, or the optics super amazing at least compared to earth telescopes other than that it's designed to work in space. In space though you get some really really major benefits from not being in ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
miqjym | What happens with a video is taking a long time to load and the circle keeps spinning? | What goes behind the scenes? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt64m01"
],
"text": [
"When you're watching a video, there is a connection between you and the server. Let's use youtube as an example. YouTube will start sending data packets to you. These packets contain tiny bits of the video you want to watch. Since the internet is unpredictable and unsta... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mirqc5 | How do game servers handle millions of persistent connections at the same time? | If there are a million gamers connected to a server, are they connecting to one computer or something masquerading as one computer but actually many? Are the connections "held" open for each player through out the session? Once a player connects to a particular physical server, do they always connect to the same server... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt6dx3q",
"gt6fgo8"
],
"text": [
"MMOs are made up of a large number of servers. Looking at World of Warcraft, each 'realm' that you can join is a separate server. You can also have different parts of the same 'realm' hosted on different servers. In Eve Online for example, there's only on... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
misqo8 | what are mosfets, and are they interchangeable with transistors? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt6epqy"
],
"text": [
"Mosfet is a type of transistor. Mosfet stands for Metal Oxide Semiconductor field effect transistor. They are generally considered superior in most applications to the main alternative, known as the Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT). Field Effect Transistors (FETs) are ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mit6wl | How are ISPs able to handle internet traffic coming from so many different places at once? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt7g1iw"
],
"text": [
"Think of the photos you've seen of old manually operated telephone switchboards. Now take that, expand the size and connections by several orders of magnitude, and shrink it all down onto specialized silicon chips, dozens or hundreds of which are packed into each physic... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mitd58 | Why is printing sutff the hardest thing to do half the time with my printer? | Like, am i just dumb? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt6j395",
"gt6z8n3"
],
"text": [
"you didn't buy a Brother. no one should let a brother buy something other than a brother. fr.",
"I doubt you are dumb. It is most likely your printer. I found the ones that the paper is flat in a drawer work more consistently. The ones where the paper... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mj4k0m | Why are rechargeable batteries only 1.2V? | A lot of devices expect 1.5V batteries and report 1.2V rechargeables as empty sooner. Wouldn’t it be better to make rechargeables 1.5V as well? What is preventing that to happen? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt89o7d",
"gt8a6c1",
"gt89gp9",
"gt8pgy3"
],
"text": [
"The voltage generated in a battery is due to specific chemical reactions between the electrodes and the dielectric. This is more or less predetermined by what the battery is made of. There are other features more important in... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mj87f9 | how do robots in car factories get programmed to do tasks such as placing a door on a the car. Does a human record the actions first like a macro or are the actions written in code. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt8rtdt",
"gt8qlqi"
],
"text": [
"Both ways are used. You can preprogram them, but there are also methods where a human operator moves the robot arm in a training phase to get it to the right spots and initiates the necessary action. I don't really know how common the latter is, but I hav... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mjar18 | Where is the bottleneck for the max speeds ISPs can provide? | Why is gigabit internet feasible in some areas/countries while 100Mb/s is premium in others? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gt95oo7",
"gt96999"
],
"text": [
"Some areas just don't have the infrastructure. Every single line of fiber or copper has a maximum thruput that has to satisfy every person using that line: Maximum thruput / number of customers = average max speed for each customer. To increase that, you ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mjknzx | Why do cell towers need to be so high and large but our cell phones can reach them at ground level with a tiny antenna? | Was just driving and had this though whole seeing some cell towers. We create these giant towers in order to broadcast over a large area which makes sense. But I started to come up short when thinking about the process in reverse. When we send a command from our phone to retrieve data or even make a call, how is it tha... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtarvw7",
"gtarbu9",
"gtas1qn"
],
"text": [
"The cell tower isn't necessarily broadcasting stronger signal (it's usually stronger, but not by much). It's high because that's how you get a direct line of sight to the most of the phones on the street. The signal can also reflect off wal... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mjlmc2 | How do phones know to turn back on when yoi restart them? | like when you turn it off, it'll stay off until you manually turn it back on but if you hit restart instead of power off how does it just know to turn back on? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtaw7l5"
],
"text": [
"There is what is known as a BIOS ... a \"Basic Input/Output System\" which runs alongside the operating system (Android, iOS, etc...) When you tell the phone to restart, you are actually telling the operating system to restart. The last thing it does before shutting dow... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mjpfmp | Why do people duck when getting on and off a helicopter? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtbhv9t",
"gtbi8g1",
"gtblce5"
],
"text": [
"To prevent their heads or other parts of their bodies from being caught in the rotors, which are spinning very fast and could cause death or dismemberment. It may not seem like it, but those blades have a bit of vertical flex to them and I'... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mjqkf7 | how does carbon dating work on old things | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtbnsn2"
],
"text": [
"Living things have carbon atoms. There are 2 specific types to consider C12 and C14. C12 is very stable so it'll remain the same with time. C14 is not stable so it'll go away with time. By measuring this two we can tell the age of the animals. This works on animals less... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mju2wi | Why do electronic devices take so long to start? Why can't it just turn on the computer instantly? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtc72mb",
"gtc9ce0",
"gtc4g1e",
"gtc7fh3"
],
"text": [
"Your computer when it’s off is like an empty kitchen. To actually start cooking you have to get all your dishes out and your ingredients and do any prep work on the ingredients before you can actually start making anything. T... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mjvkd4 | Convolutional neural networks | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtcfw0h"
],
"text": [
"Neural networks are computer programs that can learn complex patterns from data. You feed a neural network a bunch of pictures of cats and dogs and it “learns” what cats and dogs look like, and can figure out whether a new picture is a cat or a dog. A *convolutional* ne... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mjwsai | How do duracell ultra batteries have 100% extra, shouldn't batteries be full allready? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtco4co",
"gtcj5ux",
"gtcnwrp"
],
"text": [
"In addition to what u/disappointingHero stated, not all batteries from the same chemistry are created equal. Sometimes the \"parts\" inside the battery are lower quality (impurities, manufacturing defects, etc), meaning that the batteries p... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mjyqx7 | What are SDKs ? | In game development. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtcv946"
],
"text": [
"When you make a videogame you don't normally write every single part yourself. Usually you have an engine, where someone else wrote the stuff that handles a lot of the parts. The engine is that, and the API is the way your programs interact with that, but the SDK is the... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mk0tbw | Why are drone batteries so big but have the same amount of mAh ? | My drone battery is huge but has 5000 mAh and my phone is way smaller and has 5500 mAh. Why is that? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtd7cfg"
],
"text": [
"Check the voltage. If you wired multiple of your phone batteries in series, the pack would have a higher voltage, but the same capacity in terms of current."
],
"score": [
13
],
"text_urls": [
[]
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} | [
"url"
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mk12jf | When downloading multiple files, Why some files are slow in downloading but other files are faster in downloading? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtdafge",
"gtdocfy",
"gtdfx88"
],
"text": [
"There are a handful of reasons, the ones that came to mind for me are : 1. Your software downloaded of choice (whether it be a web browser, Steam or other game launchers, FTP programs, etc) could be prioritizing items based on when you star... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mk93gu | Magnets use to mess up all my screens. How can Apple put one in their phone, right next to the screen? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtel5hf",
"gtepfc6",
"gtelywm"
],
"text": [
"Because screens now are LED. Tube tvs are different, electrons travel and project the picture, a magnet messes up the course of travel.",
"Old screens used to blast a stream of electrons at little pixels to light them up and steered tha... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mkan95 | How do whiteboards with real time collaboration work? | I'm wondering how whiteboards on zoom or Microsoft teams allow more than one user to write in real time! | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtewu1h",
"gtewu9a"
],
"text": [
"Similar to multiplayer games: a dedicated server has the master copy, and all the clients submit their changes to the server as they happen. The changes are then made at the master copy, then all clients get that update. It can only be real time if everyo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mkapfx | Why do the original batteries in a device seem to last so much longer than any you replace them with? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtezx4y",
"gtf14a9"
],
"text": [
"They don’t. Or at least it is far more likely that one of two things is happening. 1) You are storing your batteries in an environment that greatly reduces the life. 2) What you think is happening as a part of a pattern isn’t really even happening regular... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mkaw5t | Why is Machine learning not applied statistics? | Preface: I'm pretty much self taught software engineer so I probably know about machine learning more than the average person, but haven't really tried to use it in any way. Since I skipped uni (most unis would have statistics in the curriculum), I haven't really touched statistics either and all I know about it is how... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtezss0"
],
"text": [
"I have a masters in cs with a focus in machine learning. Statistics is used heavily in machine learning but it’s a bit like asking “why is engineering not just applied physics.” There is a lot of application and design that goes into building the right agent for the rig... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mkbie1 | What exactly do each component of a computer do? Ex: cores/threads in a processor, a graphics card, RAM, the disc, etc. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtezplh",
"gtf5cv1"
],
"text": [
"The CPU does math. The threads are amount of arms that can hold a pencil to do math with. The RAM is how many books can be open at a time, how many eyes there are to read them math problems. The disk is like the notepad of answers to the math problems. Th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mkbmqj | Why are so many news websites formatted so badly? | It seems like it's intentional. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtf0mhn"
],
"text": [
"They're designed around two things- making you click on ads, and making you click on more articles. The confusing layout is, indeed, somewhat intentional. They don't want you to just read the article and close the webpage- they want you to get distracted by another head... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mkf1f3 | What is a hackerspace? | I assume it is some place where hackers get together, but how does it wok? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtfiykc",
"gtfkmxa"
],
"text": [
"It's usually a community run workspace. not really meant for hacking in the sense that most people would think, but more for people that need a place to work together, like if you and a few friends were making a computer game but didn't have the technolog... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mki1ez | What is ping and packet loss? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtfwhzg",
"gtfwlu5"
],
"text": [
"As I understand it ping is like yelling to your friend and then your friend responds. The time between those shows the delay. Packet loss would be you handing candy to your friend, each one a packet, and how many get dropped(lost) between the transfer is ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mki75d | What is the difference between PGP keys, SSH keys, and SSL keys? | I know that they all use asymmetric encryption, but I don't understand their differences and applications. Any guidance is much appreciated! | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtg0cdb",
"gtg53kr",
"gtfxr2u",
"gtgmq2r"
],
"text": [
"The only difference is the types of programs they're used for (PGP usually for email or encrypted messages, SSH usually for securing remote connection to computers, SSL usually for running a website or anything else done over... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mkktce | Why do computers start up so fast now? | I remember computers used to take sooo long to start up, that you can press the power button and go make yourself a sandwich. What changed? Hardware got faster obviously, but software also got more complicated and there are more of them to load up no? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtga7os",
"gtgb4i2",
"gtgae7n"
],
"text": [
"Solid state drives, mostly. The OS is now often put on a solid state drive, rather than a big 'ol set of spinning platters, from where it can be read into memory very quickly.",
"SSDs are the biggest contributor as mentioned, but it's a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mkn0bj | Does the number of threads increase the CPU execution time? | I was doing an exercise in C of matrix multiplication using threads and I realized that as I increased the number of threads the same happened with the CPU time. My computer has 2 cores, each of which can run two threads (Intel Hyper-Threading), but why exactly does this happen? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtgo7cq"
],
"text": [
"Dividing up a task so it can use multiple threads is not free. So you need to do som extra stuff to split it apart and collect the result. If the matrix you multiply is small the overhead can be greater then the time you gain by doing the calculation in parallel. So spl... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mkok3j | How does a SIM card store data such as voicemails, contacts, etc.? How much data can a SIM card hold? If, then, it connects to the internet, how so? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtgvzbf",
"gtgwasl"
],
"text": [
"A SIM card isn't all that special - it is just a specialized form of [smart card]( URL_0 ) designed to hold specific kinds of data rather than be general purpose storage. SIM cards can come in various data capacities, from 8 KB to at least 256 KB. All can... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mkoxzg | How do missiles locate their target? How do they identify that they got the correct target? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gtgz45g",
"gtgyoqb",
"gth07q9"
],
"text": [
"Generally the target is found first by a much fancier system and then the missile goes where its told Missiles can be sent to a specific location via GPS guidance, or they'll use inertial navigation to know how far and what direction they n... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
mkq5s6 | Website URLs and Domains | Hello, Can someone please explain how website URLs and domain names interact? Specifically, if you own a domain such as: URL_0 If you have the domain records setup so that the CNAME www. URL_0 - > URL_0 How does the www version become the default web address and how is 301 redirects applied? If www is pointed to naked ... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gth6qyb"
],
"text": [
"The DNS records tell a browser where the server is. So if you ask your browser to go to https://www. URL_0 /, the browser looks up www. URL_0 . If it finds a CNAME record pointing to URL_0 , it will know it should look at the record for URL_0 instead. And when it does t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
mkq7ex | Why does hyperthreading increase CPU performance? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"gth78z4",
"gth6reo"
],
"text": [
"A CPU core has many parts. One accesses memory, one performs simple arithmetic (addition, subtraction, etc), multiplication is usually a separate piece, floating point is separate, encryption is separate, etc. Hyperthreading takes advantage by trying to r... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
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