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
9zqf1f	how is it that a console doesn’t need to get its hardware updated for new games?	So for example, some games might not work on a computer built at the same time as the console (let’s say a PS4) how is it that the PS4 would be able to run new games that came out recently perfectly fine, but a computer built during the time of the PS4’s release may lag behind and require new hardware?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eab7dyc" ], "text": [ "Because a game is specifically designed to work with that hardware setup. A computer may have hundreds of different combinations of processor, graphics card, etc, so pc games are designed to work for a generic baseline of what they expect a majority of players to have a...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
9zqogz	How does internet security work and how can hackers steal some info, like credit card numbers or medical records?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eabb78t" ], "text": [ "Internet \"forces\" computers to be connected to each other; banks have to talk to each other to transfer money, hospitals have to talk to each other to transfer medical records that are needed, etc. \"Security\" is about making sure that only authorized accounts get ac...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
9zt5ja	What exactly happens when booting up a device such as computer or a smartphone and why isn't it instant?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eabu4nz" ], "text": [ "Tons of things. I might miss some steps. Very generally: there's some code burned into ROM on the device that activates when power is first applied. It runs a power-on self test (POST). If everything checks out, it looks for an Operating System (OS) image. It might have...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
9ztfur	How can LEDs be brighter than incandescents while not being as luminus?	For example, incandescent Christmas lights illuminate the area around them while LEDs seem brighter, but only as tiny points of light.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eacupzx" ], "text": [ "\"Luminous flux\", measured in lumens, is the total amount of visible light coming from a bulb \"Luminous intensity\", measured in candelas, is the amount of visible light going from a bulb in a particular direction. So imagine an LED and an incandescent bulb that have ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
9zu8gs	Before MIDI, how did musicians time the beats exactly right?	When I listen to something old like Thriller, I notice that the beats of the drums seem to be timed exactly right with the rhythm, with the same amount of time between each beat. Or so it seems. Because now, with MIDI, you can have the instruments timed to be exactly right with the rhythm, but Thriller was made before ...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eac2ajj", "eac25vm", "eac2cqs", "eac4950" ], "text": [ "Practice by drummers. The main function of drums is to keep rhythm so any drummer worth their salt practices countless hours with a metronome to hone this skill. It’s also not uncommon for musicians(drummers too) to record wi...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
9zuxp1	why do some phone chargers charge more quickly than others?	I’m sitting in a gas station currently dreading having to charge my phone because a) I don’t have a car charger and b) compared to my friends, this charger seems to take extremely long to give my phone a charge. Why is that? Thanks!	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eac7rm2" ], "text": [ "1.) Some charging sources can put out a higher current than some others. 2.) Some charging sources may support an additional fast charging protocol that your phone also supports, allowing a higher voltage and/or current along the cable. 3.) You might be using a cable wi...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
9zvmje	How do ships sail against the wind?	Without some other source of power like engines or oars?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eacdrk8", "eaceoz2" ], "text": [ "They perform a series of \"tacks\" where they don't sail directly into the wind but sail at an incident angle while steering the boats rudder so the boat makes headway (albeit more slowly than downwind sailing) then they reverse the sail and rudder to the...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
9zwatb	Just how dangerous is it to use a Huawei device?	There’s been [a lot of news reports recently]( URL_0 ) about Huawei spying. I just got a Huawei laptop. How exactly can Huawei spy on me? Like, what can they do and why has nobody been able to search their products and answer this definitively?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaciyrz", "eacjzmf" ], "text": [ "Well, 99% of computer makers can spy on you, if they want to. Google and Amazon do all the time. The question is what they DO with the information they have on you. The fear is that Huawei, as a Chinese company, has a direct interest in keeping the in...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
9zwt72	What is MIDI	Ive been looking up keyboards and synths to buy recently and I keep seeing "MIDI" mentioned. But no explanation or context is given. Is it a format? A port-type? An accessory? What does it do? Whats it for? I cant figure out any of these things.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaclf3f", "eacmxqi" ], "text": [ "An acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, It's a communication standard for musical hardware. The standard allows two products, from two different manufactures, to exchange performance data using a common language. MIDI is used to control music...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
9zxhmv	Why does hold music sound so terrible? In this age of UHD sound how come hold music sounds like it's being played through sock in a wind tunnel?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eacpxzs", "eacslox" ], "text": [ "Phone lines are designed to carry voice and not music. Humans can hear sounds from 30Hz to 22kHz but can only make sound from 300Hz to 3000Hz with out voice. So you need very different sample rates for the voice and music. This means that phone lines work...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
9zxsjm	If 95% of the ocean hasn’t been explored, how do we know where the deepest point is ?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eacrjfv", "eacrumu", "eacxmz2", "eacrn9u", "eaedmfg" ], "text": [ "Sonar. We can measure the depths of the ocean with surface boats, but we haven’t dived down physically to explore most places.", "It depends on your definition of explored. Saying we have not explored 95% o...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
9zzk7u	how is elevation of cities measured?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ead7ex9", "eadfmfo" ], "text": [ "That's part of [Surveying]( URL_0 ). Technology has progressed (lasers, GPS satellites, etc.), but the easiest method used in the past was you stand in a location where you know your elevation, and you measure the angle (of looking up) at the city, and th...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
9zzp8w	What does increasing audio bit size and frequency do?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ead9pyb" ], "text": [ "The frequency determines the highest frequency that can be resolved in the signal. This is often called the Nyquist rate. If you sample at twice the frequency of the highest frequency desired in the signal, you can perfectly reconstruct it. However, there are certain si...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a00rwi	How do services like Netflix or Hulu know if an original show is profitable?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eadjta3", "eadlh2x", "eae0wc8", "eadlp4k" ], "text": [ "For those types of services, it's all about new subscribers. If a show generates enough new subscriptions to please the stock holders, it's considered a success. Many shows on these services are not produced in house, locking...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a00vha	Who owns domain names?	Why do you have to buy a domain from someone and why do they own it in the first place?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eadm0nd" ], "text": [ "Top-level Domain names are leased from the organization that runs the DNS. You pay a yearly fee to maintain control of that Domain name. Companies like GoDaddy are effectively resellers (domain brokers) that you can pay to manage the Domain Name entry. They bill you, an...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a01ft7	How are gift cards validated and activated at checkout? Are their serial numbers stored in a database and then marked as activated? How are they activated when their numbers haven’t been scratched off?	Referring to the cashier activation of gift cards like Steam or League of Legends cards at checkout to prevent theft	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eadv7xq", "eadt5ts" ], "text": [ "Point of sale system (POS) scans a barcode on the gift card. This barcode is specific to the gift card, and allows the card to be identified without the card number or pin. The retailer accepts cash, the POS records a transaction on the retailers ledger. ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a01jng	My friend was explaining why his PC was so fast and sent me this, “I did 2 2tb hard drives in a raid 0 with my 500gb ssd and and 1tb back up drive”. I have no idea what he’s talking about.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eadr9pw", "eadr3o1", "eadt29v", "eadzvl1" ], "text": [ "That was your friend's response to an inquiry about why his PC is fast? Is he 11? Does he play Fortnite? SSD stands for solid state drive. It is storage that's directly connected to the main unit of the computer making your P...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a01lny	How do USB splitter hubs work? How do multiple devices simultaneously transmit signals through a single port without stuttering?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eads5ed", "eaeh69i" ], "text": [ "They don't simultaneously transmit. Rather, they transmit one at a time. However, USB transmits so quickly that you'll rarely run across situations where it matters. Most USB peripherals - your mouse/keyboard, for example - use a tiny fraction of the avai...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a03a4m	what the purpose of the black strips of wire/rope that I see from time to time across several lanes of traffic?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eae6pi8", "eaecbgi", "eae6tf5" ], "text": [ "Those are pneumatic axle counters - there's a traffic study being done for that location, they want to see how many vehicles use that piece of road in a given time. One at a place is necessary, more than one is backups in case one is damage...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a04bxn	What happens when a television commercial gets cut off by a different commercial within seconds of the first one starting?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaehk2h" ], "text": [ "You mean what happens afterward or what causes it? The cause is sometimes the local station or cable channel can sell local commercials (AKA spots), but their spot may not start exactly on schedule. You will see whatever spot is running on the network during that time s...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a04hd0	How does NASA learn about far away planets?	Like how do they figure out that some planets are just giant balls of gas? Or how do they determine if there’s water on a planet hundreds of light years away? Or what elements, chemicals, weather conditions, temperatures, etc. can be found on far away planets?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaei3of" ], "text": [ "You can't see a planet in a telescope, even the best telescope. But you can see stars really really clearly. So you can look at a star and see if it's wiggling around that something must be rotating around it to pull it, so there must be a planet, and from that you can ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a06oob	If movie projectors project light, how do they project the color black?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaf0y33" ], "text": [ "Movie projectors project light through a reel of film (or at least used to) the black areas are the parts on that film that are less transparent meaning less light get a though... so it looks darker. Which is how you get a contrast high enough for us to perceive it as b...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a06zoi	Mathematic problems/algorithms that has to be solved by powerful computers?	Hello there, Can anyone explain me how does it actually work and what they are solving? I’ve heard a lot about the most efficient computers that can solve millions of operations at a glance and moreover they are gathering more and more power to solve another problems or whatever it is. So there’s a company where inside...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaf3r6j" ], "text": [ "Weather forecast is one domain where very powerful computers are needed. There are millions of readings of temperature, pressure, wind, humidity and so on across the globe, all those numbers must be crunched, and for sure, getting a forecast for tomorrow has to take les...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a09vca	Do satellites have passwords? How do their owners manage them?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eafzztq", "eagaz9n", "eagqn47", "eafzccz", "eagfzym", "eagfsye", "eagr9n5", "eagelj3", "eaghi7e", "eagt0sz", "eagvpn6", "eagta2l", "eagh7q8", "eaguwqy", "eaguguz" ], "text": [ "The OS the ground terminals ran was UNIX but there wasn't a ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0bd90	why do phone batteries drain much faster in cold weather?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eagctc3", "eagezyz" ], "text": [ "The problem is not that they drain faster, but I believe it is the fact that the voltage drops with temperature, the phone interprets it as a very rapid discharge. If it is cold enough it might even refuse to turn on, but after reaching normal operating c...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0cabn	How does Velcro work?	I don’t get it	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eagjdxt", "eagjhav", "eagjiav" ], "text": [ "One side is loops and one side is hooks and when you press them together the loops get tangled up with the hooks. [Here is a macro photograph]( URL_0 ) that probably illustrates it better than I can explain it.", "Velcro is a brand that...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0cexr	What happens during the remastering of a song?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaglftz" ], "text": [ "It depends on the source material. First, let's define mastering: it's taking the final mix and then creating the \"master copy\" that will be reproduced. This copy is generally adjusted to get the dynamics and EQ correct for the distribution media. On one end of the sp...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0d3qw	Why is it that according to URL_0 my download speed is 50mbps, but my download via the Windows store is averaging 2mbps?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eagqr1j", "eagwue8", "eah2zob", "eagqthg" ], "text": [ "Downloads are measured in bytes per second. Each byte is 8 bits, so 2 MBps equals 16 Mbps (capital vs lowercase B). As for 16 compared to 50? Maybe the server is slow.", "As the other comment says, don't mix bytes and b...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0gp71	How do Cyber Monday deals go "out of stock"?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eahle29" ], "text": [ "I can’t speak for Walmart, but I know at my store they shut off online orders so people can buy things in the store. Kinda doesn’t make sense for cyber Monday in my opinion, but that could be why that happened. That or they offered some sort of pre ordering thing for ce...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0gtfl	How does wireless data transfer, the act of sending digital code through “air” work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eahn025", "eahmfqz" ], "text": [ "You might have heard of something called \"Morse Code\" a way of communicating with dots and dashes, or short beeps and long beeps. In Morse code, the way one calls for help is to send the letters SOS. The code for S is ... or beep beep beep. The code for...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0ih1a	Why is 2-Factor Authentification more secure with a VoiceIP number, than your regular number?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eahyn59", "eaii3z6" ], "text": [ "Well: regular mobile phone numbers aren't very secure because it's not _that_ hard to get a phone number transferred to a separate SIM. You just ring up the network and blag your way through the security questions. once you've got that number attached to ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0lljf	Why did USA adopt chip and PIN but never implement the PIN portion? How is this system better than the old non-chip cards if we don't use a PIN?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eairc2o", "eaimazb", "eaiksld", "eaiu877" ], "text": [ "Banks have limited incentive to protect against fraud as they protect the buyer, not the merchant. The merchant generally accepts the cost of a charback, and factors that into their way of doing business, and therefore add th...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0lza1	How are electric cars better if they draw power from the national grid which is mostly powered by fossil fuels?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eainbz8", "eaip2x5", "eaizqi7", "eaiogow" ], "text": [ "> grid which is mostly powered by fossil fuels This statement is very misleading. \\~40% of US electricity comes from renewable energy. So by driving an electric car you are already 40% better then a gas car if we are being s...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0m4em	How do countries know nuclear bombs work properly if they do not test them in abandoned areas anymore?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaiqg2j", "eaio69l" ], "text": [ "the physics are pretty well understood from prior testing, and all that physics data has been digitized so now we just run nuclear simulations. just like how we used to flight test airplanes a lot, nowadays we run tons of simulations before actually flyin...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0mof9	How is water/waste recycle in a space station environment?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaivg8v" ], "text": [ "Urine can be filtered and purified to be drinkable again. Solid waste on the ISS at least is usually stored in waste tanks and later studied when it's returned to earth with the astronauts." ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0o4t5	How is the temperature of stars and planets determined (Example: Surface temperature of the Sun is 5,778 K)		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaj71o0", "eaj72v1" ], "text": [ "For planets we've sent spacecraft to, we just bring a thermometer, but that's not gonna work for the Sun, and there are places we haven't been to yet. So we look at the kind of light that they give off. In addition to reflecting light, every warm object \...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0p3x0	why does the processor nodes size matter and how is smaller better?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eajcyej" ], "text": [ "In general, a processor made on a smaller process (using smaller transistors) will consume less power than a processor of the same design on a larger process. A smaller process also allows transistors to be packed closer together, which carries advantages if aiming for ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0pxnn	What is the actual purpose of those electronic speed limit signs that show you your speed?	Are they just to keep you aware? Do they report the data somewhere?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eajjrpd", "eajjnpb" ], "text": [ "Some of them track data. They can track traffic volume, and speed. (Assuming they are not connected to a speed camera), they are not reading your license plate, and you won't get a ticket, but the police might use the data to determine when to go run rada...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0qbie	How people “hack” the Switch, and why does the Switch seem easier to hack than a PS4, for example?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eajok4a" ], "text": [ "For a system to be hacked, there needs to be a weakness to exploit. In PS4, so far publicly known weakness are on software side, easily fixed by software patch (which in itself could contain new weakness). Sure, pirates can choose to not update their PS4, but new games ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0qmt2	How would an employer or school be able to see what I do on my webcam?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eajpztw" ], "text": [ "At some point you installed or they installed stuff into your computer. Often this is “to manage” or “to secure” or something. This software can also turn on your web cam and send the video and audio back to them. On many computers they can do this without any visible w...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0rz6u	How are magnets manufactured without losing their magnetism?	If magnets become demagnetized when heated to the curie point, how do magnets get manufactured? I'm talking about those neodymium coin magnets and whatnot. I assume they have to be heated up fairly hot to be shaped, so how are they still magnetic?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eak03z5" ], "text": [ "Heating the magnet mostly just makes the magnet weaker to external forces. If a heated magnet is just heated, then it returns to a preferred random state of its magnetic domain pointing wherever the hell. However if a piece of metal is heated in a magnetic field, then t...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0t39i	How do stoplights make decisions?	What kind of technology do stoplights use to decide when to change colors, when to give turning advances, etc. Sensors? Pressure plates? What are the most common technologies and how do they work?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eak5ghe" ], "text": [ "Some just have a timer, others have induction loops in the street. They work like a metal detector and notice if a car is above. Some systems have heat cameras mounted. This is in a lot of mobile traffic lights for construction work near the streets. ^(And i bet some fu...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0v9jx	What is a software framework and why is it necessary?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eakme1g", "eakl9td", "eakkmny" ], "text": [ "It might be important to mention the difference between a framework and a library. When you work with libraries, you're the captain. You employ sailors with know-how (libraries) and tell them what to do. When you work with a framework, you ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0vssv	When a system or company gets hacked and people’s information gets hacked you hear their email, phone number and other general information is taken. What do the Hackers do with that information?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eakq1u1", "eakpqtb" ], "text": [ "The easiest thing to do is sell that information to scammers. Having a large list of active phone #'s and email addresses is quite valuable to marketing companies and people running phone scams and phishing attacks. In foreign nations the laws aren't as s...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0vuja	What color are mirrors?	If the color white is supposed to reflect all visible wavelengths of light, does that make mirrors white, technically?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eakq11s", "eakqaoz" ], "text": [ "Well mirrors are silver. Generally mirrors are silver backed glass. The silver reflects all wave lengths so in some sense they are technically colorless... but it’s better to just think they are reflective... also keep in mind that most glass has a green ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0w1w3	how does NASA receive and send signals out to Insight? I drive through a tunnel and I have no signal on my phone, but Insight is sending clear detailed images		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaks7hp", "eakuf54" ], "text": [ "I’m not a scientist, so I can’t explain like you’re 5. However, it’s a combination of a few things. Space is empty, so there’s nothing to interfere with the signal, unless a satellite momentarily dips behind a planet. Basically there’s a network of satell...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0y4kn	what is the difference between Eco and Sport modes in a modern car?	I always use Eco, when should I use Sport?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ealafh9" ], "text": [ "It has to do with when the automatic transmission shifts gears. & #x200B; Eco shifts at lower RPM which means you won't accelerate very quickly, but you'll eventually get up to speed with a better gas mileage. Most mileage problems happen with start and stop driving. Ge...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0ydfs	Why it is better to use smaller monitors (not 55" TVs) for playing videogames, if it's true.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ealirik", "ealcenl" ], "text": [ "A monitor has a latency (delay) that is a lot lower than a TV. Most normal TL monitor screens have a latency of ~5 ms and an average IPS monitor or most other technologies about ~8ms delay. A TV isn’t made for computer use or gaming so the latency is ofte...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a0yube	What exactly is a gaming engine, and why does it cost so much/ take so long to build?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ealgjli", "ealtcvq" ], "text": [ "A game engine is a series of functions that work together to be a scaffolding for a game. Say you're building a first-person shooter. You can build everything from the ground up - how movement works, how you render basic character models, how those models...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a11dyn	How do the same programs run on different operating systems?	How do the same programs run on different operating systems? Do they have to be built from the ground up to give the same appearance and function on different operating systems or do they just need to be changed in a more basic way? For example, Word, Excell, Photoshop, and Lightroom working on PC and Mac.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eam1ip9" ], "text": [ "There are development languages that are cross platform. This is one way this can be accomplished. The same code base will run in various environments (Linux/BSD/Windows) and then OS specific code can be ran inside the software that is called based on what environment t...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a146k2	how do slow motion cameras at high FPS counts work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eamm4pg", "eamlwla" ], "text": [ "A traditional camera may record at 60 frames per second. Which means you have 60 images in one second of record time. Each image is taken at 1/60th of a second intervals. For a cameras with higher frame rates, more images are taken in a second at much sma...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1488r	Why did they jump from Windows 8 to Windows 10 and skip 9?	Is 9 like an unlucky number or something?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eamm5up", "eammdwu", "eammf75", "eamogjq", "eamq8gc", "eamqwbd" ], "text": [ "According to Microsoft: “Windows 10, because 7 8 9.” (Get it? Seven ate nine.) URL_0", "One suggestion was that some old code used to check if the current OS is either Windows 95 or Windows 9...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a14o5b	How did it work: the wired casset tape that played music via a portable CD player?	You know, for those of us who didn't have a car CD player in the 90's.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eampbn8", "eampfmx" ], "text": [ "There were devices that had a coil inside a cassette-sized shell that created a magnetic field. When inserted into the player the coil ended up positioned next to the pick up head of the tape player. The coil's magnetic field induced a current in the simi...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a150t1	why do computer programs need to be installed? Why can the installer run without being installed?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eamrg2m", "eamsi4c", "eamt27r" ], "text": [ "Programs do in general not need to be installed. There are a lot of program that can be executed immediately. For free programs it it not uncommon to find a portable version that only need to be extracted. A lot of install program you can t...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1527i	How are VISA and Mastercard Credit Card Numbers generated? What happens if we run out of credit card numbers to generate?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eamrnca", "eamsegd" ], "text": [ "I believe there are some base \"prefixes\" if you will, for different creditors. And then numbers are effectively randomized within those constraints. So any particular credit card company will have a significant block of numbers to dole out. Given that 1...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a17xa6	Why do bank transactions take as long as 3-5 days to complete?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eanimhz" ], "text": [ "Most online transactions like money transfer, ATM, swipe or waving to pay, etc. Takes less than five minutes to complete. Old instruments like check or money transfer to other countries takes a few days. If I gave you a cheque and you deposit it in your bank (your accou...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a17zht	The purpose of the CO2 mixture used for a CO2 laser.	The mixture is usually always CO2, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, and Helium.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eangzbx" ], "text": [ "The short answer is this: CO2 (carbon dioxide) is used in certain lasers as what's called an Active Laser Medium, which allows a laser to produce it's beam by way of transforming power into light, aka 'optical gain', with the CO2 being the gain agent in this equation. I...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a190aq	With hundreds to thousands of cars in a parking lot, how are wireless remotes able to have unique frequencies and not open the wrong car?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eanpvvm", "eanqvw0" ], "text": [ "The frequencies are not necessarily unique. But they transmit a code that cars in the vicinity listen for. Even just a 5 digit code using just 0 to 9 would give you 100,000 possible combinations, so it would be pretty easy to make it unlikely that the s...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1ak1n	How people made phone calls onboard airplanes on 9/11		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eao3txd" ], "text": [ "Airphones. Satellite telephones, they've been on airliners since the late 90s. Usually cost a $fortune. Also depending on the altitude the plane is at you might get cellular connection." ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1arl6	Hatsune Miku		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eao62cd", "eao65ou" ], "text": [ "Hatsune Miku is a character from the Vocaloid series of software, which allow users to create songs with synthesized instruments and voices. Miku is one of the many \"Character Voices\" for this series, including other characters like Kagamine Ren and Lin...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1axe2	What is RESTFUL API and how does it work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaocqi5", "eaoqb4y" ], "text": [ "Representational State Transfer (REST) is a set of commands commonly used with web transactions. Compare to standard web browsing. You will make an http request to URL_0 , this will return you an html page that your browser will display. In REST you will ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1cws4	How does google maps get satellite photos without clouds in them?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaopihn", "eaoy278" ], "text": [ "1) Take many photos. 2) Discard photos with clouds in them. Problem solved.", "1) they're not satellite photos. they're not taken by a satellite in orbit. rather they are aerial photos taken by an airplane 2) they don't fly the airplane on cloudy days...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1d53s	Why when I’m loading something does the last 2 percent always take the longest?	For example, if I’m loading a video on Netflix the first 98% seems to load in about 3 seconds, but it takes like 10 seconds or longer sometimes to load the last 2%. Makes me feel like it’s not really 98% loaded... is it some sort of placebo effect?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaosht9", "eaosbyo", "eap2mjp" ], "text": [ "I can't speak for Netflix but when it comes to computer programs where you often see this sort of thing happen while installing or downloading stuff, it's because there's really two different tasks going on inside your machine. The first ta...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1f4mx	How does the newer generation of captcha determine I'm not a robot? (The one where all you must do is click)	I just had to signup to a site that had this captcha system where you literally click it and it turns into a green tick. I'm sure you're all familiar with it seeing as Reddit also uses it but the question is; how does it determine I'm not a robot? & #x200B; & #x200B; *dId iT alSo jUsT aSsUmE mY sPecIeS?*	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eap9tzb" ], "text": [ "It tracks mouse movement. If it was a bot it would immediately click the checkbox after it was loaded. You as a human have to move your mouse cursor to the checkbox and this movement is not in a straight line. So basically they just check mouse movement and time between...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1fu5o	how do anti-wind lighters work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eapgd87" ], "text": [ "The wick ones(like zippo) have a little casing around the base of the wick to cut down on wind that actually hits the burning wick. The flame itself flutters in the wind, but the source of the flame is protected. The butane or jet/cigar lighters spray the fuel out of a ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1g8qx	Why are home solar panels considered such an ineffective solution to energy and environmental challenges		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eapi27i", "eapitoq", "eapid6c" ], "text": [ "Because they are very good at turning solar light energy into electrical power that can be used at this second in this building. But they are very ineffective in storing power for future use or sharing power with other buildings", "The ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1h5dw	How does a dentist fix a hole in your tooth?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eapocia", "eaprezs" ], "text": [ "Drills all the bad things away then fills the hole with some stuff that hardens and protects that part.", "First you have to remove all the carious dentin and enamel, after that they apply an etching agent, basically acid, which creates small holes in...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1heem	How is a simulation created?	I've seen these all over the internet and boy are they fascinating!( r/simulated )Do I need to know how to code? Is there a website that can be used? Please help.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eapqjyx" ], "text": [ "They use 3D animation software such as Blender. The subreddit's sidebar has a [beginner's guide]( URL_0 )." ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [ "https://www.reddit.com/r/Simulated/comments/35jhz8/getting_started_with_3d_simulations_megathread/" ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1hmrj	Why online videos featuring advertisements play perfectly during the ad, but may barely buffer for the featured video?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eapuyxe" ], "text": [ "Video sites will often cache popular videos on a server that is very close to you. So an advert, which is viewed by many people, will be streaming from a nearby server, but the actual video, which may be something a bit more obscure, is being served from the other side ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1j1en	What exactly is data mining?	Edit: In relation to people ‘leaking’ content for future changes game developers are making to a game.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaq9blv" ], "text": [ "Developers often put the infrastructure for DLCs/expansions/whatever into the game before it is possible for players to access them. They do this for convenience, and to make update rollouts smoother. It's way easier to put pieces of something into the game one at a tim...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1k0aw	How are plastics made and why are they so popular?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaqfmyn", "eaqfxv5" ], "text": [ "Plastic is a oil based product and it is really cheap to form plastic compared to metal. But because it's really easy to for its not strong therefore it needs to be replaced often. Also because of the nature of plastic it easily degrades. This Is just a q...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1k6vn	In videos taken from drones why is there always a lighter part around the shadow of the drone?	Whenever I see videos of a drone or airplane flying on YouTube I always see a slightly lighter than average area around the shadow of the drone. URL_0 this video has a hood example of what i mean at 2:41 (sorry for the full vid, but that's the best example I found)	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaqjy4u" ], "text": [ "Light from the sun reflects back slightly better from the grass when looking almost directly opposite the sun. That direction of course is going to be right next to the shadow cast by the drone." ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1k84v	how do TVs translate waves to a display.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaqiuwc" ], "text": [ "* First they filter out all the waves they don't want, and just pay attention to the ones that are in a very narrow range of frequencies. * Then they split that range of frequencies into two parts. * They sample the exact frequency they are receiving and figure out if i...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1kgho	How does Google work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaqj2b2" ], "text": [ "they use a webcrawler which basically just looks for all web servers. on these web servers there are files that tell search engines are pages are available from this site and gives some key words. then once google has all this data, they use their own algorithm to rank ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1mwv4	How does spacecraft send images back to earth?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ear38wh" ], "text": [ "By radio. Like your cell phone, images are digital structures. The spacecraft uses a network connection to send those structures as a series of packets. For example, the InSight spacecraft on Mars uses the two Mars Orbiters as relays, just the same way your phone uses t...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1nmix	How do multiple cell phones connect to a cell tower without jamming each other if cell phones are are all on the same frequency?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eara2w4" ], "text": [ "They aren't all on precisely the same frequency, they have bands in which they operate, and they carefully take turns using \"TDMA\" or \"time division multiple access\". Using digital encoding the voice streams can be divided into many extremely small time slots allowi...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1oe72	Why has internet speed been increasing since its founding? Hasn't cable been the same speed since its founding?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "earga6y" ], "text": [ "The recent boost is due to fiber optic cables. Instead of travelling along bulky copper lines, signals are now basically sent as a beam of light down a fiber made of glass. This allows much faster communication." ], "score": [ 6 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1ol0b	What happens when you delete something off of your computer?	What happens to the data you delete off of your computer, and how is the computer's storage thereafter replenished?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "earh395" ], "text": [ "When you delete a file through the recycle bin, nothing happens. The computer looks in it's hard drive to find the place where it was storing the information you deleted, and simply marks that another program can over write that space at any time now. This is why some p...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1ppo9	Why do the U.S, and Japan share the same NTSC video signal, despite the geography?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "earrg94" ], "text": [ "A lot of Japanese infrastructure is based on the US version because of the US occupying Japan after World War 2, and the subsequent economic and political alliances between the two countries." ], "score": [ 6 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1q8ot	How did ancient civilizations (Ie romans) subdue/transport dangerous animals?	Did they use traps? Did they use chemical/physical tranquilizers? How did they get the big kitties into designated big kitty areas?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "earvcl5" ], "text": [ "Animals like food. Back then cruelty to animals was usually the point so they'd just bait a cage near where they new the animals were. So like bait a lion with a tied up goat. Cut said goat so it cries and lion hears and smells it. Lion walks into cage, close door. They...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1qpk4	How do power plants work/produce electricity?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "earz6pl" ], "text": [ "They use a big generator that uses electromagnetism. There is a stator (a part that is fixed in place) and a rotor (a part that spins). The rotor is lined with magnets, and the stator consists of a lot of wire, wrapped in a loop around the rotor. When magnets spin past ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1s6c7	What is telematics and why are people investing so much on it?	Can anyone ELI5 Telematics to me? I read about this in a magazine somewhere and I really want to learn more about it. What is it about? How will it change our lives? Thanks!	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eas9evg" ], "text": [ "When was this magazine printet? The word telematic is build form Telecommunication and Informatic. It was used at first in 1978, bevore the Internet became popular. It means the combination of communication over long distances and Computers at the ends of this c...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1tnvr	Why must you drag a new program into the application folder (on a Mac) for it to work properly?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "easrkwg", "easmgzn", "easld6g" ], "text": [ "Source: am software developer who targets Macs. In general, Mac apps will run just fine no matter where they are located in the filesystem - you can even run them off a mounted thumb drive, for example. There is no registry as there is on W...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1ut8y	How does the Nintendo 3DS work?	How does the 3DS display 3D gameplay with just turning the switch on?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eat4tmo", "eataslv" ], "text": [ "The screen is displaying two images at once, in alternating vertical columns. In front of the screen is a barrier that blocks half of the columns. When you're at the right distance away from the screen, the barrier blocks one image entirely for one eye, a...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1uvs8	In stores, why are cash machines responsible for calculating tax on items and not the price label machine? Aren’t they attached to the same database? Don’t item prices change more often than tax percentages?	Apart from open deception intended to make you purchase too much and be too embarrassed to send stuff back it seems foolish for every other conceivable reason Wouldn’t you be more likely to shop at a store where you can intuitively know how much you have to pay before you pay?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "easvm7b", "easvrpf", "eat57cv" ], "text": [ "I was told it was to remind you about the government taxing you. I believe some people make teh argument about large companies not wanting to price differently in different states with different taxes (like that isn't easily fixable at a st...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1vr4z	Why can you find almost all music on the large streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music, etc) and almost all books on similar online stores - but when it comes to movies and TV series streaming most series are exclusive to each individual streaming service?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eat3kw1" ], "text": [ "Because unlike book and music producers, the studios are all planning and/or rolling out their own streaming platforms in the next 2-3 years. They want their platform to be the only one to get their content from. Books have been sold by a reseller forever, the publisher...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1w8fq	How do video games have different glitches among seperate copies ( I fall through the floor here, someone else doesn't) when they are all the same game?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eat8zue", "eat92r6", "eat85l5", "eat8q0p", "eatb8p6", "eat8of1", "eatd4b9" ], "text": [ "They don't, what happens is that people encounter different glitches. And that has to do with the number of variences and the number if conditions. If you have a glitch that makes ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1x7wh	How do digital clocks become slow?	I have 2 digital clocks in my car, 1 on the infotainment system and 1 on the dash between my speedometer and rev counter. The latter continually becomes slower and slower. It usually takes like month and I'll start to notice it's 2-3 minutes slow and this continues until I reset it.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eatgwz1" ], "text": [ "Each digital clock has a crystal which vibrates at a specifics frequency(generally 32,768 Hz). The frequency is known and these vibrations are counted to determine how much time has passed. But this crystal isn't perfectly accurate and more accurate crystals cost more m...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1x9ey	what is the big deal with foldable screens?	What applications does this have that will affect day to day life? What’s with all the hype?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eatqcob" ], "text": [ "mostly just hype to get you to buy it to reimburse them for the development costs (ala 3d displays). Not sure who was asking for foldable screens other than people who work for component manufacturers and a small subset of future gadget obsessed people." ], "score":...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a1xwq2	What are the alphanumeric codes associated with colors on computer paint programs? Like #FF8365 etc.	How are they used?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eatmh6x" ], "text": [ "If you look closely at a computer screen, you will see that each pixel is actually made of [three components]( URL_0 ) - a red, a green, and a blue. Each of these smaller lights can be activated to various extends, and between the three of them they can reproduce any co...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a21y1r	What happens to cause a computer to crash?	If it’s just 1s and 0s how are certain things more complex for the computer to handle than others? Is it just the sheer volume that overwhelms the computer stuff inside?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eauhnry", "eaugzs6" ], "text": [ "First up, you have to understand that computers are built up on layers upon layers of technologies. I code on C# at work, I can use commands like 'send an email' and the technology I use knows how to do that. You have more low-level technologies below tha...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a22kl1	Why do the colours on a digital screen change when you view the screen from a different angle?	Why do the colours on the screen change depending on the angle you view the screen from, like when you tilt a laptop screen forward or back?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaulf9q" ], "text": [ "Because on a straight perpendicular device, you're viewing RGB pixels sorted in purposeful ways to produce a required image. When you tilt the device, your not viewing the device properly since it's providing an image intending for you to look at it head on. Also you're...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a22xpt	How does Snapchat identify food on a picture, so it then gives you an appropriate filter?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaup1sk" ], "text": [ "Machine learning. This means they built a program that learns patterns from a ton of input and then can recognize that pattern for new input. So they built a model, fed it hundreds of thousands or millions of known pictures of food until the model could then accurately ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a23wj7	Can someone explain what gimble lock is and why Quaternions are used avoid it in a game engine like Unity?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eauybx0", "eav14wx" ], "text": [ "This is really hard to ELI5 but I will try to give a 2D analogy. Imagine your body is a telescope. Stretch one of your arms forward in front of you. Now, telescopes can only move in a limited number of ways. You can move your arm up and down, but not left...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a24r59	How does youtube figure out if content (Music, photos and videos) isn't original?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eav4bx6" ], "text": [ "To be fair, they always don't. Sony for example is going full blown copyright trolling and claiming copyrights on practically everything and this has lead to people being unable to submit their own stuff like music covers and stuff like that.." ], "score": [ 4 ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a25mtw	how my dash cam knows there are red light cameras ahead.	My husband says it visually detects them but sometimes it will say there's one ahead when we're on an highway overpass - where there's no red lights let alone cameras.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eavbbsz" ], "text": [ "All red light cameras must be of public knowledge. So if your dash cam is connected to gps, it has them marked on the “internal map.” My radar detector does the same." ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a2623w	How did people gain an understanding of the conditions of outer space, and how to adapt a person to them, before anyone had actually been up there?	I searched on Reddit and Google, and as far as I can tell this question has not been asked here before. Basically, what I'm wondering is, when pioneering aerospace organizations were preparing to put a human being into orbit in the 40s/50s, how did they know how to safely equip their astronauts so they would be able to...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eavezja", "eavq3pg" ], "text": [ "We made some measurements which gave is very good guesses, and even then, we put up animals before humans in case we forgot something and they died. It was obvious using ordinary instruments that it was a vacuum, and that objects orbit the Earth in free f...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a2632p	Why didn't hydrogen fuel cell driven cars become more/as popular as their electric counterparts?	I'm not an engineer, I have some basic understanding how these fuel cells work and the process of electrolysis that is required to supply the fuel. I do understand that it's highly volatile and dangerous (see Hindenburg incident). But at this day and age it seems to me a great cheap and environmentally friendly way to ...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eavfj07", "eavfjan", "eavpgpy", "eavfl3g" ], "text": [ "> cheap Hydrogen is far from cheap, and it's not precisely a \"fuel\" either. The key issue with hydrogen, at the end of the day, is that despite how common it is, its extremely rare in it's pure molecular form (H2) which...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a26kt7	The difference between rockets and missiles (like the kind fired from attack aircraft)		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eavk88w" ], "text": [ "AFAIK, missiles have a guidance system so they can track a target, but a rocket is dumb and goes where it's originally fired without altering course." ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
a28sqr	How was the automobile invented before gasoline? And how did gasoline become the standard fuel for automobiles?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eaw3d76", "eaw4qiz" ], "text": [ "When \"oil guys\" first started refining oil, they knew it produced many different types of substances as you increased the boiling temperature. We've found a use for almost every substance that crude oil can make nowadays, but back then gasoline was cons...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]

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