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77ctfu
Why is there a pause during TV news when crossing between the studio and a live correspondent?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dokuanm" ], "text": [ "There's usually a few moment delay from what the anchor says and the reporter hearing it due to the sat truck, microwave truck, or cell signal sending and receiving data. Source: anchor/reporter" ], "score": [ 6 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77dud1
If the edge of a rotating disc moves faster than the center, is this accounted for when pressing a vinyl album?
Wouldn't the music have to be slowly sped up over time? Otherwise I feel like the music would sound slower and slower as the needle gets closer to the center.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dol0ghg", "dol0kc7", "dol7iqi" ], "text": [ "Yes. And this is pretty easy to cater for, because vinyl discs are created from being pressed in a mould, which is itself created by manually inscribing the tracks onto a spinning disc, rotating at the same speed as the eventual pressing.",...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77e8tq
How do animated movies stay up to date when they take multiple years to complete?
I would imagine that, with technology constantly improving, an animated movie that started production five years ago, for example, would end with an outdated product. Are animated movies just a reflection of the technology we had when they started animating it? Or do they somehow update their equipment and programs so ...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dol5t84", "dol825z", "dol4ru1", "dol3f4g", "dolee47" ], "text": [ "All the other movies are \"outdated\" too, so everyone ends up on a level playing field. Just like with videogames. And yes, this means that if your schedule takes longer than usual, you'll be behind the curve....
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77g19k
Why are the twists in Cat V strands so important? Why can't they just be straight wires?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dollb8y", "doljirk", "dolx2t6", "dolqnot", "dolk1eq", "dom5may", "dom4v17", "dolo3q2" ], "text": [ "The twists reduce the \"magnetic flux\" caused by magnetic fields in the environment, reducing interference. Nearby electrical circuits will cause fluctuating magnet...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77if5x
How do artists create the “localized” versions of their songs in which they mention the local radio station by name?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dom38q0" ], "text": [ "> Does the artist have to sit in the studio and sing different station names or identifiers so that they can later be edited in? It is relatively easy for a label to have their artist go to a studio and sing a bunch of radio station names all in one big session." ], ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77irss
How can some live TV shows censor profanity words before they are even said?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dom6ey8" ], "text": [ "there is a lag before it is actually broadcast The lag is due to operational delay as well as intentional delay i.e, Broadcast delay. Commonly, the intentional delay is about 7 seconds that is the broadcast will automatically only be sent out after 7 s from when it is r...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77jrml
How does the Pirate Bay still exist with the same URL even though it's been shut down multiple times?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "domgaxx" ], "text": [ "A domain name is like a nickname. It translates to an IP address that actually identifies the web server you need to talk to. (You said \"URL,\" strictly speaking that includes stuff like the specific file on the server you want and the protocol you're using, in additio...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77lltk
Internet Links
Why is it that if I click a link to go from one website to another, I see multiple different websites changing in the address bar, even though i'm only going to one website and my screen isn't changing multiple times? This doesn't happen all the time. I also wonder why it isn't consistent.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "domtetm" ], "text": [ "HTTP requests - which are what happen when you click a link - can have a number of responses. It might be a response that’s the web page you want, or it might be one that says “no that doesn’t exist” (the dreaded 404). Or it might be a *redirect*. This tells your browse...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77ln0u
How do loading bars know how far they are, and why do they rarely give a very accurate time on when it will be completed?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "domsvqo", "domvnly", "domu1e7", "domuuoz" ], "text": [ "Progressbars show how much data to move and how much remains; To calculate the time it will take to finish it uses the speed of which you move a certain amount of data and divides that by how much data theres left. If the rat...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77lzch
How do radio stations know how many listeners are tuning in?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "domyeqi", "domy8lz" ], "text": [ "In 2006 my household was chosen to be a Nielsen radio family (Nielsen does radio as well as TV ratings) and we kept a daily log of which stations we listened to and when.", "There are two popular methods these days; the most common is listening diarie...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77m4w8
How does SHA-1 work?
Is there anyone who could possibly explain to me how does SHA-1 hashing algorithm work ? Explain like im 5 pls.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "donadah" ], "text": [ "SHA-1 is a block cypher, meaning that it breaks up a message into chunks that are 160 bits long, and scrambles them up according to a complicated formula. Then it repeats this process block-by-block on the rest of the message. And it repeats it again over the already-ha...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77nk5i
Why aren't private airplanes common?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "don8xru" ], "text": [ "There's more to it than simply the cost of the plane itself. Obtaining a license to fly is incredibly expensive if you didn't get it through the armed forces. You have to rent space to store them at an airport. And you have to pay for maintenance and fuel which can be e...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77nt77
Can anyone simplify parity and/or error checking in data storage context? I simply can't grasp how a parity stripe in RAID 5, for example, can rebuild missing data, but isn't actually a copy of the data.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "donc7hv", "donb59n" ], "text": [ "2 + 5 = 7 Stripe 1 contains: 2 Stripe 2 contains: 5 Stripe 3 contains: 7 (or, the **parity** stripe) \"Oh no!! Stripe 2 went missing!!\" 2 + X = 7 Solve for X 7 - 2 = **5** Ta-da, parity Now, the striping is distributed across all drives in the RAID array...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77qr8y
Why do images of computer screens show weird patterns when you zoom them in and out?
Example: URL_0
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "donz33q", "doob38l" ], "text": [ "Those are pixels. Though you may also be referring to the moire pattern which appears when photographing a television or monitor from further away. Essentially they happen because the pattern of pixels on a monitor and the pattern of pixels of a camera do...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77ulwb
What is "bridge mode" on a router, and when it is useful?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doosqjx", "door14a", "dop3kwn", "door2nv", "dopasge", "dopi2oj", "dop2d5r", "dopfqjw", "dophh3t", "dopk4rn", "dopvjke", "doq2b9n" ], "text": [ "It can mean different things. A home router is often a router and a modem combined, but the router part t...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77vlvc
Why when you microwave food on a plate, the food heats up but the plate stays cold?
When I put a plate of food in the microwave, the food and any parts of the plate that are in contact with the food get very hot, but any parts of the plate without food (like the edges) seem to stay very cool even immediately after taking the plate out the microwave. Why is this?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dooy8ke", "doppc7w" ], "text": [ "Microwave ovens work by vibrating the bonds in molecules present in food, particularly water. The molecules with these kinds of bonds are typically not present in most crockery meaning plates that you put in the microwave don't heat by any mechanism other...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77vmiv
How is research carried out in order to constantly develop and improve CPUs and GPUs?
What does improving these computer components involve and what methods are used to develop more efficient processing units? Edit: with a strong emphasis on the experimental aspect
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dop00xc", "dooyor5", "dop1wsl" ], "text": [ "There are three main ways to improve a CPU. First, you can make it faster, able to execute more instructions every second. The problem is the faster you go, the hotter and sloppier the chip gets, to the point it eventually fails. Next, you ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77wbj9
What are programming design patterns?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dop4sgk", "dop4gtx" ], "text": [ "They are one of the reasons why some people drop out of CS programs in college, for one. On a slightly more serious note: a design pattern is basically a sort of recipe to solve a common problem -- only it's a partial recipe. These problems aren't anythin...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
77yhdn
How do radar detectors work?
Title. How do they even pick up signals when an officer is sending a laser beam your way? Wouldn't it have to pick up that one beam from the gun out of the entire surface area of the car? That's basically like saying that the officer is aiming directly for your detector or it's sensor (if that's how it works).
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dopnmhu" ], "text": [ "A radar detector device has both a radar and a laser detector built into it. No different from how a smart phone often has multiple cameras, a microphone and speakers. The sensor that detects radar waves won't detect laser beams, and vice versa. A [laser speed detector]...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
782ji1
How do Radio Waves for cell phone signals penetrate into buildings if light can't travel around corners or visible light can't shine through opaque objects? Wouldn't you need a direct line of sight to the tower?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doqhju6" ], "text": [ "Light and radio waves are all part of the electromagnetic spectrum. They don't all behave or interact with stuff the same. Xrays, infrared and microwaves are also part of that spectrum. They, like radio waves can be reflected like visible light but can penetrate certain...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
782rgj
Why so many videogames have the "glitching through surface and shaking furiously" bug and why does it happen?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doqjp56" ], "text": [ "It's a result of a game's physics engine trying to approximate things \"bouncing off\" each other when they're trapped. So first what happens is the objects clip through each other, due to one of ten billion possible bugs or reasons. Exactly what gets 'em going through ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
783k04
Why does reducing the resolution of a video consequently affect the sound quality?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doqqvoa", "dor606h" ], "text": [ "No, that isn't the case at all. Sure, if you shrink a video by running it through some program on its default settings, without understanding what it's doing, then that might be what you get out. It doesn't have to be that way. If you learn how to use a c...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
788bda
How did "cheater boxes" (cable descramblers) allow you to watch premium TV channels for free?
I had a few friends who had one back in the 90's that allowed you to get HBO and pay-per-view without actually paying for it. I always wondered how they work.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dorsxb7", "dos6e35", "dos6ox0", "dosdaou", "dos4i63", "dosnz0w", "dos6z8v", "dot0ebm" ], "text": [ "Way back when, television was an analog signal. More accurately, it was a *series* of analog signals that your 100%-analog color television could use to produce a pi...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
78949z
How does a Thermoelectric Generator work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dosd73s" ], "text": [ "What is really being asked is how the thermoelectric effect works, so I'll try and explain that. Imagine you had a metal wire that has either end held at a different temperature. The electrons in the metal act similar to a gas, where the electrons at the hotter end are ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
789udg
Why do cell phone batteries die faster the longer you own them?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dos7dhl", "dos5an0", "dos5frc" ], "text": [ "imagine your phone's battery has 100 cells in it brand new. when those 100 cells are fully charged, your phone's charge is at 100%. 3 cells lose their charge as you use it to browse eli5, 97%. now, those cells have a lifespan. after 3 month...
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78de54
Are sensors mechanical or programmed responses?
My SO and I are at a standstill and I need some help. We recently watch "Ex Machina" and started a discussion regarding the AI's skin and how it would work. I believe that the AI's skin would be like our own, as I understand, and built on a redundant system of tiny sensors that would be stimulated to send an electric s...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dot04hd", "doszepm" ], "text": [ "If it's an electromechanical device that can only do one thing, it's *designed*, not programmed. I mean, it's a completely fictitious device, so we can only speculate as to how it'd actually be built. There could be some programmable device in there that ...
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[ "url" ]
78erng
How do defibrillators work?
And is it possible to repeatedly stop or start a person's heart using them?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dot98pp", "dot8zps" ], "text": [ "Haha at last something relevant to my work. I work for a company that makes defibs. So a bit of background about hearts. Hearts are basically a bag of blood surrounded by muscle. Muscles are activated by electrical signals. In normal muscles, they are act...
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[ "url" ]
78hl1u
How do cryptocurrencies become regulated?
I've recently read news about China blocking ICOs from happening. I've also read about Gab and how they are the world's first Reg A+ ICO. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Does this defeat the purpose of being decentralized?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dotv3s3", "dotv95x", "dou3zro", "dotxob6" ], "text": [ "China is a special case. There is no Internet there, only a China-subset Internet. When they block ICOs, they are saying companies inside their Great Firewall can't participate in them. If there are regulated and non-regulate...
[ "url" ]
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78kc0v
How do they track baseballs during a game and turn it into a visualization for the audience?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "douo15f" ], "text": [ "There are three cameras set up at known locations in the ball park and the distances and angles between them, the plate and pitchers mound are known precisely. Each camera records the ball as it moves from the pitcher toward the plate and the location in each camera is ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
78p1w8
How do commercials work?
How is the order decided? When a company owns a lot of channels, how is it decided which channels will show the commercial and which ones won't? Why do some national stations show the same 5 commercials all day?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dovi614" ], "text": [ "The advertiser specifies what channels and what shows they want their ad on, and how many times. They can choose a single show, or a category of shows based on type or based on audience statistics." ], "score": [ 5 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
78q8aa
Why is it so hard for game developers to scale UI's across multiply screen resolutions?
All other game elements get scaled just fine (ex. going from 1080p to 4k). You're character and the environment stay the same size on the screen. However, the UI (HUD, mouse cursor, option menus, etc) get shrunk down to 1/4 size. Sometimes, there is a UI scaler included in the options, but most of the time, it seems to...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dovuemo", "dovxjki" ], "text": [ "Because it requires more code and therefore time and money to make a 'good' UI. It's comparatively much simpler to fix everything in place or scale it by a fixed amount for different resolutions. If you're asking why they never include a stronger UI scale...
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[ "url" ]
78q928
What happen(s/ed) to all of those crazy "future technologies" we hear about, but suddenly drop off the face of the earth?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dovsv4j" ], "text": [ "All of the above. Some technologies work well in the lab, but can't scale to industrial applications. Some are just too expensive to pursue at this time. Some are bought and sat on by companies until they can switch their business models to take advantage of it." ], ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
78r6jc
How can touch lamps be sensitive to touch while simultaneously being grounded/earthed?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dow3ioo" ], "text": [ "There can be a touch surface which is grounded via a low resistance inductor. The inductor would not prevent the low level, high frequency signal used by the touch sensor from working. Inductors (block or reduce) the flow of AC." ], "score": [ 7 ], "text_url...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
78rris
packet buffering
why does it happen? and how?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dow69hv" ], "text": [ "A train just arrived at the station. Lots of people leave the train. The escalator up can only load one person per second. All these people are now waiting for the queue in front of the escalator until it is their turn. That is what packet buffering is: More packets arr...
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[ "url" ]
78uaed
how do self balancing bikes work?
Eli5: such as Google's self balancing bike. Or I've seen a concept of a motorbike that can't fall. How are they able to offset the weight when the bike is unbalanced? What is this magic?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dowvbx3", "dowrqb1" ], "text": [ "I'm not sure which Google bike you mean, but if it's this one: URL_0 I have to dissapoint you because it's an April 1st joke...", "In short, angular momentum. (On mobile here, so sorry for any typos in advance) So just like how an object moving in a s...
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[ "url" ]
78ug78
How does a program know what I've clicked on? Is it constantly checking each and every button region for a click? If so, could increasing the number of buttons on a screen slow down a program dramatically?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dowqxx8", "dowqxi0", "doxhslz" ], "text": [ "Programs have mouse readers; when you click the mouse button, your computer sends the program the x,y coordinates of your mouse and the program \"registers\" a click in that location accordingly", "You don't need to check continually fo...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
78x8jt
What do cell phones do with the information it gets from SIM cards in order to make a phone call?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doxh5om" ], "text": [ "Take it roughly the same as how authenticating yourself on a private, wireless network. Your SIM card ID is a username, your PIN unlocks the SIM card's \"password\" equivalent (your pin isn't used on the network, it unlocks the second encrypted part needed to complete t...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
78y8gu
On Windows (and possibly other OSs), why is the system's only recourse in the event of a software error to completely nuke the program?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doxm85w", "doxnal6", "doxo3ru", "doxmfux", "doxoyzh", "doxoxmt" ], "text": [ "It is the latter option. Bugs, errors, and glitches happen all the time, and most often they end up fixing themselves or just terminating and trying again. You can look at countless video games t...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
7907m5
difference between C++ , C# and Java
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doy9kcj", "doy6m07" ], "text": [ "I'm primarily an Embedded C and Python programmer, so please take this into account when reading this. I do have experience with C++ and Java, and just a tad in C#. This is meant to be an overview, and I'm open to suggestions from programmers with more ex...
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[ "url" ]
790ya0
What happens to a charger that's plugged into a power outlet but doesn't have a device attached?
For example, if I plug in the power brick for my computer into a power socket, but I don't attached the charger to my computer. What happens to the brick while it's on "idle?" Is it somehow being damaged by me leaving it in the power outlet while I'm not using it? Edit: Welp, I finally understand what everyone means by...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doyb04t", "doyh933", "doygv8f", "doypvji", "doyhz9j", "doygljd", "doyc9js", "doyqxf9", "doyukyj", "doyiw6x" ], "text": [ "Wall adapters and chargers are almost always AC to DC adapters. What they do is take the electricity in the wall and change it from wha...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
791ns9
Why is digital storage getting better every year?
How is it that 15-20 years ago, I had to save up for a month in order to buy a 1GB Hard Drive that weighed over a kilogram, when I can now find microSD cards with 400GB capacity? Is there a limit to how compact these things can get? Will I be walking around with thousands of terabytes in my pocket within the next decad...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doyhdpb" ], "text": [ "Technology is refined, step by step. Moore's law applies pretty well to storage, so expect a doubling in capacity every 18 months. Is there a limit? Sure there is (storing a bit requires at least one electron, with current scientific knowledge), but we aren't close to i...
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[ "url" ]
791pno
SSD's. If I have a 100 GigaByte SSD, does that mean there are (roughly) 800.000.000.000, or 800 billion transistors inside of the SSD for storing data?
I'm trying to figure out how SSD's work. Just to explain my numbers: * 1 byte is 8 bits. * 1 gigabyte is 1 billion bytes which is 8 billion bits. * 100 gigabytes would be 800 billion bits. Or do I have this completely wrong? Like as far as I understand, an SSD has a bunch of transistors which can either be 0 or 1, and ...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doyhat3", "doygb8u" ], "text": [ "6 transistors per bit in an SSD, so, in your case, 4800 billion transistors. It's actually quite impressive, it's over 500 times as many transistors as there are people on earth.", "More actually, a transistor in itself doesn't store any data. A quick...
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[ "url" ]
792n9k
Why has Hdr been so common in cameras for so long but is only now beginning to move into mainstream TVs, Smartphones and games consoles?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doyoch1", "doyoc2q" ], "text": [ "They're different technologies. The HDR in cameras involves taking two shots at high/low exposure, then merging them to a single photo. The HDR in video displays refers to the ability to show a wide range of brightness.", "HDR-photos are typically jus...
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[ "url" ]
7932me
How do Youtubers that make "movie mistakes" videos monetize their videos? Aren't they using someone else's creation to make money without their permission?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doypga5" ], "text": [ "In the US there is a \"fair use\" doctrine which allows the quoting or in this case inclusion of copywritten material for such purposes as criticism. Typically this would be used for things like reviews but a \"movie mistakes\" video still falls squarely under the categ...
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[ "url" ]
794aep
Why do CRT TV's use so much more power than the normal TV's of today?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doz0iip" ], "text": [ "The way they draw the image is kind of crazy. The emit a powerful beam of electrons from a device called a cathode, and then use powerful electromagnets to steer this beam all over the phosphor-coated glass screen, making various points glow with energy. That takes a lo...
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[ "url" ]
794yfw
Difference between RFID and NFC tags
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doz6crq" ], "text": [ "NFC is kind of a subset of RFID. RFID - Radio Frequency IDentification is just a means of communication with small devices. It's usually referred to when talking about RFID tags with unique serial numbers that you can use to track items, vehicles, people, or animals. Th...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
795hvd
Fingerprint scanner (Touch ID) hashing
Specifically, explain it like I completely understand hashing. I understand that when you change the input to a hash function a tiny amount the entire output changes. This is what I don't get: if a hash of the fingerprint is stored then doesn't a tiny variation on the positioning, lighting etc of the scan completely ch...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dozd180", "dozdavn" ], "text": [ "URL_0 > The raster scan is temporarily stored in encrypted memory within the Secure Enclave while being vectorized for analysis, and then it’s discarded. The analysis utilizes subdermal ridge flow angle mapping, which is a lossy process that discards minu...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
795pdv
How is the Crocodile Dentist mechanically random?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dozciwf" ], "text": [ "Imagine a disk with holes under the teeth. The teeth aligned with holes go down. The tooth that doesnt align with a hole triggers the mechanism. Resetting the jaw spins the disc (randomly landing on a new sore tooth)" ], "score": [ 10 ], "text_urls": [ [...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
797ezg
Why is standard compliance important with regards to HTML and CSS?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "doztrh2", "dozro6d", "dozrk4n" ], "text": [ "Internet Explorer 6 taught quite a few businesses why standards compliance is important. IE 6 was included with Windows XP and this just happened to occur as everybody decided webpages were a really good way to perform certain businesses pr...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
798prf
Why are screen resolutions like 1920x1080 rather than 2000x1000?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp03g4f" ], "text": [ "Originally, the standard was 4:3 since several experiments found that the human eye’s field of view (FoV) was of the same ratio (155° H x 120° V). Hence it was continued as the standard for film, camera and later for TV as well. Now, Hollywood industry had to be somethi...
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[ "url" ]
799b59
What are hooks in computer programming? What are they used for?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp05syx", "dp0low4" ], "text": [ "Hooks are a type of function that allows a base system to call extension code. They’re used to allow other programmers to change or extend the behavior of an existing program or system. Every Chrome (or other browser) extension is possible because of hook...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
799wiy
how does cryptographic salt and pepper work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp0a2rx" ], "text": [ "When encoding information: Salt is/are random string(s) of numbers used when storing information. If you want to save a password in a database, you can't use plaintext, so you encode it. The sequence the encoder used to base its encription can be called the salt. You ca...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
79d4jy
Why does multiple Bluetooth connections cause music quality to degrade?
Anytime when listening to music, if there's more then just my stereo connected to my phone, the music will have a slight static to it. Disconnect all devices from my phone but the stereo, restart the stereo, and music is crystal clear again.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp1bnvr" ], "text": [ "Modern BlueTooth devices support at least two simultaneous connections. The internal circuitry of your BlueTooth device needs to manage both at the same time. Some devices are better at this than others. It has nothing to do with \"two different signals in the same spac...
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79e4gr
Trackless train. How does that work and compelling benefits of the same?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp1d3ca" ], "text": [ "What do you mean by \"trackless\"? You could mean: * Not needing tracks like an Australian road train vs a CN train. * Not having a dedicated guideway like an articulated bus vs a subway train. or maybe you mean something else?" ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls...
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79eodc
How do bluetooth headphones work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp1eah0" ], "text": [ "They work like regular headphones except instead of getting the audio data over a wire they get it through short range radio transmissions. Headphones are basically tiny speakers you put in your ears. Speakers are diaphragms which move air in order to make vibrations, w...
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[ "url" ]
79g446
the difference between an i3 and an i7 processor (physical)
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp1nfax", "dp1qyf6", "dp1t48i" ], "text": [ "Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained: 1. [ELI5:What is the difference between core i3, i5, i7? ]( URL_2 ) 1. [What's the difference between i3, i5, i7, and i9 CPUs? ]( URL_4 ) 1. [ELI5: What's the difference between th...
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79i4b5
how does recycling work
What do companies do with recycled materials, and how are they reused?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp268fs" ], "text": [ "There are many different ways that companies use recycling in daily operations. Paper Paper is very often recycled by means of mashing it into a pulp like consistency and reforming more paper. This can be used in anything from grocery bags to pages in a book. & nbsp; Gl...
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79k3jx
How come our phone screens can make it harder to fall asleep if used before going to bed, yet it’s so easy to fall asleep when watching a film/tv
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp2kjs8" ], "text": [ "The blue light in the phones screen is the same spectrum as sunlight. Sleep patterns work around sunlight, as you become tired as night falls. I've used apps to cut off the blue light at a specific time and the first night I knocked out at my laptop." ], "score": [ ...
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79madw
What is the meaning of "1.4" in "1.4 Petrol Engine"?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp33g9t", "dp33fju", "dp33qra" ], "text": [ "1.4 is the engine displacement. It's measured by the cylinder bore (width) and stroke (the difference in the farthest travel up and down in the cylinder). Grossly overgeneralizing, larger engine displacements will result in greater power pr...
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[ "url" ]
79nw9k
... What is Kinematics
For my college work. I'm studying game engines and we have no idea what it is. Thanks.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp3gx2w", "dp3i5dp", "dp3e1ag" ], "text": [ "Mechanical engineer graduate here. Kinematics is the study of the motion of that object through space due to it's geometry, not forces applied to it. If you're designing something, especially something that has movement, many times the prio...
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79pcb5
Anti-tamper software how it works?
Any IT here? Im curious about how an anti-tamper software works.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp3s8ew" ], "text": [ "Software engineer here. Let's change 'anti-tampering' to 'anti-debugging' or 'anti-reverse engineering'. Let's break this down into two different categories - In-memory (while the software is running) - On-disk (while the software is not running) While it is important t...
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79pouf
Why are there so many different shapes of water towers?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp3vks5", "dp3w7kb", "dp3vglb" ], "text": [ "Not exactly an answer but remember that water towers do not supply water: they supply water pressure to the whole system. The key design feature is that the water has high potential energy to drive it through the whole system. [Like this]( ...
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79ugrp
Why do so few smartphone companies use stock Android?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp4w56o", "dp50cds", "dp4xgwd" ], "text": [ "Custom UI means the users get used to that one experience. Companies hope that users will keep buying their products for that experience (e.g. what Samsung is doing with TouchWiz). Differences are mostly selection of default apps (branded a...
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79wcvd
- How do baggage scanners at the airport work? What do the different colors on the x-ray mean?
The x-ray I get from my doctor is only black and white whereas the x-ray scanners at the airport show different colors. Also, what do the colors mean?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp594ox", "dp5979g" ], "text": [ "The x-ray devices in luggage scanners are a bit more complicated than the x-ray medical imaging devices. In particular, they're set up to identify and distinguish between different *kinds* of objects, whereas medical x-rays are pretty much only interested...
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79y4cg
How do scientists decide where to point the Hubble or Kepler telescope?
How do we know where to point it, what to look at?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp5np08" ], "text": [ "Typically researchers will submit proposals for telescope time slots to a committee which will review the requests to determine if they are worthwhile, ranking them by priority and feasibility. Included in the proposals is precisely the kinds of observations requested s...
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79ynd0
Why do we need thousands of nuclear weapons when one is enough to destroy any target?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp5rfwa" ], "text": [ "A 100 would not be enough to end the world. You could probably destroy all the infrastructure in a large country but definitely not the whole world. The whole purpose of having a ton of nukes is so that you always have more nukes after the first bombs have fallen. If a ...
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7a00jp
What is Anti-aliasing, what's the difference between the kinds, and why does it help in gaming?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp644rp", "dp62qtv" ], "text": [ "Here's a close-up of what is generally meant by anti aliasing. URL_2 Basically, it can be thought of as smoothening the edges of an object to make it look more natural from afar. Here's another example that I screen shotted from [this]( URL_0 ) wikipedia ...
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7a2iel
Snapchat can do filters on any smartphone with a front-facing camera, so what's different with the iPhone X's new facial recognition tech?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp6m5k6" ], "text": [ "Snapchat can recognise that there's *a* face in the image and where it is, and apply a filter over that face. The idea of Face ID is to recognise that *your* face is in the image, and use that as a trigger to unlock the phone." ], "score": [ 11 ], "text_urls...
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7a36jr
How is sound generated from music files?
From my understanding, human hearing is limited to 20-20,000Hz. If this is the case, how are songs different? Are different frequencies played at a very high rate of speed or are they combined somehow?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp6ye3x", "dp6pean" ], "text": [ "Many sounds at once is not a problem at all. Sound is a wave and when you have multiple waves you can simply add them together to get the result. [Here is a gif example]( URL_3 ) where green and blue wave together form the red wave. The red wave alone is ...
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7a3ah2
How does video and image stabilization technology work in our smartphones on such a small scale?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp6qhzi" ], "text": [ "Two kinds of image stabilization systems exist: mechanical and digital. The mechanical systems use small accelerometers built into the chips of the camera to notice movement in the camera during the time the camera is taking the picture and make small opposite movements...
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7a4fn9
What's the deal with cellphone store operators?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp70egp" ], "text": [ "They’re authorized retailers. They have access to the wireless providers database and can setup new accounts and handle issues. The wireless provider wants a physical presence but doesn’t want to incur the cost of hiring staff, renting a physical location, etc. so they ...
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7a5vtu
How does a computer read a CD or DVD and extract the appropriate content?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp7crwz" ], "text": [ "The disc is spun and below it is a laser mounted on a track that moves back and forth so it can be pointed at any point on the disc as it passes over. When the laser hits the disc the light is reflected back and there is a sensor ready to detect it. However by altering ...
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[ "url" ]
7a8fka
How do noise reduction headphones work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp7y543" ], "text": [ "They use a microphone to capture outside noise then generate the opposite waveform to cancel it out when they meet." ], "score": [ 12 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
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7a9pr1
Why are video game graphics just now becoming so detailed and in depth? 10 years ago, you couldnt see reflections or walk up stairs properly, but now you can? What has happened to code writing that's allowed this?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp8933n", "dp899e7", "dp89iii" ], "text": [ "It’s not code really. It’s waaaay more powerful processing being widely available. Both CPUs and GPUs. All of those details take a ton of processing power to do, processing power that 10 years ago wasn’t so readily available.", "In some...
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7aa45g
what is a strong and weak type of language in programming?
What does this mean? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp8bp7r" ], "text": [ "It simply has to do with strictness. A strong typed language requires precise declarations where as a weak typed language does not. In PHP for example $ represents a variable and it can be any type. We can assign $myname = \"me\" or $myage = 20 and PHP automatically rec...
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7adjo4
How is a satellite able to transmit so many channels in HD/SD to so many TV dishes across the globe at once?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp92k7g", "dp92ep5" ], "text": [ "It doesn't have to transmit to each dish. It transmits each channel a single time, and then as many dishes as there are can listen. It's the same for radio or other broadcasting technologies. This is opposed to streaming, with say Netflix, where Netflix s...
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7af9dw
How did old guitar effect pedals actually produce effects such as reverb & delay?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp9k52t" ], "text": [ "I'm not too sure about delay, though there were some 'tape delay' units that worked like cassette tapes, except the tape was in a small loop. It had both a record head and read head running on one tape, so it would record the input from the guitar and play it back after...
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7ago0h
How does a magnetic strip (such as on a credit card) store information?
Similarly, is a full swipe of the strip through a reader needed to process the data it holds or does only a portion of it need to be swiped?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp9ut6q" ], "text": [ "You know how magnets have a north pole and a south pole? The mag stripes are made up of small magnetic particles. By applying a strong magnetic field, you can orient the magnetic direction of those particles one way or the other. The particles themselves don't move, jus...
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7agpix
Why do lightbulbs go out, but not the lights that illuminate screens on TVs and phones?
Is it even possible for them to go out?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dp9tkyo", "dpa0gud", "dp9uqdi" ], "text": [ "it is, DLP tvs for example used a honest bulb (though very bright and powerful), and it had a life of a few years. LCD screens use edge lighting, most are LEDs these days (all cell phones), but they used to use compact florescent lights (ra...
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7aj959
Why are video games almost always rated between 6-10/10 with 6 being considered a terrible game but movies and tv shows seem to be rated between 1-10/10 with 6 being decent.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpacrc5", "dpacins", "dpae177", "dpaen1u" ], "text": [ "Game journalism is very different compared to movie reviews. Most game journalists will not even finish a game before putting out initial impression reviews. Movies are only 1-3 hours long. Many games can be 60+ hours and the...
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7al6co
Noise Isolating headphones vs Noise Cancelling
I see lots of headphones that are Noise Cancelling or Noise Isolating. What's the difference and how do they work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpatihz", "dpatawl", "dpbamu8", "dpawtiz", "dpaxxtu", "dpaxh8r", "dpbb8f0", "dpbhjr2", "dpbopww" ], "text": [ "noise isolating. consider this ear plugs that have earbuds in them. THey block outside noise by providing a noise reducing barrier. In fact my isolati...
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7aoc1x
How does a loading bar work?
When a game or a video is loading up, most of the times we can see a bar being filled until it is completely full. How does it work? I mean, is it just an "image" being multiplied several times? (Obviously I know there's a bunch of codes behind it)
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpbl08e" ], "text": [ "It can be done in many ways. Having multiple whole images of of the loading bar at various percentages is common. But just as common is generating it programmatically - describing it, not as whole lot of pixels, but as a drawing - a rectangle with rounded corners, and a...
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7aq4sx
CPU Overclock
I have just bought a new laptop. The Dell Inspiron 7577 i7-7700 3,8 Ghz laptop. however when I looked at the specs I only had 2,8Ghz. When I looked further I saw that it was 3,8Ghz overclocked. But I have no idea what I mean. I searched google and they say it is maxing out the potention of the pc. But never do they say...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpbz0vb", "dpbxd7g" ], "text": [ "It's probably an automatic overclocking for when the computer is subject to heavy operation. If you play a demanding game, the computer can \"put the pedal to the metal\" for you to make the game run smoother. This will however require more power which dr...
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7aqb4e
How fiber cabling is faster than standard cabling.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpbyjho", "dpc9her" ], "text": [ "Standard cable uses copper wiring to send electric pulses that send data from one place to another. It's fast, near instantaneous for simple signals like telephony and SD cable. Fiber-optic cable uses mirrored flexible tubes to divert pulses of light, ins...
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7as73h
How are racing games able to show the time with an accuracy of 1/1,000 of a second when they run at only 60 FPS?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpccuad", "dpcgwr9", "dpce5xp" ], "text": [ "what's being displayed and what's being recorded are entirely separate. the game knows exactly when you crossed the line at 1/1000 second accuracy. but it only displays it at 1/60 accuracy. you'll never be able to tell the difference. it's ...
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7ats0z
Why do combustion engine cars have gears and electric cars do not?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpcqafv", "dpdcngw" ], "text": [ "In a short, simple version: Electric engines can produce all of their power from a standstill, just put a charge to the motor and off it goes. Combustion engines have a 'sweet spot' where they produce the most power. An RPM range where they are most effic...
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7aug3c
How do programmers for large software or AAA video games manage to create one unified, compatible whole when each programmer may code with different logic and work on different parts?
I've done some programming, minor stuff, but it's always been on my own. I have sort of my own "personality" when I code, so I may think in a different way than someone else. After all, in coding, there are multiple ways to achieve the same end result. Whenever I've looked at someone else's code, it's always taken me q...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpcxo8o", "dpd02dt", "dpcw0el", "dpdcw0v" ], "text": [ "If there's 100 engineers on a project, it's going to be split into many modules, and each person (or a couple people) has responsibility for their own module. Of course, you can't program in a vacuum, you will interact with o...
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7aujyc
Why do so many electronics tell you to charge for X amount of time before the first use?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpczrjm" ], "text": [ "For lithium ion cells, the first few full charges are important to developing the surface of the anode. It is called the solid electrolyte interphase. If it is not done, the cell's lifetime can be reduced. URL_0" ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_urls": [ [ ...
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7axkse
How does speaker phone calls avoid feedback?
Whether it's on our cell phones or at work - speaker phones, how do the calls work so well without feedback? I realize that the quality is lower when using the hands-free or speaker phone but I still don't understand how it works at all.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpenn7z", "dpdrbvn" ], "text": [ "Don't know about cell phones, but they probably do the same thing as a speaker phone. At least, one of them. Speaker phones are generally designed to try to physically isolate the speaker from the microphone. This minimizes how much the output is coupled ...
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7axsfw
My ISP claims to provide 16mbps internet, then why does a 16mb file actually take 6-7 seconds to download rather than one second?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpdlji2" ], "text": [ "MB and Mb are off by a factor of 8 Capitalization is important here. Your ISP is proving 16 Mega*bit* per second internet, the file is 16 Mega*Bytes*. A byte is 8 bits so your actual downspeed is 2 MBps so the file should take 8 seconds" ], "score": [ 14 ], ...
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7ayc0v
What exactly is happening when an LCD TV breaks and those black lines appear?
My kids are 6 and 3. 3 chucked the remote at the TV yesterday and while it's still alive, it's got fat black lines running vertically from the point of impact. Note that the black area goes forms a vertical line going up from the spot, but the pixels below the spot still work. The lines going horizontally are thin and ...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpdro4v" ], "text": [ "An LCD works because of a few layers. There are more than I will mention and multiple types but I'll keep it basic to explain what is happening to your screen. Light shines from the back and goes through a polarizing filter. Then through a liquid crystal layer. Which le...
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7azlh2
Why are some websites so difficult to click back out of?
For instance I'll do a Google search and then click on a link, then if I click back it just reloads the current screen, so then I'll have to do two simultaneous clicks to be able to get out. Then there's [This]( URL_0 ) website that I can't even click out of.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpe0l8c", "dpe0oir", "dpe4pmi", "dpe0voj" ], "text": [ "Some sites redirect you: you land on one page, it redirects you to another. You go back one step and you land on the redirect page, which then redirects you again ...", "You probably got redirected to that page via a chai...
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7azyua
How exactly do solar panels create energy?
How is the energy made usable by the sun? What are the processes that go into making usable power?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpe3z3a" ], "text": [ "Yo ho ho! Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained: 1. [ELI5: Solar panels. How do they work? ]( URL_3 ) 1. [ELI5: How do solar panels work]( URL_4 ) 1. [ELI5: How do solar panels work? ]( URL_7 ) 1. [ELI5: How do solar panels work? ]( URL_2 ) 1. [ELI5...
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7b15f8
Why are plastic and aluminum often collected together for recycling but paper has to be separated?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpeg69o" ], "text": [ "Every recycling plant is going to have their own policies based on what separating machines they have available. Aluminium and plastic is easy to separate. The ELI5 version, is, aluminum is magnetic, so magnets can separate. To be a bit more precise, you would use eddy ...
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7b2gia
why, in the days of dial-up internet, if someone picked up a phone on the same line it would drop the connection.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpeqqrh", "dpeqvo3", "dperth8" ], "text": [ "Data was being communicated via sound on the phone line. If someone picks up an extension, that adds noise via the microphone on that phone, and causes errors in data transmission. If there are too many errors, the connection is lost.", ...
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7b3giq
Why do CPU cores always come in even numbers?
For example, I've never seen a tri-core processor, or a penta-core, or a hepta-core. Is there a reason for this?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpeypju", "dpf37nz", "dpeyywu" ], "text": [ "AMD Phenom processors were triple-core - the Phenom X3 series. The Xbox 360 also had a triple-core processor from IBM. Playstation 3 also used a processor with an unusual design - one main core and seven extra smaller cores.", "Two main...
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7b3ulj
with wildly different writing styles, left to right, right to left, and more importantly in columns, how do international programmers make everyone's name display correctly?
Basically, I play online games, and was wondering how usernames or titles are displayed in vertical text cultures. Everyone I play with or against has a name that reads left to right, like this paragraph. But say, I play with someone from Asian country who generally writes their information in columns, how would their ...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpf1a06" ], "text": [ "Most online only sources use the standard English model when they're expected to be used internationally; even ones that are developed in places like Japan or Korea. If possible, they also like to make regional specific alternates, which is called \"localization\". With...
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[ "url" ]
7b3y1q
How do pirate streaming operate? Where do they get the resources to host such large amounts of content?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpf7np2" ], "text": [ "There’s a site that hosts an embed. They don’t have much legal exposure because they haven’t downloaded and are not hosting the actual file. By embedding the stream they’re just functioning as a search engine, sort of, for the unlicensed content. The site actually hosti...
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7b582k
Why do so many VR game developers claim that free roaming in first person games plays terribly and use teleportation instead (e.g. Doom VR, Skyrim VR), yet games like Resident Evil 7 VR completely disprove that claim?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpfb14e", "dpfc5do", "dpfczl4" ], "text": [ "Because having your senses tell you that you are moving forward when you are not is disconcerting and can cause nausea. And even if some people can handle it, people who build a game from the ground up for VR aren't going to ignore the many...
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7b69cz
Why is it so hard to make a current-gen console emulator?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "dpflhvq", "dpfiy0z", "dpg0roa", "dpg7wgh" ], "text": [ "An emulator is a program which uses a computer to pretend to be a different computer or console. When you run programs natively on the console, you push a button and the console calculates a response. When you push a button i...
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