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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
8pz2xa | How do wrist pedometers (like fitbit) actually know how many steps you've taken. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0f83yz",
"e0f8ge4"
],
"text": [
"When you walk, every time your foot hits the ground it decelerates - going from moving to stationary very quickly. This sends a little shock wave of acceleration up your body that can be sensed anywhere. (Note: acceleration = change in velocity, whether s... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8pzmet | Why can't shows like NCIS, Law and Order SVU, and Criminal Minds reference real world things? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0fbn8u",
"e0fbtr8"
],
"text": [
"Either to avoid it looking like a paid product placement, or to avoid the owner of the trademark complaining or even suing. For example, if a show revolves around a terrorist attack which was organized by the terrorists using, say, WhatsApp, then the make... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8q07p4 | Why does an emulator run some ROMs perfectly fine but other ROMs won't even launch or are completely broken | I suddenly wanted to play LBP ^^specifically ^^2 ^^because ^^I ^^legally ^^own ^^it but couldn't find my PlayStation so I though I would try to emulate it (because why not). A couple of hours of confusion later and I find out the latest achievement for the emulator is that LBP 2 actually launches. So why is it that thi... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0fjj9i",
"e0fqgpl",
"e0ffijg"
],
"text": [
"Because the software emulator was written to emulate only some (most) of the hardware. When the rom tries to access something the emulator can't emulate, it crashes.",
"Imagine you're a fake contractor, as in you are unlicensed, uninsur... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8q1025 | What are the noises a printer makes when you first turn it on? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0fm2yr",
"e0fkrmq"
],
"text": [
"ELI5: Turning a printer on is like a blind person entering a room with no memories of the room. The blind person would walk around with a cane to check the size of the room and position of furniture to know what's up. The printer checks a bunch of stuff —... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8q18m7 | what do all the numbers on my wall outlet to usb-a/c mean? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0fmndt",
"e0fmv4g",
"e0fnfd5"
],
"text": [
"Read where is says the output amps (e.g 1A 2A 1.5A). The higher the ampage, the faster your device will charge.",
"It will probably say something like 120-240v X A~ / 5v Y A with a dotted line parallel to a straight one. Everything befo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8q4pxv | What creates the sounds recorded from the planets in our solar system? How are the sounds recorded if there is no air in space for the sound waves to travel through? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0ghd7a"
],
"text": [
"It’s not actual sound waves. It’s the demodulation of radio waves generated by the sun and planets."
],
"score": [
5
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8q7obo | if you light a lighter in front of a TV, why does the reflection show 4 tiny rainbows around the flame? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0h3wcl"
],
"text": [
"This is to do with, not the display itself, but the layers of diffusers that make up the backlight behind the display An LCD TV consists of a backlight and an LCD panel. The backlight's job is to produce an even spread of light across the display. You first have an arra... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8q9eez | Why do some fluorescent lights flicker on and off for a short while when switched on? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0hjsyu"
],
"text": [
"A fluorescent tube is a type of electrical discharge lamp, an electrical arc has to be established between either end of the tube. In modern lights this is done electronically, which is usually a smoother less dramatic process. In older lamps, they used what was called ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8qakyf | In the picture; if each “normal brain” were normal; why do they all look different? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0ho6yw"
],
"text": [
"The brain is very complicated and performs many, many different tasks. When we're looking at scans to establish a baseline \"normal\" there are dozens of different ways to do so. For example, one might look at activity levels of certain parts of the brain and isolate th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8qbn9z | what does open source mean and why is it preferred in the world of tech? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0hvpto",
"e0hwao6"
],
"text": [
"Yarr! Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained: 1. [ELI5: What is open source software and why is it such a big deal? ]( URL_0 ) ^(_36 comments_) 1. [ELI5: What does it mean when software is open source? How come others can't just look a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8qcj0p | How can Jerryrigeverything Scatch the crap out of a fingerprint scanner on a phone and it still works flawlessly? | How do phone fingerprint scanners work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0i3ygw"
],
"text": [
"A similar technique is used in fingerprint scanners as in capacitive touch screens, but on a smaller scale, so the capacitance between the ridges of a fingerprint and the valleys of a fingerprint and the scanner surface is different, and a large array of tiny circuits m... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8qcnuo | How do polders create more land? | Yes, they don't actually create land, this land was there underneath ocean - but how exactly does it happen? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0i46pd"
],
"text": [
"You build a large water-resistant wall around the area, and then you use pumps (often powered by windmills) to remove the water. As a draining help, if the local tides are really huge you can open floodgates in your walls when the local tide (temporary sea level) is low... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8qdhae | The lean that Michael Jackson does in Smooth Criminal | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0ib2ut",
"e0ibjj2"
],
"text": [
"Stage magic. He's wearing special shoes with a hook that goes into a special hole on the stage floor. He wouldn't be able to do it anywhere else.",
"There is a patent for this granted to Jackson himself. There are also behind the scenes footage from t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8qi6q8 | How do text messages "know" which mobile phone to go to? | What prevents another phone accessing my messages? How is the specific recipient device controlled? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0jblz0"
],
"text": [
"Your phone authenticates to the mobile network via it's sim card. Only after it has proven that it is the legitimate recipient, the mobile network will send the SMS to the phone. (For the transmission the data gets encrypted, so nobody else can read it)"
],
"score":... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8qkyeq | Why are car keys so different to normal ones? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0jy97l"
],
"text": [
"Cars contain a little computer that talks electronically to a little chip in the fat part of the car key. That's quite expensive so normal locks don't have it."
],
"score": [
4
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8qqvqc | How do the anti-theft scanners that you walk through when leaving/entering a library determine if the items you're carrying have been checked out? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0lf4wf",
"e0m2d8c"
],
"text": [
"There are different approaches. All methods I know use an RFID system (like the NFC antenna that has been a default feature in phones since around 5 years, although usually on a different frequency and with a higher range). These labels consist of a large... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8qsxmb | How does watching a footage of video games doesn't require as much graphical resources as playing the game itself? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0lpytp",
"e0lqs8a"
],
"text": [
"There is a huge difference between taking an existing image, scaling it up to the displayed resolution (essentially a few matrix operations), and displaying that as compared to computing the locations of certain models, applying texture images onto those ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8qu40n | How does emergency call work on cellphones even if they dont get any signal from their carriers? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0m0794",
"e0m07er",
"e0m0a7j",
"e0m0a2n"
],
"text": [
"Because any carrier will support a 911 call, even if you are not on the network. If the phone is unable to reach any carrier, it will fail.",
"Generally, a emergency call can use *any* carriers signal. So even if you don'... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8qu50u | Why do websites (especially when viewed on a smartphone) often load in the text immediatly, and then when you start reading they proceed to remove the text again until everything else has finished loading in? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0m3smg",
"e0m3lg0",
"e0m3qo9"
],
"text": [
"This is known as a FOUC - Flash Of Unstylized Content. URL_0 Text loads exceedingly fast. The rest of the pretty website takes much longer.",
"I don't recall seeing what you're describe, but it sound like what's happening is after the t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8qwu2u | How does making a professional song happen? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0mp2gd",
"e0mope5",
"e0ms6d0"
],
"text": [
"From my understanding this is what happens: 1. A producer creates a backing track 2. A ghost writer will write lyrics according to the backing track 3. The producer and ghost writer sell the song to a singer like Ariana Grande or Beyonce. 4... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8r14oo | Why do different cables give different charging speed with the same charger? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0nkypt"
],
"text": [
"Because the charger has a maximum power output, but whether it can actually achieve that output depends on the cable. Edit: To be clear because re-reading this it isn't obvious, **the resistance is a fixed property of the cable**, and the better cables have a lower resi... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8r4xtr | What is the goddamn point of these mobile sites that constantly jump back up to the top as it loads? Shouldn't they only care about ad views? Is it engagement numbers? Who clicks ads? Like seriously. Don't they know people leave when this happens? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0oggz5"
],
"text": [
"I like the ones that ask if you want to sign up as soon as it opens. How the F@#k would I know! I don't even know if I'm on the right page. Or the big ass \"we use cookies! Accept or die!\" pop up. I leave or ignore."
],
"score": [
6
],
"text_urls": [
[]... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8r5xrk | How come rechargable batteries like in our phones don't "overcharge" when left in the charger at 100%? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0ooxmf",
"e0op9xu"
],
"text": [
"There's a circuit in the phone which monitors the battery voltage. When it reaches the goal, it cuts off charging any more.",
"Whem you plug your phone in, a couple of active devices in the phone monitor the voltage of the battery and modify the curre... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8r619m | How could an additional source of light make the light from my phone or TV easier on my eyes? | I was told through all of my upbringing whenever I sat in a dark room with the TV on or later years when i was on my phone, that I should turn on the light. Why would a brighter surrounding make the screens light easier on my eyes? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0ot6vw",
"e0ow75u"
],
"text": [
"If the room is overwhelmingly dark, except for the TV, then your pupils will be wide open to let lots of light in. If the room is relatively bright, your pupils will be smaller and thus let less light in. The idea is that this lets less \"harmful\" TV lig... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8r7w7t | Why is that one french fry green? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0p5oaa",
"e0p5r22",
"e0p5o88"
],
"text": [
"Potatoes skin can process chlorophyll if left to see the sunlight. That piece of the potato did, and turned green like other plants. Note: not all potatoes species do this. Only the lightly skinned and colored ones.",
"Potatoes grow und... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8raln3 | How is paper/cardboard recycled and why are most recycled paper products usually brown and more coarse than virgin paper? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0pq08v",
"e0pr0va",
"e0q2435"
],
"text": [
"Turn old paper/carboard to mush. Make mush into shape. Dry. Shape again and its recycled paper. Some recycled paper are brown, some are like virgins. Add bleach and color to make virgin.",
"Recycled paper is made by people who are advoc... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8raytt | What is transactional memory architecture? How is it possible that it would be so much faster than normal memory? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0pu84d"
],
"text": [
"Today, when more than one piece of software is running concurrently, there is a slow and formal process they go through to avoid both changing the same bit of data at the same time. Transactional memory provides a feature in hardware to prevent this happening, so the so... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8rcz38 | How do pirates crack game? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0qa2ea",
"e0qabyn"
],
"text": [
"It depends on the game, or rather what type of DRM (anti-piracy software) the game is using. In the old days, all you had to do to crack a game was figure out how CD keys were created for it and then make you own the same way. Later on, companies started ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8rfp9r | How Fiber optic cable is run in a neighborhood | How are Fiber optics physically run in a residential neighborhood? Are they set up like phone lines, where you have a main trunk line going to a cabinet and then every residence connected to that cabinet gets their own dedicated line? Or is Fiber run completely differently? Edit: I should probably specify i'm asking ab... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0r6ewb"
],
"text": [
"Most residential fiber deployments (at least, the ones I'm familiar with) use a Passive Optical Network (PON). In broad terms, yes, it's similar to copper networks where the main fiber is run to a cabinet in the neighborhood, with more individual fiber strands run from ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8rfxpp | If TVs can make a 24fps movie look like 60fps, why can't computers do the same for games? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0r0ea6",
"e0rbyer",
"e0r46fg"
],
"text": [
"A movie is pre-rendered, while a game is usually rendered in real time. Doing t in real time is more strenuous on a computer.",
"If you're playing a movie, your TV can just read the next 10 frames ahead of time and \"fill in the blanks\... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8ri3bl | Why do SSDs and SD cards run out of rewrite cycles in a few years, while internal device memory doesent? | Had two solid memory banks die on me, while phones and gaming consoles work near-flawlessly. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0ri4bz",
"e0rig4r",
"e0rq85y"
],
"text": [
"If by \"internal device memory\" you mean the device's RAM chips, then those can become faulty, too. Anyone who's worked in a computer repair shop will be aware of a utility called MEMTEST86 which does extensive tests (often taking many hou... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8rjswj | Why does movie or animation rendering take hours in a high end PC, that movie companies hire separate group to do separate pieces of a scene, whereas, Games are rendered frame by frame smoothly at 60FPS in our PC and Consoles. | Please forgive me if this is a stupid question. I dont know anything about animation and game developing. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0rvj6f",
"e0rymmf",
"e0rvvko"
],
"text": [
"Animated movies are rendered at much higher resolutions, and to put it simply, are way, WAY higher quality than any \"AAA\" game on the market right now. That's why they take longer to render.",
"For movies people will generally use ren... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8rk0ly | How does a stethoscope amplify noise to such an extreme? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0rwuvl",
"e0rygup"
],
"text": [
"The noise your body makes (heartbeat, breathing, the blood in your veins) creates vibrations. These vibrations are picked up by the diaphragm of the stethoscope. The tube that connects the diaphragm and the earbuds amplifies the sound because the rubber m... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8rmmn5 | How does somebody "own" a domain and who decides who owns which domain? As well, there must be an infinite number of domain names. What stops anyone from claiming them all? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0sils5",
"e0sj0gu",
"e0sixki"
],
"text": [
"You have to register the domains you want to own, which is more like a lease because you only control it for a finite amount of time. After the time runs up you have to renew it or it becomes first come first serve. Most people aren't going... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8rntum | How do my electric guitar's pickups, together with my amp, create their sound? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0ssz9q",
"e0su6h8",
"e0st9sa",
"e0sxgm7"
],
"text": [
"Magnets. In simplest terms, the magnets in the pickups “pick up” disturbances in the magnetic field surrounding it, the capacitors and other electronics turn it into an electronic signal that is pushed through the amp which “... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8ro9i8 | How can my headphone jack tell the difference between my car's aux cord and my headphones? | When I plug my aux cord into my phone, it usually goes to full volume. However, the phone almost always stays at about half volume when my earbuds are connected. Can my phone detect the difference between the two? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0sxa8o",
"e0szaup",
"e0tddhl",
"e0sx2js",
"e0t29tg",
"e0sxdex",
"e0t10as",
"e0t3a9y",
"e0t8aru",
"e0tn06l",
"e0tmxjk"
],
"text": [
"Yes, through difference in “impedance”. The aux port on your stereo probably has an input impedance of about 1000 ohms. ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8rp9ng | How does cache and virtual memory reduces memory latency? | I'm trying to wrap my head around it but most explanations are a bit too long winded. How does it actually reduce it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0t6m3i"
],
"text": [
"A single CPU cycle on a modern 3.0 GHz CPU is about .3 nanoseconds long. Normal system RAM can transfer data to the CPU at around 40GB/s with about a 50 nanosecond latency. Whenever the CPU is waiting on getting data from RAM, it can't do much (modern systems have some ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8rpph6 | When you charge a device from your car, is it pretty much "free" energy? If not, how much does it cost compared to plugging it in at home? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0t7qxf",
"e0t7t1v",
"e0t7tme"
],
"text": [
"No. It comes from your car battery. The cost just comes from your gas bill rather than your electricity bill. In fact, considering that cars are less efficient than giant power plants burning coal, you are spending *more*. But even so, the ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8rqzms | What stops browsers from going back a page? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0tgvej"
],
"text": [
"There’s a type of website called a “single page application” where you never actually go to a different page when clicking a link but the website reload new data on the fly and shows you new content. YouTube does that, Facebook too, things like Google Docs would be near... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8rtlky | Why do sounds like the letter "S", "ts" and drums/cymbals sound extra static-y on the radio, even on clear stations? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0u3ocs",
"e0u3py1"
],
"text": [
"They contain high-frequency components. Radio stations use 10-15 KHz audio bandwith. This is quite sufficient to transmit low and midrange sounds, and even most \"high\" frequency pitches that humans can perceive. But some sounds contain high frequency co... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8rwg25 | How exactly did the rotors on the Wehrmacht Enigma work? | Hi. I'm trying to understand how the Enigma machine worked - specifically, the Wehrmacht one. The one with the five possible rotors. I've looked on a lot of sites but I'm still confused. I get the plugboard. I get the reflector. But I don't get rotors. How did they get the rotors to move? How exactly do the notches mak... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0ur6yf"
],
"text": [
"I hope you get to read this. Look for a YouTube channel named singingbanana the guy is a matematician and he has an awesome explanation on how the enigma machine works. Found the link for you (wanted to watch it again) URL_0"
],
"score": [
6
],
"text_urls": ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8rwhlv | why is it that when audio/videos are sped up, they sound higher-pitched or chipmunk-like? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0urd8v",
"e0urggb"
],
"text": [
"All sound is a wave. Think about a stereotypical sine wave. It has a wavelength (distance from peak to peak) and a frequency (how many peaks per second). Higher frequency sounds sound higher pitch to us. So when you take something at one frequency and spe... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8rxir7 | How do regulators really know if my system stores sensitive data? | Is it going to be okay if my system didn't provide a mean to read them? Would anyone know? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0uzhso"
],
"text": [
"The idea is that, if an organization is handling sensitive data, it should know who has it & where it's put and they need to have policies in place to ensure the safety of that data. Maybe you'll get audited but it's unlikely but *if you do end up losing data*, you're g... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8rxn9e | Powerline Adapters | I've been looking at powerline adapters, the plugs that plug in to a normal socket and can give out internet I cannot work out how they work, if you've got power going through the wiring how can you also send internet data? Or do i have it completely wrong? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0v05lj"
],
"text": [
"Powerline adapters use a very weak signal with a very high frequency on top of the 50/60 Hz AC current. This signal is completely filtered out and ignored by all devices other than those specifically designed to pick it up. As a real world analogy, imagine someone engra... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8rzk2d | Why do ballpoint pens sometimes stop working where you’re trying to write, but continue working perfectly fine on other parts of the paper? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0vband",
"e0vbc6h",
"e0vbeis"
],
"text": [
"Ballpoint pens are pretty neat. They are literally a ball at the point of the pen that rotates. As it spins 1 side puts ink on the paper and the other side gets covered in ink on the inside of the pen. Because of this, if there isn't enough... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8s0agj | How my Phone knows when im using the knuckles instead of fingers? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0vi6vs",
"e0vodkh"
],
"text": [
"This is speculation, since I can't find any 'how this works' detail from a bunch of googling: When you touch the screen with a fingertip, it's 'squishier' than touching it with a knuckle. There's more surface area in contact with it, and it doesn't bump t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8s3535 | How does a laser printer work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0w6qfn"
],
"text": [
"It uses a laser to statically charge a drum which then attracts the toner in what ever formation the laser has drawn. This is then pressed onto the paper. Each colour is added in turn using this process to build up the colour picture. Then finally it uses heat to bond t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8s42n6 | How is outer-space relevant in modern warfare, what would space combat look like? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0wdyct",
"e0we71t",
"e0wed94",
"e0wdzm4"
],
"text": [
"It's where satellites are, and satellites are the backbone of modern communications and photo-reconnaissance technology. The GPS satellites, for example, allow the US military to guide vehicles and weapons to anywhere on the ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8s6a2p | What is the actual purpose of having a United States Space Force? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0wwdq4"
],
"text": [
"I think the idea is to split the responsibility for space off of the Air Force, much like how NASA was split off for civilian aerospace work. The Air Force actually spends more on space operations than NASA (moreso if you include agencies like the NRO). Putting that as ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8s6hmh | What stops a website from using my credit card and taking all my money? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0wxw0q"
],
"text": [
"Because it's a crime and they will be charged. More importantly, the credit card company will not work with them again."
],
"score": [
20
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8s79tf | How does radio stations measure the number of listeners? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0x37l2",
"e0x37vl"
],
"text": [
"Survey companies like Nielsen give out special receivers to a small sample of people that track what stations they are listening to. From that they can estimate what everyone is listening to.",
"The amount of engagement a station receives gives a lot ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8s7zsb | What is a hydraulic press actually used for? Other than clickbait videos | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0x7ewa",
"e0x7tp3",
"e0x7qyj",
"e0x7ics",
"e0x8zvb",
"e0xf73h",
"e0xayci",
"e0xctj4",
"e0xdfyd",
"e0xc4j6",
"e0xgzp7"
],
"text": [
"Kitchen sinks. The metal ones, that seem to be made out of a single piece of metal that just happens to be the shape of ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8s82n1 | Why does the same TV commercial sometimes run back to back? Isnt that an inefficient use of ad dollars? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0xdo07",
"e0xeayb",
"e0xgpaw",
"e0x98m0"
],
"text": [
"Friend of mine works for ITV (UK channel) and I asked her this question (among others) a while back. Apparently it is just human error in queuing up the ads. She had never seen an order come in for back-to-back of the same ad... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8s857l | Now that people can pay to get YouTube Premium and avoid ads, how does YouTube pay creators? Does it check the ones you, as a Premium user, watch and treat them as if you were a normal user or are we going to see a decrease in YouTubers' revenue? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0x8f3s"
],
"text": [
"A portion of what you pay YouTube gets split between the creators of the videos you watch depending on how much time you spend on each. It's supposedly vastly more profitable for creators of long videos, while very short ones might see a net loss."
],
"score": [
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8s9pkl | How can we automatically tell when a practical effect is a tiny model in closeup? | Watching [old scifi tv show]; we see an interior shot of a spaceship, exterior shot of a tiny toy rocket landing, interior of a spaceship again. How can I tell the model is only about 5 inches tall? What about the image is tipping off my subconcious that it's looking at a closeup of something small vs a distance shot o... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0xoi8x",
"e0xuzu0"
],
"text": [
"Lack of detail on the small model is a good giveaway. You may also be noticing that it doesn't move with the momentum you'd expect out of a large massive object.",
"Lights, shadow, depth of field all works a little differently on small scale models. L... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8scrn2 | what’s the difference between the web and the internet? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0ydeda"
],
"text": [
"The internet is all of the interconnected networks and includes stuff like game servers, business networks, and file-sharing services like torrents. The Web is a subset of the internet where you see websites in your browser and primarily navigate through the use of hype... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8sdbsr | How do speedometers work? | How do they know a car is there? How do they know exactly how fast it's going? Edit: I mean the speedometer the police use. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0yhvxc",
"e0ykbwy"
],
"text": [
"They measure how fast your tyres are turning and turn that into a speed. That's why if you change the size of your tyres your speedometer needs to be reconfigured because it'll show the wrong speed otherwise.",
"It's very easy to measure speed: all yo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8sdy21 | Why are spam bots and emails still used, despite how glitchy and obvious they are? Are people still falling for these things? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0ynhx0",
"e0ynpau"
],
"text": [
"They’re glitchy on purpose. Scammers don’t want tech savvy people bothering them and messing with their scams, because they know those people could rat them out. If you make your email sketchy, only uninformed people will answer, and those are more likely... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8sef7y | What exactly does a phone carrier selling you location data mean? | I've been seeing articles about how a US senator endorsed that the 4 major US carriers stop selling customer location data to data brokers and I'm confused at what it means really. What kind of data are they selling? How deep does it go? Do they have access to information other than my location? Is the location exact o... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e0ysi9r",
"e0z2pwn",
"e0z9l1t",
"e0ywmc8"
],
"text": [
"Any data your phone is capable of recording. Went on Amazon and put extra large dildos in your cart then remove them? You must be in the market for extra large dildos and are still searching Dildos 'r Us is having a sale toda... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8sm8wi | are there any legitimate uses for caller ID spoofing? | I get a ton of spam calls with spoofed local numbers. Is there any legitimate reason phone companies allow this to happen? If not why can’t they simply block this from being possible? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e10nuex"
],
"text": [
"Companies often use it for outside calls. For example they could have all callbacks route to the sales desk. They could also use it in combination with a call routing service so calls in and out could appear as the same national number when it really redirects to your l... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8sn0lb | How do they pressurize bottles before the cap gets put on? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e10q9o6"
],
"text": [
"Depends. With beer it goes into the bottles flat but they add yeast. The yeast its the starches in the beer and burps out gas. That's what makes it fizzy and gives the bottle pressure. With sodas(I'm assuming on this one), they make it fizzy before and then add it into ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8snorb | How do 'safe' nuclear reactors have a catastrophic meltdown? | Many times I have come across news, articles, comments relating to global warming say that nuclear is a safe (and "impossible to explode"). What was different about Chernobyl and Fukushima? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e10vahi",
"e10wziz",
"e10x0qq",
"e10xkkh",
"e11a1zv"
],
"text": [
"Chernobyl was an outdated kind of reactor being intentionally operated in a state that it should never have been in. Fukushima was a perfect storm (literally and figuratively) to exploit the design flaws in the... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8soj9w | How in the world do scientists image atoms | What I'm talking about is like how they imaged the stop motion film [A Boy and His Atom]( URL_0 ). I'm still confused on how they image only the CO molecules and not copper atoms that they were situated on. My understanding is that there is a layer of electrons obscuring the view of the copper atoms, but I'm not sure i... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e1160p0",
"e114fhk",
"e11lf7s"
],
"text": [
"Imagine that you are working in a shipyard. You have a crane that can be positioned at every point in the yard with a high degree of accuracy. Now imagine that you have a large magnet attached to your crane. You lower this down and perform ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8sownz | What is the differences between those car "models"; roadster, spyder, convertible and cabriolet? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e116dnc",
"e116wp8"
],
"text": [
"A roadster, spider, or spyder (all the same thing) was originally a two-seat, open-topped sports car. The term is often used for closed-top two-seaters with sporty styling or high performance models of small cars. Convertible and cabriolet are the same th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8spid7 | How is color added to very old films? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e11au77"
],
"text": [
"A long time ago they used to hand paint every single slide on the film strips. This is why the colors sometimes look blotchy or weird. They also used to dye entire segments of the film one color so a whole scene would be tinted red or purple or something to evoke a cert... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8srbnh | Why is army camouflage pixelated when that’s the polar opposite design of any natural environment that you would be trying to blend in with?? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e11oywl",
"e11leyc",
"e11lars",
"e11lck1"
],
"text": [
"Apparently, it takes twice as long to notice a person in digital camouflage than it does the old camo pattern. See URL_0 , especially [this photo]( URL_1 ) As one expert says, large blotchy patterns work best for long distanc... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8sre4f | How can the source code of a game be lost while the game itself is still playable? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e11lrtu",
"e11luko"
],
"text": [
"When a game is created, it is a hodge-podge of code and assets and all. The code portion of that is the source. When the game is bundled up, all of that is wrapped up in a package and the code is scrambled and altered in a way where the system can still r... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8srgkd | Would Filing Down The Barrel Of A Gun Remove The Ability To Trace A Bullet Fired From A Gun Back To That Specific Gun? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e11mn7l",
"e11o0y9"
],
"text": [
"No because the file itself would leave marks in the barrel that are unique and would hence be traceable to any bullet fired from the gun. If the Barrel were polished to remove all marks then the bullet would tumble when it exits the barrel. The bullet wou... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8sus7x | - How do they edit live sports so quickly as to get the replays and slow motion from multiple angles? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e12fqq8",
"e12g6v8",
"e136cdk",
"e13cgf8",
"e138v9x",
"e12ghiw",
"e12y3db",
"e135kib",
"e13w9k6",
"e13be8f",
"e13h9j5",
"e13kvj2",
"e13ksgr"
],
"text": [
"There's a whole team of people operating EVS machines (basically big hard drives that reco... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8sv4vq | how do computers retain memory data even when you turn it off or unplug it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e12i4vm",
"e12o741"
],
"text": [
"Hard drive storage is pretty simple to explain. Thinking of a magnetic platter as a panel of toggle switches (like the ones you use to turn lights on and off), a hard drive can switch individual switches, and read the state of those switches later. The po... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8svpoe | How are computer or phone components increasing their processing power so much almost every two three years? How close are we to reaching the peak or seeing a massive improvement? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e12ntzr",
"e12owsj",
"e13ejbg"
],
"text": [
"The key lies in the size you need to accurately \"place\" parts onto a chip. Since semiconductive chips have been used we've been following something called \"Moore's Law\" quite well, it states that every few years the amount of transistor... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8sz5ez | Why do soap operas look differently than any other TV show? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e13g5xq"
],
"text": [
"Frame rate Films and most TV shows are filmed on... film. You'd get 24fps from them Soap operas are usually cheaply made, so they don't bother with film, they record directly to video (a video tape, or digital video). You can get frame rates of up to 50 or 60fps usually... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8t01ov | How can video games that have been in development for 6-7 years have graphics that are up to or beyond todays standards? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e13m6x6",
"e13ll2x",
"e13n4b5"
],
"text": [
"When I developed games a two years ago, I was in charge of developing the \"logic\" without any visual assets (only using Unity built-in squares and spheres). Once this part is done, we 'skin' the game using real assets. I have no idea how ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8t15fm | What is the benefit of a 'three lens' camera on a phone? What does each lens actually do? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e13tudp"
],
"text": [
"The cameras in phones are too small to fit zoom mechanics in there so one way to achieve different focal lengths (wide angle, normal and telephoto) is to just put three entire lens/camera assemblies in there."
],
"score": [
5
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8t2s7z | How do phones work? | I know sound is turned into electric signals which are transmitted through cables. But I need it deconstructed much more than that. From an ancient person’s perspective, sound can only eminate from something that physically caused it. A tree falling will create the sound of a tree falling. But it breaks the rules of lo... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e149be7"
],
"text": [
"We can convert audible sound to electric signals because we understand the relationship between sound and Alternating Current - they are both waves, and while not the same physically, can be represented in the same way. Allow me to elucidate - Sound travels through the ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8t4nge | In videogames, why are some games defined as Role Playing Games (RPG's) and why are others not? I mean, aren't almost all videogames RPG's? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e14oph0",
"e14p1pn",
"e14qazi"
],
"text": [
"Because not all games include role playing. None of Age of Empires, XCOM, Sims etc. have you role playing. Some games have very minor role playing elements, such as Dark Souls, but it's very small.",
"If you're just going by the naïve i... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8t5krp | how is porting your phone number to a different cellphone company profitable for them? | Wireless phone companies seem to offer lots of incentives to get you to switch and bring your number. What’s the benefit to them? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e14wpgf",
"e14wjf2",
"e14wso3"
],
"text": [
"Mainly because it just isn't up to them. In the US the law 47 U.S.C. § 251(b)(2) in the Telecommunication Act of 1996 requires that they make the numbers portable. So even if they wanted to hold the number hostage in order to retain custome... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8t7bxj | The flaw in Clipper Chip LEAF encryption | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e17xk8a"
],
"text": [
"Below is an explanation of the flaw itself, but it is important to understand the element which was a key escrow system. Clipper chips were going to be given a unique encryption key at the time they were being installed in phones or other devices. They manufacturer woul... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8t83ki | Why do electric tooth brushes vibrate slowly when on low power instead of running normally then suddenly shutting off? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e15hpwe"
],
"text": [
"They use a simple electromagnetic motor, which means that when the electricity goes through it then it pushes a magnet attached to the part of your brush that’s vibrating. Now the battery provides the electricity, but as the chemical reaction that is happening inside th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8taa5a | How do you program a self driving car to do this or that? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e15y3s1",
"e15wdzy",
"e161bm9"
],
"text": [
"It’s a popular misconception that AI programmers can even begin to deal with ethical problems in self driving cars. The answer is NO, they do not program choices into driving (hit the woman with baby or hit the 5 people on sidewalk). Bottom... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8tcqkx | Why can’t our devices simultaneously connect to 2 WiFi networks to provide an even faster internet connection? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e16h8om",
"e16lug0",
"e16iv42",
"e16lka3",
"e16kqr8"
],
"text": [
"Fundamentally there is only the hardware available to talk on one frequency at a time. It can be adjusted to hop between channels but at any given time it needs to be on only one. Conceptually you could use two... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8tdk19 | when my phone is connected to my cars audio system via Bluetooth, how does the person talking not hear themself through my speakers? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e16o1ck",
"e16vc55",
"e16xc9s",
"e17fwy6",
"e17lpe3",
"e17h6rf"
],
"text": [
"Your car stereo uses active echo cancellation. It know what signal it's sending out of the speakers so it compares the signal it's picking up on the mic to the signal it's send out the speakers a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8tg9zn | Performance difference between a smartphone SoC, a mobile processor like in laptops and in desktop processors running at same clock speeds | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e17a1ui"
],
"text": [
"Clock speed doesn't really mean anything directly about the performance of a particular processor. You can imagine it as something like RPM for an engine; just knowing how many cycles occur per second doesn't tell you what gets done per cycle. A motorcycle engine at 200... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8thlg5 | How do speed detectors work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e17if0n",
"e17ila3"
],
"text": [
"There are multiple different types of speed detectors. The three common ones are Radar, LIDAR and cameras. Radar works by sending out radio waves at fixed intervals that hit a car, and the difference in time taken to get to the car and back can calculate ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8thvw6 | How does the 'back' option on a browser know exactly where to scroll down to, even though the URL is the same as before? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e17kwy5"
],
"text": [
"The browser simply stores the last scroll location in memory so even if a new request is sent (it may well just load a locally cached version depending on settings/browser) it can jump straight to it."
],
"score": [
7
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8ti6vd | What is Raspberry Pi? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e17n82f"
],
"text": [
"Think of it as a small pc. You can plug a screen, a keyboard, a mouse and some sd card. Aaaaand, here you go, you have a small pc. It is mostly used for small/medium scaled applications on robotics or computer vision. Also, it is commonly used to teach children about pr... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8tievc | how my Wi-Fi is super fast at loading HD movies but really slow at loading a low quality Gif? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e17p33y",
"e17tgxu",
"e17uqtm",
"e17p1u3",
"e17tiyz",
"e17u75w",
"e17w2og"
],
"text": [
"It's not the speed of the connection, it's the speed of the things on either side. With movies your computer is connected to several servers, all of them sending parts of the film ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8tif2l | Since magnetic north is not the same direction as true north, when and how did navigators figure this out, how did they compensate, and does the advent of GPS navigation render the magnetic compass completely obsolete? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e17quo8",
"e17qmo5",
"e188dqu"
],
"text": [
"> Since magnetic north is not the same direction as true north, when and how did navigators figure this out Quoting Wikipedia here: > The first expedition to reach the North Magnetic Pole was led by James Clark Ross, who found it at Cape Ad... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8tii2b | why does it take a full minute for a modem/router to re-establish an internet connection after being unplugged? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e17pts7"
],
"text": [
"It has to figure out the best frequency with the closest exchange point (the box down the road usually), if you're not on fibre, it needs to measure the speed of the packets (data) and the amount of packets it can send at that speed through your cable. It will be compet... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8tim4k | How do speakers create the sounds of certain instruments (drums, guitar, etc.) without actually having the physical elements of each of those instruments? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e17r0wn",
"e17tlwp",
"e17r1u5"
],
"text": [
"A sound is just a vibration of air. A drum beat or a guitar cord are just combinations of certain air vibrations. A speaker can sound like a guitar or a drum because it can make the same air vibrations as those instruments.",
"This is m... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8tim5q | What's the difference among Rasterization, Ray Casting and Ray Tracing ? | It's hard to understand using those fancy words like incident light, monte-carlo, etc. Can someone explained the easiest way ? and what's the connection of all those methods ? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e17suf4"
],
"text": [
"You have lots of triangles (that you want to display) and a virtual screen (a rectangle and a cone in which it looks, as if the camera were in the scene) on which you want to project them and a pixel screen (made of pixels) that you need to pick a value for each pixel. ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8tj7vy | How can different web browsers claim to run faster than others if the internet speed is fixed? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e17w2mz",
"e17w136",
"e17xn31",
"e18gfb9"
],
"text": [
"When you're browsing web pages with few images you generally are impacted by the speed of your network connection, you're instead seeing delays due to how fast/slow your web browser can render the page it was just sent instru... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8tl3cg | How was the first computer program or software created? Wouldn't you need a program to create software for another program? | I'm not a programmer but I am interested in it. Did they use physical logic gates or what ever you need to create a program physically? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e18c8w7",
"e18mzxf"
],
"text": [
"Early computer either used physical connectors and switches like ENIAC or used punched card/punched tape. The punched tape system had been used long before electronic computers was introduced first with mechanical looms in the 18th century and later in te... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8tlrhw | How can a file be compressed into something smaller but still contain all the information it needs to work properly? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e18h2d0",
"e18gbo9",
"e18k73e",
"e18t8gq"
],
"text": [
"Imagine you make a model car out of Lego. The car looks awesome and you want to send it to your friend who lives quite far away from you so your going to have to use the mail. Now sure you can parcel the whole thing up and se... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8tmblf | How come when you have spotty cell service, turning your phone on and off airplane mode gives you better service? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e18mo9h",
"e18kt06"
],
"text": [
"It forces your phone to reconnect to the closest/best towers. Your phone caches which towers it usually connects to and continues to connect to them. Restarting the phone or resetting the communication settings (toggling airplane mode, settings - > genera... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8tmjjw | Back in the day you had to refresh a website to get an update but nowadays you don't have to. How does it work? | I remember in the 90s you had to refresh a webpage to get an updated information (new message on a vBulletin forum (remember those?!), fresh news article etc.). Then I remember only a certain element could have been refreshed (let's say a chat window embedded in the main page) and not the whole site. Nowadays (for quit... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e18pcuc",
"e18nv2r"
],
"text": [
"This particular technology is called AJAX, which is more of a set-method-of-doing-things which evolved overtime. Basically it's a series of function calls that allow a Javascript script running on your browser to make a call to a website and get new infor... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
8tmnae | Why can't phones record horizontal/widescreen/landscape data and just give you the option of viewing aspect later on when sharing or posting? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e18ofte"
],
"text": [
"The sensors are rectangular, with the long edge aligned with the long edge of the phone. They could still do what you suggest but the number of effective megapixels would drop by more than half, reducing quality substantially. There's nothing stopping you from cropping ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8tmxlt | What is abstraction in programming? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e18pxug",
"e18pcok",
"e18y4gm"
],
"text": [
"Taking something complex, and hiding the hard parts behind a simpler interface. Like.. a car has a steering wheel, which abstracts away all the steering mechanisms. You don't have to know how the steering rack works to steer a car.",
"I... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8toh1k | How is sound recorded in the grooves of a vinyl record? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e191l34",
"e192a44"
],
"text": [
"Sound is vibrations in air ( or any other medium ) Vibrations are picked up by a diaphragm which causes needle to move up and down in the same way to produce the sound frequency wave. Two channels are cut out each side at 45 degrees to each other to produ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
8tq7p7 | How is a big open-world video game (like GTA 5) made? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"e19fcxq",
"e19qsir",
"e19cr4c",
"e19dt33",
"e19em1t",
"e19cmvf",
"e19mnd0",
"e19ir4f",
"e19jkki",
"e19ge1y",
"e19ev1d",
"e19omqe",
"e19p73r",
"e19j9n6",
"e19gm7t",
"e19kekp",
"e19kqde",
"e19on2l",
"e19y60c",
"e19j1sg"
],
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.