q_id stringlengths 6 6 | title stringlengths 4 294 | selftext stringlengths 0 2.48k | category stringclasses 1
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e2fdur | what is an API (application programming interface) | A nice analogy will really help. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Its an agreed upon standard to transmit data. (or it could be used to request an action) Lets say you go to a doctor. He wants information about you, so you go to his website, and download a new patient form. You then fill it out. You are giving him the e... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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e2fvdf | How to barcode scanners instantly detect what an item is, despite the barcode being at any angle and often on a crinkled surface, completeley changing the look of the code from the scanner's perspective? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f8v6ec7",
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"text": [
"The lasers that read the barcode hit it from many angles and scan it very quickly. Also barcodes have something like a checksum, where it's easy to recognize if the data that was read is garbage and needs to be read again. That's why when using hand scann... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e2gxmv | how are we able to see planets that are 100’s of lightyears away? By continually increasing the magnification of a telescope? How do we know anything about the planets atmosphere if it’s that far away? For example, the Corot-7b, we are told it rains rocks there. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"We’re not able to see them. We see them block the light from their star. Or we see their gravity tugging on their star. We know about their atmosphere because when they block that star, some light pass through the atmosphere,... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e2h91x | Why are there multiple types of command line interfaces in windows rather than just one? Command prompt, Powershell etc. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Powershell is the NEW command prompt. Cmd really only lets you run - from a dos prompt - the applications in your path (environment variable) or in the local folder which you normally could run by finding the executable in Windows Explorer. You can \"scri... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e2ir0h | How do aimbots work? | I've seen people get banned from Twitch and other streaming sights for using aimbots in games like fortnite (bleh) and apex and other games; but I'm not entirely sure how they work and how the player activates it, i guess? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The bot responds to the \"pull trigger\" key by twitching the weapon's aimpoint onto the nearest target first. The user kits a key and the game sees a mouse move and key sequence that produces a better score. You have to be pretty close and \"target-ness\... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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e2m750 | Why do many laptops have 2 GPUs if you're gonna use the best not integrated? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f8wawjm",
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"text": [
"The more powerful the GPU, the more power it takes. Using a less powerful GPU for more everyday tasks, it prolongs the battery life.",
"A separate GPU in computer systems is considered an add-on for a small segment of users. The design of computers is... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e2obl0 | why does the video mode on my smartphone camera zoom in compared to the photos mode (single lens camera) | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f8wpko7",
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"text": [
"It could be because of video stabilisation. It will crop a certain amount of the outer pixels of each frame in order to keep the video looking straight",
"camera sensors are made up of lots and lots of little light-collecting buckets called pixels. th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e2qjrq | Can someone explain what people mean by “ticks” when they talk about computers? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"It's often a simulation term. Is you have a game or a simulation, processing can't be continuous, but update rates are variable to maximize response speed. The generic term for the time between frames is a tick. The tick size may need to vary, to maintain real time exec... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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e2qq4r | How does a rotating tree stand work?! | I just can’t wrap my head around it. I need answers! | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f8xhjhe"
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"text": [
"Imagine a normal outlet + plug. A pair of metal rods/ plates transfers electricity by being in contact with another pair of metal plates. Now make each plate a large ring instead, so they’re two circles with the same center point. Now they can rotate against each other ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e2sjw5 | How do magnetics remove tape footage? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f8xdcmt",
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"text": [
"Imagine pencils arranged in a certain way to say something- like a big letter A. That letter A represents the data on the tape. When you run a magnet over the tape, its like swiping your hand through that letter A of pencils. The pencils go every which wa... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e2srro | How does a government shut down the internet for an entire country? What are the steps involved in shutting down the connection? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f8xhebc"
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"text": [
"Every country has only a relative handful of places where they connect their network to the rest of the world (forming the internet). For most countries, these connection points are along the coast, where fiberoptic cables (armored glass tubes) come together in large fa... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e2t26s | "RIPE NCC has run out of IPv4 Addresses", what does it mean, is it serious and what do we do now? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f8xgkfk",
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"text": [
"The \"old\" system is IPV4 and it has long been known that the numbers would run out at some time. The industry has adopted the new IPV6 standard 20 years ago. They work in parallel although they don't interoperate very well. The new IPV6 has a lot more n... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e2u559 | What does it mean that Europe has run out of IP addresses? | URL_0 Why can't they just generate more numbers? Is there a fixed number of physical ports or something? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"> Is there a fixed number of physical ports or something? Not physical, logical. IPv4 uses 32 bit addresses. This means that only a total of 2^32 (approximately 4.2 billion) IP addresses can ever exist. Each ISP gets a subset of these addresses (known as ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e2u8l5 | How does the ‘perfect motion rate’ setting on my TV make even movies shot at 24fps appear to be at least 120 | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f8xop7z",
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],
"text": [
"If you've ever read the [Animorphs book series]( URL_0 ), you'll notice the covers always depict a human \"morphing\" into an animal through multiple still frames. The human and animal are quite real because they occur in nature but all the intermediate s... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e2ut6p | how does solar panels work, and how do they generate power? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"When a light particle lands on the solar panel, it lands on an atom. The energy of the photon (light particle) is just enough to knock an electron out of the atom. The electron is then free to flow over the atoms in the solar... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e2va8o | What is it about certain notes of music that induce a feeling of either sadness or happiness? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f8xteuf",
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],
"text": [
"Which notes or scales you find happy/sad is cultural. For instance a \"happy\" sounding scale to one culture is literally burial music in another.",
"Music mimics human speech and heartbeat. If you say something in a sad tone you hit those exact sad n... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e2vcrg | How does the radio app on a smart phone use wired headphones as an antenna to tune into radio stations? | Pretty much the title. On Samsung smart phones, for example, there is a radio app but in order to tune into the radio you have to plug in your wired headphones which acts as an antenna and lets you tune into the local radio stations. How does that work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f8xsc04"
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"text": [
"The optimal size of the antenna for receiving radio signals relates to the wavelength of the signal. For cellular traffic the cell phones use frequencies over 700MHz which have a wavelength of about 10cm which allows it to be received perfectly by an antenna of about 5c... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e2x004 | How do compressed files work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Say you have the following string: AABAAAAAABAAAABAAAAABABABAAAA You can compress it to A2BA6BA4BA5BABABA4 (A2 means AA, A4 means AAAA etc) This is lossless compression as it can be restored fully. It is also just one of many, many ways compression can be done."
],
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e2z33n | What does RAM in a computer do ... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Think of a computer like an office in the 60's trying to get things done. The CPU (central processing unit) is like the person sitting at the desk. The faster, more motivated, and more experienced the person is, the more work... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e31kcz | Rainbow Tables | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f8zubq2"
],
"text": [
"When you log into a website you have to tell them a password. It's important that they know if you gave them the right password, but they don't actually need to know what the password is. In fact, since someone could come along and steal their files they really ought to... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e32tuv | Why are saxophones so much louder than guitars? | More generally: Why are instruments you blow into so much louder than guitars, violins, pianos... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f90fads",
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"text": [
"Larger brass and woodwind instruments resonate much more loudly than guitars simply because of how they're constructed (i.e. from metals). Saxophones are also louder typically because saxophonists are obnoxious. Source: played saxophone for 10 years, was ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e34u5a | Why do some lights glow after being turned off? | Sometimes when you turn a light off it glows quite dimly, but it only happens with some lights, can anyone explain why this is? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"There are multiple reasons. Many lights have capacitors in them that store a charge. Once it's turned off that charge will slowly discharge through the electronics resulting in it being lit dimly for a while. Good quality lights should have a resistor in ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e35edc | why do some shoes crease and show signs of wear more than others, despite the same amout of usage? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f912ft9"
],
"text": [
"Depends where the leather for each particular shoe/boot had been cut from the hide. Leather cut from the belly, for instance, stretches more that leather cut from the shoulder. It's luck of the draw when buying."
],
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6
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... | [
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e38uvq | Cars with ultra bright blue LED things, why? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f91pxwc"
],
"text": [
"They're brighter, which means they provide better visibility in the dark. This is very useful when there might be wildlife darting around on the edges of the road that you can't see with dimmer bulbs. With that said: a lot of what you're complaining about isn't the bulb... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e3aeyb | How does electricity power a fan? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f91yzhi",
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],
"text": [
"Voltage pushes electrons through a coil. This coil becomes a magnet because of the electrons spinning through it. This magnet tries to align with another nearby magnet. This coil is then shut off and a new coil activates, which is rotated differently. Eac... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e3d1ud | How does fps work in gaming compared to TV? | For example, playing games on your PC you would want 60 fps or more, but with TV and movies you are fine with 24fps. What's the difference? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Tv shows a fixed scene. Games add motion and can have performance dips. Higher frames allow these dips to go unnoticed, thus the smoother feel when playing a game. Imagine a music beat playing at a fixed rhythm (metronome) as... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e3dqtn | What do foundries actually do? | I mean I get that they produce semiconductors, but what is their part in the process. Like take Qualcomm or Apple ARM processor. ASML produces the machines while Qualcomm and Apple design the processor. What do the foundries like TSMC and Samsung Foundry do? Like is it just the infrastructure? I mean it can’t be as oth... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f92j9ob",
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],
"text": [
"Imagine it like a machine shop. Company A orders a design from a Engineering company B. These designs are manufactured by Machine shop C. Machine shop C needs a special tools that it orders from Specialist company D. Machine shops C needs stock that it ge... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e3f77u | how do humidifiers work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f92mjtb",
"f92umel"
],
"text": [
"There are lots of different designs but to put it simply, it’s a device with a reservoir of water that evaporates into the atmosphere, increasing humidity.",
"Some of them work by heating water, some work by using an ultrasonic transducer. Basically t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e3gwxz | How did old school shooter gun games like duck hunt or arcade shooters accurately track your shots with only the gun and without a sensor bar or camera? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"When you point ... | [
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e3i0cm | Why are diesel mechanics and auto mechanics a different trade? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Diesel mechanics work on other types of equipment including tractors, crane, big trucks, lifting equipment.",
"Because they're working on different engines that operate on different principle... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e3n6q0 | My email address is firstname.middleinitial.lastname@gmail.com, i just received a couple emails from FirstnameMiddleinitialLastname@gmail.com. how is this possible? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
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"f93x3s3",
"f93xe6x"
],
"text": [
"Google Mail doesn’t care about dots. There’s a support doc here. URL_0 There’s a good chance this person hasn’t registered the same name... “JohnQcheesecake@gmail”, but possibly just uses it as a throwaway for registration on... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e3od1m | How do the antiplagiarism mechanisms work in uni? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f944psa"
],
"text": [
"My honest answer is don't plagiarize... I know that's not what you wanted, but copying work in university will potentially get you kicked out, and with that on your record it will be harder to find another university that will accept you. As for exact mechanisms, in my ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e3s157 | How come turning wifi/data on and off again makes it work better? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f94qkdn",
"f953cif",
"f95a7jg"
],
"text": [
"Like pretty much anything computer related, resetting fixes an abundance of issues. By starting something over it is forced to run all it's code from the beginning, refreshing anything that might have gotten out of whack. I don't have a spe... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e3s9j4 | Why using electric car/scooter is more friendly to environment, despite that (high percentage) electric is made by burning fuel or coal? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f94q7vj",
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"text": [
"Gasoline engines are very inefficient. Maybe 20% on a good day. Electric motors in cars are in the 98% range iirc, and gasoline power plants are more like 40% efficient. Add to that the fact that a lot of power... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e3sds5 | what are ratios when it comes to visual electronic displays? | I’m playing the game “The Division” and I was reading that the game is based on a 1:1 scale of NYC. What does this mean in simple terms? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f94qsbk"
],
"text": [
"Any visual ratio is based upon a real and given metric (or imperialistic if you use burgerland units). A 1:1 map of will be the exact same size as a real area. A 1:3 map will be a third of the size. Think of your colon as a dividing line in this respect."
],
"score"... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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e3sfts | What is an induction motor? | This is Wikipedia's definition - URL_0 'An induction motor or asynchronous motor is an AC electric motor in which the electric current in the rotor needed to produce torque is obtained by electromagnetic induction from the magnetic field of the stator winding' I know that a motor is a machine designed to convert one fo... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f94qphg"
],
"text": [
"Normal motors are DC motors, synchronous AC motors, or universal motors. Induction motors are unique in that they provide torque at a wide range of RPMs while requiring no contacts that can wear out. Metals tend to resist moving magnetic fields. If you move a powerful m... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e3t1hi | why are walkie talkies only able to send signals or receive signals, and not both at the same time? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f94t7ox"
],
"text": [
"They use one radio frequency. If they tried to transmit and receive at the same frequency at the same time, you'd just get a ton of audio feedback. Even if not, you'd still probably get a fair amount of feedback."
],
"score": [
5
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"text_urls": [
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e3tkba | How did the discovery of fire by early humans and the means to control it spread throughout the world? | When humanity discovered fire, surely that was an isolated thing in only one or two groups of homo sapiens. How did the knowledge of control of fire spread across every continent simultaneously when humans were so isolated at the time? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f950zxf",
"f94v8le"
],
"text": [
"The ability to create and use fire was discovered between 400000 and 1.7 million years ago by human ancestors. Long before Homo Sapiens Our species has never been without the ability to create fire. The discovery pre-dates humans. The knowledge spread wit... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e3twwm | How does noise-cancelling devices work or create a silent bubble? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f94wrrs",
"f94wlxo"
],
"text": [
"In true ELI5 fashion: Sound is created by vibrations in the air. So when something makes a sound, the air vibrates and hits your ears. This in turn makes your eardrums vibrate and your brain interprets the signal. This vibration is kind of like a wave. Yo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e3yq5f | how my computer identifies subjects from conversations I've had -- or texts I've sent or received -- to embed targeted advertising into web pages (I think I have my microphones turned off on my devices.) | For example, yesterday I talked to my family about needing window shades. I did not look them up on the Internet. Today, I have had several ads for window shades show up as I browse. I don't have a smart speaker, no smart TV, and I thought I had Siri turned off. How does this work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f95lyyp",
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"text": [
"I could be wrong but I believe if someone in your close group of friends or family decided to look up window shades or blinders targeted ads may think you may be interested in that as well.",
"Its likely yo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e3yvor | - measuring the ocean sizes before flight | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f95mif5"
],
"text": [
"You can figure out longitude and latitude using the sky. You can stand one one side of the ocean and figure out where you are, then stand on the other side and figure out where you are then figure out how far apart they are."
],
"score": [
3
],
"text_urls": ... | [
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e4223b | why do Firefox and chrome use so much memory to run? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f96d58s",
"f96rdch"
],
"text": [
"To make it run faster. Basically thats it. Using up memory and having all the processes loaded up in memory helps the end user interact with the software faster. Its not a \"bad\" thing to use a lot of memory, in fact in this case its probably a good thin... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e43anh | Even when Sony and Microsoft has allowed it, why is crossplay in games difficult to develop? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f96nghx",
"f96t497"
],
"text": [
"There are multiple reasons why crossplatform play is difficult to implement. Hardware and connectivity requirements can differ between consoles and computers. If things like Framerates, screen refresh, and processing power is locked on consoles that might... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e45dfx | How does the dust caught in an iPhone charging port not catch fire if it’s caught in the electric current? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f96zvph"
],
"text": [
"Dust is a pretty crappy conductor, it won't let much current go through it. If the dust is the only path between the charger and the phone then the phone just won't charge, it won't be able to get enough current through with just the 5 volts provided by the charger. If ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e4brvt | Why do ‘tactical’ flashlights use red lenses? | I’ve heard it was because red light waves don’t travel that far, but I can see the red light on an airplane wing that’s miles away. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f98ove5",
"f98n6qg",
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"text": [
"Greetings from /r/flashlight. First of all, \"tactical\" flashlight doesn't have a fixed definition - it tends to be more of a marketing term. Most lights marketed as \"tactical\" don't have a red LED or include a red filter. We do see a nu... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e4btwu | why do blow dryers consume so much power? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f98mo33"
],
"text": [
"We generally don't realize how much energy it takes to generate heat. Our electronics are so efficient that they use far less energy than is created by, say, a large candle. My entire gaming computer only produces maybe 200 watts, or 6 tea candles' worth of heat. That's... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e4c9ib | - What exactly is the "exposure" in photography? | Like, for instance, I've seen photos of the night sky with crazy details of the stars and they say that this picture was taken with "12 hours exposure". What does that mean exactly and what does it do? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"“Exposure” in photography is a combination of three things: 1) the size of the hole through which the light is being gathered (“aperture”), 2) the sensitivity of the film or electronic sensor (“sensitivity” or “ISO”), and 3) the time that t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e4hpwo | why does a phones wifi control a drone up to 150ft in the sky, but home wifi only works well within 30ft or less? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"You are usually in line of sight to the drone, outside, but in the house there are many obstructions such as walls, furniture, and items like clothing that absorb the radio waves.",
"How buildings and homes are built are ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e4lfs5 | how is music able to be unevenly distributed through headphones? | You know when you’re listening to layered music and you hear the drums on your left ear, and guitar in the right ear......seems like I don’t notice this when playing old time music, so I assume it’s something that has to be programed? in. Would this mean it takes longer to produce music today than before the widespread... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"So others have mentioned that this is called stereo sound, and no it doesn't have to be programmed. There is one channel for each headphone, so each ear is getting slightly different audio (surround sound works similarly, there are just mor... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e4on5s | Why dont you get shocked when you hold a AA battery by its positive and negative. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"You have high resistance. At least 100KΩ, so that over 1.5V you're getting a current too small for you to sense. It would take 20x more voltage for you to feel it, 50X more to shock you.",
"I... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e4p76z | What is cloud virtualisation? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9ed9hr"
],
"text": [
"Ignoring all of the technical facts regarding how virtualiztion works, think about how you boot up a video game in Windows. It's a program that runs off of Windows. Now imagine that the video game you're playing is Windows 10. In a very, very basic nutshell, that's what... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e4qjwi | How does an oxygen concentrator work? | I don't mean plug it in and turn it on, I mean is it an electrical process that separates oxygen from nitrogen and pumps it through or is it a chemical process or magic or something else? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9emapt"
],
"text": [
"As I understand it the process typically used is that of pressure swing adsorption. Normal air is increased in pressure and passed over a bed of zeolite. At such pressure nitrogen tends to be attracted to solid surfaces such as the porous zeolite, sticking to it more st... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e4rqon | What dictates how bright or dark a phone screen can get? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9ew672"
],
"text": [
"Typical LCD screens have a white backlight and on top of that is a liquid crystal panel that can block certain colors, or all of them. If you block green and blue light, the display will look red, for example. If you also block the red light, the display will be dark. T... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e4whe2 | Why do some programs take ages to close when task manager closes them instantly? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f9flsah",
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"f9g00md",
"f9fq8vc",
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"text": [
"The task manager kills things instantly and forcefully. This means the program doesn't get to do anything in response, and doesn't even know it's bein... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e4wq0h | What do the numbers next to Graphic cards and other PC hardware mean? | For years it has annoyed me that I don't know and I need clarity, thanks in advance. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9fmmno"
],
"text": [
"What exactly are you referring to?. But in general, model numbers are completely arbitrary and are used to place a particular offering in a specific spot in the company's line of offerings."
],
"score": [
5
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
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e4y8ok | Why are so many tech problems solved by turning things off and on again? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f9g0tbj",
"f9g2flj",
"f9fzmrn",
"f9g6avq",
"f9hhwpi",
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],
"text": [
"Poor explanations so far so here goes. ELI18: There's Non-Volatile storage (A hard drive for example) and Volatile storage. Non volatile storage is able to persistently store data ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e4z2dg | How does Autofocus in a camera work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9gcajw"
],
"text": [
"Nowadays the most common way of autofocus measures the contrast (difference in brightness) between the pixels while shifting the lenses. Once the contrast value is as large as possible, you have a sharp picture. Another common way of autofocus is phase detection. This i... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e51029 | how can a Pulse Monitor Watch (e.g. Fitbit Watch) know when you fell asleep, and when your REM, light sleep and deep sleep hit? I don’t get it | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9gxr36"
],
"text": [
"The science is still very shaky, and you should take anything from these devices as helpful, and more than you would have known without them, but not as \"truth.\" Early watches used activity to stage sleep, because in REM sleep you don't move. But you don't move much w... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e52cmb | How do app testers emulate iOS? | I recently found a service that lets you test your mobile apps ( URL_0 ) and they run on Android and iOS. I know Android is open source so it's easy to modify it to run on the web but how did these vendors manage to perfectly emulate iOS which is proprietary? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9h9je1"
],
"text": [
"Technically, these apps aren't running on \"the web\". It appears that the emulation is being done on their server and just the video output of the emulator is being sent over the web. just a guess here, but I suspect they're running the standard Apple iOS Emulator and ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e53ysw | What is light rail? Are there any advantages of Light rail over streetcars or busses? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9hh8em"
],
"text": [
"Light rail = subways or their above-ground equivalent. Trains that move people on tracks that aren't suitable for moving cargo. The advantage of light rail over streetcars/buses is that they do not travel on the road network. They are either in a separate right-of-way o... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e541a3 | - why do smartphones charge slower in cold temperatures? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9ht7u9",
"f9hljmj",
"f9il0pc"
],
"text": [
"Batteries produce power via a chemical reaction. Rechargeable batteries reverse this reaction when a charge is run through it. Temperature can effect how easily a reaction can occur. Whats more, different temperatures can change what reacti... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e5at6b | How does the mathematical data transfer over to colors when showing off the Mandelbrot zoom? | example: URL_0 | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9isf3c"
],
"text": [
"Usually, the color in the Mandelbrot set corresponds to how many iterations of the Mandelbrot function it takes before the starting value leaves a closed disk centered at the origin (A radius of 2 will show you where the actual Mandelbrot set is, assuming you run infini... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e5b6a0 | A vinyl record spins at a constant pace, but since it's circular, the needle is moving across more material at the start of the album. Does this mean they are recorded at different pitches throughout the album to compensate? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"f9j3v79",
"f9iu6fx",
"f9jtsa7",
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"text": [
"Everyone is right here. But to answer the question more in depth... A master vinyl is etched using a much heavier etching head that has a tracking sys... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e5cdka | Why are there so many different types of wireless signals? | ELI5: Why are there so many different types of wireless signals? (WiFi, 2.4, 5, Bluetooth, 3g, 4g, 5g, LTE, Ect. I understand each serves a distinct purpose, but it seems like most could be standardized to transmit data into the latest technology like 5G. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9j917t"
],
"text": [
"There are so many design considerations to be had when designing a wireless device. First of all, there are silly amount of wireless devices in existence today and the spectrum is limited. So you have to comply with laws and regulations so that your device doesn't inter... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e5ck00 | How do musical vinyls work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9j25lc"
],
"text": [
"Sound waves are etched into a record. When being played a very fine needle runs along those etches and vibrates. Those vibrations are converted into an electric signal and amplified"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
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] | [
"url"
] | |
e5d0vo | why some remote controls have IR light while others have an antenna instead of any IR led? Do antenna is meant for IR? Or difference between the 2 types? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9j4ow1"
],
"text": [
"The antenna communicates using radio frequency signals, or RF. IR is used when great distance is not necessary, and line of sight is pretty much always possible, because it depends on it. For example if someone stands between you and the TV, your IR based TV remote will... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e5h5oc | Can nuclear waste be recycled? | I know the jist of what nuclear waste is I just want to know if its possible to recycle it and if so (optional) why it isnt being done and if there are any benefits besides the obvious which is it being good for the enviroment. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9js62n",
"f9jmsi1",
"f9jplr2"
],
"text": [
"Sure. ~96% of the mass of spent nuclear fuel is still the same uranium that was put into the reactor (though more depleted of ^(235)U, and some ^(236)U). Another ~1% is perfectly usable (as fuel) plutonium. And there's plenty of other usefu... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e5lwu8 | If my TV is already dolby vision compatible, why the device playing the video needs to be too ? | In short, I have a nvidia shield 2015. When I play dolby vision titles on netflix from the shield, they appear as 'HDR' only. I thought the device was supposed to send the video pixels to the TV untouched. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9kkyxj",
"f9l9vtn"
],
"text": [
"That's like asking why you can't hook up a VHS player to a 4K UHD TV and have it appear as if it was footage shot and recorded in 4K, or why your old cassettes don't sound any better on your $4000 sound system than your car stereo and doesn't provide Dolb... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e5nl2a | How ISPs control your internet speed | So I have unthrottled gigabit fiber internet and when the guy was setting it up, he literally just had to push a button to change it from 150 Mbps to gigabit. My assumption here is that there's some electronic throttling that happens at the customer's home, and that the speed of the data coming through the pipes otherw... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9ktd9k"
],
"text": [
"With cable + DSL modems there is a configuration file uploaded to the modem from the ISP during boot up that includes the details of your connection as well as your speed limits. The modem's firmware (software) limits your upload/download speeds by only allowing a certa... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e5vi6o | why news channels can broadcast events from miles away in excellent quality with no lag, while I struggle to have a decent Skype conversation without connection issues | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9m7sd4",
"f9m6mqa",
"f9m7qlb"
],
"text": [
"TV news channels are allowed to broadcast on TV air waves (just like airplanes can fly through the sky really fast). Your Skype conversation needs to fight with traffic of all the other home internet users (just like driving on the freeway ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e5vsa6 | How are sounds in video games and movies made from complete scratch? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9m84u4"
],
"text": [
"Many of them will be pre-recorded and just saved into a pack that can be dragged and dropped in. The rest will be Foley sound which is just recording something that sounds like the action in a sound proof room. Off the top of my head the only one I can think of was snap... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e5w8y2 | What do hackers actually and how does hacking works, | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9mavz0",
"f9mashd"
],
"text": [
"To simplify - they abuse a vulnerability in a system. Let's say that your house has a finicky door handle that if you turn it counter clockwise it will always open - wether or not it is locked Hackers take that vulnerability and abuse it so they can get w... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e5xp7a | Why is there whenever you take a photo with your phone of a PC/Laptop screen a rainbow effect in the photo? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9mgw0e",
"f9mgqpp"
],
"text": [
"Your screen is made of a grid of pixels each made of red, green and blue subcomponents. Your camera is basically the same way, but since the two are independent of each other and there are perspective issues, the two grids of pixels are out of alignment. ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e5yb4d | how do flash grenades work | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9mzt8f"
],
"text": [
"Instead of being filled with high explosives, like a normal grenade, stun grenades (flash bangs) are filled with a pyrotechnic charge, usually made of magnesium (which burns hot and bright) mixed with an oxidizer (to make it burn faster.) The casing has holes in it to h... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e5zv7j | How does a number get traced? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9mvt4s"
],
"text": [
"You call the phone company and ask them. Generally it helps if you have a warrant. But all modern phone calls are handled digitally and the phone company has records of when Number A calls Number B, how long, etc. That's how they bill people and make money. There are ou... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e63f68 | How does frequency on a CPU impact performance? I.e. if I overclock a 2Ghz CPU to 4Ghz, is it +100% performance? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9nhddg",
"f9nta07"
],
"text": [
"Increasing the clock speed on a CPU increased the frequency with which it can process tasks. If you double its clock speed, that means it can send data through the bus twice as frequently. This, however, does not translate to twice the overall speed of th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e63lm3 | Why do movie cams (the ones recorded in theatres and put on torrent sites) seem like they're always small and blurry low-quality video files, even though camcorders have improved massively in the last decade? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9nijy0",
"f9nihcz",
"f9ntemb"
],
"text": [
"Taking a fancy schmancy camcorder into a theater is a real easy way to get caught and ejected (and possibly arrested). As such, those people who bootleg movies do so in as discreet a way as possible. Most of the time that means recording wi... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e66env | On Coursera, how does the text written by a person facing the camera appear correct? | I'm taking a Coursera class, and the videos show an instructor facing the camera while talking. He writes on the "screen", using his right hand, and the notes appear correctly (also facing me) as if drawn on a glass window between us. How is this accomplished without him actually writing backwards a la Da Vinci? He is ... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9o4cmu"
],
"text": [
"The presenter is writing on a piece of glass with the camera looking through, so the raw video will have the text reversed. They just flip/reverse the clip and like magic everything is the right way round. Think of it like taking a selfie using a mirror. The image in yo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e66uu8 | How do animators sync up their characters talking with audio? | How do they make their character's mouths move at just the right speed? Is there a lot of overshooting/undershooting and then having to go back and fix the frames? Or is there some general rule of thumb (x amount of frames to each second of audio)? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9ob1te",
"f9o7kpu",
"f9o6sxi"
],
"text": [
"actual animator here: experience and timing. if you do as others in this thread say and just plug in whatever lip shape happens for whatever sound you get terribly ugly uncanny valley lip sync. It looks terrible and fucking creepy, it looks... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e67o7i | Why does regular Wikipedia run smooth as butter, but "fandom" Wikipedias and the like make every device I've ever used them on chug like nobody's business or straight up crash the browser? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9obrtv",
"f9opj6w",
"f9ogg0z",
"f9or5vz"
],
"text": [
"Because regular Wikipedia is 99.9% text and a few pictures, whereas \"fandom\" Wiki pages oftentimes run special scripts to change your mouse cursor or add flashier graphics. They usually also feature multiple advertisements.... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e6anbw | What do wifi mesh systems do and do they actually work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9p0m0x",
"f9p6qvd"
],
"text": [
"Yes. Let’s take a classic analogy. You want to hear music. You have a speaker in one room that plays music. In other rooms the sound is a little muffled, outside you strain to hear it. In the garage you can hear anything. You get a bright idea, you put a ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e6d2ho | how do rechargeable batteries work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9pbda8",
"f9pbcho"
],
"text": [
"Batteries are chemical reactions. Some chemical reactions are one way. Once the chemicals have reacted they cant revert to their previous form. Some reactions move both ways. Take two chemicals and put them together and they react and release energy. Then... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e6e7no | why if I factory-reset my phone it wont be as fast as the day I bought it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9pggno"
],
"text": [
"All operating systems (regardless of device) that receive regular updates will run slower. This is primarily because those updates either address security concerns or stability issues. These are either resolved by adding additional checks or additional processes to the ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e6kf71 | How do radio stations measure how many listeners they have? Does the strength of the signal they send out weaken when more listeners tune in and they measure it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9quohc"
],
"text": [
"There is no electronic means of measuring it. No the signal does not weaken as more listeners tune in. It's likely done through surveys \"What radio station do you listen to?\" and listener feedback. Those giveaways where they ask for caller 9? Yeah, that also tells the... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e6lsnc | How does picture format conversion work? Eg. PNG to JPG | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9r8z4h"
],
"text": [
"It's basically the same as translating languages. A program knows how to read and save both formats and remakes the original in the other format."
],
"score": [
3
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e6ncqj | What is the Internet of Things? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9rqriw",
"f9rp7zk",
"f9rraz8",
"f9roed8"
],
"text": [
"Typically, people only think of computers and phones being able to connect to the internet. But in the past few years many other devices started being able to connect. First it was TVs, but it's expanded to appliances like re... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e6qh8x | with bushfires moving across much of Australian right now, how do fire fighters fight fires that seem beyond human control? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9sgzkp",
"f9shene"
],
"text": [
"They can do things like dig break ditches. They basically take a wide enough line of the vegitation out between the fire and the unburnt brush so the fire cant spread further or to slow it down enough so evac is easier.",
"It depends on the fire and h... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e6qprr | Why are "feather dusters“ still so widespread and how are they superior to microfiber cloths? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9sidtl"
],
"text": [
"They are good at removing dust from very irregular surfaces (they get in between bits), and at not disturbing delicate items."
],
"score": [
17
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e6tk95 | Can I make my own domain or do I have to buy it from sites like godaddy? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9t28o8"
],
"text": [
"To make a domain you have to be registrar, which means you are approved to add Domains to the DNS and lease them out to people and companies. Sites like GoDaddy are a registrar. Yes you could theoretically do that but... The cost and process of becoming a registrar woul... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e704kt | How does a nuclear reactor work. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9u8qs0"
],
"text": [
"The basic principle behind a coal burning boiler and a nuclear reactor are similar. The main difference is the heat source. In a coal burning boiler, as the name suggests, a coal burning fire is used to heat water to steam, and that steam is used to turn turbines to gen... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e70bcs | How can a single coaxial cable provide HDMI and an internet connection with minimal data loss? | Ok, set the WABAC machine for, say 20 years ago. I'm working at Best Buy selling electronics and, being the diligent and curious person that I was, I was reading about the various ways of connecting your game consoles, DVD players, etc. to your TV. Back then, in the pre-HDMI days, there were basically 4 options availab... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9un9cx"
],
"text": [
"Because it wasn't the coax itself that was causing the low video quality. Coax by itself is extremely wide bandwidth (only fiber optics have higher bandwidth). The relatively low video quality for RF was because the signals being sent down the coax were the exact same t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e70xl7 | How do websites know a phone number is Google Voice? | I like to use my GV to avoid spam to my real mobile number but some websites can detect that it's not tied to a mobile carrier and won't allow it. How do they know? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9uurbs",
"f9uuz9w"
],
"text": [
"Different carriers purchase a range of phone exchanges to use and assign to subscribers. I’m sure Google is just doing the same thing and those websites are able to determine this by validating the number. You can do a reverse lookup on a phone number to ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e721no | why can’t we just insert video games into the console and start playing anymore? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9up43m",
"f9up2do",
"f9upabh",
"f9v3csx"
],
"text": [
"Games these days are much, much bigger, with gigabytes of textures, sound and so on. They are simply too big to run from temporary memory as they used to. They install because data access is much faster from a hard drive than... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e728aa | How do smart screens work with skin but nothing else? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9ur05p",
"f9v2okt",
"f9ur2d6"
],
"text": [
"Not quite accurate. They also work with conductive synthetic rubber, or other items that can hold a tiny electric charge. Basically, they detect *capacitance.*",
"The type of touchscreen you're referring to is a *capacitive* touchscreen... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e74aax | Why is functional programming said to be better for multithreading than object oriented programming? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9vafpk"
],
"text": [
"It's all about data immutability and, more generally, managing state. Functional languages, in general, embrace and even enforce data immutability. You can't change your data, which means other threads can't change the data, which means you can't have conflicts or data ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e74u9c | What is an API? | My current understanding of it is, its like a bunch of code translated into a "language" that is understood by an application or software , so it serves as a translator between a programmer and the app am I understanding it right? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9vjwgx",
"f9vdsdc",
"f9vzgvh",
"f9vplod",
"f9vnuwh"
],
"text": [
"Everyone's talking about it from a computer programming perspective, but it's easier for an ELI5 post to think of it as a real-world example. I'm going to assume you're not an automobile designer or mechanic. (... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e74z4o | How do Christmas lights flash individual bulbs? | With most Christmas lights, they have a line of LED's. How do they light particular LED's individually? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9vkr59"
],
"text": [
"Many are done as an arangement of 3 strings. If you look closely you can see three wires on many strings or icicle lights. If you really look closely, there's never a need for the entire string to be off and a individual bulb lit. You can get away with controlling 33% o... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e77h94 | Why doesn’t “Alexa” respond when it is summoned on TV? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9vuxvp",
"f9w0xpr"
],
"text": [
"The show or ad has a buried frequency in it, which, when the Alexa hears it, it knows not to trigger.",
"Mine goes off all the time from the TV. I'll tell you a funny story. I have ties to QVC and when last year's TSV was an Echo. The host would order... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e7dnow | I talk about ADHD in person but never search about it online. A Google Play Ad triggered by a game from the app store is about ADHD. How do they do make that happen? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9y07be",
"f9yj9v9"
],
"text": [
"At all times your phones microphone is listening. It hears buzz or trigger words and googles ad sence algorithim will play ads based on that.",
"Well, the whole premise of your question is based on the assumption that your question about ADHD causes t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e7eqlt | How do historians and archaeologists comfirm that every ancient documents that they read are real? | You know that in the ancient times there is no digital stuffs to verify that it is really happening, they really say that, etc. So it is very possible that some historic writings are manipulated. Like there is a saying: history is written by the winners. Then how do historians can know that all the ancient writings the... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"f9ygph4",
"f9yivmv",
"f9yiw24",
"fa1lsqx"
],
"text": [
"1. That quote is something of a joke among historians. “The winners” are rarely willing or able to get rid of every piece of evidence that contradicts their narrative. 2. Historians don’t just take the documents they find at ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
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