q_id stringlengths 6 6 | title stringlengths 4 294 | selftext stringlengths 0 2.48k | category stringclasses 1
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e7guez | Why do all legitimate streams run almost half a minute behind their television counterparts? | You could be watching a 100m final but they've already finished on your TV stream where they're still in the blocks on your internet stream | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Modern video streaming protocols (e.g., Apple's HLS) require the player, when starting playback, to accumulate the video stream without actually playing it for about 18-30 seconds. This is needed for two reasons: first, player needs time to measure the sp... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e7jscl | What is the "TLS handshake" protocol that runs before you connect to a website? | I noticed it briefly before a page I visited loaded and I've never noticed it before. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa0ds4z"
],
"text": [
"Essentially, there's a large number of cryptographic methods available, since we've continuously improved them over time. Your computer is sending which ones it would like to use. The server checks against the ones it will use. There's usually a discrepency because newe... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e7mwwy | How do the different names on video cards work? | and why are there so many? Like you can get the same card from EVGA, Gigabyte, NIVIDIA or MSI. They're all a 1080ti or whatever but made by different companies? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa1asb2",
"fa1bj0o",
"fa1omk4"
],
"text": [
"The video card is the same but there are different models that have their own cooling solutions and plastic enclosures",
"All the video card names you’re referencing are brands of video card manufacturers. Just like there are lots of br... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e7nyxp | In video games, why do the feet of characters appear to "hover" over the ground slightly? | In other words, why is it a challenge for game creators to have the feet of characters make direct contact with the ground instead of floating slightly above it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa1uh8a"
],
"text": [
"collision boxes, which are basically invisible 3d shapes that tell the game whether an object has a physical presence in the world (vs say a smoke effect which you should be able to walk through) hopefully line up exactly with the actual “skin” of characters or objects,... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e7om8m | What does night vision make some black clothing appear white? Additionally, why does some black clothing stay black? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa2qbro"
],
"text": [
"\"Night vision\" often refers to the capture of infrared light on a camcorder or binoculars. As Fleaslayer pointed out, those generally emit IR light before capturing it as it bounces back. But IR light is also emited by the sun and tungsten lightbulbs, for example. I'v... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e7ptdq | why don’t all phone services send texts over the internet (like apple’s iMessage does)? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa48tne"
],
"text": [
"The short answer is that they don't because they didn't originally. *Short Message Service*-messages, as they are called in the GSM standard among other more recent standards, is a technical feature offered in the communication protocol used to communicate to and from t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e7q7hs | Are HDR movies edited in HDR? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa33uuz"
],
"text": [
"Not necessarily. Shot in HDR, probably but a lot gets thrown out somewhere in the pipeline. That being said ... There is an incredible amount of post production work that goes into media that can add color detail back in. Obviously it's best for the final product to hav... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e7rfuy | What is Max pooling in convulational Neural network? | I had this question after reading this article that talked about how a convulational neural network worked - URL_0 'CNN approach to solve this issue is to use max pooling or successive convolutional layers that reduce spacial size of the data flowing through the network and therefore increase the “field of view” of hig... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa8kza3"
],
"text": [
"**What are maxpool layers used for?** You have a grid of 100x100 values that you want to feed into your convolutional neural network. You feed it into a convolutional layer with 8 filters. The result is a 100x100x8 Grid of values(or 98x98x8 depending on your configurati... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e7sqw2 | How those drink machines that can give you a large array of drinks at fast food restaurants | work | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa4ia7m",
"fa4hm8a"
],
"text": [
"They have cartridges of all the different concentrated flavour syrups, which are mixed in with the base drink based on the users choice. They also report back the most popular flavours - this is why you've probably seen things like Raspberry Coke in bottl... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e7umtz | when you update an application, does that application then take up extra memory equal to the size of the download? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa5qlpp"
],
"text": [
"Not permanently. Usually part of what you downloaded as an update replaces stuff that is already there in the old version."
],
"score": [
4
],
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} | [
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e7v3e2 | Why mobile phones require pin after boot, even when fingerprints/irises/faces are registered? | Isn't the security the same? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa60o4f",
"fa6g8fh"
],
"text": [
"A pin is also used as an encrypt/decrypt key after reboot and the fingerprint is used as for ease of authentication only. You cant use fingerprint after reboot as the biometric info is stored in the encrypted state.",
"Fingerprints, irises and faces c... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e7w2tk | what is going to happen when flash becomes obsolete? | Since Adobe is making flash obsolete. I'm confused with what is going to happen to all of the flash media that is online. Are all of the flash games/movies just going to be erased from existence? Or would you still be able to play them? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa6fymi"
],
"text": [
"You will still be able to use it, Adobe will no longer be working on it. DOS is obsolete but I can still boot up DOS 6.0 on an old computer my Dad keeps for some odd reason, and then spend all day playing Sopwith."
],
"score": [
9
],
"text_urls": [
[]
... | [
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e7wo35 | When two TVs in TVs same house are run through the same cable service, why does one seem to always lag behind the other? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa6ot6y"
],
"text": [
"A modern TV contains electronics which decode the digital HDMI signal and then turn it back into a picture and sound. Unfortunately these usually introduce a delay, and on some models it can be a notable fraction of a second, and it's not a standardized amount."
],
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e7x3p8 | what's the difference between " URL_0 " and " URL_1 "? | I've seen both formats used to display a specific page on a website, and I'm curious what the advantages/disadvantages are of each. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa6wjp4",
"fa8lgpu"
],
"text": [
"www.website/webpage is a page within a particular site. These pages are all themed the same and collectively tell one message. These are all covered under one standard SSL. URL_0 is a subdomain. These are typically used as a standalone to the primary webs... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e7xiyr | Why are naval and air speeds measured in knots but cars speeds are measured in 'per hour' speeds? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa73gov",
"fa73o1y",
"fa8a91q",
"fa9eepy"
],
"text": [
"Because you can easily measure a car's speed in miles per hour using information from the car's engine (information that relates to how fast the wheels are moving and subsequently how far the car is moving over time). Additio... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e7xoc7 | Why does a video taken of a stationary object (with no moving objects) look different than just a still photo? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa7dumi"
],
"text": [
"There are usually subtle visual clues like changing lighting, movement of objects in the background, slight vibration of the tripod, and even changing noise patterns in the video."
],
"score": [
10
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
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e7y6x4 | When entering a card number via keypad on a phone call, how does the recipient know which digits you entered? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa7dljm",
"fa7qqtp",
"fa7zup0",
"fa7xnk0"
],
"text": [
"Touch tones. Each number causes a tone at a specific frequency to be played down the phone line. The computer systems are programmed to recognise this and convert them back to the relevant numbers.",
"With my work we conn... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e7y9ja | Why haven’t Bluetooth video projectors been invented yet? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa7h5sa",
"fa7hubc",
"fa7olgp"
],
"text": [
"Bluetooth simply doesn't have the bandwidth for video and sound at any decent resolution. Regular Bluetooth that doesn't have any of Bluetooth's 4 WiFi utilisation trickery has a bandwidth of about 3mb/s. It also has a relatively high error... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e80m4d | Why would a video of a still image take up less space than a video with moving frames? | I figured that the lines still have to be drawn every frame anyway regardless if they are the same or not | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa8d4zq"
],
"text": [
"Videos use something called [inter-frame compression]( URL_0 ) to shrink the videos. Instead of storing each frame in full, they store only some frames in full, and between them they store inter frames which only contain the difference from the last frame. Since a lot o... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e81ftc | Why dont we have 1000v1000 multiplayer games? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa8lqlj",
"fa8nm15"
],
"text": [
"As I understand it, Essentially it's a problem of co-ordinating and distributing information. If you have 2000 players all in the same space, everyone needs to know where all the other players are, what they're doing, how they're moving, what projectiles ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e82oi0 | If I have an SSD with 400MB/s Write speeds, should it take 2 seconds to transfer 800MB from a disk to it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa8tt3f",
"fa8xw9t"
],
"text": [
"Only if the other disk also has 400MB/s read speed, and whatever connectivity between the two disks you have supports this. For example, having two of these discs connected to your motherboard, you should be able to transfer 800MB of data in 2 seconds. Ho... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e84lp5 | How do they preslice hotdog buns? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa99i6a"
],
"text": [
"[With a hot dog bun slicer]( URL_0 ) The exact method varies slightly. But it's almost always the buns on a conveyor belt, plus something cutty that doesn't go all the way to the bottom."
],
"score": [
3
],
"text_urls": [
[
"https://www.youtube.com... | [
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e84u3u | Why are movie audio volumes so different from action scenes to talking? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa98839",
"fa9g0iy",
"fa9bq29",
"fa9a4cy"
],
"text": [
"I feel ya man. I always have to have subtitles on because people seem to whisper the main plot :/",
"Center channel. Often neglected, rarely understood. I don't actually understand it either (really) just know it made a h... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e84wl3 | . What is the belief to warming up your car for a few mins in the morning? Are there any benefits to your vehicle, or does it cause harm? If so, then why? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa99r1i",
"fa99zyj",
"fa9l68v"
],
"text": [
"Warming up your car gives the engine and oil a chance to come up to operating temperature when it is particularly cold outside. The oil does a better job lubricating once it is warmed up enough to thin a little bit,and this significantly re... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e86rad | Why are not all gloves touch screen friendly? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa9jst6",
"fa9kazy",
"fa9jtw0"
],
"text": [
"There are different ways the touch screen itself works... The 2 main ones are resistive and capacitive touch. Resistive works of of pressure, you could use any glove you want. Capacitive uses your body or the stylus to complete a circuit to... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e86zu8 | Battery life | I just went out to buy some 9 Volt batteries because the fire alarm decided to be my alarm clock today and tell me, quite loudly, it was hungry and needed more batteries (/s). I replaced the battery and went to go pick up some more batteries for when the other fire alarms require replacement batteries, and I had though... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa9l0yq",
"fa9yu8j"
],
"text": [
"Batteries slowly die even when in their package. I don't feel qualifies enough to explain why but I think it has sth to do with their internal resistance.",
"Lithium batteries contain a solution inside of them that changes form to release energy. Esse... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e8741t | why do only some materials work on touchscreen, and what is in touchscreen gloves that makes them work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa9oyz6",
"fa9n3eg"
],
"text": [
"The basic difference is conductivity + surface area. A needle will not work because it has very little surface area that can directly touch. A cotton glove will not work because it is not conductive. A glove with a bunch of flexible little conductive fibe... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e888rw | Why are some keyboards able to register three inputs at once, while others can only manage two? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fa9s3cw"
],
"text": [
"A keyboard have far too many keys for each key to have their own sensor. It would just be too many wires and sensors to manage. Instead the switches on the keyboard are mounted in a grid matrix of wires where they connect the row and column wires together when pressed. ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e8conx | . What causes the echo I sometimes hear on phone calls? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faaoq90",
"faaxdcj",
"faaxicd"
],
"text": [
"Your voice travels across the phone system to the other party, their phone's speaker plays the sound, then their phone microphone picks up on that sound and it is transmitted back to your phone as an echo. Speaker phones are notorious for e... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e8dnlt | Why do ads load quicker then youtube videos? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faaz1ux",
"fab69ou",
"fab2aqg"
],
"text": [
"First of all, ads are the priority to load, not the videos. YouTube wants to make sure ads load. Ads are also sometimes pre-loaded behind the scenes in many cases, I can’t say if YouTube specifically does this all the time, but it’s common ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e8do73 | Why is it such a common bug in video games for people to be launched up into the sky? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fab19v6",
"fab1vt1",
"fab1ual",
"fab1x8a"
],
"text": [
"It's a problem with the PhysX engine itself, which many games have used. Basically what happens is that when two objects collide, the algorithm figures out the \"force\" and tries to determine what happens. The \"force\" move... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e8hln1 | RFID Systems, how do they work, how do you make them, etc. (What's the best resource to use to learn more?) | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fact13t"
],
"text": [
"An RFID tag is basically a storage device, it's a chip that can only hold a small amount of data, like in the order of 2 kilobytes. But the advantage of it is, it can be read wirelessly, and it's also powered wirelessly by the RFID reader (passive tag), though you can g... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e8kscy | How come even a mild breeze can cause such loud noise on an outdoor phone call or video? | Can the mic be designed to eliminate it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"facuuqz",
"fad7672"
],
"text": [
"The microphone cavity creates turbulence. If you just had an exposed microphone it would be much better.",
"Best way to explain it is like you’re blowing at the top of an empty glass bottle. You’re not putting much effort in the breath but the sound i... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e8m43u | Why are there DVD regions? If the players are what's different, then why is that even a thing? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fad5cxk",
"fademyi"
],
"text": [
"It's so the the studios and the distributors can negotiate different prices in different markets without worrying about a (shady) supplier buying a bunch in one region and re-selling in another region.",
"It's not the players. Most companies manufactu... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e8mtby | . How do smart phones detect if an original accessory is connected to the device. | For example, how can an iPhone detect if you're using an original Apple charging adapter and/or USB cable | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fad862x"
],
"text": [
"The cable plug actually contains a tiny electronic chip that identifies itself as genuine. It isn't incredibly sophisticated but it talks back to the device and conveys information instead of it just being a set of wires."
],
"score": [
5
],
"text_urls": [
... | [
"url"
] | [
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e8nssq | When a band is recording in a studio and everyone has on headphones, what are they listening to? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fadd5ij",
"fadd63r",
"faddx6m"
],
"text": [
"They're listening to themselves. It's easy to lose track of just your own instrument/voice in all that noise, which means you could start playing slightly incorrectly and you might not notice, which could ruin a take. How awful it would be ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e8pzfm | - how does dungeons and dragons work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fadogxg",
"fadoczv",
"fadp2vn"
],
"text": [
"Rolling dice is just a small part of Dungeons and Dragons; the rolling dice is used for the mechanics of the game, however the stories are like playing any RPG. While you fight or talk your way through the story, the main plot is always in ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e8qipx | How does satellite television know about my user account information? | How do satellite tv boxes (which have no internet connection) retrieve user specific data (Like my name, my current tv account balance, the list of channels available to me etc) considering that they can't talk back to the satellite due to the immense transmitting power required? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fadrhwh",
"fadsdwe"
],
"text": [
"Some boxes connect to the phone line for data packets to be sent. If u book an additional channel etc it send the signal back that u are receiving it and the operator adds that to the bill. Billing data is sent not received.",
"The satellite doesn't k... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e8sway | What stops humans from fully studying the bottom of the ocean? Why does it seem like there is still much to be discovered? What prevents us? | Appreciate the knowledge! 😁 | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fae8ujs",
"fae909d",
"fae9b7d",
"fae9wl0",
"faebva5",
"faeakog"
],
"text": [
"Pressure, temperature and light makes it a very tough zone to study. We can get a human in a tin can down there but not for long and it can be really dangerous. It means we can’t get out and coll... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e8tueb | Why does it seem that cell phone batteries go from 100% to 95% much slower than 10% to 5%? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faehh9u",
"faes5la",
"faef7te"
],
"text": [
"The battery percentage is based on a math magical calculation that can be +/- 15% correct. When you first unplug it there is less \"data\" for this calculation so it is more likely to be incorrect. Many new phone are programed to use less b... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e8v5wh | How did the 3D effect on Nintendo 3DS work without glasses? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faer4jh",
"faf03st",
"faf1zcq"
],
"text": [
"The Nintendo 3DS relied on something called a *parallax barrier* to achieve its 3D effect. Simply put, the 3DS' top screen is sliced into many columns, each one alternating between displaying an image for your left eye and an image for your... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e8ynd3 | How do Apple AirPods stay in sync? | How do the AirPods stay in sync with each other to make sure one isn’t ahead of the other? I know that this was solved with wires before, but with wireless earbuds like this how is it done? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fafgp4a"
],
"text": [
"They communicate with each other and with the phone. They time each other, so they know how long it takes for a message to reach the other device. If one airpod receives a little bit more slowly, then the other will \"wait\" that amount of time, so they can stay in sync... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e8yqxw | How does gravity work in video games? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faffwsw",
"fafgzes"
],
"text": [
"Depends on the game's physics engine. In source-engine games like team fortress or counter strike, players are essentially attached to the ground when it goes up and down. When they leave the ground, they accelerate downwards based on a number (which can ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e90jv3 | Why are people less concerned about installing anti-virus software on cell phones, even though they access the internet just as much, if not more, than computers? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fafrl9x",
"fafrsld",
"fag2imd"
],
"text": [
"Because it's not windows. Linux (which fundamentally is what Android is) with SELinux in enforcing mode is just a lot more secure than Windows on the desktop.",
"Phones use different operating systems that were designed with security in... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e90nlw | How does google photos recognize my baby pictures? | I just uploaded my baby pictures to google photos and it immediately put them into my face’s photo album. My friends can’t even recognize me as a baby so how did Google Photos? It’s so cool! Would love to learn more about it. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fafsb1n"
],
"text": [
"The same way it can distinguish your friends from you. Or your dog from your baby. It scans the photo and compares it to a large large pool of already identified images and decided what its most likely to be. Big brother is watching and it’s very smart 👀"
],
"score... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e912up | How is cellphone data made and distributed? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fafwo2y",
"fafwll5"
],
"text": [
"If you're referring to the thing that cell service providers call \"data\" with regards to data plans it isn't made at all. Rather data in this case simple refers to how much information (in megabytes or gigabytes) you phone has requested that the cell to... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e943rx | The difference in the algorithm that separates 'top' comments from 'best' ones. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fageihz"
],
"text": [
"I assumed top is raw votes (up-down) and best is a composite of high raw votes and a good (up vs down) ratio."
],
"score": [
8
],
"text_urls": [
[]
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} | [
"url"
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e98i2p | 1 TB Micro SD Cards | how is this even possible, especially when not that long ago 100 MB was a lot of storage | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fah6snq"
],
"text": [
"There's an observation in technology called \"Moore's Law\", which states that transistor densities on chips will double approximately every 18 months. Computer chips are just large collections of transistors, and SD cards are just another form of computer chip. So, we ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e9a017 | how can some websites “trap” the user to their homepages when pressing the back button, but others take you right back to the search page. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fahfv20",
"fahr1ek"
],
"text": [
"There's an html element called a redirect; essentially if you make a page that immediately redirects you, your back button history will look like this, in descending order from most to least recent * Current Site * Site that redirects to Current Site * Go... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e9aoju | Why are CCTV cameras such low quality when even the cheapest video cameras are a much higher quality? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fahlhwt",
"fahl79k",
"fahues5"
],
"text": [
"Storage. The issue with security cameras isn't taking the video, but storing the footage. Yeah, you can film in 4k, but at 375MB for 30 fps for 1 minute x 60 minutes/hour x 24 hours/day = 270 GB/day x number of cameras. If you need to retai... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e9c0gg | A couple of decades ago we had 8bit, 16bit, 32bit and 64bit gaming consoles. Is there an equivalent "bit" that we're at now? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"We are still at 64 bit. In this case these numbers basically mean the space available to the computer to work in. 64 bit has more addressable memory space than 32 bit does. - 16 bit = 65,536 bytes (64 Kilobytes) - 32 bit = 4,294,967,296 byt... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e9cbax | Why, when buying a new product that runs on a rechargeable battery, is it recommended to fully deplete the battery before you charge it? | Nearly every battery-powered piece of tech seems to carry this instruction upon purchase. But it never made sense to me why it makes any difference how low a battery is before you decide to charge it. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fahy0aa"
],
"text": [
"Fwiw this has not been the recommended practice for a long time. Older nickel cadmium batteries had a property for which this is useful however fully depleting modern lithium ion batteries is not recommended and can be harmful to the battery. I know that doesn't answer ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
e9dvse | how does the Face ID on my phone recognise my face in low light but my selfie camera just shows up as pitch black? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fai7yb6",
"fai7e2f"
],
"text": [
"It generates light in a wavelength humans can’t see. The Face ID system fully illuminates your face with infrared light, then interprets that reflected light. There’s a separate IR emission diode beside the front-facing camera and speaker (there may be mo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e9g9jo | When one light on a strand of Christmas lights goes out, why do all the lights after it in the strand quit working as well? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fainx98",
"faisb56"
],
"text": [
"They are wired “in series” such that the electrical output of the first lite is wired directly to the input of the second and so on. If one light burns out then the path is broken. No way for the electrons to flow into and out of the string.",
"Think ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e9gyjc | Why is microSD cards affordable and have high capacity of upto 1 TB and very small compared to SSD and HDD? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faj0etv",
"faiuyxs"
],
"text": [
"Micro SD is really good at being small, but not great at being the things a typical SSD or HDD is good at. Most notably, the microSD isn't good at doing lots of things simultaneously, or in queue (quasi-simultaneously). If you think of the uses of micro S... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e9j9a4 | How does school computer return to it's "default" state when shut down the Computer? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faj9jbr",
"faj9y92"
],
"text": [
"Windows has a feature called mandatory profiles that do not allow saving of settings or changes to the desktop. Another way is a through an application like DeepFreeze that restores everything after a reboot. URL_0",
"Depends in the setup, but in many... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e9o54v | Why we can recover files after deleting them from HDD/SSD drives? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fak4kvn",
"fak5353"
],
"text": [
"Deleting is more like removing the index card that tells you where a book is in the library. The book is still there, you don't have a record of it or where it was on which shelf, but that book will remain there until you use the shelf space for something... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e9pzvi | If a Stealth Fighter battles another Stealth Fighter, will it turn into a WWII like battle where each pilot has to rely on eyesight, since radar won't pick up the other plane? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faklkjf"
],
"text": [
"No, there are a number of technologies which can see stealth aircraft. Stealth aircraft are usually stealthy only to microwave radar."
],
"score": [
3
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} | [
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e9qxqi | How does a flashy green light on my watch measure my heart rate? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fakujt2"
],
"text": [
"Similar to many other wearable fitness trackers, the Apple Watch relies on green LED lights for a method called photoplethysmography (or PPG). Because blood absorbs green light, and each pulse brings a spike in blood flow, determining heart rate is a matter of measuring... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e9t60k | why do servers run most applications in virtual machines instead of a single shared space? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"falerpt"
],
"text": [
"VMs are much easier to backup, restore, clone, and generally manage than physical boxes. Imagine your company has a bunch of applications, web sites, databases, and tasks that require 10 servers to operate it all. If they were all physical boxes you'd need complete sets... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
e9v7zi | How do MRI and fMRI work, are they used simultaneously? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"falyatk",
"famc0ld"
],
"text": [
"Your body is exposed to a strong magnetic field, it forces all the protons to align with it. You are then exposed to a radio pulse which knocks the protons out of alignment. Sensors then measure things like how long the protons take to realign and how muc... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ea0lgi | How come some video games end up bad even with testers and QA people? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fan2dlu",
"fan2cqb"
],
"text": [
"Usually extremely tight deadlines and not enough budget. Games are an incredibly complex thing to make and when you fix/implement one thing, ten things break. Combine that with execs breathing down your neck with impossible deadlines, employees being stre... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ea51bo | what is lambda architecture (big data)? | Thank you! | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fao12hr"
],
"text": [
"Lambda architecture is a data processing technique for large quantities of data (Big Data) that uses a hybrid approach with batch and stream processing. There are 3 basic layers: **Batch**: Where the data is stored. Both manages the master dataset and pre-computes batch... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
ea7u7e | What makes one CPU faster than another CPU? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faogh23"
],
"text": [
"Other than the speed of the clock ticking (the GHz number), two main differences are how much it can do concurrently (in parallel), and how much ultra-fast \"cache\" memory it has. Both of these require more transistors, which drive up the cost of manufacture."
],
"... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ea9gk3 | How can computers solve algebra without dedicated hardware for it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faouxm6",
"faopb45",
"faop9j8",
"faoqcbc"
],
"text": [
"One of the fundamental concepts of computer science is that, with some caveats, any general-purpose computer hardware can be programmed to do anything any other computer hardware could. Practically speaking, there are cases s... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eaafop | Why can't CPUs merge cores? | So this is probably really stupid, but why, for a company such as AMD, cant they make a CPU similar to the 3970x but with 8 or so big cores with improved performance? I keep seeing insane core counts from them, but I don't quite get why they can't make really good single-core performance. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faow49z",
"faoxmn1"
],
"text": [
"There's a whole host of reasons, heat production, physical limitation to addressing, bandwidth to each core, etc. Basically, if each core has its own addressing, it gets it's own data pipes, its own RAM, etc. One giant core would still be limited to what ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
eadhm1 | Why is a 4g connection almost useless now when a few years ago it was perfectly fine for streaming audio and video? | Whenever my phone shows an LTE connection, I have really fast speeds and can stream anything. If I drop to a 4g connection, and can barely load text. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fapi3kz",
"fapo2xm"
],
"text": [
"When 4G was \"cool\" there were very few users. Now there are lots, far too many, and LTE seeks to move traffic out of 4G except for edge areas with poor access. Alas, when you're there, everybody in the area is 4G and data users are much, much more commo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
eaee56 | Difference between memory and SSD | Looking at laptops and confused between memory and SSD. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fapxbsb",
"faq4829"
],
"text": [
"Memory typically refers to RAM (random access memory) where as SSD (solid state drive) refers to storage. Easiest way to know the difference is think of RAM as a work table and SSD or other storage device like a hard drive as storage cabinets. If you want... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
eag0gh | Why youtube dosent have anti addblock like other sites do? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faqrhve"
],
"text": [
"Nobody can say for sure what goes on in Google's meeting rooms and why they make the business decisions that they do. But I can give you a few hunches: * Google, as a company funded by advertising, obviously wants people to see ads. Therefore, any action that Google tak... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eah4al | CPU Cache | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"far2u46"
],
"text": [
"It's memory that is very close to the CPU and can be quickly used for calculations. It's the equivalent of scratch paper when doing math, or using calculator memory to hold a few numbers to quickly finish a problem."
],
"score": [
3
],
"text_urls": [
[]
... | [
"url"
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"url"
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eaj87a | How do apple/google maps know where traffic is and how quickly can it be worked out? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fasgke4"
],
"text": [
"Since they track everybody's locations in real time, they knowl how fast you are moving. If a group of people they are tracking are suddenly stopped or slowing down on an open the road, it's obviously a traffic situation. Google has also added real time user updates lik... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eamb6u | Why is wardriving dangerous? | I was taught that wardriving was a type of "attack", but never really explained why it was bad. Maybe I was just dumb and didn't pay attention idk but 🤷🏻♀️ | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fau3caj"
],
"text": [
"Wardriving is a type of computer software attack where a person drives through a neighborhood and collects information on Wi-Fi networks. The goal is to find one that someone stupidly left unsecured or secured with a common password. Once a vulnerable Wi-Fi signal is fo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
eao3a4 | Pilots, what are squawk codes? | So I'm doing a presentation for my class about aviation safety and I want to put in the squawk codes like 7500 or 7700. Before explaining the specific squawk codes and what they do, I want to let the class know what squawk codes are and how they work. I myself know what squawk codes are since I have slightly above aver... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fauuvjw"
],
"text": [
"Airplanes are fast moving, and they can't stop where they are in case something comes up. Normally radios are used to communicate with the folks who control air traffic, to get them the help they need. What happens if the radio is affected by the problem? Well, aviation... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
eaol5j | Help me explain to my mom what a podcast is. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fauyx1k"
],
"text": [
"Like a radio program that you download and listen to at your leisure instead of just when it airs"
],
"score": [
8
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eaoy22 | How to the underwater fiber optic cables work and how are they able to handle the massive amount of data sent? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fav5hig",
"favu9nh"
],
"text": [
"A laser shines through the clear fiber, and basically flashes on for 1 or off for 0, billions of times a second. (The exact signals are more complex but that's the basic idea.) Because lasers can turn on and off very fast, and because several different co... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
earjbj | How do satellites keep orientation in space? | For example, how would a communicaitons satellite keep its antennas pointed towards the earth? Wouldn't it keep its orientation and begin to point away from the earth? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faweha9"
],
"text": [
"There are some minor station-keeping operations that happen. Small thrusters can adjust its orbit (read: accelerate) if required, and reaction wheels can adjust its orientation. Otherwise, Sir Isaac Newton is in the driver’s seat! Gravity and orbital mechanics are very ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
eascnr | How is weather predicted? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fawuoox"
],
"text": [
"Supercomputers are used to run simulations (\"models\") that try to \"fast-forward\" current conditions based on what we know about how weather works. Multiple times a day, the supercomputers are fed data about current weather conditions all over the world. The data mos... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
easkry | Why is it that after I buy a new game on Steam, Origin, etc., wait the hour+ for it to download and install, then finally open it to play and the first thing I’m greeted with is an update download? Why isn’t all this a part of what I just downloaded/installed? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fawtmp5",
"faws6cn",
"fay4ryw",
"fay2kp2",
"fay7lwg",
"fay0fay"
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"text": [
"Depends on the game but general 1) When a game downloads from Steam (or any other service) it usually comes with some redistributable libraries that need to be installed once. Those can have secu... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eat70i | How does raytracing work? Not what it does, but how it does it. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fax4fjy"
],
"text": [
"A fundamental theory of light and rays and reflection is that how it reflects doesn't matter which direction it travels. A beam of light fired from point A to eventually point B (bouncing off whatever) can be fired back in the opposite direction from B to A successfully... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eavk1b | How a smartphone can detect only my finger but not another object ? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faxwq2i"
],
"text": [
"It detects the elecrical current going through your finger, which is why unconductive objects such as plastic and even your clothes wont trigger a reaction"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eaz8cz | What is a hyperparameter in machine learning? | This is the definition of hyperparameter from Wikipedia - URL_0 'whose value is set before the learning process begins. By contrast, the values of other parameters are derived via training' Can someone give a simple and intuitive example of this concept - why you would want a value to be set before the learning process... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fazryxu",
"fb0kyp8",
"fb1wlx8"
],
"text": [
"The \"parameters\" are usually things to describe the actual pieces of the neural net, i.e. the individual weights between connected nodes. Ultimately those are determined by the algorithm as a result of training. The \"hyperparameters\" ar... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
eazez8 | Computer building basics and compatibilities for parts make no sense to me. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"faztxj8"
],
"text": [
"Use a site a like PCPartPicker to find parts that are compatible. You need a case, motherboard, processor (and its cooling accessories), RAM, graphics and sound cards, and storage (SSD and HDD)."
],
"score": [
3
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eb06fj | How do pirating groups profit from uploading movies/games to torrent sites? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb0bv78",
"fb08xkl",
"fb15mf7"
],
"text": [
"They don’t. They do hard work so you can enjoy the game, but cracking the game is more fun for them, just like building games is more fun than playing them for others.",
"They don't get any money from it necessarily, unless someone paid... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eb571a | how does a short wave radio allow you to speak to someone who's in a whole different country? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb29egc",
"fb2c4o9"
],
"text": [
"As you know, the Sun emits a stream of electrically-charged particles, which are responsible for the beautiful [Northern Lights]( URL_0 ). The area of the atmosphere these lights occur in is called the *ionosphere,* so named because it's filled with ioniz... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
eb571t | Why are subjects illuminated by blue light so hard to show on TV? | Such as in this [image. ]( URL_0 ) This screen cap was taken from a live stage performance where the subject was briefly illuminated by a blue light. Why is there such a strange effect made by the light? I have played the broadcast on an OLED and a LCD screen and the effect is the same, so I’m guessing it is a camera s... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb2g14o"
],
"text": [
"When a digital camera sensor picks up light that has a very bright color or overall light it can clip at the top. Basically the blue is so much brighter than everything else that the camera can't tell the different intensities of blue anymore so it records them at maxim... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
eb5btd | how effective were old cannons? | ELI5: I'm pretty sure everyone saw old cannons that used big round balls, but how effective were they? pretty sure the pirate ones were pretty effective at making holes in enemy ships. The early ones seem like they would hit the dirt and the dirt would shrapnel over the soldiers. Am I missing something or would these c... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb29kt1",
"fb2edgh",
"fb2bi5p"
],
"text": [
"Basic cannon balls were mainly good at punching good sized holes in things If they hit the side of a ship they would splinter the hull and send sharp pieces of wood flying at high speed into the crew. They could also hit loaded cannons whic... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
eb8b7s | How come it takes '10 business days' for a company to successfully unsubscribe me from emails? | Is there a logical answer to this other than "they just want to try their hardest to change your mind and/or flood you with an enormous amount of emails before they unsubscribe you"? I can't be alone in thinking that this should be a rather seamlessly and automatic process that should take less than half a second to co... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"fb30dj7",
"fb30fd6",
"fb3594x",
"fb3kf8n",
"fb30v7b",
"fb3akh6"
],
"text": [
"Most companies are just being lazy and don't want to spent time on tech required to unsubscribe instantly. Moreover, they may have scheduled some emails to you already. And just to be safe, they ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
ebcet8 | How do Skylanders/Disney Infinity video game pieces work? | I'm just wondering how the pieces work when you place them on the 'portal' and it loads the character into the game? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb3r7sw"
],
"text": [
"NFC/RFID technology. The 'portal' has a big coil of wire resonating at a set frequency, which produces a magnetic field. when the 'piece' sits near the portal, the coil of wire inside the 'piece' picks up the alternating magnetic field as electricity in the coil. this e... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
ebf330 | Why do musicians recording their voice wear headphones? What is the purpose? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb46vel",
"fb46y7o",
"fb4cx2g",
"fb47y54",
"fb524gf"
],
"text": [
"The instrumental they’re singing to is playing through the headphones. It can’t play through speakers because the recording will pick up the instrumental along with the vocals. Instrumentals and vocals need to ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ebmwg3 | when swiping (or inserting) a card, how does the card transfer its information to the machine? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb6041z",
"fb69ue7"
],
"text": [
"Your information is stored either in a magnetic strip (similar to a hard disk drive) or in a chip that the card reader has an interface too (like the metal bits In a charger) When connected the reader reads the information and confirms with a site whether... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ebpab1 | What is an electrical surge protector and what can potentially happen without it? | I see that commonly labeled on outlets is a "surge protection" feature, but what are the benefits and the consequences of not having one? Also, why do some of these devices have an Ethernet and phone line ports? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb6hhi0",
"fb7nlf9"
],
"text": [
"Surge protection basically means that if there's a lightning stroke or something that causes a sudden increase in voltage, the protector will stop it from ruining your electronics. It's good to have in general, but especially on your expensive devices.",
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
ebpv3n | why are subtitles on streaming services sometimes not the same dialog? | Edit: I meant for English subtitles on English shows and movies but I was answered already thank you everyone who tried to help 😊 | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb74wzg",
"fb6k1x5"
],
"text": [
"They are often using the shooting script, rather than paying a transcriber for each episode of potentially 100+ episodes. The shooting script will often have minor variations to the actual broadcast version, due to editing, on the day direction or cast im... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
ebs6ej | why can motorbike batteries sit on a shelf unused without losing charge but when sitting inside a motorbike for a few weeks that hasn't been turned on, go dead? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb6y8bm",
"fb81ulo"
],
"text": [
"When its on the shelf, there no where for the energy to go. In a motorbike, the battery is slowly and passively discharging. even if nothing is on. This is because the electrons in the battert have another place to go, the motor bike electrical system",
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ebu4a5 | How does touchscreen work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb7azsr",
"fb7auqe"
],
"text": [
"Electrically conductive materials that are near each other make a capacitor. If you use a battery you can charge a capacitor up to full charge very quickly. If you put a resistor in the path of the electricity it will slow down the charge up process enoug... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ebxw4i | when I’m on loudspeaker during a phone call on my phone, why don’t the speaker and the microphone create an infinite loop of echo? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb7v6xk",
"fb86o2l"
],
"text": [
"URL_0 Here is an article that you’ll probably find useful. Essentially there is usually an algorithm that will cut out frequencies to avoid feedback. Sometimes it doesn’t work. I’m guessing there is also gain attenuation (variable mic input) goin on to he... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ebxzh2 | Why does deleting things clear storage even though the pc only can’t find it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb7vbe5",
"fb7w09s"
],
"text": [
"When you delete a file the file system marks that file for deletion and deletes any references to that files location on disk. As far as the OS is concerned, this space is now clear and that's reflected through the GUI. The files are still on the disk in ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ebyk7r | how do podcasts insert advertisements that are unique to my location? | I have noticed some ads in my podcast for things in Southern California, and I'm sure listeners in the northeast get different ads. I'm not surprised the podcasts know where I live, but what's the technical method they use to serve these ads? I was under the impression a podcast is just a single audio file. Is there a ... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb8azyq"
],
"text": [
"A podcast is a single file when you get it but is it not necessarily a single file on the server. So you have podcast files that are split into multiple parts and you put them together with the ads into a single file when you download it. What is selected depending on y... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
ec32z7 | How are dubbing voices replaced without messing with background noises? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb8uvf1"
],
"text": [
"Basically, all the footage and sound effects are kept as separate files. These days there’s software that you can load these files into and then arrange and edit, and then the software will compile it all into the video that’s actually distributed to tv networks, stream... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ec5b7f | Why do some images in softwares such as Photoshop appear fine at 85% zoom, blurry at 100%, and then fine again at 125%? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb9pl8j"
],
"text": [
"Imagine an image was to be displayed 50/50 red and blue. You start out viewing it at a size when it's 20 pixels wide, so 10 pixels red and ten blue. Bam, it is perfect. Now you zoom in by 25 percent, making it 25 percent larger. The red and blue should each be 12.5 pixe... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ec6r1q | In the movies when banks are robbed, the thieves demand "unmarked non-consecutive bills" or something along those lines. How do the authorities track bills? | Can the bills only be tracked if they are deposited at a bank? Are they marked by a special invisible ink? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"fb9hfby"
],
"text": [
"Bills can be marked with special inks or other concealed markers, and serial numbers can be recorded and reported to banks and law enforcement agencies."
],
"score": [
4
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"text_urls": [
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]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
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