q_id stringlengths 6 6 | title stringlengths 4 294 | selftext stringlengths 0 2.48k | category stringclasses 1
value | subreddit stringclasses 1
value | answers dict | title_urls listlengths 1 1 | selftext_urls listlengths 1 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7hwe6p | how does the 3DS's 3D work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dquc6g1"
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"text": [
"Your brain sees 3D normally by combining the separate pictures it gets from each of your eyes. The basic idea behind 3D graphics is to display two different images, one in each eye. If you make the two images slightly different, then the brain interprets them in the sam... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7hwizm | how does "mind uploading" qualify as a valid form of life extension? Wouldn't it simply be a digital copy of yourself, and not a continuation of your original existence? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqucr41"
],
"text": [
"Any form of “life extension” that breaks continuity of self is a complicated subject, as the extension only applies to the new continuity and is broken for the old one. It’s a matter of personal opinion. Going to sleep and waking up does not break continuity of self, no... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7hwyla | How does a computer unset a bit (set it from 1 to 0) in memory/storage? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqufy5m",
"dqufyp9"
],
"text": [
"It depends on the particular kind of storage. In magnetic storage, like a spinning-disk hard drive, it magnetizes the region storing the bit in the opposite direction. (In practice, hard drives write entire blocks at a time, but the technology could theor... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7hyawq | How does "8-dimensional" music work? | There are numerous so-called "8-dimensional" music tracks or sound sequences to be listened to with regular headphones, like [this here]( URL_0 ) (music) or [this]( URL_1 ) (barber shop). Despite ones musical taste, I find these impressive - but they are made for 2 speakers, and Stereo is a quite ancient technology we ... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dququai"
],
"text": [
"It has to do with the ways our brains interpret position and distance of sounds based on the sounds each ear receives. There are two main important aspects: First the shape of your ear and ear canal actually subtly modifies the frequencies of the sound that enters it, d... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7hypwb | How does Whatsapp make money/profit? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqusgzp"
],
"text": [
"When a product is free, you are the product. Despite facebook telling us it's secure, I'm pretty sure they run a ton of analytics algorithms on your contact list, most used words, hours of sleep, ..."
],
"score": [
6
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
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7hytt3 | Why do people still use i3 and a lot of i5 CPU when i7 is available? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqusmv5"
],
"text": [
"1. For most casual users and even a lot of gamers and such, hyperthreading (the main advantage of i7s) will make little to no difference. Beyond that, an i5 and i7 really aren't notably different performance-wise if you're comparing like clock speeds. Hyperthreading bas... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7i1zuc | How does scaling to 1440p work?(upscaling/downscaling from 1080p/4K) | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqvhwsw",
"dqvi5pu"
],
"text": [
"If downscaling, you take every 4th pixel to get from 4k to 1080p. If upscaling you make up pixels to go between the existing pixels. This is done typically by averaging the nearby pixels. Obviously 1440 isn't a perfect fraction of 4k, so the math is a lit... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7i26fc | What is the difference between a decentralized trading platform and a centralized one in terms of crypto currency? | To me the only difference I can see is that one uses logins and 2FA and the other uses wallet addresses and private keys, but I think there must be more to it than that. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqvlqjd"
],
"text": [
"Centralized: there is a \"main\" server (or group of servers) that keeps track of everyone's accounts. Transactions must be recorded there. Decentralized: transactions can occur anywhere, and no particular computer is the \"main\" one."
],
"score": [
6
],
"t... | [
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"url"
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7i3nx2 | Why did Google get in trouble for collecting open WIFI data? | Google Street Cars collected Wi-Fi data when they were driving around. The data they collected was from WIFI that was unprotected that anyone could grab. Since they didn't hack into anything (unless I misread it) and anyone could grab the same data why was it a problem? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqvw6gw"
],
"text": [
"If I put 100$ in a box and put that box on my porch, if someone takes that box is it theft? the answer is absolutely yes. Just because it isn't secured doesn't mean its free to take."
],
"score": [
13
],
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} | [
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7i4m0x | How do laptop batteries have such low capacity yet can last several hours? | Many laptop batteries only have about 4000mah or so. That means even if they use only 1a of power they only last about 4 hours but most laptops can last much longer. I see this with smartphones as well. How?? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqw534n",
"dqw3hvg"
],
"text": [
"Battery capacity is only one part of its important parameters. Equally important is its voltage. If you have 3 2000mAh LiIon cells and connect them in parallel, you get a battery pack that has 6000mAh capacity, with nominal voltage 3.7V (I think, but exac... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7i96d8 | How does a rubber ducky work? [USB hacking device] | Does it work like keylogger? Is that the only way to use it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqx1huy"
],
"text": [
"It's not a keylogger, it's going the other direction. The computer reads it as if it were a keyboard sending button presses to it. It's designed to let you get into stuff you shouldn't. How does it do that? 1. computers almost always \"trust\" keyboards, even when other... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7iaejf | How come most games on PC only run through Windows only? Shouldn’t it be easy for games to run across all platforms? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqxajtu",
"dqxajvi",
"dqxbcc4"
],
"text": [
"> shouldn't it be easy for games to run across all platforms? nope. Different operating systems have different default libraries and resources, and require the game to be developed more or less independently on both. Its like asking \"if i ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7iepd4 | Why does quickly looking up and down at a smartboard projector light create a very brief display of RGB light? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqy5yt6"
],
"text": [
"It uses a technology called Digital Light Processing or DLP. The way it works, basically is that those projectors send out, in sequence, the red parts, green parts, and blue parts of the image in quick succession, and your brain blends them together to create a colour i... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7if402 | Don't Multi-Band Equalizers Ruin the Studio Mastering of a Music Album? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqya25e"
],
"text": [
"Yes and no. The studio mastering is designed around the balance of the various parts of the music. You're not just raising or lowering a frequency band - you'd be raising or lowering a specific instrument in relation to other instruments. However, no studio can possibly... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7ig9qj | Why it is faster to charge a battery from 0-50% versus 50-100%? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqyhw8w",
"dqyqjhn"
],
"text": [
"If you're trying to pour milk into a glass to make it exactly full, you pour faster when it's empty, and then slow down as you get to the top. The same way, your phone will do a slower charge mechanism to the top percentage (usually 80-100%). The charging... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7ihxex | Why do freeware programs almost always try to install toolbars, bing, antiviruses, and other junkwares? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqyvkf0",
"dqz16i7",
"dqyvq0z",
"dqyvswn"
],
"text": [
"If you don't pay for a product... you are the product. Those creating freeware aren't charities -- they are trying to make money! So they are trying to get you to install something they either earn a commission for getting it... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7ik7z5 | How was weather forecasted and predicted by meteorologists before the invention of radar and satellites? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqzdkp1",
"dqze3vk"
],
"text": [
"Using historical data, barometers, horse hair (for humidity), thermometers and hunches. And their predictions were about as accurate as you may guess. Certain weather phenomenon had certain precursors in certain places, but the level of knowledge we have ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7ilg18 | Why do video games all have such similar bugs? | Why do video games, made for years and years, by different companies all over the planet tend to have the same sort of bugs and technical difficulties? For instance, falling through the map, items floating when they should be attached to someone or in their hands, ragdolls becoming kites that fly around. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dqzn3md",
"dqzowzg"
],
"text": [
"because developers don't start truly from scratch every time... even if their **code** is written from scratch, the **ideas** for \"how do i check what's bumping into what\" \"how do i make something ragdoll\" all tend to be implemented in similar ways. S... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7innhg | What makes full-motion video "full"? | I've seen the term "full-motion video" for a while. Why do we call it "full-motion"? Isn't it just "video"? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr010j1"
],
"text": [
"The term started in 1983, when most video game graphics were a fixed image (\"background\") with a little bit of moving stuff (\"sprites\") put in front of it. They really weren't full motion, so this was a contrast."
],
"score": [
5
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"text_urls": [
[]... | [
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] | [
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7io2el | Why is email free to use? How do they make up the costs to running servers, staffing etc... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr04z0z",
"dr06a5y",
"dr046ud"
],
"text": [
"Modern webmail services aren't really free, they're ad-supported. It turns out that email isn't that expensive to run, and most of the companies giving you \"free\" email have other sources of income that they use to make most of their mone... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7iocf6 | In the chess games between Google's AlphaZero and Stockfish 8, why is each game different? Why isn't each game just the same every time | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr07d8s",
"dr079nk"
],
"text": [
"Ahoy, matey! Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained: 1. [ELI5: Why a chess computer doesn't respond the same way every time to the same attack pattern. ]( URL_2 ) ^(_5 comments_) 1. [ELI5: Why does a computer use different openings whe... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7iody6 | how pulse detection apps work | I have a heart rate monitor app on my phone which works pretty gosh darn well. I place my finger over my phone's camera and LED flash and it accurately measures my heart rate in real time. My nurse girlfriend has taken my actual pulse at the same time and it's always very close. So how does it work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr0d6ys",
"dr0b0h8",
"dr11whq"
],
"text": [
"Try this: open the camera app on your phone and start recording video while turning the flashlight (LED lamp) on, and then press your finger on the camera lens. You will see a blurred image of your finger and if you look closer you'll see a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7ionrz | How did early humans survive in cold weather before the invention of clothes? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr08t7m",
"dr08xrb",
"dr08vtc",
"dr0clut",
"dr0916t",
"dr0dh6p",
"dr0eygw",
"dr0frz2",
"dr0e1t5",
"dr0eoc4"
],
"text": [
"Humans originated in warm locations, and when it was cold, that was usually night when they were in their shelters anyway. Evidence sup... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7ioo56 | How is it possible that when talking on the phone, person A can suddenly lose signal and not hear person B, but Person B can hear person A perfectly well? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr09cx9",
"dr09j2m",
"dr0dglo"
],
"text": [
"Modern communication systems use digital streams of data to connect calls. In most systems the signalling (setting up a call, putting it on hold, ending a call) is sent using SIP while the voice itself is sent in RTP (real time protocol) st... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7ip7sm | How is an ultra-sound tech able to calculate the weight of an unborn baby? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr0eojo",
"dr0d4q1"
],
"text": [
"Cardiac Sonographer here, with my little bit of experience in OB sonography I can tell you it's a calculation based on four measurements. Femur length (FL), head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC), and the biparetal diameter (BPD) which all ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7ipx06 | Why do older people have such problems with technology? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr0iu4l"
],
"text": [
"When you have spent decades becoming familiar with certain kinds of technology, and then it all changes, it can be hard to adapt. When I first learned how to use a telephone, I could use any telephone anywhere, since they all worked exactly the same way. Now every brand... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7iq66u | How do cords get tangled? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr1440t"
],
"text": [
"This is actually something that physicists have studied. Long story short, wires, strings, and cords tend to fall into rest in loops and those loops, and the ends, tend to fall in to other loops easily when disturbed. But this is just the set up. When you come along and... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7iqipj | Why do bladeless fans have a large open space in the middle? | I looked how they work up and it seems to me like it's wasted space and a small one with equal circumference would work just as well, of any shape. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr0n6va"
],
"text": [
"These fans work by directing high pressure air into a ring. The high pressure air drags the air that's in the ring forward with it. Conservation of momentum gives a larger amount of air moving more slowly (and thereby quietly). A smaller one wouldn't accelerate as much ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7ivr8d | Graphene, Graphite, and why one is an amazing super-material and the other is pencil lead and skateboard layers? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr1qgt6"
],
"text": [
"*Graphite* is many *graphene* sheets layered on top of eachother. Graphene is only a single atom thick, and this gives it some odd properties because so many electrons are exposed in identical configurations. You can't make a bulk material out of it though, stacking the... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7ixq4r | For fires as extreme as those occurring in California currently, how are these fires put out? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr2myj3",
"dr26tqm",
"dr28ind"
],
"text": [
"Actual California firefighter here. We begin by cooling the fire where we can access from an anchor point like a road. Once the fire line is cooled by air drop or hose line we put in control line by hand. It doesn’t have to be much, usually... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7iyhj3 | Remember when point and shoot cameras had a flash that made a high pitched tone when you turned it on? What made that sound? What was the purpose of that sound? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr2crdl",
"dr2c6td"
],
"text": [
"The whining you hear is the mechanical vibration of circuit elements from the very fast voltage stepping. Modern camera flashes have changed electronics and often don't do this anymore.",
"That was probably the sound of a capacitor charging up. Then t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7iyvic | Which countries don't rely on the US for their internet? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr2g3m6"
],
"text": [
"Net neutrality won't really affect other countries. Comcast, Verizon don't control the backbone and messing with the backbone would quickly get America as a whole thrown off the internet. As a general rule most big/wealthy countries control their own internet. China for... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7izb52 | What is a laser printer doing when it is making all those noises but not printing? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr2ipfo"
],
"text": [
"Laser printers operate by attaching ink to a spinning metal drum. The paper then passes under the drum as it rotates, transferring the ink to the paper. In both cases (ink on drum, ink on paper) a combination of magnetism and electronic fields (which are the same thing ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7j1o07 | What is Pi-Hole, what does it do? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr2y7so"
],
"text": [
"It’s a really awesome and effective network-wide ad blocker. It pretends to be a DNS server and instead of returning the ip of a requested ad server, it instead returns its own ip. Then when the browser requests the ad, it returns a 1x1 pixel webpage. I installed on on ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7j76mn | How do heat seeking missiles work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr473k5"
],
"text": [
"In the simplest terms, there is an infrared (heat vision) camera at the front of the missile attached to a computer, which is attached to the missile's control fins. The computer adjusts the fins to keep the brightest heat source the camera can see in the center of the ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7j7zqe | How do humidifiers work and why is the vapor not hot? | What exactly is produced by the humidifier? It's not hot like steam should be but it also seems too fine to be water mist. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr4c5rg"
],
"text": [
"It is water mist. Usually you just run water through an atomizer to make it into tiny particles. You can do basically the same with a fan and a bowl of water. The fancier ones run it through a compressor thing to make it look more misty, but it is just water"
],
"sc... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7j9ml3 | What are CASE tools in programming and how are they used | *Title* | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr4uvz9"
],
"text": [
"CASE, Wow! Haven't heard that in a while Computer Aided Software Engineering. Back in the days when software was rarely properly designed, when it was, it was usually with a pen and paper on a spare piece of paper. Then someone came along and said, 'Let's use software t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7jakm0 | What’s a Webhook? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr4ukxl",
"dr4whlh"
],
"text": [
"Its a way for one server to subscribe to events on another. Lets say I had a server that parsed Reddit comments, for some reason. I *could* check every 5 minutes to see if there are any new comments, but then I could be up to 5 minutes out of date, and if... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7jdodx | Shortened URLs like goog.le, URL_1 , URL_0 | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr5ih8r"
],
"text": [
"Just because a domain is registered in Italy does not mean that the traffic is routed there. Remember, domain names are created for humans. Computers use IP addresses, not domain names when it comes to actual traffic routing. There is a service, called a DNS, that your ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7jer5y | How do public terminals wipe everything and reset every session? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr5st7j"
],
"text": [
"depends on how the IT dept setup the terminal. back in the day, the entire computer ran off a static disk image. after every logoff, the entire computer wiped itself and restored from the image. nowadays alot of it is just storing session data in a container. once sessi... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7jhjco | How does a gpu work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr6g1o8",
"dr6grp0",
"dr7hppr"
],
"text": [
"I work in ASIC design (mostly analog and layout design, so bear with a relatively imprecise but hopefully mostly accurate answer) 1. a gpu core is designed to be very good (fast) at solving a certain kind of problem, namely things like simp... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7ji69c | The number of videos on YouTube is vast. Is there any risk of losing this data? What would need to happen for data loss to occur? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr6jzq2",
"dr6jwuw"
],
"text": [
"The data is almost certainly duplicated/spread across multiple drives and multiple datacentre locations, with more frequently accessed data (popular videos) spread even more so that more people can read that data at once. I haven't read any specifics on Y... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7jimdp | Why must phones be turned off at gasoline stations? | Also, why do people ignore this warning ? edit: before posting, I searched reddit for the answer to my question but got nothing. However when I did a google search, a number of posts similar to mine popped up. I checked them out and found out that they were a few years old. Now I'm wondering if today's answers would be... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr6mzl4",
"dr72giv",
"dr6nmwh",
"dr7637i",
"dr6n8fj",
"dr75j6t"
],
"text": [
"There was a fear of exploding cellphone batteries igniting the gas fumes. Most people ignore it because the chance of it happening is actually quite low.",
"The cell phone causing a fire is a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7jkfx0 | Why aren't noise cancelling headphones as effective in cancelling high pitch sounds as their in cancelling low pitch sounds? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr76h0o",
"dr8cpbh",
"dr7ifya",
"dr7tspr",
"dr7sj3u"
],
"text": [
"The way noise cancelling works is that it has a microphone pick up some noise and then a speaker produce that noise phase shifted 180 degrees. The resulting waveforms precisely cancel out. However, the micropho... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7jl14o | How do game developers link between graphics and code? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr79vda"
],
"text": [
"This is a massively complex question for which any answer suitable for ELI5 isn't really going to do justice to the substance of the subject matter. Think of the graphics engine in a game as a machine that builds Lego sets on demand. When given the instructions to build... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7jlhdz | How does the Google Maps 'Popular Times' feature work? | They have this feature even for the smallest shop in the World, but how does it actually work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr797q7"
],
"text": [
"billions of android devices all send geolocation data back to Google. if lots of devices are in the area of the shop, then it's an indicator it's busy at that time of day."
],
"score": [
5
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"text_urls": [
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7jmsyt | What is it that the is microwave 'sensing' when you choose sensor reheat? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr83vht"
],
"text": [
"That link covers most of it. The most common sensor in a microwave is simply a moisture sensor. Some higher end microwaves do have types of temperature sensors and there are even a couple out there with noise sensors to tell when the popcorn is done popping."
],
"sc... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7joarj | How do heat sinks like the ones on CPUs work ? | You put some paste on the cpu and then slap a huge aluminum(?) block with some copper tubes and a fan attached to it and all of a sudden it won’t melt anymore. Magic ? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr7ybsn",
"dr7wbwo",
"dr8bgep",
"dr8wrk9"
],
"text": [
"heat moves between two localities to move towards equilibrium. the CPU is really hot like 150+F. the heatsink is less hot like 120F. the CPU heatsink dissipates heat into an even bigger heatsink: your room's atmosphere where ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7joo96 | How do studios make such strikingly real animation? | How is the 'world' of a big-budget animated film created? Watching something like The Jungle Book, The Good Dinosaur, Moana, etc.. it looks like the most ridiculously immense and intricate process that I can't actually wrap my head around. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr818h5"
],
"text": [
"congrats. you noticed. because it IS a ridiculously immense process. that involves HUNDREDS of highly skilled artists, and ridiculously smart software engineers working for YEARS. this is just one tiny piece of Moana. URL_2 one tiny piece of Zootopia URL_1 one tiny piec... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7jqzjn | How do BIP39 mnemonics work? | So I got a hardware wallet for my different cryptocurrencies. How do we get from the mnemonic to a private key? How many private keys do I have? How does the software know my addresses? I understand the benefit of mnemonics, but I do not understand how this little phrase contains this much information and where and in ... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr8w6xd"
],
"text": [
"> How do we get from the mnemonic to a private key? > To create a binary seed from the mnemonic, we use the PBKDF2 function with a mnemonic sentence (in UTF-8 NFKD) used as the password and the string \"mnemonic\" + passphrase (again in UTF-8 NFKD) used as the salt. The... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7jrgk1 | How does Youtube monitor the millions of videos posted every day for things like copyrighted music, images, and also “advertiser-unfriendly” content? How does Youtube know if the subject matter of your video is “inappropriate”? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr8lprz"
],
"text": [
"A company like Youtube has too many videos for their own employees to monitor. Instead, there are two real mechanisms for youtube to monitor content: The first is crowd-sourcing and the second is computers. On a video, there's a little button to \"Report\". When a user ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7js1jw | What is design and systems thinking? | I've referred to various definitions and examples but I don't think I still catch what it's all about. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr8pbpp"
],
"text": [
"Most people tend to think of complex dynamic systems in terms of individual components, without fully grasping how they interact and the impacts of those interactions. Let's say you've got a team project due tomorrow. Collectively, your team needs to write a 20-page pap... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7jsuju | Why isn't AC electricity converted to DC before it reaches the power outlets? | Why is it that every device has to convert AC from the wall into DC, instead of converting AC to DC when it comes into the building and having the wall outlets run DC? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr8w4ya",
"dr8x6p8",
"dr8ysx0",
"dr8vlf6",
"dr95pg7"
],
"text": [
"First of all, there are appliances that run better on AC power, so why waste effort on converting it? Items that involve motors or resistive heating either want AC power or are perfectly fine with it. Second of... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7jwiv6 | Why does audio recorded from speakers sound horrible, while audio recorded naturally (IRL) sound so much fuller and better? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr9ss34"
],
"text": [
"A similar question was asked in r/NoStupidQuestions with a great [answer]( URL_0 ) by u/Afflo. For the lazy: > If you record a speaker with someone's voice, it will sound bad. I'm assuming you aren't using studio grade speakers and studio grade microphones. > A speaker ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7jwnw8 | Can someone explain the difference between MRI, fMRI, PET, and EEG scans? | A small description of each would be fine. I know they all examine the brain in some way, but I'm confused as to what each one does specifically. Need the info for a final exam in psych tomorrow. We are given scenarios and we must choose which type of test would be best. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dr9s8cd",
"dr9rmnb"
],
"text": [
"MRI: Allows us to see brain tissue, nerves, bone, fluid etc. No radiation. If some dye is used, it can highlight certain things like blood vessels or certain diseases better. MRIs take longer than CT scans to perform and are better at looking at tissue ge... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7jysso | how was Russia able to redirect all cloud traffic through their country from multiple sources like Apple, Microsoft... Etc. Wouldn't they have to compromise all the individual systems (like apple) to do this? What are the broader implications of this? | I have so many questions that I don't even know where to start asking or if I'm even asking the most important questions. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dra8xtf",
"drajtrx",
"drak8ni",
"dra8my0",
"dra9exc",
"dratn47",
"drb2pfa",
"draswcr",
"draxgsa",
"drb25tw",
"dravdh6",
"draxnzj",
"drbgplo",
"drbb8sa"
],
"text": [
"The way your computer knows where to send your network packages is through ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7jyysy | Why do programs sometimes refuse to close? | You know, when the program's window greys out and it gives you an error message, but won't close even through forcing it with Task Manager or alt-f4. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dra8cd2",
"draet47"
],
"text": [
"It could be caused by a blocked process waiting to acquire a 'resource' held by another process. Until this resource is acquired, the program wont be executing a terminate process. Same as deadlock situation.",
"Operating system has varying ways to tr... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7jz7pr | What happens to information and media (texts,apps,videos etc...)on your phone when they are scrolled out of sight? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"draaejh"
],
"text": [
"They are kept in the device's RAM as you use the app, so that when you scroll back up, they are instantly available. Some apps may run out of RAM or otherwise optimize to save it, so the data will be erased from the RAM and lost, thus when you scroll back up, then it mu... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7k2kxh | How do programmers code chess-playing computers to make mistakes? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drb2k7p",
"drb2tfd",
"drb27id",
"drb2qau"
],
"text": [
"You don't specifically code it to make mistakes. You code it so it doesn't pick the best move. Chess programs work by testing out a large number of moves into the future and assigning points generally based on how many pieces... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7k5ft5 | Communication Protocols. What are they, how do they work and why is there so many different ones? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drbsci0"
],
"text": [
"A \"protocol\" is just a set of rules for how to communicate. A good example of a protocol would be answering a phone before there was caller ID. * Phone rings. This is a signal to pick up the phone. * Callee picks up the phone and indicates that they are listening. (\"... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7k5w9d | What's after 4k resolution, and when will we get there? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drbt5pb",
"drbup0o",
"drbt575",
"drbw0ak",
"drbv4cd",
"drby6lb",
"drbvpbv",
"drbywmz"
],
"text": [
"8k resolution has been a thing for a long time. Its just not very popular.... why, well frankly, we're really not even at 4k yet in the general market. Very little v... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7k6b7j | What is IBM compatible PC? | How does it differ from modern PCs? Does Apple Mac' belong to this category? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drbxm3l",
"drbvqym",
"drbz99p",
"drc62y8"
],
"text": [
"The IBM PC is a literal name of the device that was developed and released by IBM in 1981. [link]( URL_0 ) It was a low-cost computer for a personal use built with generic hardware components, so the market for such devices w... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7k733c | how can a software update to Qi increase charging speeds? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drc2ra3",
"drcmeib"
],
"text": [
"With modern batteries the charger isn't just apply power and it charges, it actually has circuits that control exactly how fast it charges so the battery isn't damaged (charging speed needs to be slowed down when they get near full). in your example Qi pr... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7k9qv2 | How to water powered flashlights work? | Last night at my company Christmas party a few of our technicians received a gift called a Hydra Light. Basically the concept behind it is you remove the “power cell” from where batteries would typically be on a normal flashlight. Dip it in some water, and put power cell back in and boom it turns on. How is this possib... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drcnt9q",
"drcr8vd"
],
"text": [
"It’s like a potato battery. The gadget contains pieces of dissimilar metal, perhaps zinc and copper. Water acts as the electrolyte. Eventually the metal will corrode away and the light will cease to function.",
"It's a [salt water battery]( URL_0 ), a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7kacqp | Why do consoles (PS4 etc) require you to download the game as well as having it on disc? It seems like a waste of drive space, and also seems to make it indifferent to just buying the digital copy. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drcr5cq"
],
"text": [
"As games get insanely complex, the rate in which a game can read data off a disk, even a blu-ray disk, is just too slow. Loading a huge level off the harddrive may take 10 seconds, where that same load with the speed off a blu-ray alone would take a minute... which beco... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7kc9pf | How do printer cartridges work? | I've always wondered how the ink gets out of the cartridge and makes it onto paper with such detail. How does the printer create such fine details, such as small letters on an essay, onto paper so fast? And how do the colors mix to print out a photo? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drda7kg"
],
"text": [
"> I've always wondered how the ink gets out of the cartridge and makes it onto paper with such detail. I'm going to assume you are talking about an inkjet printer cartridge. That type of printer uses electrical charge to propel tiny droplets of ink out the nozzle and on... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7kdby2 | Why does a li-ion/lipo battery explode when shorted out? | Explode is probably the worst case scenario; catch fire or even just puff up and smoke. Why do these rechargeable batteries react so violently when the old alkaline (disposable) batteries didn't? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drdfgf3",
"drdgewh"
],
"text": [
"The lithium atoms can crystallise and form a chain, that chain can short circuit the poles and it is this short circuit which can cause a fire. - URL_0",
"They have much higher energy density (meaning there is more energy stored in the same mass/size)... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7kdk3s | Why the hell do phones have to have a "minimum charge" before they turn on, can't they just draw power directly from the source? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drdge9h",
"drdhk3p"
],
"text": [
"Drawing power from the source would require extra circuitry that's not used 99.9% of the time. And the phone has literally no more space for it.",
"Laptops have more complex power supplies that allow them to run either from the battery or external pow... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7kfkgn | How do polaroid pictures work? | How do the pictures just slowly come in there etc? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drdw8i7",
"dre3cun",
"drdwzby",
"dregvi1",
"dre5a6u",
"dre68vs",
"drecg7w",
"drep48r"
],
"text": [
"Freakin' magic, that's how! In a nutshell, a polaroid is a little envelope that contains all the chemicals needed to develop and fix the picture. Light hits chemical... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7kg3zf | Why did Video Games only work on Channel 3? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dre17hq",
"dre4w4t"
],
"text": [
"The video game system (and other external devices like a vcr) connected to the TV through the coaxial cable jack. At the time it was common for the TV to not have other inputs like A/V etc. So, the connector would make the signal come out in a way to be t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7kgmug | How do waterless toilets work? How do they not smell constantly? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dre5y7t",
"drejhq5"
],
"text": [
"They use a puck that reduces the smell when urine passes through it. Then the urine/cleaner combo go into the drain. The drain still uses a p-trap or a U-shaped bit of pipe that will hold liquid to prevent sewer gases from escaping.",
"The two main ty... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7ki4fo | If cinemas now get movies as a Digital Copy how come they dont get copied and leaked online well before the DVD release date? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drejgoy"
],
"text": [
"There are small watermarks in each copy that uniquely identifies it. If a theater were discovered to have leaked their copy, the movie studio would stop doing business with them, which would almost certainly cause the theater to go out of business. So theaters are *heav... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7kigo3 | How does a progressive web app(PWA) work? | I'm interested in the topic but I find it hard to understand some points of it. From research, I know that a PWA acts just like a native app but instead, it's on a website. So how does it actually work? What are the best uses of PWAs? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drevqls"
],
"text": [
"From my understanding: It’s an application hosted on a web browser. Let’s say you open an application, like any other, it feels and looks like one. But on the back end it really opened up a web browser to host the software on. This way, the software is always up to date... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7kihr0 | How was mail delivered in the 18th century if there weren't exact addresses? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dremnbe",
"drenj3s",
"drenjtm"
],
"text": [
"It would go to the local pub or other establishment that people went to often. Then people would just pick it up as they happened in.",
"It was a real mess is the best answer. Really, mail would just go from post-office to post-office a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7kil2p | How do cinemagraphs work? | I recently stumbled across r/cinemagraphs and can't stop watching those things, they're beautiful! But I can't wrap my head around how they work. [This]( URL_0 ) one over here for example is only one(!) second long but I still can't see a cut in there. How come this looks like it's moving forever? I tried googling it b... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drewjb4",
"dreyazn"
],
"text": [
"They are .gifs someone takes a video or a segment of a video and they cut and play with it until it's seamless. The start of the .gif has to match the end as best the editor can perceive.",
"You start out by picking a piece of video that can be looped... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7kis8o | How do music synthesizers work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drev7dq"
],
"text": [
"A synth has a number of different voices or oscillators (sound tone generators), each of which can produce waves of different shapes (sine wave, square wave, saw tooth, triangular wave, and so on). It can combine the waves to make complex sounds, and it can vary the way... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7kld1s | What are jewels in analog watches for? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drf7hcl"
],
"text": [
"Originally they were placed in [high wear points]( URL_0 ), because their very high hardness allowed them to replace metal components and wear less than the softer metal. Eventually, they succumbed to [Goodhart's law]( URL_2 ), and started being [added as a selling poin... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7kmst2 | Why are 3d models used for games, in a T-Pose when not in use or before an animation ? | For example, a lot of games uses this, but I never knew why [example]( URL_0 ) | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drfiwpz",
"drfo081"
],
"text": [
"It's the best way to model or sculpt it. it's also more or less a standard, so you can easily take a skeleton from another model and place it on your working model. It allows for easier deformation modelling too. You can also model a character with their ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7knyu5 | - How digital clocks stay synchronized together | I was talking to my friend about computer clocks and I began to wonder how computers or phones stay synced together with their time. Are they connected to a server, or do they ever refresh for clock error? How does this work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drfszyd",
"drft1n0",
"drg4r91",
"drg4mhx",
"drg2gcx"
],
"text": [
"The Internet is not just HTTP for websites. There is a separate protocol, NTP for [Network Time Protocol]( URL_0 ) (those Internet folks are sooo creative), which lets distributed computers agree on an accurate... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7ko4ax | What is an enterprise architect? | My dad can't explain his job to me. If it helps, he is also knowledgeable in SAP, which is another thing I don't understand. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drful98",
"drfuics"
],
"text": [
"SAP is a company that makes a suite of tools, generally around accounting and human resources. Just like Microsoft Office has Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc. SAP has something to process people's paychecks, the company's bank accounts and generating expense ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7kz5iv | when the cable company says they will send a signal to your tv/modem, how does that works? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drialy5",
"driinya"
],
"text": [
"The same way anything else gets to your modem/TV. Every device attached to their system has an address, just like your home address. They can just punch in that address and BLEEP BLOOP the info gets sent right to your device. The same way an email knows t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7l4vkz | Why do drive sizes come in multiples of 4? | Like flash drives, hard drives, and SSDs. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drjj2ui"
],
"text": [
"Actually, it's multiples of 2. Computers internally do everything in binary (base-2 counting) so things involving them tend to be in powers of 2."
],
"score": [
11
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7l9gdm | How do push notifications arrive almost instantly after transactions occur? | If I'm buying something that triggers a push alert, sometimes it seems like I get the notification an instant after swiping my credit card. Considering we're told that streaming video or loading web pages can be slow because of the number of connections across the Internet, how does a transaction process fast enough fr... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drkuyoj",
"drkiyjr",
"drkjabd"
],
"text": [
"Obviously different companies will use different technologies, but I'd bet a fair amount use [Firebase Cloud Messaging]( URL_0 ) (formally known as Google Cloud Messaging). At least on Android, there is a connection to the Firebase Cloud Me... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7lalsg | Why do some programs hog resources, but the project file is only some kilobytes? | For example, Fl Studio, Premiere Pro, Photoshop | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drkt491",
"drkrx2a"
],
"text": [
"> Why do some programs hog resources, but the project file is only some kilobytes? If I give you a shopping list which includes 300 items, how difficult is it to carry that list? Probably not difficult, you could list all that on a single sheet of paper. ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7ld1wa | If we are trying to harness the wind and use it as a natural resource for electricity, then why are there windmill farms out there with a stopped windmill? Exceptions being maintenance or malfunction | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drlby4d",
"drld92l"
],
"text": [
"1) Maintenance, as you guessed. Stuff breaks down; if you visit a normal power plant you'll find a few of their turbines are off as well. 2) You'd think that more wind = better for a windmill, but there's a point where the wind becomes *too* strong, enoug... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7lejz8 | How do headphones create a sense of something being behind/in front of you, when they only play sound to the left and right of your head? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drltglt",
"drlo6n6",
"drloqay"
],
"text": [
"I want to elaborate on the other answers to explain how it actually works. Your ears aren't just two holes in your ear- they have flesh that is shaped differently in each direction. As sounds come to your ear through different directions, t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7lgr3b | Why does popular software like Spotify, Firefox or Google Chrome have very small (less than 1 megabyte) installer files when all they do is download larger amounts of data immediately after starting? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drm3u20",
"drm3jlr",
"drm5dr5"
],
"text": [
"When you develop a popular software, you'll constently improve features and correct bugs (much more demand than for an obscure release). As mainly your software will be distributed through various hosting sites (good to reach a wider audian... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7lj3ej | Why do toilets use fresh, drinkable water instead of water from undeniable sources such as the ocean or lakes? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drml40d",
"drml4va",
"drmli7k",
"drml6ta",
"drmlk7h"
],
"text": [
"Because it would require an entirely separate water supply network which we don't have. Additionally, salt water is much more corrosive than drinking water, so it will be harder to maintain.",
"Logistics Su... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7lj76k | If I'm pulling 100 Mb/s why are my progress bars and % completion not jumping 100 Mb/s? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drmm59x",
"drmmmz1"
],
"text": [
"Just because your connection is capable of receiving 100mb/s doesn't mean the sender is sending 100mb/s. Internet traffic speeds depend on every network device between you and the sender that you share with millions of other users.",
"It is good to re... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7lk6yo | Why do car windows get a grid pattern on them | So what I mean is, I’ve noticed on some rear windscreens what looks like squares of condensation in between the heating elements of the back window. Naturally I assumed it was because of those heating elements, however I also get in on my side windows too when I’ve had the heating on. What cause it | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drmyxik",
"drnauwp"
],
"text": [
"Whenever the glass is rapidly cooled during the tempering process there are these air jets that blow cool air on the glass. This creates distortions in the glass that are almost invisible, until you put on polarized glasses. Different automakers have diff... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
7lmc22 | How do the “I am not a robot” things on websites work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drncgvr",
"drnbark"
],
"text": [
"Nice try, robot. You think we would just give you all our secrets?",
"the validation isn't you clicking the box. it's the path of your mouse cursor on the way to clicking the box. bots move the mouse in moves with a signature controlled by software an... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7lmui1 | When creating mashups of songs, how do the producers obtain the vocal samples? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drnmrly"
],
"text": [
"If it is a fully licensed song; i.e one that all parties involved have agreed to create, then the editors will most likely be given the a copy of all the tracks involved in the song. This will include every instrument, in isolation. This makes it very easy to remix, and... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7lmvut | Can someone please explain why the SpaceX rocket looked more like an alien than a typical rocket launch? Also, why was there no sound? Why did it seem to be same size for people who viewed it from 100s if miles apart from each other? Never seen anything like it. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drng54g"
],
"text": [
"It was just after sunset, and the plume was very high up, so far up that if you were there you would still be able to see the sun( which had set on land but was still making way across pacific). It was very large and high up, so many people were able to see it."
],
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7lqh4j | How does the Recolor tool in an image editing program know what RGB to change each pixel to match the selected color? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dro640r"
],
"text": [
"From what I understand it usually uses the primary and secondary selected colors to determine which color is changed to what. There is also likely a sensitivity range which can be set to determine how close to the selected color it needs to be."
],
"score": [
3
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7lql0y | How does the screen of your car know the name of the current playing song when you are just listening to the radio? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"dro6nk1",
"drof2r9",
"drontke",
"drolwuu"
],
"text": [
"It's called RBDS. They just send the data along with the regular signal. Your radio gets the extra info and it tells you what song is playing. Edit: a word",
"Ever see Star Trek or some other show where they find \"a sign... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7lu1wr | How do wireless video game controllers work without lag when similar wireless devices have delay? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drpr7kq",
"drp0af5"
],
"text": [
"You get latency from your screen refresh - up to 17ms minimum at 60fps. You get latency from rendering - if you have a frame buffer of 2, you're looking at 34ms extra latency. You get latency from processing. With a wired controller you would have latency... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7lu2cn | Why does it take longer for a computer to recognise an incorrect password than a correct one? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drozuya",
"drp3253"
],
"text": [
"It doesn't take longer: typically there's a deliberate delay programmed in. This delay slows down automatic password crackers that work by trial and error.",
"While there are automatic slowdown things to stop you repeatedly typing wrong passwords in a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7luaea | how is laser eye surgery like LASIK achieved? What is the technology, how does it work, and how is the procedure executed? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drp3eye",
"drp1alo"
],
"text": [
"Not sure how much you know about eye problems so will explain some stuff. Light reflects from your lens onto your retina... Action potentials, transduction and there you have an image. Light - cornea - bit of space - iris - lens - \"space\" - retina is th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7lucm4 | How do forensic investigators ensure that recovered computer files are accurate representations of the damaged or deleted file? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drp1wdh"
],
"text": [
"In short: They can't. Either a file is on a hard drive (or other storage device) or it's not. When an investigator \"recovers\" a file, usually it just means that they found a file that's not indexed. On modern operating systems every file in the system is listed in an ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
7lvdsf | How do Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"drpcu5v",
"drpfvem",
"drpg8qf"
],
"text": [
"Basically, there is a backlight behind everything. Infront of the backlight are 3 layers of 'pixels', red, green and blue. Each pixel in each layer allows light (from the backlight) through when a electrical current is passed through (or in... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
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