q_id stringlengths 6 6 | title stringlengths 4 294 | selftext stringlengths 0 2.48k | category stringclasses 1
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cjb491 | what does WinZip do? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Files are basically made of jumbles of numbers that your computer interprets as what you see on the screen. Files can be 'compressed' to make them smaller by rearranging the numbers to be more compact (smaller file size), but this renders the file unusabl... | [
"url"
] | [
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cjczkg | How does a software input into a computer physically change a transistor | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Engineer here, this isn't 100% the entire story, but it's ELI5. Software input doesn't change the shape, state, or move or do anything physical to a transistor. A transistor is just another component whose shape and material will manipulate the flow of el... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cjdhb8 | Intel Optane memory | If a computer spec sheet says it has 16GB of Intel Optane memory and 4GB of SDRAM, is it like 20GB of total SD RAM? What are the real world results of comparing say this type of spec to a computer with 8gb or 12gb of SDRAM. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"evcl6ww"
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"text": [
"Optane Memory is not RAM. Think of it as sorta booster for your Hard drive and ram interaction. But absolutely not RAM and you don't add them together. Optane memory is sorta more like a really fast SSD that works with your HDD to increase speed. These lots of misleadin... | [
"url"
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cjfa7m | That scene in Iron Man 2 when Tony Stark 'creates a new element'. Is something like that possible, and how? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Yes and not. See an element is determine by the number of proton in the nucleus and you can't have fraction of a proton. So if you have 1 proton you are hyrodgen, if you have 2 you are helium, etc, etc. We know all elements between 1 and 118 protons, from... | [
"url"
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"url"
] | |
cjgdyz | Why do emergency room doctors sometimes do treatments that are effective but outdated like Myringotomy for ear infections or breaking a bone to heal a bone cyst? Wouldn't they want to do the best thing available during emergencies? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"It can usually be attributed to several things. Emergency room doctors needs to be experts in many fields of medicine. So staying up to date one the latest developments in every field can be very hard. They also do not have the comfort of b... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cjjua0 | Commercial passenger jet throttle range of speeds | Commercial passenger jets are capable of flying hundreds of miles per hour with enormous thrust. Yet they are also capable of creeping along airport tarmacs at miniscule speeds. How are the engine controls in the cockpit able to allow for that wide a range of speeds while still allowing fine thrust control? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The throttle's move almost 120˚, and their arm is about 10\" (25.4 cm) long. That gives quite a long throw distance. They are fully motorized, and things like the autopilot are capable of very small movements.",
"The large throttle arm gives them a fa... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cjnn8j | How do Japanese internet users use so many different characters to make custom emoticons and why did no one else do the same? | How did Japanese internet users know the right symbols to use out of the thousands of Unicode symbols to make a particular face? Emoticons such as ლ( ◕ 益 ◕ ) ლ ԅ༼ ･ 〜 ･ ༽╯(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄) use symbols from relatively obscure languages and typesets from all over the Unicode catalog that are sometimes otherwise almost never ... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"evevnum"
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"text": [
"It started on [2channel]( URL_0 ). The culture and large audience of this text-only site led its denizens to go looking for characters to make pictures from, first [the Shift JIS character set]( URL_1 ), but then later the whole Unicode character set. Just like on Reddi... | [
"url"
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cjr1r8 | Why is the download of a software update 100 MB, but does it need 1 GB of free space to complete the installation? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Imagine you buy a new TV. You bring it home, you're gonna replace your old TV. Maybe the new TV is the exact same size as the old TV, so it doesn't take up any more space. But obviously it takes space just to switch them out.... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cjsemp | Why do streaming apps like Netflix for different products eventually "shut down"? | It's been announced that the Amazon Prime Video app for the Wii U will no longer work after a certain date, and today was announced that pretty soon the Youtube app for the 3DS will no longer work. My question is, why do companies do this? Couldn't they just leave the app and let people use it and just say they won't b... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The short version is that making them continue to work costs money, so they could leave them alone rather than disable them, but they'd basically immediately stop working anyway. All of these apps have complex interactions with the servers that provide th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cjybh4 | how do touchscreens detect skin and rubber, but nothing else? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"evh7f6q"
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"text": [
"Capacitive touch screens do not detect rubber, it detects conductive things. Styluses are made from a special conductive rubber or plastic that conducts electricity like your fingers do."
],
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14
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ck1ju4 | How is looking up a hash table O(1), but looking up something in a normal array still O(n)? What's the difference between a hash table and a list of hashes? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"evi8tdc",
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"text": [
"Accessing an array is O(1). Perhaps you mean searching for something in an array. If the array is ordered then searching is O(log(n)). For an unordered array the search is O(n). Hashing means taking the search key and processing it in some consistent way ... | [
"url"
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"url"
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ck1seo | How can a phone/laptop that has a less than 1080p display play 1080p videos on youtube? | i have an iphone 8. i found out that it has a 750p display (kinda pathetic compared to the 1440p galaxy phones that i used previously). so when watching youtube, the iphone 8 can at best play 720p videos right? but there's actually a 1080p option as well. what the fuck is that option? just a bullshit 1080p fake option? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"evi8fpj",
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"text": [
"It can download the video but when it comes to seeing it the limitations are set physically by the screen itself.",
"The video is scaled down by the software to the resolution it is shown on the screen just like lower resolution video is scaled up. Th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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ck265w | What are neural networks? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Think of neurons as groups of people in different rooms of a building. Each person is very good at one thing and only one thing. For example, people in the first room can only smell stuff. And each one can only tell you the p... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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ck8abk | Telecommunications What options are available for extending the internet coverage to far-flung areas? | The context is getting data from an area not covered or with low internet speed. Building cellular networks / Cabling is not an option. Can I use an array of long range wi-fi extenders to get the job done? Or is there a better and more cost effective way of doing things? This is a project I hope I can use to help the p... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"you could dig a trench and put in a bundle of fibre optic cables into the ground, that would be the best optiin. but since you said it is not an option you would need to use an wireless backhaul. checkout ubiquity. they have a productline called airfibre,... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
ck9wfd | Why are USB drives default to FAT32 and not NTFS? | NTFS (New Technology File System) was created in 1993, and is more modern that FAT32 which was created in 1977. The easiest limitation to see is that FAT32 doesn't support files over 4GB. Why do modern Flash Drives come in FAT32 format instead of NTFS? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"evkur1v",
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"text": [
"Supportability NTFS is only semi-supported in operating systems other than Windows. Linux and BSD have a free and open-source NTFS driver, called NTFS-3G, with both read and write functionality. macOS comes with read-only support for NTFS; its disabled-by... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cka2fy | What is the difference in viewing experience in a theater between 35mm film and digital | Recently with Tarantino’s new movie coming out there’s been talk about how special it is you can see it in 35mm. What is the difference in the theater experience? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"evl8pq3"
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"text": [
"It's a completely different process. Each has unique artifacts that the other simply can't reproduce. It's also a function of the cinematographer, who may or may not choose to use the media's artifacts for artistic reasons. 35mm film can exist with several different asp... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
ckb9ac | how those catfish bots on dating sites work, how are they coded and implemented | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"evleu0y"
],
"text": [
"Bot bot = new Bot(’Tiffany’); If(guy) { bot.swipeLeft(); bot.say(’hi there stranger wan som fuq’); If(guy.answer === ’yes plz’) { bot.say(’plis snd credit card detailz’); } } else { bot.swipeRight(); }"
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ckbs96 | How or why does the pole disappear in those awesome gopro videos? All I ever see is the person holding something or a fixed point on the body, but nothing is visible. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"evljhcu"
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"text": [
"One of the comments in your link mentions the insta360 camera rather than a gopro. It edits out it's own handle from the video."
],
"score": [
7
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ckc0dh | Why are online password managers so much safer than writing passwords in a book that’s kept in a safe place? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"evlx4qb",
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"text": [
"This is an example password that my password manager makes: xmJWI#Nrjmx7oXu%hLmc70mU$\\*zi9U Every place I have a password for has a password like that (or as long and complicated as they will allow) that is unique. I change ... | [
"url"
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"url"
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ckcnnv | Why do airplane passengers need to turn off cellphones or electronic devices while a plane takes off/lands? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Its nonsense. Its based on old avionics devices that could have radio interference , afyer that it was because \"holy shiit you never know\". but today's technology has changed the game. Did year... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ckibiu | What will happen with the land line infrastructure maintenance as the need for wired phones becomes almost non-existent? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"There will always be the availability of landlines. Even 100 years from now, if you positively have to have a landline, they'll do that for you. It may be fiber based all the way, but it will still be possible. And yes, as the pool of subscribers drop, it... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ckm0l2 | Why is Bing so bad? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The algorithm that Google use for research is secret and it's the reason why they are way better than anything",
"Google have all the data. They know who search what and they can personalize the resutls. They have more co... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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cknw03 | How does reverse image search work? | I often see people on r/quityourbullshit calling out people and using a reverse image search as evidence. How does this work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"The other answers so far have been a bit over simplified so I'll try to go a bit deeper while still making it accessible. It you have an image of a cat you can describe that image in a lot of ways. Let's assume... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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ckorkr | How does the eye-sight-measuring machine at the glasses shop actually give you the exact number of your eyesight? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Lenses work both ways. The machine is basically getting a camera trained on your retina and then ‘auto-focusing’ until it sees a clear image of your retina. Software then calculate... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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ckqtvv | Why does the timer on my washer lie to me? It has said ‘6 minutes left’ for the last 20 minutes. What causes the accuracy (or, more commonly, the lack thereof) in the timer for washers and dryers? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"evq1tzw",
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"text": [
"During the spin cycle some washers have an unbalanced load sensor (i.e. all the clothes has lumped up on one side of the drum). When the machine detects this it stops the spin and the timer to avoid damaging the drum and will rotate back and forth slowly ... | [
"url"
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"url"
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cksjao | How are movies dubbed into a second language while maintaining other background audio? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"evq3dnl",
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"text": [
"The background audio and voice audio are separate tracks. They are laid over each other to create the illusion of a single track. For other languages, the native voice track is removed and the second language added over the background track.",
"So whe... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ckxcvg | How does an air conditioning unit work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"evrirf1"
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"text": [
"Compressing a gas makes the gas hotter, and allowing a compressed gas to decompress makes it cooler (this is why air duster spray cans get cold if you turn them upside down and spray), so an A/C just compresses and decompresses a gas. An A/C unit has two opposing compon... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ckxxb9 | How does color restoration work for black and white films? | Recently saw professionally restored ww2 footage and was wondering how they "restore" color from a camera and film that didn't have the hardware to capture color. I don't know that much about photography so I've always been baffled by this | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"evs7cpx"
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"text": [
"There are few thing to consider. 1. We know the colour we can see that is the visible light/spectrum which can be primarily define by red, green and blue. Any other colour is a combination of those colour. Hence, you see most thing especially photoshop, keyboard always ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
ckzwnl | How does a radix lsd sort work? | To my understanding, it doesn't make any comparisons, but I could be totally wrong. I really tried to look it up and understand this sorting algorithm, but I'm a bit stupid | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"evs0e14"
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"text": [
"It doesn't really do any comparisons, you're right. Think of it this way... You have 10 lists, one for each decimal digit (0-9). For each (integer) element, look at the least significant digit, and place the element in the appropriate list. E.g. 123 would go in list[3],... | [
"url"
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cl26ed | How did the space bar on a keyboard come to exist as such a long key? Why haven't newer designs made it any smaller? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"evscngg",
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"text": [
"You need to be able to hit it with both thumbs. Plus significant changes in keyboard design are not very likely to happen as a lot of people spend countless hours to learn this layout efficiently.",
"Place your hands on the '[start position]( URL_0 )'... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cl32ch | what is IP exactly? And why would it be bad if internet strangers got hold of mine and what could they subsequently do with it? | Edit: IP as in internet Protocol, should have clarified. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"evsiecd"
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"text": [
"An IP address is just what it sounds like-- an address. Every machine that is a component of a larger network gets assigned a unique IP address much like houses get assigned unique street addresses. If someone got ahold of your IP address, they could tell where your com... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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clcw25 | How are camera crews able to capture clips of dangerous animals in the wild? | I'm currently watching 'Hostile Planet' and I'm amazed at how they get such high quality footage of animals in the wild. Like in episode three, there is a segment that shows a Jaguar hunting down an anaconda and I'm curious how they get such good videos. There is no way they're on the ground and capturing these clips r... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"They're using extremely long-range camera lenses. They're generally not near the animals they're filming, and spend a long time just waiting to get their shots",
"If you catch the Blue Planet kind of documentaries, they often have shots... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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clfn0b | why at some places my cell phone has full phone signal available, but no or very low network connectivity? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Having slow connection on 4G is like driving slowly on the highway. If there's too many people using that tower that you're connected to, it's going to be slower.",
"The cell site you’re conn... | [
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] | [
"url"
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clinn5 | How is paper made from wood? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"evw1s0a"
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"text": [
"Paper Engineer here: The type of wood is selected based on the quality of paper that is being produced. Hardwoods are generally selected for newspaper grades, and is pumped using a more mechanical process. The majority of paper that we use is made from softwood pulps th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
clkwvw | Why are there no video formats that support transparency, like images do (PNG)? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"evvzwqu"
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"text": [
"I guess because it isnt really used. No one really overlays video onto a background where transparency is required. Png is designed so that you don't get messy borders on websites. What's the use case for video?"
],
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... | [
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clmu70 | Why do voices from same radio hosts sound so different on FM vs. AM radio? | CBC radio is broadcasted on AM and FM in Canada. When flipping between the two, I notice a pretty significant difference in sound and pitch. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"FM radio is much higher quality audio than AM. There’s a reason music and higher quality programming transitions to FM, it’s simply a way better quality to listen to.",
"AM is pretty simple, has a lower carrier frequency, and a small bandwidth which l... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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clmyxa | How come you can call emergency services when you have no signal but not anybody else? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"evwe7lu",
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"text": [
"Because when you call the emergency services, the phone can use any carrier service. So say you are on O2, and you have no signal, you can’t call anyone. But there might be Talktalk coverage. Calling 999/911 ect allows you to use any servic... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cls5g3 | How do land photographers take such amazing photos of nebulae and planets? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"evxjhvx"
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"text": [
"Deep sky astrophotography is one of the most challenging (and expensive) forms of amateur photography there is. To photograph a nebula or galaxy, you actually don't need a very large telescope... a little 3\" apochromatic refractor attached to a regular dslr will do. Bu... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
clv3o1 | How Balancing on bicycle or any two wheeler works? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"evy0iw4"
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"text": [
"There are 3 major things that work towards keeping a bike upright. They all work to steer the bike so that the wheels remain underneath it. The first, and most important, is that a bike has a rider, who works to keep the bike upright. They steer so the bike's wheels rem... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
clvwdq | When and how did gold teeth become used in dental work? Arent there more practical things that could be used? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Gold is unreactive. The last thing you want is your tooth to rust or dissolve. Gold is so unreactive it doesn't even have a flavour. It's also valuable so can be see... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cm0ghq | Where did all the old glass bottles go? | Back in the day. Milk, colas all were in glass bottles that companies owned. Where did all the glass containers go? Edit: to clarify yes I understand bottles were washed and reused with deposit programs. I’m asking about today. We don’t have milk men, that I’m aware of. I rarely see companies use glass bottles for cola... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Most of the glass bottles at that time were deposit bottles that were returned to the shop for a refund, the bottles were then reused by the manufacturer or if damaged recycled back into new bottle.",
"When glass is 100% ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cm0saz | The difference between full frame, and APS-C cameras | I’ve been interested in photography for a while; I’m embarrassed I don’t know this fully | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"evz6usq"
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"text": [
"The literal answer is the photo sensors are sized differently. Full frame cameras use a sensor element that is the same size as a historical 35mm film cell would have been. Aps-c sensors are smaller than full frame sensors. The takeaway is you can design lenses specific... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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cm16cz | If autotune is supposed to correct pitch, how come it is easily identifiable, and sounds so unnatural? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"It's only identifiable and unnatural when the singer deliberately cranks it up to 11. Lots of people are deliberately mis-using it to give themselves a robotic or artificial quality as a special effect. When it... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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cm9veu | How lasers block facial recognition in Hong Kong protests? Will normal flashlight work too? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"ew0xhcc",
"ew1k151"
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"text": [
"In daylight condition a flashlight is not that bright compare to refleted sunlight so it is hard to overwhelm the sensor so the face it not visible but a laser is brighter because all light hit a lot smaller area and can overwhelm the sensor. You can even... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cma30g | Why are download and upload speeds not the same? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew0y0fe",
"ew0uwot"
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"text": [
"* Most home internet service is from a wired provider like cable, phone, fiber etc. * Those systems have a fixed amount of bandwidth to transmit and receive data. * They can split that bandwidth between transmitting and receiving any way they'd like. * Mo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cmaptb | How can a single port “understand” which function to perform based on what device was plugged into it? | I just messed up my old iphone earbuds that had a jack. I borrowed my dad’s, which were the latest ones, with the lightning ending. I plugged them into my iphone’s lightning port (which also has a jack) and they functioned properly. How does this work? Thanks in advance! | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew0yxj1"
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"text": [
"The port is nothing more than a specified way to transfer signals. I'm not familiar with lightning ports specifically but I'd assume it has a way to transfer power, and a way to transfer data. Every device that uses a lightning cable follows the same standards that the ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cmctgm | How do game programmers develop a game for console if it’s not playable on PC. Mainly in testing if the code is working, is there a developer console that bridges the gap between pc code and actual consoles? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"Yes, console manufacturers make developer consoles. Usually you can load games over the network, attach debuggers, take screen caps, gather performance data, and such like that. They may actually have more RAM and CPU power than a normal co... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
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cme572 | How do scroll-wheels on mice or similar stuff work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew1o61s"
],
"text": [
"The mouse wheel is like a bicycle tire with spokes. There are two sensors that shine infrared light through the wheel. Each time the wheel moves, a spoke interrupts the infrared light and the sensors detect movement. Using the two sensors it can tell which direction the... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cmhug0 | Why are there 8 bits in a byte? | Is the number 8 arbitrary? Why aren’t there 10 bits or 12 bits in a byte? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew2d4k5",
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"text": [
"It's a fairly arbitrary number. It makes sense for it to be a power of two (2,4,8,16) since that makes addressing convenient. However why 8 and not 4 or 16 is pretty arbitrary. At the time the term was coined, it was more ambiguous. It could have been any... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cmoizm | How can people actually control their prosthetics? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew3oc2l"
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"text": [
"Usually its myoelectric sensors. They first connect the original arm nerves to other muscles (often its breast muscle in various parts, i.e. each nerve connects to different part of the muscle), then they measure electric potential, which part of muscle had moved, etc. ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cms5m4 | Why is System 32 called that way on computers? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew4bve4"
],
"text": [
"So for the other responses are contrasting 32-bit applications with 64-bit applications. While related, that's a bit of a red herring. System32 actually dates back to when Windows was making the transition *towards* 32-bit systems, from the old 16-bit systems. See, \"re... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cmsda9 | How do cameras take videos? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"ew4bwra"
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"text": [
"Your camera is just a sensor that takes in light. The storage system on your camera is a small computer. When you take a single photo, it takes in all that light for that moment and stores it as a photo (technically just as a string of colors, not even as a photo tbh)..... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cmsml0 | Why is it that Amazon Voice Command products react to movies/tv shows with characters named anything close to Alexa or Alexis but never to the Amazon commercials where they are literally commanding her to do something? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew4e5t2"
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"text": [
"Amazon started using an audio frequency in their commercials that Alexa devices will not respond to. I can't remember when, but prior to this it was a major problem for them. The difference isn't noticeable to the human ear. Here is a link to an article with the details... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cmtcln | How do things like phones and car keys deactivate hotel room keys? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew4k63w",
"ew4tb6b"
],
"text": [
"Iron atoms can polarize meaning the electrons lean to one side making it more negative with the nucleus making the other side more positive. So each atom is inherently magnetic in some level, but all the atoms are oriented different directions cancelling ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cmuyip | why does playing a game at higher frames than originally intended (E.g. 60fps instead of 30fps) often cause glitches with the physics? | If you change the game to be 60fps, shouldn’t everything adjust as a result? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"ew4wxbu"
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"text": [
"These games run the FPS and the physics engine in the same loop, and make some assumptions about the speed. They don't calculate physics that would have happened since the last calculation, they just calculate another 1/30 of a second of physics. So, by increasing the F... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cmvu1d | How do summarizing bots work ? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew7rr7x"
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"text": [
"First they look through the article for important keywords. These are words that are more common in the article than they usually are. For example, the word \"man\" is very common, so it's not unusual for it to show up several times in an article. But if the word \"expl... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cmxgm7 | - how exactly do blood pressure cuffs work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew5bwf6"
],
"text": [
"They listen for the sound of the blood rushing through your arteries as your heart beats. The diastolic reading, or the bottom number, is the pressure in the arteries when the heart rests between beats. The systolic reading, the top number, refers to the amount of press... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cmxyie | How are "lab created stones" made? How is it possible to grow a gem artificially? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew5wx2h",
"ew5f4yn"
],
"text": [
"Gems are crystals, so that means atoms, ions, and molecules arranged in a highly ordered structure. You make crystals when you freeze water. You can also make salt crystals by boiling the water out of brine. As you can see, some crystals are rather eager ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cmyxbj | Why is it not more secure to hash password multiple times? | Some long time ago when I started programming I learned that hashing e.g. password multiple times and doing other "clever" stuff doesn't really make it more secure but never really understood why. Let's say I change the order of characters in the password, map it to some table (e.g. 'a' becomes '123') then hash it with... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew5pygl"
],
"text": [
"The golden standard of password hashing is that there must be: 1) Significant time and effort spent on making a single guess 2) It not be practical for effort spent cracking one password be usable for cracking another 3) (Variant of 2 really) Doing work ahead of time do... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cn2fmy | Why do video game consoles always have slower wifi or wired connections than any other common smart device? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew6bc7h"
],
"text": [
"wired connections are typically gigabit. that hasn't changed in a long time. 10 gigabit exists but no one really uses it in a home environment. for wireless the latest consoles are all on ac. if you're talking about slow download speeds, then that's an issue with the se... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cn4vb0 | Why when my phone shows 5 bars (full service) does it sometimes not work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew6yngb"
],
"text": [
"The same reason you can't hear your friend that's standing right in front of you in a crowded nightclub. When you get 5 bars, you're seeing the signal—but what about the noise? What's keeping you from having real service is the *signal to noise* ratio. Cellphones can \"... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cn78tq | What exactly is happening when turning the tuner knob on an analog radio. How does it 'grab' the specific station out of the air? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ew7jm9b",
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],
"text": [
"* The antenna on your radio is picking all broadcasts in your area at the same time. * The radio works by filtering everything out except the station you want to hear. * Turning the knob changes the resistance on the filter circuit inside your radio. * Ch... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cn7sxh | How does a compass on your phone work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"A pretty common method is to use magnetoresistance. Some materials change their electrical resistance depending on the direction of the magnetic field they're expose... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cnhklp | How is water desalinated? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewaj41g",
"ewaj6ta",
"ewaj69y"
],
"text": [
"A few different ways. 1. Evaporation...get a bunch of saltwater, heat it and capture the evaporate. Let that condense...clean water. 2. Reverse osmosis. Essentially push the salt water through a barrier with a filter media small enough to t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cnhlal | Why is there so little law enforcement will do to combat scammers/identity theft when internet or phone traffic is so easy to locate? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewbwp4r",
"ewajqhy",
"ewaix56"
],
"text": [
"Let's say an American police organization traces a scam attempt, and discovers that it is coming from an internet cafe in Nigeria. What then? They don't have jurisdiction in Nigeria. The Nigerian police are under-resourced and their governm... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cnimf7 | How are 2D movies converted to 3D? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewaurby"
],
"text": [
"& #x200B; A 3D movie is essentially two 2D movies shot from slightly different camera angles, whith each of your eyes seeing one of those movies. To convert a movie, open a frame of the original movie in a photoshop-like program, cut out the foreground objects, and move... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cnjks3 | Does freezing yourself (cryogenics) for years actually happen or is it pure science fiction? | Every now and then I come across a post like this: ‘girl with incurable sickness is frozen until remedy gets discovered’. Now I was wondering if stuff like this actually happens or not? I would guess that it would not be possible for adults but would surely like to know how it works. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewb3tzo",
"ewb5gho"
],
"text": [
"Cryogenic freezing is a thing that happens. The problem is that we haven't yet found a way to ensure that we're actually able to unfreeze them and have them be alive, because freezing the body carries a whole host of problems with it.",
"We have the f... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cnmgr4 | How are diesel cars so fuel efficient compared to gas, and if it's so much better, why isn't everything diesel? | Obviously fuel efficiency has been the name of the game for the last 30 years or more, so why even bother with gas? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewbz9w0"
],
"text": [
"There are some downsides to diesel engines: * Diesel engines are more expensive to manufacture, driving the sticker price of the vehicle up. Since the difference in price between fuels is not significantly different, at least in the US, many consumers aren't willing to ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cnmplp | Why can windows only install one thing at a time? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewc1flz",
"ewc1prb"
],
"text": [
"Its by design to avoid two files manipulating/corrupting other files and data. You can use third party installers to install multiple things at once though.",
"You can install more than one program at a time but it is not recommended. It's like hiring... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cnmvwn | Why is the upload speed significantly lower than the download speed? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"ewc3f6v",
"ewcaei9",
"ewc208w",
"ewc3o50"
],
"text": [
"Some technologies use different bandwidths for upload and download. Most notably Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) which use different frequencies to separate uplink and downlink causing them to have different bandw... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cnq4hn | How does a laser deactivate sensors and cameras in surveillance systems? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewcuegd",
"ewdnw9s",
"ewdvues"
],
"text": [
"part of it is hollywood movie magic. but theoretically a laser pointed at a camera/sensor can burn out the sensor so that it no longer works, but it's going to be super obvious that something happened if anyone is paying attention.",
"A... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cnqcbv | how audio books are made? | I just finished Stephen King's The Stand audio book on spotify (damm good listen, go check it out if you like). It had a run time of roughly 54 hours. Are these books really read word for word? I can't imagine one narrator doing this all by himself, so are there any tricks like Text to speech or something? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewcwpn9",
"ewcwuw4"
],
"text": [
"Yes they are read word for word. It can be a long, rough grind to do it all. There's no AI tech nonsense magic. Someone literally reads it into a microphone in a booth.",
"It’ll be recorded over several sessions. The actor will read a chapter, or a se... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cnqr24 | When Windows tries to “check for a solution” after a program crashes, what is it actually doing and why does it never seem to work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewd11vr",
"ewdh1dh"
],
"text": [
"It sends a signature of the crash to Microsoft. There are many more bugs than patches. Plus, interactions or bugs in non-Microsoft programs aren't in the database.",
"There's a program compatibility database that Microsoft operates. If a program was d... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cnqyvz | Why haven’t Blu-Rays completely replaced DVDs like DVDs completely replaced VHS? | Are they going to? Is there not as much of a gap in quality? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewd3bft",
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"ewd2a9x",
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"text": [
"1. DVDs didn't completely replace VHS. You could still get VHS movies when Bluray came out. 2. There was other competition to Bluray like HD DVD. 3. The time period between DVDs becoming popular and Blurays was... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cns7v0 | Computer parts and what they do | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewdfezs"
],
"text": [
"This is a little complicated just because there’s different parts in different computers, but the basic rundown is: The CPU - This is like the main brain of your computer. All the instructions and most of the thinking is done here. It tells the other parts what to do an... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cny477 | What’s the difference between an album, an EP, an LP, and a mixtape? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"eweos7x",
"ewerv6t",
"ewes01j",
"ewenvci"
],
"text": [
"SP (short play), EP (extended play) and LP (long play) describe the length of whatever medium you are playing. Back in the days of records, those had an immediate effect on various parameters, including the size of the disc, ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cnyp5z | Why do iPhones correct words that are spelled correctly even in correct grammar into other words? Why doesn’t it just correct misspelled words? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"eweqywt"
],
"text": [
"It tries to learn your typing habits, find what it thinks you would type, based on previous inputs. So even though what you typed may have correct spelling and grammar, iOS uses your past inputs to determine what you likely meant to type."
],
"score": [
6
],
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cnzb7w | How do computers/smartphones keep tracking the date and hour even when they're disconnected from any energy source? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewevslm"
],
"text": [
"It's a tiny battery called the CMOS battery that keeps track of it even if your PC / phone is turned off. If you remove that battery from your PC and place it again in the motherboard, the time will be reset as well as your BIOS"
],
"score": [
10
],
"text_ur... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cnzbhw | What exactly has been done or changed in older songs that have been "Remastered"? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"eweuxkx"
],
"text": [
"Mastering happens after mixing. Once a song is mixed (all the levels of the different parts of the song are set properly relative to each other, instruments are nicely panned, effects on the vocals are set etc), it then gets mastered. Mastering makes the entire audio “b... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cnzn4v | Where does the deleted files from the computer go. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewewasx"
],
"text": [
"They stay on the hard drive but are ignored. Eventually another file will overwrite the deleted files."
],
"score": [
18
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
co0khv | - How does your phone know when you touch the screen? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewf19ji",
"ewf47kx"
],
"text": [
"There’s a couple different types of touch screens. One screen senses the electric current. Your body conducts electricity, so your phone senses the current and reacts accordingly. It’s why you can’t use another object like your fingernail or a stylus on s... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
co1n9d | - How do Open Source recreations of games stay alive? | Stuff like Open Morrowind, the browser Diablo game, the handful of Doom games, and others more seem like they'd be taken down immediately by the company owning the IP. I mean sure, the maker built everything from scratch and from the ground up, but if it looks, walks, talks, and plays like an already existing and belov... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewfb6b7",
"ewfnqix",
"ewfbikz",
"ewfoh32"
],
"text": [
"Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they just don't care about old IPs or the company that held the IP is defunct. Sometimes the company will feel like it's good advertising or an indication that these old IPs ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
co3toy | How do some pirates get their hands on legit Netflix/Spotify/iTunes accounts and sell them for a cheaper price illegally? How does it benefit them? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewfn0jc",
"ewfud3m",
"ewgeb3w",
"ewfn1jc"
],
"text": [
"One of two ways. Some of these accounts are stolen and then passed on. They invest $0 into the account, so whatever someone pays is profit. The other way that it can work is that pricing for online services are sometimes set ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
co77es | - What is difference between 5G & 4G? | This new Samsung note 10+ is suppose to have 5G and cost an Extra $150 in the total price. So I'm trying to see if 5G is really that much of a difference to purchase that phone. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewh0lun",
"ewgcsgc"
],
"text": [
"As [this video]( URL_0 ) elaborately explains, these are “mobile” internet speeds that can be run on a phone or mobile device. Each connection type (3G 4G 5G) has its own speed: •3G is ^tinytiny speed and slow like a very old turtle. •4G is a little fast ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
coamed | Why can my eyes view colours from two difference sources, but a camera can't? | Imagine in front of you is a forest, with a blue sky above. Through your own eyes, you can see the bright blue sky, but you can also see the green pine trees of the forest. If you view through a camera however, there are two options; a) focus on the sky, and have a photo with a bright blue sky, but a nearly black fores... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewh1svo",
"ewh29q5",
"ewh2ep4"
],
"text": [
"It's not about the colors. It's the difference in brightness that the camera can't handle. When you're setting up a shot, you can only adjust 3 things; the speed of the shutter, how wide it opens, and the third thing is the ISO which I won'... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cobgra | how can planes tell when they are being targeted by something? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewh76wv",
"ewh9juh",
"ewh8a3b"
],
"text": [
"They have a device called a radar warning receiver that detects incoming radar beams. It can tell the difference between the long wavelength periodic sweeps of a search radar, and the rapid high-frequency pulses of a targeting radar, and th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
coc2t7 | What does it mean for a database to scale vertically vs horizontally? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewhchxx"
],
"text": [
"Vertical scaling means adding more power to a machine. Horizontal scaling means adding more machines."
],
"score": [
11
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
coe3ay | how does the internet work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewhpnlj"
],
"text": [
"Websites are hosted on remote servers, which have their own specific web internet protocol address, a sequence of numbers separated by periods. Typically formatted as ###.###.###.### (“ipv4”) Your local browser checks with a thing called a DNS server to find the right i... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cof2m6 | What is the point of afterburn(ing?) | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewhua3j"
],
"text": [
"Injecting and igniting fuel in the exhaust stream burns any remaining oxygen in the exhaust and adds thrust on top of what the gas turbine engine can create on its own. Afterburning virtually turns the exhaust pipe into a supplementary rocket engine. While not very fuel... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cojogv | Why does a computer typically have to download an installer for most programs instead of just downloading the program straight from the web? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewimyoq"
],
"text": [
"Installations could be necessary for a couple of reasons. * The software could require uncompressing and/or unpacking files for faster access that were compressed or packed for bandwidth, storage, or logistics reasons. * Specific files could need to be placed in specifi... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
com1cf | How do electronics mimic sound perfectly? | I can’t find this answer online—even after a few years. Perhaps you know and can explain well? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewjkujg"
],
"text": [
"The sound is vibrations in the air. These vibrations are measured by sensitive equipment (microphones), converted to \"vibrations\" in electricity, and then recorded to a tape or digital storage medium. This is then read back into \"vibrations\" of electricity, which th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
copocx | How is Uber losing billions of dollars? They have millions of people driving for them and they take a cut, what expenses do they really have and how can you lose money on a business model like that? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewke4k2",
"ewkehyn"
],
"text": [
"The reason they're so popular is because they undercut traditional taxi services, but those low rates aren't sustainable. Uber's end-game is and has always been to replace human drivers with autonomous vehicles. That's their path to profitability: phase o... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cor3dn | Why movies are shot at 24 frames per second rather than a higher frame rate. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewkpdo5",
"ewkooix",
"ewkpu7s",
"ewkosrn",
"ewkza2l"
],
"text": [
"That was the standard back in the day when film was still shot on reels. Higher framerate would require more film, so settled with just enough for fluid movement. Nowadays we use 24 FPS because people prefer it... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
coupdu | Why does Flash Player tell me to only allow it on sites I trust? How could runing something in Flash be harmful to my computer? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewlbgj8"
],
"text": [
"Flash have had a lot of security holes that made it possible for a malicious flash program to access the rest of the computer. So you could use it to install software on your computer that could do in principle anything. There is likely more holes that is not fixed that... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
coz97w | who can read my search history | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewm4tat"
],
"text": [
"If you are complete incognito without any browser extensions enabled, your web history can be accesed by your ISP alone (i.e. your internet provider like xfinity in the US). Another thing as your mentioned is if hackers got access to router then they can track what requ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cozvdv | What determines the speed at which our phones charge? | Is there a way to make it really fast, say you could charge your phone from 0-100% in 10 minutes? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewma6f8"
],
"text": [
"1) Make the phone with a low capacity battery. Obviously not desirable just for the sake of quicker charging 2) Increase the current flow during charging. Theoretically possible but probably practically infeasible because: a) Expensive charger, bulky cables to carry hig... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cp1m3v | Why is a SIM card required to connect to the 4G network? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewmmkbn"
],
"text": [
"The SIM card contains your identification info which allows your service provider to know who you are. Keeping this info on a card instead of on the phone itself allows you to easily switch providers by swapping your SIM card, or switch phones by taking out your SIM car... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cp2ry3 | How do passwords work. Specifically passwords to unlock devices such as smartphones or laptops | Just to make it simpler to explain how do iPhones(if this isn’t publicly known then any computing device is fine the iPhone is just an example) know which password is correct and unencrypt your data for access without having what your password is stored to be checked against. If your smart device does have a stored cop... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewmtxxv",
"ewmv1dh"
],
"text": [
"At a high level, typically most services (including a login to a device/computer) take what you type as a password (numbers, letters etc) and run a mathematical transformation on it called a “hash” The advantages of this are 1) you get the same “hash” out... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
cp4hvq | How does data storing works? How exactly does a piece of metal and plastic hold all my movies and pictures on it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewn8rjp",
"ewn4y8f"
],
"text": [
"CD/DVD: there is a spiral track that contains bits that are either shiny or rough. A laser shines on them; the shiny parts reflect back, the rough parts don't. Your player can interpret those as 1's and 0's. Hard disk: similar to the CD, but the bits are ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
cp4jfj | What are the differences between analog and digital filmmaking? What do the mm indicate? | I am really into film so this is a question that was on my mind for quite some time now. To the second question, I often hear things like: "It was shot on 35mm." What exactly does that mean? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"ewn7bi5"
],
"text": [
"Saying a film is \"Xmm\" is what's called the film gauge, and it's simply the measurement of the width of the film. That means 35mm film is 35mm wide, 16mm film is 16mm wide...etc. As for the rest of you're question, it's a bit vague. Analog would be filmmaking shot on ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
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