Split (1)

train · 14k rows

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
cp90pq	How do radio stations gauge their audience numbers if radio is a one way broadcast?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewnytbz" ], "text": [ "It depends on the region. Different countries / regions use different methods, but by and large, most methods are just different types of surveys. Where I live, radio audience measurements rely on surveys with a sample size of a few hundred people. These people in the s...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cp9stc	Why LED TVs over 43 inches got poor viewing angles when same models of 43 inches and less got great angles?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewo24v2" ], "text": [ "The term \"LED-TV\" is a bit misleading. They are LCD-TVs, but they use a LED backlight. And LCD in turn describes a bunch of different technologies that are similar, but work in slightly different ways. Now most TVs use what is called \"twisted nematic\", in short \"TN...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cpa7an	How do graphics cards input graphics to screens?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewo5r7h", "ewo58c4" ], "text": [ "There's a great long video here of a graphics card built by scratch for an in depth example: URL_0 In short 3 pins on a VGA connector (the blue one with the 2 twisty bits on the end) are dedicated to red, green and blue. The voltage or strength of the sig...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cpau9q	- How do spam emails get details about you?	How do spam emails know things about me? I keep getting spam emails threating to email people I know etc and on all of them it says “Your password is” and it’s not correct but at one point it was close and I’m just like while it wasn’t correct how do they know?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewo7a24" ], "text": [ "Back in the days, many people used the same password for multiple sites. A few big sites got hacked, and lists of thousands of email addresses and passwords got out on the street. And you know that once something hits the internet, it's not going away, so there is a lis...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cpc9s2	I've been watching those videos on YouTube where scammers get all their files deleted or a virus uploaded to their computer. How does the "Victim" do this?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewofgiz", "ewof9pu" ], "text": [ "Usually the scammer wants to connect to your computer, remotely. Like when you are called by a fake 'windows support' person (they call you stating they are windows support and that you have a virus on your device they want to help you with), they want yo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cpczj7	How are companies able to copy manufacture Nintendo and Sega’s previous console without getting into trouble doing so?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewokqen", "ewoo6ry", "ewphpb5" ], "text": [ "Any patents they had on those consoles have expired. Those old consoles are simple enough that it's possible to make your own compatible console without having to infringe any copyright. They didn't have an OS, so unlike a modern console yo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cpd4lv	What is the difference between code and script.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewonr6r" ], "text": [ "Some people make a distinction between \"compiled\" languages that produce executable machine code & \"scripting\" languages that are either interpreted or compiled to a VM at runtime. Either way, it's still \"coding\" and the only difference is how the language is impl...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cpfa7s	how does an airforce keep track of where its stealth planes are when they are on missions		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewoyzcg", "ewp054p", "ewp3266", "ewphkfj" ], "text": [ "Encrypted communications. Plus, i wouldn't be surprised if they came up with a way to track their own stealth planes.", "This is mostly secret but from history we know that a common tactic was to just plan out the mission...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cpfapt	How do Pilots know where to land if they can't see the runway?	Assuming that they know that they're almost at the airport, how do they know where exactly the runway is if it's foggy?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewoz9lz" ], "text": [ "Planes have a lot of instrumentation that give the pilots information about the location of the plane. Runways are built with a specific heading or angle. As long as the pilot knows what his altitude is, the location of the plane, location of the runway, and the directi...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cphlfm	What cause the modern unpopularity of ternary computing? What about it made it not able to be stable or work properly in many cases, and is the concept still under development?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewpg0zu" ], "text": [ "Binary is fundamentally easy on a hardware level: all your memory bits and circuits and transistors are either ON or OFF. Then you build out from there. Ternary requires more complex states, you need some way to measure magnitude or polarity instead of just crude on/off...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cpiv8m	The NES and Gameboy Color are both considered 8-Bit. What are the technical differences in the graphics that allowed GBC games to look so different?	One thing I've noticed is that on Gameboy Color, there appears to be actually less allowable colors on screen, however Gameboy Color games seem to in general look impressive compared to most NES games. I have a bit of technical understanding but I bet there's a lot of folks out there who really know their stuff when it...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewpp1qi", "ewqlwmf" ], "text": [ "The 8,16,32,64 bits were just used to refer to the addressable memory range for the CPU. 8 bits means it could address up to 2^8 addresses, etc etc. We have been at 64 bits for the last 15 years or so and CPU/GPU performance has advanced a lot. Performanc...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cpldb9	Zero Day Exploits and what makes them so rare?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewq5jmb", "ewq7uko" ], "text": [ "A zero day is just an exploit that isn't public or out there on the market yet. Basically its a known exploit, its not patched, and its gonna work as you expect. It's a \"new\" exploit. \"Zero\" as in zero days out in the public for it to be seen and fixe...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cpm4wv	In old NES games, why would graphical glitches cause graphics to turn into numbers?	It doesn't happen often but I've seen it a few times. Why would NES graphics turn into numbers when they glitch out?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewqb6mw" ], "text": [ "It's because the glitch overwrites a memory pointer and graphics are stored at specific memory locations as a\"Sprite sheet\" which has all the graphics at specific location offsets. Think of a chess board with a graphic in each square. They are usually referenced using...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cpp1jt	Actions you cannot undo in software		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewqsg6p", "ewqspx4", "ewqssjq", "ewrjcjg" ], "text": [ "Auctions are undoable if the programmer has programmed it to be undoable. If it is not programmed to be undoable, the default behaviour would be that the action cannot be undone. For your excel, even though you can't ctrl z i...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cpr8wo	Why do Characters like these exist in Unicode: Ñ̷̡͔̔̌̒͂̍́̈́͠ỏ̷̺͒̍̎̑̌͋̊́͗̚͠͝i̵̡̨̼͍͉͙̱͇̻̳̤̮̓̒͌͆̈̅̀̆̕ç̵̧̢̨̻̲̭̼̦̆̽̎͐́̍͂ë̶̪̖̬͇̥̭̹̟̯̝͛̊̓̑͊͘͝ͅ. What purpose do they serve.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewr3plg", "ewrhlb3", "ewr3kps", "ewrx3ix", "ewrywdc" ], "text": [ "They're diacritics. Many languages have small bits and bobs that can be overlaid with other characters to modify them. On the simpler side, the double-dot (diaeresis) in \"naïve\" means that the I should be pro...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cpv44o	How do some radios know the name and artist of the song that's playing?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewrrico" ], "text": [ "Along with the signal that carries the music, some radio stations broadcast a signal through the RDS protocol (the Radio Data System.) Usually the signal is the station ID, plus the artist and the song. If your radio can interpret the RDS protocol, it will display that ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cpvpou	How do 'I am not a robot' tick boxes work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewrvn27", "ews3wxu", "ewrvokm" ], "text": [ "Do you mean in cases where you just tick the box, and the page accepts that you are human? Usually pages that use that feature are monitoring your activity across the entire page. Every move of your mouse, click, box filled in, etc. The alg...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cq47f8	Why do most instructions say to leave a device unplugged for “x” minutes to reboot?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewtupii", "ewtus58", "ewturb7" ], "text": [ "Most power supplies have capacitors. Capacitors build up charge and then dissipate it. Think like tiny batteries that lose charge in seconds. So you leave devices unplugged so that the capacitor is fully discharged and therefore not feeding...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cq5m7s	Why is there so much unpredictability around bank transfers? Why can't they all be instant?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewu5h84", "ewu7iv0", "ewu8h3a", "ewu8opv", "ewuaf8d", "ewu9wzi", "ewubot6", "ewuc7zx", "ewub1h5", "ewu984z", "ewuf5d5", "ewu8tws", "ewukp62", "ewue1hq", "ewu44kl", "ewuaxjl", "ewu9u4n", "ewuj3hl", "ewumwnn", "ewud8go", "e...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cq7xvx	rimfire vs centerfire cartridges		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewugipd" ], "text": [ "In order to get the primer explosives to detonate you need to compress it. Normally you would have a hammer and an anvil to make the necesary pressure to detonate the primer. This have to be done through a thin section of the cartridge wall in order to keep the pressure...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqbunp	Why are passwords that mix uppercase/lowercase and alphabet/symbols considered more secure? Don't hackers have to try every combo anyway?	I see tips like this all the time. Assume a properly randomized password, let's say "bvi1oyn7mo." Is that really less secure than "bvi1OyN7Mo?"	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewv5uon", "ewv7iuj", "ewv83gy" ], "text": [ "Password crackers may start by using a program that only tries combinations of lowercase letters (and/or numbers), as it will take much less time to try every possible password. Your first password would eventually be found by this faster p...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqddx1	Is it possible for the internet to "Go Down"		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewvh24x", "ewviffr" ], "text": [ "Not really. Firstly, it would have to be on the infrastructure side, but even if the biggest telecom cables and infrastructure were taken out, you wouldn't lose the entire internet. You could still access whatever you can access locally. It would be like ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqdetw	How does flashbangs work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewvozub" ], "text": [ "A flashbang contains a mixture of magnesium or aluminum, ammonium nitrate, and a powerful oxidizer like potassium perchlorate. This produces a very bright flash and a very loud bang when the fuze sets it off., hence the term flashbang." ], "score": [ 16 ], "...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqec15	How does upscaling game textures like this work? how can it create data that wasn't there? How can I do it?	URL_0	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewvwyzq" ], "text": [ "First, get hold of a huge amount of high resolution textures of all sorts of things you see in games, bricks, wood, faces, guns e.t.c. You could take these from modern games. Now down sample these high resolution textures to low resolution textures. Now train a machine ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqf3ls	Questions about technological advances/the singularity	You know how you go and buy a new graphics card/processor and it says it's the latest and greatest, and then another one comes out shortly after? My question is, what exactly is driving these technological "advances"--i.e. what discoveries or scientific breakthroughs are being made every year that makes the next piece ...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewvukoi" ], "text": [ "I can answer part of your question. In recent years processing power for GPUs and CPUs is based on transistor number and transistor size. In essence, how many transistors can you cram together in a single chip or card. The more transistors the more and faster calculatio...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqgpuo	Why is it that if you take a picture of a computer screen you often get those wavy lines but if you zoom in on the picture a little they go away?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eww6iy6" ], "text": [ "Those patterns are known as [Moiré patterns]( URL_0 ). These patterns occur because your computer display is a grid of evenly spaced pixels being captured by a grid of evenly spaced of pixels on your camera sensor. If the grids completely matched, you wouldn't see any d...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqh4ug	Can Phones Charge Past 100%?	Does keeping a phone on the charger after it's already hit 100% really have no effect whatsoever?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "eww7o4s", "ewwbfus", "eww8esp" ], "text": [ "No. You can't do anything past 100% When the phone reaches 100, it simply stops charging, whether it's plugged in or not.", "One of my phones charges approximately another 8% after the display reads \"100%\". You can then unplug it and ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqhpld	If I have 10mbs upload and 150mbs download speed, why does streaming and downloading become nearly impossible if I am trying to upload a large file?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewwcl6o", "ewwj8k8" ], "text": [ "because the TCP protocol utilizes handshakes along the way. so you also need to upload (acknowledge data received every now and then), so if your upload is already fully utilized, you can't acknowledge those packets sent, and so the sender doesn't send an...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqhyei	Why is it possible to break two layers of encryption?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewwhvas" ], "text": [ "> this is assuming the attacker dosn't know how many layers of encryption there are Maybe the attacker doesn't know how many layers of encryption there are. But they don't have to know. Suppose the attacker is able to brute force single-layer encryption in 1 week. If yo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqid5z	How do sleep trackers work?	How do sleep trackers work? Do basic, consumer grade, wristlet style trackers work similarly to medical grade?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewwq8ha" ], "text": [ "They don't know, not exactly. Not a doctor, so I don't know biochemistry that goes on when we sleep. But apple watches for instance sure doesn't measure chemicals in our brains when we sleep or whatever. These sensors uses algorithms that predict when someone is sleepin...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqjdpn	I’m watching a TV show and romans are wearing white robes. How did the Greeks and Romans keep clothes white?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewwtpgb", "ewwtipp" ], "text": [ "Aged urine and sulfur fumes were the laundry and bleaching methods of the Romans according to the wiki. \"Basic laundering and fulling techniques were simple, and labour-intensive. Garments were placed in large tubs containing aged urine, then well trodde...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqpbt0	How do traffic lights detect that a car is waiting at a red light?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewy4clh", "ewy87oi" ], "text": [ "I work on traffic lights. There is a small cable coiled up in the ground that when a car passes over it or sits on top of it, it sends a magnetic pulse in to the cabinet where it will decide when it will change green.", "In addition to the magnetic co...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqqkas	Why is black ink in markers and ballpoint pens made up of colored ink?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewyfqbi" ], "text": [ "If you were to mix all three of the primary colours together, you get black. Depending on the amount of each of the three colours you can get a black that may have a slightly 'off' kind of hue, which may to lean towards being a dark green or red/brown." ], "score": ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqu2hj	How does Nagel's Algorithm work, and why does it help lowering the latency while playing real time online video games like League of Legends, DOTA and Rainbow Six Siege?	Edit: I meant "Nagle's Algorithm" in the title. Whoopsie	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewzj5b3" ], "text": [ "Nagle's Algorithm works by sending fewer but larger packets instead of flooding the system with small packets over a TCP connection. It's like filling a city with cars vs buses. When everyone has a car people can leave point A whenever they are ready but they move aroun...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqu3sr	Why do people use rocket fuel instead of nuclear power for spacecraft?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewzf51p", "ewzho1j", "ewzf3f5" ], "text": [ "There is always a non-zero chance that a rocket will explode when launched. The early ~~Saturn V~~ pre-Mercury rockets, the Space Shuttle, and new SpaceX rockets all have had numerous explosions during launch or re-entry. If a nuclear power...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqu5w0	why do images load by first showing the entire picture distorted, then clarifying. Back in the day, they loaded slowly from the top down.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewzl9ud", "ex15ccj" ], "text": [ "This is a product of what is called interlacing. Basically, an image will store every 8th pixel first - so if you just get the first chunk of data, it'll be the 1st pixel, the 9th pixel, the 17th pixel etc. This amounts to being a low-resolution versi...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqudpj	If websites store passwords as an unreversable hash, wouldn't that mean multiple passwords can unlock your account?	If I understand correctly, lots of websites convert your password to a hash and then check login attempts against that hash. Hashes are held in high regard because they are unreversable, but it seems to me that the only way this is true is if there are multiple values that the input could be, which would mean multiple ...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewziujo", "ewziztw" ], "text": [ "> but it seems to me that the only way this is true is if there are multiple values that the input could be, which would mean multiple passwords would calculate the same hash. Why? It's theoretically possible and referred to as a hash collision, but for a...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqv6nm	How does binary code get such specific things done? I understand how binary can represent letters or numbers beyond 0 and 1, but how do you make it display things or tie them together?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewzti0a", "ewztpcf" ], "text": [ "Thinking about computers moving around 0s and 1s is probably the absolutely least helpful way of understanding anything they do unless you're looking at the lowest-level, nitty-gritty details of how transistors and logic gates are organized. What computer...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqvh2v	When we upload our card details when shopping online, is there any mechanism/system that ensures that the vendor retrieves the exact amount which is shown us?	It seems like such an act of faith when you upload your card details. I always feel like the vendor can take as much as they want, either maliciously or accidentally. What's the chance of that happening?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewzvdfd", "ewzv67u" ], "text": [ "It's all encrypted and automated (assuming you're on a legitimate e-commerce site) so while glitches happen, it's extremely unlikely. And, if it does happen, your bank and the retailer will do whatever it takes to make it right. To not do so would be disa...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqvru5	End to End Encryption	More specifically, how is it possible for one entity to create a cipher, use that cipher to encrypt information and then send both the encrypted information and the means to decipher that information over it’s own network and still claim that it does not have the ability to view or modify the original information.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ewzzdr6", "ewzz1ae" ], "text": [ "The actual answer is _way_ beyond an ELI5, but the general gist is that there are the special kinds of math equations that only really work one way - you can put a number into the equation and get an answer, but you _can’t_ run the equation in reverse, pu...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqw6vf	How do huge companies keep their upcoming products from getting leaked (most of the time)?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex06sy2" ], "text": [ "NDA's and the fear of losing ones job is usually enough. Unemployment sucks and is one of the most stressful periods in one's life. There's work stress and then there's the stress of not knowing if you can pay this month's bills." ], "score": [ 5 ], "text_ur...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqxkfr	Power BI, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP - I’m unsure who does what and the roles they have	Can you please explain? I’m completely lost. Thanks!	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex1b9oe" ], "text": [ "Let's say you run your own business making and selling widgets. You need to keep track of who your customers are, your customer contact list. You need to record the sales you've made, generate invoices to send to customers so they know what they owe you, and record when...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cqz1gu	What is 'Simufilming' and what was the purpose of changing the frame rate in old movies?	This is in reference to the Wiki article for [South Pacific (1958)]( URL_0 .) It has to do with changing the frame rate of the film from 30fps to 24fps 'thereby eliminating "simufilming"' what was the purpose of doing this?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex160lh" ], "text": [ "\"Simulfilming\" means filming the same things on two different cameras at once. Originally, there were several standards for film- most used 35mm film at 24 fps, but there was also a \"high definition\" format, which used 70mm film at 30 fps. In order to get the two di...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cr25tw	How were film effects done before computers?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex18v3h" ], "text": [ "Stop motion cinematic photography. Over lapping film. Model scale filming. That’s for starters" ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cr29rn	How was film editing done before computers?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex1ak6m" ], "text": [ "Sound effects and audio work could be done with magnetic tape and analogue electronics. Freeze frames are just a simple matter of printing a single frame to multiple frames. On-screen text can be as simple as using a camera to photograph text produced by artists. Even t...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cr55vv	- the 2.4 and 5GHz channels on my modem/router.	What’s the purpose to have two channels to connect devices to? Is one more for phones/tablets and the other for PC/consoles? Does it matter? Should I split connected devices evenly or just overload everything onto one?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex1um8p", "ex1ums8", "ex1zkiu" ], "text": [ "A dual band router (one that can run on both 2.4 and 5Ghz) is beneficial for a couple of reasons. Your device is less likely to be affected by interference from other sources of radio waves as it can switch between frequencies. The second i...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cr7jx6	How are mobile devices powerful enough to send data?	How does a mobile device (eg: Smart phones) send and upload information and data to the internet? I’m aware that mobile data received comes from the transmission from local masts and aerial transmitters, and that the cellular device will have som kind of receiver within, but how on earth is the phone powerful enough to...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex2g30q", "ex2i0bu" ], "text": [ "First, the cell towers have a pretty big receiving antenna themselves. Even if your cell phone sends out a relatively weak signal, the cell tower can collect a lot of that signal. Second, your cell phone sends that information on a very narrow frequency b...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cr9gd3	why do CDs tend to have a higher quality than digital streaming like YouTube and Spotify?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex2x5ir", "ex375xr" ], "text": [ "Because streaming generally is compressing the data to save bandwidth, which degrades quality. Also more and more people tend to stream over bluetooth, which can also cause an additional drop in quality depending on hardware.", "Because they store mil...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cr9zae	4G cellphone service used to be the best option we had, and though it may not have been lightning fast by some standards, it still got the job done. Now that 5GE is available, having 3 bars of 4G can’t even load an internet page sometimes.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex38n0h", "ex3a6ss", "ex3hj78" ], "text": [ "For now, \"5G\" is more hype than reality with most areas and providers, and \"5GE\" doubly so. It's unlikely to have any impact, positive or negative, on your experience. As for why your 4G data connection may be poor, the most likely reas...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crarrw	The difference between a router, switch, hub, a bridge and a modem	These are all networking devices that I constantly hear about but I don't know what they do. And no matter how any webpages I visit, I still leave more confused than when I originally went looking.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex3wxyi", "ex3ich4", "ex3q1o5", "ex3gca6", "ex3j30p", "ex3zkxn", "ex3xjyj", "ex3b9n2", "ex3k8na", "ex455zg", "ex4rgdw", "ex42vc5", "ex3xrc7", "ex4sczi" ], "text": [ "Edit: Network traffic broken into packets, which you can think of like a le...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crcmq2	Why is the "T-Pose" the default pose used when animating 3D models? Why is this pose easier to work with then others?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex3tiac" ], "text": [ "The \"T-Pose\" isn't easier to animate with, the reason it was used it because it kept joints in the body away from other joints in the body (ie the upper arm bone, or humerus, is a good distance away from the spine bone, etc). This was useful for a couple reasons. For ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crcqkd	why do voices from robots/stuffed animals with sound chips break up when the battery is low instead of just dying?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex3vsre" ], "text": [ "The voltage may be low enough that the sound amplifier \"hits the roof\" and starts clipping the top/bottom of the waveform off, or the battery may not be capable of supplying enough peak current to satisfy the amplifier's needs at loud parts of the sound." ], "scor...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crd638	How do internet routers store routing tables, even though there are billions of nodes in the internet	So the way i think routers work are that there are "layers", each router has a table which stores either the interface in which the computer is connected, or "someone" who has access to it. If the router has neither of these, then it is passed up to a higher "layer" through it's default option, this process is repeated...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex3yeqa" ], "text": [ "BGP - Border Gateway Protocol Core internet routers exchange known routes using a protocol called BGP. When a router is connected to the internet core it establishes a relationship with it's neighbors and presents it's known or connected routes to the rest of the networ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crd86a	How do deepfakes work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex4les4" ], "text": [ "It consists of 3 parts. Encoder, which turns image into bunch of numbers. Then two decoders, that both can take that number string and turn it back into a picture. You train it in two separate ways. First you plug encoder into decoder A, and feed it pictures of person A...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crfetl	Joysticks (gamepads) no longer need calibration	When I was young (like actually 5) whenever I would play a game on my computer with a joystick I would always have to calibrate it. There would be a calibration section on every game where you'd move the stick to one corner then to the other. I can't remember the last time I've had to do this. It's been decades. Now co...	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex4pgpx" ], "text": [ "Standardization and driver advancement. It's the same with voice chat and dozens of other features. Operating systems now integrate video game support into their core functions which allows the games to call on those standardized drivers rather than having each game dev...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crgbxu	How do old videos/movies that are made with old technology get made into HD without being totally remade?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex4r2fy" ], "text": [ "These movies were recorded on film with negatives rather than to some kind of VHS-like tape medium. Each frame actually holds pretty high quality images. You can go back to the original film and re-scan the frames with higher quality digital equipment and produce HD vid...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crgv8g	How does a Pedometer (Step Tracker) app on a smartphone know how many steps I’m taking (and how many stairs I climb)?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex4xbex", "ex4yv0n" ], "text": [ "Combination of tracking your GPS movements and using the same sensors that check whether you want the phone in portrait mode or landscape to sense when you're stepping up and down. The latter is the same way your DS (if you had one) worked as a kid, and i...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crh06q	I've been seeing all of these Deepfake videos and I just don't get what they are. Please help.		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex4yxja" ], "text": [ "It's face swapping for video, using an AI tool. They're edited videos - someone will take an original video with someone's face in it, and use a tool to replace the original face with someone else's face of their choosing. It works by taking a whole bunch of images of t...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crhjjn	How do defective genes cause tremors and other neurological issues?	I am watching the Netflix show Diagnosis and this little girl has a broken chain in her KCNMA1 gene that is causing her to have temporary paralysis. How is a gene causing this and how do you fix gene defects? Did the defective gene mess up the way her brain developed or does it cause an over production of something?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex57h47" ], "text": [ "Genes are sort of like your body's source code. The code comes packaged as a long string of molecules called nucleotides, on a molecular structure known as DNA. This string of code is passed through another structure which uses that code to assemble proteins. Here's a v...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crimtl	how would the ‘life is a simulation’ theory work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex5iqnd" ], "text": [ "There is a distinct possibility that the entire universe we perceive is actually a simulation in some great computer. Evidence to support this type of theory is often very philosophical; for instance, if we assume that people in every universe build computers that simul...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crm2lg	How do compilers work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex6r61e" ], "text": [ "Assuming you mean in computer software engineering... A simple compiler can be fairly easily written from a literal interpretation of the language syntax rules. Generally the steps are: 1) Read the program as a series of \"tokens\", which are the individual symbols or k...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crmriv	How do pacemakers actually work?	I know the basics, that it senses when your heart is low and then gives it an electrical shock, but how does it do that? How does it sense your heart rate, how does it give the shock, and how does the battery last so long? I just got one put in, so I'm super curious, if anyone can explain! :)	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex7c2sb", "ex78pe9", "ex7j721" ], "text": [ "I have had a pacemaker for about 3 years. Most of the time, I don't even know it's there! A pacemaker, under normal conditions, works along with the heart's normal rhythm. Most people with pacemakers don't have complete failure of the heart...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
croazk	Why do renewable energy sources store excess energy in batteries instead of converting water into hydrogen and storing it		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex7ezcf", "ex7fxf6", "ex7i6st", "ex7ga09" ], "text": [ "Efficiency At 100% efficiency, you'd need 40 kWh/kg of hydrogen produced but in practice it takes us 50 kWh/kg so that's only 80% efficiency. Then you have to run it through a fuel cell to get electricity back out of it and f...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
croiuf	Why do consoles lock at 60fps and don't go higher?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex7h8s5", "ex7r7jo" ], "text": [ "A lot of them lock at 30 FPS actually; 60 FPS is generally a \"new\" trend for consoles. It's because consoles have standard system components and games are designed to run on consoles at standard settings without any room for deviation. So 30 FPS was the...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crrkel	What exactly were people afraid was going to happen during Y2K?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex8stp6", "ex8pern", "exa8k1h" ], "text": [ "It used to be common practice for developers to only assign 2-digits to represent a year, so 1988 would be stored 88. This was done to save memory, because memory used to be very expensive and saving a couple of digits here and there would ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crue9h	How can nuclear launches be detected and identified?	If Russia launches at The US, how does the US know that it was Russia?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex9i4ta", "ex9m4yl", "ex9nkfi" ], "text": [ "Between satellites and radar, it is pretty easy to track anything that flies like a rocket. Rocket exhaust is really hot, and infrared cameras in space can spot them launching. Once it is airborne, an ICBM flies up to the edge of space and ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crvd47	How can the power go out during a storm and then come back the next second?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "ex9w46i", "ex9vq9j" ], "text": [ "Lightning hits an overhead wire, and trips a breaker. The breakers are auto reset on the first trip, so the lights come back on after a second. If the fault is gone, like lightning, the power stays on. If the fault remains, like a tree on the wires, then ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crycu1	If transistors in computers act to switch off or on the flow of electricity, what mechanism acts to "decide" whether it should be switched?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exatqpn", "exbc5gd" ], "text": [ "Other transistors. Yes, this sounds circular, and it sort of is. At the very \"start\" of the system (I.e. startup) there are some circuits which are not controlled by transistors and are hard coded to do specific startup actions; but from there it's all ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
crydeh	Why haven't we adopted Electric Cars yet now that we know that they are more Eco Friendly and overall less costly than the regular ones?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exarqgj", "exaseke", "exarm1s", "exb0ist" ], "text": [ "Not everyone can afford to just buy a new car. They only just became affordable a few years and even then most people can't afford a new one. It took a long time just for the technology to become reasonable for consumer use, ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cs1g8i	why did WinRar become a thing if all Windows versions could read and make ZIP files?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exbr9ve", "exbsqz3" ], "text": [ "WinRAR has existed since 1995. Windows didn't get ZIP compatibility (known as \"compressed folders\" back then) until Windows XP, which was released towards the end of 2001. And even then it might have been something exclusive to XP Professional, not ever...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cs2iww	How does this power board connect to the wire?	There is this new project on Kickstarter, its an extension cable, but you are able to slide the power board anywhere along the length. How does the board access power through the insulation? URL_0	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exc2n3b", "exc3z0b", "exc34fh" ], "text": [ "Well, I can think of a few ways it could be done. I don't know that anybody here will be able to tell you how that guy did it. I will also mention that kickstarter is riddled with awesome ideas for things that could be done, but are actua...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cs4cxo	Do Map apps add stop signs and red lights into travel time? If so how?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "excgtlv", "exclg1i", "exch6k1" ], "text": [ "For each segment, the road between two places you could turn, there is an \"average travel time\". This ATT parameter includes the time spent at a stop sign and the average time spent at a traffic signal (it's plus 0 if the light is green a...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cs4e1z	Why is 720 pixel resolution the same across a phone, laptop, and tv? Shouldn’t the image become less clear as the format grows larger?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exchi2n" ], "text": [ "It does. But there's a bit more at play. Larger screens are typically viewed from further away and the distance makes it harder to tell. Being further away makes the pixels take up less of your field of view, which has the same effect as reducing the pixel size. The clo...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cs4eqx	In a pre-OS computer era, how did someone create a OS?	I mean, it seems pretty stupid, but I can't warp my head around this.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exckfb3", "excprmv" ], "text": [ "Well an OS is software, human readable code compiled by a program into numeric instructions that can be executed by a computer. But nothing stops a smart and determined human from reading the hardware documentation, which lists both the instructions and t...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cs4vi8	How do things like computer processors and all those black chips on circuit boards work exactly? What's inside them that does all the magic?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exck48f", "excjwwp" ], "text": [ "All those integrated circuits are full of transistors. These are little semi-conductor parts that use a fixed set of rules to calculate their outputs from their inputs. One of the signal wires running into those parts is called the \"clock\", and they can...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cs5ffu	who owns the internet?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "excp0m4", "excnf95" ], "text": [ "Nobody. The internet isn't a single thing, it's the collection of all computers connected together. The wires themselves that connect those computers together are owned by various companies, some private, some public.", "The wires connecting the diffe...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cs5qof	How does your phone turn overheard words or phrases into targeted ads?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "excuibn", "excpkob" ], "text": [ "The targeted ads are chosen based on a bunch of data they collect on you. While this is kind of creepy, it does mean that you get a tailored experience. As far as the spoken data, most of the cookies (or bits of information about you) are collected throug...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cs5s13	How do multifocal CONTACT lenses work?	I understand how normal progressive lenses work, where you basically look through particular part of lens, but with contact lens anywhere you look you look through it the same way, aren’t you?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "excq86w" ], "text": [ "The lens forms two images, one focused on near and one focused on far. Both images fall on the retina, and the brain interprets the brightest one. If you look at a small distant light, and then take your glasses off, you see a large blurred smear. This is the same numbe...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cs7bkr	How does ultrasound work?	What is the basic physics of ultrasound? How are the images produced and processed from just a probe?	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exdd6dx" ], "text": [ "Ultrasound, like any other sound, is a wave, and all waves show certain properties. For example, waves can bounce of different materials. The ultrasound probe contains what is basically a speaker and a microphone. The speaker generates ultrasound, which is sound with a ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cs7nw2	Why do WiFi signals fluctuate in a house when objects remain static?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exd6xlk" ], "text": [ "I'm not very certain about that, so maybe wait until someone else can ELI5 that. But one reason might be that signals from other sources on the same frequency might be interfering." ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cs8m15	What exactly is a ‘mod’ in video gaming?	I’m a big gamer but have only ever played console games, never PC. I’ve always known of the existence of mods whilst never knowing what they really are. Can anybody mod a game? Is it legal? Why do developers allow games to be modded? What does it allow players to do? Thanks!	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exd961p", "exdrxz5" ], "text": [ "So basically a mod, short for modification, allows you to alter something in the game. For example, in Starbound, the developers opened the game up the the modding community. People developed mods to add things like wine and beer making into the game, add...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cs94sl	How does an e-mail service decide if an email is spam or something important?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exdbzi9" ], "text": [ "SPF records with DKIM, DMARC, condition based spam filters(if sender unknown or when attachment is not allowed), Global Spam repositories. Depends what has been configured mostly. I know this because I failed to answer this question and missed the opportunity of a lifet...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
csbl67	Why are the ends of passenger jet wings typically curved upwards? Does the size matter?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exdtn6a", "exdttsx" ], "text": [ "The angled ends reduce vortex formation at the ends of wings. Air under the wings is under higher pressure than air over the wings, and so it tries to go around the wingtip from the bottom to the top. The fins at the wingtips block the air's path, making ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
csdj6l	What are the differences between different types of picture formats (jpg, png, gif, etc)? Are some better than others?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exe5qld" ], "text": [ "JPEG is a lossy-compression image format. What this means is that when the image is compressed, some of its details are discarded in order to make it take up less space. JPEG is designed to work on more natural pictures, mainly photographs, where close pixels tend to ha...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
csf7qw	How do headphones work? (As in how does electricity get turned into sound)		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exedn5d" ], "text": [ "Headphones are just speakers writ small, so let's discuss speakers. A speaker, fundamentally, is a cone of some sort of material, attached to something called a \"voice coil.\" The voice coil is essentially just a coil of wire wound around a frame. Electromagnetic theor...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
csffdk	Why can a computer take minutes to run a couple lines of code, yet can run complex things like games so quickly?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exefciv", "exeeq6u" ], "text": [ "Because \"Lines of code\" is not a good metric for how computationally intensive a piece of software is. Consider for instance the following code pieces. repeat(20){ print(\"Hello!\"); } and print(\"hello\"); print(\"hello\"); print(\"hello\"); print(\"he...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cshkbn	When Wi-Fi says: "connected, no internet" what's actually happening?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exeryk8", "exerwzc" ], "text": [ "You are on the local wi-fi network, but that local wi-fi network does not have an internet connection. Think of wi-fi like a bus you can get on, and the internet is the highway. You can get on the bus just fine... but the on-ramp to the highway is closed,...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
csizcb	How is possible that games like ES6 and GTA VI are being developed with hundreds or thousands of people but they can still keep it a secret?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exf17fm", "exfi4m3", "exf1m2d", "exfii5y", "exg1lvb", "exfzr7b", "exg43pb", "exg3ln2", "exfzxcr", "exfjp63", "exfjdmq", "exg1k2l", "exghibh", "exf1c07", "exg26si", "exf8x96", "exgo9z9" ], "text": [ "Employees have to sign non-dis...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cskphf	What exactly is WiFi? Why does accessing the internet on my phone without WiFi cost me data while being on WiFi doesn't?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exfcw0s", "exfd5py", "exfd83t" ], "text": [ "WiFi is just a wireless way to be on a local computer network (aka LAN, local area network). Before WiFi, you had to have a network cable plugged into your device. & #x200B; WiFi isn't technically free, whomever owns the network is paying a...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cskx6w	How do machines de-shell nuts like sunflower seeds and peanuts in massive quantities without harming the actual nut itself?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exfs14c", "exfql4s", "exgglqw", "exfstxm" ], "text": [ "It varies depending on the type of nut, but generally speaking they go through a machine with a rotating drum inside a stationary drum: the gap between the drums is slightly smaller than the whole nut with its shell but bigge...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
csl568	How does Object Oriented Programming work? What does it do and how is it effective?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exfhr1g", "exfi5jx", "exfhm41" ], "text": [ "Instead of step-by-step instructions to the computer about what to do, you create objects and instructions for each object for how to calculate things internally, and how to interact (externally) with other objects. For example, instead o...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
csm0mm	Why is speeds related to tech (like CPU, GPU, RAM speeds) are calculated in Hz? Why is it that we do not say how much data is processed in a given time. Like we do with wifi or network speeds?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exfliug" ], "text": [ "Hz is in cycles/second, or things that happen per second. For example, monitor refresh rates are expressed in hertz as they are # of screen refreshes per second. As such, these speed are indeed the same type of measurement used with WiFi and network speeds (also express...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
csm0n5	Why does the TV antenna work only when touched?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exfldv1" ], "text": [ "The human body can act as an antenna in certain circumstances. What's happening here is that you're putting your body into the loop, and you're conducting the signal through the antenna into the TV. It's harmless, don't worry." ], "score": [ 6 ], "text_urls"...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
csmhop	How do the continuously self cleaning door handles at hospitals work?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exfvk7a" ], "text": [ "There is a patent for this but I am not sure if they are actually used yet. I will answer a different question, if they are made out of copper then they are not self-cleaning but they are anti-septic. Copper is like kryptonite to a lot of micro-organisms." ], "score...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
csnovu	How do satellites work if they are just pointed in one direction and the earth is constantly rotating?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exfxpbt", "exfwxho", "exfwyfl" ], "text": [ "Satellites aren't stationary. They're orbiting the planet at many thousands of miles an hour. Gravity is trying to pull them straight back to earth, but since they have so much speed horizontally, they end up making a curved path. There is ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
csnq4q	what is end to end encryption in messaging apps? How secure is the data on these apps? What are the levels of security of messages sent on different messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Signal, Telegram, Discord, WeChat, LINE?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exg09lu", "exfzy34" ], "text": [ "End to End encryption simply means that the encryption is provided at the end points, i.e the app on the phone itself. When you add a new contact the two of you exchange keys, ensuring that the only people that can read your communications are you, and no...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
csq34u	How do companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft store all our personal data? How do they have enough space for it?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exggc9a" ], "text": [ "Giant rooms full of servers and disk storage. I mean giant. Data centers measured in millions of square feet. It's called the \"cloud\" because it may be based in many places across the globe. Amazon Web Services has been one of the largest cloud computing companies his...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cstyf1	Why is obscuring someone's eyes in a video or photograph enough to mask that person's identity?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exh0hbt", "exh0ngv", "exh0icy" ], "text": [ "The “triangle of recognition” is a triangle formed across the eyes then narrowing to the mouth. Take a leg off a tripod and it will fall over. Same for the way we best compare and recognize faces.", "It doesn’t do a great job, people ca...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
csunty	How can my radio pick up different radio frequencies and turn them into music which also contains frequencies.	I know radio waves are something else but I cant get my head around how my radio is able to switch frequencies.	Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exh5n1b" ], "text": [ "You know when you look at a graph that shows a consistent wave signal? We will call that the ‘carrier frequency’, the wave frequency that your radio will pick up and recognise as a channel. In AM (amplitude modulation) radio signals, the peak HEIGHT of those waves on th...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]
cszhch	What is raytracing?		Technology	explainlikeimfive	{ "a_id": [ "exhoocn" ], "text": [ "In the real world, a light source spits out light \"rays\" throughout the environment, with them bouncing around and with a few eventually entering your eyes. However, over 99% of them probably are not going to be seen by you, so with the limited computational power of ...	[ "url" ]	[ "url" ]

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