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cwtl85
What's the point of CC'ing someone in an email?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyevpqk" ], "text": [ "I usually CC a person in an email if the email isn’t direct to them, but I want them to be aware of the communication." ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cwu6ah
What is so hard about desalinization?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyf2vxg" ], "text": [ "It takes a lot of energy, or it takes filters that don't get clogged; it produces a lot of waste at large scales, and sucking huge amounts of ocean water up to process it also tends to be hard on the environment." ], "score": [ 7 ], "text_urls": [ [] ]...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cwxjjq
What happens when you delete a file from your computers memory? What happens? Where does it go? Does it get destroyed or zapped into non-existence?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyg8y3k", "eyg9yqb", "eyg8l0z", "eygdjir" ], "text": [ "You can think of your hard drive like a book. As you write information into the blank pages, your operating system updates the book's table of contents with the positions of the bits and pieces of the file. Computers don't li...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cx6pgq
Why do the batteries of (old) phones expand so crazy and destroy the phone?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyj49wh" ], "text": [ "It's designed to do that. Over time, the chemicals inside the battery will degrade which creates a buildup of gas, expanding the battery. The phone splits apart to allow room for this expansion or else the battery would just explode. If you replace the battery with a fr...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cx9a73
How come my car's satellite radio doesn't work inside my garage, but my alarm's FM radio works there?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyjpkvg" ], "text": [ "Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will give a better answer than I can, but in short... Satellite radio uses a much higher frequency radio wave, between 2- and 4- gigahertz, compared to terrestrial radio, which uses between 87.5 and 108.0 megahertz. Higher frequencie...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cxd3fa
How does the censor thing follow the thing that's being censored (e.g. number plates, faces) so smoothly on TV?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eykdqmp", "eyke3o8" ], "text": [ "Key framing. If the show isn’t live, it’s on the editing room. What a key frame is, it’s a marker you place for something, and you move the marker from one place to another, in a certain amount of frames. With TV shows, I would assume they have editors th...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cxfmdp
How are video games, new and old, able to detect when someone is using a pirated copy?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyksze5" ], "text": [ "Having worked on copy protection (and been a cracker on the C64/Amiga)... When you enter your license key, files are written to disk in \"hidden\" places that record a signature of your computer. This is usually generated from the disk serial number, MAC address of an E...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cxi9b0
How is the data from my online activity converted into targeted marketing?
I was recently trying to explain to a friend why I use a VPN, but given my lack of knowledge of how technologies work I was not capable. I'm not necessarily interested in targeted marketing, I'd like to understand: the different ways that we give data out on the web knowingly/unknowingly; what is done to this data; the...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eylx0sp" ], "text": [ "There are essentially 3 ways to track your computer on the internet: 1. Your computer has an 'address' so that other computers can send things to it (including web pages that your computer has asked them to send). This address isn't always constant/unique though. 2. You...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cxiwhl
How did we get to the point where laptops and smartphones are in the same price range?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eylks31", "eylccdh", "eylflsz", "eylistu", "eylnnbj", "eym25vd", "eylkg6k", "eylix30", "eyli545", "eylhwn2", "eylq4ax", "eym4ik5", "eylt899", "eyll4eu", "eyle59w", "eylv8ep", "eylkoi9", "eymaigy", "eylki7v", "eynz18u", "e...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cxlxz3
How do games "generate" what you see in-game, and tell graphics APIs (like OpenGL) where/how to draw it?
Sorry if the title made no sense but this hopefully will, I guess the first question would be: How do games "generate" the view of the game (aka what you see in the game, like in minecraft it could be trees, blocks, grass, etc)? What methods do they perform to somehow squeeze (based on maybe camera angles, FOV, etc) a ...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eym4pzn", "eym31nd" ], "text": [ "This is a pretty complex problem, but I can give an overview for a basic 3D engine. Every object in the game is made from a mesh of triangles. When the shapes in the game were originally designed, the vertices of every triangle were ordered. Based on the ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cxmkmk
How do emulaters work in gaming?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eym2ks0" ], "text": [ "In computing, an emulator is hardware or software (respectively physical object or downloadable application) that enables one computer system (called the host) to behave like another computer system (called the guest). An emulator typically enables the host system to ru...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cxt15i
How exactly is a CPU taught to process information?
I am talking about the first contact between the motherboard and the CPU. How does it know what gates to open? Do CPUs come with certain gates already charged so they start thinking as soon as they are powered on? Are they taught at the factories with some sort of special prearranged stencil? I have a very basic unders...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyn815a", "eyn99q8" ], "text": [ "It gets power from the motherboard and a signal to start. It then goes through a pre-defined startup sequence. It knows which pins to send signal voltags to, because that's all predefined for a particular socket. Through the signal pins, there is then a b...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cxtade
What happens to a notebook when you never shut it down completely?
I seldom shutdown my pc because I often have open tabs or programs which I am to lazy to save or to close, so I only use the battery-safe mode. Furthermore, when I shutdown my pc, it takes a long time till everything is loaded etc. I know that a notebook should not be used that intensively like a Desktop PC and shutdow...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eynhl36", "eyq0sl1" ], "text": [ "The simple answer is that the longer your computer runs, the more time there is for glitches in the system to happen. One glitch usually isn't a problem, but when you have 10 or 100 at the same time, it can be enough to cause some issues. When you restart...
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[ "url" ]
cxti7o
Why is restarting the computer often solves the problem?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eynf9vm", "eync88y" ], "text": [ "Programs or drivers can have bugs that causes the computer to lock up or have erratic behavior. Restarting the computer clears them out of memory allowing the computer to run as normal. If you can replicate the error by doing the same thing you were befor...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cxty5w
Why are magazines very typical for rifles, assault rifles, and pistols, but very atypical for shotguns?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyngny6", "eyndx12", "eynf8pq" ], "text": [ "Pump action and semi automatic shotguns do have magazines, they're just not usually removable. They're a tube magazine underneath the barrel. I'm guessing you're asking why are detachable box magazines uncommon. It's because shotgun cartrid...
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[ "url" ]
cxvlrt
Why do strange lines appear when you take pictures of a screen?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eynxbux", "eynpszw", "eynxf51", "eyo2psv", "eynxeq7", "eynpu66" ], "text": [ "on top of things that other people have mentioned, the two misaligned grids cause whats called a moire. the grids of your camera and computer screens are too small to make out with the human eye ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cxvzhl
What is the difference between “pasteurized” and ”ultra-pasteurized” milk, and why do some countries only have the shelf stable “ultra-pasteurized” kind?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyp6aym" ], "text": [ "Pasteurized: Heated to 145°F for 30 minutes (normal pasteurization) or 161.6°F for 15 seconds (flash pasteurization). Fridge stable for a couple weeks. UHT, or ultra-pasteurized: Heated to 280°F for 2 seconds. Shelf stable (unrefrigerated) for ~9 months. Not sure why so...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cxw2uq
Why do headphones seem to get quieter over time?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eynts2h", "eyo1vrk" ], "text": [ "If it’s the type that goes into your ear as opposed to going over your ear it’s usually earwax. Clean them out and they go back to being new", "I think its less in the technology and more in you. You get accustomed to listening to that volume that isn...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cxwbrt
How is a cell phone able to Make calls to 911 when its out of service.?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eynwolf", "eynv2g9" ], "text": [ "It depends on the kind of \"out of service\" you have. There are basically two. One is you are not within range of a tower than is owned by the company you use, or that has a sharing contract with the company you use. The other is that you are not physica...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cxwmep
why is nonstop loading such a common glitch among all apps/programs?
Being stuck on a loading screen seems to be universal.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eynxm5z" ], "text": [ "Usually the loading screen is displayed while loading assets to ram from an external source(hard disk, network, etc). If for whatever reason the loading fails(wrong paths, corrupted files, etc) than the loading process will never succeed thus the loading screen will con...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cy0ujv
How does information pass through the air? (ie, Wifi, television, phone calls, etc.) How did someone learn to do that? What? Science and technology literally blow my mind.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyoyt8h", "eypahix", "eyp54b6" ], "text": [ "Wireless communication usually uses radio waves, which are a form of electromagnetic radiation just like visible light is. While visible light is blocked by most solid materials, radio waves can pass through most substances to some extent, ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cy1x5k
What is the difference between MULTICS and UNIX?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eypa0ha" ], "text": [ "Historically? From the Wikipedia entry for [Unix]( URL_0 ): > The new operating system was a **single-tasking system**.[\\[10\\]]( URL_0 #cite_note-DMR-10) In 1970, the group coined the name *Unics* for *Uniplexed Information and Computing Service*(pronounced \"[eunuchs...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cy1xfa
Back then before everything like C++ and even HTML was around, how were video games for consoles like the NES developed?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyp5iof", "eypjvi6", "eyqo7yr", "eyqqnqt", "eypthp4" ], "text": [ "They were written in the 6502 assembly language. A few were written in C, but those apparently had a reputation for being slow due to the specs of the NES itself.", "The CPU in a console can read and perfor...
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cy34t6
Why do laptops never seem to have the same types of chargers like phones do?
Its as if every type of laptop has a different charger? Its so confusing when I have an Asus and my classmate, also with an Asus, can't use each others chargers. I was curious if there was some reason for it, or if its just for money. And if it is just for money, how come phone company don't do the same thing? There wa...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eypi4w5", "eyplcyv", "eypdzmc" ], "text": [ "There is light at the end of the tunnel. Many new mid/highend laptops take USB c chargers, the same as most new Androids", "There was never any gain in establishing a standard, so one never stuck. However, USB type C is gaining populari...
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[ "url" ]
cy3k0r
How do those hidden 3D object pictures work?
In the early 90’s hidden 3D object books and posters were very popular. Initially, they just look like random colors and patterns, but if you stare at them long enough you can see 3D images. How do they work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eypogbi" ], "text": [ "It's a technique called Single Image Random Dot Stereogram. It overlaps two images hidden in the pattern of random dots in such a way that when you focus correctly, each eye sees just one of the images. That creates an illusion of depth." ], "score": [ 6 ], ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cy3qjl
the meaning behind the term '8 bit' and what it entails.
The term 8 bit is thrown around a lot and I'm starting to wonder if it actually had a meaning to begin with. Also the reason I have to ask is cause I'm too young to know.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyphqbh", "eypidxh", "eyq3yg3" ], "text": [ "Computers run on a system of bits and bites. Represented in binary. 01010111 Ect 8 bit refers to how many bits you have to store an instruction in computer language. More bits means more complex things an be done.", "8-bit refers to som...
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cy4t4k
How do impact garden sprinklers work?
I always seem to observe those garden sprinklers that go CHK CHK CHK CHK CHK CHK CHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR and I can never piece together how they actually work and rotate. Please, explain this like I am 5.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eypqsnr", "eyppyb9", "eyq26ei" ], "text": [ "There's effectively 3 pieces to it, the base where you attach the hose, the nozzle where water comes out, and the impact piece. The impact piece had 2 arms which are angled to alternately catch the water, giving the back and forth motion. T...
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cy4w30
Is it possible to "fake upscale" a digitally-filmed 1080p movie to 4K resolution? If so, how?
Specifically, the question is about two of the Star...War.s movies (II, III) which were filmed digitally at 1080p. If Disney, with all of its resources and technology, were to re-release a collection of all the movies at 4K resolution, would it be possible for them to modify those two 1080p movies in a way that lets th...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eypy4u0" ], "text": [ "Yes, it is easy to upscale to any dimensions you desire. Just pick your choice of dozens to hundreds of interpolation algorithms to get the look you desire. No, it is impossible to recreate a high-resolution work from a low-resolution one. The same, low amount of \"qual...
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[ "url" ]
cy76q9
Why do Li-on batteries loose capacity when we fully charge them and why do they last longer if we keep them between 40 and 80 % charge?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyq63a4" ], "text": [ "Batteries run off of a chemical reaction that is easily reversed with electricity. Most reactions just won't work. When batteries are charged up to full, the reversed reaction starts to run out and side reactions start that render parts of the chemicals unusable. The sa...
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[ "url" ]
cy9lmi
why do magnets ruin Computer Monitors, phones, tablets, etc.?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyqi1oz", "eyqhiqu" ], "text": [ "Phones and tablets should be ok with almost any normal magnet. Hard drives and floppy disks use little magnetic zones to hold ones and zeros - magnets can change them and wipe them out. Old CRT TVs and monitors use magnets to steer an electron beam - addi...
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[ "url" ]
cyaiw6
Rather than use air conditioners that just move the heat around and use energy, why can't we extract the ambient heat energy of a hot room and convert that heat into usable energy ?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyqn4d0", "eyqoqgn", "eyqqf6i", "eyqqhn4", "eyqq3tm", "eyqqzih", "eyqnbx9", "eyqqx7f", "eyqqjlp", "eyqq6mi" ], "text": [ "You get energy when moving heat from a hotter place to a colder place. Power plants use fire or nuclear reactions for the hot place and...
[ "url" ]
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cybahy
how do prosthetic arms/legs work? How is the person able to control every joint?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyr5kwe", "eyqs5dl" ], "text": [ "Older motorized prosthetics were often controlled using switches inside the cup(? Not sure the proper term) that the amputee would manipulate with their stump.", "The really expensive ones, have been/are being developed with the help of neuroscience s...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cyd8lo
Why can't large scale dehumidifiers in humid areas be used as a viable source of potable water?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyr5tet", "eyr5qo6", "eyribw6" ], "text": [ "I guess it depends on your definition of viable. Really humid areas usually don't lack for water and there are way easier and cheaper ways of getting lots of water (collect rain, dewtrap, well,etc.). So you could do this, but it would be a ...
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[ "url" ]
cygdj9
what is torrenting and is it legal?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyrrj2r" ], "text": [ "100 people own Software ABC and want to \"share\" it. Each owner puts up 1% of their software information up for download. By torrenting it, you download 1% from each of the 100 owners and compile it together to form a full copy. It's illegal because it's essentially st...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cyj9fl
Why do so many sites contain anti-bot captchas? What purpose do the bots serve and why are they being regulated?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eysb29m", "eysbd3p" ], "text": [ "Bots can serve many purposes. One example is guessing peoples' passwords - if you get your password wrong two or three times then you may be asked to do a captcha. Another example is flooding a site with activity in hopes of giving the server too much to ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cykgsr
How people get to know which colour it is when they convert a black and white photo into coloured one?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eysj8d3", "eysj2d9", "eytfr2n" ], "text": [ "Partly research and partly guessing. Some elements may be obvious (brown wood, blue sky, skin tone, etc), some may be researched (most popular color of a certain year of car) and some is just a colorists’ choice.", "Someone just convert...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cypoh4
How do force shutdowns/restarts work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eytezwp" ], "text": [ "A normal shutdown gives programs time to save what they are doing and close down properly. A forced shutdown just forces everything to stop and close, regardless of what it was doing. It's like a bar at closing time. A normal shutdown is the bartender telling everyone t...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cyqx8d
When using Apple Pay how comes on the receipt it shows a completely different last 4 card numbers?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eytmrsq" ], "text": [ "It is security, to protect the actual card number. They don't use the actual number of the card, but the other one as a proxy." ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cyua58
Why is it that pictures of certain screens (usually backlit ones, like TV’s or laptop screens) get that kind of weird grid that moves when you look at it in the photo?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyu7wl9" ], "text": [ "It can be moire; likely it's due to the polarization filters that all LCD screens use. URL_1 URL_0" ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [ "http://www.bigshotcamera.com/learn/lcd-display/filter", "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moir%C3%A9_pattern...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
cyup2j
why does a DSLR take X time to process an X time exposure photo?
I was just taking a long exposure photo (30 minutes) with my eos 200d, and now as i stare at its useless form, with 'BUSY' being the only sign of life, i wonder why a photo will always take its exposure time to process. EDIT: to clarify, i understand how changing the exposure changes the brightness of an image, i don't...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyufblg" ], "text": [ "What it's doing is taking a [dark frame]( URL_0 ) Sensors are noisy, and over long amounts of time, the noise adds up over itself. Turns out this noise isn't completely random but develops patterns, because for instance there's circuitry around and behind the sensor. Yo...
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[ "url" ]
cyuvhc
How does screen auto-rotate work on the iPads aboard the International Space Station?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyugmbq" ], "text": [ "In a pure zero-G environment, auto-rotate wouldn't work, due to the iPad's accelerometers reading a constant 0. There \\*might\\* be enough microgravity in the ISS to make it work, but it wouldn't surprise me if it didn't. In Xcode, one of the first screens you're prese...
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[ "url" ]
cyxb4z
does it matter if i power off a device from its power source or use the switch button (devices with on/off switches, not TV)
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyuy90d", "eyuyynl", "eyuty9i", "eyuu162" ], "text": [ "If a device has a power switch, best to use it. Some cases it doesn't matter at all, but other times it does. Sometimes there is a clock or configuration data that will need to be reset after a hard power off, and even if you...
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[ "url" ]
cyxsw6
- How are color assignments made for remastered movies that were originally in black and white?
Is it by choice or is there are way to decipher color based on the tone of black and white?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyuv73d", "eyuyum7", "eyv570j", "eyve25x", "eyv1swu", "eyv4mz2", "eyv515b", "eyuxouj", "eyvcidf", "eyvfpkj", "eyv7t85", "eyv60h1", "eyvv1pm", "eyvhycs", "eyvrn5o" ], "text": [ "Sometimes there are surviving costumes or props or even sets...
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cz3dkj
How does x-ray work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyvruvy" ], "text": [ "Some light is really small and can pass through the gaps inbetween the molecules that make up the meaty parts of your body, but not the bones. The bones are much denser so they block the x-rays. If you shine a bunch of x-rays at the body, you can see a \"shadow\" where ...
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cz3g9y
why are you able to turn on devices after they have supposedly ran out of charge?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyvsd6b", "eyvv3d9" ], "text": [ "Using a cell phone as an example, 0% isn’t actually 0. Batteries have operating levels and a fully drained battery is garbage. Usually they get down very low and cut off until recharged to protect the cell. With that in mind, phones shut off at 0-5% displ...
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[ "url" ]
cz3mgq
How do touchscreens work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyvtkwz", "eyvtice" ], "text": [ "there are two (main) types of touchscreens: resistive and capacitive. Both have a grid under the glass and they sense where your finger on the glass is. Resistive: When touched, the screen bends a little bit in the point where you touched it. It changes r...
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cz6fac
How do police radar/laser speedometers work while the police car is already in motion?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eywar6g", "eywb18i", "eywbgr3", "eywg5iy" ], "text": [ "They subtract the speed the police car is driving at from the speed that they measure with the radar speedometer, which gives them the speed the other car is going. Edit: If the other car is driving the opposite direction tha...
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cz8f09
How do videogame textures work?
I understand that a mesh is the shape of the "object" and the texture is applied on that mesh. When viewing texture files they seem to be the images of the texture but jumbled up. How is the texture file applied to the mesh and how is it decided which part of that texture image goes where?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eywpw13", "eywp64k" ], "text": [ "You know how before you recycle a cardboard box, you have to flatten it out? Same idea in a 3d mesh; you take all of the faces and lay them out on a flat surface where the textures get added on. The difference being that with a box, the goal is to get the...
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[ "url" ]
cz9jc1
Why Are HDMI Speeds > 1gbps But Internet Streaming 4k is < 40mbps?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyww742", "eywwcz3", "eyww81m" ], "text": [ "HDMI carries raw signal, e.g. exact color for each pixel for every frame. All the screen has to do is show it. 1920W×1080H×24fps×16 bits per pixel = 800 million bits per second = 0.8 Gbps [edit: better informed people below say it will be e...
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czer4e
How do they make those music videos where the video seems slow motion but the singer keeps in sync with the song?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyy6gxf" ], "text": [ "Usually on set for the video, they play a sped up version of the song and the singer lip syncs to it so it in post they can slow it down to normal speed and it looks like it's in slow motion." ], "score": [ 6 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
[ "url" ]
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czfhg5
Why is it a really bad idea to put dead or mostly dead batteries in a device with fully charged batteries?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyy239g", "eyy25ol", "eyy4fl0" ], "text": [ "As battery charge is used up, resistance increases. Fresh batteries with low resistance, pushing voltage through dead batteries with high resistance may cause it to heat up and leak. It could also cause a short in the battery, which would r...
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czg6qg
The speed limits vary from 10-70 mph, with the highest speeds only being found on the interstate. My SUV can go up to 160mph. What is the point in allowing cars to go that fast if it’s illegal to actually attempt? Why aren’t general cars just capped to 80 mph? Would it not save money?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyy5two" ], "text": [ "There are some highways in Europe without speed limits, or with much higher limits. German Autobahn comes to mind. You could race cars on private tracks. Some people do enjoy breaking speed limits. Speed limit could be indication of engine power. If empty car can do 160...
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czgpf3
Why will a gif play normally the first time but may stop and need to load when it repeats?
I often see gifs on Reddit and then go to show my wife only to have the gif get stuck loading on the 2nd play through. Shouldn't the gif be completely loaded after the first time it plays all the way through? This happens on mobile and PC
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyydlzf" ], "text": [ "When you create a gif in Photoshop or similar programs, you can determine if the gif should loop once, twice or over and over. The other possibility would be the browser or OS you are using as certain preferences could limit the times a gif would loop." ], "score": ...
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czgvu2
Why are solar panels made of blue coloured materials, not black, even though Black materials tend to absorb more heat?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyyaxzb", "eyyb1cj", "eyybs0o" ], "text": [ "Basically because of the materials. There are both blue and black solar panels, but blue ones are cheaper to make and easier (with lower carbon footprint) because they are what’s called “polycrystalline silicon” where the silicon is heated ...
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czl8hg
a software application I use for work says it is Version 11.0.5.7.1378212. Why would the version # have such a high degree of precision?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyz0xjs", "eyz0096", "eyyzg0u", "eyzavgl" ], "text": [ "In software development, we like to keep track of *every* code change. We do this for the same reason scientists keep record of all their notes and observations, even if they're incorrect. It's important to be able to go back...
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czm5lf
How come we don’t have any small underwater rebreathers that can extract oxygen from water like gills?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyz5mef", "eyz5e5j", "eyzcsec", "eyz6r1a" ], "text": [ "The human body requires far more oxygen than a small, man-portable device can extract from the water. Our evolutionary ancestors have been living on land for hundreds of millions of years and our bodies have in that time adap...
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czm82g
Why do some electronics connect to cell phone via bluetooth, while others create a wifi network that you then have to connect your phone to
for example, my dashcam and my OBDII reader both create a wifi network and I have to then go to my phone's setting and choose that wifi network. Is there some benefit to connecting via wifi over bluetooth?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyz7ljo", "eyz66po" ], "text": [ "Wifi is around 10X faster than even the latest bluetooth connections. & #x200B; Bluetooth is an incredibly secure device-device link but sacrifices speed because of this.", "I may be wrong but I don't think Bluetooth has the capabilities to move large...
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czmevk
How does the device that make things vibrate work? Is it the same thing but bigger/smaller for cellphones, game controllers, dildos, etc?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyz78fj", "eyz7f6q", "eyz7loh" ], "text": [ "Usually, a motor with an unbalanced weight attached to it is used to make vibrations. As the motor spins, it swings the weight around which causes vibrations in the motor/shaft/anything else they're attached to. Higher frequency vibrations ...
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czn354
What does HTTPS keep secret, and what does it not?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eyzc46h", "eyzc4wp", "eyzcgic" ], "text": [ "Think of it as sending a postcard vs sending a letter. With http, anyone can see your entire message. With https, people will see the To and From fields, but they can't open it to view the contents.", "* https encrypts the information y...
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czt8bc
How do batteries work and how do they run out of juice?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez0wguy" ], "text": [ "In a battery, a chemical reaction takes place that puts electrons on one electrode and sucks them out of the other one. When too many electrons pile up on one side or are missing from the other, the repulsion of electrons to electrons and protons to protons stops the re...
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czvb3j
why is my screen bright even with a pure, pitch black image being shown fullscreen?
So I use this video to sleep, a rain sound effect with a black screen to avoid messing up with light. However, even though it's pitch black and literally displaying nothing, the screen is still bright has hecc and brightens up my entire room. Why is it like that? Shouldn't black be, well, black? No color, no light?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez2avgp" ], "text": [ "The screen (unless it is OLED) has a backlight used to shine through the colored pixels. If there was no backlight it would be black all of the time." ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
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d00265
What is the process of emulating a console exclusive game, such as Bloodborne, to a PC playable game?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez4i1ss" ], "text": [ "There's two parts to this: First: Any computer program, whether it's a game or a \"regular program\" (and consoles are just specialized computers), is eventually just a series of \"commands\" for your processor. We call those instructions. There's quite a number of diff...
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d0485x
How phishers get password information.
I recently got a phishing email that contained a portion of an old password that I used to use and I was wondering how they managed to get it.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez601xk" ], "text": [ "Probably they get any leaked database and they create their own table with a list of emails and passwords and spam every email from that list. For example if the leak was a database of facebook, they send you to change the password of PayPal and use your password they f...
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d0894m
Given that currents can throw a boat off course, how did submarine navigators know precisely where they were while submerged pre-GPS?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez7k5nf", "ez7mdsw", "ez7nuyc" ], "text": [ "Compass bearings, knowledge of the currents, and dead reckoning. Prior to nuclear power submarines spent most of their time on the surface because their batteries had very limited endurance. So they could regularly take star sightings and u...
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d08ycv
Why did fuel cell technology seemingly disappear as a possible alternative to gas/petrol in vehicles?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez7zdzq", "ez7wbsr", "ez7zjrr" ], "text": [ "Hydrogen has a *lot* of problems, most of which stem from the fact that as the smallest and lightest element, it is very difficult to effectively contain and transport. It simply leaks out of *everything*. Not to mention the fact that it's ...
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d0copl
How do IP addresses work?
What is one and how do they work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez8nhkn" ], "text": [ "Ip addresses point to devices on a network like addresses point to houses on a street. Obviously it gets deeper than that but its a large subject, came you be more specific on what aspect youre curious about?" ], "score": [ 6 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
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d0d3zk
How do licences on software with no internet know when they will expire even if you change the clock date?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez8ppjx" ], "text": [ "When I dabbled in programming my application wrote a registry entry containing the date that the software was installed and last used. When the program started it checked the system date and time and if it was before the installed or/and last used date then it assumed y...
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d0egcw
Why do electric cars not have solar panels on their roofs to recharge the battery when parked?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez8wcum", "ez8x0ta", "ez90e9h", "ez92x4c", "ez9b29c", "ez92dbr" ], "text": [ "It's a size vs efficiency issue. The roof is not large enough to do an adequate amount of charging in many situations. However, the Prius added an option a few years ago that you can get a solar ...
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d0folj
CPU cache.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez96cxn", "ez9ftqx" ], "text": [ "Imagine you're in an office, and there's a bunch of files in the basement that you regularly need to bring up to your desk. Now because you're lazy and don't want to run downstairs all the time, you copy the files each time before you bring them back down...
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d0fpoi
why is "hand-made" synonymous with high quality?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez937q0", "ez93d9u", "ez966ff", "ez99cl2" ], "text": [ "It implies that the builder, creator, manufacturer paid an attention to detail that can be missed on an assembly line.", "It's marketing mostly, yeah. It's an implication that there's extra attention to detail, a break aw...
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d0fsz7
Why is it necessary to wait some time before turning something on after turning it off in order to make it work again?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez93u0e", "ez95b32" ], "text": [ "Mostly found with electrical devices. Leaving it off for a bit allows all the left over electricity inside the system (batteries/capacitors/relays/etc.) to pass causing some parts to lose their memory. So when you turn it on again everything starts up fro...
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d0gpg8
Why doesn’t GPS work underwater?
If a satellite can pinpoint my location from SPACE, how come a (relatively) small amount of water prevents GPS from working?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez9a45u", "ez9m80y", "ez9b2x4", "ez9pv0e", "ez9al7y" ], "text": [ "Water absorbs radio waves across a considerable band of wavelengths. It's so good at this that your microwave oven can quickly boil water by pelting it with radio. Since the GPS is relying on radio communicatio...
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d0ivw2
How web apps like Akinator works?
Where they are gathering such big ammount of data? How he managed to do the trick at the very begginig?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez9wmyg", "ez9qphr" ], "text": [ "Well, it can gather a lot of data from the players. It's also not always right. If you consider 3 options for each of 20 questions (yes, no, other) There are already billions of different conclusions you could reach. Assuming you pick your questions well ...
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d0j4qi
What are beam forming microphones and how do they work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ez9uj29" ], "text": [ "Beamforming microphones are microphones designed to listen for sound from a specific direction. This is done by comparing the sound received by various microphones in slightly different places to separate the \"noise\" from what you're listening for." ], "score": [ ...
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d0l4py
Other than banking info, how is stolen data valuable to a hacker?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezaacj1", "ezaa41l", "ezaabdn", "ezaf1e7", "ezab5k9" ], "text": [ "A user often uses same or similar passwords. So if Armorgames database gets hacked, it is certain that some users used the same passwords on their Gmail accounts, or Facebook etc. Other than that, the data itse...
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d0ma2s
In C#, why is the ‘float’ type only accurate to 7 digits? Why do you have to put an ‘F’ at the end of the value?
Explain in the simplest way possible because I’m dumb and a complete beginner
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezalp2b" ], "text": [ "The standard format for floating point numbers is IEEE 754. For a 32-bit float (as opposed to a 64-bit double), this would mean 1 bit for the sign, 8 bits for an exponent and the remaining 23 bits for the mantissa. 23 bits of mantissa can represent a range of values fro...
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d0n6vf
How do electronics with no moving parts degrade over time?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezatboq", "ezatryz", "ezau0or", "ezasw2d", "ezauh6d" ], "text": [ "I'm told that a lot of it comes down to thermal cycling and mechanical vibrations. Electronics are made of a bunch of different components fit together on a microscopic scale. Changes in temperature cause these...
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d0o966
How does games sync up NPC so accurate?
Like in GTA V, every car, motorbike, even single NPCs are at the same place at the same time for all the player on the server.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezb3yzc" ], "text": [ "Server sends every player's computer a data packet containing information like an NPC's coordinates and clothes." ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
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d0o9ea
What do all these companies use my data for?
I've read some articles and papers here and there but I'm still fuzzy on some points. So I know some companies have my data. My mundane, trivial, freaky and sometimes grotesque data. What do they use it for? Aside from using it to target the right ads my way. I don't mind a personalized experience in the appropriate se...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezb3yy5", "ezb64lb" ], "text": [ "The data is used to assess your credit risk in various situations, or to partition large groups of people for targeted services or investigation. A lot of data has historically been collected on the assumption that it may someday be valuable. Big Data is ...
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d0qc0f
Nothing is ever truly gone on the internet. Why is that?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezbz2eh", "ezcfkxh" ], "text": [ "Contrary to that saying, lots and lots \"goes\" from the internet all of the time, it's actually a huge problem for people who care about preserving information and history. Fortunately there are more and more archival sites, but they still struggle for f...
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d0qkqp
Why do gas stations ask us to turn off our mobile phones? Why is there a risk of explosion if we are using our mobile phone in gas station?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezbs7j0", "ezbwtja" ], "text": [ "There was a theory back in the day that mobile phones could cause a spark or an electrical current some how that will cause gasoline vapors to ignite. There was no evidence that backed it up and Mythbusters actually did a test on it and confirmed it would...
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d0s21m
How does cross platform gaming work? What is the path of data across platforms?
EDIT: To clarify, I mean PC to Mac or even PC to Console gaming.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezcpahz", "ezdugba" ], "text": [ "I assume you are talking about multiplayer games, where say Windows users can play with Mac users. Essentially, when you play a multiplayer game, the game sends out some data to the company servers. The company servers then sends back some data (like othe...
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d0tksb
Why did India just fail a moon landing when 50 years ago humans landed there successfully?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezdd259", "ezdj7tp", "ezdgsld", "eze4ynh" ], "text": [ "During the [fine braking phase] ( URL_1 ) India lost radio communication with their moon lander. This prevented the spacecraft from being given appropriate adjustments to land properly. It probably attempted landing at too hi...
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d0usa7
What are Thorium reactors?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezecp7e", "ezehwjg", "ezezl4y", "ezecm76", "ezemy44" ], "text": [ "They make their nuclear fuel “just-in-time” from widely available thorium, which itself is not useful for nuclear weapons or appealing for use in dirty bombs. Thorium reactors essentially “burn” through a poten...
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d0uv31
how do car radios receive the title and artist information for songs playing on the radio? Why does it sometime lag and display the wrong information?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezeeyrl", "ezefa6s" ], "text": [ "When radio stations propagate sound there is also hidden digital data that can by only \"heard\" and decoded by receivers with RDS standard. They are lagged mostly because of loss of data packets.", "There is a system called RDS that transmits the inf...
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d0w6xc
When describing computer components, I've heard the term architecture referenced several times before. What does it mean?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezejuw1", "ezej454" ], "text": [ "Architecture refers to the structural design. Every couple years a CPU/GPU manufacturer will release a new chip that has it's internal layout and configuration changed significantly, this is a new \"microarchitecture\" Sometimes they just shrink a process...
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d0wx3m
How does the signal between a drone and the controller/headset not lose connectivity?
I've seen people race them and fly a drone through buildings at high speeds; how does the connection remain so strong between the drone and the headset? Particularly at such a fast rate that drone pilots can fly the drones with very quick reactions to what they see?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezf2y6k", "ezfnndc" ], "text": [ "radio waves travel at the speed of light, interference can cause problems but think of it this way, the time it takes the light from your car lamps to hit whatever is in front of the car is how fast the signal travels through air.", "It takes relative...
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d0y1qb
How you record on cassette tapes, and how there are cassette tape that are converted to be an aux cord.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezf94jn", "ezf97ro" ], "text": [ "Cassette tapes work as a medium of magnetic particles. The arrangement of the particles can be read by the head of the player (which is just an electromagnet) Similar to the binary dots burned into a CD or the raised grooves of a record. This is how the i...
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d1158q
how can an untivirus know a software is a virus?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezg0ra2" ], "text": [ "It’s simple, they can look up from a database ( that’s why it’s important to keep your anti-virus up to date, even Windows Defender ), or they can see if they’re doing suspicous things ( if something is trying to delete System32 it’s pretty safe to say it’s harmful )" ...
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d17dtf
why do people have grass for roofs?
I see this constantly in certain European counties, and mostly in villages, but still, why? Is it ascetic, or is there an actual purpose for these type of roofs?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezi9k36", "ezibb5y" ], "text": [ "green roofs keep ur house cool, produce oxygen, save money on shingles, reduce stormwater and its good for our health to be surrounded by nature", "Sod roofs are waterproof, heavy (which is good for a log house), reasonably good insulators, and made o...
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d184w0
What's a DDOS attack?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezim18m", "ezin6uw" ], "text": [ "DoS = Denial of service. DDoS = Distributed denial of service. Imagine a fast food joint. Normally the cashier says \"Hi! How can I help you?\" when they're ready. Instead of that imagine you just rock up and go \"Yo. Big Mac.\" and they're just ready for...
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d18ld1
how can hackers read emails in transit? In addition to phishing for account details and accessing someone's email account directly, is it possible for hackers to "read" ongoing email communication that is not encrypted?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "eziw3b1", "eziy6vh" ], "text": [ "They either need access to your machine (easiest), access to your mailserver via your credentials (super easy) or access to the server itself (med), be your ISP (lol) or set up a man in the middle (hard), or have access to the mailserver or machine of the...
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d1bzu1
Huge Cranes
How do they move those huge cranes. Its been haunting me for years.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezk79gl" ], "text": [ "Cranes build themselves by raising their top section up on stilts and then lifting a piece of it's 'neck' up and then into the open section. You can see a video of this happening here. Outside of that, they're just moved to building sites in large chunks by trucks or tr...
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d1ev6b
How is it that adverts always load quicker/more easily than everything else?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezl73z4", "ezl4nob" ], "text": [ "Since ads are going to be fed to just about everyone they are stored on a local server. Take your example of Instagram say you are looking up your Aunt Mable's cats account. You may well be the only person in your area looking at it so the data has to be ...
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d1fd3a
How can someone DDOS servers of multibillion dollar company (Blizzard) and how hard is to track the person who does it?
Ok so like two days in a row there is someone DDOSing Blizzard WoW classic servers. How can someone does this to such a big company? They have so many resources. And how hard is it to track the person who does this? I rly dont understand why would anyone do this in a first place, will the person go to jail for this or ...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezl7t5e", "ezl3jpm", "ezltwsu", "ezl1ytt", "ezlzdt9", "ezlxnd0", "ezlwu6v", "ezmk9v0", "ezm1167" ], "text": [ "The \"D\" in \"DDOS\" stands for \"distributed\", and it means that there are many computers on the attacking side. Those can be from a botnet where t...
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d1jtkj
Why is an emulator required to play Playstation/Xbox/Nintendo games on a PC?
After all, doesn't a PC contain all of the same components as video game consoles? (Hard drive, GPU and CPU, etc.)
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezmg8kt" ], "text": [ "PCs and game consoles both contain CPUs, yes, but they speak different languages. You need an emulator to translate back and forth between console-speak and PC-speak." ], "score": [ 8 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
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d1ks5g
How do computer applications like windows media player actually play sound and video?
Can anyone familiar with this explain how these programs work? Like what is the process that the program goes through when its fed a .MP3, .JPG, or .AVI file for example?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezmyhzf" ], "text": [ "So, graphics and sound are stored and played somewhat differently. So, first let's break down that process. For video or images, the data essentially describes a grid. Imagine a mosaic of tiles - different colored tiles can be placed next to each other and, when you loo...
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d1p1cg
How are QR codes maintained without any repetition?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezp4kq6", "ezomxtg", "ezomw56" ], "text": [ "QR codes are just a different way of writing stuff down so it is easier to read for computers. You can easily make any sort of QR-code that says whatever you want. A common thing to write with QR codes are URLs (the addresses you type into ...
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d1pxh7
How is fMRI done when physical tasks are required?
For example, a book I’m reading talked about a neuro-psych study done where brains were mapped while the subjects completed repetitive/boring tasks, allowing their mind to wander. Another study I read about mapped brains in people with certain types of pain immediately after exercising. How are images captured when phy...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezp0zr5" ], "text": [ "For the images to be sharp you only need for the head to be still, or more specifically the brain. The rest of the body can still be moving around and the patient can even move his eyes and mouth without impacting the image quality. If it is hard for the patient to keep...
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d1q5h3
Why do older emulated games still occasionally slow down when rendering too many sprites, even though it's running on hardware thousands of times faster than what it was programmed on originally?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ezp45e9", "ezph671", "ezp4hbq", "ezpm7ns", "ezpbod1", "ezphl7n", "ezpnvdh", "ezp4hi2", "ezphin3", "ezpq3ot", "ezph2td", "ezpr37d", "ezpr0zb", "ezpj6tx", "ezqhcnb" ], "text": [ "A lot of old games are hard-coded to expect a certain proces...
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