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d6cxxf
Why does a link in a Word document takes too long time to open when clicked in?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0ry770" ], "text": [ "Because Microsoft Word is not a web browser. So when you click the link it has to take time to open the web browser before it actually searches the url and opens the page. Just a guess." ], "score": [ 3 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d6fn2e
How can two videos of the same length and the same resoklution have different sizes?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0slukx", "f0so256" ], "text": [ "Different encoding or compression protocols. Video isn't stored as raw data - those files would be massive for even short videos. Instead, the videos are encoded into different formats, which eliminate much of the raw data to reduce file size with differi...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d6idpt
How can DJs jump around on stage without their records skipping?
I'm watching an old video of Fatboy Slim doing a show on Brighton Beach, and he's up on stage moving around pretty good, even jumping at times. Not to mention the bass of the music itself. And the music keeps going without ever skipping. Meanwhile, when I'm listening to LPs, it seems like the slightest movement will ma...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0tdf6b" ], "text": [ "Former club DJ so I can speak to this. While not nearly as many DJs still use vinyl as they used to, some still do, and prior to the invention of CDJs and serato, they all did. Proper nightlclubs and venues would go to great lengths to isolate acoustic vibrations from t...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d6irzy
Why does playing a video on my PC not have any lag or stutter, but playing a game does?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0terke", "f0tel8c" ], "text": [ "It's the same reason it's much more difficult to paint a picture than to look at one. With a video (which is just lots of pictures played one after each other very quickly), the work of making the pictures and stitching them together has already been done...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d6j7tg
How does google maps know when you're riding a motorcycle and when you're driving a car?
Google is 90% accurate in this
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0tjw5o" ], "text": [ "It uses the accelerometers and motion sensors built into the device on which it's being used. For instance, when going through a smooth turn at speed, a motorcycle will always lean. It has to lean to turn, and Google knows this, so it can look for trends like this." ]...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d6lc9m
How did germ theory and half decent medicine take so long seemingly compared to other sciences to develope and become accepted.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0u0wq4", "f0u1ml6", "f0vaq2f" ], "text": [ "This can be summed up with the classic: seeing is believing. Germs are so small that it takes highly specialized equipment to see them and we’ve only had access to such equipment since about 1600’s. During this time people were much more re...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d6lgy7
How do we make paper out of trees?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0u1hye", "f0u37vi" ], "text": [ "Paper mills liquify the pulp of the tree and turn it into thin slices. Paper reverts to its pulpy state when it gets wet.", "Trees and plants are very fibrous. We take trees, grind them onto a pulp, spread it very thinly through fine mesh, and then co...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d6mqcn
Why we cannot trace unsolicited phone calls from scammers, phishers, criminals and criminals so that we know their exact location and the origin of the call?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0uga5e", "f0uitdo", "f0ugw1u", "f0ukrs4", "f0uf4cz", "f0ukr8b", "f0udku7", "f0ujq7j", "f0ukvez", "f0uolql" ], "text": [ "The telecom companies can but don't. The telco allows people to select their own callerID on VOIP-based phone systems. They don't have ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d6p0mf
How did credit cards work before the internet?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0uto56", "f0uthx2", "f0uu2n8" ], "text": [ "It depends on the era. The modern credit card is mostly traced to the Diners Club card. Basically, some dude was eating out and forgot his wallet and that *was super embarrassing* (his wife had money on her person so he was fine but still e...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d6racu
In the event of a power outage at a hospital, how do people on life support, in surgery, or otherwise actively dependant on a particular machine survive? Is this just a risk associated with being on the machines? Do hospital generators activate without a lapse between them and the main power?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0v51qf", "f0v51xn" ], "text": [ "Hospitals do have generators but usually they are on cold stand by and not running immediately when the power goes out. Some hospitals who invested a lot in keeping their stuff up to date have batteries for the most essential machines to bridge the time u...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d6umue
How do phone companies release phones that are so similiar when they have 2-3 years in development behind the scenes?
the new iPhone 11 and google pixel 4 both have the camera clump in the top left. As-well as with the S8 (?) and the pixel, the finger print scanner was moved to the back. So many companies ditched the headphone jack within the same year. along with so many other changes that happened in the same year. How does this hap...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0vkuo9" ], "text": [ "Phone development is spurred by consumer wants. Because most consumers look for the same things, they design phones around those. Ditching the headphone jack could also be seen as a money-making opportunity. Companies have only ditched the headphone jack when they are s...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d6w9u4
In a first person shooter, how is the video game able to track the trajectory of a fired bullet and its interaction with online players in real time?
Apologies if this isn’t an easy question to answer without programming knowledge, but as a casual gamer I’ve always been very curious about this. Thank you for any replies!
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0vuz6i", "f0vuv3r" ], "text": [ "For simple bullets, there is no trajectory tracked. What they do is called hitscanning. Basically they treat your gun as a laser pointer and wherever it is pointing is what is hit. Internally, it draws an imaginary line from your gun to some boundary, the...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d6xac4
Why do computers never show the correct file transfer time and keeps on changing?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0w1hvb", "f0w24f3" ], "text": [ "So when a computer shows you the time remaining in a file transfer, it's the result of calculations done by the computer to forecast how long the file transfer would take if *the transfer speed at the time of the calculation remained constant until the en...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d73m9e
How is a yellow-ish filter on your screen helpful for eye comfort on phones?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0xaqbs", "f0xb7q2" ], "text": [ "Blue light is the strongest out of all colours; using the opposite, yellow light, puts less strain on the eye because it is not as strong.", "It removes the blue light from your screen. Blue light is hard on the eyes, but also the trigger for your bod...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d745y6
how does closed captioning work and why is it usually F’d when it comes to legibility?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0xdu2a", "f0xdto2" ], "text": [ "I have a cousin who does CC for live TV and seminars, and she repeats what the speaker is saying into a microphone slowly, and some dictation software interprets it and prints it on the screen. This is done live, so if the software misunderstands her or s...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d74l54
how do cars know the outside temperature when they're driving down the road at 100kmh? Does the wind not effect the readings?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0xg9lc", "f0xg80a", "f0xnreo", "f0xjekv" ], "text": [ "Wind does not cool things innately, it just tends to help things of different temperature cool or heat faster by replacing the air nearby with new air that hasn't been changed in temperature via conduction. The thermometer wi...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d77510
How do you reward A.I in reward based learning / What do you reward them with?
I read [this]( URL_0 ), and the part that caught my eye primarily was "It’s the latest example of how much can be done with a simple AI technique called reinforcement learning, where AI systems get “rewards” for desired behavior and are set loose to learn, over millions of games, the best way to maximize their rewards....
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0xvn6l", "f0xwb0c", "f0xvaxv" ], "text": [ "You give them a number as a reward. They're designed to repeat behaviors that give them a larger number. This is at the level of a dopamine response in a worm rather than any kind of reward we'd typically use.", "So the 'reward' being r...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d77vmk
what is an apk and how does it differ from apps downloaded from the app store even though they could be the same app
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0y4czf", "f0xywwq", "f0yer46" ], "text": [ "the APK is a package that constains the software (\"the app\"), various data, permission flags, as well as instructions on how to install & deinstall for your phone. An \"app store\" is a piece of software that distributes those APK, it spe...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d78ibq
how do mobile phones increase GPS accuracy by proximity to WiFi networks?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0y4kt9" ], "text": [ "They don't so much increase accuracy, as rule out a number of possible locations while you only have a small number of satellites acquired by matching the information about Wi-Fi in range of you to a list of known Wi-Fi networks and their approximate locations. Since yo...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d795qg
How do self-driving cars handle Mexican stand-off situations at roundabouts?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0y9dth", "f0yenk9" ], "text": [ "If all three approached at roughly the same time wouldn’t all three be able to enter the round about since they wouldn’t be in each other’s way?", "There is no such thing as a standoff at a round about. They all enter the round about and follow it aro...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d7d444
Why do charging chords stop working?
My phone chargers seem to decide randomly when to work after they get old. This doesn’t seem to happen to vacuum cleaner chords. It’s just a simple wire, it’s not broken, what’s happening?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0z3uik" ], "text": [ "The metal cables inside the plastic/rubber wear out. These are the conductors that carry the electrical signal. The are arranged in a little bundle inside the casing. They become frayed or broken, especially at the junctions where they connect to the USB or lightning ti...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d7esbc
How do they actually put concentrated amounts of vitamins and minerals into vitamin pills?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0zo5bm", "f0zgm2o", "f0zjylj" ], "text": [ "Vitamins are just chemicals. Like sugar or table salt are chemicals or even water. So we can both synthethise them from smaller chemicals or extract them from some life form. Typically you'd genetically engineer some form of year to o repro...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d7f0fn
How to I explain to someone why you can't just turn portrait into landscape and vice versa when printing documents?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f0zokvx" ], "text": [ "You mean when copying documents from a scanned one? They don't understand that the printer is literally just taking a picture and \"stamping\" it onto sheets of paper. If you want a portrait document \"printed landscape\", you don't want to just stretch the picture. You...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d7kged
_how do astronauts that are in space for months/years at a time get their air?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f10zqhj" ], "text": [ "They turn water into oxygen through a process called electrolysis. It requires a lot of energy, but they have solar panels that can power it. URL_0" ], "score": [ 9 ], "text_urls": [ [ "https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d7kmbr
Before CGI and advanced post-processing, how could people play double roles in movies and on television?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f113hnh", "f11eoys" ], "text": [ "The magic of film. On the extremely rare occasions, usually no more than once or twice per film, split screen filming would be used to show the same actor/actress twice. You will notice no part of the body ever crosses the center of the screen. Cover the ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d7l6h5
What’s with all the webpages my phone loads and “disregards” before getting to an ad I clicked through my search engine?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f11h33e" ], "text": [ "I think I understand your question. You’re talking about clicking an ad or email and the browser cycles through a bunch of domains really fast before bringing up what you expected first? Typically they are forwarders with a specific purpose that log when and where you c...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d7lh4j
How does breaking one part of a screen mess up the picture of the whole thing?
Screen being a tv, computer monitor, etc.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f123jy6" ], "text": [ "Each individual pixel in a screen needs to be controlled somehow. You can do this with a pair of wires to every single pixel, but that’s a lot of wires and very expensive with a high res screen. More usually it’s done by setting up a grid and scanning the screen with ve...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d7lr3e
Why is on-hold music during phone calls of such poor sound quality?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f11kvmy" ], "text": [ "It's not of poor quality, usually these on hold audio are CD quality audio that is playing (in the past, you literally had a CD player hooked up that played the audio 24/7). The phone line itself is the one that is lower quality, as such, you get a lower quality signal ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d7oasq
why are SFX screens almost always green and not any other colour? Why aren't the blue ones as popular?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f12sio3", "f12t5q9", "f12rp2n", "f12tmsu" ], "text": [ "The whole concept of chroma is creating as much contrast between the background and the subject so that the software can do the heavy lifting instead of animators rotoscoping each and every frame. If you take a look at a colo...
[ "url" ]
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d7pdvd
How do new iPhones ship with the latest software that only goes Gold Master days or weeks before the phone is delivered? Aren’t they already packed in boxes and pallets?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f138tey" ], "text": [ "Same method and reason behind \"Day 1 Patches\" As soon as it's \"production ready\" which is akin to beta but is commonly referred to as \"V1\" they lock the shipping software version and load it on to all the devices. This is why when you receive the product even of t...
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d7ryjs
Why does the news always seem to say that new ways to kill cancer have been found yet no one seems to be benefiting from these discoveries?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f13x4am", "f14boda", "f14a06a", "f14b292", "f13xbu0", "f14ua4l", "f140x9g", "f14dxey", "f14mwjl", "f14uyc6", "f14cwa6", "f14py96", "f14u91e", "f14pp6x", "f14fjmr", "f14oyie", "f1441xv" ], "text": [ "News over-reports and mistrans...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d7sn01
Why do old games still run just as poorly on new consoles?
Example: Playing Mega Man on the NES has huge slowdown and flickering because of the NES’s dearth of processing power. Playing the Legacy Collection on the PS4 Pro there is still the same amount of slowdown and flickering. Obviously the PS4 pro is strong enough to mitigate this, yes? The same happens playing SNES games...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1457g7", "f145ao4", "f14dlx5" ], "text": [ "They aren’t remakes, they are only emulated from the original code. If there was slowdown in the original, there will be slowdown in the emulated version.", "Because when you emulate a system (for instance, a snes), you have to emulate ...
[ "url" ]
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d7w2dn
Do filmmakers fake the childhood videos of the people they are making the documentary/biopic about or are they real?
I was watching Inside Bill's Brain documentary series on Netflix, and it features videos from his childhood. Bill looked under 5 years of age. I did some googling and found out that he was born in 1955 and consumers camcorders were in the market in 1983. Going by that, Bill was 28 years of age by then. Microsoft must b...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1543ba", "f15aqcn" ], "text": [ "It wasnt uncommon for someone to own an 8mm camera before the 80s if that person was into film and photography. Not sure about the authenticity, but they have film from the 2nd world war from people didnt have a huge production style film camera and it lo...
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[ "url" ]
d7wp0d
Why when you see photos of countries from the ISS they look huge (like they take up a large amount of the planet) and then when you see a photo of the whole world they look no where near as big?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f15g9h2", "f16bklt", "f15xwq5", "f15m2po" ], "text": [ "The ISS is surprisingly close to the ground. It's as if you took the globe and held it right up to your eye. That distorts the image.", "ISS is 254 miles up. The earth is 8,000 miles in diameter. TV and Radio satellites a...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d88ad2
what differentiates a USB from an AUX, from an Ethernet, from an HDMI if they're all just wires and insulation?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f188l0r", "f188pv8", "f189ey0", "f18k6o1" ], "text": [ "In short they are all just wires that carry electricity. As to what makes them different, each one is a standard that enforces what wires carry which signals to determine how that wire can be interfaced with. Lets take the mo...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d8a08h
what exactly do the Ethernet cables do in those pictures of server rooms with thousands of spaghetti cables?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f18r1hn", "f18znih", "f18p2fi", "f18wqap", "f18objx", "f18oz5o", "f19bdu3", "f19ltwo", "f18ujq9" ], "text": [ "The short answer is that if you want to network 1000 computers together, there is no getting around having literally 1000 cables hanging out of somewh...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d8daam
How is interplanetary internet ever going to be possible, even if it does, what could be the possible bandwidth someone would get?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f19muu6", "f19q8s8" ], "text": [ "Bandwidth isn't the issue, it's latency. A nice laser or microwave beam could carry a lot of information at a very high bandwidth, but the minimum speed-of-light round trip time Earth to Pluto is 10 hours.", "There is actually people working at this. ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d8g3ev
Can someone explain to me what Input: 120V, 60Hz, 12W Output: 12VAC, 350mA means?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1a9b8q" ], "text": [ "Your power adaptor outputs 12 Volts AC (!!) and is only rated for 350 milliamps (0.35 amps). The AC part is concerning and uncommon. It most likely means your fountain runs on an AC motor directly fed from this power adaptor rather than a DC motor of some kind. I doubt ...
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[ "url" ]
d8juhv
how does a server know my password is correct if it doesn't store the password?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1awfia", "f1awj2d" ], "text": [ "It stores a version of your password. It stores a hash (a non reversible encryption) which it compares with your input and allows you to sign in. Well that's most decent servers anyway, a lot of less secure servers store your password in plain text (like ...
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d8mzhi
Halting Problem
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1be1q4" ], "text": [ "The problem isn't that H+ can't tell whether or not something will halt, that would be fine. The problem is that H+'s behavior can't actually be described, it doesn't function in any reasonable way. If H+ would halt on the input (H+, H+), then its construction makes it ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d8oyxn
Are electric cars actually that much better for the environment in the US where most electricity comes from fossil fuels?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1bpmma", "f1bpvla" ], "text": [ "> isn’t the current system just exchanging one source of fossil fuels for another? In a way yes, however generating electricity with fossil fuels on a large scale is more efficient than powering a vehicle with those same fossil fuels. Additionally, the en...
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[ "url" ]
d8ped7
Why do characters in games have a separated "graphic model" and a "hit box model"? Why can't the graphic model be used to detect hits?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1bsvyk", "f1bstcm", "f1buspe", "f1bv4qz", "f1dq9to" ], "text": [ "There's probably multiple reasons, to start though hit detection can be expensive depending on the complexity of the model and the speed of the game (the faster things move the more often you have to check and ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d8phmu
How can Instagram target ads based on what I am SEEING?!
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1bt5kd" ], "text": [ "Here is my absolute guess of a theory: The woman's phone has location on and knows she was in that store. You were near her on the train and your phone's location is now near her location, with a recent location of her phone in that store. Being in the vicinity of someo...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d8r2wi
- Using plants as a power source?
If photosynthesis is an endothermic reaction and it is really efficient, isnt there a way to use that as a source of energy. Couldnt we take the energy it takes and use it for power.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1c3nrt", "f1c4q2u" ], "text": [ "We actually do it by eating their food, directly or not. Also, we use kinds of fuel that are based on plants, like alcohol or biodiesel.", "Photosynthesis as it happens in plants is very inefficient, like a few percent at best: URL_0 There are some id...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d8t2jp
How do computers detect tiny hardware malfunctions?
A pc is such a complex electrical device with millions of transistors inside the cpu. What happens when one of them malfunctions and how does the computer notice it. Does the computer have a workaround for that?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1cifjn", "f1crpeb" ], "text": [ "With storage systems like hard drives or memory or with transfer systems like ethernet or wifi the actual signals being sent contains additional data used to confirm or even correct the message. Say if I am to send a number to you but before I send it to ...
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[ "url" ]
d8ug3e
Why are LEDs diodes?
Can you make a similar electric component that does not act like a diode?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1d0arp" ], "text": [ "Let's assume you have a limited understanding of how a diode works. Diodes operate in two ways, forward biased and reversed biased. Forward biased allows electricity to flow with only a small voltage drop. When a diode is reversed biased it restricts the flow of electri...
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d8w3au
Why shouldn’t Li-Ion batteries be fully charged or drained?
What exactly causes the batteries to “wear out” faster when you let the battery drain to a low percentage or charge all the way up to 90-100%? What happens to the battery in both cases that cause it to hold less of a charge moving forward? Also, when your battery is low, do the manufacturers by design make it peak char...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1d645x" ], "text": [ "The top and bottoms of the charge percentage are the most stressful for the chemicals in the battery. They charge slowly and are more prone to getting warm while charging. Heat is bad for batteries, always. Li-Ion batteries in particular have circuitry on the batteries ...
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[ "url" ]
d8z370
Why are there green lines on the border of videos?
Im genuinly curious, since ive seen them on some videos on reddit and on some videos made by my irl friends, much love.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1dpajn" ], "text": [ "Could be part of the video, part of the software that plays the video, or an artifact of your monitor. Is the green border only on one side of the video, all around it? does it only happen when there's a big difference in brightness between the video and the background?...
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[ "url" ]
d91qig
Why is it despite all our technological advances that our progress with energy seems so slow?
Of course, there has been some progress on this front, but compared with the speed of other technologies it just seems so much slower. There seems to be every reason for it to be improved but the battery length of things don’t seem to have changed much from years back
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1e1t02" ], "text": [ "Battery technology has improved dramatically. Our devices however have got more powerful and more thirsty so it appears that they havent increased in power." ], "score": [ 17 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d92vr4
The technological singularity
Even though I study computer science I can not understand how the singularity will happen and how there is a possibility it's gonna act against us. A.I. is not my expertise but isn't everything deterministic ? Like we can program whatever WE want to happen and leave out what we don't want to happen. Also we can pull th...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1e9b8g", "f1esipu", "f1ea7mh" ], "text": [ "Macine Learning is not strictly deterministic. You are not coding actions, you are creating something that you then teach to learn. There are a number of articles where people have been surprised by the outcomes, such as two AIs that were t...
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[ "url" ]
d95djd
How do floating point instructions work in x86 assembly?
Can someone give me a very basic rundown of how floating point numbers work and what the most common instructions do? Whenever I encounter them in IDA I always avoid them because I can't wrap my head around them. I know they're supposedly stored in a stack but how exactly that works I'm not sure. Please help!
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1f6u41" ], "text": [ "A compiler will generate either x87 instructions or SIMD instructions. x87 is a floating point processor, formerly a coprocessor and now integrated into the CPU. It is a stack, and has just a couple registers to set flags. If you wanted to multiply two values, you'd pus...
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[ "url" ]
d9cwan
How do the likes of PlayStations remember what year/time it is when turned off for a long time with no connection to WiFi?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1g8nfn" ], "text": [ "There's a small battery that does nothing put power an internal clock. They can run for years. Same basic concept, open up your computer and you'll see a small button-cell battery on your motherboard. Once upon a time this stored CMOS settings as well, but these days it...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d9ibis
How can spacecraft determine their speed once out in space?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1hrq5b", "f1hznl9" ], "text": [ "There are a number of ways, but one is by measuring the frequency of the radio signal it receives from Earth. The signal is sent at a precise frequency, but because the spacecraft is moving - normally away from earth - the frequency is 'doppler shifted' d...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d9kdep
What is Linux and why is it used?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1idpdq", "f1ie31v", "f1iaznq", "f1jdstg" ], "text": [ "Linux is an open-source operating system kernel that can be used to build your own, custom operating system to fit your computing needs. Because it's open-source, it's also free, so you can find whatever distribution you need...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d9mo11
How do tl;dr bots work?
There are bots, I believe on r/politics and r/news, that take articles and summarize them. How does the algorithm work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1ki52p" ], "text": [ "There are [a bunch of ways this can work]( URL_0 ), but I'm going to explain one of the simpler ones. You know how Google originally got their great search results? They had a clever algorithm called PageRank that looked at which web pages link to each other. Web sites ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d9uvs3
How do electric guitar sounds differ? As the pick-ups are electronic, they can be manually programmed to produce any sound desired?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1lkztz" ], "text": [ "There's no \"programming\" to speak of when it comes to an electric guitar and its pickups. The entire process is analog so there is nothing digital that is programmed to influence the sound. The pickup is nothing more than a coil of wire around a magnet. The vibrating ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d9vbhw
What sort (and how much) information from social media does someone need to stalk you or steal your identity?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1lmpn9", "f1lm4hx" ], "text": [ "ANYTHING you make public is available to anyone and could potentially be used against you. An IG picture of you at the gym can be fairly easily used in conjunction with your location (general even) to determine which gym you work out at. Say its common kn...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d9xmug
How do the volume become louder when you turn the volume up? How does it work in corcuit board?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1lxug8", "f1lxyqz" ], "text": [ "In a traditional analog circuit, volume is normally controlled by a variable resistor. When you turn the volume up, you are reducing the resistance to the flow of the electrical signal. It is the same as turning the knob on a water faucet to increase the ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
d9yoj9
Why do longer barrels on tanks/rifles make the round travel faster?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1m2nol", "f1m2uw6", "f1m44za", "f1mjeaq" ], "text": [ "The gases which propel the projectile have more time to expand in one direction, imparting more energy to the projectile. The longer barrel also gives more time for it to build up spin, which increases stability and fights ai...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
da1nb1
If I store 100GB of photos on a 100GB hard drive, reformat it, then store 100GB of music, how can someone retrieve the original photos?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1mlerl" ], "text": [ "If you format a full drive, and then put new stuff over it the original stuff is forever lost. You ain't retrieving it. Putting it as simple as possible: Remember data is all 0s and 1s The original 0s and 1s were messed up when you formatted it, but potentially some of ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
da1ra5
How are the bars for wifi and mobile data calculated, what do they mean, and why is it possible to have low bars and still have high speeds?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1mmitt" ], "text": [ "The bars are based on signal strength not speed. So if you're really close to an access point, but the access point is only connected for say 20mb/s, that's what you'll get. But if you're far away from a 250mb/s access point you may get more packet loss, but you'll stil...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
da2751
What does a virus do to your computer? What does virus protection do?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1mpbys", "f1mq71v" ], "text": [ "A virus is just a program that runs on your computer at its core. However, things that get classified as \"viruses\" tend to be programs that: - Install without the user's knowledge or permission - Do nefarious things that the user does not want done What...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
da5sn8
How does Google maps know where every bit of traffic is on roads showing blue, amber and red during your route?
Google maps is very accurate at analysing routes and even factors in 2 minutes worth of traffic jams. How does google do this? Does everyone have google maps and google are constantly monitoring it?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1ndy5d", "f1ner10", "f1ne2yn", "f1ne4qj", "f1ne4yu" ], "text": [ "'The company uses the Location Services function on Apple and Android phones to track your coordinates. If you have the Location Services capability enabled for Google Maps, you're constantly sending real-time ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
da66um
Why in older animated movies are objects that characters interact with more pronounced than other objects in the scene?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1ngwn3" ], "text": [ "Older animation used painted backgrounds that were larger than the animated frame (called a cell) to make it easier to animate the whole film. Individual animation cells were then drawn on transparent sheets. When a branch (or other object) changes from just being a par...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
da74cj
How do Bluetooth things work, more specifically Bluetooth earphones?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1no9mq", "f1ntn8l" ], "text": [ "Wireless devices (basically everything, these days) communicate by sending electromagnetic waves over the air that get picked up by other devices and interpreted as data. But in order for two devices to talk, they need to be speaking the same language, li...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
da7569
what does jailbreaking a phone allow you to do?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1nnixq" ], "text": [ "It allows you to customize the appearance and download non-apple approved apps. However it essentially gets rid of the all security functions that apple has." ], "score": [ 8 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
da9cp7
What is Counterfeiting?
I've Googled it and seen examples, still have no idea. Anyone care to help?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1o4mz0", "f1rb1ux" ], "text": [ "Counterfeiting is making something that someone else has an exclusive legal right to make. Alternatively, trying to pass one thing off as another much more valuable thing. Examples: Printing money to pass off as coming from someone that hasn't authorized ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
daaevv
How does a computer know how big a file is before it begins downloading?
For clarity, if a file is 2 gigs does a machine know it will be downloading over a longer period of time versus downloading a 5mb file? Is there some initial packet sent between the server and host indicating such?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1oaf2n", "f1oh4vq" ], "text": [ "If you download via HTTP (a super-common way), then yes, there's a content-size header that the server can send to say how big the download will be. Not all downloads will have this header.", "As someone else suggested, most of the time when you downl...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
dabwbb
How do electrical currents in a CPU translate to different processes in a computer?
I believe I understand that when programming (in Python, C++, etc.), the computer translates it into bytes, binary code, and eventually into a specific series of electrical currents in the transistors, which basically act as on-off switches. However, what I don't understand is how the computer knows which series of ele...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1ojtyp" ], "text": [ "Think in binary. The computer knows off/on, and that translates to bytes via bits. Eventually those bytes turn into data types that make it possible for you to utilize object oriented languages via their data structures. On a side note, 32 bit computing had a limit of a...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
daclx8
Why do internet calls (e.g Discord) have so much better sound quality compared to phone calls? And why haven't they replaced them?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1oooc4" ], "text": [ "The phone system is pretty old, so when it switched to digital transmission they set the transmission quality to be a balance between something the technology of the time could easily handle (remembering this was set long before modern high bandwidth 4g), and was of a r...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
daco8g
Why is it so hard to tab out or Alt-Tab out of most PC games?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1oowyt" ], "text": [ "A lot of games sort of “take over” the hardware necessary to render graphics. This includes things like video memory that takes time to write with other data. To make an analogy it is like being told to prepare for a very complex, intensive task that requires gathering ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
dafkm3
Why are smartphone manufacturers no longer making phones with removable batteries?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1pdvsw", "f1p92qc", "f1pj6po", "f1qeh3u", "f1rlqry", "f1p8y7k", "f1r5556" ], "text": [ "Waterproofing and the ability to sell a new phone when the battery can no longer hold a new charge, which one is more important is debateable.", "Mostly for the sake of waterpr...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
dafr77
Why smartphone manufacturers use the term ROM when we can constantly write data to it?
Isn't ROM is just for the firmware of the phone?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1pbfik", "f1pceb8" ], "text": [ "ROM on a cell phone is internal memory for the system. It's flash memory. Writable by flashing a new image in but no meant for constant writes. RAM is external memory. Meant for constant writes", "It probably comes from the time electronic boards had ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
dagd92
- Why moving OLED screens fast creates a visual blurr especially in white over black, and this doesn’t happen in LCD’s scrrens?
Do you have an OLED screen smartphone? Try to move it quickly near your face (as fast as you can) and you’ll see a pattern that is completelly different than what you would see in an LCD screen. I’ve always wondered what is actually causing this.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1ph4dt" ], "text": [ "On a OLED screen the difference in brightness is done by turning the LED on and off quickly. It is called [Pulse-width\\_modulation (PWM)]( URL_0 ). It is a bit like a very fast stroboscope A LCD screen have a light that is always on or blink very fast behind the screen...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
dal4yp
how can a cellular tower receive many messages a second while still being able to differentiate the data coming from each device?
data is wirelessly transmitted from a phone /device and the tower can receive that data, process it and consider it a message (like SMS) and send the message it to whatever number it's for. But if you had 100s of people sending messages every few seconds, in a busy area, how can a cell tower receive all of the data sen...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1qipf1" ], "text": [ "They can do two things; either use different frequencies, or take turns. For a given second you can divide it into lets say 1,000 different sections and assign each phone a section during which it can talk to the tower. That way even if they are all using the same frequ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
dam1b2
How CPUs (and logic gates) can mess up or do calculations wrong?
I understand how software can be faulty at times due to the human element of coding it. But how can CPU (or related hardware) mess up calculations? You can ELI10 or ELI15 if its easier.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1qub3k", "f1rh3vg" ], "text": [ "It's very rare for a silicon CPU to mess up, but it would most likely be caused by radiation, natural or otherwise. Most computers work by distinguishing between two states, and switching between them takes some work. You want to keep this amount of work ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
daq305
why do most processers have twice the threads than the number of cores?
Was just watching an ltt video and was wondering. Ex: 8 core 16 thread |16 core 32 thread
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1sfxqf" ], "text": [ "Before we had cores we had hyper threading where a CPU could natively divide into two virtual processors. The cpu maintains two sets of registers so splitting workloads is more efficient than in software multi threading." ], "score": [ 4 ], "text_urls": [ ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
daqxev
How exactly do you get code onto other pieces of tech?
To be more specific, let's say you created code for an AI on a computer/laptop or even VR/AR, how would you get that onto a phone or just any device?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1t1gpv", "f1u0s3t" ], "text": [ "You generally need to cross compile code for the target machine if using a language like C/C++. A cross compiler creates executable code for a platform other than the one on which the compiler is running. (Using a language like Java, you would not need to...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
dats8k
how do arm prosthetics work especially when you have almost your whole arm gone?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1vezn8" ], "text": [ "Sensors are placed to pick up signals both electronically and physically from remaining muscle structures left around the stump These are used to actuate the various artificial muscles of the prosthetic either through mechanical action or electronic/pneumatic actuators"...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
davtnv
What does megapixel mean?
Is it a general measure of a camera's picture quality?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1v7d4t", "f1v7dz7", "f1w0ke7" ], "text": [ "Megapixels is a million pixels. Digital cameras produce images formed by many tiny colored square dots called pixels, and the more you have the more detailed an image can be. Broadly speaking they tend to tell you the quality a camera can p...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
dayqt0
How does the 3-D technology in TVs work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1w65q7" ], "text": [ "3d vision with your eyes works because your eyes see different pictures. The first way to implement this was the classic blue red glasses, one seeing a red image and one seeing the blue. Next step was Polarised light iirc. And now we are place a kind of \"slit barrier\"...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
db38pw
. Why did European releases of older games(SNES and PS1 etc..) run slower than their North American counterparts?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f1y1i73" ], "text": [ "A bit more technical detail: Older games were meant to run at a very specific framerate which for TVs in North America is \\~30 frames per second. Everything in the game was tied to this rate as a way to keep time, so an action that is supposed to take 1/2 a second woul...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
dbgqrm
google knows a lot about all of us. How does this affect the average person?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f21hn7e", "f21hwpc", "f21gv5c" ], "text": [ "at the superficial level, it affects you by showing you targeted advertising. more likely you'll click on something compared to untargeted advertising. at 1 level deep, it'll allow businesses to profile populations behavior by age group, lo...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
dbguzi
How come at my uni everyones key opens the building door but also opens their seperate door.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f21gph4", "f21hfke" ], "text": [ "Each key has several bumps on it. The outer door's lock only checks for *some* of the bumps, which are identical on all the keys. The room door's lock checks for *all* of the bumps, which are different on each key.", "Short answer: the tumblers in the...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
dbjnmj
What is lacking from modern CGI that allows humans to still distinguish it from real objects on film?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "f229tdf", "f22baux", "f2282x8", "f228ceo" ], "text": [ "You only notice it on people because you have tens of millennia of refinement in your brain to spot the subtlest differences in people to find something that isn't quite right and could signify danger. Subtle things from not ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
eif9wx
when they release a ps4 game on switch or xbox, how do they do it? What do they change program wise?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fcpgmsd", "fcpq3cm", "fcpqdub", "fcqjjqn" ], "text": [ "It depends on the engine. If the game is made in a game engine that already supports multiple platforms, then it might be as simple as registering a few new variables and formats. For other games, it might require new chunks ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
eijjwq
Can someone explain how a space elevator is supposed to work??
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fcqxvae" ], "text": [ "> scientists expect it to happen by 2045 No, they don't. Nothing suggests that material technology will advance *nearly* that fast. Even if we had the technology today that would be an optimistic timeline just for the scale of construction. Maybe throw in another centur...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
eik9fv
What is the device that people use to talk with after having been intubated through the throat called and how does it work?
I was watching an episode of Kitchen Nightmares, and a lady had to use a device on her neck to be able to communicate. She would have to press on her neck to communicate, and it also sounded like there was rushing air as well. Is it just a microphone located on her neck and she presses a button for it to operate?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fcr719x" ], "text": [ "Well. The lady on kitchen nightmares had a tracheostomy. That means they put a hole in her neck with a tube in it so the air could bypass throat cancer or polyps (lumps). To talk, She breathes in through the tube and then covers it to force the air past her voice box so...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
eikp93
What are these "bots" that can fish for things on the internet such as free codes?
For example, when people post a coupon code here on reddit in plain text almost always a bot will take the code. How is this done? Not only does the bot need to scan for a code, but go to a correct website and use it. HOW?!
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fcrgyr7" ], "text": [ "The same way anything else works with computers, really. Somebody figured out there's something valuable getting posted. They made what is effectively an automated web browser that looks on places like reddit, searches for some text pattern, and collects the results. Re...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
eikt5k
Netcode in Fighting Games and why it's important
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fcrbdv2", "fcresge" ], "text": [ "Delay based stops the entire game until it catches up which is bad for everyone. Rollback makes a best guess as to what would have happened and does that. Essentially making lag imperceptible. URL_0 As to why it's important, frames.... And such", "Fig...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
ein8hc
How does an offline computer knows the time after being turned off for an extended period of time (days, weeks, etc.)?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fcs2f4x", "fcs2rjp", "fcs2igd" ], "text": [ "There is a small coin cell battery in the computer specifically used for keeping time. Most modern computers will also draw a tiny bit of power from the power supply as long as it's still plugged to the wall.", "Using something called a...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
eis280
What exactly is graphic design and how is it any different from animation/drawing?
I've always associated graphic design with advertising and how the appearance of words are changed. But I'm still confused, is drawing/animation and graphic design the same thing?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fct72q4", "fct5kzd" ], "text": [ "Graphic design is the study of conveying information visually. This can be on the web, it can be through signs, posters, or through any visual methods. For instance, logos for companies are also often created by graphic designers. It is certainly a part o...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
eisll9
How can you communicate using hexadecimals simpler than using the alphabet?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fct922p", "fctcn3v" ], "text": [ "Hexadecimal isn't used in place of the alphabet. It's used instead of binary. Computers are based on two value logic. Everything you do with your computer ultimately boils down to either 'true' or 'false' in some combination. Those boolean values are comb...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
eiso3d
What is the Impact of adding more layers to a neural network?
This is a follow up to this ELI5 question - URL_0 I know that deep neural networks have multiple layers. Let's say we have a neural network for a self driving cars, cancer prediction, or playing pacman Can someone give an ELI5 explanation of the impact of adding more layers to a neural network for any of those use case...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fct9v1v" ], "text": [ "We don't really know how adding a layer will affect performance on any particular dataset, so the best way to find out is to try it. In the case of image processing, you can see small-scale patterns like textures (detected in earlier layers) build up into larger feature...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
eisux7
how is plastic made and where do the ingredients come from?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fctd2gl" ], "text": [ "From crude oils You see, inside crude oils and other earthly stuff, there's these atoms called carbons and hydrogen. Now these carbons and hydrogens makes the oils and they clump together. However, through a whole lot of process, you can turn these hydrogens and carbons...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
eit9ua
What is the difference between autoencoders and neural networks?
From reading, I know that autoencoders are feed forward artificial neural networks trained on input that tries to optimize a loss(error) function. I know that autoencoders can be used for anomaly detection and image processing too but can't traditional deep neural networks(CNN) do the same? Can someone give an ELI5 exp...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fctfqqo" ], "text": [ "Autoencoders are (in this context) types of neural networks that are often characterized by an hourglass shape. You have a lot of neurons going in, a drastic constriction in the middle, and then a large number of nodes going out. They *are* neural networks, their struct...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
eixga0
Emulation
What is the concept of Emulation ? Why do the computer systems need it ? What are various use cases ?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fcu0ork", "fcu0uwx" ], "text": [ "Emulation means the computer is pretending to be using different hardware. So instead of taking the program code and running it, it takes the program code for an incompatible system, translates it (with the emulator), and then runs it. This adds an extra ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
ej08zh
How do game developers build games around next gen consoles without knowing the software/hardware of the systems
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fcuj6oo", "fcuk1n9", "fcujg0w" ], "text": [ "They do. Hardware developers release next gen specs and even developer kits to software developers well before commercial release.", "Most games are developed so that the game doesn't care what console it's going to be played on. Then t...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
ej67aj
Which way does electricity flow in a circuit?
I feel like I’m missing something but for the longest time I’ve been taught that electricity goes from positive to negative. Recently however I’ve actually started getting into circuits and whatnot and have seen on various sources that the current (electrons at least) go from negative to positive. It’s explained as “th...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fcvpw31" ], "text": [ "Yes. Electrons flow from the - to + but current is said to flow from + to - because by convention electricity is said to flow in the direction the positive charge goes." ], "score": [ 5 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
ej6qv1
How do Cheetos get their shape?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "fcvz9f2" ], "text": [ "They are extruded (hot Cheetos batter/dough is forced through a hole) and then cut. Took a field trip to a Frito-Lay factory as a kid. Edit: URL_0" ], "score": [ 13 ], "text_urls": [ [ "https://www.wired.com/2010/05/process-cheetos/" ] ] }
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]