q_id stringlengths 6 6 | title stringlengths 4 294 | selftext stringlengths 0 2.48k | category stringclasses 1
value | subreddit stringclasses 1
value | answers dict | title_urls listlengths 1 1 | selftext_urls listlengths 1 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
j7pics | why switching off computers directly is bad for computers and why should we first shut down it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"Operating systems often run backgroud services that let you do the things you can do. These services can have system files open while running to operate, and can occassionally write data onto the hard disk. Removing the power... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j7stkz | Why do old(maybe some new) phones suddenly shut down or turn on when dropped? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g86ua8g"
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"text": [
"Older phones had batteries that were meant to be easily swapped out so they just had contact points that were spring loaded just like the batteries in a remote control. If you drop it hard enough in the right way the battery loses contact with the rest of the phone long... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j7uy9i | Why cell phones batteries capacity is represented in mAh, while electric car batteries capacity is in kWh? | When you look up specs of a cell phone battery, capacity is represented in Ah (Amp hours), while car battery packs are in Wh (Watt hours), with their magnitude prefixes respectively. I know their capacity differs greatly, but at a glance of an eye I don't have any idea how they compare. Why the different standard? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"text": [
"Amp hours have been the traditional measure of batteries for a long time because they represent the amount of charge stored in a fixed voltage battery. Typically you know the voltage of the battery so you can easily convert to the amount of energy stored.... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
j7vxe6 | How do organisations who put satellites into Earth's orbit make sure that they're not going to be in the path of another orbiting satellite? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g87a2ux",
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"text": [
"For most things, it's a free for all. Space is big. EXCEPT for geostationary orbit, which is tightly regulated. Geostationary orbit is a very narrow, very specific orbital path. It's the path that makes satellites alway stay over a particular spot on eart... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j7wruy | What does Xilinx do and why are they worth 30 billion USD? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"g87te82"
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"text": [
"They produce FPGAs. Field Programmable Gate Arrays are very basic but efficient digital circuits that are needed for many industrial applications or in vehicles. It's basically a bunch of blanket digital circuits, that fulfil... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j7xz63 | What is peekers advantage and how does it work? | Why can't they fix it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g87lbmp",
"g87okst"
],
"text": [
"Basically because of lag (milliseconds, but still) if you quickly peak out of cover, you can see the enemy for a fraction before they see you, giving you an extra moment to aim and shoot. They can’t fix it because it’s caused by differences in upload and ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
j7zx7l | While some smartphone touch screens can be used the same way with or without gloves, many smartphones don't even react to fingers touching the screen, what is the difference? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g87xscc",
"g88c0ot"
],
"text": [
"There are two types of screen usually used (nowadays almost always only one on Smartphones). Capacitive and Resistive. Capacitive screens use the body's electric condutivity to know that a human touched the screen, and usually, using a glove creates a bar... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j80vq7 | Why do our upload speeds only like 10% of our download speed? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g883zxj",
"g882wmb",
"g884918",
"g882ozh"
],
"text": [
"Sure, there are some physical tradeoffs required to allocate more infrastructure to upload speeds. But this is mostly by choice. In short, your internet service provider doesn’t want you to use your connection for activities ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j84gzm | Why are there so many buttons and controls on a spacecraft (for example Apollo spacecrafts) and what do they do? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g88qf0x",
"g88tgdk"
],
"text": [
"A spacecraft need to contain a lot of different systems to work, and a lot of them is redundant so that even if one system does not work another can be used. This is because there is no way to safely eject or otherwise quickly land in a spacecraft. Any pr... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j8egvv | Why do we have to wait 10 seconds when you restart your WIFI router? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
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"g8ajz06",
"g8au93s",
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"text": [
"In the circuit boards there are capacitors. They function like short term rechargeable batteries. To make sure all systems are truly off you have to wait for them to deplete.",
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j8f0n9 | What is DLSS and how does it benefit gamers? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8aje3z"
],
"text": [
"It's an AI assisted image upscaling technology developed by nvidia. To give you an example, you're given a low quality image which you want to make it better. If you're a good artist then you may use your imagination to make the image look clearer, hence making it look ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j8f8h5 | How polygraph test detects a person lying? Is there any way to cheat the test? | No, I'm not guilty of anything. Just curious. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8aknmf",
"g8amm43",
"g8ajt4m",
"g8aojh8"
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"text": [
"Polygraph doesn’t detect lies. They take find a baseline by asking you normal questions to see how you react when they know you’re telling the truth (what’s your name?). Once they have a baseline, they ask harder and more dub... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
j8giem | Polymorphism in C# or generally in programming. | Why do we use it, what's the purpose of it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8aq0ye"
],
"text": [
"As someone who is many years in programming, i honestly advice OP to check any tutorial (youtube is also good) for this answer.There are plenty of them. It needs some background explanations, and pictures, and it is just extremely hard to do it in this post."
],
"sc... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
j8ifvo | Why are 12-13 MP cameras on flagship smartphones better than the 48-64 MP cameras on mid range and budget smartphones? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8b0jkn",
"g8b1zui",
"g8b1gx5"
],
"text": [
"48 MP is only possible by making the sensors larger, meaning a larger phone, or by shrinking the pixels, which decreases their effectiveness. They are trying to overcome this, but it is still a work in progress. Its important to remember th... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j8j0a4 | Why are newer TV's so slow to start up, slower to load a TV guide and slow to switch channels. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8baqa6",
"g8bibxo",
"g8b9uiz"
],
"text": [
"I am going to go ahead and re-use my answer to this question from [eight years ago]( URL_0 ), because it is still true today. --- Here's the process an analog TV goes through when changing channels: * Tune to new frequency, display signal. ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j8js0d | why do Geiger counters make that strange noise and why is it so different to other sensors that just beep? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8bdy5x"
],
"text": [
"Because geiger counters are *old school*. Geiger counters have a tube of inert gas. When an ionising particle passes through this tube there's a chance it will ionise an atom. This effect is amplified and turned into a little surge of current. That current can move a po... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j8k11w | Why do people say over after talking on a radio? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8be9av"
],
"text": [
"To inform that they are done speaking. If both people are talking at once nothing goes through so you wait till you hear \"over\" to respond"
],
"score": [
8
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} | [
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j8n8e1 | Why do motion pictures or videos feel smooth at 30fps but playing a videogame at 30fps will feel choppy? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8c5qj9",
"g8cwmfe"
],
"text": [
"A camera's exposure, the time a camera's \"eye\" remains open to collect light, collects information from the scene over a period of time per frame. Let's say you have a video capturing someone kicking a ball. The ball is fast enough that doesn't remain s... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j8nsg2 | What does that guy that trademarked PS5 before Sony did get out of it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8c8eao",
"g8c7f7h",
"g8c7h5k"
],
"text": [
"What you're talking about happened in India. Third world countries, such as India, frequently have laws or legal systems that are heavily slanted against foreigners. India's trademark system is one such law/legal system - there is no requir... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j8o95c | Whenever a road is built or worked on, a worker is looking through one of those telescopes on a tripod. I assume they are surveying or measuring straightness.please? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8caqj9",
"g8cb8b6",
"g8cba6c"
],
"text": [
"They’re surveying. The “telescope on a tripod” is probably a level. A level is used to measure elevation. You look through it at a rod, and the height your eyes hit the rod at tells you how much higher or lower the ground at the rod is, com... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j8q39u | How do vacuum tubes work? Particularly in guitar amps? | How do tubes work? How is a preamp tube different from a power tube? And what components/elements of preamp/power tubes affect the tone of the amp? (example: what makes EL34’s sound different than 6L6’s, or makes 12ax7’s sound different than ef86’s) | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8ds1of"
],
"text": [
"In a vacuum tube there's a beam of electrons going from one metal piece to another metal piece. That's why it has to be a vacuum - otherwise the electrons would bump into the air. There's a metal mesh or grid in the middle of the beam. When the grid is electrically char... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
j8rn10 | How can passwords be cracked, but not Prepaid Gift Cards? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8d9i01",
"g8dfhit"
],
"text": [
"With most gift cards they have to be activated to be used. So while in theory the alpha numerical number on the card could be cracked as long as the card is not activated the card can it be used.",
"The alphanumeric string that is on an Amazon giftcar... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j8sdtx | . why do scientists always search for radio sygnals in space? Why do they think aliens use that to communicate? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8dqal0",
"g8dioni",
"g8dhh79"
],
"text": [
"Ultimately, there only are four ways that matter and energy can influence each other. We call these the *fundamental forces*. **1. The Strong Force** This is, as the name implies, the strongest of the four forces. It binds quarks together t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j8tl41 | How does a bidet (cheap, handheld attachment kind) not cause poopy water to run down the legs? | If a person were sitting down on a full bidet, it makes perfect sense. However, the other way just baffles me. I just can't see how dirty water doesn't get sprayed/misted all over. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8e5dk0"
],
"text": [
"You're sitting down, not standing up, so the poopy water is almost entirely in your ass. Then you wipe it dry, and it doesn't drip."
],
"score": [
3
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"text_urls": [
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j8udnx | Why haven't any public figures really been outed for their search/download history? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8e5vex",
"g8ee8h0",
"g8eg692",
"g8eqb4e"
],
"text": [
"There was an actual law passed when Robert Bork had his video rental history leaked by the press trying to subvert his nomination for the Supreme court in 1988. The push against him was so destructive and slanderous that \"Bo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j8v1oo | why are car headrests angled forward? | Every single car I have ever been in the headrests always are angled at such a way that you can never rest your head comfortably on it. Like my step father has a Lincoln Navigator XL nice big ol car but if you try to use the headrests it pretty much forces you to stare down. Is it for safety or something? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8e9umc",
"g8earxg",
"g8eaglk"
],
"text": [
"To prevent your head from yanking backward in a rear-end collision (reward hyperflexion), the headrest pushes your head forward and down to keep it close to your spine.",
"The head rest isn't a head rest. Resting your head on it isn't r... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
j8w1cz | Why is fuel/petroleum the liquid that makes cars run? What’s happening inside the car with this specific liquid that makes it go that can’t happen with other liquids? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8em2hm",
"g8em205",
"g8em2ej"
],
"text": [
"Are you asking why some liquids are combustible and other liquids, like water, do not burn in the presence of a spark? The liquid is aerosolized inside the cylinder, air (oxygen) is pulled in and a spark fires which causes the fuel air mixt... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j8yvu7 | Why is it on a lot of lamps that have a twist knob, you have to twist it two clicks to turn it on/off, instead of just one? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8filv3"
],
"text": [
"What you're seeing is a lamp that's expecting a three-way bulb. With a three-way bulb, it would take one click to turn it on low, one to move to mid, one to move to high, and a fourth to turn it off. But since there's only one filament, and it's in the middle position o... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j909zi | Why does every piece of software I install get stuck on "100%" complete? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8g61xr",
"g8gium0"
],
"text": [
"Depending on the SW it will do various things when it reaches 100%. This usually means that the SW has finished writing to the computer memory, but after doing this a lot of SW check and verify that the stuff was written correctly and that there were no e... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j9389a | Why do we not have central locking for our homes like we do for our cars? I'm forever fumbling with bags trying find keys. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8gu06x",
"g8gve60",
"g8gw1i4",
"g8h48ox"
],
"text": [
"This does exist. You just don't have it. Go buy and install a smart lock, you can find one at Home Depot.",
"Because people can pick up the frequencies to your key fob easily with a radio and open your front door With a r... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j9870x | What is the purpose of a dual ethernet port on a motherboard? Why get one? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8i22d0",
"g8hzflg",
"g8i4rhz",
"g8i39uw"
],
"text": [
"Most of these answers have some truth to it but also some misconceptions. Most people have no use for it. Yes, you could have your internet connection running off one, and use the other for local network communication/local g... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j9bqsz | How do motor vehicles calculate the exact mileage they travel? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8imal3",
"g8imdf7"
],
"text": [
"We know that each revolution of the driveshaft corresponds to one revolution of the wheels, so every time the driveshaft goes around once it should mean the vehicle has moved forward by pi x the tires' outside diameter. (That's wrong if you're spinning yo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j9dfby | How does window tint work? How can you see out but not in? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8j02rc"
],
"text": [
"Your eyes adjust to the available light. When you are in a dark car looking at the bright outside through tinted windows, the eye is adjusted to the darkness and the reduced light through the tint is plenty to see with. When you are outside in the bright light, you can'... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j9iwe5 | Finding the maximum number of hosts an IP network can support? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8k26mm",
"g8k2ex1",
"g8k2pau",
"g8k2p2t"
],
"text": [
"2^10 = 1024 - 2 = 1022 2 to the power of (32 bits in an address - bits in subnet mask) -2 The -2 to account for the Subnet address and the Broadcast address",
"The mask of 22 means the first 22 bits of the IP address repr... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j9kgtm | How can everything run Doom? | Title, basically. Inspired by [this post]( URL_0 ) of Doom running on a graphing calculator powered by potatoes. Is there something about Doom specifically that allows it to be ran on microwaves, graphing calculators, or anything else with a screen? Or could other games run on all those as well, but Doom just became th... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8kbx0a",
"g8kbnaq",
"g8kbpso",
"g8kbqe7"
],
"text": [
"Doom's source code was made open source in 1997 and was written in c which is one of the most portable and best optimized languages allowing it to work on weak hardware. Since the source code is easily available and it's an o... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
j9mrbh | What are the orbs of light in photos that everyone claims are ghosts? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8kpfxi",
"g8krdpu",
"g8l1itw"
],
"text": [
"Most often dust on the lens or in the air, either way they’re tiny particles that reflect light.",
"Dust particles and sometimes small insects that walk over the (video) lens. It's out of focus so it seems like something blurry that mov... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
j9udpy | How do fighter pilots know when an enemy has them "locked on"? | Is that ominous buzz Hollywood or reality? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8ltad8",
"g8lw0uv",
"g8ltbgu",
"g8luai4"
],
"text": [
"There are systems on the plane that can detect when a (potentially, but usually) hostile radar signal is frequently pulsing the plane directly. Other alerts are displayed/sounded if there are similar signals in the area, but ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
j9wpcq | if compiling a code takes hours for some software , how does they code (means how they debug , compile and check if it's running correctly etc) ? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8m8yot"
],
"text": [
"For large projects, you perform debugging/testing on sub-sets of code (often called modules) with the rest of the code merely being simulated. Then, once the individual modules have been tested, you assemble everything into the final product for an integration test that... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ja076u | Why does water screw up touchscreen sensors? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8mrxv1"
],
"text": [
"Touchscreen works by detecting a change in electricity (CMIIW, I'm not sure) on the surface. When a finger touches the screen a tiny electrical charge is transferred to the finger and completes the circuit, this creates an electrical change at that point on the screen a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ja2da7 | How do military drone operators deal with delayed video feeds? | Assuming military drone operators are often very far from the drone, wouldn’t there be times when the signal is delayed and could be a problem when timing is critical? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8nas52"
],
"text": [
"Well... Military drones can perform SOME mission 100% autonomously. \"Go launch hellfire missiles at this airport\" The airport isn't going anywhere. Sometimes intelligence and quick calculations are important. \"A convoy heading west from these coordinates at this spee... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
ja32sf | How does moving a GPS device like a mobile phone or watch in a figure-8 pattern calibrate its compass app? | Not sure if all devices are calibrated this way but I have two different brands that have instructions to these procedures. How does making figure-8 motions calibrate the sensors? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8ncqcn"
],
"text": [
"You're accomplishing one very important thing when you do this: You're moving your phone through the Earth's magnetic field, allowing its magnetometer to confirm which voltages (the Hall effect produces a voltage based on how an electrical conductor moves in a magnetic ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
ja35a2 | Why is it so hard to catch/arrest/block spam/scam callers? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8nanum",
"g8nmv41",
"g8naycw",
"g8nbsc2",
"g8nzfml"
],
"text": [
"Because they operate in jurisdictions that have little to no resources or interest in doing something about it, like China or India. Both countries have significantly bigger problems affecting their citizens to... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ja579b | Why do we need to turn off our mobile phones or put them in airplane mode? Is it really necessary? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8nzrdq",
"g8nsxph",
"g8ntv2a",
"g8o58oa"
],
"text": [
"There are a couple of reasons. First and foremost: your phone wants to stay connected. To do that when it's far away from a tower means that it will boost it's signal until it finds a tower, or reaches its signal limit. This ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
ja9ugu | Why are we using Ethernet cables for internet rather than USB? | Ethernet ports are relatively bulkier and have trouble fitting in some laptops. Why isn't a USB port used instead which is significantly smaller and is used for practically everything else nowadays. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8of46o",
"g8of99u"
],
"text": [
"Different connections for different purposes. Biggest practical difference today - ethernet maximum distance is 100 meters between switch and computer, USB can only do 5 meters.",
"Usb and Ethernet are completely different protocols, one was meant to ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jaa15s | Why aren’t tablets easily used as secondary monitors? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8oodf3",
"g8ogyid"
],
"text": [
"Mainly because you add two extra layers; USB transport and Application processing Monitor; Video signal > Processing > Picture iPad; Video signal > > USB encoding/compression > USB decoding/decompression > Application-level processing > Hardware Processin... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jad2c5 | Why can voices pass through noise cancelling earplugs? What's the science behind it? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8p475g"
],
"text": [
"If they are active noise canceling, they work by creating an inverse a wave of the sound coming in. This is most effective with constant noise sources (e.g. jet engines, road noise). Voices are dynamic so creating an inverse waveform is more problematic and the headphon... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jagdln | why scratched PS2 disks have low odds of loading but once they load, they don’t have problems at running the actual game? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8pf1un"
],
"text": [
"CDs storage is slow to access compared to memory, so the first thing the console does is load the game program to memory. Then the program actually runs from memory. So if the disk is scratched the console may not be able to read the program at all and it's got nothing ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
janw5s | Difference between Dual Rank and Single Rank RAM? | I'm trying to choose which RAM I should buy for my clients Laptop, and the processor is a i5 6200u. It is an HP 250 G5 Notebook. So far I see the RAM that is compatible with the i5 is DDR4 2133mhz, and I want 16 GB (8GBx2) but there are two options for it: Single Rank and Dual Rank; yet these two options are both 8GBx2... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8qmz7f"
],
"text": [
"The technical side of this is complex but imagine it as a spiral that only goes round twice. When data is wrote to the ram this data has to go round a 'loop' twice before it gets to the end. This is dual rank. In single rank, its more like a ring. It simply goes round o... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jaqsex | How come the new Iphone can have magnets built into it and be fine while older electronics would be damaged if I put a magnet near them? | Growing up I was told not to put a magnets anywhere near things like our TV, monitor, desktop computer, laptop, and VCR. Now the newest Iphone uses a magnet to hold accessories onto it. Why isn't it damaged from this? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8r5tda",
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"text": [
"A lot of the things you’re talking about from back in the da... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jas84j | How do credit/debit card chips work? | What is it in that tiny yellow-orange Square that makes it possible for millions of them to be put into a machine and Identify its owner? How do the readers work in addition to the cards? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8rgf59",
"g8rh3v1",
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],
"text": [
"the chip contains 2 key pieces of information to identify and verify the owner. it has your account # and the something that basically you can think of as a digital signature (cryptogram). the terminal reads this info and sends a message (t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
javk7e | How come mobile phones fast charge only with their respective company's fast charger even if we use a different charger with more watts | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8rwlxw",
"g8t2u0r"
],
"text": [
"It depends on the method and hardware they use in the device for fast charging. If they use a standard (something like Qualcomm's quick charge), then any charger supporting that would work.",
"There's more to fast charging than the amount of Watts a c... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jaxbch | Why are some USB cables better at charging than others? | So if USB stands for universal serial bus, that, to me, means there is only one stream of charge, however some cables are significantly faster than others. Is this due to the width of the cable? Or quality of the material in the cable? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8s6k9j",
"g8skfhh"
],
"text": [
"USB cables contain power lines and signal lines. Some very cheap cables don't contain signal lines, so the charger and device can't talk to each other and negotiate the supply power. In addition to this, for higher power levels the cables contain a chip, ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jaxv4m | How do rail guns work and why are they not used to launch things into space? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8s7bpk",
"g8s7fk7",
"g8sapgv",
"g8sa6jz"
],
"text": [
"A rail gun is basically a gun that uses electromagnets to accelerate the payload rather than rockets or an explosion. They can theoretically be used to accelerate things to far greater speed than conventional guns, but that c... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jaxvdg | How does software "improve" a phone's camera quality? If it does, can it (software) be used on cheap 2MP phone cameras and make it look really good? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8s771b"
],
"text": [
"One of the ways this can help is by noise reduction. Instead of simply taking one picture which will have a certain amount of graininess due to random noise, you can take a series of pictures over a short space of time. You can then average between them (using software ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jb0c14 | why cant we create video game graphics as good as cinematics? shouldnt the texturing be the same as making video games? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8sk5mh",
"g8sjj1i",
"g8sk3sr",
"g8smgrv"
],
"text": [
"A frame in a video game must render on a $500 computer in 1/30th of a second or less. A frame in a movie is rendered on a six or seven figure rendering supercomputer and can take however long it needs.",
"By cinematics, I... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jb1dsd | When i'm wearing headphones and I remove the cord from the device, I hear a static. What exactly is happening there? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8ss6p9"
],
"text": [
"There are small voltages involved in sending an audio signal to your headphones. So when you pull the plug out you are disconnecting an electrical circuit. In the split second the resistance is spiking as the voltage tries to connect to push across the air gap. It's not... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jb3ymg | During WW2 how did the Germans accurately hit London with v2 rockets , when the rockets could not be guided | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8t5wy8",
"g8t5w4h",
"g8t5zbx"
],
"text": [
"The rockets had a basic inertial guidance system. Essentially it functioned by tracking the compass heading, speed, and flight time. This is really all that's needed to hit something as large as a city. The purpose of the V2 was primarily p... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jb4b3v | Why is it often necessary to restart a computer after a large program is installed? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8t8fda"
],
"text": [
"Programs use shared files called DLLs. The DLLs are like a toolbox that provides commonly used functions to lots of programs so that those programs don’t have to worry about knowing how to do them. Some programs lock these DLLs so they can’t be changed or deleted while ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jb5h1c | Why was Windows Vista considered "bad" compared to XP and Windows 7? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8tf4s2"
],
"text": [
"**XP** was considered a very good OS, especially after the second update (called service pack 2). It ran fast and effectively even on older hardware, was compatible with everything, and had most of its issues and bugs squashed. **Vista** comes in and is a resource hog, ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jb8w9i | How NES was able to release games of just few MBs? | For example, any SNES game is not more than 5MB, despite the fact that it was packed with a good sound track and graphics. How NES was able achieve such tight packing? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8tz60t",
"g8u01iy"
],
"text": [
"They didn't store audio clips or large images. They stored something akin to a machine version of sheet music, which told each of the NES audio channels how much sound to play at any given time (which is a pretty limited format, which is why NES sounds ar... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jba3fr | How do 3.5mm headphone jacks work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8u6mde"
],
"text": [
"There’s are three or four “layers” in the jack, separated by the plastic usually black or white rings Each of these layers is connected to a different wire, so you are just connecting wires like any other connector, one wire is common for everything, the others are one ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jbc3a7 | how exactly does one guide a TOW missile? | It shoots from the launcher, but then they’re able to steer it somehow. I understand there’s a cable or something involved? I still don’t understand how it works. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8uijfj",
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],
"text": [
"Yes there’s a wire URL_0 it steers using the fins based on input it gets from the wire (some are wireless)",
"yes, the TOW missile is wire-guided. meaning that when it's fired, there's a spool of wire unraveling behind it which transmits the guidance ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jbevnx | What is 5G, and why is it so much better than 4G? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8v0nw7",
"g8v04be",
"g8v5i16"
],
"text": [
"You're incorrectly assuming that 5G is always better than 4G, but that's not necessarily the case. Easy real world example: T Mobile currently has one of the biggest 5G networks in the world, but Verizon's 4G network has higher speeds than ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jbkpcs | Where does that extra small storage in internal and external hard drives go? | 1TB shows 940GB (my laptop) 128GB shows 100GB (my phone) 64GB shows 58/59GB (my USB Pen drive) Where does that extra storage go? What takes that storage? Some hidden hidden files that are used to run that storage properly? If that's the case then why is there so much difference in that unaccessible storage from 5-50GB ... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8vw5yz",
"g8vvwen"
],
"text": [
"So, this is a bit of marketing mislabelling that technically is true but unintuitive. There are two ways to measure storage. One is in powers of ten (like other SI units). A megabyte is 1000 kilobytes. A gigabyte is 1000 megabytes, and so on. However ther... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jbmx3u | - Server maintenance | What happens when a computer game server is being maintained? I have in my head they delete caches and do a reboot, what else? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8w6wbq",
"g8w74i1"
],
"text": [
"Usually the are doing software upgrades or otherwise making changes to the core services that might disrupt gameplay. It is much, much easier to just take the servers down for a few hours, do all of the patches that they need to do, test it, then bring ev... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jbosax | Why are beakers made of glass? | Is there a special reason for why lab containers like beakers or test tubes are made of glass besides the fact that its see through? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8wi71a",
"g8wiccb",
"g8widps",
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],
"text": [
"Glass is very resistant to a wide range of chemicals, can be heated and cooled to a wide range of temperatures, and is fairly sturdy.",
"Glass, particularly borosilicate lab glass, is highly resistant to chemicals. It's a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jbqfab | How do tv channels/online streaming companies count the number of viewers watching shows? | Is it by internet activity? Or by individual accounts logged in and streaming? If for instance, I were to put the same show on 2 TVs and my laptop, all on the same WiFi network, but 2 different streaming accounts, would it count on their end as 3 (individual streaming devices), 2 (individual accounts), or 1 (individual... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8wskxz",
"g8wsrng"
],
"text": [
"With streaming services like Hulu, Netflix its that simple. Each browser/user agent/playback device has a uniquely identifiable ID that counts as a distinct \"view\". I.e. so the Chrome browser on your laptop watching Netflix can be discerned from your An... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jc021b | Why is it that computers can (for example) run minecraft shaders at max settings at 100FPS but take forever to render photos/videos? | sorry if the title is confusing but my computer can run a game with good graphics at around 100FPS but when i try to either render a video or photo in archicad or something, it takes longer than it would to run a game that looks way better. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8yj82k",
"g8yh3xw"
],
"text": [
"Render software are usually optimized for accuracy not speed. Games on the other hand are optimized for speed. This doesn't mean games *can't* look good, but rather \"realistic\" looks in games take shortcuts and are essentially fake and not as accurate a... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jc0ght | Why can't we use text in things like italics or bold in cell phone text messaging? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8yk93u"
],
"text": [
"The SMS standard is plain text only, so doesn't include any formatting information - adding it on new devices would break compatibility with older or simpler devices. However, some SMS apps will allow it by using basic markup, such as enclosing text in asterisks in orde... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jc0lu0 | How do applets work in contactless cards? | I work at a financial institution and we just rolled out new contactless cards. While reading a third party research report on the technology it said that the chip is still important and relevant to keep as a part of the new cards for the protection of consumers’ data because it has applets that can’t be cloned by frau... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8ym1ig",
"g8ytkuj"
],
"text": [
"A magnetic strip contains a string of characters that it uses as a password. This can be read by anyone with the right scanner, so a fraudster can just steal it and add the string to their card. There's no security there. A chip can run a simple program, ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jc4aph | why does your trash folder always have a lot of spam emails which were sent to different and similar email addresses | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8z9pe8"
],
"text": [
"Oh, okay. So the email protocol is actually ridiculously insecure, like laughably so. And it basically works like this: 1) Connect to the receiving email server that your recipient’s account is on, say URL_0 2) Send a “hello” message 3) Send a message telling the email ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jc7axw | How do ultrasounds work? More specifically, how does it look like there's a live cross-section of the womb and fetus? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8zmodm"
],
"text": [
"I worked with ultrasound imaging, but in solid mechanics, and not biomedical imaging. I can explain the broad principles, but not the details. An ultrasound device sends out a short pulse. This pulses travels through material. If it hits a boundary, part of it is reflec... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jc7jtx | How are smartphones still able to display the "battery depleted" symbol if there is no more battery? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g8znchi",
"g900axq"
],
"text": [
"Because the phones still have just enough battery left to display it. The battery is not truly dead until you cant turn your phone on at all.",
"A car can have 0.25 gallons of gas in the tank, so it's not truly \"empty\". But it's also not enough fuel... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jcb235 | Why does basically every web page ask about allowing cookies/settings? What is the correct response to this? Accept and allow? Disallow? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g90aaov",
"g90aaww",
"g90bi3k",
"g90jqws"
],
"text": [
"Cookies are basically like a small identification card that *the website gives to your browser* to identify it later. So now this card can be used by advertisers for targeted advertising. Since it can used to profile people t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jcd8fz | why are single camera-shows considered higher quality than multi-camera shows | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g90ml4f",
"g90nw7f",
"g90mxq9"
],
"text": [
"Basically, if you are doing a show with a single camera, you have to plan the shots carefully, and work ahead of time to figure out how the camera is going to film the action. A show with a standing set that has multiple cameras going can j... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jce6fh | What’s the hype behind 5g. Will the average person see any benefits from using it? Is this just a marketing tactic? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g90sk12",
"g90y2jd",
"g91cor1",
"g90uxia"
],
"text": [
"It is just the next iteration of wireless phone technology. Its isn't _just_ marketing - it is a different radio tech using a different portion of the frequency spectrum. As for benefits, it is primarily faster phone internet... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jce8vw | How much capacity of a storage device can be lost to formatting before I'm being ripped off? | Background: **I am aware** about binary vs decimal measuring of GB, so for the sake of my question, I am only worried about bytes. For example, my "32GB" SD card advertises that 1GB is 1,000,000,000 bytes. Fine. The capacity of the drive when formatted is 31,145,295,872 bytes and even completely empty, 65,536 bytes are... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g90udnu"
],
"text": [
"Filesystems aren't just like a big book of blank pages with stuff to be written in them. They're a complicated system of indexes, pointers and cross-references which are designed so that you can quickly find, add/append to, and delete different paragraphs and pages of t... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jcgamu | how are phones able to make emergency calls without service ? | Whenever Im at the gym I have zero service and my phone says emergency calls only. Why can it call 911 but I can't call my grandma? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g915f6q",
"g915q3u",
"g915a70"
],
"text": [
"Your phone service is owned by a specific cell provider. If you have no service, it's because the phone isn't able to talk with that provider. However, there are other cell providers that *usually* have service in the area. Emergency calls ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jcllzq | How was ice made and transported before refrigeration? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g9249gh",
"g924lw3",
"g9259j0"
],
"text": [
"It was mined from places where ice occurs naturally and kept in giant insulated warehouses. Sometimes evaporative cooling was used too. I highly recommend the wikipedia article on evaporative cooling, the history of it is pretty incredible.... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jco17q | Why is the steering wheel on the left side of the car for countries that drive on the right side of the road and vice versa? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g92k127",
"g92jy9s"
],
"text": [
"It’ safer when the driver is nearer the center of the road. They have better visibility and are less likely to drift into the other lane by accident. Also, if buses weren’t designed that way, passengers would be getting on and off from the center of the r... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jctk5h | Why do most websites tell me "Incorrect E-Mail or Password" and not just tell which one i put in wrong? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g93eghg",
"g93f7ib",
"g93efrz",
"g93guk4",
"g93vy8e"
],
"text": [
"For security reasons. Otherwise a bad actor would know the email is valid and just keep bruteforcing the password.",
"Because it's checking to see if they match, and not checking for anything else. Also, if... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jcwjv9 | How audio and microphone in a "wireless" earphone work? How good/bad a "good wireless earphone" is compared to a "good wired" earphone in terms of audio quality? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g9472pn",
"g945oy4"
],
"text": [
"Ok so there's really two things at work here: 1 - the quality of the audio components. This is determined by the quality of the speakers and microphone(s). Higher-end products often use multiple microphones and compare their signals to reduce background n... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jcy8xa | How are websites able to tell if their ads were blocked? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g9482sy",
"g948wfp",
"g9496mr"
],
"text": [
"Simply by noticing that when they request data from their ad provides it doesn't arrive. The process of getting something from the internet and displaying it on your website is a multi step process, it isn't all that difficult to detect if ... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jd0dzt | What Exactly Is Happening When A Program On Your Computer Is "Not Responding?" | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g94l5uu",
"g94nl2e"
],
"text": [
"Programs interact with the operating system using a \"message queue\". When you interact with a program (click the mouse, press a key) the OS sends a message to the program through the program's message queue. After the program handles the message, it res... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jd16j6 | Why do ads on social media platforms load with no problem, while the videos endlessly buffer? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g94q70l"
],
"text": [
"Usually for me its the exact opposite, so you have a false premise that this is just the same way for everyone. But I CAN answer the question in any case. The video on a site are hosted from that site, are using their bandwidth and subject to whatever issues anything el... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jd271a | how does 8D audio make it sound like audio is moving around me? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g9548vo"
],
"text": [
"8D audio is a marketing term for something called binaural audio. It's a type of surround sound that takes advantage of how our brains perceive sound in order to work with only a left and right channel. when we hear something that is in front of us, the sound reaches bo... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jd2kd2 | In glitter paint, how does the paint color not cover up the glitter and just turn it into gritty paint? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g9529yx"
],
"text": [
"Paint is really translucent. In blending, layering, and with thickness (and painted over other colors in base capes and primer) is when it has an opaque quality. When flecks are suspended in the paint it’s close enough to to the surface that it’s visible. In addition it... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jd37sv | How are space movies and shows able to simulate zero gravity? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g9557by"
],
"text": [
"Early on it was done with thin wires which were able to support the weight of the actors, now it is more likely to be done with CGI."
],
"score": [
5
],
"text_urls": [
[]
]
} | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jd9jov | Why is it we still get dozens of calls a day from scammers? Don’t we have the tech to tell a spoof number and prevent it from coming through? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g97efat",
"g96pcdr",
"g96htno"
],
"text": [
"It's not a technical problem but a legal one. As long as it's legal this will keep happening. This problem hardly exists in the EU because there are strict laws about these kinds of things.",
"There are billions of potential phone numbe... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jdffsy | Why is the main hard drive always called C: ? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g97piiy",
"g97pmgr",
"g97poe1"
],
"text": [
"It's ancient convention from the MS DOS days, most computers before harddrives that used DOS would have 2 floppy disk drives labelled A: and B:. When hard drives got released C: was the natural progression from there.",
"Because back in... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jdi0wi | why would one hide his IP-address before downloading torrent? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g988cmv",
"g9893zt"
],
"text": [
"It's a way to protect yourself from being tracked. If someone's watching your activity, and you give them the wrong IP address to watch, then it makes it that much harder for them to prosecute you or issue you a fine.",
"IP addresses are identifying i... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jdj5vp | What is an IP rating? (eg. "IP68") | And is it required for a phone to be able to handle any amount of water? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g98g2ub"
],
"text": [
"You can fund the meaning of the numbers [ URL_1 ]( URL_0 ) The first number is solid particles and 6 is Dust-tight . The second I liquid and 8 is \" Immersion, 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) or more depth \" the test time is at least 30 minutes."
],
"score": [
3
],
"te... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jdld5u | If voice recognition on our phones has been made so fantastic and accessible for free, why is it so shoddy on the PC? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g98un7p",
"g99016g",
"g98uwnr"
],
"text": [
"I havent seen any voice recognition for pc. Most people just use Google home or alexa for that no?",
"I mean, what service are you using? This isn't a pc vs phone technology. Not all voice recognition services are created equal, just li... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jdltub | how touch screen phones tell the difference between skin and random objects | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g98xhar",
"g991gdl"
],
"text": [
"Capacitance. Your skin allows a certain amount of freedom for the electrons in it to move around. Electrons are attracted to positive charges and repelled from negative charges - including each other - which means under normal circumstances electrons will... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jdqz9k | How are onion sites hidden from search engines? | Hey there :) I'm curious, how are `.onion` sites hidden from public search engines like Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo or Yahoo? Aren't all websites accessible online; even with Chrome? As far as I know, Tor keeps track of nearly all `.onion` sites but somehow the network is hidden from the public... I'm thinking of creating... | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g99yvef",
"g9aeus6",
"g9abrpl"
],
"text": [
"Because Google is a commercial company. Their algorithm includes the availability to access website - as has been seen by attempts to block The Pirate Bay, where search results invariably include an accessible proxy above the site itself in... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jdqzmb | How does a buffer overflow work? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g99xbjr"
],
"text": [
"When a program is running, its instructions are stored in the same memory as the data of that program. Everything is bytes, and those bytes are all in roughly the same location. The memory used to store data needs to be allocated by the program. For example, if you want... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jdr6j1 | Why can my white gold wedding band be used as a stylus? | Not sure how I figured it out, but I can used my white gold wedding band as a stylus. Works pretty well actually. Wouldn’t be good for swiping though. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g99wf76"
],
"text": [
"White gold is conductive, which is the main method touch screens use to detect that something touches them. You can use any conductive metal as a stylus, since the screen doesn't care what exactly is being used nor does it know the difference. All the screen knows is \"... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jdtbrj | What are subtypes and supertypes in databases? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g9afzk0"
],
"text": [
"A supertype is simply a \"parent\" type of another database object, while a subtype is that database object. For example, if \"vehicles\" are your supertype, they might have subtypes of \"sedan\", \"truck\", \"van\", etc."
],
"score": [
3
],
"text_urls": [
... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] | |
jduux7 | Types of cotton fabric | ELI5: how is it that so many fabrics that seem to be different can all be 100% cotton? | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g9amyls"
],
"text": [
"Thickness of fiber is one factor, then there's woven vs knit, fiber density (number of fibers per square inch) was the cotton combed to align the fibers before spinning into thread? How many plies/layers to each strand? Was it polished, dyed, dipped in a fabric stiffene... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
jdyljr | How did the Zapper for old NES systems know where you were aiming on the screen when playing Duck Hunt on those old TVs? | Seems like tech ahead of it's time to me. | Technology | explainlikeimfive | {
"a_id": [
"g9b4tc0",
"g9b4dul",
"g9bgkll",
"g9b4noo"
],
"text": [
"It’s actually a pretty cool thing of engineering. The zapper itself contained a light sensor at the tip. When you pressed the trigger the next frame of the TV would become all black. The frame after that would be mostly black... | [
"url"
] | [
"url"
] |
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