q_id
stringlengths 5
6
| title
stringlengths 3
296
| selftext
stringlengths 0
34k
| document
stringclasses 1
value | subreddit
stringclasses 1
value | url
stringlengths 4
110
| answers
dict | title_urls
sequence | selftext_urls
sequence | answers_urls
sequence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6o3ab4 | how does smoke ward off mosquitos? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6o3ab4/eli5_how_does_smoke_ward_off_mosquitos/ | {
"a_id": [
"dkez841"
],
"score": [
9
],
"text": [
"Mosquitoes (and gnats, for what it's worth) are super tiny little critters with super duper tiny little respiratory systems. Their little lungs (or equivalent, I'm not sure exactly what insects use to breathe) can't handle filtering out the smoke particles, so they stay away from it and seek a cleaner air source. This is also why you'll often see the internet recommend burning incense if you have a fruit fly problem in your home, it really doesn't take much to suffocate them to death. \n\nHumans have this same aversion to smoke! I don't know may people who would willingly sit on the smokey end of a campfire. While humans won't die standing at the smokey end of a campfire (for most sets of circumstances), it's just plain easier to breathe the clean air and we move upwind. Mosquitoes do the same thing!"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
3fsqxq | is there any discernible benefit to shampoos instruction to "lather, rise, repeat if needed" or is it just a ploy to get you to use twice as much shampoo? | I've done some things, including five-day-long festival living. I've never washed my hair and, before conditioning, thought "Actually this needs another go". | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3fsqxq/eli5_is_there_any_discernible_benefit_to_shampoos/ | {
"a_id": [
"ctrlj3t",
"ctrm94y"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"It depends on your type of hair. If you have short hair, or thin hair, you can probably get away with a single wash and be fine. On the other hand, if your hair is long or thick, then it's probably best to wash your hair in two steps using half the amount of shampoo you normally would use on each step. ",
"After a day of work my hair will get so gross and greasy it can take more than one repeat to clean it all out."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
4pbxu1 | how does harmonizing work? | Is it different for singing vs instruments? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4pbxu1/eli5_how_does_harmonizing_work/ | {
"a_id": [
"d4jp38d"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"Each musical note has an associated frequency. When played with other notes, the sound waves may either augment each other or disrupt each other. Harmonization typically works by playing multiple notes that augment each other, causing their sound waves to create a fuller sound.\n\nThe underlying mechanics are in the mathematics of the sound waves. Integer multiples of one frequency may frequently match up with another. [Wiki has some nice diagrams](_URL_0_) showing this.\n\nSince it's tied to the note, it is the same for singing and for instruments."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic"
]
] |
|
5d2vyc | what exactly do we need to start colonizing mars? | Basically (and in general), what do we need to get ready before thinking about living in the red planet? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5d2vyc/eli5_what_exactly_do_we_need_to_start_colonizing/ | {
"a_id": [
"da1d29t"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"First, we need to find reliable ways to recycle everything we use in a sealed environment. We've done some good research in this area, but we've got a lot of work to do. For major things like O2 or water, we're pretty good, but reliably getting food out there is going to be a challenge. We'll have to be able to either grow our own food, or accept constant resupply missions from earth.\n\nSecond, we need a good way to shield ourselves from radiation. The Apollo astronauts soaked up a bit on their trips to the moon, but visitors to Mars are going to get a whole lot more. Overcoming that is the key to keeping our colonists cancer free.\n\nThird, we need a reliable way to get mass to the colony. Right now, everything we use in space has to be launched on a rocket, at a cost of $10K+ per POUND to get it to Mars. Either that cost has to fall dramatically, or we have to start finding resources already outside of the Earth's gravity well. \n\nFourth, in the long term, we have to start making Mars more habitable, which involves building up the Martian atmosphere and maintaining it as the solar winds strip it off of Mars. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
16vgq0 | - semantics | I have looked up the definition but i cannot wrap my head around it. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/16vgq0/eli5_semantics/ | {
"a_id": [
"c7zq1zl"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"It's rather hard to explain but it's about meaning of things. So two words, efsef and cat. Cat has semantics whereas efsef. When you hear cat, you know it means the 4 legged, disinterested in everything animal. Whereas efsef has no meaning. You can't attach it to anything.\n\nAnother example is Semantic satiation. You know when you repeat a word a lot of times and it looks weird and kind of loses its meaning? That's Semantic satiation."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
9suemw | what makes older games (specifically games like fallout: new vegas) so incompatible with current operating systems like windows 10? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9suemw/eli5_what_makes_older_games_specifically_games/ | {
"a_id": [
"e8rjcyz",
"e8rnr4n"
],
"score": [
5,
3
],
"text": [
"Libraries, Registry Keys and Screen Resolution would be the main offenders, also, OS changes a lot from a version to another, it's more noticiable if you are more of and advanced user (support engineer, computer programmer and stuff like this). System and CPU architecture (x64 and x32) are also a huge factor for older games.",
"New Vegas runs well on steam under windows 10 on my computer, so I'm a bit confused here. Usually, the OS is not the problem in these cases, but the hardware is. Hardware evolves a lot and the game is unable to communicate properly with it. This is why you have to use emulators to play really old games, the emulator acts like an interface between the game and your modern hardware, allowing them to communicate with each other "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
||
wnk73 | what would be the best possible thing to do when your phone gets completely submerged in water, and why? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/wnk73/what_would_be_the_best_possible_thing_to_do_when/ | {
"a_id": [
"c5euaxc"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"1. Take out the battery.\n2. Bury the phone in a bowl of rice (uncooked, obviously) overnight.\n\nRemoving the battery reduces the probability of something shorting out because of the water.\n\nThe rice will absorb moisture from the phone, and dry it out much more quickly and thoroughly than air-drying.\n\nNo guarantees, but your warranty is now void now because of moisture damage, so it's worth a try."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
oe3ol | romney and bain capital | What did Mitt Romney do while he was with Bain Capital? How does he try to spin it, and how do his opponents try to spin it? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/oe3ol/eli5_romney_and_bain_capital/ | {
"a_id": [
"c3gi2vt"
],
"score": [
13
],
"text": [
"Romney used to work for a company called Bain Capital. They are a private equity firm. Bain's makes money by buying companies in failure, and fixing them up and then reselling them. House flipping for the fortune 500 is an oversimplification. \n\nBain usual technique (which is common for the industry) was intead of trying an fixing the distress company, is to sell off the most profitable chunks and ditch the rest. If Bain bought your company, there was a good chance the assets (land, buildings, bank accounts, patents, equipment) would be sold off and you would get a pink slip. Thus, many accuse Bain of vulture capitalism, or profiting off of destroying companies rather than helping them. Bain, and others, sometimes will actually help failing companies, but this is usually more expensive than gutting it so Bain will go wherever there is more profit. \n\nMitt claims to be a job creator due to his business experience, and this makes him look more like a job destroyer. \n\nWhat is surprising is that it is republicans attacking him for this when everyone though it would the only the democrats. \n\nEdit: Romney ties to spin this like he was a good capitalist, job creator, citing that \"I created 100,000 jobs while at Bain.\" But he has produced little in the way of proof and won't release his tax returns for those years. It may be true he created that many jobs, but he also may have ended far more. \n\nWhether this is a good thing or a bad thing depends on your views of the capitalist system and the role for private equity firms in the economy. If you see Romney as good then you probably want him to bring his Bain magic and if you see Romney as bad then this is another corporate shill come to dismantle the American dream to turn a quick buck. As Jon Stewart puts it \"Romney looks like the guy who fired your dad.\""
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
8aultc | why does chicken separate into little strings when you tear it? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8aultc/eli5_why_does_chicken_separate_into_little/ | {
"a_id": [
"dx1nim0"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"Most Meat is muscle tissue. Muscle is made of strands of tissue that work together to do whatever that muscle is. That's being broken apart when you cut it, and that's what you're seeing."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
22ccrs | how do some teenagers or young adults get volunteer work in south america or africa? | A friend claimed that most students who recieve the biggest scholarships obtained them for this kind of volunteer work. She said that she did not have the resources to volunteer out of country, thus giving richer students an advantage for scholarships. I know this is not the right way to look at volunteerism, but does she have a point? She does so much, but not internationally. Have any of your guys done it, and if so, was it doable with a lower income? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/22ccrs/eli5_how_do_some_teenagers_or_young_adults_get/ | {
"a_id": [
"cgleot4"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Often, such volunteer work are mission trips organized by their church, funded by the congregants."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
j3tr1 | sociopaths, how do they work? | Not going to lie, I love watching cop dramas and I always hear this word thrown around when describing suspects. Can you explain to me like I'm 5 what being a sociopath actually entails? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/j3tr1/eli5_sociopaths_how_do_they_work/ | {
"a_id": [
"c28wl9v",
"c28wzg3",
"c28x7y6"
],
"score": [
2,
2,
3
],
"text": [
"They don't feel guilty about doing bad things, if they follow rules it is a completely logical decision.",
"Funny enough, this is a good question for a five-year-old, since technically speaking, many five-year-olds fit the definition of sociopathy! The difference is, they grow out of it.\n\nA sociopath, as I understand it, lacks the ability to empathize with anyone or anything else. Think about little kids trying to share toys: when one decides he wants what the other has, he just takes it, because that's what he wants. He can't understand yet that the other child has wants too, and that those wants matter just as much as his own. If he hurts the other child, he doesn't really understand the concept of \"sorry,\" because he's not old enough yet to understand hurting other people. Kids who *aren't* sociopaths (and who have at least vaguely decent parental input) grow out of this: as their brains mature, they gain the ability to relate to other people, to understand that hurting other people isn't OK, and to feel empathy for people who are hurt or sad. A sociopath never gains that empathy, so he remains stuck in \"little kid\" mode: I want what I want now, and why would it matter to me what other people want or feel about it? Just like a little kid, this can lead to lots of problems later: things like empathy help us control our impulses not to do things that hurt other people or break laws, while a sociopath won't have those tools. Genuine sociopaths are often not like the clever schemers you see on TV: without impulse control, they often act out so much that they're caught quickly (although some are not!).\n\nMy father tells the story of a patient that had attempted suicide by putting a gun to his temple and pulling the trigger, but had missed and simply blown out his frontal lobe instead. My dad met him when Dad was an intern, and the patient now showed signs of being much like a sociopath: he no longer felt empathy at all, and no longer understood \"rules\" except as he chose to make them. He would happily grab a cupcake off another patient's tray simply because he wanted it, and couldn't seem to understand at all what might be wrong with doing that.",
"You know how some people are born without eyesight, and we call them blind? They don't see anything, you can imagine what it's like to be blind by closing your eyes and never, ever opening them. And a deaf person was born without hearing, like if you stuck your fingers in your ears and never took them out?\n\nA sociopath is a person who was born without a conscience. They are born to never know the difference between right and wrong. You know how you feel when you know you've done something bad? A sociopath doesn't feel that feeling. They simply don't have the ability to feel bad about things they do wrong, just like a blind person can't see. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
lgd49 | why characters on shows have to hide apple logos on their laptops | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/lgd49/why_characters_on_shows_have_to_hide_apple_logos/ | {
"a_id": [
"c2sggh5",
"c2sggh5"
],
"score": [
22,
22
],
"text": [
"If you're not paying for advertising you don't get it for free. And it also works the other way. Apple may not want to be associated with their show. It's just easier all around to not have any logos of anyone other than official sponsors.",
"If you're not paying for advertising you don't get it for free. And it also works the other way. Apple may not want to be associated with their show. It's just easier all around to not have any logos of anyone other than official sponsors."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
||
8flpx9 | what stops us patent office workers from stealing the ideas from submitted patents and copying them? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8flpx9/eli5_what_stops_us_patent_office_workers_from/ | {
"a_id": [
"dy4imbw",
"dy4rpw8",
"dy50qkj",
"dy52fei",
"dy56x90"
],
"score": [
98,
3,
35,
4,
2
],
"text": [
"Their submission date would by necessity be *after* the original submission, and therefore not valid.\n\nThe original submitter would have record of the date and easily win any legal challenge.\n\nI'd imagine there's also something in the job description about this (like how McDonald's employees can't win McDonald's contests), but I can't say that for certain.",
"The patent submitter has proof of prior work, so that if the patent clerk changed the name to theirs, the originator can make a strong case in court with all their evidence of research and development, even basic motive, and prior drafts of the patent, along with research and lawyer bills. The clerk may not even know what the patent is even for, let alone prove they have the competency to have invented it.",
"1. 99.99% of patent applications aren't worth stealing.\n\n2. Patent examiners, at least in the United States, can't file for patents.\n\n3. Everything is scanned into electronic databases, assigned sequential application numbers based on filing date, and opened up for public inspection during the entire prosecution process so there's a huge papertrail and it's pretty much impossible to create a phony application and backdate it to establish prior invention.\n\nIt would take a grand conspiracy to pull that one off, you would need a number of people working at multiple levels within the patent office with the highest levels of network administrative privileges, and you would have to file dummy applications with the sole intentions of swapping them out at a later date with inventions lifted from patent applications that haven't even been filed yet. ",
"I have a patent. As for today, there is no way someone could rip you off because we needed 6 lawyers and a ton of paper work to get ours passed. Those guys gave their name on it and 2 of them were patent lawyers. God forbid someone tried to rip us off because they would have their heads on a pike.",
"When you work for the patent office, you're not allowed to have ownership in patents, including the year after separation."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
6yvfah | if something does a lot of noise, does it mean it's loosing power, transforming it to sound? | Like the title says. For example, when you drill the wall, the loud noise, does it influence in its drilling capability? If it made no sound, would the same power output, make the drilling more efficient?
I don't know if I am explained myself, but I tried my best. Remembre I'm just 5 yo, haha.
Thank you in advance. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6yvfah/eli5_if_something_does_a_lot_of_noise_does_it/ | {
"a_id": [
"dmqf2hh",
"dmqy1ta"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"You have the right idea. The drill is wasting some power to vibrate the drill bit and the bits of the wall that are generating the sound. If, somehow, you could redirect this vibrational energy back into the drilling process it would be more efficient.",
"In principle, the louder something is, the more energy is being wasted as sound.\n\nIn actuality, the amount of energy it takes to create even very loud sounds is very small. So the losses from sound to the environment are negligible under nearly every circumstance."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
5o1izt | why do humans crave a happy ending in movies? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5o1izt/eli5_why_do_humans_crave_a_happy_ending_in_movies/ | {
"a_id": [
"dcfwqmy",
"dcfx6nz",
"dcfyw1l"
],
"score": [
2,
6,
2
],
"text": [
"Because real life is complicated, bittersweet, often unfulfilling and without resolution. A big part of what people want from stories is a form of fulfillment that they rarely get in life. It's a form of reassurement that everything's going to be okay and turn out alright in the end.",
"It's not humans. It's mainly Americans. If you watch foreign films, they have realistic endings.",
"Ok, so I'm going to give a semi-real answer:\n\nAll humans have a desire for things to fit. That's why things like puzzles that are missing a single piece and thus can't be completed are irritating to us.\n\nThis is also why people think they have ocd, but no. Its just a simple human desire.\n\nAnyway, because of this trait, movie making and pop culture in general is known for having a complete/fulfilling ending to satisfy us. We have grown up around this, and so we think a movie is incomplete without a happy ending.\n\n(Also this doesn't just apply to Americans)"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
1n819m | why do cell phone companies not allow you to buy a new phone without a large fee when you have a contract? | Wouldn't that make the customer want to leave because they can't update their phone for two years? Also couldn't they make more money if their customer keeps buying phones? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1n819m/eli5_why_do_cell_phone_companies_not_allow_you_to/ | {
"a_id": [
"ccg7am5",
"ccg7avy",
"ccg968q"
],
"score": [
2,
2,
3
],
"text": [
"You can't actually buy a new iPhone 5C for $100, nor a 5S for $200. That is just your up-front cost. The remainder (which is approximately another $500) is rolled into the remaining 2 years.\n\nYou can buy out this contract early- Its somewhere between $10-$20 per month remaining on your contract.\n\nThis is why, when you buy a new phone, your charges are an additional $10-$20 a month. Once your contract is over, your monthly drops a few bucks.\n\nSo, why can't you just keep updating your phone? Well, you haven't stopped paying for the first one, and who wants a phone bill with 5 unpaid phones tied to it, adding up to an additional $100 a month.\n",
"Most companies make you pay a large fee to end or \"break free\" from the contract. So therefore consumers would rather just wait and thus keep paying their monthly bills until the upgrade comes along.\r\rAlso you'd be surprised how often people already buy the new phone regardless of not having an upgrade available yet. That's what the \"without activation price\" is. Usually the phone by itself without an upgrade costs around $500-700. So phone companies get WAY more money that way then the typical $200 from an upgrade.",
"iPhones cost $500-700, when you upgrade the service provider (AT & T/Verizon/...) is basically paying Apple the difference in cost. In exchange they have you paying a contract for two years, with penalties for an early exit.\n\n"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
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! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/d6w9u4/eli5_in_a_first_person_shooter_how_is_the_video/ | {
"a_id": [
"f0vuv3r",
"f0vuyzx",
"f0vuz6i",
"f0vwsre"
],
"score": [
3,
2,
9,
2
],
"text": [
"Most shooters use \"hitscan\" mechanics for bullet-based weapons. In other words, bullets don't have a \"trajectory\". The game simply checks to see if you were aimed precisely at the target when you fired. If you were, then it registers a hit on the target.",
"The actual physics governing bullet trajectory is well understood irl. These equations are programmed into the game. The movement of in-game characters would also be programmed into the game, including \"hit boxes\" determining if it is a headshot or body shot. If the bullet trajectory crosses a hit box, it counts.",
"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.\n\nInternally, it draws an imaginary line from your gun to some boundary, then calculates all of the objects that line crosses, then finds the object closest to the player and then that object is \"hit.\"",
"projectile trajectory within a gravity field is a well understood model. high school physics students can tell you how the bullet will act with respect to time and elevation....as long as you don't try to introduce the aerodynamics. \n\nas mentioned, most games don't do trajectory. only a few games do. Arma3 comes to mind \n [_URL_0_](_URL_0_)"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cix07R1vlhI"
]
] |
|
1q0dv9 | tank rounds - armor piercing tank shell, how do they work on other tanks when fired? | Also, are there any other different tank shells apart from Armor Piercing? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1q0dv9/eli5_tank_rounds_armor_piercing_tank_shell_how_do/ | {
"a_id": [
"cd7vz71"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"There are many different types of tank shells. Can't be bothered to mention them all.\n\nArmour Piercing are the classic antitank round. They're a solid shot that punches through armour through kinetic energy. However, they were kind of crap. To fly well they needed to be pointed, but pointed rounds break on armour quite easily when fired from high velocity guns, which is what you want your antitank gun to be. Rounded heads punch through armour better, and were known as APC (Armour Piercing Capped - they were fitted with a softer rounded cap to absorb shock and to squash on the target) but they don't fly as easily and so don't go as far and therefore don't hit as hard as they could.\n\nTo get around this they would make a rounded shell and put a soft pointed head on it or just a cover. This would allow it to fly easily and when it hit the soft head would squash and allow the solid, and hard (but capped), rounded head underneath to punch through the armour. These are known as APCBC (Armour Piercing Capped Ballistic Capped).\n\nShaped charge heads were also employed. These are known as HEAT rounds. Contrary to popular opinion they don't burn through armour they punch through. HEAT stands for High Explosive Anti Tank. A shaped charge shoots most of its explosion forwards and so when it hits the armour this explosive jet punches through. The advantage to these was that they would punch through the same amount of armour whether they hit from close range of long range. The disadvantage was that they'd only punch through the same amount of armour whether you were long range or short range.\n\nToday the most common type of round employed by tanks is the Sabot round. Sabot means Shoe.\n\nThe penetrating round is enclosed in fall away sabots. The penetrating round is made of very dense material, such as tungsten or depleted uranium. By enclosing it in a sabot it can be fired from a much larger calibre gun and thus be given a lot more muzzle velocity. The Abrams uses a German gun to fire its APFSDS (Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot) rounds. They're basically arrows made out of depleted uranium. \n\nThere are other rounds, but as I said, over there years there have been a lot.\n"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
6ll02q | at altitude, i will suffer the effects from a thinned atmosphere. if the oceans were removed, and i could walk down to the ocean floor, such as the marianas trench, what ill effects might i suffer? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6ll02q/eli5at_altitude_i_will_suffer_the_effects_from_a/ | {
"a_id": [
"djukiy8",
"djukkl7"
],
"score": [
4,
9
],
"text": [
"People can adjust to higher air breathing pressures as long as the change is slow and the body has time to adjust. On [this page] (_URL_0_) I found calculations of what the pressure would be below sea level: at the deepest part of the Marianas Trench, 11km down, the atmospheric pressure would be around 400 kPa or 4x the pressure at sea level. This is well within the range that SCUBA divers handle: at just 99 ft underwater, they are breathing air at that pressure (since every 33ft adds an extra atmosphere's pressure to the standard pressure). So you could handle the pressure OK, but if you came back up too quickly you would get \"the bends\". \n\nHowever, I expect heat would be a problem, since the crust is much thinner and the rocks would probably get *very* hot!\n\n",
"If the oceans were removed, the atmosphere would just sit lower. Therefore, in the marianas trench, you'd have the effects of 1 atm, at current \"sea level\" you'd have the effects you have now on top of the Everest. I wouldn't encourage you to climb oceanless mt. Everest."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/air-pressure-below-sea-level.640478/"
],
[]
] |
||
7djlg2 | what makes humans so curious, and why do we need to know everything? | Why do we lie awake at night wondering how cheese is made? Is curiosity a large part of what makes us human? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7djlg2/eli5_what_makes_humans_so_curious_and_why_do_we/ | {
"a_id": [
"dpyf183",
"dpzja0k"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"I'm not a expert in this so it's possible I could be wrong but I believe it's basically a survival strategy of you know how to make traps is cook food that will give you an advantage. Add a result we basically need constant stimulation. In fact, boredom and disgust are the same emotion (kinda). I mean that they are the same in the way that rage and mad are the same emotion. Boredom is a more mild version of disgust. \nThere was an experiment where they had people touch a button that would shock them and when asked they said they would not touch it again. But when asked to wait in a room alone almost all of them touched the button again with 20-30 minutes",
"Evolution rewarded our ancestors for curiosity. Those who were curious were more likely to learn about new places to get food, new dangers, new ideas for farming, new ways to use a tool, all sorts of learnable things. \n\nWhen hard times came, the curious were more likely to survive. So they became our ancestors, not those who died."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
89or3h | difference of vapor pressure to saturated vapor pressure. | I have read the wiki article for vapor pressure, also the equilibrium vapor pressure.
Now I have stumbled upon this : _URL_0_
Upon reading, it seems that they are the same?.
Now I am confused. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/89or3h/eli5_difference_of_vapor_pressure_to_saturated/ | {
"a_id": [
"dwsdnr8"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Saturated vapor pressure is the vapor pressure at equilibrium. But systems arent always at equilibrium, so saturated vapor pressure is a specific kind of vapor pressure, while vapor pressure is a larger term that encompasses any state."
]
} | [] | [
"https://www.chemguide.co.uk/physical/phaseeqia/vapourpress.html"
] | [
[]
] |
|
3e0oky | how are movies being uploaded when they're not even officially out yet? (ts/cam?/rip/...) | How? Are they released earlier in Japanese etc countries? If yes, still how? Do they copy the disc? What if there's no dvd / blu-ray yet? How do they do it then | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3e0oky/eli5_how_are_movies_being_uploaded_when_theyre/ | {
"a_id": [
"ctaf18w"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"Nobody has gotten it right yet. my time to shine.\n\nI used to (briefly) work in the movie industry. People at work, and the academy award voters, are given DVDs of the movie for review so they can see their own work (movie studio) and so they can give it awards (academy), especially if the movie comes out close to the awards and they need to see it and rate it a while before it actually comes out. Someone steals one of these or uploads it themselves online. They try to combat this by making random parts of the movie black and white, so they know who it was that uploaded it/ who it was stolen from. for example, if the movie is black and white at 1hour 38min, that one went to Sam Smith. Fuck that guy. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
2n8pil | what happens to cargo when a plane crashes? | If the cargo (something I ordered from Amazon, for instance) remains intact, is it still shipped to me? Will I know it was in a plane crash? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2n8pil/eli5_what_happens_to_cargo_when_a_plane_crashes/ | {
"a_id": [
"cmbf7bk"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Assuming you'd ordered from a reputable company, the cargo would be insured. Therefore in the case of a total loss of the aircraft (i.e. a crash) the shipping company would send you out a replacement item and claim the cost of that back from their insurance company.\n\nIt's simply not worth the time, effort, and money that would be necessary to retrieve every item of cargo, check it individually, and if not damaged send it on to its destination. Especially as cargo aircraft crashes are fairly unusual, and therefore the insurance costs are unlikely to be prohibitively high."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
3kt99s | why us has such complex presidential election system? why not a simple election system? e.g. count total republic/democratic voters all over us.who ever has higher vote, simply becomes president? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3kt99s/eli5_why_us_has_such_complex_presidential/ | {
"a_id": [
"cv09jir"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"The current system gives more votes to smaller states. ~~In addition, it allows gerrymandering.~~ As both parties profit, no one wants to change that.\n\nBesides, this wouldn't actually help in solving the issues."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
8i5ft8 | how does saltwater and freshwater fish body system work? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8i5ft8/eli5_how_does_saltwater_and_freshwater_fish_body/ | {
"a_id": [
"dyp9223"
],
"score": [
16
],
"text": [
"Living organisms need to have some amount of salt in them, but not too much. Now water will naturally want to flow from less-salty areas into more-salty areas to maintain its own balance. The body of a fish will not have the same saltiness as the water it lives in so fish have to do some special things to maintain the right amount of saltiness within their bodies.\n\nFreshwater fish have more salt in their bodies than there is salt in the water. As a result, water tends to flow into their bodies. So they don't drink very much and they pee a lot.\n\nSaltwater fish have less salt in their bodies than there is salt in the water. As a result, water tends to flow out of their bodies. So they drink a lot and don't pee very much.\n\nThere are various glands and organs and things that help the fish do what they need to, but that's the basics of it."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
nxccv | why people are against government controlled healthcare and education/ free healthcare and education? | I'm assuming it's all the years of 'big government is bad' brainwashing? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/nxccv/eli5_why_people_are_against_government_controlled/ | {
"a_id": [
"c3cok9t",
"c3cplmp",
"c3cpr56",
"c3cq5ax",
"c3crkxg",
"c3cslqq",
"c3ctn9g",
"c3cok9t",
"c3cplmp",
"c3cpr56",
"c3cq5ax",
"c3crkxg",
"c3cslqq",
"c3ctn9g"
],
"score": [
6,
3,
6,
7,
2,
3,
2,
6,
3,
6,
7,
2,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"It's not *free* any more than private healthcare and education; the only difference is the distribution of payment for it. People are against government sponsored healthcare and education because they don't think that it's a good thing for rich people to subsidize medicine and schooling for the poor.",
"Because the insurance companies, and others that profit from the current system, have carried out a fantastic PR campaign. ",
"Because the education system is so poor that generations of people have grown up incapable of understanding how government controlled/free education and healthcare could benefit society.",
"Any chance that anyone could actually give an unbiased account of this perspective rather than just turning this into a \"this opinion is retarded\" circle-jerk?",
"I don't neccessarily agree to the following points but they are routinely brought up:\n\n- having government run something which everyone needs anyway - and private businesses could supply on their own - introduces inefficiency and waste\n\n- if you don't like what a insurance carrier is doing, switch carriers. If you don't like what the government is doing (and they could effectively sign your death warrant by withholding (payment for) medication), oops?\n\n- the government will do what it always does: standardize. So there will be (i.e. they will pay) one way and one way only to treat anything. Experimental cancer treatment? No, sorry.\n",
"Americans just don't see health care in the same light as they see education, fire service, roads, and all the other things that taxes pay for. Health care is a reward for having a good job. You're supposed to have a good job that provides benefits. That's your duty as an American: Get a good job with benefits. Why should you get benefits without having earned them?\n\nIt's also due to a lot of lobbying by insurance industries. If the government offered a not-for-profit alternative to for-profit insurance, the insurance companies simply wouldn't be able to compete. Cap the costs at a % of a person's income (so you wouldn't wind up owing more for your care than you actually _make_), and they'd go under fast. \n\nTl;Dr: Basically it's a mix of culture and business interests. You get a good job that gives you health care. Insurance companies want to keep making money so they lobby against government competition. ",
"I thought it could have something to do with the enormous amounts of money state governments pour into education with mediocre results or mixed results of federal and state health-related programs.\n\nNot saying that there isn't a need for a *ton* of overhauling for education and education, but there are plenty of reasons people are suspicious of just simply writing these programs bigger checks.\n\nOh sorry, I interrupted a good circlejerk. Please continue. Was never here\n\n\n\n",
"It's not *free* any more than private healthcare and education; the only difference is the distribution of payment for it. People are against government sponsored healthcare and education because they don't think that it's a good thing for rich people to subsidize medicine and schooling for the poor.",
"Because the insurance companies, and others that profit from the current system, have carried out a fantastic PR campaign. ",
"Because the education system is so poor that generations of people have grown up incapable of understanding how government controlled/free education and healthcare could benefit society.",
"Any chance that anyone could actually give an unbiased account of this perspective rather than just turning this into a \"this opinion is retarded\" circle-jerk?",
"I don't neccessarily agree to the following points but they are routinely brought up:\n\n- having government run something which everyone needs anyway - and private businesses could supply on their own - introduces inefficiency and waste\n\n- if you don't like what a insurance carrier is doing, switch carriers. If you don't like what the government is doing (and they could effectively sign your death warrant by withholding (payment for) medication), oops?\n\n- the government will do what it always does: standardize. So there will be (i.e. they will pay) one way and one way only to treat anything. Experimental cancer treatment? No, sorry.\n",
"Americans just don't see health care in the same light as they see education, fire service, roads, and all the other things that taxes pay for. Health care is a reward for having a good job. You're supposed to have a good job that provides benefits. That's your duty as an American: Get a good job with benefits. Why should you get benefits without having earned them?\n\nIt's also due to a lot of lobbying by insurance industries. If the government offered a not-for-profit alternative to for-profit insurance, the insurance companies simply wouldn't be able to compete. Cap the costs at a % of a person's income (so you wouldn't wind up owing more for your care than you actually _make_), and they'd go under fast. \n\nTl;Dr: Basically it's a mix of culture and business interests. You get a good job that gives you health care. Insurance companies want to keep making money so they lobby against government competition. ",
"I thought it could have something to do with the enormous amounts of money state governments pour into education with mediocre results or mixed results of federal and state health-related programs.\n\nNot saying that there isn't a need for a *ton* of overhauling for education and education, but there are plenty of reasons people are suspicious of just simply writing these programs bigger checks.\n\nOh sorry, I interrupted a good circlejerk. Please continue. Was never here\n\n\n\n"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
erlahg | the difference between a patent and a trade secret. if a product is patented, why the need to protect a special ingredient as a trade secret? | Wouldn't the patent itself prevent other companies from making the same product, nevermind if its recipe is a secret or not? Besides, something like Coca-Cola tells me its preparation method is not doable to most people anyway... | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/erlahg/eli5_the_difference_between_a_patent_and_a_trade/ | {
"a_id": [
"ff4dsr2",
"ff4e680"
],
"score": [
12,
3
],
"text": [
"A patent requires filing a public record of how the thing works, complete with recipes or detailed diagrams. That protects anyone but the inventor from producing the thing for only 7 years, after which anyone can produce it.\n\nTrade secrets don’t have those issues.",
"you don't own a trade secret the way you own a patent. \n\na patent is an invention, a trade secret is a less exact term that usually refers to a process or formula that can be replicated by competitors legally if they acquire the secret, although NDAs and non-competes are almost always used to guard against that."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
1l2o20 | how do certain countries, like sweden, turn their garbage into energy? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1l2o20/eli5_how_do_certain_countries_like_sweden_turn/ | {
"a_id": [
"cbv62c2",
"cbvaawk"
],
"score": [
27,
2
],
"text": [
"burn anything combustible and anearobically digest organic waste and then use the methane produced to power generators",
"They burn their waste to use the heat to produce steam and power turbines with that steam which propels a generator."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
||
2xsnmd | why do anime opening songs often include english words at key points in the song? | Some examples from my limited anime experience:
Sword Art Online: [Crossing Field](_URL_2_) "I wanna always be with you, I'll give you everything I have."
No Game No Life: [This Game](_URL_1_) "No No No Game No Life... We Are Maverick... Maverick Gamers"
Steins;Gate: [Hacking to the Gate](_URL_0_) "Hacking to the Gate"
Since the main audience is Japanese (right?) it seems they are just alienating their main audience; I can imagine a Japanese viewer getting into the climax of a song and then it switches to a different language on them. What's going on here? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2xsnmd/eli5_why_do_anime_opening_songs_often_include/ | {
"a_id": [
"cp2znes",
"cp2zxyo",
"cp300cr",
"cp37ei1"
],
"score": [
3,
12,
10,
4
],
"text": [
"\"Oppa Gangnam Style\". People didn't know what it meant. They sung it anyway. \nAside from that, it means greater western sales of not only the dvds and blurays but the ost as well.",
"This happens a lot in Japan because American and/or English language culture is pretty popular there and seen as \"cool\", or of having a cool sound.\n\nYou could say it's analogous to American's getting Chinese characters as tattoos. You don't have to know what it means, exactly - it's just \"cool\" and says something about you/what you like.",
"I lived in Korea and Japan for five years and this is as best as I can answer.\n\nIn these countries, English is 'trendy'. You will see it crop on shirts and 90% of the time they don't know what it means. They'll play games like Counter Strike or Starcraft and just remember the constant English phrases. All my boys knew the term 'headshot' for example. So a lot of songs will stick English phrases in to be catchy. Not to mention their is such a push to learn English in these countries as well.\n\nYou have to realize the same thing happens in English too. From \"vou eu vou sair shaw et tewa?\" to \"Domo arigato Mr. Roboto.\". Just Japanese tend to focus on just English but we pull it from multiple languages.",
"\"I'm going to have a siesta on the balcony on the back of the villa which is located at number 13 in the cul-de-sac. Afterwards, I'll go and eat a frankfurter on my yacht, dressed in my khaki.\" \n\nPlenty of words -we- use a lot are from foreign languages. It's a normal thing for languages to do. You're just noticing it because you don't understand the majority of the main language in your example. "
]
} | [] | [
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83cGsuzuOqY",
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lQF5JlZOno",
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KId6eunoiWk"
] | [
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
7ypyxq | why is it that anytime something horrible happens in the usa the news outlets act like it is the first time this has happened? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7ypyxq/eli5why_is_it_that_anytime_something_horrible/ | {
"a_id": [
"duib7mb"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"Because if they act shocked and surprised it makes things more dramatic and then more people will watch it and they will get more money."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
607ix7 | why can you develop immunity to some diseases after having them once but not others? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/607ix7/eli5_why_can_you_develop_immunity_to_some/ | {
"a_id": [
"df43q7q",
"df45apg"
],
"score": [
5,
2
],
"text": [
"It depends largely on the type of disease. Bacteria have proteins on their surfaces, and viruses have a protein shell that is left on the outside of your cells when they inject their genetic material. These proteins are markers that your immune system will learn, and use to fight the infection. We refer to these as antigens. The first time you body is exposed, you immune system has to learn these antigens (a process called primary immunity). In the process of fighting it, your immune system creates a memory of the pathogen's antigens, and starts producing antibodies, specific to those antigens, that mark the infection, clump it together, and facilitate it's destruction (secondary immunity). \n\nSecondary immunity is a much faster, more effective way to fight a disease. This is also why vaccines work. They contain broken down, or weakened versions of the bacteria or viruses, and present then to your immune system to learn the antigens without actually being infected. When you encounter any pathogen with matching antigens in the future, your body already has a leg up. It already has a search and destroy blue print for that disease.\n\nThe trouble is, some diseases mutate. They are proverbial leopard that can change their spots. Even if you've been exposed before, your body can't recognize the new antigens, and the infection can get a foothold again. That's why the flu vaccine changes every year, because the flu virus changes every year.\n\nEdit, because damn you autocorrect.",
"Think of your immune system like a bouncer at a nightclub. \n\nOne night, a virus shows up. Your immune system says \"hey! Get outta here!\" and kicks him out of the club. Now he knows what the virus looks like, and if he shows up again, the bouncer just kicks him to the curb right away. With some viruses, he gets practice beating up kickboxing dummies who kinda look like them, so he knows to kick ass when the real thing comes up to the club. \n\nBut there are some viruses that are a little more clever. They come to the club every month with new hairdos and outfits, and the bouncer can't recognize them and kick them out right away. They put up a bit more of a fight. Usually the bouncer wins, though he won't be able to recognize them when they come again. \n\nThen there's the complication of HIV/AIDS. HIV comes and beats up the bouncer so that he's so weak that all the lowlife viruses and bacterial infections he could usually kick out without any trouble can all come barrelling into the club and wreak havoc. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
||
1norka | why is twitter worth $10 - $15 billion? | Twitter's IPO filing went live today, and since being founded they have lost $419 million, they lost nearly $70 million in the first six months of the year, and they are still not profitable. I understand they are growing their revenue very quickly, but can someone explain (more like I'm 12-15 or so) the math that gets to a $10 billion valuation? Given the inherent riskiness of technological changes (see Nokia and Blackberry), how is this factored into a valuation estimate? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1norka/eli5_why_is_twitter_worth_10_15_billion/ | {
"a_id": [
"cckkjqv",
"cckvljh",
"cckvn4w"
],
"score": [
3,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Valuing stocks can be complex, and will always end up the price the market is willing to buy it for. Having said that, usually the total value of the firm will be its present value. The present value will we be the value their assets and the \"calculated\" future profits. (More precise: Assets-debt + future profits discounted - ratio of dividends. Within this calculations there must be discounting, and growth!)\n\nSimplified: Value of Twitter stocks (or total value of firm) is set by assumed profits they will earn in the future. Since the there is less cost to revenue ratio in the expansion path for the firm; it has the potential to become a goldmine. It currently has 230M users, and is increasing! \n\nIt's realistic that it will archieve somewhere around 600M revenue this year, and is increasing. (This is the basis for this simplified calculation of valuation)\nBut if it will archive 1B revenue, assuming some cost to revenue ratio, it will have profit of 230M, if it will archieve 2B revenue, it will have\na profit of 700M. Do you see the cost structure of such a firm? This is what makes these internet companies valuable, even through they don't\nhave any assets.\n\nValuation calculation would be (VERY SIMPLIFIED):\n20-30 times revenue\n20x600 = 12B, 30x600=18B -- Between 12B-18B\n\nedit: more precise, edit some numbers",
"A big part of a company's valuation -today- is what it will be worth in the future.\n\nSuppose the owners of a pizza shop want to retire and sell their business. You are interested in buying. After looking at their accounting books you realize that the business made say $250k a year, and after expenses the owner took home $75k. Not bad. But the owner is asking a million dollars for the business. \n\nNow at first this might seem insane! At current rates it will take more than 10 years to recoup the paying price. But taking a closer look, it might not necessarily be that bad of a deal because:\n\n-First, the pizza location is in a great geographic position. New apartment and housing developments will increase the surrounding population 5 fold over the next 2-3 years. This has value TODAY. This would be similar to a coming shift in advertising where companies are going to be shifting their advertising budget away from traditional means and on to the online universe. Twitter, like facebook, google, yelp and others will benefit from this tremendously in the coming years. \n\n-The business is already established and already has a loyal customer base. This has value known as \"goodwill\". Customers already love the business and happy with the services. The brand name as such has value as it is able to maintain loyal customers and have such a powerful name that no additional marketing is required. The name is just quite simply good enough marketing. Good luck trying to open a competing business next door and having anywhere close to the same success.\n\nNow how does all this get to a $10 billion valuation?\nBasically because a few bankers on Wall Street said so. A team of investment bankers have spent hundreds of hours deriving its value in a very very very complex spreadsheet that utilizes historical examples, similar valuation metrics used at peers (i.e linkedin, facebook) future trends in the industry etc etc. \n\nNow part of the business can be easily calculated. Assets such as equipment and real estate (i.e company's head office) have value. The company's future profits can be calculated and estimated. For example, facebook grew at x% over the years, so we will assume that linkedin can grow at 90% of x% (0.85x) for the next 2 years, then 0.9x for the next 2 years, then 0.95x and so on. Basically NPV of future earnings, like you mentioned. So it would be straightforward to utilize this (simplified) equation to help achieve a dollar value of what the company is worth today.\n\nBasically, a tl;dr would be. Company has potential in the future which is factored in to it's price today.",
"Here is an interesting tidbit. I work in research at a hedge fund and just got this note.\n\n\n\nTwitter already monetized better than LNKD and YELP (James Lee): Finally, Twitter’s S-1 filing is not a secret anymore! The kimono has opened? Not really. Like FB, the S-1 doesn’t tell you much other than some standard templates of financial numbers. Using a very rough revenue estimate of $600m for 2013 (Figure 1), Twitter is expected to generate $2.79 per MAU (defined as monthly active users). This metric is relatively lower than FB at $6.00, but already higher than YELP at $2.08 and LNKD at $1.50. That being said, the 140-character media platform has monetized quite well already. When FB filed for IPO, its rev/MAU was $4.12 for 2011 and the company subsequently delivered $4.37 per MAU in 2012. On the positive side, it’s logical to think that monetization still has a long way to go considering: (1) API is not widely available and (2) Twitter hasn’t really built an army of marketing developers like FB yet. Similar to LNKD, Twitter needs to follow FB’s footstep to build the infrastructure, agency distribution relationships and most importantly, measurement and attribution tools to prove the ROI. On the negative side, the core strength of Twitter from an advertising perspective is its reach as a second screen (companion to TV) and its unique ability to deliver real-time advertising. Stats show that 65% of Twitter users use the platform while watching TV. Approximately 40% of all tweets are posted around the TV peak time. About 95% of live public conversations about TV programs are on Twitter. If you are a fan of Game of Thrones, you will find many viewers expressing anger on Twitter after the Red Wedding episode. In short, people often watch their favourite TV programs and tweet at the same time. This medium also works well for live events like concerts or sports. Not quite sure anybody tweeted when Kylie Minogue performed during our Forum. Getting to my point here…is real-time advertising easy to do and thus scalable? Can Twitter provide attribution to conversion and measurement of ROI? Honestly I don’t know for sure at this point in time. The early answer is that it’s kind of tough based on lessons we learned from FB. However, the company is pretty smart to position its future as a nice complement to TV advertising, leveraging the buying power of traditional media agencies. As highlighted in Figure 2, TV is about 40% of total ad spend in the US. Print is almost dead and online advertising has been chipping away ad dollars from the medium.\nThe bottom line is the next frontier for online advertising is to grab the TV budget.. Everyone has a strategy and a cool asset to go along with it. Google has YouTube (1bn video viewers per month). FB has newsfeed and Instagram (more traffic than prime time TV viewers), and Twitter is the second screen to TV. Makes you wonder what TV broadcasters are thinking."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
2voedz | how do scientist discover new things about the universe? | so i just read that scientist discovered a new "earth" (kepler). now how do they come about these discoveries? do they have someone sitting at a computer screen watching the feed of a camera in space? or maybe cameras taking many pictures and they go through them at a later date? also, how do these scientist know that this planet is like earth? is it purely on the way it looks? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2voedz/eli5_how_do_scientist_discover_new_things_about/ | {
"a_id": [
"cojgzsp"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"They do it with the scientific method: \n\n\n1) Conjecture that something \"could\" be possible (or true). \n\n2) Create an experiment that will test your hypothesis in such a way as to be sure you are actually measuring what you think you are measuring.\n\n3) Use the results of your experiment to classify your initial hypothesis as valid or invalid. \n\n4) Refine your original hypothesis and start the process again. \n\n\nFrom an astronomy standpoint, it would look like this:\n\n1) Conjecture that there are Earth-like planets out there. \n\n2) Build an \"experiment\" that uses telescope data to look for exo-planets that have the approximate correct mass, are in the correct orbit and have spectrographic readings indicating the right atmosphere. Nearly all of the data collected comes from automated radio telescopes and occasional optical scopes. More statistical analysis of numbers than peering through a tube.\n\n3) See if you can find any previously unidentified planets that match your criteria. \n\n4) If not, perhaps you need to relax your requirements or build better equipment. Wash, rinse, repeat. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
jw4lw | how do climbing plants know where to climb/grow? | My only guesses are 1. magic and 2. the plants have brains. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jw4lw/eli5_how_do_climbing_plants_know_where_to/ | {
"a_id": [
"c2flk4e",
"c2flk4e"
],
"score": [
4,
4
],
"text": [
"Well first, vines grow out of their 'limbs'. So when they grow what's actually happening is their limbs are just getting longer. Their limbs are always facing up towards the sun, so they always grow up. Also, climbing plants grow in a rotating pattern. So if they are 'climbing' a pole they will go around and around the pole until they reach the top. Once there, they will grow longer and longer, and keep moving around and around. If there is another pole close to the first one, eventually the climbing plant will rotate into it, then start rotating around it. \nEdit: In addition Ivy, another kind of climbing plant that goes up walls, works kind of the same way. It also grows out of its limbs, and goes up towards the sun. As it gets higher, it sprouts more leaves, and these leaves take in more sun than the lower ones. This allows for the higher parts to keep moving up quickly. ",
"Well first, vines grow out of their 'limbs'. So when they grow what's actually happening is their limbs are just getting longer. Their limbs are always facing up towards the sun, so they always grow up. Also, climbing plants grow in a rotating pattern. So if they are 'climbing' a pole they will go around and around the pole until they reach the top. Once there, they will grow longer and longer, and keep moving around and around. If there is another pole close to the first one, eventually the climbing plant will rotate into it, then start rotating around it. \nEdit: In addition Ivy, another kind of climbing plant that goes up walls, works kind of the same way. It also grows out of its limbs, and goes up towards the sun. As it gets higher, it sprouts more leaves, and these leaves take in more sun than the lower ones. This allows for the higher parts to keep moving up quickly. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
3s80s5 | how is a nation's economy affected when its biggest export is an illegal good, a la cocaine via pablo escobar? | In the t.v. show Narcos, it was described that at one time he had so much cash, that he began to give it away to the poor. But wouldn't this actually ruin the economy of his own country, therefore actually making things worse for the poor? Or maybe it would require a much larger scale for it to affect the economy? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3s80s5/eli5_how_is_a_nations_economy_affected_when_its/ | {
"a_id": [
"cwv1vyr"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"My understanding is that the value of the dollar is dependant on the number of dollars in circulation that represent the effective total 'worth' of a country. By printing money, more dollars represent the same amount of 'worth', meaning that each dollar is effectively worth less and less, and this is how countries printing money destroys the value of their dollar.\nIn the context of Pablo Escobar giving money to the poor, I'd think it would function effectively the same way that any export or tourism business that brings foreign currency into a country. Pablo would export Cocaine produced in his country, and then distribute the wealth that came in from foreign nations, effectively giving people more money to spend and more active circulation of wealth in the economy (unlike how printing money functions).\n\nTl;dr Large scale successful exports which bring wealth into the country would positively stimulate the economy."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
1jn660 | to what degree did the apple-publisher collusion affect e-book prices? what sort of price consequences can be expected from now on? | I've been following the news about the e-book price fixing case against Apple and the publishers it was involved with. I keep wondering: what was the impact of the e-book price fixing agreement on consumers? And are we likely to see e-book prices drop now that the DoJ is planning to place significant restrictions on the parties involved in price fixing?
Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1jn660/eli5_to_what_degree_did_the_applepublisher/ | {
"a_id": [
"cbgbq6u"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"The prosecutors were able to conclusively show that the price of e-books had been raised $3-4 because of Apple's meddling.\n\n[Here is a chart!](_URL_0_)\n\nAnd yes, we are expected to see a drop in prices. Amazon has already begun lowering prices back to their original $9.99 (or even lower) levels."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/51dd7388eab8ea4334000005-1047-548/screen%20shot%202013-07-10%20at%2010.32.13%20am.png"
]
] |
|
1ledey | eli: why we call her royal majesty the queen of england instead of the queen of the united kingdom. | I don't actually call her "her royal majesty" | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ledey/eli_why_we_call_her_royal_majesty_the_queen_of/ | {
"a_id": [
"cbyeqmi"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"There hasn't been a Queen (or King) of England since 1707, when the separate monarchies of Scotland and England were legally joined together by an Act of Parliament, creating a single King (or Queen) of Great Britain.\n\nFor one hundred years before this, the separate titles of \"King of England\" and \"King of Scotland\" existed but belonged to the same person.\n\nSo for the last 300 years, anyone who's used the phrase \"King (or Queen) of England\" to refer to the current reigning monarch has been, quite simply, wrong."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
apk82i | how does a rubber band work on a molecular level? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/apk82i/eli5_how_does_a_rubber_band_work_on_a_molecular/ | {
"a_id": [
"eg9178f"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Rubbers (aka elastic polymers) are made of atoms that are strongly attracted to one another, in a process called hydrogen bonding.\n\nThe molecules form flexible chains that interconnect, like a crowd of people locking arms with each other randomly.\n\nWhen you stretch the rubber, the chains hold together. And when you stop stretching it, the chains pull the rubber back into its original shape. \n\n\n & #x200B;"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
3nkoan | why aren't electrical sockets standardized globally in the same shape? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3nkoan/eli5_why_arent_electrical_sockets_standardized/ | {
"a_id": [
"cvovvr9",
"cvow61m"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"Because if you have 4 inputs try to make a universal standard then you end up with 5 inputs.",
"This has been asked several times before. Here's a simple search with some reasonable results: _URL_0_"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/search?q=different+electric+outlets&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all"
]
] |
||
x90w2 | how a transformer "steps up" and "steps down" voltage. | When exiting a power plant the electricity generated goes through a transformer(s) to increase voltage. I assume that's to make it more "potent" so it can travel long distances. Then it gets to a sub-station where it goes through another transformer where it is lowered in volts and lowered further before reaching your home. I've been told a transformer is a static piece of equipment so how does it raise and lower volts? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/x90w2/eli5_how_a_transformer_steps_up_and_steps_down/ | {
"a_id": [
"c5k9p3n"
],
"score": [
9
],
"text": [
"This is really hard to ELI5, but basically we found out that if you make loops of wire and pass electricity through them it turns into a magnet. If you have ever wrapped wire around a nail and then connected it to a battery you can see this for yourself.\n\nWhat we also found out is that the opposite is true. You can pass a magnet through a loop of wire and it will make electricity pass through the wire. \n\nSo basically if you stack loops of wire with your electricity on top of other loops of wire, the magnet made by the first set of loops makes electricity in second wire.\n\nBy making more or less loops of one of the wires we can make more electricity or less less electricity come out of the second wire."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
2b2h9z | how come new military planes don't come out as frequently as they used to? | There was a point in time where the US replaced its fighter jets every decade at minimum, bombers too occasionally.
Same with a lot of countries. What happened?
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2b2h9z/eli5_how_come_new_military_planes_dont_come_out/ | {
"a_id": [
"cj14z0u"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"The time around WWII was a time of extremely rapid technological growth, as well as rapidly changing political environments. This made it conducive to rapidly churning out new aircraft every half-decade. There were wars that needed to be won, and new advancements that needed to be put into action.\n\nSince the 70's onward, there has been much less necessity for pushing aircraft from conception to deployment as fast as we used to. So, we focus more on engineering, testing, and development, ensuring that the aircraft is put through it's paces well before it ever gets into a squadron in the real world. This is also a byproduct of the media culture we are in, where a single aircraft crash can bring a whole assembly line to a halt, and make the government question the project altogether. It's more important to make sure the kinks are worked out in advance as much as possible, than it is to push them out the factory doors ASAP. Tiny engineering issues look HUGE in today's media, whereas a bunch of prototypes crashing in the desert in 1950 didn't make quite as big a splash. Too much money at stake to rush anything these days."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
3z2afh | if i'm in the exact same spot in my house on new years when the ball drops from one year to the next, am i in the exact same spot in the solar system, relative to the sun? (excluding expansion of the universe.) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3z2afh/eli5_if_im_in_the_exact_same_spot_in_my_house_on/ | {
"a_id": [
"cyinnlj",
"cyinpz8"
],
"score": [
5,
5
],
"text": [
"Not quite. For a start there are leap-years. You're about a quarter of a day out each year until we throw in an extra day to tidy up. Without this the seasons would slowly drift out of synch with the year.\n\nAlso there's the precession of the equinoxes, which means that eventually though the planet will be in the same place (though \"place\" is a bit hard to define, though I know what you mean) the north pole will be pointing in a slightly different direction.\n\n",
"Nope. Just the Earth's location relative to the Sun isn't the same. We gain about 6 hours (approx) every year, so we add a leap day about every 4th year. \n"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
||
3vyk2e | why do younger people seem to prefer instructional videos over text, even when there are few visuals required? | There are better examples, but here is one: _URL_0_ The ability to scan over written text and refer back to it would seem far more valuable, but particularly in areas like gaming, I find that the most reliable information is now delivered via youtube. My suggestion that this is bigger with the younger crowd can certainly be off, but it's clear to me that it's at least more prevalent with subjects that tend to interest a younger crowd. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3vyk2e/eli5_why_do_younger_people_seem_to_prefer/ | {
"a_id": [
"cxrucqs"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Even if we accept your assertion that the most reliable information is via youtube, that only tells us about the content creators, not the content consumers. And I believe that in many cases, the content creators choose video over audio because it's easier, flashier, and less subject to academic criticism (spelling, grammar, organization). \n\nNevertheless, I believe your premise is true, even though I can't point to anything that proves it. \n\nIn the particular case of gaming, it's often easier to show how to do something than to explain it clearly. It's the picture-worth-a-thousand-words phenomenon. \n\nThat doesn't explain it in general. We know that different people have different learning styles, but less about how they develop them. It's possible that with more A/V instruction available (particularly at younger ages), that people simply become more adept at learning that way. But another possibility is that text, while very effective in hard copy, loses its advantages on screen. "
]
} | [] | [
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1HinGZj3Ac"
] | [
[]
] |
|
55axyt | why do newborn babies smile in their sleep? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/55axyt/eli5_why_do_newborn_babies_smile_in_their_sleep/ | {
"a_id": [
"d8910lh"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"TL;DR Gas\nLonger answer - babies often have involuntary movements all over their bodies (witness wet/dirty diapers), not just their faces. But it's also known that they dream, and that dreaming is essential for their health and development. Perhaps they still dream of heaven (questionable, of course, and endlessly debatable), or maybe they are just dreaming of their last feeding. But gas is also a possible (and hilarious) answer."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
5d4gx8 | why can't we average out our sleep? like, if we sleep for 10 hours one day and 6 the next, why do we still feel we didn't get enough sleep even though on an average we slept for 8 hours? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5d4gx8/eli5_why_cant_we_average_out_our_sleep_like_if_we/ | {
"a_id": [
"da1nvd5",
"da1usw2"
],
"score": [
20,
6
],
"text": [
"It's not so much that we can't average it, it's that we can't store it. Sleeping 10 hours, when you only need 8 hours, doesn't make you more well-rested than the 8 hours (and in fact may make you feel worse). Think of it like a bucket of water; if you need 8 gallons to fill it put but you put in 10, the extra 2 just overflow and are wasted. \n\nIf you sleep 10 hours then 6, you'll be tired. However, you can sometimes sleep 6 hours then 10 and feel good; you incurred more a deficit with the 6, but made up for it the next night so you're back to normal.",
"This question is hard to answer because we really don't know why we need sleep (although we do know that it is essential to get sleep). \n\nNow, that isn't to say we don't have theories. One such theory is that during sleep, our brains use that time to eliminate waste products and other toxic byproducts produced in the very metabolically active brain. \n\nIf that is the case (or at least a part of the explanation), it does explain why we can't \"store\" sleep. After you've completely cleaned the brain of waste products, more sleep accomplishes nothing/very little.\n\nPlease keep in mind, this is an argument made for the sake of explanation. If you pulled this theory out in front of anyone working in neurology, you will likely be treated like you're five...so mission accomplished, I guess."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
||
4c64fb | why do live tv shows make such a big deal out of not saying the name of a product, when everyone clearly knows what it is? | I was just watching a quiz where they had a clip of someone mimicking Mario Kart. However, the host decided to not say "Mario Kart", and instead said "popular video game".
Why on earth does it matter, especially when you can see the bloke in the clip is dressed like Mario? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4c64fb/eli5_why_do_live_tv_shows_make_such_a_big_deal/ | {
"a_id": [
"d1fc97s",
"d1fcbhn",
"d1fccca"
],
"score": [
5,
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Why specify live shows? If you every watched Dan Schneider's shows on Nickelodeon, they go one step further and even create fake parody products, like a Pear phone. \n \nWhen you mention a company, that's advertising, if you weren't paid, that's free advertising. Two issues with this, companies in the future will pay less for product placement because they see that you do it for free, the second is that that company can sue you if you portrayed them negatively.",
"It's a lot easier to use a pre-existing product and cover up the name than it is to 1) pay someone to create a fake product that viewers may not understand what it is... Or 2) pay for the licensing rights to use the real name and product during filming. ",
"Because the creators of the product haven't paid for product placement. \n\nTelevision networks make money from advertising. They aren't going to advertise your stuff for free."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
1j6er7 | why is it so hard to make a gum that doesn't lose it's flavor? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1j6er7/eli5_why_is_it_so_hard_to_make_a_gum_that_doesnt/ | {
"a_id": [
"cbbk7c6",
"cbbk9bj",
"cbbka3p"
],
"score": [
2,
2,
3
],
"text": [
"Sugar dissolves quickly in saliva.",
"How does one experience flavor? \n\nThe flavor molecules from the gum have to go from the gum and activate the receptors on your tongue and olfactory centers, right? \n\nWell the gum can only contain so many flavor molecules. Eventually they all move from the gum into the saliva in your mouth and down into your stomach. \n\nA piece of gum that provided flavor until the end of time would have to contain infinite molecules and therefore be infinitely large. Way before it became infinitely large it would collapse under it's own gravity and become a black hole.",
"Main ingredients of gum is a gum base, sweeteners, and flavoring. Your saliva can't break down the base (neither can your stomach acid), but your saliva works quickly to start digesting the sweeteners and flavoring, just like in other food, and you naturally swallow that partially digested flavoring/sweeteners. \n\nSo, the answer is, it is very difficult to develop a flavor that can resist the digestion from your saliva. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
5352f3 | what happens to the plastic pouch that's filled with laundry detergent? does it disintegrate into my clothes? is it even really plastic? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5352f3/eli5_what_happens_to_the_plastic_pouch_thats/ | {
"a_id": [
"d7q1481"
],
"score": [
22
],
"text": [
"It's [polyvinyl alcohol](_URL_0_) and it simply dissolves in the wash water and then goes down the drain."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_alcohol"
]
] |
||
9k6d8l | why do you have to pop your ears when you dive down 8/10 feet under water but you can go 70/80 feet up an elevator without having to? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9k6d8l/eli5_why_do_you_have_to_pop_your_ears_when_you/ | {
"a_id": [
"e6wo36p",
"e6wo6ub"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"The change in pressure is greater when you go underwater then if you would up a lift in air. Because water is dense it creates more preassure. The same as when you gobup in a plane the preassure difference is very different causong your eara to pop.",
"Water pressure and air pressure are not the same pressure per distance. 1 foot was water equals .443 psi where as the entire atmosphere is a total of 14.7 psi (someone can correct my number but it’s close). \n\nSo a change in 10 feet of water is 4.43 psi but a change it 80 feet do air pressure is very minimal. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
||
auqi5s | why does the catholic church deal with sexual assault allegations against priests as opposed to the law? | Recently Pope Francis made a statement regarding these priests with no indication of actual action to be taken, upsetting a lot of people. Does the church have jurisdiction over these priests? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/auqi5s/eli5_why_does_the_catholic_church_deal_with/ | {
"a_id": [
"eh9uxkt",
"eh9vd9a",
"ehabspc"
],
"score": [
9,
4,
2
],
"text": [
"You’re mistaken. The priests answer to the same laws as you and I as applicable in their jurisdiction. However, with all situations such as this, the prosecution needs credible witnesses and bonafide proof to bring these charges against them. This is called due process and it’s guaranteed to all American citizens. The Roman Catholic Church does have the right to conduct its own investigation and then decide whether or not to strip a priest of their privileges based of this internal review process. \n\nLong story short, there are two different processes involved here and they act independently of each other.",
"Yes, in a sense. If a priest commits a sexual assault (or robs a bank) and secular law enforcement can collect evidence adequate to convict them, then they go to jail.\n\nHowever, even if there isn't evidence adequate to convict them, the Catholic Church can still punish them. The sexual assaults in question are typically cases where an ordinary sexual predator could have \"gotten away with it\". The Catholic Church is holding priests to a higher standard than the applicable law.",
"For any organization, illegal conduct investigation/punishment is handled both by law enforcement and the organization. Regardless of what the police find, the organization can decide that the alleged misconduct is a reason to fire the person, pass them up for a promotion, train them more, etc. This decision doesn't overrule what the police choose to do, "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
3qkitq | the athletic part of being a car racer | Why do we call it motor sports, when A the motors don't do sports and B anyone unathletic can drive? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3qkitq/eli5_the_athletic_part_of_being_a_car_racer/ | {
"a_id": [
"cwfy263",
"cwfy6bt",
"cwfy6gh"
],
"score": [
3,
7,
2
],
"text": [
" > anyone unathletic can drive\n\nAnyone can also throw or catch a football, but that doesn't mean the professional's who play football are not athletes.\n\nSame goes for motor sports, you can't take any person driving on the freeway and put them into a 500 mile race and expect them to do well at all.",
"Get in a Formula 1 car, drive it around a track in the same time as Lewis Hamilton, and then see how you feel.\n\nRacing cars put a LOT of force on the driver's body, and driving a car at that kind of speed for a long time does put a physical exertion on the driver's. For example, most will lose around 4kg of body weight during the race due to dehydration...\n\n_URL_0_\n\nThe other aspect is that \"sport\" is not necessary \"athletic\" sport (which, conveniently, used to be called \"athletics\" until we started adding lots of other sports and condensed \"athletics\" to only mean track and field).\n\nTo some people sport requires running around, to others it requires only skilful competition. Other grey areas include horse riding, eSports, and things like Chess (skillful with little exertion) or Bowling (a physical activity, but hardly \"athletic\")\n\nIt's all about where you define the line between sporting activities and non-sporting activities, and the true answer is that some people do not consider them sports at all, while others do.",
" > anyone unathletic can drive\n\nAnyone unathletic can drive a street car to work and back, it takes a serious amount of muscle to work with the g forces for 2 hours solid with no stops. It's very intensive on the body"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[
"http://formula1.sporting99.com/trivia/driving-facts.html"
],
[]
] |
|
3dmsmo | why does macau drive on the left when portugal drive on the right? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3dmsmo/eli5_why_does_macau_drive_on_the_left_when/ | {
"a_id": [
"ct6mt0z"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"China used to have left and right hand driving in different parts of the country. They standardised it to the right in the '40s, but Macau is semi-autonomous and decided to stay left (like nearby Hong Kong)."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
t3gmi | how is instagram worth money if it doesn't make money? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/t3gmi/eli5_how_is_instagram_worth_money_if_it_doesnt/ | {
"a_id": [
"c4j7p84",
"c4j8eej",
"c4ja78t",
"c4jag79",
"c4jan6i",
"c4jaya0",
"c4jdj0u",
"c4jiebf"
],
"score": [
45,
22,
10,
2,
5,
4,
2,
6
],
"text": [
"Let's say you own facebook. Your friend own's google plus. Even though right now Instagram is not making money, you and your friend both believe that you could use the technology or the product to make money somehow, perhaps by integrating it with your service. If your friend gets control of Instagram entirely, you won't be able to do this, and so you will be missing out on money you could be making. Likewise, if you get control of Instagram, you can make money, and your friend won't. Perhaps you can see where I am going with this. The least messy way to get control of Instagram is to simply buy the company, in which case you now control its employees, its trademarks, its patents, everything about it. But your friend wants it too. So you make offers to the current owner of Instagram, and because you are now willing to pay for it, Instagram is worth money. Generally, people would say it is worth whatever the highest bidder is willing to pay for it, and this price will be driven up by competition. ",
"Instagram doesn't make money by charging the users, it makes money by getting more people to stay on Facebook.",
"Same way any other advertising-based business makes money. If it's free to you, *you're* what's being sold.\n\nWhich is perfectly fine. I think my value as an advertising demographic is grossly overvalued. :-) But in the aggregate ... an audience of millions surely must be worth *something* to *someone*.",
"I don't have an eloquent answer, but I think [this](_URL_0_) episode of This American Life is Worth a listen.\n\nIt gives you insight into why companies make the acquisitions they do.",
"This was the big criticism of Twitter for the first two years it was operating.\n\nThe basic idea is: while this type of company may not be profitable at the moment, it is building a large base of consistent users. Eventually, because they control the information that flows to such a large pool of people, there will be *some* way to monetize this system, primarily in advertising sales. Invest now and (assuming the company continues to grow/even exist) see huge returns later.\n\nAs for Twitter, [they're doing alright](_URL_0_).",
"Any tool that makes your job easier is worth money. If Facebook was planning to create a feature like Instagram, then Instagram is automatically worth as much as Facebook was going to spend to develop the feature. Also, Instagram came with a large number of users that Facebook can immediately begin to advertise to and make money from. ",
"If you aren't being sold a product, you are the product. ",
"(as credentials, I work in mobile app advertising for a start up)\n\n5 year old answer: When you have a lot of people using your app, even if you aren't making money right now, you can always start charging them later. \n\nMore in depth answer:\n\"If somethings free, you're the product being sold\"\nPeople bring this up all the time (and that dumb comic with the pigs) anytime a successful company relies on advertising for their business model. Just because a product is free does not mean the user-base is the product. It just means that it's revenue source comes from some place other than direct sales. Instagram doesn't even use ads (neither does twitter or g+). Besides, there are plenty of \"free\" products that make money through other means, like microtransactions or premium upgrades. \n\nThe primary goal for startups like instagram and twitter are to gather a large install base. They've created a great product, now they need to get people using it. If you've watched The Social Network, Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) basically sums it up when theyre talking about how they don't want to kill the party early, they want the 1000 lb marlin, not the 14 trout. They dont know how big Facebook could get, so don't kill it by putting ads in and putting people off too soon. Next thing you know, Facebook has 100 million users, and with a week's worth of effort they integrate ads and now can generate millions of dollars without doing anything extra. By that point, everyone is so hooked they don't care about the ads and keep using it anyway. \n\nSame deal for instagram. They could've released the app for $5 a download, and no one wouldve cared. They could've filled it with ads, and people wouldve gotten irritated and left it alone (ads don't even generate significant revenue until you start getting into the 100k+ user base). However, if they keep the app free and end up with 20 million users, say they come out with Instagram PRO for $5. Even if only 10% of the install base upgrades, that brings in $10million right away. Facebook knows this (because they lived it), which is why they moved in and bought them. \n"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/when-patents-attack"
],
[
"http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-06-30/tech/30012755_1_twitter-advertisers-revenue"
],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
34xis9 | why can isis/isil be considered as an independent state? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/34xis9/eli5_why_can_isisisil_be_considered_as_an/ | {
"a_id": [
"cqyz6gn"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"It isn't AFAIK. They might call themselves one, but I don't know any state that recognizes that claim. \n\nIn terms of how could it be? They do meet a few of the criteria for being a state. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
3y3b21 | how does the same comet pass earth more than once, and how do we figure out their "schedule"? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3y3b21/eli5_how_does_the_same_comet_pass_earth_more_than/ | {
"a_id": [
"cya3qr6"
],
"score": [
4
],
"text": [
"The vast majority of comets that we see are orbiting around the sun. Solar orbits tend to be fairly stable (although interactions with other bodies can alter them). The orbits of comets tend to be much longer than the Earth's 365 day long orbit, so they don't come around as often, but some of them come by often enough that we've noticed a pattern. Also, with more modern astronomical equipment, we can see some of the comets while they're further away, and by tracking their movement we can calculate their orbits. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
mvedr | the difference between different cpu types | Why can some programs that run on an intel chip not run on a powerpc chip? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/mvedr/eli5_the_difference_between_different_cpu_types/ | {
"a_id": [
"c345czj",
"c345czj"
],
"score": [
3,
3
],
"text": [
"The intel chip and the powerpc chips are different architures. That means that the CPU understands a completely different language. It's as if Intel speaks English, and PowerPC speaks Chinese. ",
"The intel chip and the powerpc chips are different architures. That means that the CPU understands a completely different language. It's as if Intel speaks English, and PowerPC speaks Chinese. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
5kz4jh | why does grunting, groaning or generally making little noises when you are in pain help the pain level go down? | I have had pain ranging from migraines to broken bones and the only consistent thing I've noted is that a groan, moan, grunt or some other form of low vocalization seems to help the pain level go down a bit, even if it's only temporary. Why is that? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5kz4jh/eli5_why_does_grunting_groaning_or_generally/ | {
"a_id": [
"dbrq74q"
],
"score": [
12
],
"text": [
"your brain can only take a certain amount of input, and can only focus on so much at a time. By vocalizing, you're focusing your brainpower on an output and a feeling other than the massive pain input that your brain wants to focus on.\n\nAnother method that's been proven to work are things like virtual reality sims where someone can explore a complex area and focus on that experience."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
f5wjhy | when the federal reserves buys bonds from the market, where exactly is the money coming from? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/f5wjhy/eli5_when_the_federal_reserves_buys_bonds_from/ | {
"a_id": [
"fi17qxr"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"By printing money - or more accurately, by crediting the reserve balances of their member banks."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
30lgvy | why i can buy a new tv for $300, new tablet for $500 but a new phone costs $700? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/30lgvy/eli5_why_i_can_buy_a_new_tv_for_300_new_tablet/ | {
"a_id": [
"cpti0if",
"cptirk4",
"cptix9l",
"cptj8s5",
"cptmici",
"cptmwq5",
"cptpuma",
"cptq2hp",
"cptq2ly",
"cptqaxl",
"cptqbog",
"cptqfc2",
"cptqkmy",
"cptqwug"
],
"score": [
484,
5,
65,
2,
11,
17,
3,
2,
3,
3,
2,
5,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"A new phone does not cost $700 dollars. *Certain* phones cost $700 dollars, just like there will also be high end TVs that cost $2000 dollars and low end phones that cost $30. And those high end phones cost that much because that is how much people are willing to pay in that market segment. ",
"I think the comparison is wrong because the relative position of a 700$ phone among phones is not the same as that of a 300$ TV among TVs. Of course with every new version of a gadget you pay an extra price for the wow factor (or the r & d whatever you call it). Changing your phones every 1-2 years in now the norm (highly encouraged by the companies) the same is perhaps not true for TVs and tablets yet...",
"As /u/palcatraz points out phones, like TVs, cover a wide range. There are $50 smartphones out there for which the CoGS -- Cost of Goods Sold -- is on the order of $40. And there are the high end $700 phone (CoGS $400-$500). So you say to yourself, they're making way more on the high end! But... I'll agree with you that phones are generally more and there are two reasons for that: \n \n1) The technology \"turn rate\" is higher. While TVs are constantly improving, there is not a new processor, new radio (cellular protocol updates and changes), and new display or other widgets in your TV every year. Especially on the high end you are paying for the cost of development of those. You're also subsidizing that technology eventually showing up in the low end. This is the same as cars. High end cars get the newest gadgets that eventually become standard. There was a time when ABS was only on luxury models. Now it's required. \n \n2) It costs a lot more to make things smaller. There is a lot of development effort and more expensive materials to make your phone as thin and light a possible while still being able to survive a reasonable amount of drops. Again this is a high-end/low-end tradeoff. The $50 smartphone is thicker and make of cheaper but sturdy materials. \n \nAll of that being said, I think we are approaching the flattening of the phone curve. Until someone revolutionaries batteries you're only going to see incremental changes. You don't get a lot of benefit from better display, faster processor, etc. at this point. \n \n(ex-phone guy)",
"I've been replacing phone screens for just under a year now and I can tell you that even the cheapest LCDs from China are still very expensive. Plus, there is a lot packed into a small amount of space.",
"Smaller technology is generally more expensive than larger because it costs more to cram it all into a smaller space.",
"You're looking at the low end of TVs compared to the high end of phones. A more appropriate comparison might be a $40 phone versus a $200 TV, or a $700 phone versus a $4000 TV.",
"Notice how your prices went from Largest-- Smallest. If I have a TV, I can have it suck up all the electricity I want. I'm plugged into a wall. Too hot? Add a fan. \n\nBiggest answer is probably cost to produce != cost of research. ",
"Because the phone comes with lube so when the bill fuck you in the ass it isn't as bad ",
"you're not comparing apples to apples. The $300 TV is gonna suck, the $500 tablet is alright, and the $700 phone is top of the line ",
"Most TVs imo are technologically outdated in comparison to tablets and phones. They've been around long enough for manufactures to build some of them cheaply. Some places it only costs $50 to make a television. Phones and tablets are emerging technology that has a lot of functionality to them. They're phones (even some tablets can act like that), cameras, music players, personal data centers, and much more with the of 3rd party software. They can even act like mini-TVs if you're have a cable subscription.\n\nTLDR: Just because something is big doesn't mean it's worth more.",
"The actual cash value of the components that go into various phones are pretty much the same. But if one phone is in higher demand than the other (usually due to marketing hype), the company will be able to charge $700, and people will pay it.\n\nIt's harder to build up such hype about a TV because it's harder to convince people that a TV is \"part of who you are\" and people will look more favorably on you for having that TV. TV marketers have to price their TVs based on quality alone.\n\nA million years ago, apes needed to stay in social groups in order to survive. Basically, everything was trying to kill you, but if you had a family, a group, a tribe, you were safe. And if one member of the group caused shit within the social order, the others would ostracize that member. That was a shitty place to be, on the outside of the in group. Fitting in was a matter of life and death.\n\nFast forward a million years, and you find that instinct still exists in humans, the need to be part of the in-crowd, the fear of being outcast. Marketing exploits this instinct by portraying people who buy their trendy products as being in the herd, part of the group, safe. People who don't have it are subtly suggested to be inferior. \n\nSo people are basically paying $700 to not feel like the monkey who's off on their own and in danger of being eaten by something.",
"Since nobody's really answering the question...\n\nTVs have a pretty large range, but I'm guessing you're shopping based on the size. Realistically, I think most people just care about size so when they shop for a new tv and see a deal for 300 bucks they figure \"I can get a new TV for 300 bucks.\"\n\nTablets have a pretty broad range too. I've been looking at a $200 tablet because well, $200 is not a lot of money for something like that.\n\nPhones on the other hand, we always want to buy new and we always want to buy the best one because it's the item we use the most. To a lot of consumers anything below the best is unacceptable, and the best phones sell for about $700.\n\nOnce you leave the store a lot of the different items and prices probably seep out of your head and you're left thinking \"I could get a new TV for $300, a tablet for $500, or a phone for $700.\"",
"oled screen and high end processors are what make the bulk of additional cost in higher end phones. OLED is VERY expensive. IF you labtop were OLED screen it would cost well over 5k.",
"A $700 phone is basically top end. A $500 tablet is mid-range(roughly), and a $300 TV, depending on size, is a budget model.\n\nAs others have pointed out, you can also buy a phone for under $100, a tablet from anywhere from $50 to $1000+, and TVs can reach $100000 or more.\n\nIt's all relative. We've also been making Televisions for 60+ years, tablets for 30+ years(as we know them for about 15), and smartphones for about 15 years(in the state we know them, 8 years)."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
8piwer | why when people get older they get this blue circle around their pupils? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8piwer/eli5_why_when_people_get_older_they_get_this_blue/ | {
"a_id": [
"e0bjsgd"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"It's not around their pupils. It's in the cornea, which is the first thing your finger touches if you decide to poke yourself right in the middle of your eye. It's called arcus senilus. It's above the iris, which surrounds the pupils.\n\nOver the course of your life, your body likes to put cholesterol in all sorts of places its not meant to go. It's just a fact of life. It occurs slowly over time. In your eyes, as you age it's thought that the blood vessels become more leaky over time, and these special carrier vessels full of cholesterol called \"Low density lipoprotein\" will exit and get stuck in the cornea, usually in the very bottom or very top layer. These deposits can be found elsewhere in the eye as well. Because your sight is through your pupil, the small hole in the middle of the iris, this halo/ring won't affect your eyesight. \n\nLow density lipoproteins or LDLs are also involved in another disease that takes a long time to happen called cardiovascular disease. It's what causes the majority of heart attacks. It's when LDL/cholesterol gets stuck in the walls of your arteries and can't get back out again. In both arcus senilus and cardiovascular disease, being young and having very high LDL, less specifically cholesterol, can cause the ring and heart attacks. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
747vpu | why are there so many more shootings, attacks, and bombings in europe than the us when the us is more actively involved in destabilized regions than countries, for instance, like france? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/747vpu/eli5_why_are_there_so_many_more_shootings_attacks/ | {
"a_id": [
"dnw4f4h",
"dnw8ce9",
"dnw8slk"
],
"score": [
3,
6,
15
],
"text": [
"Because the terrorists don't just hate the US, they hate any westernized country and its beliefs. Those countries are way easier targets because they don't have to take a plane to the US to get there and it's harder to peg someone as a terrorist in those countries because to my knowledge it's illegal to look at a Muslim man as anything but just a Muslim man. I'm not saying all terrorists are Muslims, but you get my point.",
"Because the US has a very handy natural border between their nation and the \"destabilized regions\" you are referring to. Two very large oceans.\n\nIt's extremely difficult for people in those regions to get to the US and when the US does take people, they do extensive checks on those they receive. Essentially cherry picking refugees from European countries to ensure there is the least chance possible that anyone that comes to the US is a disgruntled, displaced person who might attack US citizens because they blame the US or Western countries in general for their situation.\n\n",
"1. There aren't more shootings in Europe than in the USA, but there are more Islamic terrorist attacks, which I presume is your point.\n\n2. Europe is more populous than the USA, the EU alone has over 500m residents. More people = more stuff happening.\n\n3. Europe is closer to areas of unrest and shares land borders leading to the whole of Eurasia. You can walk from Beijing to Lisbon, so it's easier for terrorists to get around.\n\n4. As a collection of countries it is more difficult for Europe to have unified action. Sharing intelligence and coordinating operations is more difficult when dealing with multiple governments and a large number of languages.\n\nOf these I'd suggest that proximity is the biggest factor. Europe is a closer, and therefore, easier target.\n\n\n"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
8z3g7g | could the force of a hurricane affect the rate of earths rotation? | … and if so, how strong with that hurricane need to be for it to make a measurable change? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8z3g7g/eli5_could_the_force_of_a_hurricane_affect_the/ | {
"a_id": [
"e2g58xu"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"Alright, math time. So an average hurricane's radius is about 500 km and is about 15 mm high. Approximating it as a cylinder, that means that it is moving a total volume of about 11 million cubic km of air. With a density of 1.225 kg/m^3, that is about 1.3×10^16 kg or air. That's a big number! That is, until we consider the fact that the earth's mass is about 6×10^24 kg. Let's just assume that the earth is a uniform sphere (which it isn't, but it makes things easier), it should have angular momentum of about 5.8×10^33 kg m^2/s. So for the hurricane to actually effect the rotation, it should be at least within 1% of that, so let's just be generous to and require it to have an angular momentum of about 10^31 kg m^2/s. With a moment of inertia of about 3×10^27 kg m^2, our hurricane would have to rotate at about 3000 rotations *per second*. That is to the point where we can no longer calculate the wind velocity classically, since we get about 1.5 million km/s for the winds at the outer edge, which is about 5 times the speed of light, and since nothing can travel faster than light, this answer is wrong. So, we would have to use relativity to find the correct velocity. So essentially, for an average sized hurricane to actually affect the rotation of the earth, the wind speed would have to be very close to the speed of light, and that is under the most ideal conditions (that all of the hurricanes angular momentum comes from the angular momentum of the earth rotating)."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
6qtgop | if chihuahuas descended from wolves, would it be possible to reverse breed back to wolf? assuming you're starting with only chihuahuas and their new offspring? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6qtgop/eli5_if_chihuahuas_descended_from_wolves_would_it/ | {
"a_id": [
"dkzvuz8"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Unfortunately, this is not possible.\n\nReason: Certain traits from wolves were not seen as desirable so they were not selected for. Thus they were eventually removed from the gene pool of breeding adults.\n\nAs time goes on and the pups get further from wolf with each generation, those traits become effectively unrecoverable without a mutation bringing them back or breeding with a dog type that does have the missing traits.\n\nIn the end, it's effectively a 0% chance due to how the traits have been selected for over the hundreds of thousands of generations we've had domesticated dogs."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
6d6n1s | how do personnel on submarines connect to the internet? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6d6n1s/eli5_how_do_personnel_on_submarines_connect_to/ | {
"a_id": [
"di0d4y2"
],
"score": [
5
],
"text": [
"they wait till the sub comes to the surface or periscope depth and all the remaining data is transmitted. When submerged there is no internet access. You do without."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
21pq9a | how come digital videos take up less memory than the sum of their individual frames. | I did some quick estimations- about 130kb for a 1920x1080 resolution image. So an hour long 1080p video should have the size of about 130kb * 24fps * 60sec * 60min= 10gb but its not. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/21pq9a/eli5_how_come_digital_videos_take_up_less_memory/ | {
"a_id": [
"cgfbsix",
"cgfbswx"
],
"score": [
12,
7
],
"text": [
"Videos aren't stored as a series of images. It's closer to being stored as a series of **changes** in frames. Since most pixels on most frames are the same as the previous one, this saves an enormous amount of space. It doesn't work exactly like that, but that's an easy way to imagine how it could be much smaller.",
"A popular video compression technique is to is called \"motion vector\" compression, in which you only store the data that tells you what's different between two images, rather than two complete images.\n\nSo if each frame is 1KB and Frame 2 is 50% different from Frame 1 (only half of the pixels that make up the image have changed), then in order to store Frame 1 and 2, I only need 1.5KB, rather than 2KB.\n\nThis is a really good way to store a lot of movie in a small file, even though it requires extra processing power."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
a9kkl1 | channel 3/4 and vcrs | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a9kkl1/eli5_channel_34_and_vcrs/ | {
"a_id": [
"eck7qbv",
"eck869p"
],
"score": [
8,
6
],
"text": [
"Most older TVs didn't have video signal inputs like today. To send something to the TV, it had to be a modulated RF signal, just like an over-the-air broadcast.\n\nDue to channel frequency spacing, most cities could only have a broadcaster on channel 3 *or* 4, but not both. So one of those channels was usually available for the VCR to 'broadcast' on.",
"That is only the case if you connect the VCR via coaxial cable, the same input used for an antenna. Basically no one does that now, as better quality ways exist, like composite and component video.\n\nThe reason is that when VCRs were first invented, the antenna was the only input on the TV. Composite and other inputs common nowadays didn't exist yet, as there was no reason for them.\n\nSo they had to send the VCR's signal like a broadcast TV signal, which meant they had to choose channels.\n\nAnd basically nowhere had TV stations broadcasting on both channels 3 and 4, so just an option to choose between those is sufficient to allow everyone to choose an unused channel for their VCR to use."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
||
6qv8j9 | why do a lot of professional gymnasts look underdeveloped/childlike? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6qv8j9/eli5_why_do_a_lot_of_professional_gymnasts_look/ | {
"a_id": [
"dl07yvx",
"dl085dd",
"dl0gcs6"
],
"score": [
3,
7,
2
],
"text": [
"At least with the women, most of them are reaching the top levels at ages a lot younger than most professional athletes (teens). Training 35+ hours a week at a high level at a young age often slows or delays puberty. ",
"Smaller frames (people) are more successful at performing physical feats that gymnasts practice. Larger people just don't make the cut because it gets extremely more difficult the taller and larger you get, to control your body in such extreme precise motions, balance, conditioning, etc.",
"Well, many of the elite gymnasts are in their early teens, and the intense training stunts their development, those who remain small/short have an easier time on the apparatus so those who grow taller are less likely to reach top levels."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
3n9344 | why are the wages for certain occupations so lopsided relative to the benefit a person in such an occupation provides society? | Lets take for example, an engineer who is employed in building some part of our necessary infrastructure vs say, someone working at a bank who doesn't really produce anything tangible but just deals in speculation. How did the wages end up this way? This can be applied to many job comparisons. I think we as a society have very skewed priorities. Really the financial industry is what got me thinking about this. What do they truly make after all? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3n9344/eli5_why_are_the_wages_for_certain_occupations_so/ | {
"a_id": [
"cvlxfm1",
"cvly6f5"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"Workforce supply and demand, multiplied by the ability for the person to make money for the company. \n\nThose speculators have to make money based on knowledge to stay employed. If they are successful at this, they make a ton of money for the company, they in turn get paid pretty well. \n\nHigh end sports work the same way. \n",
"Wages are mostly decided by the markets and not by societal ethics. \n\nTo simplify things, lets just say I invented and manufacture all Iphones. I make a consumer good that is very popular but arguably little benefit to society. Nonetheless, I make billions of dollars from my gadget selling to everyone because my revenue comes from a huge pool of money being the buying power of millions of customers. \n\nNow take someone who saves lives like a fireman or a policeman, they are paid from a tax-based pool of money that has been bled dry by bureaucrats and lawyers and politicians. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
7a66gv | what method have we used to accurately measure the distance to far away objects, for example, the andromeda galaxy and how sure are we of our method's margin of error? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7a66gv/eli5_what_method_have_we_used_to_accurately/ | {
"a_id": [
"dp7enhm"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"[A standard candle is a class of astrophysical objects, such as supernovae or variable stars, which have known luminosity due to some characteristic quality possessed by the entire class of objects. Thus, if an extremely distant object can be identified as a standard candle then the absolute magnitude M (luminosity) of that object is known. Knowing the absolute magnitude, the distance D (in cm) can be calculated from the apparent magnitude m as shown in the formula below.](_URL_0_)"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://universe-review.ca/R02-07-candle.htm"
]
] |
||
2721pk | how does the pirate bay get away with all the copyright? | I've always wondered. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2721pk/eli5_how_does_the_pirate_bay_get_away_with_all/ | {
"a_id": [
"chwmsli",
"chwov4f",
"chwpldu",
"chwsfve"
],
"score": [
19,
3,
5,
2
],
"text": [
"They don't, at all. The people behind TPB are currently serving sentences and got fined millions.\n\nThe reason the site is still live is that someone else is hosting it and the founders claim they don't know who. As it just contains the information needed to connect to somebody else with the file you want, it's actually a very small site to host.",
"Technically, since the piratebay isn't hosting any files, it's a search engine like google and protected by the same laws (not an expert on DMCA) as them. However, companies like the MPAA and RIAA disagree with these laws (for sites like tpb) and they sue them into oblivion. Because money. Piles and piles of money. ",
"it's a moving target on the internet. it's trivial to rehost the site",
"The Pirate Bay doesn't actually host anything illegal. They're a repository for \"Magnet\" links which is basically just an algorithm for connecting with a Tracker (which then connects you to peers).\n\nPiratebay is basically just pointing you in the direction of somebody selling *stolen* goods. They're not actually selling them to you. In the country they mainly operate in (Sweden) this is mostly legal.\n\nReally though, the only true answer to why they haven't already been shut down is largely because it's not feasible.The entire site could easily fit on a small usb drive or email attachment (likely) and has no doubt been made available to different groups. Even if they managed to shut it down in Sweden there are other servers and other groups that are prepared to host it. This is basically what happened when the original owners/founders went to jail back in 08'. It was only a week or so before the site was back and running and currently nobody \"knows\" who's even running it.\n"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
535fbq | why is it a crime to attempt suicide? doesn't punishing a depressed person make them even more depressed? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/535fbq/eli5_why_is_it_a_crime_to_attempt_suicide_doesnt/ | {
"a_id": [
"d7q47j9",
"d7q4a8k",
"d7q4o4p",
"d7q4t67",
"d7q56v1",
"d7q6wm3"
],
"score": [
11,
2,
31,
19,
8,
3
],
"text": [
"Wow, I didn't even know that there were places in the world where suicide was against the law until I googled it just now.\n\nAt the risk of offending people with my uninformed opinion, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that none of the countries who legislate stuff like that are renowned for their mental health care. It's probably less about helping someone out of their depression, and more about religious factors or archaic legal systems or something.",
"Its not a crime in the US or many places in europe and around the world. There are some places where its a crime, historically suicide has been seen as an offense against God, and unwholesome. Less concerned with making the would be suicidal person feel better and more about discouraging it.",
"Suicide is legal in almost all western countries.\n\nHowever, law enforcement is generally compelled to prevent a suicidal person from killing themselves by any means necessary.",
"If suicide isn't a crime, law enforcement can't stop someone from attempting to kill themselves. Obviously no one can be punished for it, because if you succeed you are dead and can't be tried.",
"So first responders have legal backing to enter a room/building without the attemptees consent to stop them.\n\nToo many police & EMTs got sued by people they stopped from killing themselves for breaking the people's doors down to do it.",
"So \"illegal\" might be a strong word. As long as you're not endangering anyone else it's legal. But cops are also there to save lives, including a depressed person. And a judge doesn't want you to die either, so they may force you into therapy or something. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
blia4j | riot games had a walkout today because of the company's stance on "forced arbitration". what is forced arbitration? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/blia4j/eli5_riot_games_had_a_walkout_today_because_of/ | {
"a_id": [
"emomeg9",
"emomt6j",
"emot1el",
"emot7a7",
"empin7h",
"empmvb7"
],
"score": [
14,
3,
5,
18,
14,
2
],
"text": [
"The idea is that instead of handling disputes between the company and employees with a lawsuit they would instead plead their case to a neutral arbitrator who then makes a legally binding judgment to resolve the issue. Forced arbitration means you give up the right to sue and *must* go through arbitration.",
"If I want to sign a basic contract with just you, that's (relatively) easy. I'll write down everything that should matter, we can chat to work out minor disagreements if we're cool, and if all else fails we can go to court.\n\nIf I want to sign a contract with a million strangers, maybe because I'm letting them use my game software but not letting them own it, that's more complicated. If 1,000 people get mad for complex situations I could not have thought of, I can't exactly have a friendly chat with each one, and going to court with each would take forever and cost tons of money and suck.\n\nForced arbitration means that if you sign the dotted line to use my game, but then want to sue me, you can't sue me. Saves me a ton of legal expense. Instead, we both have to visit someone called the arbitrator. We both give them our sides of the story, and they make an impartial decision that we \\*have\\* to follow. Neither of us can go to court and ask for a redo since the arbitrator was unfair. Justice is served, but in a much more manageable way for my company.",
"Forced arbitration is contractually required use of an arbitrator in mediation, instead of going to court. With forced arbitration the party being forced has signed a contract giving up their right to sue in court. The primary problem is that selection of the arbitrator is always reserved to the party offering the contract (like an employer or business to its customers), and that arbitrators do not have a legal requirement to be impartial. Businesses regularly employ biased arbitration services to save millions of dollars and deny people their rights to due process.\n\nIt should be illegal everywhere to give up your right to due process, but the GOP as usual is happy to deprive people of their rights if they can get paid for it by the business owners who profit from it.",
"In cases where it's an employer and workers, forced arbitration means that if the workers think the employer did something wrong, they have to let a paid decision maker say who's right and who's wrong. Then that's the end. They can't get a second opinion, they have to take it and keep working or go away for good. \n\nThe problem is that people have seen that these decision makers most always say the employer is right. It doesn't look fair, or it really isn't fair. This could be that decision makers get most of their business from employers and if the word gets around that they will tell the employer they're wrong, other employers won't hire them. \n\nEmployers know that they will likely win and tell workers that if they have a problem, they must handle it their way or they can't have a job.",
"There are **a lot** of essentially completely wrong answers here.\n\nYou have the traditional Court process. We call that litigation. An aggrieved party files his/her complaint with the Court, who will in due course make a legally binding decision on the parties which is subject to appeal. The costs involved are usually for the parties to pay their own legal costs. Parties can only litigate if they meet certain jurisdictional thresholds, which get quite complicated and beyond the scope of this brief rundown. \n\nArbitration is a private process where parties have agreed to have their *civil* dispute dealt with under this mechanism. Whereas litigation is much more stringent and relies on set Court procedures, arbitration tends to be more flexible and free. Parties are able to decide on the rules that apply, who the arbitrator will be, and where it will be heard. This is not some blackbox that avoids Court oversight. Any procedural irregularities or manifestly wrong decisions can and will be dealt with by the Courts by way of appeal. An arbitration award can be final and binding **subject** to any appeal.\n\nHow is it mandatory? A lot of contracts will have a dispute resolution mechanism. So if there is a dispute, some contracts say you will bring a Court action in say, the state of Delaware. Others say that any dispute will be dealt with via arbitration under [x] rules. Many jurisdictions have implemented relevant legislation that recognises arbitration and how it inter-meshes with Court, such as enforcement of arbitration awards, appeals etc. Any major irregularity will be examined closely by Court. \n\nNow I mentioned \"*rules*\". There are many institutions dealing with arbitration that have made their own rules regarding procedure. This will be for things like how arbitrators are appointed, how many, time line for documentation etc. So in the US, there is the American Arbitration Association, or in London there is the LCIA, Singapore with the SIAC, or international ones like the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) or United Nations Commission On International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).\n\nMany people think arbitration is some sort of secretive corporate tribunal where the CEO's golf buddies adjudicate matters. It is not. \n\n1. An arbitrator is mutually appointed. This is not some random process where John calls his golf buddy Mark. It is a proper procedure where you look at each arbitrator (and there are professional ones who make their living as arbitrators, so their reputation is quite important) and their expertise. In many arbitration agreements I have seen (EA, Riot Games, etc) the gaming company covers all costs of the arbitrator. There is no requirement to do so. This is not some secret power move to literally pay for the award they want. As above, arbitrators tend to be former lawyers or specialists in their field who rely on their reputation to find further work. If neither party can agree, the arbitration institute or even Court will make the decision for them.\n\n2. The biggest use of arbitration is confidentiality. Many companies use this for sensitive cases, such as IP. This can be waived. Riot has done so.\n\n3. The requirements for legal representation tend to also be relaxed. The general rule in litigation is that only a lawyer from that specific jurisdiction may act before the Courts there, save for further superior courts. This tends to be relaxed. So for some of the arbitrations I dealt with, I have seen Counsel from the UK, Australia etc on the same matter. In fact I have seen some consumer arbitration agreements where the company pays for some of the complainant's legal costs. \n\n4. Damages tend to be uncapped. Certain courts have jurisdictional limits on what they can award. Arbitrations tend not to have this limitation.\n\n5. As above, an arbitration award can always be appealed in Court. Arbitration is *de facto* a legal process and the same principles of natural justice apply. In fact, almost all arbitrations need to dictate a venue and place of arbitration. This basically means what jurisdiction's procedural laws will apply in support of the applicable arbitration rules. \n\n6. That said, Arbitrations are private and tend to be more flexible. This works out for both parties. Court rules are very stringent and Courts will lay the smack down on non-compliance. Arbitrations can be less pressured.\n\n7. I mentioned \"*civil*\" cases. Arbitration of course cannot cover criminal matters like assault, sexual assault etc. Employment disputes, sexual harassment (border line) etc are civil matters and fall under the ambit of arbitration. \n\n8. Time lines will also be different. Court dates can often take ages. You get a lawyer, and you do all the documentation. That's maybe a good year or close to a year for a simple matter. Unfortunately, Courts tend to be overloaded and your trial date won't be fixed anytime soon, unlike what you see on TV. These can be months or even year(s) away before you enter a court room (assuming you don't settle). Arbitrations are available from the get go and not subject to the Court diary. \n\nSource: Disputes/litigation lawyer, specialising in complex commercial and projects cases. Including arbitration and international arbitration cases.",
"Most employers require you to sign a written agreement (employment contract) in order to work for them.\n\nUsually, people and companies who make written agreements use the court system (by filing a lawsuit) if they think the other party's breaking the agreement.\n\nNowadays, many written agreements say that disputes must be resolved by private organizations called arbitrators. If you sign an agreement like that, the court system might not be able to help you like it normally would, because you agreed that only the arbitrator can decide whether the company was in the wrong.\n\nPeople who like arbitration say that it's faster, cheaper and more efficient than the court system.\n\nPeople who don't like arbitration say that it doesn't offer the same rights and protections as the court system. If arbitrators decide in favor of individuals too often, companies will stop using them, and the arbitrators need to be able to make enough money to eat, too. So arbitrators have financial reasons to decide in favor of companies, even when that would be unfair. And it can be hard for individuals to find companies that don't require arbitration agreements."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
14v137 | why is america so much more homicidal than most other industrialized nations? (like canada, the uk, germany, france, etc) | Couldn't find the original source I found this out from, but [here's] (_URL_0_) a Wikipedia article on the subject
Maybe the culprit is violent media, or guns. But, other countries have this as well. I know Canada is big on hunting culture. Why is the US so much worse? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/14v137/eli5_why_is_america_so_much_more_homicidal_than/ | {
"a_id": [
"c7h2aw3"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"There are numerous factors, and it could be any one of the following, or some combination of them, or some other factor I forgot to mention (not these are not my personal opinions, these are proposed factors. I am just listing them, I am not saying I disagree or agree with them):\n\n\nGun culture\n\n\nRacial, social, and monetary inequality creating social disparity\n\n\nInconsistent and under-prioritized education system\n\n\nfor-profit prisons and other corporate interests causing skyrocketing incarceration rates, taking minor offenders and \"[prisonizing](_URL_0_)\" them- creating more violent people."
]
} | [] | [
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States#Homicide"
] | [
[
"http://definitions.uslegal.com/p/prisonization/"
]
] |
|
bi2sje | are mental health issues more prevalent in modern times or did people in the past just not get diagnosed? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bi2sje/eli5_are_mental_health_issues_more_prevalent_in/ | {
"a_id": [
"elxkdpx",
"elxkvar",
"elxmqku",
"elxo1p0",
"elxocqc",
"elxoh7l"
],
"score": [
158,
98,
6,
5,
2,
12
],
"text": [
"There are arguments for both sides but we do have a lot more distractions and focuses than ever before in history. Anything you could possible want to know is at your fingertips, obviously excluding things which haven't been discovered yet.",
"I'd have to say it's a bit of both, but likely just undiagnosed in the past.\n\nCurrently, we have things like social media and access to information at a level that's well beyond anything previously. This results in a heightened awareness of the world, and not always for the better. Stories on war, climate change, crime, and other things can be quite distressing and lead to anxiety and depression. \n\nOn the other hand, mental health issues are becoming more well-defined. People who used to be a bit weird are found to actually have autism or ADHD. People who used to be possessed actually have epilepsy or schizophrenia. People who used to be sad or antisocial actually have depression or anxiety disorders. As more awareness and clearer definitions become available, more people receive diagnoses.",
"It's a little bit of both. We do know that earlier humans were never under constant stress where as right now a majority of the population is always or almost always releasing stress hormones which can increase the prevelance of mental health issues. However diagnostic techniques have also been developed and gotten better allowing for more accuracy diagnosis and also more.\n\n\nThere are other factors at play like there are more people now than a few decades ago and the fact that people with mental illnesses are more likely to partake in risky behaviour (like unprotected sex) means that they have a relatively higher chance at procreation and since there is some genetic factors to mental health (if your parents have it then you are a higher risk than otherwise) means that you could likely expect the number of people with mental health issues to increase.\n\n\nEdit and response to commentors:\n\nWe have evidence that cortisol levels are increasing on average in the population. A 2000 HSE report found that workplace stress had increased by 30% within a few years. We also have stressors like social media which not only plays on our self esteem but also is a common place where things like the news is shared and the news that tends to get the most shares are things like tragedies such as mass shootings or wars or bombings or beheadings. All of this has been found to increase internal stress levels.\n\n\nSo yes previous generations too were stressed, I never said they weren't but this is one of the hypotheses that has been tested and is supported by a lot of evidence that has been put forth. There are Ofcourse many that disagree and will commonly point out specific events in history like during and after WW2 where there was a major spike in stress levels of the population but this has also been found that the same population also suffered other issues like PTSD and nightmares, signs of mental illness.\n\n\nFinally, I did say there are other factors. It isn't as simple as just stress levels increasing (something I did say in my original comment) but to answer the question at hand, it's not just that mental illness is getting more diagnoses because of better diagnostic techniques but that there are actual factors at play which can increase the prevelance of mental illness in certain populations.",
"Mental health issues are still a gigantic problem for human rights organizations across the planet. Some cultures place a stigma on mental illnesses and some people never get treatment due to family shame. There are only 62 \"asylums\" in the entirety of India, most of these are designated as \"elderly homes\". \n\n_URL_0_",
"A little bit of both. Hard psychological research data suggest that rates of some disorders like Anorexia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, Bulimia, Major Depressive Disorder have risen over time. There's also evidence to suggest that rates of Shizoaffective Disorder, Shizophrenia, and other such thought disorders have been about the same, but because the various diagnoses have changed in the terminology and symptomology, it's difficult to say with certain. Something else to consider is cultural differences in the presentation of symptoms, or even appearance of particular disorders. Some disorders that exist in Western culture don't appear at all in Eastern culture. Finally, we're finding more and more evidence of neurological and genetic cause for disorders, which would suggest that they have always been about as prevalent but maybe overlooked (e.g. ADHD).\n\nSo that's a fancy way to say \"yes, no, and also it depends.\"",
"I think Maslow’s need hierarchy provides the best explanation. It’s essentially a concept that says certain needs must be satisfied before others can be addressed. Physical needs like food, water, and shelter are at the base of the pyramid. Next is a need for safety and security, and so on. Further up is things like emotional needs and intimacy, and the top of the pyramid is self-actualization. I mean, most people weren’t able to live comfortably until the last couple centuries. Its only recently that people have their basic needs satisfied enough that things like stress and anxiety over social aspects of life are our biggest concern and lead to mental health problems. In other words, Its kinda hard to worry about fitting in or not liking your appearance when you have to go hunt a mammoth or you and your tribe isn’t eating today."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_psychiatric_hospitals_in_India"
],
[],
[]
] |
||
4j5dzs | massive earthquake coming in the nw | I keep hearing about this, but media can be so sensational these days, it's hard to know if all the hype about this is real or not. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4j5dzs/eli5_massive_earthquake_coming_in_the_nw/ | {
"a_id": [
"d33u6h3"
],
"score": [
7
],
"text": [
"There's a history of large earthquakes in the region that can be explained by tectonic plate movements. It's been so long since the last one (1700 CE) that, as time goes by, it becomes more likely that it will happen again. \n\nThe mechanism is called \"subduction\": one plate is sliding under another. In the [Cascadia Subduction Zone] (_URL_0_), The Juan de Fuca Plate under the Pacific is sliding under the North America Plate. The latter is being bent down due to friction, and there will come a time when the force resisting the bending will overcome the friction, and the plate will spring back up, releasing a enormous amounts of energy. \n\nAs with many such things, it's *probabilistic*: energy is being stored in the plate over time, so the longer without an earthquake, the likelier it becomes, and the expected magnitude will be higher. The latest predictions I can find for the next 50 years are roughly 37% chance of Mag. 8.0 or higher and 10-12% of Mag. 9.0 or higher. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_subduction_zone"
]
] |
|
6sy6ko | how does a human body never get short of sperms and cells needed for reproduction? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6sy6ko/eli5_how_does_a_human_body_never_get_short_of/ | {
"a_id": [
"dlggx0u"
],
"score": [
7
],
"text": [
"Well the human body does, in effect, get short on both as we get older. Rather the production slows down. Biologically, we are more likely to mate in younger years. So when we are younger, and of course we have came to mating age, our body ramps up production of hormones need to produce the \"seeds\" of life (sperm/eggs). That said, the hormones sent to the testicals or overies tells them to produce sperm/eggs. When you get turned on, your body is sending signals that matting is going to happen, hence the need to orgasm increasing. Your body knows it's mating time and starts to prepare for it. The human body (for the most part) wants to procreate. It's a matter of thousands of years of survival kicking in. No offspring, no furtherance of the species. \nAs we age, that drive decreases as our body knows the likely hood of mating slims down. Evolution has programmed the body to not waste those chances, has it knows the likely hood of product of offspring has decreased vastly. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
2907fc | what makes pepsi max bad, if it contains no fats, sugars or salts? | Genuine question. I googled it and people were talking about artificial sweeteners and some other ingredient, but no one explained in layman's terms why it's bad for you. Thanks. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2907fc/eli5_what_makes_pepsi_max_bad_if_it_contains_no/ | {
"a_id": [
"cig699o",
"cig6wxy"
],
"score": [
5,
20
],
"text": [
"Who says it's bad for you?",
"Even without sugar, Pepsi Max contains fairly significant amounts of phosphoric acid. While there's far too little of it for it to be actively poisonous, drinking any acidic liquid erodes the teeth over time. In this manner, Pepsi Max is better than normal Pepsi (which combines the acid with sugar, itself bad for dental health) but still not great to drink large amounts of.\n\nIt also contains artificial sweeteners, specifically aspartame. You could literally spend years reading studies on the health implications of these - none of them are in any way conclusive, but it's been *very* heavily studied. Studies have, at various times, found links to everything from Alzheimer's disease, to brain tumours, to depression - but in many cases the studies were small, overhyped, and haven't been reliably reproduced. If there was a strong scientific consensus that it was bad for you, it would have been banned by now - but it hasn't, because the main body of research seems to suggest it's very safe in anything even resembling normal amounts. This is likely what you've been told about, but there's a lot more internet hysteria about it than there is actual evidence. \n\nIt's not a perfect thing - it can still stain your teeth, and it can still erode them by its acidity. But drunk in moderation, it's definitely a better option than full-sugar soda. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
5ktkb5 | why are all of uber and lyft's commercials aimed at getting people to work for them instead of use their ride sharing apps? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5ktkb5/eli5_why_are_all_of_uber_and_lyfts_commercials/ | {
"a_id": [
"dbqij66",
"dbqj7vl",
"dbqk18z",
"dbqlyox"
],
"score": [
19,
40,
7,
5
],
"text": [
"Their app is only useful to customers if there are drivers ready to drive... if you download the app and install, and see nobody available to drive you, then you'll never try it again. So best to build up the driver base first. Not all that different from a new restaurant building their location and hiring cooks and servers before advertising that they are open.",
"From what I've heard they've had a hard time keeping drivers. No insurance or benefits and the pay isn't that great. So they advertise to get new drivers because the ones they have don't do it for that long or consistently. Basically they have more people requesting rides or wanting to request a ride than there are drivers. So they are missing out on a bunch of money. \n\nIt's like if a store only has 10 gallons of milk but 50 people that want to buy the milk, the store is gonna go get more milk before they tell people to buy more milk",
"Reminds me of the classic multilevel marketing pitches: It's all about \"owning your own business\" -never mind that you earn pennies on the dollar or that there might not be much of a market for your business.\n\nWhen the taxi stand is empty I'll look into driving for Uber. As long as the taxi stand has taxis sitting there then I have to assume that everybody who wants a ride has one already.",
"Uber and Lyft get their profits *from* the drivers. \n\nThey've already disrupted the traditional taxi markets in big cities and college towns, so they now market to the people who *provide the rides* because no drivers to take rides = no Uber ride = no income to Uber.\n\nWith high turnaround among other reasons, they always need new drivers. Don't get me wrong, driving Uber/Lyft is very much a seasonal job with \"in demand\" seasons and I have made some good money from it, but your your average person wanting to make easy cash - they're probably going to get frustrated from the occasional downs, or face some major expense that causes them to stop driving.\n\nMe personally, I only drive during periods where surge is almost guaranteed - Big10 games, and during bar close on Friday/Saturday. That is it. It simply is not worth it otherwise."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
y1vnt | hologram concerts. what's that about? | How do they work? What are they? I know nothing and I'm curious. Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/y1vnt/eli5_hologram_concerts_whats_that_about/ | {
"a_id": [
"c5rkdmb",
"c5rm3v9"
],
"score": [
4,
3
],
"text": [
"A holographic projection is done to to create the illusion of a person being there when they are not (for example when they are dead)\n\n_URL_0_",
"I personally don't see the appeal of a hologram concert. It's pretty much just like a 3d video of the performance (usually a deceased person) using mirrors and projectors.\n\nI wouldn't be able to suspend belief, and I would consider it more of a live-action movie. It's not live music, it would be the same every time, and it seems to be more of a novelty than anything serious."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://i.imgur.com/hc5ln.jpg"
],
[]
] |
|
x4hl1 | radioactive fallout | I understand how the nuclear weapons work, but what stays around for so long afterward detonation exactly? and why is it so harmful? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/x4hl1/eli5_radioactive_fallout/ | {
"a_id": [
"c5j440s"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"In addition to releasing enormous amounts of energy, a nuclear blast will spread radioactive elements from the bomb throughout the nearby area, and cause some local materials to become radioactive.\n\nSome of these radioactive elements will have very short half lives and disappear quickly. Some will have very long half lives, and not release much radiation over time.\n\nBut some are like strontium-90. It has a half life of 29 years, so it sticks around for a long time, but it is radioactive enough to be dangerous. What's worse, strontium accumulates in your bones and teeth, so if it is in the environment, people wind up ingesting it and carrying it around for the rest of their lives. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
4ape19 | could a mother and baby ever survive an ectopic pregnancy? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4ape19/eli5_could_a_mother_and_baby_ever_survive_an/ | {
"a_id": [
"d12cr13"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Yes, it's possible. It's not common, but there have been cases. I think it depends largely on where the embryo attaches. Most ectopic pregnancies are in the fallopian tubes, which don't stretch and basically can't support a pregnancy. As the baby starts growing, you start bleeding and if it's not treated, it can be fatal. \n\nSome ectopic pregnancies have been carried to term if they attach somewhere in your abdomen. It still doesn't have a great success rate, but it has happened. Obviously they have to be delivered surgically as there is no way out otherwise. But there are living children who were ectopic. \n\nNow, I also have a memory of my nursing professor telling me one woman somewhere in Europe carried a baby to term in her fallopian tube and it was a medical marvel and yada yada, but I can't find anything online about it, so who knows if my memory (or my teacher's memory) was correct. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
a9vj5g | anxious arousal | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a9vj5g/eli5_anxious_arousal/ | {
"a_id": [
"ecmv5l4"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"That is a psychological use of the term \"arousal\", not a sexual use of the term. In discussing mood, arousal is general physical and psychological activity, as contrasted with a depressed mood.\n\nTake the example of a person with fear of public speaking. This person can go from a calm state to a highly aroused one when they hear that instead of listening to their boss give a presentation to the whole company, they are giving the speech in her place. Their heart will beat fast, their skin might flush, as though a lion was about to eat them even through there is no lion. They have an anxious arousal response to public speaking.\n\nIt's confusing to reuse arousal for this, though many of the symptoms of sexual arousal are similar, but in the psychology community the terms are more narrowly defined than in English overall. Nobody would confuse being eaten by a lion and sex, so there's no grammatical confusion."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
||
2mquwl | why do i see weird, brown, kaledescope-like shapes when i close my eyes and push on my eyelids? does everyone else see the same thing when they do this? also, does this cause any damage to one's vision? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2mquwl/eli5eli5_why_do_i_see_weird_brown_kaledescopelike/ | {
"a_id": [
"cm6r8ti",
"cm6vjm6"
],
"score": [
8,
2
],
"text": [
"The thing you're seeing is a phenomenon called 'Phosphene' - which is when you see light without light actually entering your eye. When you put pressure on your eyes, it stimulates the retina which causes the weird colour patches you see. So yeah - everyone sees them, and no, they're not damaging.\n\n_URL_0_",
"Mine are many different colors. I also see them when in the dark in general though, since I have very poor night vision and horrible vision all around."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphene"
],
[]
] |
||
455wz5 | how does taste work? why does a person a like spinach, but person b does not? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/455wz5/eli5_how_does_taste_work_why_does_a_person_a_like/ | {
"a_id": [
"czvfxnl"
],
"score": [
14
],
"text": [
"There could be a million reasons why someone doesn't like a food; maybe they ate it while feeling sick one time, and learned to associate the sickness with the taste. Perhaps they were made to eat something all the time as a kid so they're just totally opposed to eating it as an adult. The reasons could be either mental or physical (conditions such as [anosmia](_URL_2_) affect a person's ability to smell, and therefore taste, and cigarette smoking has a similar but much less severe effect), and there are too many potential options to explain them all in detail.\n\nOne relevant issue here, however, is that several aspects of taste are actually determined genetically. Some [bitter foods](_URL_0_), such as grapefruit, only taste bitter to people who have the correct genes to taste such a flavour. So what you like, or don't, might have been determined for you at birth.\n\nA relevant side-note: there is a fruit, known as [miracle fruit](_URL_1_), which temporarily blocks the sour receptors on the tongue, which basically completely changes the way you taste food. Lemons are sweet, beer tastes like chocolate milk, and so on. You should try to acquire some, and see how it affects you; it essentially allows you to taste things as if you were a different person and it wears off after a short time."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://news.psu.edu/story/159262/2011/04/01/research-shows-taste-perception-bitter-foods-depends-genetics",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synsepalum_dulcificum",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anosmia"
]
] |
||
j3r85 | nelson tv ratings - how do they work? | What I do know is pretty much anything other than watching it live doesn't count for a show's ratings (TiVo, Netflix, iTunes, Hulu, etc.) I don't really understand why, or how they get their numbers.
When I actually was 5, I thought there were men who's job it was to watch people through their TV sets and count how many people were watching... I would never change my clothes in front of the TV while that idea was floating around my head. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/j3r85/eli5_nelson_tv_ratings_how_do_they_work/ | {
"a_id": [
"c28w0fo",
"c28wlds"
],
"score": [
5,
6
],
"text": [
"You actually need what's called a Neilsen (not Nelson) box in order for it to track your watching habits, which only a small pool of TV watchers actually have. Additionally, during \"sweeps\" periods, which are generally when networks air season finales, a larger pool of people fill out journals detailing exactly what they watched.\n\nThe vast majority of people's watching habits have no effect on ratings, actually.",
"Nielsen originally started as a radio ratings company. When they started doing television ratings, they had people keep journals of what they watched. They would record what they watched, when, and who watched it (what members of the household). The journals had a TV guide like format. Many smaller cities still use these journals and Nielsen spends tons of resources extracting data from them. Now, many Nielsen homes have boxes which keep track of viewing habits. Most of them you can enter from a menu the people in the house who are watching the show. There's also \"guest\" options. Nielsen is currently developing technology that can recognize the faces in a room to see who is watching. \n\nSo that's how they record ratings. But who are the recorders? Nielsen spends a great deal of time picking their reporters. They are trying to compose a mixed demographic that represents the variety of people in the United States. For example, if 5% of the United States is elderly Hispanic people, 5% of their recorders will be elderly Hispanic people. They spend a good deal of time keeping these ratios appropriate as they can be challenged and they want their data to be as accurate as possible. \n\nOnce they collect the viewing habits of all these people, they aggregate the data and produce detailed reports which are used to develop ratings. By extrapolating the data you can get a good estimate of how many people in the United States tune in to watch a show. These reports are then sold to companies, typically advertising companies or TV networks, and ultimately help determine what sort of advertising will be done on what channels during what shows and how much those advertisements cost. For example, both the company airing the super bowl and a company with a product buy the report concerning the super bowl. The company with the product notices that 30 million 30-40 year old white men watch the super bowl. This is the target demographic of their product. They decide they wish to advertise during this event. However, at the same time, the company who is showing the Super Bowl knows how many people watch it and know that they can charge ridiculous rates for advertisements during the Super Bowl because of demand. \n\nFun fact: the reports DO include data on shows that aren't watched live. If you use a journal you'd record you watched something on Tivo. I'm trying not to reveal too much about what I know about their products, but they even report on how many days after the live date you watch something. \n\nWhile I'm not sure about the other sources for shows you mentioned, I feel quite sure Nielsen reports on them as well. They report on just about anything that could have advertising. They even report on how many people they estimate look at billboards. \n\nSource: My senior project in college was for Nielsen. We visited their Tampa facility and got a tour and learned about the company. We were helping them with a new reporting tool they were releasing. It was explained to us where the report data comes from. \n\nteal deer: kylenolforkids explains how Nielsen ratings work at a [5]"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
2yhgbh | what is the piece of equipment that's always suspended from the crane at an inactive construction site (ie, during nighttime)? why does it have to be suspended? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2yhgbh/eli5_what_is_the_piece_of_equipment_thats_always/ | {
"a_id": [
"cp9j9jr",
"cp9n7y2"
],
"score": [
6,
2
],
"text": [
"Thinking this might be a portable generator or welding unit. Usually moved from a tow hitch, would be pretty easy to drive up pop the lock and drive off with it.",
"They suspend anything they think may be stolen. Ladders, generators, small vehicles or other equipment that they not only don't want to transport to the jobsite every day, but also don't want to worry about it being stolen overnight."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
||
4tr34u | the seemingly high inflated price of aud versus other currencies for goods and services. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4tr34u/eli5_the_seemingly_high_inflated_price_of_aud/ | {
"a_id": [
"d5jjzlb",
"d5jkun9",
"d5jl4ll",
"d5jmbgp",
"d5jmpmb",
"d5ju3c8",
"d5jx2ly"
],
"score": [
7,
23,
186,
30,
4,
13,
4
],
"text": [
"Higher minimum wage and that fact we are an island nation well far away from the rest of the comparably developed world.",
"At your edit, it's not so much that the AUD fell since 2013, it's more the fact that the USD recovered. The AUD has historically been at similar or lower value than right now. \n\nThe higher cost is generally because of either increased freight, 10% sales tax (GST), etc. However many businesses incorporate an \"Australia Tax\" whereby they charge more for a product than is reasonable, even if there is no shipping required. An example of this is adobe's creative cloud. The main reason businesses do this is because they can get away with it and know Australians will pay the premium. ",
"I think many of you are not understanding his question. \n\nA good example of this is on Steam, a digital copy of a video game might cost 40 USD in American, but 80 AUD in Australia, which translates to ~60 USD.\n\nAnother recent example for me was purchasing an Oculus Rift (Virtual Reality Headset), it cost 600 USD for Americans, and 650 USD (in USD, not even in AUD) for Australians. Shipping/taxes/import fees/etc was added on top.\n\nI believe its just because our average income is higher, and they think we can afford it, and want more money.",
"Some of it is the government charging taxes, some of it is the higher cost to pay people to work but sometimes it is just because companies will charge whatever people are willing to pay.\n\nMore detail:\n\nThere is a notion of the 'Australia Tax' where things are just extra expensive for Australians compared to people in other countries.\n\nPart of it is the local taxation structure (although a GST of 10% for most things is not extreme) and labor costs (but again, most western countries have a reasonable minimum wage). Another element is the remoteness of the nation and the economy of scale available. The country is a long way from a lot of its import partners and the population is not large, and the population it has is spread across a large area, even with the concentrations around cities.\n\nHowever, also because of the remote and small population there is some predatory pricing. This was quite clearly demonstrated by tech companies and even prompted a federal senate inquiry in 2013. Basically, the tech companies blamed the above factors but really could not justify the differences in downloaded products hosted on foreign servers. For example, the same software may be significantly more expensive for an Australian purchaser than a US resident when both are downloading the program. Another example is the different pricing of phones which cannot be explained entirely by taxes, labor expenses and currency exchange rates. In short, companies charge what people will pay and Australians are accustomed to paying more.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nWith this consumer environment the high rate of digital piracy in Australia is not surprising.",
"I don't have a specific answer, but I do have a general answer. \n\nThere are many different possible reasons to charge different areas different prices. \n\nSome of the obvious reasons:\n\n* The company can charge more because people will pay more. It means the company can make a larger profit.\n\n* Monopolies. If the company is the only place you can get it and no competition in a specific area, expect those prices to be higher.\n\n* Direct costs like shipping and handling.\n\nSome less obvious reasons:\n\n* Indirect costs like local governments having strict regulation and hoops for the company to jump through. If the company has to spend more to censor specific aspects of a game, or get it approved by some censor board, they will charge that market more to pay for that extra hassle. \n\n* Indirect costs like marketing to a new region. A company is already selling to the US and it is trying to decide if it wants to start selling in a different country. What does that company need to do to open up that market? and at what dollar point will that be a worthwhile venture? Sometimes they have to charge more, or they would never sell to that region.\n\n* Variable costs. A company might be able to produce X# of widgets at a low average cost, but to cater to another region, they must make Y# of widgets at a higher average cost. Instead of increasing the price to ALL regions by a little, they might choose to increase the costs A LOT to the smaller region.\n\nAgain, these are just possible reasons in a general case. Sorry I can't be more specific to your question. ",
"I had a conversation about this with a sales guy from a winter clothing company. The price of a jacket in Australia was about double that of the US price, but due to Australian import duties and the margin of the retailer for wages etc, the manufacturer made more or less the same profit in either country.\n\nNot sure what the excuse is for digital products though. Not sure if it still the case, but for a while if you wanted Adobe suite it was cheaper to fly from Sydney to LA, get a cab to Best Buy, buy Adobe and fly home than it was to buy it from the Australian webstore. I remember seeing the Adobe CEO in Australia asked directly why this was the case and he refused to answer (well, he replied, but with the answer to a different question).",
"Okay nobody has mentioned this at all and it actually has a large part for the increased costs.\n\nWarranties.\n\nBy Australian consumer law, consumers are heavily protected in case of any workmanship and other defects, for a minimum 12 months. Clothing, electronics, almost anything. To cover this gap there is a slight increase in costs because they can't sell you lemons and what not for cars. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=ic/itpricing/report.htm"
],
[],
[],
[]
] |
||
493f3h | what do the focal length numbers mean for camera lenses? | I do have a basic understanding of cameras, I know about aperture, exposure, etc. Basic stuff. And I understand that a lens with a higher number would have a more narrow field of view and such. But I don't actually understand what these numbers mean besides that, in a technical sense.
For example, Canon makes a 24mm and a 40mm pancake lens. these lenses look pretty similar, but they're both different focal lengths. What's going on in the lens that is really making these similar looking lenses have a different FOV? How can I understand the technical side of the numbers for all lenses? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/493f3h/eli5_what_do_the_focal_length_numbers_mean_for/ | {
"a_id": [
"d0opxar",
"d0orb5i"
],
"score": [
2,
2
],
"text": [
"You've used a zoom lens before, yes? If you have, you would notice that the lens moves as you adjust the focal length; as shown in [this diagram](_URL_0_), the distance from the lens to the camera's sensor determines the focal length.",
"Focal length is easiest to understand for a pinhole camera. You know the size of the film or sensor (for example 24x36mm for a 35mm camera). Imagine a point exactly 50mm in front of the center of the film -- light rays come from the subject and go straight through that point to the film. You can calculate the exact field of view that way -- for instance 24x36mm film, 50mm lens, distance 5 meters, field of view 24x36mm * (5m/50mm) = 2.4 x 3.6 meters.\n\nThe geometry for a real lens is the same, the only difference being that it captures much more light but in order to do that it must be focused."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://www.dptips-central.com/image-files/focal_length.gif"
],
[]
] |
|
8td6vk | why under certain lights do my hands and feet look like they're moving in "slow motion"? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8td6vk/eli5_why_under_certain_lights_do_my_hands_and/ | {
"a_id": [
"e16knmw"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
" Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained:\n\n1. [ELI5: Why does really fast flashing lights make you see slow motion ](_URL_0_) ^(_17 comments_)\n1. [ELI5: Why do strobe lights make the world seem like it's in slow motion? ](_URL_1_) ^(_4 comments_)\n1. [When strobe lights flash, why does everything appear to move in slow motion? ](_URL_2_) ^(_1 comment_)\n"
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8rchd6/eli5_why_does_really_fast_flashing_lights_make/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6f7ixo/eli5_why_do_strobe_lights_make_the_world_seem/",
"https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/8junx8/when_strobe_lights_flash_why_does_everything/"
]
] |
|
28a71n | if i pirate something i've legitimately bought, and still have (somewhere), am i breaking the law? why or why not? | I have never gotten a straight answer on this. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/28a71n/eli5_if_i_pirate_something_ive_legitimately/ | {
"a_id": [
"ci8wst3",
"ci8wxkt",
"ci91k7d",
"ci92cef",
"ci92zj7",
"ci94nl9",
"ci98ayu",
"ci996k4",
"ci99zs1",
"ci9a0z5",
"ci9ah3c",
"ci9aknu",
"ci9bi9l",
"ci9c1e0",
"ci9cs9b",
"ci9d366",
"ci9dpnb",
"ci9ebvf",
"ci9ekzc",
"ci9elqi",
"ci9f0qa",
"ci9f3hz",
"ci9gwqe",
"ci9hv1z",
"ci9o3mz"
],
"score": [
52,
80,
5,
2,
684,
3,
12,
7,
2,
5,
3,
2,
2,
2,
2,
3,
7,
2,
3,
2,
3,
3,
2,
2,
2
],
"text": [
"If you are using something like BitTorrent where you are not only getting a copy but seeding out to others, you are absolutely breaking the law.",
"It gets tricky because you haven't actually \"bought\" the music, movie, or software. You have purchased a license for use and there are restrictions around that use. ",
"Lot's of incorrect answers in here. Format shifting is typically a copyright violation or a license violation or a DMCA violation. Even if you own a different format. I.e. A CD of an album versus mp3s of the same album. \n\nThe BitTorrent issues discussed are a distribution of copyrighted stuffs issue and legally are entirely separate from what you are asking. ",
"The why not, is because the copyright owner (the label/studio) has not authorized that source to provide their content in any form, let alone on the basis of owning a an original license.\n\nOne basis is the _URL_0_ case, where the court determined that users of the service could not stream the second sourced content the service provided, based on the users possession of the first source CD.",
"There are lots of people giving opinions on this here. You must absolutely make a distinction between opinions and the law. Your not disapproving of an action does not actually make it legal. There are plenty of things that some - most - people do not necessarily think are immoral, that some - most - people don't believe cause harm, and yet are still illegal.\n\nCreating copies of someone else's work is illegal, unless the creator has permitted you to do so - explicitly with a license, or implicitly by putting it into the public domain - or unless the creation of the copy falls under one of the fair dealing / fair use exemptions. These vary from country to country, but generally include things like copies/adaptations for the purposes of parody, the copy your DVD player briefly has to make in its memory while playing the DVD (yes, that is the kind of detail the law [has to explicitly allow](_URL_1_) ) etc. They may also differ by the kind of thing it is (the UK's CDP 1988 has lots of fair use clauses for musical/literary/artistic works that explicitly do not apply to computer programs, for instance).\n\nSo your question comes down to whether, in your territory, the creation, by downloading, of a copy of the particular material you are pirating is permitted in the case where you own it in another format / on other media - whether it falls under a fair dealing clause. (Seeding is a separate question - you're creating more copies, for distribution to others!)\n\nThis matter of law is entirely separate from whether it is moral, whether we approve, whether the copyright holder minds (provided they do not say publically that they permit you to do that) or whether the download harms anyone (except, in some jurisdictions, if you do get sued, the damages will depend on actual harm the copyright holder can show you've done them, so if you've done them no harm all they can do is tell you to cease and desist).\n\nSo you'll have to give more details about your situation to get a definitive answer.\n\n -\n\nEDIT: NorthernerWuwu correctly points out [below](_URL_2_) that my use of \"illegal\" throughout this thread is wrong - copyright infringement, at least in most places when not performed on a [commercial scale](_URL_0_), is **actionable** not illegal; you'll get sued but not arrested. Small comfort, natch, and I stand by the statement that the law has something to say about it.",
"Unless the law changed recently in Australia owning a copy of say a DVD you own a hard copy of is not illegal . for ages you could walk into a shop and get a console chipped for this reason. The chipping stores are gone but I believe the law still stands.\n\n",
"Depends on the country. There are countries where a 'home copy' is legal. That is you have bought something and you make a copy of this for in your car or something. And then it doesn't really matter if you make the copy yourself or download it because that is easier than making a copy. But in those countries you will usually pay a kind of taks to be allowed to make these copies. The tax could be for example a fee on CD/DVD disks or hard drives.",
"Yeah, sure, this'll get cleared up here... ",
"Legal to download or upload anything Canada as long as you don't make money off of it.\n\n_URL_0_",
"What I find hilarious is that I can take a CD, rip it into itunes, then go out and physically hand it to another human being legally for absolutely no charge, and then he could repeat the process too. So why can't I just download it? lol America..",
"When broken down, this question ends up being very similar to the one currently being [decided by the Supreme Court in the Aereo case](_URL_0_). ",
"Yes probably, but what is illegal isn't always immoral. ",
"In addition to all the answers on here, this may be of interest to some people:\n\n_URL_0_",
"This blew up. \n\nThank you for explaining this to me 257 times. (I'm serious)",
"Yarrr pirate all ye like matey, the only bounds are the high seas me salty dog ",
"I have several PC games I torrented that I had CDs of and the cd key to, yet the discs themselves were beyond repair. I hardly ever do illegal torrents unless it's for a game I'm not sure about and they have not posted a demo.\n\nI like to support our developers.\n\n",
"It's not pirated until you distribute it. Until then, it's just a copy. And you are legally entitled to make backup copies of material. What is not legal is to give one copy to a friend while you use the original or another copy at home. Or even give multiple copies to different people. Yeah, even if you do it for free. So you can make backup copies of the material on media you've purchased, but you can't split them up among multiple people.\n\n > ...[S]ection 107 [of the DMCA] permits a user to make a backup copy of a work stored on a hard drive, [and] that copy is lawfully made and the user owns it.\n\n_URL_0_\n\nIANAL, and this applies to the U.S.\n\nEdit: I wrongfully forgot to cover the legality of *subverting copy protection.* Technically, this does not change the *legality of making backup copies.* However, it *does* affect the *method of making backup copies.* If you have to hack/crack a DRM (copy-protection) scheme in order to do it, *that* is illegal. But making the copy itself isn't the illegal part.\n\nYeah, it's kind of the same thing, I suppose. But it really only applies to bit-for-bit copies. You can theoretically plug a DVD player into a VCR or video capture card on a PC (or hell, point a video camera at the TV screen), play the DVD, and record the video output. It won't be an exact copy, but that doesn't matter for copyright purposes anyway (if you copy DVDs onto VHSes and give the VHSes away, that's still illegal). This is known in some circles as the \"[analog hole](_URL_1_).\"",
"Doesn't matter because if you ask questions like this you shouldn't be pirating shit in the first place",
"Most of the piracy convictions came down because of the user seeding, not downloading. When they talk about those 8-figure fines, it's not because they're paying a barjillion dollars because they downloaded an N'Sync song, it's because they seeded it for a month and a barjillion people downloaded it from them.",
"I am not a lawyer, but yes you are breaking the law. \n\nYou are not downloading the \"item\" from an authorized distributor thus breaking the terms of use.\n\nThey also cannot or shouldn't not authorize any source besides those they have control over, as they could be liable if you were to download a virus and cripple your work/school network by mistake....\n",
"It depends on the laws of where you live, but generally speaking: yes, you are breaking the law.\n\nYou are not buying the right to watch \"Pirates of the Caribbean\" any way you want. You are buying the right to watch it from that particular blu-ray disc. Or if you're lucky, also from a digital copy included.\n\nSo if you bought a blu-ray and want a smaller, mobile version of that same movie to play on your phone? Sorry: you need to pay to get it in THAT format. The rationale would be like this: even if you own a physical copy of a book, that doesn't automatically entitle you to digital versions, or recorded narrated versions, or other editions of the book. They only sold you the limited right to enjoy the book in a particular way. If they were going to grant you access to all those other versions of the book they'd want to charge you a lot more upfront.\n\nNow, some countries do have (or were considering) laws that guarantees the right to reasonable use of media, including making backups for yourself. But the industry lobbies have been fighting to prevent those.\n\nYou could argue that it isn't really stealing: you D/L a digital copy of something you own on disc because it was easier than just making your own backup. That does seem pretty reasonable, but generally speaking that is not the law because too many people abuse it.",
"How about this: \n\nI buy a game on stream.\n\nSteam servers are down for While and I want want to play\n\nCan I torrent it, but not seeding after doing so legally?\n\nWorse case scenario: ISP calls me for doing so, and I show then my proof of purchase of said game\n\nAm I wrong here? Correct me if so\n",
"There are four related questions:\n\n1) Can you copy something that you own, for your own use?\n\n2) Can you make a copy of something that someone else owns for your personal use?\n\n3) Can you allow someone else to make a copy of something you own?\n\n4) Can you make a copy of something that someone else owns for your personal use, if you already have your own copy?\n\n\n1) It depends on where you are. For example:\n\n* Australian doesn't allow coping for personal use.\n* Canada allows private copying for personal or educational use.\n* As of this summer the UK is also allowing copying for personal use.\n* The US allows copying of music for personal use, but it isn't clear for other things.\n\n2) Probably. The laws aren't as clear on this, but in most cases they makes no distinction about who owns the original. The copyright holder does not have the legal right to prevent this, so it's okay.\n\n3) Yes and no. Most countries have changed the laws to give copyright holders more control and added \"making available\" control. While the laws aren't always clear the few court cases have found that this only applies to the Internet, and not to a library. So the person uploading the movie is still in trouble, and you're in trouble for seeding it while you download it.\n\n4) There is nothing I've seen in the laws that gives you more right to copy something if you own another copy of it.",
"This is the only reason it's legal for all these torrents and \"backups\" to exist. England is enacting a set of consumer right soon that will enable websites to exist for these backups. Game ROM websites are run supposedly specifically for this reason.",
"You are breaking the law. Why? Copyright laws are ludicrous right now. I tend to just ignore them and do what I want. When they make copyright laws more reasonable, maybe then I will choose to follow them."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[],
[
"MP3.com"
],
[
"http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/section/107",
"http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/section/28A",
"http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/28a71n/eli5_if_i_pirate_something_ive_legitimately/ci9bhv5"
],
[],
[],
[],
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_sharing_in_Canada"
],
[],
[
"http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2014/04/22/supreme-court-hears-case-challenging-aereo-right-stream-network-broadcasts-paying-consumers/Kl7yn8bx35O8ju2rNMWZDN/story.html"
],
[],
[
"www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk862BbjWx4"
],
[],
[],
[],
[
"http://www.copyright.gov/reports/studies/dmca/dmca_executive.html",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_hole"
],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
3kxv3f | pros and cons of a single member llc. | Hi Reddit,
I'm considering opening a single member LLC for a TV & Film production company in NYC.
What is the purpose of an LLC as well as its Pros and Cons?
Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3kxv3f/eli5pros_and_cons_of_a_single_member_llc/ | {
"a_id": [
"cv1gbhi"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Lawyer here! The Limited Liability Company (LLC) has been the go-to entity for small businesses for the last couple of decades, and for good reason. It provides a lot of the same benefits as a corporation, while remaining very flexible and easy to manage.\n\n**What is an LLC?**\n\nAn LLC is a legal entity just like a corporation or a partnership. It can sue and be sued, it can own property, it can conduct business, etc. It is owned and (usually) managed by \"members.\" (I'm not being cute here, \"member\" is a term of art. A \"member\" of an LLC is analogous to a shareholder of a corporation.)\n\n**Pros/Cons**\n\nThe pros are similar to those of a regular ol' corporation. LLC's offer:\n\n* *Limited liability.* If the LLC is sued, liability is limited to whatever assets the LLC itself owns. The assets of the members aren't at risk (beyond whatever they've invested into the LLC). (There's an exception to this called *piercing the corporate veil,* which I'll discuss below.)\n\n* *Pass-through tax status.* For *single-member* LLC's, the company's income \"passes through\" to you for tax purposes, *i.e.* it's just treated as your income. It's not taxed separately. That makes it easy to deal with come tax season, and in some cases, it's cheaper.\n\n* *Indefinite existence.* The LLC will continue to exist until it dissolves for some reason.\n\n* *Easy to establish and manage.* To start an LLC, you just have to fill out a handful of documents and file them with your state's Department of State/Division of Corporations. The filing fee is usually $50-150. LLC's are managed by private contract, which is usually called an \"operating agreement.\"\n\nFor small businesses, the cons are pretty limited for small businesses. That said:\n\n* *Transferability of interests* can be harder to accomplish in an LLC. If someone wants to buy in or cash out their stake in an LLC, that usually has to be done by a meeting and vote and/or a modification of the operating agreement. That can be an onerous process. To transfer interest in a corporation, on the other hand, you can generally just buy and sell stock without having to bug every other shareholder in the business.\n\n**The Operating Agreement**\n\nThe operating agreement is more or less the bylaws of how the company is governed. You don't actually need one to register or run an LLC, but that said, *you should certainly have one.* Why?\n\n* Banks will want to see your operating agreement before they'll do business with you. Loans, checking accounts, credit cards—they generally won't give you these things unless you show them an operating agreement.\n\n* Having *and observing* your operating agreement will help you avoid \"veil piercing,\" as discussed below.\n\n**Piercing the Veil**\n\nLLC's offer their members a shield from personal liability. But in court, that shield can be destroyed (and your personal assets will be at stake) under a doctrine called \"piercing the corporate veil.\" Essentially, that doctrine provides that if the managers are just using the LLC as an alter ego of themselves to help limit their liability (as opposed to running a legitimate business), then they're not entitled to the benefits of the LLC. To determine whether the veil should be pierced, a court will consider a lot of facts, such as:\n\n* Whether the LLC is sufficiently capitalized.\n\n* Whether the LLC is sufficiently insured.\n\n* Whether the LLC was actually conducting some kind of real, legitimate business.\n\n* Whether corporate formalities of the LLC were observed (e.g., annual meetings held, minutes recorded, financial records kept).\n\nOf these, I've seen a lot of litigation over the last factor lately, so it's something that's getting more and more attention. Having an operating agreement and actually sticking to it will go a long way in protecting you when it comes to this issue. It'll be hard to convince a court that you were operating an actual standalone business without some kind of written records."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
3cp1w2 | what are the scientific reasons why consanguineous marriage causes disabilities, malformations and congenital anomalies in the offspring? | 'Cause I live down south and am planning on marrying my sister. Just kidding, but seriously, can somebody explain why? A mismatch/glitch when the chromosomes are mixed or something? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3cp1w2/eli5_what_are_the_scientific_reasons_why/ | {
"a_id": [
"csxl8od",
"csxm0fs"
],
"score": [
6,
2
],
"text": [
"They don't, always. The degree to which it happens is typically overstated. However, inbreeding tends to result in homozygosity. Basically, more people sharing the same copies of genes. Since you get them from your parents, and your SO is closely related and also got them from their parents, your kid has a greater chance of getting one from either/both parents, and so on.\n\nIf these genes happen to be ordinarily recessive, harmfully messed up genes, this ups the chance that you get two copies of the bad thing, in which case, even though it's recessive, now you're stuck with the associated condition.\n\nIf grandpa has a bad gene, and passes it on to dad, at least you've got a chance to get a good gene from mom. If grandpa has a bad gene, and passed it on to both mom and dad, well, that's more risk.",
"The important bits of information related to your question are as follows\n\n* Every person has a genome which controls the expression of proteins and from there the construction of the body\n\n* The human genome has 46 chromosomes, 22 and an X from your mom and 22 and Y OR X from your dad.\n\n* When a person readies a gamete ( a sperm or an egg) this cell contains only 23 chromosomes which then matches with the 23 of the other person to create an embryo.\n\n* Only getting HALF from each parent is important because which half you get is random in most cases and you could get a bad copy that your parent never knew they had (see below)\n\n* In this sense you basically have TWO copies of most genes.\n\n* Genes often times have a dominant or recessive expression ( there are lots of other types but this is the simplest) basically saying that if you got the W type of a gene from your mom and the T type of that gene from your dad and T is dominant then only T gets used by the cell or otherwise determines the expression of the protein associated with that gene.\n\n* The Recessive versions of genes are prone to mutation because they are so rarely ever called upon to function, so a person could have a defective recessive gene and never even know it until...\n\n* Two copies of a recessive gene coming together will give a recessive expression.\n\n* When close relations (say brother and sister) have children the chance of both mother and father passing down recessive mutations is increased, because both of them got *their* genes from the same place.\n\n* So if grandma had a recessive W and gave it to both of your parents who then had you, they could both give you a copy of W and you would be dead or disabled depending on what the recessive expression is."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
2obn2p | bayesian method of logic? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2obn2p/eli5_bayesian_method_of_logic/ | {
"a_id": [
"cmllt46"
],
"score": [
2
],
"text": [
"Bayesian statistics basically says that you can't just look at outcomes in isolation, you have to look at so-called \"prior probability\" - how likely something is to happen at all. XKCD has a [silly example](_URL_0_). I'll modify the XKCD example slightly to make the numbers a little nicer - let's say it has a 1-in-100 (.01) chance of saying the sun exploded even if it did not.\n\nClearly, even with a low chance of error, it is much more likely that the detector is malfunctioning than that the sun exploded. There's a statistical law, called [Bayes' Rule](_URL_1_), that allows us to calculate it given some knowledge about the background probability of the sun exploding.\n\nWe write P(the sun exploded | the detector says the sun exploded) to mean \"the probability that the sun exploded if the detector said it did\", read the bar as \"given that\". Bayes' rule states:\n\nP(the sun exploded | the detector says it exploded) = P(the detector says it did | it actually did) \\* P(the sun exploded) / P(the detector reads yes).\n\nIf, for instance, we estimate a 1-in-a-million background chance that the sun did actually explode, we can calculate the probability that the sun actually did explode given that the detector says it did at .000099. This is very unlikely, and we can feel safe in the knowledge that Planet Earth will survive another day.\n\n-------------------------\n\nA less mathematical take might be this: you think most politicians are liars, and you meet someone who is a liar. You can't immediately conclude that they're likely to be a politician: you have to consider that politicians are rather rare."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"http://xkcd.com/1132/",
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayes%27_theorem"
]
] |
||
6r239f | how do they make the machines in factories? is there a factory for factory machines? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6r239f/eli5_how_do_they_make_the_machines_in_factories/ | {
"a_id": [
"dl1r3ji",
"dl1rrk1",
"dl1tf59"
],
"score": [
10,
2,
6
],
"text": [
"Yes, machines are made in factories that use metalworking machines, often called [*machine tools.*](_URL_0_) Sample tools they use (which you can google) include:\n\n- Metal lathe\n- Plasma cutter\n- Press brake\n- Punch press\n- Five-axis (or six-axis) milling machine\n\nCheck out the YouTube videos from How It's Made to see many examples.",
"They say that a Lathe/Mill is the only tool you can build using only \"itself\", i.e. another lathe/mill. Existentially speaking, this presents a chicken/egg type conundrum in which I can't imagine building a lathe without first having another lathe to create it's many precisely machined parts with. ",
"Yes, there are factories that makes machines for other factories. \nI actually work for a company that makes factory machines. \nWe don't make all of the machines we use. \nHowever our machines put together circuit boards. And the circuit boards on our machines were made by our machines. \nIf we wanted to make a new machine, we'd tell our current machines to make different kinds of circuit boards. \nBefore we built our machines, we used circuit boards built by other people's machines, and they probably made their machine's by using other people's machines. \nAnd so on, until at some point, someone was making those circuit boards by hand. \nLikewise with everything else in our machines. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_tool"
],
[],
[]
] |
||
17t7wk | rally racing co-driver corner call outs and how to understand them | How do I understand what a rally co driver is saying when he is calling out "50, right 4. 60, left 2 tightens in to 20 left 1 over crest" etc. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/17t7wk/eli5_rally_racing_codriver_corner_call_outs_and/ | {
"a_id": [
"c88nnsr",
"c88nxfk"
],
"score": [
2,
3
],
"text": [
"Right 2 left 5 indicates corner direction and severity. The lower the number the slower a corner is. Right 5 usually indicates a kink in the road to be taken at full speed. 1 indicates a turn tighter than 90 degrees. \n\nI believe the bigger numbers are the number of meters to the said corner. (dont quote me on that ) \n\nYou will also hear \"over crest\" \"jump\" \"big jump\" \"dont cut\" \"caution outside\" and various other notes which give the driver clues about what is coming up. For example don't cut may mean there is a rock or deep rut on the inside edge of the road which can damage the car. ",
"There was a segment in the first episode of season 19 of Top Gear last week where James May had this explained to him. It's actually not that hard. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
5mbv01 | why are credit ratings agencies private for-profit institutions? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5mbv01/eli5_why_are_credit_ratings_agencies_private/ | {
"a_id": [
"dc2e3u3",
"dc2eqlq"
],
"score": [
3,
2
],
"text": [
"credit ratings aren't related to the government. it's a for-profit institution that benefits other for-profit institutions (lending banks). credit bureaus don't work for you the individual, they sell your rating to the banks. ",
"They are businesses whose service is to provide lending institutions (banks, mortgage lenders, auto financing companies, etc) with quick information to decide whether to make a loan or not. Sort of like how you might use Yelp to decide whether to eat at a restaurant or not. Your being able to see your score is akin to restaurants checking their ratings on Yelp to see where there's room to improve, respond to inaccuracies, etc."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
|
376ac2 | who decided that women must keep their breasts covered at all times in public, when men can walk around shirtless? | I understand that women's breasts are considered "private parts" but why? Who made this decision and said they must remain covered at all times? Men can walk around shirtless and no one bats an eyelash. Why is there such a huge difference between female breasts, which are essentially sacks of fat, and a mans chest? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/376ac2/eli5_who_decided_that_women_must_keep_their/ | {
"a_id": [
"crk1wvu",
"crk22e7",
"crk23bi"
],
"score": [
7,
2,
9
],
"text": [
"Because breasts are also sexual and erogenous zones, so it was a developed cultural thing with hiding facets of sex and sexuality ",
"While I generally agree with your premise that women's chests are considered to be \"private parts,\" the statement that\n\n > Men can walk around shirtless and no one bats an eyelash.\n\nis not generally true. At the beach, men can walk around shirtless -- women also walk around in what is essentially underwear. Neither of those dress choices are acceptable in most places. ",
"Actually, at one point in time, men couldn't go topless. Remember those one piece bathing suits men wore in old television any thing? That's what they were for. Eventually someone got fed up with it and there was a whole (ever insignificant) movement that remedied the issue. Now someone just needs to do it for women. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
55dzf6 | why does satellite radio work with small antennas that don't have to be pointed at anything, but satellite tv and other satellite communications require a large dish that needs direct line of sight to a satellite? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/55dzf6/eli5_why_does_satellite_radio_work_with_small/ | {
"a_id": [
"d89rduo"
],
"score": [
10
],
"text": [
"Consider the amount of information that is transferred in either case. Video signal requires orders of magnitude more bandwidth than mere audio, and then you still need to send the audio. Therefore, you have to use a larger, directional, high-gain antenna in order to improve signal fidelity enough to get good bandwidth.\n\nI have a historical anecdote. The *Galileo* was a very costly NASA mission to Jupiter and its moons. It was supposed to transfer its data at real-time at 134 **kbits**/second using a fancy high-gain dish. However, because the spacecraft had to be carted around one too many times, the antenna's mechanism broke down, which was discovered way too late for anything to be done about it. So it had to do with a secondary 16 **bit**/second low-gain omnidirectional antenna, forcing NASA to get creative and invest huge money into upgrading their groundside receiver tech."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[]
] |
|
67oi0p | why do baking recipes always call for the oven to be set in 25°f increments? | I've never seen a recipe say something like "Preheat oven to 385°", I've always just seen 325°, 350°, 375°, etc...Any particular reason why we bake food at those benchmark temperatures? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/67oi0p/eli5_why_do_baking_recipes_always_call_for_the/ | {
"a_id": [
"dgry14v",
"dgry3t0",
"dgs34ue"
],
"score": [
3,
5,
3
],
"text": [
"Margin of error. Not all ovens are created equal. Also, on the great majority of consumer ovens, the knobs only mark down to differences of 25 degrees. So this way you just turn it to the mark and you're good.\n\nSo what it's really saying is \"set it to where the temperature will be about 375 degrees.\" ",
"When ovens were first invented, there were only a few temperatures that anyone used; Slow, moderate, and hot. As technology got better, more marks were added to the dial, but numbered temperatures weren't measured or used. Eventually someone measured the temperatures that were actually being produced by the oven at the different marks and sold their oven with those markings to make it seem like the oven was more accurate. Since oven temps didn't need to be very accurate, and most recipes only had to be someone near the old Slow, Medium, or Hot setting, a rough estimate was close enough. 25 degree increments were close enough to be fairly accurate but still easy to remember and eventually became standard. ",
"ovens are not accurate nor uniform when it comes to inside temperatures. the top of the oven and the bottom of the oven as well as side vs center will vary greatly. depending on the shape of the contents, the inside temperatures will vary greatly.\n\nhowever an oven only has 1 thermostat sensor. so by the time the sensor is triggered at 350deg, the rest of the oven might be hotter or cooler. \n\nso in the end, the actual baking temperature is at best an ballpark approximation. "
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[],
[]
] |
|
712ydc | what biological function does grief serve? it doesn't seem necessary for survival yet is a firm part of the human (and animal) condition. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/712ydc/eli5_what_biological_function_does_grief_serve_it/ | {
"a_id": [
"dn7okh2",
"dn7vu93"
],
"score": [
37,
6
],
"text": [
"Let's say grief wasn't a thing. You're some proto-human and your mate dies. Oh well, time to find a new mate.\n\nYou've removed a very strong motivator to keep your mate safe and cared for. As a result you've negatively impacted your ability to produce additional offspring.\n\nSame can be applied for close social connections if you think of them as people with which you can safely exchange goods necessary for security and survival.",
"If you bond deeply with your offspring, you're better equipped to take care of them, especially if they take a long time to grow up. \n\nIf you have a good memory, you can remember where to find food and learn from others.\n\nElephants and apes have strong social bonds and good memories. They are also among the strongest of observed grievers.\n\nWe don't need an explanation of why grief is helpful, if we can see that grief is a byproduct of other traits that *are* helpful. Maybe grief is unhelpful, but not so unhelpful that it outweighs the helpfulness of bonding and memory."
]
} | [] | [] | [
[],
[]
] |
Subsets and Splits
No saved queries yet
Save your SQL queries to embed, download, and access them later. Queries will appear here once saved.