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15oky1 | japanese whaling | Who benefits and how? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/15oky1/eli5_japanese_whaling/ | {
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"text": [
"It is a commercial venture to make money selling whale products to the Japanese public.\n\nIt is thinly disguised as scientific research to comply with international treaties."
]
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509066 | why does the kkk have fantasy things as their rank names? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/509066/eli5_why_does_the_kkk_have_fantasy_things_as/ | {
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"The KKK started as (nominally) a Scottish group, drawing their \"lineage\" supposedly from Scots traditions. They claimed that theirs was a continuation of ancient Scottish rituals and organisations and brotherhoods and etcetera.\n\nOf course, as it turns out, they were mainly full of shit — their traditions and rites didn't have any basis in any actual Scottish traditions, but were a fiction that was synthesised from lurid English fantasies about the things pagan Scots got up to.\n\nSo, their titles are Anglicised names of legendary Scottish mythological figures and beasts, as filtered through biased Protestant vilification of [Pagan\\Catholic] Scots history.\n\nThe same source materials — English fantasies and pulp — was later used by Gygax as fodder for writing his high fantasy games.\n\nSo the ELI5: because they're America's first Live Action RolePlayers.",
"Since nobody has brought this up, I do want to add that there have been 3 separate KKK groups. The first was founded after the civil war and lead by former confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. It was founded as a white civil rights movement. After the slaves were freed and now allowed to vote many former slave owners were worried that laws would be passed requiring them to pay reparations. Basically they had already lost their slaves (in todays dollars a slave went for $15k for a simple untrained slave all the way up to $100k+ for a skilled slave like a blacksmith). So they had lost a considerable amount of their wealth and were worried about loosing the rest.\n\nThe first and real KKK only lasted from 1865-1871. Their leader General Nathan Bedford Forrest actually disbanded the organization because it had gotten so violent that he considered it a terrorist organization. (_URL_0_)\n\nThat said I hate the klan. But as a history buff it is interesting to see what they started as and what they originally stood for and how that has been twisted and manipulated over the years. And as they say \"Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it\". Slavery and the klan are part of our history, but if you try and understand where all this hate and racism comes from then maybe you can stop it from happening again.",
"Fraternities founded in the 1800s all had something they used as a foundation and the names of their officers reflected that in a really basic way. The frat I was in was based on ancient Roman history. So the president was called the consul, secretary was annotator, doorman was kustos, etc. Other frats had different themes; sigma nu is military themed so all of their officers were named after military ranks.\n\nFrom what I understand about the Klan, they were started as a kind of frat from guys who had either been in one or were freemasons, so it would make sense to keep the same overall structure for having a theme and naming officers after it accordingly.",
"The original Klan (Reconstruction Klan) emphasized the idea of scaring newly freed blacks by capitalizing on traditional slave fears. Former plantation owners knew of the superstitions and what slaves had traditionally feared. This is where the white sheet uniform appeared ghostly, horrific, and scary. The names add to the macabre mythos of the Klan, which derived its mindset from the ideas of elite Anglo-Saxon Protestantism. \nBy the 1920s, the Klan really transformed to be national and much more Protestant minded than the previous Klan.",
"Why is the no black dragon rank there?"
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25o1ni | why is common carrier status better than internet "fast lanes" for consumers? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/25o1ni/eli5why_is_common_carrier_status_better_than/ | {
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"Because it limits information and education for people.\n\n_URL_0_",
"A common carrier is an entity that delivers \"goods\" to the public in general. For examples, the goods that phone companies deliver is a connection to the telephone system so that you can call anyone with a phone and phone service. Phone companies are categorized as a common carrier because the service they provide to the public is determined to be an essential utility.\n\nComparing common carrier status and \"fast lanes\" is a bit misleading. To use an analogy, replace Internet connections with roads. Right now, the local roads you drive on or public and are maintained locally. Suppose that the local government turns over control of the roads to a private company. Should the government regulate the private company? Should the government be able to step in and tell the private company that they need to build the roads so that every house has access to a road? Should the government be able to tell the private company that they can't tell drivers they can only drive to certain destinations unless someone pays them extra? Can the government force the company not to limit the amount people can drive on the roads?\n\nI don't know what you think of these questions, but that's the debate that's happening right now. Netflix (the destination), is being charged extra by Comcast (the road builder), to so that subscribers of Netflix can get reliable access (drive to Netflix) even though the subscribers have already paid for their internet connection (or in the analogy, they've already paid their monthly fee to drive on the road).\n\nThe idea of a \"fast lane\" is a marketing ploy by the ISPs to fool you into thinking that they're giving you something extra. In truth, you've already paid for your Internet connection. You're paying every month to get a reliable service up to a certain speed. What the ISPs, like Comcast and Verizon, are claiming is that somehow you're using the service you already paid for too much, so they deserve more money.\n\nEdit: Sorry I got into a bit of a rant at the end, but the point is that ISPs should be labeled as a common carrier if an Internet connection is deemed to be a essential utility.\n\n\"Fast lanes\" is marketing talk by ISPs to try to get someone to pay more for the Internet connection you already paid for.",
"Because the ISP's are more likely to have to make money by actually improving their service, instead of just milking their customers for things that used to be free."
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"http://toastter.blogspot.com/2014/05/net-neutrality-life-in-fast-lane-for.html"
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2cmll9 | why is animation mostly made in japan or america? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2cmll9/eli5_why_is_animation_mostly_made_in_japan_or/ | {
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"Well, technically, South Korea does most of the actual 2D animation for American cartoons.\n\nAnyway, other countries do create animation. Americans just don't receive those cartoons. America mostly imports Japanese anime.",
"I'm pretty sure other countries have their own types of animation; it's just that Japanese and American animations/cartoons are the more popular ones.",
"Where you live effects what products you see. In America we mainly import from Japan thus these are what we see. Other contries have animation."
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2u2t1g | why do some tv channels have free and open streaming on the internet while others do not? wouldn't advertising from those generate even more income? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2u2t1g/eli5_why_do_some_tv_channels_have_free_and_open/ | {
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"TV channels license shows for specific areas. If they stream to the web, they would need worldwide rights for the show, which are more expensive (or they need some geo-IP filtering).\n\nThus, for some channels, the larger reach is a net benefit, for others it isn't, depending on their specific program."
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d7izlu | copay, coinsurance and deductible in medical billing | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/d7izlu/eli5_copay_coinsurance_and_deductible_in_medical/ | {
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"Co-pay: your share due upon arrival of a doctors or hospital visit. Edit: co-pays are usually a set amount for each kind of visit: regular doctor, urgent care, emergency room, specialist (such as a dermatologist or orthopedist)\n \nCo-insurance: when you basically split the cost of the procedure with your insurance (e.g.: surgery costs $2000 - you pay $750 and insurance pays $1250), usually shown as a percentage, and in my experience usually out of network. \n \nDeductible: you have to pay $thismuch at the start of every year, before your insurance pays for anything that year. Once deductible is fulfilled, the co-pay or co-insurances kick in.",
"Copay: a fixed amount that you have to pay for each doctor visit, no matter what (usually something small like $25).\n\nCoinsurance: a percentage of the total cost that you have to pay (if you get a $10,000 bill, and you have 10% coinsurance, you have to pay $1,000).\n\nDeductible: you have to pay this amount before your insurance kicks in and starts covering you (if you don't get billed for an amount that is larger than your deductible, then you will have to pay the full amount)",
"Copay: a nominal fee you pay when you visit a doctor—usually $15-$25. Specialists can have a higher copay in the $50-$75 range. Some high deductible plans have no copays. \n\nCoinsurance: the percentage of the bill your insurance company will pay once your deductible is met. For example, if you have a 10/90 plan, and you have a $1000 procedure, you’d pay $100 and your insurance company would pay $900–provided you’ve reached your deductible. \n\nDeductible: the amount of money you need to spend on healthcare before your insurance company will pay. If the first procedure you have during and insurance year is $1000 and your deductible is $1000, then you will be responsible for the entire bill. If you then have a second $1000 procedure in the same year you’d only be responsible for whatever your coinsurance ratio is. \n\nOut of pocket max: the most you can spend in a year on covered charges."
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cyhdpk | minecraft ray tracing vs shaders | What is Ray Tracing in Minecraft and how is it different from Shaders? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/cyhdpk/eli5_minecraft_ray_tracing_vs_shaders/ | {
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"text": [
"Ray tracing is a form of a shader. Shaders add an alternate lighting engine to the game. Ray tracing is a specific type of lighting engine."
]
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vzezy | how does music conducting work? | I see the hand movements, and I have NO CLUE how it translates to how the performers play or sing. If I just stand in front of an orchestra, what sort of havoc could I wreak?
(I used to sing in a choir, didn't know then, either) | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/vzezy/how_does_music_conducting_work/ | {
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"[This](_URL_0_) might answer some of your questions.",
"It's mostly to help those playing or singing keep the timing and count. If the music is set to a count of 4, for example, the conductor will have 4 distinct movements that they will make, one on each beat. The amplitude of those movements, as well as any other movements the conductor might make are to do things like indicate volume, or to let a person or section know to come in.\n\n > If I just stand in front of an orchestra, what sort of havoc could I wreak?\n\nIf you just stood there, not all that much. Someone in the percussion section would probably give a few taps to start the song, and players can usually do fine on their own.\n\nIf you stood up there waving your arms, a lot. This assuming the players were actually paying attention to you, and not just playing on their own because they know you don't know what you're doing.",
"Sometimes it may look like the conductor is just waving his arms around, but they describe a certain pattern. This pattern indicates the count of the music. For example, some music goes one-two-three-four (like modern pop music a lot of times) and some music goes only one-two-three (like a waltz, as you can hear in Cinderella).\n\nHowever, the orchestra has practiced really, really well, so they don't actually need the conductor to indicate the beat to them, but what the orchestra does need is someone to tell them when they should play louder or less loud, or even when a section of instruments needs to adjust their volume. Some instruments are naturally louder than others (compare trumpets with violins) and the conductor makes sure the sound is balanced.\n\nLastly, the conductor actually has studied the score (the paper with the notes) really thoroughly, and they have an idea of what the composer meant with the music. So the conductor is, in a way, an interpreter for the composer, telling the orchestra where specific accents should occur, for example.\n\nSo, concluding, there's a lot more to conducting than standing there, waving your arms around! Sometimes, the conductor sets the beat and tempo, and sometimes he (or she) indicates what session should play louder. All this leads to a certain interpretation of how the conductor thinks the composer has meant the music to be played.\n\nEdit: as far as the second part goes: that really depends on how well the orchestra knows the piece. I played in an orchestra, and if we had a new piece, we really REALLY needed a proper conductor to make sure we were all on the same line, so you could have really messed that up! However, some pieces we could practically play without the sheet music, so you wouldn't have made any difference :)"
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1ind30 | the new moderation policy. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ind30/eli5_the_new_moderation_policy/ | {
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"Gonna have to be more specific.\n\nDo you mean how we mod ELI5? If so a brief summary is:\n\n* Remove duplicate posts\n* Remove \"walkthrough\" posts\n* Remove extremely simple questions\n* Remove insulting posts and loaded questions\n* Ban terrible people.\n\nNone of that is really new, although we're certainly doing it all a lot more recently.",
"Is there a way to tag which response the OP considers \"The Answer\"?"
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8a1m7l | how do businesses that provide a donation for every purchase (e.g., toms) make financial sense without being a non-profit organization? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8a1m7l/eli5_how_do_businesses_that_provide_a_donation/ | {
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"The total cost of the product includes the donation. Tom's toothpaste may cost $3 while Crest costs $2. With that extra dollar, Tom's may donate $1 to charity while using the publicity of their charity to get more people to but it.\n\nIn reality both toothpastes cost $0.10 to make, so there's still profit to be had. ",
"It makes sense for 2 reasons:\n\n- The cost of the donation is less than the profit they make off of the product\n\n- They believe that the donation will spur additional sales, thus making them more profitable than if they just reduced their price.\n\nIn the case of Toms, those $50 shoes you are buying are just cheap canvas and rubber - they cost maybe $3-5 to make. By giving a pair away for each pair you buy, they are losing $3-5 additional dollars in order to entice you to make a $50 purchase, which gets them $40-46 in gross profits.\n\nNow, could they just reduce the price to $45 and sell the shoes that way? Probably, but odds are you wouldn't spend $45 on a pair of those shoes. You buy them partly because of the charitable donation marketing, which means that a significant portion of their sales would probably go away if they didn't make the donation. That make excellent financial sense."
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dkxq3i | jalapenos make my mouth burn, but wasabi makes my nose burn. why? | I like wasabi and I really like hot sauce.
Tonight I am eating sushi with wasabi, and I am keenly aware of the difference in where the 'hot' feeling occurs. Can Redditors enlighten me as to why? Like I'm 5? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dkxq3i/eli5_jalapenos_make_my_mouth_burn_but_wasabi/ | {
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"Jalapeños burn with a compound called capsaicin. This activates heat receptors on contact, which is why it doesn’t just burn your mouth\n\nWasabi and horseradish, on the other hand, get their burn from isothiocyanates, compounds which are very aromatic, meaning they easily evaporate. These compounds are only released by grating the plant, if you took a bite of whole horseradish it wouldn’t do anything. \n\nPut simply, the isothiocyanates are so pungent and enter the air so easily, your more sensitive nose senses them. Capsaicin stays in your mouth",
"Capsaicin is a fairly heavy molecule, so it stays in the mouth. Allyl isothiocyanate is, on the other hand, rather light and is thus carried into the sinuses by your breath"
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2guoh3 | why even today internet explorer still doesn't follow the same web standards as everyone else? | I swear I tried to be loyal to that browser for the longest time but I had to move to firefox/chrome even with their flaws. Even today when I try it, websites look different, stuff doesn't function etc. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2guoh3/eli5_why_even_today_internet_explorer_still/ | {
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"Modern IE does though, source: web developer",
"The IE since version 9 or 10 are pretty decent and follow web standard pretty good. What you might encounter a few times is backfiring of ancient IE-Hacks. Something which would be nescessary for IE7 and prior. I mean something like this: \n \n if (browser == \"Internet Explorer\") { \n do_strange_stuff_that_works_in_ie(); \n } else { \n do_normal_stuff_that_works_everywhere_else(); \n } \n(It's obviously a bit more complicated than that, but you get the idea)",
"I remember hearing someone from Microsoft saying that their plan is not to destroy competition but instead to let other companies build and sell applications that are tailored to their users' needs as it benefits everyone involved.\n\nPrograms like Internet Explorer and Windows Defender are \"good enough\" for most users but there are better options out there... and Microsoft are okay with it. They're not in a hurry to improve their applications. The reason behind that is that it's much better for everyone involved to let these companies build their own specialized products since they know their stuff better than anyone else. Competition also pushes these companies to constantly improve their products as they are their only source of revenue.",
"My wife does a lot of web coding and apparently they are all a little off from the standards (ie: they all kind of do their own thing). So, if you program for one browser it will end up looking slightly different in another browser. It's odd.",
"As a web developer I always code for IE first then tweak for the others and my life is so much easier. I never wriite browser specific code and because I am always writing business software not the latest cutting edge game or graphics program in the browser I rarely have to do anything other then add a few extra css styles here or there to accomodate all browsers.\n\nEvery browser has it's issues and you will allways be tweaking something. People throw around the word \"standards\" and \"compliant\" but the truth is there really is no such thing so much is left to interpretation. As long as there are multiple browsers there will always be different implementations. People hate on IE, but there is truly nothing wrong with it. It's cool to hate on it and ignore all the current problems with other browsers.\n\n\n\n",
"The issue with IE is that it keeps supporting legacy features that companies depend on. You will come across things that \"need\" IE to function. To that end they keep the legacy features into the browser and more than anything this is what has slowed IE'd progression.\n\nThat said modern IE is viable, it works, and it will show most any modern stuff. The issue is with older version of IE, like say if you still use Windows XP and can't update. Websites have to be setup to handle this as plenty of people still use XP. This means that there are specific exceptions codes in websites that say \"if they use IE, give them special IE version\" some of these features were setup back when IE wasn't \"good enough\" yet and so it just blankets to all version of IE, where as more modern ones will only give it to IE7 or 8 and older. \n\nThen you have universal issues between browsers. Some browsers like to add default padding/spacing, some like to round corners others like sharp corners. What this leads to are boilerplate css resets and similar that are there to sanitize a browser as much as possible to make the website as uniform as possible across all sources.\n\nNaturally to follow all of this you also have web developers who simply don't know or care about such things and simply rush out there products. ",
"This comes down to money. Microsoft does not care that much about the every day consumer. They make money from their Fortune 500 customers.\n\nDo you really believe that Microsoft doesn't have the resources/funds/skill to make the best browser available and market the crap out of it? Think about it.\n\nInternet Explorer is the most widely used Internet browser for businesses. Several companies REQUIRE their employees to use Internet Explorer. Why? Security. They don't care how Facebook's site renders. Internet Explorer can be set to grant access to specific sites and content. This setting can be controlled on ALL employee PC's, thousands among thousands, by using Microsoft Active Directory and it's Group Policy feature. Active Directory is what some of you are a part of at your job. Do you have a user name to access data? Do you use Outlook? Then you mostly have a user account within your company's Active Directory. Group Policy objects can be deployed within Active Directory, to control whatever settings you want on Internet Explorer (among other things). The machines these users use are usually issued by the company, giving the company complete control over what web browser to use, and what the user is actually allowed to do with the web browser.\n\nMicrosoft will always focus on the company side features over anything else. As long their paying customers' intranet website looks fine and the employees are secured, they're making money.",
"Cutting edge CSS3, HTML5, and some JS functionality is usually better supported by Gecko (Firefox's rendering engine) and Webkit (the Chrome and Safari rendering engines) than IE.\n\nAs such, you tend to see developers building sites that take advantage of (and maybe rely on) these new features without regard to how they're supported by IE.\n\nThe less mainstream a site is, the less they tend to get IE traffic, and thus the more they can afford to marginalize the user experience of IE.\n\nModern front-end development is *supposed* to follow a practice known as \"progressive enhancement\", whereby you start with the simplest version of a website that works on ALL browsers equally (lately this has morphed into a mobile-first progressive enhancement process). Then you start to add on more functionality and styling for browsers that support it. \n\nOf course, in practice, any front-end dev on the verge of losing their sanity usually devs in Chrome or Firefox and then tests in an emulated IE later..."
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6t0bx4 | why and how did western culture become so dominant? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6t0bx4/eli5_why_and_how_did_western_culture_become_so/ | {
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"Mainly because all of the major empires since the 1800's have been in Europe and/or North America, with basically 2 exceptions;\n\n1) The Ottomans, who were on Europe's doorstep, but who fell apart after the 1st World War.\n\n2) The Japanese, who's empire was explicitly built on models and ideas provided by Western governments, particularly the British (prior to World War II) and the United States (after World War II).\n\nFurthermore, the only nation to buck that trend (China) was basically closed off from the rest of the world until a few decades ago, and so no one really cared about their cultural influence."
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bhexk8 | how dangerous is uranium mining and what are its positives/negatives? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bhexk8/eli5_how_dangerous_is_uranium_mining_and_what_are/ | {
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"Not very dangerous since U238 has a very long half life, meaning it's not very radioactive. Also, I think it's an alpha emitter (not sure on that), which would mean that it's trivial to shield yourself if required.\n\nIt's probably much safer than coal mining, for instance.",
"The risks are not that great mainly because the Uranium isn't purified so radioactivity is fairly limited. However in underground mining there can be significant build up of Radon gas which can very easily become lethal _URL_0_ however if the levels are monitored it would be less risky than many other types of underground mining, since for instance there is a minimal risk of underground fires compared to coal mining."
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zgcxq | obtaining a green card by marriage. | In reference to the post about a woman who left her husband after obtaining a green card (which has been deleted), I was just wondering how does it actually works? Does a non US citizen that marries a US citizen automatically get a green card?
What are the rules and legalities of it and so forth. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/zgcxq/eli5_obtaining_a_green_card_by_marriage/ | {
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"I just went through this process 2 years ago, and it is NOT automatic, and in fact quite costly and time-consuming. Let me give you a rundown.\n\nIn July '09 we got engaged. \n\nWe eventually set a date for July '10. \n\nIn Aug. '09 my wife (she's Canadian, I'm American) had to apply for a visa to enter the country. This is called a [K1](_URL_0_).\n\nThis was a fairly drawn out process. I had to send the US govt. things like the receipt for the engagement ring, proof that we had met multiple times (pictures, stamped passport), copies of our correspondence, etc. \n\nI also had to send the US govt. all kinds of documents proving that I would be able to support her when she moved here and that she would not be a burden on the welfare system. If she ever tried to apply for unemployment, etc., I would be in big trouble. \n\nThis also cost me two separate filing fees, one with the Department of State for $240 and one with the US Customs and Immigration Service for $340. \n\nShe also had to send them Canadian records, such as a police report showing that she had no arrests, warrants, misdemeanors, felonies, etc. and she had to have a physical exam. There were costs for those but I don't remember them. \n\nWe would send these things off and then not hear from the respective governments for months, and when we did it was a form letter basically saying \"Thanks for applying! We've added you to the pile. You'll hear back from us in 6 months or so.\"\n\nFinally she gets a letter saying that she has to go to Montreal (she is from Toronto) and do an interview there. The interview date is one week before our scheduled wedding. So she goes to Montreal, completes the interview, and gets a K1 visa. This allows her to enter the country and marry me, and not go back to Canada, nothing else. \n\nIf she had not been approved for the visa she would have been able to come into the country and get married, but not live here. Then we would have had to start the process all over again for a spouse visa (which I understand are slightly easier to get.) \n\nWe got married in July '10, as scheduled. \n\nNow that she is in the country, we had to apply for a [Green Card](_URL_1_). This included a filing fee of $1070. Again, we had to send in all kinds of copies of various things like our marriage certificate. A few months later that came in the mail. She was also able to get a Social Security card, but it is valid for work authorization only, not anything else. \n\nShe is now classified as a Permanent Resident Alien, and we will eventually be able to get citizenship for her...at the cost of more filing fees, I'm sure.\n\nBetween the fees themselves, then the travel expenses, and the lawyer fees to make sure we'd done all of this correctly, I ran up a bill of several thousand dollars. This was a pretty \"best case scenario\" too. \n\nI'd hate to imagine what would happen if anyone had some kind of complications in this process. ",
"I've done this. I was a non-citizen, wife is a US citizen.\n\nYou get married in your state, make sure marriage certificates are officiated. File an [I-130](_URL_3_) to apply for a green card. Before two years are over, file an [I-751](_URL_0_) to remove the conditional status (this is done to limit mail-order-bride shenanigans). After three years, file an [N-400](_URL_1_), the application for naturalization. After a medical screening, a couple of fingerprinting appointments, one marriage interview, and one citizenship interview you'll become a citizen if you so desire. It took me about 3 years to get the green card and a total of 7 to become a US citizen. The whole thing costs about 3 grand.\n\nIf you don't want to be a US citizen, don't file, just renew the GC every 10 years. The reason I didn't want to stay a perm. resident is because of kids and permanent [risk of deportation for relatively minor offenses (\"moral turpitude\")](_URL_2_). Plus, the US passport still gets you into a lot of places when you travel. And you can go into your home country, then fly out of there to places with which the US has issues, like Cuba.",
"[This is a great link I found from another post](_URL_0_)"
]
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"http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_2994.html",
"http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=ae853ad15c673210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=ae853ad15c673210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD"
],
[
"http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-751.pdf",
"http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/n-400.pdf",
"http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb2j49n7f1&doc.view=entire_text",
"http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-130.pdf"
],
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"http://reason.com/assets/db/07cf533ddb1d06350cf1ddb5942ef5ad.jpg"
]
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dvoock | how do antiperspirants work? they say they've got an "active chemical formula", does this mean that the spray actively combats perspiration? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/dvoock/eli5_how_do_antiperspirants_work_they_say_theyve/ | {
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"yes, they contain aluminum salts which literally block your sweat pores, its presence also inhibits bacterial growth which feed on sweat and create odour.",
"Sweat doesn't smell, bacteria that feeds on it do. Active formula works by killing bacteria and stopping sweating.\n\n\"Passive\" formula just overwhelm that smell by lavender odor"
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2unmcu | what does the accountant in gangster movies actually do and why is he so important? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2unmcu/eli5_what_does_the_accountant_in_gangster_movies/ | {
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"He makes sure they have a 'legal' method of accounting for the money they bring in. Remember, Al Capone only went to prison for tax evasion.",
"Just gonna hazard a guess, but if you just start spending tons of money on things with no possible source of that money, people (and the IRS) will start asking questions about where that money came from. So the accountant legitimizes the money by funneling it through various sources so it looks like it's coming from non-illegal sources.",
"Accountants for gangsters are professional money launderers. They take the legitimate businesses owned by the family (bars, construction firms, shipping companies, etc.) and adjust their ledgers to make it look like the company is making more money than it is.\n\nBy doing this, the gangsters hide the money they make from illegal activities (prostitution, extortion, drugs) in the profits from honest business, to distort the money trail connecting gangsters to the crimes that they commit.",
"Gangsters need two sets of books, one showing their illegal activities and one reporting legitimate income (the IRS takes a dim view of people spending money without reporting a means to have earned any--and auditors are very persistent). \n\nIn the stories, the accountant is normally in position to be the one person who knows all the information about both (the gangster is usually running the illegal side) which allows the accountant to be a major source of drama (will the accountant talk, can he steal money in the shift from illegal to legal, etc). ",
"Accountant here. \n\nVery simple: \nAll earnings are taxed. If you're driving around in a Mercedes but technically unemployed, you're a target for audit/investigation.\n \nSo what can you do? \n\nIf you're running an illegal business - such as selling drugs - you'll want to setup a second business to launder the money, aka: a 'front'. \n\nThis 'front' will take 'illegal untaxed' money and convert it into 'legal taxed' money. These fronts are typically cash-based businesses (they leave less of a papertrail). Laundrymats, Car-Washes, Bars, etc. \n\nSo, you transfer drug money to the 'front', fake some receipts to make it look like the money is actually coming from the 'front'. Then the owners of the 'front' can legally-ish withdraw the money, pay their taxes, and pretend to be upstanding citizens. \n\nThe accountant deals with all the financial ramifications. \"How much money to transfer to the front?\". \"How much can the owners withdraw?\". \"Should we expand?\". \"When to expand?\". They draw up the financial statements to make it look like a legitimate business that's growing at a healthy pace. They also find other sources of where to deal with excess money. Hide it? Lend it? Toss it in a Swiss Bank Account? Afterall, it might be hard for a bar to explain they've earned half a million dollars in a weekend. In addition to the legit business, the accountant keeps the finances for the illegal business. Money owed, money due, chart of accounts, etc. \n\n",
"Saul goodman does a decent primer on money laundering in 60 seconds, if this helps anyone with context.\n\n_URL_0_ ",
"HOLD UP THIS IS MY TIME TO SHINE!!!\n\nok now i am going to ELI5 this joint.\n\nlets call yourself Capone. he is the biggest baddest kid in the entire playground so he goes around taking other kids lunch money. See now he has money to spend but he knows that if he buys himself a shiny new bike, his parents (IRS) will start getting suspicious of him. So he is like, well I am going to set up a lemonade stand ( the good old days) and sell 25 cent cups of lemonade. \n\nNow lets say in a day he sells 20 dollars worth of lemonade but since it is an all cash business, he goes ahead and says it was actually 30 dollars he sold. \n\nNow he can go and buy that new bike after a couple of days of doing this and his parents would never suspect a thing. \n\nAnd that is what the accountant in a gangster movie does."
]
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1wqru9 | why people are bothered by the idea of their friends having sex with their mother. | This is probably going to get some eye rolls, but I really don't get it. I would be bothered by someone telling me they *raped* my Mom, but if I found out that a friend had sex with my Mom, they both wanted it, and for whatever reason my father was either okay with it or out of the picture, I wouldn't really be bothered by it. Whenever I ask people this in person they just seem to want to change the subject but never explain why it bothers them. Many of these same people are absolutely fine with the idea of their other family members having sex.
| explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1wqru9/eli5_why_people_are_bothered_by_the_idea_of_their/ | {
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"score": [
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"text": [
"My guess is it's some kind of manifestation of that whole [Madonna/Whore complex](_URL_0_) thing. Basically, my mom is a Madonna, therefore she never has sex with anyone."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna%E2%80%93whore_complex"
]
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e0otrp | what is molecular biology? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/e0otrp/eli5_what_is_molecular_biology/ | {
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"Nature can be understood at many levels. Sub atomic (physics), atomic (physics, chemistry), molecular (chemistry, biochemistry), macromolecular (molecular biology, biochemistry), cellular (cell biology), tissue (histology, medicine), organ (physiology, medicine), organism (medicine), population (ecology, evolutionary biology, sociology).\n\nMolecular biology focuses on the molecular and macromolecular levels. Multicellular organisms like humans are made of many specialized cells, these cells contain a lot of smaller things called molecules and macromolecules, they range from lipids (fat) like in the membrane of cells, nucleic acids (DNA and the dozens of types of RNA), sugars/metabolites/carrier molecules (glucose, pyruvate, etc), molecular machines/assemblies (ribosomes, inflammasome, proteasome, etc), enzymes (things that facilitate chemical reactions), etc.\n\nMolecular biologists study the bioenergy economic system, the gene to transcript to protein cascade, the signal to effect cascades, the role of many kinds of molecules within a cell, amongst countless other things. There is a lot of overlap with other fields, for example, physiologists do pretty much everything molecular biologists do, but they have a bigger picture perspective, they try to integrate information about multiple cell types and multiple organs, so they go to a higher level of complexity. But by now, almost all fields of biology are technically molecular biology, with the exception of some subfields of evolutionary biology for instance."
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3yg81a | if jesus did all of these miracles during a time where many events were recorded, is there any other source other than the bible to prove that they happened? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3yg81a/eli5if_jesus_did_all_of_these_miracles_during_a/ | {
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"So, this is dangerous territory to wade into on Reddit, because we're likely to hear from people who want to convince everyone else that Jesus did or did not exist.\n\nI won't do that, but I will offer a reasonable explanation to why there's few non-Biblical sources about Jesus.\n\nThe Bible isn't one book -- it's a collection of writings. And the New Testament has several books about Christ. But the reason those books are in the Bible is because they *are* about Christ. Yes, they aren't contemporaneous, but that's not really the point -- if there was something else that had been written about Christ, documenting the events of his life, it *would have been included in the Bible*.",
"Dead sea scrolls maybe? Or the nag hammadi? But they just ignore those so what's it matter.",
"Would suggest checking out the FAQs on /r/AskHistorians. The consensus seems to be that yes there was a man by the name of Jesus around that time who claimed to heal people and had followers and was dealt with by the Romans. ",
"If i remember correctly, none of the books in the bible were written by first account witnesses. I believe the first account wasn't written down for almost 70 ish years after the death of the person known as Jesus Christ. So any written accounts from the actual time of Christ while he was alive is iffy and possibly very controversial.",
"The scientific method that 'proves' things would not describe something proven as being a miracle - there would be an explanation for its mechanism, perhaps one we don't yet understand, but it would not be described as a miracle.",
"Would Quran count? It's not the Bible. The description of things in both books are quite similar. With one big difference of course. Actually, it's huge and a game changer. And that is, who his father was. Other than that, his work death and overall biography matches in both book. But I do understand this was probably not the answer you were looking for. This probably works best as a side note than the answer. ",
"Basically: no. While there's a fair amount of apocrypha (non-canon works) that corroborate (and even add) miracles to JC's repertoire, no historical, non-theological work confirms his ability to work miracles.\n\nIt should also be noted that a possible contender for the purported 'Q Document' (a theoretical document that serves as the origin for some of JC's dialogue, and possibly a basis for the theological meat of the gospels), The Gospel of Thomas, has an early author date of 75-150 CE. This would mean that Christianity's earliest document lacks miracles, magic, or supernaturalism. Should not be confused with the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which is also cool, but full of magic and weird shit.\n\nSources cited: none, too lazy.",
"The real question is.. If we collectively as an earthly population forgot about Jesus and just cared for each other as we should without prejudice or conditions would he show up and high five us and say \"holy shit, you finally fucking figured it out\" but naw we would rather argue about who is the better imaginary friend and who has the best way to rule each other.. What a joke."
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22jeyt | i spilled tomato sauce on my shirt. used a tide pen on the stain and it disappears. where does the red stain colour disappear to? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/22jeyt/eli5_i_spilled_tomato_sauce_on_my_shirt_used_a/ | {
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"Things you can see colors for are made up of molecules long enough to interfere with light as it goes to your eye. For instance, water is clear because it is a small molecule, as are many gases. Proteins are long chain molecules that, with enough length, can obscure light enough to produce a color your eyes can detect. They are big enough for certain wavelengths of light to actually bounce off of to be redirected to your eyes.\n\nWhat the Tide pen does is break up the protein molecule into smaller pieces that 1. no longer stick to your fabric as well, and 2. are too small to be a color your eyes can see anymore.\n\nEDIT:for more completeness.\n\nEDIT2: I realize how cringe inducing my use of the term \"protein\" and \"long molecule\" must be to chemists and chemistry students. I still stand by my explanation in light of how impossible it is to explain molecular orbital theory to a 5 year old.",
" > Bleaches can be used to remove stains from clothing. Where do the stains go? Bleach does not actually remove the chemicals in stains from the fabric; it reacts with them to form colorless compounds.\n[source page 16](_URL_0_)",
"My histology teacher told us that the tide pen removes the auxochrome from the dye molecule which makes it colourless. So the stain is still there, we just can't see it.",
"How do we get out Koolaid stains? We already know the opposite color Koolaid doesn't work.",
"Google is really helpful, seriously, like the third result for me:\n\n\"Tide to Go was created specifically for fresh food and drink stains that a person encounters while \"on the go.\" It was created after consumer research showed what type of stains are most common when a person is away from home. Because Tide to Go is used on fresh stains and color-safe garments, the ingredients are peroxide (non-chlorine bleach), surfactant and perfume. Non-chlorine bleaches are materials that release oxygen, which cleans and bleaches stains. Peroxide is liquid non-chlorine bleach and is non-toxic. Surfactants are wetting agents that help ingredients spread easily. The result of these ingredients is a convenient laundry agent that works wherever you are.\n\nRead more: _URL_0_\"",
"Wow... like nearly all these comments have been ModShot. Kinda hope this one makes the cut. Basically a Tide Pen, and other such early response stain treatments, are mostly peroxides, surfactant and perfumes. Peroxides release oxygen, which basically disrupts the coloring of a stain, kinda like bleach, but gentler and doesn't work on set in colors (so it most likely won't hurt your fabrics).\n\nNow, the part of a stain that makes it stick is protein. Proteins stick to things and form little cages that hold liquid inside them, like a water balloon. Surfactants disrupt proteins, causing the liquid to disperse. \n\nSo you have one agent breaking up the water balloons, causing the stain to lose it's holding power, and another bleaching out the color with intensified oxygen release. \n\nThe perfume just makes it smell pretty, mostly it covers the smell of the stain involved. This won't work on grease stains because there you are dealing with oils and not proteins. ",
"It's still there; it just stopped reflecting red.",
"The tide pen carries peroxides, which destroy conjugated pi systems. Conjugated pi systems are an atomic configuration of atoms that are responsible for the colors we see in visible light. When the conjugation of these systems is destroyed, the energy is shifted in the pi systems so that it is no longer within visible range of colors. The stain is still there, but we can no longer see it because it is no longer conjugated. "
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2hyuje | help me understand the term "seats" in canadian politics, and how they can result in a majority or minority government | I have a midterm tomorrow for my Introduction to Canadian Government class and I'm really struggling with this concept, and I really feel like it's holding me back from understanding the rest of Canadian politics. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2hyuje/eli5_help_me_understand_the_term_seats_in/ | {
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"The elected portion of the Canadian government is the House of Commons, which consists of 308 seats (positions). Each seat is filled by an elected representative known as a Member of Parliament (or MP), who represents their particular riding (a geographical region) in Canada. MPs are typically part of a Federal political party (the big three being the Liberal Party of Canada, the Conservative Party of Canada, and the New Democratic Party), though you can have independents as well.\n\nWhichever political party holds the most seats in the House of Commons is the party in power. The leader of that party becomes the Prime Minister of Canada. The party with the second-most seats becomes the Official Opposition.\n\nA majority government means that a single party holds the majority of the seats in the House of Commons, 155 seats or more (though you could have functionally a majority with 154). This means that even if every member of the other parties united against you, the ruling government cannot be blocked so long as all of its members vote the same way. A minority government, as you might have guessed by now, means having less than 154 seats and thus the ruling party cannot pass legislature entirely on its own and must seek support from one of the opposition parties.",
"CommissarAJ has it, but just to add\n\nMajority governments through parliament effectively prevent the grid lock that America has right now in Congress. The difficult part of parliamentary politics to understand is how powerful the Prime Minister is...technically he is just one vote of 308 seats...but informally he is likely more powerful than the executive branch in the US.\n\nHelpful quirk...to prevent a US Congress style gridlock...rather than fixed election dates elections are held:\n\n1) if parliament decides to\n2) after 5 years\n3) and this is the most significant one...if proposed legislation is defeated . So if the government goes to pass a budget and it can't get the number of votes needed...not only is the budget defeated, but it sparks an election... It makes makes parliament instantly accountable for making it work."
]
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j6h6o | can someone explain to me why a balanced budget amendment is a bad thing? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/j6h6o/can_someone_explain_to_me_why_a_balanced_budget/ | {
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"It cripples the government by forcing every policy change to be framed in the context of short-term budgeting. With this sort of thing the government might be unable to (constitutionally) react with strength in the case of a real emergency. The adage \"you need to spend money to make money\" is entirely accurate: the New Deal was incredibly expensive, but none can argue that it didn't eventually pay for itself.\n",
"It cripples the government by forcing every policy change to be framed in the context of short-term budgeting. With this sort of thing the government might be unable to (constitutionally) react with strength in the case of a real emergency. The adage \"you need to spend money to make money\" is entirely accurate: the New Deal was incredibly expensive, but none can argue that it didn't eventually pay for itself.\n"
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5dvv39 | why does sugar help to preserve fruit? wouldn't that make it more attractive to microbes? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5dvv39/eli5_why_does_sugar_help_to_preserve_fruit/ | {
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"Life requires a balance between water and the things dissolved in it, like sugar.\n\nWater tends to move accross membranes like the cell membrane of bacteria. It moves toward the side where more things are dissolved in the water. This is called osmosis. If you put bacteria into water with a lot of sugar in it, that will suck out water from the bacteria. They won't be able to continue living. Though dormant forms of some bacteria (called spores) can still be preserved there and become active later if put in a better environment later.",
"* Table sugar, like honey, can't spoil. Quoting from \"_URL_0_\":\n\n**There are a few other examples of foods that keep–indefinitely–in their raw state: salt, sugar, dried rice are a few.**\n\n* The article gives a good explanation of why.\n\n* Sugar, like rice, attracts ants and possibly other insects, but it won't spoil due to bacteria.\n"
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[],
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"http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-science-behind-honeys-eternal-shelf-life-1218690/"
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||
bfgecr | why does smoke from factories look still/stationary when viewed from an airplane? | On past flights when the plane was near some factories or huge exhaust pipes, the smoke coming out of them always seemed to stay in position instead of constantly billowing out, wonder why that is. (Sorry if flair is incorrect, not sure which category to place it under?) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bfgecr/eli5_why_does_smoke_from_factories_look/ | {
"a_id": [
"eldgah6"
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"text": [
"Because its rate of emission is constant. Its like running water from a tap, if it never changes the output the then flow outward looks constant.\n\nIt will shift with the wind but the wind won’t shift fast enough for you to see from a plane."
]
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9kxm9g | why is sugar able to dissolve into water so easily? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9kxm9g/eli5_why_is_sugar_able_to_dissolve_into_water_so/ | {
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"well how in-depth do you want us to get? \"like dissolve like\", sugar and water are both polar, water's structure makes it a nearly perfect solvent, etc",
"An oxygen hydrogen bond has a slight dipole meaning that the oxygen pulls more electrons than the hydrogen and leaves it partially charged. The slightly positive H is then attracted to slightly negative O and water arranges itself like that. Sugar has large amounts of OH bonds hanging off the sides of it and actively participates in this 'H-bonding'. This is not a bond in the proper sense, more of a temporarily comfortable position of opposite charges attracting each other and makes it easier for the sugar to separate into the water, increasing solubility. Compared to oils that largely lack these OH bonds and will aggregate to minimize contact with water and form a separate layer. So because the water can sort of 'play' with these slight charges bc the have the same quality (being H-O-H and having its own partial positive and negative regions) it doesn't want to aggregate to minimize water contact. Does this help?\n\nSource: Biochemistry BS",
"God where do you get your water? In my entire lifetime I have never once witnessed sugar dissolving easily in plain water, water with lemons in it, hot water with tea bags in it ANY WATER EVER! I have to turn my tea into sugar sludge to make it taste sweet. Brown sugar dissolves a little more easily than white sugar but not *easily.* What do you know that I don't? Not a rhetorical question, I must know why my sugar doesn't dissolve and yours does.\n\nEagerly awaiting your prompt response :-D"
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1zhxm2 | different programming languages, what they each do, and the order in which a beginner should learn them? | Main goals: Build+design websites, make iPhone apps and in the future, android apps as well | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1zhxm2/eli5_different_programming_languages_what_they/ | {
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"Copied from my post [here](_URL_0_):\n\n---\n\nDifferent languages are better suited for different tasks. There are many factors that determine what language is best for a particular job.\n\nYour computer runs an opaque sort of binary code. Any software written in a human-readable programming language must be translated into this code. Some languages, such as C, are compiled: there is a program called a compiler that translates your C code into machine language. Some languages, such as Python, are interpreted: there is a program called an interpreter that reads your Python script and executes its commands. Some languages, such as Java, are \"bytecode compiled\": Java has a compiler that turns Java code into machine code for a fictitious \"Java virtual machine\", and an interpreter actually executes that JVM code.\n\nA compiled language is usually very fast, because the work of translating the source code to machine code is done once by the compiler. On the other hand, compiling itself may take a long time. You have to keep separate track of your source code and your compiled program, which can be a hassle. In addition, you have to compile your code separately for different types of machines, so you have to offer different versions for 32- and 64-bit Intel users, for PowerPC users, for ARM users, and so forth. (Or you could give them the source code and let them compile the software for their own platform, shifting some of the hassle onto the user. This is how much Linux software works, and there is a lot of infrastructure to automate this process.) One more advantage is that you can catch many errors at the time of compilation, without needing to run the program.\n\nAn interpreted language is slower, because the interpreter has to do the work of understanding the program as well as doing what the program needs done. In practice, this matters for some software but not for others. Interpreted languages are often more abstract, offering features that are difficult or inefficient to compile, and it is generally easier and faster to write code in an interpreted language. You only need to ship one version of your software to anyone with an interpreter, but on the flip side, your end user must have an interpreter that has been compiled for their platform. Operating systems come with a few interpreters built in, but not always the one you want to write code for.\n\nA bytecode compiled language is a hybrid. It's generally faster to run than pure interpreted code, because the intermediate bytecode is designed to be very simple and efficient to interpret, but it's generally slower than pure compiled code, because there is still a translation layer. You have to compile up front, and keep track of the source code and bytecode files, but you can ship just the bytecode to your users. They will need the interpreter for their platform.\n\nSo, some common languages:\n\n- Assembly is just machine code written in a human-readable form. It is a huge pain to write, but its speed is unbeatable. It is compiled (very simply).\n- C is compiled. It is known for being very \"close\" to the machine, and you have to do a lot of things manually. This is slow and difficult to write, but very fast to run. Operating systems, computer games, virtual machines, and other performance-sensitive software are often written in C. Sometimes, ultra-performance-critical bits of a C program will be written in assembly, and C makes this reasonably easy to do.\n- C++ is C, but with more features. These features are divisive, and often very complex. Many people find them helpful in some cases, and unhelpful in others. C++ has a well-deserved reputation; personally, I think that it's the most complicated and confusing language in common use. This is the price of having both speed and features.\n- Perl is interpreted. It broke new ground with some interesting new features that make programming faster and easier than its predecessors. It's slow compared to C. Perl has a reputation for inscrutability, and poorly written Perl can be downright unreadable. It's commonly used for short scripts.\n- Python is interpreted. It is in many ways a spiritual descendent of Perl, having similar functionality. It is generally regarded as being nicer to work with, and it is a very popular \"geek\" language and a common recommendation for beginners. One distinguishing feature is that indentation is usually meaningful, which some people love and others hate.\n- Ruby has much in common with Python; the two are sometimes considered to be rivals. Ruby doesn't have the indentation thing. It rose dramatically in popularity along with a web framework called Rails, and is often associated with it in people's minds, though the language stands well on its own. I'm a Ruby fan.\n- Java is bytecode-interpreted. In order to run a Java program, you need the interpreter, called the Java Virtual Machine. Java was designed with the dual goals of efficiency and platform independence. It can be nearly as fast as pure compiled languages, but a single bytecode file can be executed by anyone with the JVM. A pity that the language itself is a bit of a snooze. It was designed by committee for the \"average\" programmer, so it's missing a lot of \"power tools\" that, say, Python has. There are other languages written to compile to bytecode that will run on the JVM, such as Scala.\n- C# (spelled with a number sign, but pronounced \"sharp\") is also bytecode-interpreted. Microsoft was thinking of licensing Java and implementing their own interpreter, but the licensing fell through and they created their own language. Some criticise it for being a shameless Java rip-off, but I love it for being a shameless Java rip-off that fixed a lot of my gripes about Java. Microsoft uses it for a lot of their internal development, and as a result it's a very nice tool for writing software for Windows. Microsoft also created a version of the venerable Visual Basic that compiles to the same kind of bytecode, and it's a very popular language as well.\n- Objective-C, like C++, is \"C with more\", but it's gone in a different direction from a technical standpoint. It is arguably more expressive (and has cooler features) than C++, but it never took off in popularity like C++ did. Apple developers use it to write software for the Mac and iOS.\n- Javascript is an interpreted language with some \"cool\" features that seemed like a good idea at the time. It has few true fans, but it's the only scripting language you can use for web pages, so it's here to stay. Slow as a dog due to questionable design decisions, but modern browser-based interpreters have done some truly amazing work to speed it up.\n- SQL is not a programming language in the traditional sense. It is used to query many common databases, and to insert and alter the data contained therein. It is uniquely suited to this purpose, and it would never be used by itself. It is interpreted by the database software.\n\nAnd, of course,\n\n- Lisp is usually intepreted, but some people have written compilers for various dialects. It is the second-oldest programming language still in general use (after FORTRAN), but it is paradoxically considered by its adherent to be the most advanced language available. It was designed by a computer scientist as a theoretical tool for a research paper, and an interpreter was later written. It's hard to ELI5 what makes it special; one way of putting it is that it is just simple enough that it can be made to do anything. With a little work and know-how, it can be adapted to have virtually any feature you want. Of course, this means that reading someone else's Lisp program can be an adventure in itself."
]
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"http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1m1530/eli5_the_different_practical_uses_of_the_most/cc4t5mq"
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2xxxbu | do non-natural lights provide the body with vitamin d? | Do non-natural lights like the light from my computer monitor provide my body with vitamin D? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2xxxbu/eli5_do_nonnatural_lights_provide_the_body_with/ | {
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"It's produced when UVB light hits your skin with wavelengths near 300nm. Not all lights are going to produce this, but they can, such as tanning beds. ",
"They can-there are certain climates (seattle, anyone?) that will actually sell this type of light bulb that will release the proper wavelength of light (about 300nm). But just your regular run of the mill fluorescent or incandescent bulb will not."
]
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[],
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awx1nj | if our voices sound different in our head than out loud, how can people learn to sing notes? | If our voices sound different to us when we sing than they do to others, then how do we learn to reproduce the same notes as someone else; i.e., sing along to a song? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/awx1nj/eli5_if_our_voices_sound_different_in_our_head/ | {
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"ehpqini"
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"text": [
"While the timbre/tone of of our voices may sound different to ourselves, the _pitch_ is the same. It’s the pitch of a note that must be matched in order to sing a “note”. \n\n"
]
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3tguof | how can animals (like dogs) have fun, if they primarily live using instincts? | For example, this bulldog: _URL_0_ | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3tguof/eli5_how_can_animals_like_dogs_have_fun_if_they/ | {
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"The brain rewards certain physical and social activities. This is deep in the brain and we both share these characteristics. I would argue that we humans also live using instincts, we are social animals and rely on instincts to communicate with other, some are better than others but evolutionarily tight social groups are more likely to survive, your brain rewards you for having tight social bonds, and punishes you for losing them, giving an incentive to keep them. Food and sex are also very enjoyable for the same reasons.",
"Play behavior is usually a function of instinct. Kittens play fight for socialization and to help develop hunting skills. Human babies and kids play to improve their socialization and to develop cognitive skills. All sort of life forms play to vent stress. Play is almost always productive in some form or another."
]
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"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU9RSNXaElw"
]
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[],
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20iucf | what has happened when a huge amount of reddit comments are deleted? | I googled this a few times and couldn't find a straight answer. Occasionally I'll come across a thread - sometimes controversial, sometimes not - where dozens of comments are deleted. My question is, what happened to cause that? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/20iucf/eli5_what_has_happened_when_a_huge_amount_of/ | {
"a_id": [
"cg3n9w2"
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"text": [
"The users who made the comments or the moderators of the subreddit delete them. Mods delete comments if they're against the subreddit's rules. In ELI5, arguments, jokes, and insults are deleted. Arguments in particular here result in a LOT of deletions in one location. There's even a browser extension called \"mod nuke\" that allows moderators to delete a comment and all the comments below it with one click. "
]
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9uhfjd | how can electricity dissipate even if the wall switch is off. | Once upon a time I slept in an hotel room whose light (a neon tube) have remained still slightly luminous even in the middle of the night , when the switch had been off for hours. A faint light. That was certainly not a paranormal activity goin on there nor the dinner I ate , that was fine, but a pretty common effect of dissipation that drains energy from the line leaving a track on the electric bill also. Normally it is noticed when you spent a long period away from home and you find a suspiciously high bill. But How does it work ? A switch is a contact , if the ends don't touch where does occur the dissipation ? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9uhfjd/eli5_how_can_electricity_dissipate_even_if_the/ | {
"a_id": [
"e9498m8"
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"text": [
"Short story is residual energy from the electrons how power actually works is think of it as multiple marbles in a chain and if one shakes the neighbor shakes and so on a giant ripple. \n\neven after you cut the power there is residual energy depending on the medium or gas that is allowing the energy to pass to make light may have residual energy enough to make enough lux to see."
]
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j7yc4 | the current situation with the internet | Net neutrality; the "Stop Perverts from Fucking Little Kids Faces on the Internet Act"; etc. etc.
What's it all mean? What's going on? How can they use data against us? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/j7yc4/eli5_the_current_situation_with_the_internet/ | {
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"c29vpk7",
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"text": [
"Net Neutrality means no data is preferred over another. This means an ISP cannot give different priorities to different types of data.\n\nRight now, Comcast can slow down all traffic going to, say, Verizon, since it's a competitor. They can also slow down torrents, streaming and anything else. Then, they speed up things to companies like Facebook in exchange for money.\n\nNet Neutrality makes it illegal for this to happen.\n\n**Like you're literally five:**\n\nIt means people who sell Internet share more.",
"Net Neutrality means no data is preferred over another. This means an ISP cannot give different priorities to different types of data.\n\nRight now, Comcast can slow down all traffic going to, say, Verizon, since it's a competitor. They can also slow down torrents, streaming and anything else. Then, they speed up things to companies like Facebook in exchange for money.\n\nNet Neutrality makes it illegal for this to happen.\n\n**Like you're literally five:**\n\nIt means people who sell Internet share more."
]
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[],
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6sp3st | what is public choice theory and how do its central claims differ from other areas of economics? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/6sp3st/eli5_what_is_public_choice_theory_and_how_do_its/ | {
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"I am not an expert on Public Choice Theory, but one of its commonly mentioned tenets is pointing out that government/large bureaucracies are full of politicians/people who respond to incentives. (Sometimes PCT is just a reminder that people are self-interested)\n\nOften people assume that a governmental body will do what is best for the greater good using excellent judgement and appropriate knowledge, or will at least do better than a privately owned organization would. It is usually more accurate to look at the incentives facing the actors involved. \n\nWhy would a politician agree to a large outlay from his/her state to pensions that is very unlikely to be sustainable? Public Choice Theory might point out that the politician gets benefits for such favors while in office, but the cost will be borne well after he/she is no longer in office. (Gov. Gray Davis of CA, for example)\n\nAnother way to think of PCT is that it applies econ, especially behavioral econ, to political science scenarios."
]
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[]
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1n72uh | how does a pager/beeper actually work | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1n72uh/eli5how_does_a_pagerbeeper_actually_work/ | {
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"text": [
"A pager is just a radio receiver that receives digital messages.\n\nIt uses the exact same technology that allows cell phones to communicate.",
"[Sir Mix-A-Lot can ELI5](_URL_0_)",
"Most pagers work on a cellular network, just like a cell phone. It basically acts like a cell phone that can only send/receive text messages.",
"Everyone is talking about text messaging but the original pagers were basically a phone people called but you couldn't pick up. The number will appear on the screen and then you go to the nearest landline and call back."
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1m7bio | if 12 years of war has cost us 6 trillion dollars, what have we gained financially? is there a net gain or loss? | have the "spoils" of war counterbalanced the amount we have spent fighting them? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1m7bio/eli5_if_12_years_of_war_has_cost_us_6_trillion/ | {
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"I am unable to provide a solid explanation on the 12 year war that you are referring to but, maybe I can provide a typical ELI5 explanation on war and whats the main benefit of it.\n\nWar is considered as a financial injection to a country that is one of the leading ones on the world. Why? Because every contry that achieved economical greateness inevitably faces overproduction. That basically means that the ammount of things a country produces exceeds the needs of its people. Once that happens, the overproduction should seize because keeping it going will result in loss of money. Limiting the production, means less employment, less investments and generaly leads to economic losses. War is one of the best solutions to that problem. War stimulates the need of various goods so basically you are getting rid of the overproduction. Now this is a very simplictic explanation in layman's language. If you research on the matter, things are far more complex. Overall, once a country gets to an economic standstill due to overproduction, war is one of the best alternatives as it plays the role of a stimulant.",
"When a country becomes a democracy the rights of citizens to own property and businesses becomes better protected. This means that more people are able to buy and trade in the global economy than they were before and multinational corporations benefit from this increase in market potential with American companies like Halliburton gaining first dibs.\n\nIt would be like if you wanted to go trade marbles with your neigbor's children but their mom was a dictator and their dad was really nice. Lets say that the mom was so restrictive it made it impossible to play with those kids. If your parents went over to their house and deposed the mom and let you now play with their children, you would have increased access to trade with the children of that house."
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drj0aq | why do electronics (laptop for example) lose battery when they’re not in use or are asleep? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/drj0aq/eli5_why_do_electronics_laptop_for_example_lose/ | {
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"text": [
"They are still \"on\". In order for you to be able to wake your phone by looking at it, or boot your computer by clicking on the mouse, parts of the system are on all the time. That's been true for decades, ever since electronics stopped having a big ON/OFF toggle switch.",
"If they’re asleep they’re still powered and draining the battery slowly through electronic functions.\n\nBut batteries are just chemical reactions. Lithium Ion batteries in particular continue to react even if they’re not connected to anything, releasing energy as heat and new chemicals at the anode.\n\nNickel Metal Hydride batteries have a significantly lower depletion rate when not in use, as they need the electric current in the electrolyte to trigger the reaction at the anode in any volume.\n\nBut LiIon is the most energy dense battery format we currently have, and so has been used in most electronics for over a decade. Because of the continuous reaction, it also doesn’t suffer from the memory effect and lasts through more recharges.",
"Battery discharges on it's own even if power is not drawn from it. This is because battery is made up of chemicals and always connected. So the off switch does not completely switch off the battery and it continues to self discharge.",
"When you put a computer to sleep, it maintains whatever's currently stored in RAM, and shuts off everything else. RAM is volatile memory, which means it needs to be powered to remember what it has stored. So some of the battery will be drained to maintain whatever's in RAM.\n\nNow there is an alternative called hibernation, which takes what's stored in RAM and copies it to the hard drive or SSD. These are non-volatile storage methods. They don't need power to remember what's stored on them. \n\nThe upside with sleep modes is they allow you to pick up where you left off instantly. But they do consume power as a disadvantage. With hibernation, it does the same thing. It's a lot slower, but doesn't consume power."
]
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5smzsr | why is betsy devos considered unqualified? genuine question, i stopped paying attention to politics | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5smzsr/eli5_why_is_betsy_devos_considered_unqualified/ | {
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"text": [
"She is an education secretary with no experience working in education. No formal education, no professional experience.\n\nIt's like assigning someone to run the military who has never fired a gun.",
"Another question: Why was she even nominated if everyone seems to agree with how unqualified she is? Why couldnt they find someone where most people would agree like \"yeah, they'd be good\". What makes her so special? ",
"She's never been a teacher. She's never been a school administrator. Never served on an elected school board. It's not even clear if she has ever served in her own kids PTA.\n\nShe is a rich lady from a rich family married to a rich man. Her father was a billionaire auto parts supplier. Her brother founded the military contractor Blackwater. Her husband is the heir to Amway, a company that made billions off of pyramid schemes. She's held positions on many corporate boards and done a lot of fundraising for Republicans.\n\nHer only real background in education has been in lobbying for Republican education causes like charter schools, voucher systems, privatization and \"school choice\". She's mostly motivated by a desire to strip funds from secular public schools to funnel that money into private Christian schools. She helped to oversee a charter school system in Detroit that most experts view to be a massive failure for students.\n\nDuring interviews with Congress and subsequently she has been unable to define basic educational concepts like \"proficiency\" (ie all students must master a set of basic skills, like learning their ABCs or multiplication tables, to complete each grade level) vs \"growth\" (ie it doesn't matter whether students learn a particular skill at a specific grade, so long as they are making a comparable amount of progress).\n\nShe generally seems like dim-witted rich lady who would like to blow up the public education system to turn it over to for-profit private companies and churches, trusting that Jesus and the free market will solve all our problems.",
"\n**Reason 1:** She has never attended public school. She has never worked in a public school. She doesn't send her own children to public school. \n\n**Why does this matter?** The majority of students in the US attend public schools; and many areas of the country don't have alternative options (charter schools, etc) - this was actually a big factor for the two Republican senators who announced they wouldn't vote for her. She would be heading an organization with (in theory) no real understanding of the issues facing the majority of those under it's domain (public schools)\n\n\n**Reason 2:** She has no experience running a large organization, nor does she have experience in government. \n\n**Why does this matter?** As head of the Department of Education, she would be .... well, running a large governmental organization. It's safe to say this is outside of her wheelhouse. \n\n\n**Reason 3:** She was unable to answer very basic questions about fundamental educational theory and practice in her confirmation hearings (biggest examples: Proficiency vs. Growth, understanding of IDEA rules)\n\n**Why does this matter?** The hearing seemed to be a tipping point for her (towards the negative) - one could make the case that the fact that she lacks experience isn't a problem, so long as she's well grounded in theory and understanding. Her answers to some fairly simple questions seemed to highlight her complete lack of understanding of the educational system (she countered this with claims of \"didn't understand the question\", which may be true enough, but the whole hearing didn't reflect very well on her)\n\nThis is only scratching the surface, but seem to be the biggest reasons cited. \n"
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1uskx6 | the most important events and circumstances that allowed for life on earth. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1uskx6/eli5_the_most_important_events_and_circumstances/ | {
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"Geesh. This is like a flashback to my IB Biology exam. Therefore, I'm copying some information from my revision notes. Note that I only got to know the general gist of things, and then that not everything is known about life's origins. \n\nThere are basically four things that are needed for life to have begun on earth, which in its rudimentary form is single celled, prokaryotic blobs:\n\n* Organic material must have come from inorganic material (Earth’s rocks, minerals and gases). This is believed to have been demonstrated through Miller and Urey's \"Primordial soup\" experiment, where they simulated the conditions of Earth in the time they believed organic compounds formed. They combined methane, ammonia, hydrogen, a water cycle, sparks to simulate lighting, UV radiation and heat in a glass sphere. In about a week's time, this mixture formed amino acids, among other things. These are organic compounds that are the building blocks of protein.\n\n* These simple amino acids need to be connected into polymers (long chains of molecules), to eventually form complex organic structures such as proteins. How this step happened, we are unsure. Some believe this happened on riverbeds, where alternating drying/wet conditions might have created a catalyst for joining simple molecules into proteins are other more complex ones. Some believe in the \"panspermia\" theory, etc. These proteins would then be used to build simple cells, such as prokaryots.\n\n* Self-replicating molecules are needed, such as DNA and RNA to allow reproduction. For this step, RNA can be quite nifty. In some conditions, it can replicate itself without enzymes. In some other cases, it can act as the enzyme ribozyme, and transmit genetic codes. \n\n* The simple molecules must be able form bigger polymers in water, which is not the easiest climate to do it in. Here, the \"riverbed\" theory comes in again. In some alternating dry/wet condition, the amino acids can produce protobionts, that may have preceded living cells. These are one step towards animal cells, and have an internal environment that is guarded from the water, so they could survive in \"harsh\" climates. Combine this with RNA, you have protobionts that can replicate and continue their hereditary traits to whatever comes next.\n\nFrom here one, prokaryotic cells are believed to be responsible for creating eukaryotic cells, which created multicellular life forms such as plants and animals:\n\n* Larger prokaryotic cells may have ingested, but not digested, smaller prokaryotes. These then continued to thrive within their captors, as there was no enzyme to digest them. These could then still synthesise oxygen and metabolise food efficiently inside like they would have on their own in water, and might have become mitochondria and other organelles we can see in our own cells. Through natural selection, these became the dominant cell type. And from there one, life as we know it began in water. \n\nEdit: spelling."
]
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2t9l8q | the difference between yellow cake uranium and "normal" uranium. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2t9l8q/eli5the_difference_between_yellow_cake_uranium/ | {
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"Yellow cake uranium is a step in the process of mining raw uranium. Uranium isn't found pure in nature, it's found with other ores. Yellow cake is produced in the process of extracting the uranium from other metals present in the rock, but it isn't yet enriched (which requires a different process)."
]
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42kmlb | why do we see diffraction spikes? | Why do we see those "spikes" of light when looking at street lights or even in images of stars?
I tried looking it up but I'm a bit (a lot) confused about it. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/42kmlb/eli5_why_do_we_see_diffraction_spikes/ | {
"a_id": [
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"It's due to the aperture (hole) the light passes through before going through the lens and hitting the film or retina. In eyes, the lens isn't made whole, it seals together in front of the pupil. This usually happens with 5 flaps, leading to five very fine lines in front of your eye. Normally these are so small that you don't notice them, but when looking at points of light it causes the light to diffract into 5 spikes.\n\nIn cameras, it's a slightly different cause. The edges of the aperture are straight lines, and to make it more rounded, they usually use six sided apertures. The six corners cause the light to diffract into six pointed stars in photos.\n\nIn telescopes, they may have a cross in front of the lens causing four pointed stars.\n\nFor a better explanation, there's a minutephysics video called \"Why do stars look like stars?\"."
]
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bhsz6x | race, ethnicity, nationality | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/bhsz6x/eli5_race_ethnicity_nationality/ | {
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"text": [
"Nationality, where you are from. Your country, nation, of origin. \n\nRace/ethnicity is how much melanin you have and your hair, maybe a few other traits like eye shape. This is based on where your ancestors lived and adapted to the weather. Sun? Darker skin. Dreary weather? Paler skin.",
"Nationality - country you're from\nEthnicity- culture group you belong to\nRace - the color of your skin"
]
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2l9mge | why are grape nuts called grape nuts when they have no grapes in them? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2l9mge/eli5_why_are_grape_nuts_called_grape_nuts_when/ | {
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"From their page:\n[One says that Mr. Post believed glucose, which he called “grape sugar,” formed during the baking process. This, combined with the nutty flavor of the cereal, is said to have inspired its name. Another explanation claims that the cereal got its name from its resemblance to grape seeds, or grape “nuts.”](_URL_0_)"
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"http://www.postfoods.com/our-brands/grape-nuts/our-story/"
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1xfq4r | the dying whale noises coming from my stomach during a silent class. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xfq4r/eli5_the_dying_whale_noises_coming_from_my/ | {
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"text": [
"Your stomach is anticipating food and is squishing digestive juices around as it would if there was food mash in there."
]
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99l16r | how it possible to knock over a line of dominoes increasing in size if the amount of energy imparted on the smallest domino is not enough to directly knock over the largest one? | [Example](_URL_0_) | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/99l16r/eli5_how_it_possible_to_knock_over_a_line_of/ | {
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"The increasing mass of the falling dominos increases the force that's eventually acting on the largest domino.",
"Most of the energy is not contained in the previous push, but in the *potential energy* represented by each domino being balanced on end. \n\nAnother way to say it: the previous domino is less of an energy source and more of a trigger (it provides activation energy, not total energy).",
"It's like gunpowder. It has all this energy stored inside, but requires a certain amount of energy to combust. The potential energy in each domino needs the kick from the last one to keep the reaction going",
"You put in the energy when you stood the dominoes up, giving them gravitational potential energy. "
]
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1zosv3 | how does the same dna become different types of cells? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1zosv3/eli5_how_does_the_same_dna_become_different_types/ | {
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"Imagine a blueprint for the construction of a building. The blueprint has instructions for every floor. Each floor is to be constructed with different designs and specifications, and each floor has a different team of workers engaged in construction. Yet despite the differences between the floors, the blueprint distributed to all the construction teams is the same blueprint—it just happens to contain the necessary information for *all* the floors, and each team can use what is applicable to build what they are tasked to build.\n\n\nDNA works almost exactly like this.",
"All of your cells have the same DNA but only some parts of that DNA is active in each cell. Those active parts are constantly read to produce proteins and the blocked parts are ignored. While there are genes that are active in every single cell(such as the genes that are responsible for energy production) more specialized genes are not."
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u8tct | systolic vs. diastolic blood pressure | Had mine taken today and it was 119/53.
What do these numbers mean, and how are they related to each other? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/u8tct/eli5_systolic_vs_diastolic_blood_pressure/ | {
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"Systolic = the pressure in your circulatory system when your heart is beating.\n\nDiastolic = The pressure in your circulatory system between beats, when your heart is at rest. \n\nThe higher the numbers, the more stress it puts on the system, and the more likely you are to develop problems. Strokes are usually a result of pressure blowing plaque off of the walls of your arteries and lodging it somewhere in your brain.",
"So, we have four chambers in our hearts, right? Two Atriums and two ventricles which is arranged in a [quadrant](_URL_0_). To simplify, the right side of the heart takes blood **from the rest of your body** and delivers it to the lungs to re supply with oxygen, while the left side of the hear **delivers the blood from the lungs** to the rest of your body.\n\nIn order to move these blood, our hearts needs to pump(they are actually muscles and are just contracting) so that the blood in one chamber goes into the the next chamber. The path a blood goes into is like this right atrium > > right ventricle > > Lungs > > left atrium > > left ventricles.\n\nWhen both *ventricles* contract, they deliver a *surge* of blood (to the lungs/rest of the body)into the arteries. The pressure on the arterial walls at this point can be measured and is known as the **Systolic Blood Pressure**. Right after this, the ventricles needs to close in order to again be filled with blood and the pressure on the arterial walls at this time is the **Diastolic Blood Pressure**. It is not as high as the systolic because the ventricles are relaxing.\n\nTL;DR: **Systole**, push of the blood in our arteries when our hearts pumps. **Diastole**, push of the blood in arteries when the heart relaxes.\n",
"Diastolic pressure (53) = inhale as much air as you can in your mouth. \nsystolic pressure (119) = release the air with great pressure in your mouth.\n\nSo imagine this except it is happening in your heart and the air is blood and your mouth is like your heart. hope it helps. Normal range is from 120/80 (not sure if they change it to 100 now). Athletes and other super fit people sometimes have lower BP.\n\n"
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ahwpa7 | why does horseradish only burn your nose? | Same goes for mustard I suppose. Why does it not affect my mouth as much, but makes me feel like I'm breathing fire out my nose? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ahwpa7/eli5_why_does_horseradish_only_burn_your_nose/ | {
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"The heat in horseradish comes from a highly reactive chemical ( isothiocyanate ). The chemical stays pretty stable as long as it isn't introduced to oxygen. When you chew on horseradish, you crush the plant (saliva also aids in breaking it down) and release this chemical which immediately reacts with the oxygen in the air and THAT is the moment it becomes hot. Now you breath even a little and its in your sinuses and burning ensues. If you breath a lot its in your lungs and you'll get a different crazy ass sensation when that happens.\n\n & #x200B;\n\nMustard is similar, but different. It's water that kicks off the reaction there, but the chemical shares a commonality with mustard (the are both phenolic compounds) but that's probably far enough for ELI5.\n\nOh, fun fact, if you put vinegar in Horseradish very early after you grate or crush it, it will stabilize the reaction and keep it more mild.",
"So this ain’t really gonna be an ELI5, but I’ll do my best!\n\nBasically, most spicy food we eat gets its spice from capsaicin, a naturally occurring compound in peppers that they produce as a defense against wild animals (which evidently doesn’t work too well). Capsaicin is a stable alkaloid at room temperature and is somewhat hydrophobic, so when it enters your mouth it will like to get stuck there for a while; rinsing only spreads it around. This is why we feel pepper heat in our mouths and throats specifically; *the capsaicin stays in one spot for a long time*.\n\nCapsaicin (and related capsaicinoids) all act by holding open the *vanilloid receptor subtype 1* (TRPV1) receptor on certain nerve cells in mucous membranes, which allows local cations (positively charged ions) to flow into the cell. This generates an electrical signal in the cell that is carried to the brain, and voila! This is why we feel it at all. Interestingly, the TRPV1 receptor seems to be activated when cells see high temperatures or abrasive damage, hence the “hot” and stinging sensation we associate with spicy peppers.\n\nHorseradish, on the other hand, is a bit different.\n\nPlants like horseradish, mustard, and wasabi figured out a *different* defense to being eaten. They produce *two* agents that, when separate, are harmless: a chemical called sinigrin, and the enzyme myrosinase. They’re kept separate while the plant is intact, just like the bags of ammonium nitrate and water in an instant cold pack.\n\nHowever, when the plant is broken, chewed, or otherwise damaged, these compounds mix. The result is sinigrin degrading *en masse* into allyl isothiocyanate, or *mustard oil*.\n\nMustard oil, when exposed to mucous membranes, reacts with TRPV1 just like capsaicin, hence the heat. But at the same time, it interacts with a *second* ion channel called TRPA1. This new channel is mostly associated with general irritants and causes membranes to feel some pain and itchiness, hence horseradish’s eye-watering irritant properties.\n\nTo make matters *worse*, mustard oil is VERY volatile at room temperature, and will quickly evaporate when exposed to the temperatures of a human mouth. The vapors spread throughout your sinuses, condensing back into the irritating oil on every surface they touch, spreading the pain evenly and rapidly through your mouth, nose, and throat. This will continue until all of it is either bound, swallowed, or released into the surrounding air. But don’t worry; mustard oil has a short shelf life when bound under these conditions compared to capsaicin, so the pain quickly dies away after about 30 seconds.\n\nHope this helps!"
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5vq5l8 | how does a slot machine choose a winner? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5vq5l8/eli5_how_does_a_slot_machine_choose_a_winner/ | {
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"It's based on random models. \n\nImagine, you have to pay 2 Euros per game. The slot machine has 4 different Outcomes. You gain nothing, you win 3 euro, 7 euros or 17 euros. If the model given below is in place, the Player loses 0,2 euros each game in the long run. \n\n1) 0,8 * (-2) + 0,1 * 1 + 0,08 * 15 + 0,02 * 5 = -0,2. \n\nThe model translates to: In 80% of the cases, the Player loses 2 euros, in 10% of the cases, the Player wins 3 euros, in 8% of the cases, the Player wins 17 euros, in 2% of the cases, he wins 5 euros. \n\nIf the game is played Long enough, the Producer will always win. \n\nThe model could be iterated in a lot of different ways. The game could cost 2 euros, but it's possible to win 3 euros, 20 euros and 118320 euros. \n\n2) 0,8 * (-2) + 0,199 * 1 + 0,00099 * 18 + 0,00001 * 118318 = -0,2\n\nThe model reads as: in 80% of the cases, you lose 2 euros, in 19,9% of the cases, you win 3 euros, in 0,099% of the cases, you win 20 euros, in 0,001%, you win 118320 euros. The player is expected to lose 0,2 euros each game. \n\nReal slot machines are a little more sophisticated, but the underlying model is the same. \n\nIn reality, the producer will do some research for a specific model, which makes the player as happy as possible. If a player loses too often, he will go for another slot machine. If the numbers of the payouts are too low, the slot machine will get boring, e.g. it's more interesting to play a game, where you can win 1 million euros, than a game, where the biggest payout is 5 euros. \n\nThe trick is to find a model, where players win high payouts with high frequency without them actually winning any money in the long run. ",
"Software developer here,\n\nI wrote Class III casino slot machine software for 5 years. These machines are, by law and by definition, truly random. They use a hardware random number generator (RNG) to produce values that determine the outcome. The RNG is a \"noisy diode\", an electrical component, a semi-conductor.\n\nDiodes consist of a PN junction, where each side is biased with a surplus or a deficit of electrons. The N side has lots of electrons and doesn't want to take on any more, the P side has the deficit and wants to fill the voids. So electricity prefers to flow in one direction and not the other, it's an electrical one way valve. By introducing a contaminant conductive metal in the middle, you get a circuit that when ran in reverse, resisting the flow of electricity, will spontaneously close the circuit and conduct, the circuit flickers.\n\nIt's a relatively simple matter, then, to sample the circuit at some maximum rate - you have to give the circuit some time to transition between on and off, and it's at MHz speed so it's very fast, these things are integrated inside microprocessors.\n\nThe first thing the game does is store the random number. The game is required to recover completely if interrupted, say, after power loss, and either pick up *exactly* where it left off or start the exact same sequence all over again. The whole sequence, from one \"spin\" to the next, including the bonus rounds and pickem mini-games, are all pre-determined.\n\nThat's right, the bonus games? All entirely predetermined.\n\n > \"But mredding, that can't be true! What about the mini games where I get to pick a reveal?\"\n\nI hear you. Now hear me: this is called The Illusion of Choice. Whatever you pick we, reveal your predetermined result under that pick. It doesn't matter what you pick. The game is, by law, *NOT* a game of skill, and \"picking the pooper\" as we used to call it is considered a game of skill. It's a video game, there are no actual physical cups before you, one with a bean hidden under it. Hell, even if there were physical cups, any magician worth his salt could palm the outcome to any cup he wanted. Ever play 3 Card Monty? Same thing.\n\nThere is some math involved. The reels are really a math table in a config file that describes a distribution - some results are more likely to come up than others. The casino can set the odds on the machine before hand. By law, they are not allowed to change the results without your knowledge, aka during play. So there's no mastermind behind the scenes pulling secret levers to skew the odds on you. They have to physically key the machine to access the configuration panel to choose the odds they want. So yes, some machines along a bank might have more favorable odds than others, just to attract people to the bank. They choose by percent payout, that statistically, for every dollar that goes in, the player gets X% back, between $0.98 and $0.84 back.\n\nCaesar's casinos are by far the worst. They run their games with the lowest odds. My previous employer didn't make such shitty odds even an option until Caesar's said they wouldn't buy our machines without that option.\n\nAnd here's the thing about odds, they're random, they're not gospel. The odds designed for one of our games suggested it would pay out its jackpot once every 6 months. They would win and lose all the time, that's normal gameplay, but the jackpot, the big win, one machine somewhere on Earth *should* hit every 6 months. We put that game into market, world wide, and two machines hit within the first month. There's no guarantee, nothing is fixed, nothing is promised, it really is random, just unlikely. Past events do not determine future outcomes. Unlikely things can and do happen all the time. There was a slot machine at the MGM, Lion's Share, that hadn't hit its jackpot for 20 years. There was absolutely nothing special about that machine, there were dozens of others like it, probably hundreds of others like it when it was first released, yet this one held out for 20 years. And Vegas law says a machine can't be pulled from the floor until it hits it's jackpot, which is why it was there the whole time. MGM had hated that machine and wanted it the fuck off their floor that whole time.\n\nEdit: And you can't influence the outcome. The machine doesn't care how you push the buttons or pull the lever or touch the screen or whether or not you use your player tracking card. If you can influence the machine, that's a game of skill, and that would be illegal. The regulators wouldn't come down on the casinos like a mother fucker, they would come down on the manufacturer for making their games illegally skill based. So pick your betting strategy and play the game, don't waste your time looking like an idiot trying to touch the screen in certain magical ways that you think is doing anything. Really, we who were or are in the manufacturing side of this business, and I suspect the casino operators as well, those of us who know, find you people *hilarious*. And the manufactures do surveys to try to understand this behavior better so *they can take advantage of it* in ways to influence you into *playing more*. These games are psychological warfare. They want you addicted, but they *say* they don't want you addicted.",
"I like slot machines. they're mindless fun, and I like the bright lights and noises and the fun bonuses. \n\nI knew they were random (I worked in the UK with fixed odds betting terminals and those are broadly the same) but it's hard if you're a player putting in $20 bills one after the other with no apparent chance of winning. I can see that at that point you could convince yourself that the machine is 'trying' to stiff you. \n\n*Slot machines don't choose a winner.* Each machine has a prefixed chance of selecting a winner. It does this by generating a random number, and it's that random number that determines your prize. So, let's say the number that's generated in 0.3495783171. Good News! That's a winning one! So then the on board computer renders that win for you - usually in a way to make it seem a bit more entertaining. \n\nThe same thing applies for a bonus. You ever get a bonus game where you're *this* close to a huge prize? That's done after the RNG is selected. That's where the psychology comes in. Ok, you've already won $50, but the research shows that if you're convinced you **nearly** won $50,000, you're more likely to come back. \n\nThere's a lot of really interesting psychology in slot machines - years ago you used to have 3 reels and one payline (very simple) but they figured out that if you have a $3 play and you get back $1 \"winnings\", that was more likely to encourage people to play than a $2 machine that you lost all of that stake the majority of the time - even though it's pretty much the same. \n\nI always go for the max bet (although generally sticking to machines that are no more than $4 a spin) just because I at least want to believe I have a chance, however small to win the progressive jackpot. \n\n[edit - as I say this I realise that /u/mredding covered the technical side of it really well. So I spent 10 minutes writing a post to essentially say \"herp de derp, I like slot machines\"]",
"This was a very interesting read! OP thanks for asking, and thanks /u/mredding for your comprehensive replies."
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2axcob | what stops banks from creating money out of thin air? | Guy goes into a bank and borrows $100, then he goes and spends it at the grocery store. In Turn the Grocery store deposits that $100 into the bank and someone else borrows the $100 and spends it.. So essentially the bank thinks they have loaned out $200 and expects $200 but in reality only $100 ever existed and there is no way to pay the bank $200. SO in real life what stops this from happening?
Edit: People don't seem to get it... lets break this down to the basic level.... only $100 exists in the world, guy borrows it,spends it, money goes back to bank, second guy borrows it... now the bank would like the $200 they lent out but only $100 has ever existed in the entire world. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2axcob/eli5_what_stops_banks_from_creating_money_out_of/ | {
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"Disagree with the other two posts.\n\nOnly the Federal Reserve and US Mint have the power to create money (edit: obviously talking about in America, before someone mentions it). They just do. They're the only ones that have the stuff and are allowed to do it. Fractional banking, which they're discussing here, is a system of indebtedness to the Federal Reserve. Owing debt to the people who make the money isn't the same thing as making the money yourself."
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1x6d73 | how did this whole bacon thing get started? | So all the posts, memes, jokes about how great bacon is. How did it get started and who's behind it all? Is it the Bacon industry? Was there one meme in particular? Why bacon? Who can shed some light on this phenomenon? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1x6d73/how_did_this_whole_bacon_thing_get_started/ | {
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"The average American eats 18 pounds of bacon per year. No one had to start anything. The love was there from the start.",
"I think a huge part of it was Epic Meal Time and the more general rise of humor based on exaggerated manliness. Maybe it really began with the Chuck Norris jokes about ten years ago. But manliness, beards, excessive meat consumption, toughness, \"not giving a single fuck\", \"'MURICA,\" and so on, have been part of a larger trend which is probably best exemplified by Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation."
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3f4vtj | if horsepower is held constant and torque increased what change will be felt when driving a car? if torque is held constant and horsepower is increased what change will be felt when driving the same car? | If I take the car for a test drive with default torque and HP values. Then I increase only HP and test drive it again, what will I feel? Then if I reset both values to default and increase torque, now what will I feel compared to the first time I drove it? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3f4vtj/eli5_if_horsepower_is_held_constant_and_torque/ | {
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"While the above comments are all true, another way to see it is torque = Pulling Power, Tractors for example have high torque, the higher your torque the less a load will affect you. A car with high torque will drive just as well while heavily loaded, and not really feel any slowing effect on climbing hills. \n\nA high horsepower race car will be able to move and accelerate mush faster, but you will feel the difference if you are driving by yourself or have a car full of people.\n\nIdeally you want both :P",
"Horsepower = torque * rpm\n\n(Divide by 5252 to get the answer in foot-pounds)\n\nSo if you increase horsepower without increasing torque, that's like allowing the engine to keep revving higher and higher. Since you rev higher, you can stay in a lower gear, which will grant you greater acceleration. \n\nIf you increase torque without increasing horsepower, you would have to lower the rev-limit. So the acceleration would feel greater at first, but you would have to shift sooner to higher gears which would lower your acceleration, so it wouldn't be any greater after that. "
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50fep7 | how do you figure out when you actually do win a contest and its not a scam. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/50fep7/eli5_how_do_you_figure_out_when_you_actually_do/ | {
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"Generally you will have entered the contest you are winning. If you didn't enter, then it's probably a scam. "
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71j1tf | why do we die or get sick if we have contact with certain types of material/metals? | Why is it possible to get sick or die just by simply touching materials without being allergic to them?
| explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/71j1tf/eli5_why_do_we_die_or_get_sick_if_we_have_contact/ | {
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"\"Allergic\" refers to one kind of reaction your body has to some substances (histamine reaction). There are other kinds of reactions. For example, arsenic (the poisonous element) disrupts enzyme functions in your cells, causing them to shut down and die. \n\n",
"The metals themselves are inherently toxic to our biology. Even if you're not actively ingesting them, contact with them or with solutions they've been dissolved or a part of can cause them to enter your system through your skin, eyes, mouth, etc. And because the metals are not organic in nature, they won't naturally break down or pass through, remaining stuck in your system. Many are also radioactive. Normally not enough to cause harm, but prolonged contact or getting some in your body can cause problems.\n\nEven if it seems like you're just touching them, particles of it can get into your system through pores or just absorbed into your skin, and being in the presence of it means there might be more you didn't account for. Even if then, if you don't properly wash or clean yourself, it could be introduced into your system from something like rubbing your eyes, eating, or touching an open wound or cut, that sort of thing.",
"Because many metals are poisonous. Mercury, for example, inhibits thioredoxin reductase, an enzyme essential to antioxidant restoration. Without antioxidants in sufficient quantities your brain has a real bad time.\n\nElemental mercury is fairly safe to handle, but dimethyl mercury will not only penetrate most protective garments, it will also kill you in incredibly small quantities and it'll hurt the whole time you're dying.\n\nChemistry is fun kids!",
"there are several great responses so far, but the simplest one I can think of is, we are each just a bunch of chemical reactions balancing each other, you add the wrong chemicals (including some metals) or even just too much or to little, you break the whole system and get sick until you can restore the balance or we stop being alive\n\nA whole other class of metals... the radioactive ones... kill us by throwing out particles or energy that physically break our DNA... effectively tearing up the instructions our cells need to do their job and reproduce ",
"Because those materials will interfere with chemical processes in your body that are necessary for life.\n\nFor a relatively simple example, Carbon Monoxide. Carbon Monoxide(CO) is dangerous because the part of your blood that carries oxygen will also carry CO. Since your body can't use CO in reactions where it normally uses Oxygen, those reactions fail. CO is also 'sticky' compared to oxygen, so not only does it take up spaces that are meant for Oxygen, but it also won't leave those spaces, so over time less and less oxygen gets to your body.\n\nMost of the materials that are bad for us work in much more complex ways, but the basic thing is that these materials either interfere with some chemical process in your body, or produce direct harm by starting a chemical process that directly damages some part of your body. (or, some times, they are harmless in the form that they enter your body, but your body transforms them into chemicals that are harmful in one of the ways above- alcohol, which is not too bad for you by itself, breaks down into a chemical that is super dangerous before further breaking down into chemicals that are also harmless, which is what actually makes people sick from drinking too much, but not sick right away after while they are drunk- the more you drink, the more of the harmful chemical will be present in your body at later on)"
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2c1iy0 | how would a seatbelt in an airplane save my life? | I mean, I would think if the plane crashes, everyone's fucked... | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2c1iy0/eli5_how_would_a_seatbelt_in_an_airplane_save_my/ | {
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"It keeps you from being a projectile if the plane starts shakin'. If the plane is busy crushing against the ground like a flaming beer can, there's no safety equipment that *can* save you.",
"For the same reasons that they can save your life in a car crash - they keep you from flying out of your seat during hard impacts. Not every airplane crash involves surface-to-air missiles or fiery nose-dives into the ground. For example, [this](_URL_0_) crash had zero fatalities, and only 12/309 people involved had 'serious' injuries. ",
"The overhead compartments are like a foot over your head. If turbulence causes the plane to drop a couple feet, your head is going right into them.",
"Just like not all car accidents are 70mph head on collisions, not all plane crashes are full-speed collisions with terrain or buildings. You probably won't survive a 70mph head-on car crash, but you still wear your seat belt anyway, don't you? That's because there's an entire range of possible accidents that a seat belt and airbag WILL protect you from.\n\nWorks the same way for a plane. An emergency landing, severe turbulence, a takeoff that skids off of the runway, landing equipment that fails, all have the potential to cause serious injury to a passenger that's not buckled in, but that risk of injury is significantly mitigated through the use of a seat belt.",
"Not only do seatbelts help in minor crashes or turbulence, they help keep the plane stable.\n\nIf the plane rolls or skids (perhaps due to turbulence or severe autopilot failure) you don't want the passengers to all end up on one side of the cabin. That would suddenly change the balance and might make the plane more difficult to control, at a time when the pilots need all the help they can get.\n\nThe fuel tanks (in the wings) are baffled (have walls inside them) for the same reason. This is more important than securing the passengers because the weight is further out from the center. \n\nFor the most part, the belts are so you don't bump your head if you hit clear-air turbulence.",
" > I mean, I would think if the plane crashes, everyone's fucked...\n\nThere are plenty of crashes with survivors, so that is a pretty misinformed sentiment. A seat belt could very well save your life in a crash.\n\nMore commonly, seat belts prevent injury in when the play hits turbulence.\n\n",
"Imagine sitting in your seat with no belt,and then the plane drops 50 feet in a second. The plane moves and you smash into the overhead with your skull. It doesn't sound too nice and you probably won't land where you were sitting to begin with. Its no joke.",
"In an actual high impact crash it wouldn't. However it would protect you in turbulence in flight, or say if one of the landing struts collapsed on landing and the plane was suddenly jolted. \n\nThey also serve a purpose in high impact crashes. It keeps the bodies in the seats which allows passengers to be identified more easily posthumously, especially when fire may have otherwise mutilated the bodies. ",
"Well for starters you don't get slammed into walls which greatly increases your chance of survival. Source: I'm a pilot.",
"[This comic sums it up quite nice.](_URL_1_)\n\n[Source.](_URL_0_)"
]
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"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_358#mediaviewer/File:Airfranceflight358.jpg"
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2grffn | why is fcc invoking title ii over the internet definitely a good idea? | On the one hand, Title II would allow the FCC to draft strong net neutrality rules. On the other hand though, all Title II does is ALLOW the FCC to make these rules; net neutrality doesn't happen automatically. My overly pessimistic thought process allows me to consider scenarios such as the FCC invoking Title II but then screwing us over by implementing strong rules allowing paid prioritization.
My question is, then, why is Title II in and of itself viewed by many as a positive step when it could lead to something calamitous?
Edited to add: OK, so it seems that the answer is that Title II seems to be the only way to have net neutrality legislation that is legally sustainable (i.e. it won't just get struck down again). NN was struck down precisely because the FCC didn't have the authority to make NN rules because of how they classified broadband. By classifying ISPs as common carriers, they'd have the authority to make strong NN rules. Whether or not they actually would is a different matter, but it seems like it's the only way. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2grffn/eli5_why_is_fcc_invoking_title_ii_over_the/ | {
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"If Title II is invoked, the FCC **may** screw us over at some later point; if it is not invoked, we definitely **will** get screwed over, and very soon. \n\nA possible negative further on down the line, or a definite negative right now? I wonder what most people would prefer....",
"Actually, the ISPs (or at least, Verizon) have [already claimed title II of the Communications Act of 1934](_URL_0_):\n\n > Verizon NJ has been upgrading its telecommunications facilities in large portions of its telecommunications service territory so that cable television services may be provided over these facilities. This upgrade consists of deploying fiber optic facilities directly to the subscriber premises. The construction of Verizon NJ's fiber-to-the-premises FTTP network (the FTTP network) is being performed under the authority of Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 and under the appropriate state telecommunications authority granted to Verizon NJ by the Board and under chapters 3 and 17 of the Department of Public Utilities Act of 1948. The FTTP network uses fiber optic cable and optical electronics to directly link homes to the Verizon NJ networks.\n\n\n Common carriers are required to operate \"in the public interest\" as pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934 (the same law Verizon is citing in my previous post). A common carrier is defined as follows by said law (page 3 of the Communications Act):\n\n > \nThe term ''common carrier'' or ''carrier'' means any person engaged as a common carrier for hire, in interstate or foreign communication by wire or radio or in interstate or foreign radio transmission of energy, except where reference is made to common carriers not subject to this Act; but a person engaged in radio broadcasting shall not, insofar as such person is so engaged, be deemed a common carrier. \n\nSection 202 of the CA:\n\n > It shall be unlawful for any common carrier to make any unjust or unreasonable discrimination in charges, practices, classifications, regulations, facilities, or services for or in connection with like communication service, directly or indirectly, by any means or device, or to make or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person, class of persons, or locality, or to subject any particular person, class of persons, or locality to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage. \n\n\n"
]
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[],
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"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-kushnick/net-neutrality-solved-ver_b_5390789.html"
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1sbl7o | when are you supposed to use this - > ; | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1sbl7o/when_are_you_supposed_to_use_this/ | {
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"text": [
"Semi-colon. Say it with me. \n\nIf the two parts of the sentence can stand alone, it can replace a comma.\n\nIt wouldn't work in the above sentence; it doesn't have the required structure.\n\nSee what I did there? I'm not a linguist and I'm sure there's a lot more to it, but that's a good rule of thumb.",
"A nice rule of thumb my teacher Elementary-school English teacher used to use was to use them to in place of connectives. e.g.\n\"I went to see the new Fast and Furious movie, because I heard it was awesome!\"\nbecomes\n\"I went to see the new Fast and Furious movie; I heard it was awesome!\"\n\nThe semi-colon replaces \", because\". \n\nLearning the theory behind the punctuation will only teach you so much; as always, the best way to learn how to write is to read.\n",
"Boss sent me this before. Perfect way to explain the usage of a semi-colon.\n\n_URL_0_",
"When ending your line of code."
]
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| []
| [
[],
[],
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"http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon"
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fvubsj | why does reseating ram actually fix things for a computer? | My stock CPU fan wasn’t working properly so I saw a YouTube video that said to reseat the RAM. I doubted it would work but ever since then, my fan has been working perfectly. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fvubsj/eli5_why_does_reseating_ram_actually_fix_things/ | {
"a_id": [
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"score": [
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"text": [
"I've never reseated memory and gotten it to work again. The fact that it was impacting your CPU fan leads me to wonder if your motherboard is possessed. \n\nBUT. If there's any dirt or dust or crud in the RAM slot, then it could have a bad connection, including intermittent power issues. That sort of wobbly power draw could theoretically do all sorts of bad stuff in the mobo. Connecting and reconnecting RAM every 5ish milliseconds is way outside the spec for X86 considering it's not hot-swappable in the first place.\n\nI do the software end of bare-metal development though, so EE issues like power consumption or misconfigured hardware falls into the realm of black magic for me."
]
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| []
| [
[]
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3mqskp | why won't nasa just crowd fund their manned flight to mars? | I hear they won't be ready till the 2030's and can only assume because of budget/modern technology restrictions. But why don't they crowd fund it? Let the people speak with their money! We want Mars! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3mqskp/eli5_why_wont_nasa_just_crowd_fund_their_manned/ | {
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"The issue is not really funding, the issue is technology. It has not yet been invented and just throwing money at it will not really make it happen faster. \n\nEdit: That said NASA does have a system for collecting their own donations and so do not need a middle man. ",
"The cost estimations of even a simple Mars mission range in the billions. Crowdfunding won't work. Most people simply wouldn't bother.\n\n",
"Because it would take more than 1 mission, and people expect results.\n\nIf the first mission didn't result in some great success, the following projects would be dead in the water. ",
"They do, you pay taxes don't you? That's crowdfunding for NASA right there. \n\nWant more of your money to go to NASA, write your Congressman. ",
"Because even if they did there are still lots of problems to solve. Chiefly:\n\n* Not dying of radiation poisoning\n* Not dying from the toxic Martian soil\n* Not running out of fuel on the way there or back\n* Having a rocket powerful enough to get there\n* Mitigating the psychological effects of long-term isolation\n* Not killing each other on the way there\n* Not contaminating whatever ecosystems might be there\n\nEdit: a few I forgot:\n\n* Not starving to death\n* Not running out of air",
"The shear amount of money they would need would be insane. Plus it's kind of a limited investment. I mean so much could go wrong and you wouldn't see the effect of your money for several years. It would take 2-3 years to get to Mars? I could be wrong on that but it wouldn't be like going to the moon where you'd see the landing in a few days. ",
"This is like asking why I didn't sell lemonade on the corner to fund my college education. The money they could make from crowdfunding is orders of magnitude smaller than what they need to go to Mars.\n\nAccording to kickstarter they have gotten pledges for nearly 2 billion dollars so far, for all their projects combined. A manned mission to Mars would likely cost at least 100x that. The money's not there. "
]
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2qtrho | if women are born with a set number of eggs, does each pregnancy delay menopause by 9+ months? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2qtrho/eli5_if_women_are_born_with_a_set_number_of_eggs/ | {
"a_id": [
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"text": [
"No. When you go into menopause, you still have thousands of eggs left in your system. Your body just stops spitting them out.",
"reading wikipedia it seems the number of eggs and onset of menopause is not directly related.\n\n > What ceases is the ripening and release of ova\n\nwhich would indicate there are still unripe ova around."
]
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| []
| [
[],
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|
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7xkhjr | why/how does anesthesia or comas cause time disorientation? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/7xkhjr/eli5_whyhow_does_anesthesia_or_comas_cause_time/ | {
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"text": [
"technology plays a big part I'm sure. imagine being in the 80's and waking up today. You'd feel like you woke up into Star Trek. ",
"My understanding is that it's similar to sleep in the sense \"time flies\". You wake up and it felt like you were just sleeping. ",
"I can pull off a good ELI8, maybe.\n\nYou know how GBA-era Pokemon games had those dirt patches where you could plant and pick berries, and the game somehow magically knew how much time had passed, even if you left the cartridge out for weeks? There's actually a little battery in the cartridge that runs a tiny little clock all the time even when you're not playing the game.\n\nWhen you sleep, your brain doesn't turn all the way off either. One of the things it does is kind of like that battery operated clock. But when you're in a coma or under anesthesia, that battery gets disconnected, so when you wake back up you don't know what happened in between.\n\n(The actual scientific answer isn't much different. The parts of your brain responsible for memory encoding are pretty closely linked to the parts that give you a sense of time passing. While you're under anesthesia or in a coma, the memory-encoding parts of your brain aren't working.)"
]
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||
a57t0v | what's the difference between exothermic/endothermic and exergonic/endergonic? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/a57t0v/eli5_whats_the_difference_between/ | {
"a_id": [
"ebkilb2"
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"text": [
"An exothermic reaction results in a positive transfer of heat, while an endothermic reaction causes a negative transfer of heat.\n\nAn exergonic reaction causes a net increase in free energy, while a endergonic reaction causes a net decrease in free energy.\n\nWhat's the difference between heat and free energy? Heat is energy transferred during a reaction. Thus, you could think of an exothermic reaction as \"releasing energy\" and an endothermic reaction as \"absorbing energy.\" \n\nFree energy is *all* of the energy that a system has to do work with. It includes the enthalpy of the system, but also is involved with the entropy.\n\nSo a reaction can be exothermic and endergonic if it increase enthalpy but decreases entropy. A reaction can be endothermic and exergonic if it decreases enthalpy but increases entropy. "
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
]
|
||
3idm2q | why are cats so incredibly loud when mating but most other animals aren't? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3idm2q/eli5_why_are_cats_so_incredibly_loud_when_mating/ | {
"a_id": [
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Dick spikes. No joke ",
"I'm willing to bet vast sums of money that if you were getting [impaled by a barbed penis](_URL_0_), you'd be incredibly loud as well."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[],
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"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UVw7cgv36A"
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|
||
da96no | why popular apps take so long releasing dark mode? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/da96no/eli5_why_popular_apps_take_so_long_releasing_dark/ | {
"a_id": [
"f1o1daj"
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"score": [
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"text": [
"Features get prioritized by the product owner and estimated by the engineering team. A low priority feature doesn't get to the engineering team even if it's low effort because engineering team has other higher priority things to work on."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
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|
||
fygbpt | why is it so difficult to do the 'good' things in life even though we know they are better for us? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/fygbpt/eli5_why_is_it_so_difficult_to_do_the_good_things/ | {
"a_id": [
"fmzr5ml"
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"text": [
"Your brain is wired for immediate gratification of base animal needs. You are hardwired by billions of years of evolution (ever since life began) to think that your next meal may never come, there's a threat around every corner, and things like that. Essentially, you still have a caveman's brain.\n\nThat doesn't really match up with modern society. For a caveman, stuffing his face with literally every piece of food he could get his hands on, regardless of how good it was for him, was a valid survival strategy for the vast majority of human (and proto-human) history. If the choice was a piece of cake or nothing at all, a caveman would kill for that cake.\n\nUnfortunately, evolution is also sloppy. Rather than making very specific behaviors, we got a lot of broad, hedonistic behaviors that worked well enough. Things that provide an immediate reward are strongly desired while things that produce immediate pain are rejected, even if the long-term effects are reversed.\n\nIn the example I gave of a caveman with cake, the caveman would rather eat the cake than a salad because the sugar of the cake is so much easier for the body to use than the calories of the salad. You like sweet things because you've evolved to know that sweet = easy calories. Your body doesn't care about the long term effects; as long as you can make it to tomorrow, it's \"good enough.\""
]
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| []
| [
[]
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||
2gk97y | if it's so much cheaper to retain existing customers than to acquire new customers, why do cable and isp companies only offer their promotional/best rates to new customers? why don't they lower the cost for every year i stay with them? | Is it because cable companies don't really have to compete? After all, there's usually only one option for TV and internet in most places, right? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2gk97y/eli5_if_its_so_much_cheaper_to_retain_existing/ | {
"a_id": [
"ckjvotl"
],
"score": [
3
],
"text": [
"If you call them and threaten to cancel you can get your rate lowered again every time. "
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
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|
|
oskgy | - what the hell is going on with the republican election and does it merits my attention? | I'm sick of seeing headlines about the election, then not understanding the article when I try to read it. I'm too far out of the loop. Please inform me. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/oskgy/eli5_what_the_hell_is_going_on_with_the/ | {
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"text": [
"I'd actually love for someone to break this down as well. I have an aversion to politics because everyone seems so overwhelmingly polarized, and it often gets too heated :\\",
"I haven't been up-to-date on the latest news, but the process basically goes like this:\n\nThe Republican Party is trying to choose the best person they can find to run for President in 2012. To do this, they hold \"primaries\" in every state. \n\nA primary is basically just when every member of the party votes on who they think would be the best candidate for President. It's kind of like a pre-presidential election for members of the Republican Party only.\n\nWhoever wins the primaries is the guy that the Republican Party will officially support in the 2012 Presidential election.\n\nIf you're wondering, the Democratic Party doesn't have to hold any primaries because they already know who they're backing for the 2012 election, Barack Obama."
]
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[],
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2fbdd3 | what is that sharp, cold smell when water gets in my nose? where does it come from? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2fbdd3/eli5_what_is_that_sharp_cold_smell_when_water/ | {
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"text": [
"That's your brain going \"Fuck, there's water in my nose, that's bad!\" ",
"water contains large numbers of ions as well as micro-organisms. the smell could be any combination of them. \n\nyou might also be slightly bleeding into your own sinuses. the membrane in there doesn't take well to wild shifts in PH, pressure, or osmotic properties.",
"I get that smell when I hit my head hard enough on something. Or sometimes when I jump from a high enough height I'll get that smell/nasal sensation. No idea why."
]
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| [
[],
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wqslt | what are the benefits of rooting my android phone? | Ive been told its a good thing to do... But dont understand why. ELI5. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/wqslt/eli5_what_are_the_benefits_of_rooting_my_android/ | {
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"text": [
"Rooting your phone means you removing restrictions imposed upon you by the phone manufacturer or your carrier. \n\nYou can uninstall apps that could not have been done earlier\nYou can install custom ROM's that change the look of your phone, make it faster etc.\nYou can also overclock your phone.",
"I'm going to go a step further and explain the pros and cons, not just the pros. \n\nYour android phone is basically a little computer that you keep in your pocket. One of the things this computer can do is act like a cell phone. The phone comes with several programs already installed, and then protected so that you can't mess them up. It also is fixed so that you can't use the phone for things that your cell phone provider doesn't want you to. \n\nIf you root the phone, you get rid of both of these. If you want to, you could delete the programs that let your cell phone make calls. You could delete the programs that make your screen appear when you turn the phone on. You could even delete every single thing on your phone making it a completely useless brick. Of course, you don't want to do this, but the fact that you can means you need to be careful what you do on a rooted phone. Messing up can modify the main phone bits, not just the stuff you added on. \n\nA rooted phone, however, also lets you do things your cell phone company doesn't want you to do. It allows you to run programs that change how calls are made (perhaps voice changers or answering programs). It allows you to run programs that let you use your phone's internet with your laptop. It would let you change the startup screen to say something other than your cell carrier's name. It would let you get rid of some of the programs you NEVER use that came pre-installed on your phone. For many phones, it would even allow you to use it on another carrier's network. \n\nBe careful though. Many cell phone companies will not honor warranties on rooted phones. Some companies will even discontinue your service if they find out you have rooted (which is hard to detect). If anyone wants to, they could write a program that deletes everything on a phone, and call it something like \"Angry Penguins\" and claim it is a game they wrote. If you install it on a rooted phone, and say that it can access the root bit on your phone, it can wipe you out completely. \n\nI personally have not rooted my phone. I can use it for internet on my laptop without rooting it, but I need a USB cable instead of using WiFi. I'm okay with that. I really haven't found many programs that require root that I want to add. I may root it in the future, but until I have a use for it that is not allowed non-rooted I'm keeping it unrooted.\n\nIf you are using your Android. And you've not yet run across something you want to do, but can't because it isn't rooted, there is no reason to root your phone. "
]
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2nf2vi | elia5: what would happen if i used a compass made on earth to a different planet? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2nf2vi/elia5_what_would_happen_if_i_used_a_compass_made/ | {
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"text": [
"If the planet had a magnetic field, it would point to magnetic north. Mind you, magnetic north may not be near the poles. A planet may not even have a field, at which point, the compass wouldn't align itself to anything except perhaps the largest local magnetic source, like a mountain or iron structure (since we're talking hypothetical here, ever try to use a compass near a large building?) or something.\n\nNeedless to say, our magnetic north isn't our polar north, although they're close enough to be useful. I believe they're generally ~18 degrees different, and that is indicated on the compass (I'm desperately trying to remember boy scouts, here... because maps can be oriented different? you need to calibrate to the map). So while you're on a different planet with a compass designed for Earth, it'll probably be calibrated wrong."
]
} | []
| []
| [
[]
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|
||
3kcblm | the difference between: roma, romani, and romanian. | I have been corrected by a few people that Roma and Romani are not the same. So I was just hoping for a little clarity. Thanks! | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3kcblm/eli5_the_difference_between_roma_romani_and/ | {
"a_id": [
"cuwdq1i",
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"score": [
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6
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"text": [
"Roma and Romani are, in fact, the same. You can be pedantic about the exact places where each term should be used but the fact is that in common usage they're interchangeable. Romanian is completely unrelated.",
"Roma and Romani- terms referring to a specific European ethnic group. Also known as Gypsies, although this term is now considered derogatory.\n\nRomanian- relating to the nation of Romania. The name \"Romania\" is not at all related to the Roma, although, as with many European countries, many Roma do happen to live in Romania."
]
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| []
| [
[],
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5uyczi | in nutritional science, why are things that are considered healthy one day suddenly seen as unhealthy the next day, and vice versa? | Some examples:
* Saturated fats being considered unhealthy, but then it turns out they don't really pose a risk.
* Carbs being the most important staple of one's diet, but suddenly they're the worst thing one can consume.
* Salt intake which should be limited as much as possible, but now it turns out it's not a big deal.
* Coffee being bad for your blood pressure, but now it's actually considered to have some protective effects.
* All alcohol being bad, but it turns out moderate alcohol consumption can be beneficial in some ways.
Is it so hard to reach some consensus? It's quite confusing for the average consumer. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5uyczi/eli5_in_nutritional_science_why_are_things_that/ | {
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"text": [
"In short, it's because we don't know everything about the thing and how your body deals with it. When scientists that study this stuff discover a new thing (saturated fats in excess may lead to heart disease), news outlets will often take it out of context or change the meaning entirely (saturated fats will kill you).\n\nI'm sure someone else can give a better formed response, but this is basically the idea.",
"Nutritional science is far from an exact science. It's still very young, compared to other sciences, and it's difficult to retrieve subjective data from research. Different people metabolize sugars, fats, etc. in very different ways. For instance, there was that documentary on the front page a few weeks ago about a 100+ year old WW2 veteran who lived on a diet of steak, bourbon, and cigars. That's hardly a \"nutritious\" diet, but it seems to work for him.\n\nIn addition to that, it's very hard to have an accurate study of eating habits. People tend to lie about their diet, so to get any truly usable data you would have to monitor the test subjects 24/7. To do this for a large enough group of people over a long enough time period to have a sample size that you can extract accurate numbers from would be a huge financial burden, so most studies on the subject are based on self-reported numbers over the span of a month or two. There's too much room for error to get accurate information from such research.\n\nI've also heard stories of manufacturers paying for studies, i.e. someone who produces artificial sweetener pays for research showing a correlation between natural sugar and obesity, then use it as a marketing campaign, and everyone believes it.\n\n_URL_0_ had an interesting podcast that covered this subject to some extent. I believe it was titled \" basic things science doesn't understand about the human body\" or something along those lines.",
"The first two things on your list are not a scientific consensus in fact if you look at the recommendations of respected scientific and medical communities you will find the opposite, most scientists are not on the atkins or paleo team.\n\n",
"They are not though. If by nutritional science you mean health gurus and vloggers, then it's because they don't know shit and all they do is perpetuate each other's bullshit. That's why you see the fads you described. \n\nIf you mean the actual scientists and official healthcare regulations/guidelines those tend to be much more moderate in their recommendations. They don't tend to demonise compounds and blame them for everything from autism to cancer to global warming. Everything is toxic in large amounts, obviously, but likewise you can't thrive without sodium (for example), which you get from your food. Alcohol is afaik the one where the beneficial effects are related to other compounds in certain drinks rather than alcohol itself. The tannins in red wine come to mind. Correct me if I'm wrong here.\n\nEDIT: grammar"
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36dqb1 | why does a gallon of whole milk expire long before a carton of half and half or heavy whipping cream? | I have highland brand whole milk bought a week ago that expires May 27th and some fair life organic or whatever nonfat milk that expires July 9th, and some half and half that goes bad June 30th. Bought about the same time. But they last way longer than gallons of milk. Why is this? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/36dqb1/eli5_why_does_a_gallon_of_whole_milk_expire_long/ | {
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"Your nonfat stuff lasts longer because a lot of the organic milks these days are ultra-pasteurized (i.e. they go through a longer bacteria killing process than your run-of-the-mill gallon of milk).\n\nThe half-and-half and whipping cream (~50% fat) last longer because they have much higher fat contents than your whole milk (normally 15-16% fat). There are certain concentrations of fat that bacteria can easily grow in; however, if a substance is too fatty it will inhibit bacterial growth.\n\nYour olive oil, canola oil, or peanut butter last so last so long for the same reason. Lots of fat preventing bacterial growth. ",
"Microorganism growth is affected by water activity. The lower the water activity (less water because more fat), the less prolific microorganisms are."
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36dukk | how can comcast can charge me a ridiculous price for 30mbs internet but at best i get 3mbs down or up? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/36dukk/eli5_how_can_comcast_can_charge_me_a_ridiculous/ | {
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"Well I'm. Pretty sure you're paying for 30 MegaBits where as your download is MegaBytes.... The mathematics and how it's measured or how that works is still beyond me and I'd like to know how those numbers correlate and what a megabit really is",
"You are paying for 30Mbps and getting download speeds of 3MBps. Basically, anything you download is in MB, not Mb, which is different by a factor of 8. 30/8=3.75, so 3.75MBps should be around your maximum speed. Accounting for other devices in your home taking up bandwidth and the limiting upload speeds from the servers you are downloading from, 3MBps is around what you should expect.",
"Aside from the other answers, there's one more reason. It's in the disclaimers.\n\n\"Actual speeds vary and are not guaranteed.\"\n\nSays that everywhere they promise a certain speed. It might run that way at peak hours under prime conditions (and those claims were apparently verified by some organization or another), but actual speeds will vary depending on things like the amount of traffic on the network. \n\nNow, if you're consistently getting lower than rated speeds and it's not just the site (maybe try some of those speed test sites? IIRC comcast has a tool for that too), call them and complain. They may be able to reduce the cost you're paying, as I do believe they offer slower connections for cheaper than that."
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1cwzwr | what is going to happen to julian assange? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1cwzwr/eli5_what_is_going_to_happen_to_julian_assange/ | {
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"Julian Assange is wanted in Sweden for questioning about allegations of rape.\n\nSweden have requested his extradition from Britain, and the British police have indicated they intend to fulfil this request. Assange has been granted asylum by Ecuador, and is currently living in the Ecuadorean embassy in London (which, like all embassies, is off-limits to British police under international law).\n\nThe options of what will happen to him are as follows. I'll list them in order of my personal thoughts on how likely each is, starting with the most likely, but this order is nothing but my personal thoughts:\n\n- He will remain in the embassy until he dies\n\n- He will emerge from the embassy, be arrested, and then be deported to Sweden, where he will be questioned (and possible tried) in relation to the rape allegations\n\n- Ecuador will change their mind about granting him asylum, and he will be forced to leave the embassy. Then, see above for what happens next\n\n- Sweden will decide they no longer want to question him. He will come out of the embassy and live happily ever after\n\n- The UK will decide not to comply with the extradition request. He will come out of the embassy, live happily ever after, but not be able to go to Sweden"
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3nitrt | can lawyers lie in court to reveal the truth? | An example is in Phoenix Wright:Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations where he lies about the contents of a bottle in court to make the (unsuspecting) criminal say out loud the characteristics of the real bottle of poison, thus proving he knew about the poison and making him guilty. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3nitrt/eli5_can_lawyers_lie_in_court_to_reveal_the_truth/ | {
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"No. Everything a lawyer says has to be true, however they can leave out details. So if Phoenix were to say \"the short bottle\" when the defining characteristic was its bright color, that would work.",
"No, but lawyers frequently do this in the form of questions.\n\n\"Would it surprise you to learn [something false]?\"\nThe lawyer does not say that it is true, but merely poses the question. The witness should either say that it would indeed surprise them, or that they do not know anything about it, else they would be lying.\n\n\"So you are saying that you did not burgle this house? [Picture of wrong house.]\"\nIf the defendant says \"No, I didn't rob *that* one!\" (and sometimes they do), you've got 'em.",
"You cannot make a material misrepresentation of the facts to the court. You also must give the whole truth, not just part of the truth which could be misleading. The duty of candor is pretty strong. The moment someone thinks you're being honest in court your life is gonna be a lot harder. Lawyers are always portrayed as liars but there are very strict and serious regulations mandating total honesty."
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f27sz3 | why do video game cutscenes need ti be rendered as its being played. | Isnt it just better to have many videos of outcomes and play the specific one relying on fhe situation? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/f27sz3/eli5_why_do_video_game_cutscenes_need_ti_be/ | {
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"Storing pre-rendered cutscenes can take up a lot of disk space. \n\nA few console generations, this was a huge advantage CD/DVD based game media had over cartridges (at the expense of read speeds): consoles like the ps1 could store very detailed cutscenes because they had space to store them. Meanwhile the n64 had to draw everything because cartridge space was expensive.\n\nAlso, if the game allows you to use a customized player model something like that, it would be difficult to include that player model in a pre-rendered cutscenes.",
"If a game has the budget to do prerendered cutscenes at *vastly* higher quality than gameplay: maybe, but it might break immersion to switch between whatever potato graphics your computer can run and blockbuster movie quality CGI. \n\nIf a game would just be replaying in-engine clips: no, it'll either be worse quality due to compression artefacts or double* the disk size of the game for a few minutes of uncompressed video. \n\n*) not precisely.",
"Older video games' cutscenes, like Red Alert and Diablo 2, actually had videos that played on an embedded player (I think it was called Bink?). Cutscenes gradually turned became pre-rendered, and eventually rendered, to showcase the games' engine and graphical fidelity."
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9gdown | why do some moisturisers have alcohol in them if alcohol dries skin out? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9gdown/eli5_why_do_some_moisturisers_have_alcohol_in/ | {
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"Alcohol is a very good solvent. It also dries in air fairly quickly. So, an alcohol-based moisturizer contains some moisturizing compounds, held in suspension. \n\nWhen you apply it, the alcohol portion evaporates* into the air leaving behind the moisturizing elements. If it stayed wet, your skin would feel greasy and wet until it rubbed off or was absorbed into the skin (which could take several minutes) and would get rubbed off and/or smear onto everything you touched.\n\n '* \"evaporate\" here is used in the sense of gradually disappearing/going away, not the literal scientific sense. ",
"There are different kinds of alcohols in skincare, such as fatty ones like stearyl alcohol and more drying ones like isopropyl alcohol.\n\nFatty alcohols do not usually dry out the skin. They serve as emollients or emulsifiers. Emollients sooth or soften skin and slow down water loss from the skin's surface while emulsifiers keep fats in suspension. So in a moisturizer, emulsifiers would help keep the moisturizing cream \"creamy\" instead of separating into watery parts and oily parts. \n\nDrying alcohols, like isopropyl alcohol, are sometimes put into moisturizers to make them feel \"lighter\" or \"cooling\" because the alcohol will leave the skin faster than the same amount of water would. They may also be used as a solvent to evenly disperse ingredients in the moisturizer or a preservative to extend the shelf-life of the product. These alcohols can act as an astringent, or contractor of body tissues, and can strip the skin's natural lipid barrier (good fats on the skin that keep it from getting too dry), which can be drying and irritating to skin.\n\n & #x200B;"
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jkk0s | - the shape of the universe. | To my knowledge the universe is not infinite but also if it were possible to fly forever we could never reach the end of it. How so? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/jkk0s/eli5_the_shape_of_the_universe/ | {
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"The shape of the universe depends on the amount nof energy present within the universe. It is theorized that there are quite a few different universe shapes and behhaviors. Ours is, as of now, considered to be flat and infinite. These shapes are determined by taking the average density of all of the matter estimated in the universe and dividing by a certain number called the critical energy density, which would be the density of the universe to be considered flat. If this number is less than one, it is a saddle shaped universe. Equal to one it is flat, like ours, greater than one and it is a sphere.\n\nLike youre five, our universe is estimated to be flat because there is only enough energy in our universe to maintain a flat shape. Creating a sphere requires more energy, opposing the fundamental forces like gravity. If you have less than that the universe begins to bend under those forces and creates a saddle shaped curve. Our universe has, supposedly, just the right balance of energy in order to keep every bit of mass alligned to a relatively flat shape.\n\nOf course this could all turn out to be like us believing the earth was flat. You can only physically observe as far as light has traveled since the big bang, and our universe is much bigger than that, so there is still much more out there than we can observe :)\n\nFor further, albeit hard to digest reading:\n_URL_0_",
"The shape of the universe depends on the amount nof energy present within the universe. It is theorized that there are quite a few different universe shapes and behhaviors. Ours is, as of now, considered to be flat and infinite. These shapes are determined by taking the average density of all of the matter estimated in the universe and dividing by a certain number called the critical energy density, which would be the density of the universe to be considered flat. If this number is less than one, it is a saddle shaped universe. Equal to one it is flat, like ours, greater than one and it is a sphere.\n\nLike youre five, our universe is estimated to be flat because there is only enough energy in our universe to maintain a flat shape. Creating a sphere requires more energy, opposing the fundamental forces like gravity. If you have less than that the universe begins to bend under those forces and creates a saddle shaped curve. Our universe has, supposedly, just the right balance of energy in order to keep every bit of mass alligned to a relatively flat shape.\n\nOf course this could all turn out to be like us believing the earth was flat. You can only physically observe as far as light has traveled since the big bang, and our universe is much bigger than that, so there is still much more out there than we can observe :)\n\nFor further, albeit hard to digest reading:\n_URL_0_"
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3tulfc | why do unsalted nuts cost more at the store than salted nuts? | This is troubling to me, especially as it's a continuation of the morally reprehensible theme of it being more expensive to eat healthy. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3tulfc/eli5_why_do_unsalted_nuts_cost_more_at_the_store/ | {
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"Salt keeps them dry and they can have a longer shelf life, whereas non-salted have to be a bit fresher."
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2yagfh | why are english words phonetically explained with strange symbols? why not just include those symbols in the alphabet? | For example, Gabe Newell's shorthand Gaben, from Wikipedia:
Gaben (/ˈɡeɪbɛn/ "Gabe N." or /ˈɡeɪbən/ GAY-bən)
There is a mini capital 'I', a backwards '3' numeral, and an upside down lowercase 'e', which all have meaning in what I assume to be a "non-condensed English alphabet." Why do we need that? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2yagfh/eli5_why_are_english_words_phonetically_explained/ | {
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"What you're looking at is the International Phonetic Alphabet.\n\nIts aim is to create a set of symbols that can be used to express any sound in any language on Earth. The way a word is spelled doesn't always indicate how it's pronounced (especially in English), but using the IPA can make sure there's no ambiguity.",
"First, they're not an English alphabet — each symbol in IPA is meant to represent a distinct and unambiguous sound that humans make to communicate. There are *some* sounds used by humans that aren't represented in IPA yet — so, it isn't complete. \n\nSecond: there are *hundreds* of symbols in IPA — far more than there are in any other phonetic alphabet. Memorising them all in order to cover cases that a student will never or rarely encounter, is pointless (even linguists don't memorise them all, that's why we have reference books).\n\nThere are actually different ways to pronounce \"Gabe\", depending on which accent the speaker has — the \"a\" varies, from long (amongst minnesotans and michiganders) to the rising-to-I tone of modern Southern United States speakers (represented in your example above) to a dropping tone amongst modern Germanic speakers.\n\nIPA allows for a written description of how a word is sounded, not of the meaning of the word.",
"That's the [International Phonetic Alphabet](_URL_0_). It's designed so that you can represent the sounds for any language without ambiguity. It's an entirely separate alphabet, not an extension of the English alphabet.",
"If we wrote with the IPA, everyone would spell words differently depending on how you say them."
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2xnayo | why do auctioneers need to speak the way they do? it seems like 99% incomprehensible gibberish with some numbers in between. | Surely it would be better to just say the bids and numbers like a normal human? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2xnayo/eli5_why_do_auctioneers_need_to_speak_the_way/ | {
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"They want to tap into your impulse buying habit. They don't want you to think which your mind can't do as well when it's trying to process the auctioneer. It's also a way to increase the speed and thereby increase the pressure on you.",
"Apparently the gibberish and filler words help create a [call-and-response \"trance.\"](_URL_0_)\n\nThe speed is important, too. Because auctions are public events requiring an audience, time and attention are precious. So the faster the autioneer can communicate information to the audience and receive a response, the faster the product is sold and the more products s/he can sell.",
"Yeah and how come at prestigious auctions they don't do that?",
"it's the hardest of verbal hard sells, creating panic, urgency, imperative to decide, throw money",
"There is a whole documentary about the world of auctioneering, there are people that take it really seriously and there are legends of auctioneering (like any sub culture really) blew my mind and I actually got stuck watching it haha, can't remember what it was called though! ",
"My dad does this, it is to keep things moving. If there is just dead silence between bids people will think bidding is really slow and about to finish. They are usually saying something that makes senses \"got a better bid?\" Over and over.",
"In England auctioneers for cars/cattle/antiques/whatever are saying actual real words (usually the next increment in price). Same in France and India. My extensive US experience (watching Storage Wars) depicts actual gibberish, like a 5-year-old pretending to be an auctioneer. So weird. Are real auctioneers in America like that?",
"We call it \"patter.\" It's not \"incomprehensible gibberish.\" The information in the patter is all relevant to the auction. I recommend you watch a documentary called \"The Callers.\" Patter draws in the inexperienced buyers...makes a truly boring event seem more lively..., but to a seasoned buyer it's simply just SOP in auctions. It also makes the auction faster, the auctioneer wants to sell as much as possible to get a bigger cut.\n\nSource: My parents are art collectors and I've been to many auctions. (Although art auctions are not as lively I'm still familiar with types with the crazy patter i.e livestock auctions.)",
"For larger auctions, the goal is generally to sell 100 lots per hour. They won't accomplish that if they talk normally. If anyone lives anywhere near a Ritchie brothers auction, I highly recommend checking it out. It's an amazing thing to see how much planning goes into each auction and how many things they can sell in a single day. Never mind those shows on tv selling storage garbage, going to a major equipment auction is a totally unique experience. ",
"It's a lot kind of like the noises that casino slot machines make- it gets into your head and encourages you to become enthralled in the game.",
"Auctioneers absolutely do not need to speak like an overcaffeinated country western singer with marbles in his mouth. That's just a traditional style. \n\nI've attended many auctions in the Southern United States, and it really varies by auction house what you get. Some auctioneers still do the whole speed trance thing while others just speak like a normal human being. ",
"Remember they are auctioning a commodity product not something that has unique characteristics. Just think if Sotherby's (sp?) Needed to auction 1000 prints of the same Picasso, one at a time. Their pace and tactics would be quite different.",
"it's basically just a way to get stupid people to spend more money. Fear of missing out and fear of loss are huge factors.",
"By speaking very fast with enthusiasm, one can create a sense of urgency for the potential buyer. The Auctioneer is trying to push whatever product he or she is selling, it's a lot easier to do this if the crowd does not have time to contemplate the purchase.",
"Would you feel more inclined to buy something from me when I'm speaking like this or when I'M SPEAKING LIKE THIS BUY MY STUFF ITS GREAT DO IT NOW QUICK QUICK ",
"It does serve to drive up the price by generating a sense of urgency around the bidding, but I think more than anything it is a rural American tradition. I live in rural Ohio, and when I take my kids to an auction, they love looking at all the junk, but they are fascinated by the auctioneer. The sound of it makes people more lively, more excited to be there, and it turns the whole thing into a bit of an experience. It's actually a pretty fun way to spend half a Saturday.",
"There is an auction house that does those 5 to 40million dollar cars and they actually do not use this tactic. Instead it is a soft spoken british guy who goes really slowly. Its so relaxing to hear. I guess when you are actually selling things with high demand there is no need to pretend.\nHeres an example.\n_URL_0_\nHe even cracks a few jokes.\n",
"If you have ever seen a non auctioneer try to be one you'd understand. It is painful to sit through.",
"To create the sense of urgency for the buyer. ",
"I know that in fishing auctions they use all the words to describe both the current price, the next increment and the size or quality of the goods. They pronounce the words a bit different and in rhythm to keep the mouth going, so they don't have to start and stop each sentence all the time. It happens really fast to follow with the bids. Everybody wants it to be over with as fast as possible, so they'd get bored really quickly if they had to talk normally about each bid.",
"Battle rapper here, just wanted to emphasize how much skill goes into what it is these guys do. Not because of the verbal speed per se since it's typically sloppy and they don't hit their syllables very hard, but they're essentially freestyling that shit. i've never seen a chopper freestyle, and that's what they're doing. admittedly they're not having to align syllables to rhyme or stay on beat, but they do very much get into a rhythm and hold it for incredible amounts of time. It's not an easy task to think like that, especially in front of (usually) very wealthy, powerful people. Even us battle mc's keep a handful of written material in the chamber to recover when necessary, these guys are going out without a circus net.",
"My grandfather was an auctioneer who specialized in estate liquidations. Say your grandma died and her heirs were suing each other over the estate, or someone died with no heirs or what have you. My grandfather's company would be hired to come in and organize, catalogue and liquidate everything in the estate at auction, sometimes including the house itself. His company's commission was something like 30% of the gross sales, so it was absolutely in his interest to be the best salesman possible. \n\nThe highly stylized auctioneering I think you're talking about is just as much for show and performance as it is anything else. Not everyone does it like that (watch a Christie's or Sotheby's auction for example). The same way that ring masters at the circus have a certain way of talking or pilots talk a certain way on the radio - it's performance and tradition. But not every auctioneer sees the need, and in my experience, the further you get away from the county fair livestock auction the less you'll hear auctioneers doing this. \n\nI think the people who do that want the buyers to get caught up in the performance, but it's only a side aspect to the real sales tactic of auctioneering, which is tapping into people's competitive nature. If you can get two or three buyers competing against each other on a particular item, you're going to have a good day as an auctioneer. And the more items you can make that happen on, the better your take is for the day. ",
"My father is a professional auctioneer. He even has a degree. Would anyone like me to ask for an AMA?\n\nEdit: He said he will do it. Being that I am not home, my brother will be in charge of the AMA. I will post the link to it once he gets it set up so you guys can ask questions in advance before my father gets back from work.\n\nEdit 2: [Here you guys go. Ask away.](_URL_0_)",
"Auctioneer Here: \n\nI have 1500 different size and quality apples I need to sell in one day. The farmer tells me these apples are worth $5000 (damn good aples). I need to get as close to or more than $5000 to make any money on the apples for that day. I start at Apple 1 and need to get the buyers to pay 3.33 (repeating of course) for each apple to reach to my goal of $5000 in apples, unfortunately apple 1 is much smaller and bruised than apples 2-3-4 so I will sell it as quickly as possible because it has to sell and I also will need to sell 1,499 more of them. Buyer 1 needs small bruised apples so he bids and takes it home for $2. Buyers 2-3-4 need the biggest best apples and have to buy them to snuff out the apple selling competition so they bid more on Apple #2. It goes over $3 and I have achieved a maximum value for this Apple. I still have to do this 1,498 more times. Rather than negotiate price which takes time, I will continue to rapidly call out numbers so my buyers will place the value that they see this for in their heads. You must be a really sharp 5 year old to understand what I am saying so I am going to stop now. If you have any questions about the Auction industry I will answer them as a licensed auctioneer but for now, I am going to go find some apples. ",
"Create a sense of urgency. Get your adrenalin pumping. Hopefully kicks you into 'fight' mode not 'flight'",
"In my state the auctioneer represents the seller, not the buyer. It is his duty (usually by law) to achieve the highest price possible for each item he sells. That is why he is not allowed to bid on items for himself while he is selling. A car dealer for instance, gets the highest price he can by other means. \nI attend up to three auctions a day. I love them. Each auctioneer is uniquely different. A good portion are scoundrels but some are really honest and straight forward. The regular auction crowd knows who is who. I will not be able to respond to any comments. I will be leaving for an auction in a few minutes. Enjoy the psychology and social interactions of an auction - but don't bid against me please. Good day and retire some day if you can. It is a great part of life.",
"Auctioneer here. All the auctioneer is really saying are the bids and numbers, with a request for the next bid in there as well. \"I have a $20 bid, I need $25, 20 I need 25. $25 bid I need $30, I have 25 I need 30. $30 bid now 35, 30 now 35. 30 now 35, 30 now 35, 30 now 35? Sold - $30, bidder number ___. Sometimes those \"fill words\" are said so fast, and so often, that over time the auctioneer's \"chant\" kind of mutates so that, for instance, \"dollar bid\" may sound like \"dallabing\" or something like that. I think it just goes so fast because of the sheer amount of material an auctioneer may have to go through in a night. I try to sell one item every minute, and we usually sell about 400-500 items a night in our weekly Kansas City estate and consignment auction. To that point, I do think it is silly for an auctioneer to still chant that rapidly if they're selling a single item, like a house, or doing a charity event where there are not many items up for bid and the bidders aren't used to an auction sales environment. \n\nEdit: lost my money (Sold $35 changed to $30)",
"I've always been told that one reason was so they could get though it faster. They usually have a lot of merchandise to sell, so they can't spend all day on one by talking any slower.",
"I grew up in the auction business, my dad is an auctioneer and is part owner of an auction company. Pretty much every weekend of my childhood was spent working an auction somewhere.\n\nThey speak so rapidly for two reasons: 1) to create the impression that buyers have to act right now, and 2) to move through more lots (items) at a quicker pace, putting more money in the sellers pocket than if they went slower.\n\nHe specializes in household and farm auctions, generally coming in and selling a persons estate after they move into an assisted living home or they die. These are big sales, we are selling everything a person owns. They can move through about 120 - 150 lots per hour, which means a sale roughly every 30 seconds. In five hours, we can completely sell most belongings in the average house at a market price higher than what you will find by doing a garage sale or something similar.\n\nWe did a Beanie Baby auction for someone back in the 90s during that whole craze. I watched Beanie Babies that were selling for $50 online go for $150 - $200 at auction. Auction is absolutely the best way of selling stuff.",
"When you are selling 400+ items you have to speak as fast as you can to get through all of the lots before the crowd leaves. The impulse buy part of it really doesn't play that big of a part of it when compared to having a 3.5 hr sale vs a 5 hr sale.\n\nSource: It's the family business",
"All the jibberish auctioneers spew is called their \"chant\". Each auctioneer has their own style of chant. It is designed to tap into your emotions (and pocket book) to get caught up with the environment and the bidding process. If you're being outbid, the auctioneers job is to make you feel less guilty about making one extra bid to remain high-bidder. The auctioneer will then go to the former lead bidders and do the same.\n",
"It's somewhat for psychological effect, I believe.\n\nUsing the rapid speech in an intense voice is to keep the bidders on their toes, and hopefully add to the suspense that makes them bid higher.\n\nIt's a way that auctions make money!\n\nSource: I've been to a lot of auctions, and this is what many people tell me. ",
"Read through the comments, didn't find the reason an old chap in the auction game told me.\n\nAs an auctioneer you have to be loud, shouting all day would leave you with a sore throat, whereas if you sing it then you can project and protect your voice.\n\n(this was at a uk general auction)",
"My best friend's dad is an auctioneer and he says they do it because A) it creates hype and B) it doesn't give anybody time to think.\n\n\n",
"I can't beleive no one has put this here ^^ : \n_URL_0_",
"I am a former professional auctioneer. My father was an auctioneer as was his father. It's that kind of culture. The auctioneer's chant is meant to create excitement and urgency. Auctions are briskly paced, often selling hundreds of lots in just a few hours. Buying and selling at auctions is a skill. eBay is not an auction. eBay is an online flea market. \n\nWhat most of us do when we learn the chant is pick some filler phrases to augment the calling of the incremental numbers. For instance \"I'm at a...\" \"Would Ya give...\" \"What about a..\" We practice with a metronome to get the rhythm and bounce right and work on our showmanship. We are salesmen, but we are also performers. \n\nSo for instance, a common phrase would be \"I'm at a one hundred dolla bid, would Ya give one?\"\n\nSome auctioneers are more clear than others. Some just suck at it and spit like Daffy Duck when they try to chant.\n\nThere are annual competitions conducted by the National Auctioneers Association where clarity, timing, originality, and presence are among the criteria judges observe. \n\nWe represent both the buyer and the seller and the auction house. We have licensed and legally regulated power to forge contracts with the word \"sold\" that bind both parties to the completion of the sale and will hold up in any United States court. \n\nThat being said, you should know that if you go to a live auction that the auctioneer is always in complete control. If the auctioneer isn't in control they aren't doing the job. Bidders do not control the sale, nor do the sellers. The auctioneer serves a critical function. They are the last and final word as arbiter in any auction. They have legal powers to arbitrate, refuse bids, reopen bidding, force contractual obligation on buyers and much more. They must possess a license to auction in the state the sale takes place in and they are carefully regulated. \n\nSadly, auction culture is dying off in America. Online auctions are rapidly closing in on this fine old tradition. Yes, auctioneers have held the gavel during some atrocious times in our history but in truth the auctioneer is a cultural icon that served for hundreds of years at the heart of commerce everywhere. \n\nI don't auction any longer, but I respect the tradition and the occupation and I hope I have shed a little light on what was once a great culture of commerce in our history. \n\n",
"Sometimes there are a lot of items for an auction to work through in one day. In order to get things moving quickly they speak quickly to encourage people to bid but also to get through as many items as possible. This way they have a chance to make more money.\n\n**Edit for words, grammar.",
"I make a good part of my income at auctions. The reason for the banter is timing. If it sounds like \"incomprehensible gibberish with some numbers in between.\" to you you had better not go.\n\nIf someone bids a dollar the auctioneer will point at you and say something like 'Got a dollar looking for two...space with sound....If he see's interest in you he will hold his hand palm up look at you and repeat gota dollar looking for two...space with sound. Back pointing at the person who has the bid when he says gota and turn his hand over when he gets to looking for a bid. Then if someone bids he points at that person and says I got two, looking for three....",
"what happens if you can't pay a bid?",
"The \"gibberish\" thing is in large part a showmanship thing. \nI've seen it on TV, and I can imagine it being done as a charity type event, but at real auctions I've been to they do say the bids and numbers like a normal person. \nThey kind of have to if they want it to be understandable. It can move very quickly though, especially in the early stages when they are getting a lot of bids. \n\nA real auction would go something like: \nLot 7, a beautiful framed reddit comment. Who will give me one hundred? One hundred ten, one twenty, thirty forty fifty sixty. Bidding stands at one sixty will anyone give me one seventy? How about one sixty five? Any advance on one sixty five? SOLD to bidder x for one sixty five. \n\nSo the middle part of the auction can move very quickly and with lowish value items the end can be very quick too as they want to get through a lot of lots in a short time. They will barely draw breath between different lots if there are a lot to get through. ",
"I auction off storage units- I just say the bids normally while pointing at the high bidder. Going slower seems to get higher bids as people talk themselves into going higher",
"Real answer: tradition. The could just put it all on an iPad app if they wanted and just call it eBay.",
"My brain read \"auctioneers\" as \"Engineers\" and I immediately began writing a massive reply text to exonerate my brethren.\n\nUnfortunately before finishing my almost three page essay I got pulled away from my desk, and as I returned six hours later I realized my error before hitting reply, saving me from an oddly confusing post.. queue ctrl+a followed by delete.",
"I used to own a small farm and would go to farm auctions once in a while. It was very intimidating to the newbie. It is hard to tell what the price is at and who has the highest bid. One auctioneer even chastised me for missing a bid or some such nonsense. In my opinion this ( type of speech) is an anachronism. I said fuck it and went on craigslist from then on. Their loss. ",
"For a professional commodities auctioneer, speed is very important. If you have a thousand head of cattle or five hundred cars to sell off one at a time then you need to keep moving to the next item as fast as possible. The key information, the current price, next bid price, and when a bid has been made need to be announced quickly and distinctly. Interestingly, the rest of what he is saying is actually gibberish. It's primary purpose is to act as a time keeper, like verbal tapping of the foot, so that the auctioneer can maintain his rhythm or cadence.\n\nIt is not about really about encouraging impulse buying or getting people worked up into the heat of the moment to bid more(though this can occur). People who are not familiar with the auction process, and thus would be most likely to make an impulse purchase are usually intimidated by the speed and thus are actually less likely to bid. ",
"The chant speed has to do with moving product. Often there are a lot of things to sell and auctioneer success is gauged by how many lots they can sell in one hour. There is no conspiracy to trick buyers. Most auctions have a professional buying audience and they know the lingo and understand what's going on even though it can appear confusing for a newbie. Our family owned an auction business for many years. ",
"I read this as \"why do *engineers* need to speak the way they do.\" and was all ready to offer a relevant response ",
"Check out an auction that isn't using a person that doesn't talk like that. LAME and boring! Little to no action.",
"Buried, but I fucking hate auctioneers. Most act like some gifted magician when really they just spout the same scripted noise they have learned to make that sounds nothing like words. I have heard an auctioneer who can actually just speak fast and at that particular octave of monotone and it's impressive. The other 99% are posers with an undeserved ego. ",
"I have been to a few livestock auctions and the purpose of the auctioneer is to get the top dollar of whatever he is selling out of the crowd. They are not there to help the buyer get a good deal, but to get the most for the house. A good one can even get the slow bidding against themselves.",
"I always thought it was more of a show, like 'Hey, hire us auctioneers, we can keep track of one number at a time and talk really fast.'",
"They're trying to confuse you and push you to make your bid. Their fast-paced speaking encourages fast-paced thinking. \n\nAnd don't call me Shirley.",
"I've been to a few automotive dealer auctions, and what I've noticed is that spoken information isn't persistent. In other words, if something is written down, you can look at it and it'll still be there. Speech is different, though, and the information is gone as soon as the sound waves dissipate. So, auctioneers need to keep the numbers persistent by repeating with a rhythm. If you close your eyes and listen, you can almost see the numbers change in front of you ",
"Sense of urgency. ",
"Hello I'm sean kelly and I'll be your auctioneer today! Jesse, team brandori nice to see you. Starting the bid at 50 bappitybapbapbapbibi 100 bappitybapbapbapbibi 150. That sounded like Bill Cosby....",
"I heard that staying around a certain pitch, kind of like singing rather than speaking normally, can help you keep your voice going when you're using it for a long period of time as auctioneers do. I haven't noticed anyone else mention that on here though so maybe it's mainly just a way to make the auction seem more intense",
"It's part tradition, and part psychological trick to excite buyers and attract new bids. And it is mostly gibberish. \n\nwikipedia: [Auction Chant](_URL_0_)\n\nfrom article: \"Slurring filler words to make multi-part filler word phrases is a key element, giving the illusion that the auctioneer is talking fast, and thus creating more excitement and bidding anxiety among the bidding crowd.\"",
"Another question-i read somewhere the other day that to be an auctioneer you have to take some kind of class to get certified. What else does one have to learn, other than speaking fast? Just curious!",
"A lot of it just has to do with time constraints. Many auctions have hundreds of lots to get through. And a lot of people (including the auctioneer) don't want to be there all day. Faster talking means a shorter auction. ",
"It's all about drumming up excitement. If they can get you excited you're more likely to impulse buy. The auctioneer is usually very loud, friendly, and joking and this seems to help people unload their wallets.",
"They generally hope that you won't hear what you're paying and what you're paying for :-)\n\nNo, in all seriousness, its just a marketting technique, kind of like the screaming voice on the radio commercial.",
"Despite all the explanations, I suspect much of it just has to do with tradition.",
"One of the people I used to work with was a trained auctioneer and I asked her this exact question. She told me that they are saying, \"will you bid, will you buy, will you go.\" Hope this helps!\n",
"I read the title as Engineers, still checks out.",
"To simplify it into a sentence. It creates a sense of urgency that makes you want to buy it more. ",
"I think what you are referring to is called a filler word. Check out this video: _URL_0_",
"Not all auctioneers use the fast pitch - my favorite [auction moment](_URL_0_), was by Heritage Rare coin auctions, auctioneer Sam Foose, selling an early U.S. large cent for $1.38 million, my friend John is interviewed at the end, and a few other friends are in the room bidding, none were successful though.\n\nThe record price paid for a rare coin - [$10 million+ for a 1794 U.S. Silver Dollar](_URL_1_), purchased by Laura Sperber, she blew the other bidders out of the water and still paid less than she was willing to go higher by a couple more million."
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5s5j5q | we all know that hot air rises, however why is it that the higher up you go in the atmosphere, the temperature dramatically drops? theoretically, shouldn't the atmosphere increase in temperature the higher up you go? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5s5j5q/eli5_we_all_know_that_hot_air_rises_however_why/ | {
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"The ideal gas law states that PV = nRT. That is, in the most simple of forms, that as the pressure is directly proportional to temperature; when one goes up, so does the other and vice versa. The barometric pressure decreases the higher you go, so the temperature drops as well."
]
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14ywrf | is it true that america does not negotiate with terrorists? why not? | This was a question my little brother asked me after watching The Dark Night Rises. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/14ywrf/is_it_true_that_america_does_not_negotiate_with/ | {
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"If you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to want a glass of milk.\n\nIf you negotiate with terrorists, it feeds the cycle that people can manipulate you by being terrorists. Hence you get more terrorists.",
"Technically this is completely and utterly false, the US negotiates all the time. However for the question you are asking truetofiction gives you the answer of why that is the policy, even though it is loosely followed.",
"If children get what they want after throwing a temper tantrum once, they know they can get away with it again. If parents (or the U.S) lets them know that shit won't fly they won't do it as much."
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369cko | why are the bbc showing little to no coverage of the current anti-austerity/ conservative protests? | Thanks I'd like to know since its been bugging me. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/369cko/eli5_why_are_the_bbc_showing_little_to_no/ | {
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"BBC is propaganda division of whichever party has power. On the run up to an election the right will accuse the beeb of having a left bias and the left will accuse them of having a right bias, but the truth is that they have a bias towards whoever holds their purse strings at the time.",
"A good rule of thumb is if you're looking for British news read American media and vice versa. Less bias.",
"From what I heard, the metropolitan police asked the media not to cover it to stop more from joining the protests."
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4mljjz | for what reason is the canadian economy completely failing in comparison to the american? | The Canadian economy is in shambles right now. Right now, $1 CAD is equal to $0.77 USD. Why? I have next to zero knowledge about economics and finance so yeah. Any and all help is appreciated. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4mljjz/eli5_for_what_reason_is_the_canadian_economy/ | {
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"Economics is always difficult, but to keep it super simple..Canada is a resourced based economy and oil is a BIG one so once OPEC started flooding the market with cheap easy oil, Canadian oil became less attractive as it is more expensive obtain (see oilsands) So naturally since the oilsands is a huge economic driver (exports/jobs) once it was basically stalled the dollar and economy followed suit.\n",
"I wouldn't say it's in shambles right now, it's a bit worse than average. Since 1990, average value of Canadian dollar has been $0.81 USD, so it's only a bit down. And currently stronger than it was from 1993 - 2004. Oil is 20% of Canada's exports, so when oil prices are down, it has a major impact on the economy.",
"As others have mentioned Canada exports a lot of resources. \nPrices for raw materials have gone down recently because demand has gone down globally, particularly in China which was previously a very large consumer of raw materials. \n\nHowever I wouldn't be so worried about a decrease in the exchange rate of the Canadian dollar. While a decrease in the currency's value does make imports more expensive for people in Canada it also makes Canadian exports cheaper for other countries to buy. This helps exporting industries but it isn't enough to overcome the slow down in demand/increase in supply for some materials. ",
"also a weakening dollar is not always a bad thing. It means foreigners can buy things cheaper in your country so all else equal they are more likely to buy in your country bringing money to those who export and employing people in export industries."
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30kf7i | how do they determine the karat of diamonds? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/30kf7i/eli5_how_do_they_determine_the_karat_of_diamonds/ | {
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"_URL_0_\n\nThe carat is just a unit used in measuring the weight of gemstones. It's equal to 200mg.",
"Should also note that karat is one of many important quality indicators of a diamond. The others being cut clarity and color, all of which vastly adjust prices and many consider way more important."
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"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carat_%28mass%29"
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3jk6do | why aren't the host nations of immigrants held responsible for migrant issues? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3jk6do/eli5_why_arent_the_host_nations_of_immigrants/ | {
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"Host nations are often held responsible for migrant issues. But there is a difference between knowing a host state has a responsibility and being able to do anything about it.\n\nMany migrants are fleeing from states that are either failed completely or are poor or unstable. In the case of a failed state there isn't likely anyone to hold accountable. You can hold poor states responsible but then what?\n\nAny sort of punishment that nations could inflict on host states would likely do nothing at all or make the situation worse. People are fleeing their home countries *because* things are so bad. Economic sanctions would likely do nothing or make countries poorer. Regime changes would only destabilize things further, ditto for military occupations.\n\nWe should recognize that host nations are responsible for what is going on but what needs to happen are efforts to stabilize and boost the situations in host countries. This is really, really hard to do and involves no clear answers, hard choices, decades of work, and billions, if not trillions, of dollars. All things that developed nations have little interest in doing.",
"...When people flee a country because it's shit, how is making that country more shit through punishment supposed to fix the issue? "
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1ssigw | why do some languages use compound words a lot (like german), while others use them very little (like english). | A classic example is when we are writing numbers. I have conversational German and I am a native English speaker and this part of language always confused me. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1ssigw/eli5_why_do_some_languages_use_compound_words_a/ | {
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"English actually does use compound words quite a bit. It is just that we often denote the separate parts with a hyphen like in \"ice-cream\" or \"twenty-two\" or with a space like in \"cookie jar\" or \"oil painting.\" German doesn't use the same writing conventions. English also has compound words without the space or hyphen \"benchmark\" or \"basketball.\""
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1nl5ev | why are so many rap/hiphop songs still about how good the rapper is? | I know a bit of it comes from rap-battle/"soundbwoy" scenarios from the early days, but what are the purpose of solo studio tracks like that? It strikes as a little bit like watching a Youtube video about how awesome the poster is at making videos. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1nl5ev/eli5_why_are_so_many_raphiphop_songs_still_about/ | {
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"Basic advertising. You want people to think that you're good and buy your albums, so you write songs about how good you are so people will buy your albums. You might have other songs about personal history or specific topics, but even those can be laced with lyrics reminding people how good you are.\n\nRemember that the purpose of those songs is not to make a good song. The purpose, as clearly stated, is to get money/women/fancy things/respect. It is kind of like putting your resume out there hoping you'll \"make it\". \n\nAnd of course, people listen to the songs the same way you might look up sample resumes before applying to a job. Or, the same way you might read a book about Bill Gates in order to learn about success. Will it work? Statistically, no, but that doesn't stop people from trying!",
"Well, don't forget that rap has evolved to something of an art form. The same idea from the early days applies: rapping about dominance IS dominance IF you do it well. It's really just a platform on which you can do cool shit with the rhymes and good wordplay.\n\nHowever, if the rapper can spit something really innovative and smart in an *I'msogood* song, then it gains extra value because **so many rappers have done it before**. If you can make such a song, which is easy to compare with other similar ones, actually sound rad and have really good rhymes, then you are indeed a quality rapper.",
"It might have to do with the fact that many rappers start out freestyling which for the most part involves proving that you are the better rapper. Perhaps this carries over one they make it.",
"Many rappers start off broke and from dodgy neighborhoods. The people around them are often poor and/or uneducated. They see how everyday people struggle just to survive and then they see drug dealers, athletes, and rappers who have money/respect/women/whatever. When you look around you and the only people who seem successful are those people, of course that's what you aim to be. You imitate and want to be just like them from an early age and what were they doing? They were rapping about how good they are. They were showing off jewelry so everyone could see how good they are. They buy nice cars, fancy watches, mansions for their mothers, and all sorts of things they never thought possible before. They are doing this to reinforce how good they are, how they made it. After so long that's really the only thing those kids (the ones that grow up wanting to be to be rappers) see as an outward display of success. You'll see it on a smaller scale in nearly every poor, American neighborhood.\n"
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5xei1q | if we are inside with lights on and it is dark outside, why can't we see through the window? | I always have to turn off the inside light in order to see outside, which never made sense to me. | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5xei1q/eli5_if_we_are_inside_with_lights_on_and_it_is/ | {
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"Good question. Basically, the light of the reflection of the inside is brighter than the light coming from the outside. So technically you see the outside as well, but the reflection is much stronger. When you switch off the light, there's no longer a strong reflection and you can see through the window. \n\n\nFun fact: This is roughly how one way mirrors like the one's in police interrogation rooms work. The room where the suspect is being interrogated is brightly lit and the room where the guys are watching behind the mirror is dimly lit. "
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9akw6s | when driving, why do different types of pavement sound different/louder than each other? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/9akw6s/eli5_when_driving_why_do_different_types_of/ | {
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"It has to do with 2 things, your tires (pattern and depth) and the density/thickness of what your driving on. The interstate for example is very thick and packed densely, with foundations of rock and gravel, and then paved very thick. This makes it strong (holding up constant weight and being driven on) and quiet compared to inner city roads or country roads were laying that type of foundation isn't feasible or cost effective. Think of it like a xylophone, hitting bars of different thicknesses make different tones. Thicker bars will make a deeper and shorter tone whereas the smaller ones make a loud and longer tone."
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3g9fgc | tell me how the iraq war started | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3g9fgc/eli5_tell_me_how_the_iraq_war_started/ | {
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"Iraq was in violation of it's undertakings to the United Nations which it accepted at the end of the Gulf War, and in violation of UN Security Council resolutions enforcing those undertakings.\n\nThe United States decided, in conjunction with a coalition of allies, to exercise it's right to collective self-defense and invaded Iraq after conducting a preliminary bombing campaign and an attempt to assassinate Saddam Hussein with a cruise missile strike.",
"It began as a white paper written by some fellows at the Project for the New American Century on how to transform the Middle East and make it more malleable for American concerns. ",
"Politically, the reason Iraq was invaded when it was is that adherents of the [neoconservative](_URL_0_) political movement, who had long advocated using military force to promote democracy and American national interests, were very influential in the second Bush administration.\n\nNeoconservatives were unhappy that the first Bush administration had left Hussein in power after the first Gulf War, and advocated throughout the '90s that he be removed. 9/11, despite Iraq's lack of direct involvement, raised public alarm over the threat of future terrorist attacks, and Hussein was portrayed as someone who might be involved with such attacks in the future in order to create public support for a war.",
"Back in the 90s, a group of hardcodre neocons that included Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, John Bolton, and others cooked up the idea of invading Iraq as a way of earning what they saw as cheap and easy political capital. They were kinda pissed that Bush the Elder hadn't gone all the way and crushed Saddam when he had the chance, and they saw this as a way of reminding the world what huge dicks American conservatives have.\n\nRemember all those asinine claims Bush tossed out about the war? \"We will be greeted as liberators.\" \"The war will be over in a month, tops.\" \"Oil revenues will pay for most of it?\" Yeah, these guys actually believed all that bullshit.\n\nMind you, not a single one of them had the slightest bit of expertise on the subject, not a bit. And when they DID consult an actual expert, Gen. Tony Zinni, the main military guy in charge of keeping Saddam contained (and an actual expert on the issues and conflicts of the area), he told them they were batshit insane, and it would turn into a bloodbath and quagmire. They told him to go fuck himself. After this crowd made it into power, Zinni resigned from the military.\n\nWhen this mob slimed their way into the White House, Cheney immediately set to work to put the plan in motion. In the early days of the Bush administration, Cheney was the ultimate gatekeeper to the Oval Office. Bush famously styled himself as \"The Decider,\" but it was Cheney who got to decide what The Decider decided ON. Selling the war to Bush was probably an easy job, Dubya probably saw it as a good way to prove to Poppy Bush that he was wearing Big Boy Pants now.\n\nMind you, all of this happened BEFORE 9/11, which was a gift from the gods to these guys.\n\nAfter 9/11, they made up new fictions, like Saddam was in league with al Qaeda and he has WMDs, that kinda thing. The evidence is good that they actually believed THAT bullshit as well. Many of the early al Qadea fighters who were captured were interrogated about the ties between AQ and Saddam. They thought the Americans were joking, nobody could actually believe something so ludicrous.\n\nThe CIA had been seriously politicized by the Bush White House to ignore anything that suggested Iraq didn't have WMDs...which, as it turns out, was just about everything the CIA had learned. So they ignored the mountains of evidence that said he didn't, and instead handed the White House reports made up of equal parts wishful thinking and bullshit that said he did. CIA Director George Tenet famously said the intelligence that Saddam was packing was \"a slam dunk.\"\n\nSo Bush had his people tell a bunch of Tall Tales to the public to support this misguided adventure. Colin Powell, who never really quite believed it, but who was a team player, made a famous speech before the UN where he waved a bottle of white powder he claimed was anthrax and screamed, \"OMG! Saddam is TOTALLY gonna kill us all!\" It worked. Unfortunately, when it was later revealed that his entire speech was bullshit, that was pretty much the end of his career.\n\nSo we invaded Iraq, an event that will eventually go down in history as one of the WORST military blunders in US history. That would have been bad enough, but you also have to consider what we lost, and that was the chance to utterly crush al Qaeda.\n\nOsama bin Laden was stunned by the ferocity of the initial US incursion into Afghanistan right after 9/11. We pushed in hard and fast (giggity...), and very soon, we'd managed to kill or capture some 2/3 of the people running AQ. Osama was reportedly seriously wounded, and AQ was on the ropes. We COULD have ended them, right then and there.\n\nInstead...we stopped. All the focus of the US military and CIA turned to Iraq, and Afghanistan was just...forgotten. That gave AQ time to regroup, breathe a little bit, and then disappear into Pakistan, where they were essentially invulnerable, and then regroup and spread out as a worldwide franchise.\n\nMeanwhile, in Iraq, the hunt for the mythical WMDs was one of the Top Ten Iraq Screwups that brought us to the mess we're in today. Large numbers of troops were sent out to hunt down the WMDs pronto, and were under orders to ignore pretty much anything else. So on many occasions, troops looking for WMDs would come across HUGE caches of conventional arms (one or two were described as being \"the size of a small city\"), and in most cases, the only thing they could do was just walk away and continue the unicorn hunt. When we got more time and resources later on, we sent troops back to these caches, and most were long-gone.\n"
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yqnjm | why does the hivemind hate cod? their ww2 stuff was comparable to medal of honor, and their modern warfare games compete with cs and battlefield. why such hate? is it the teenagers on there? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/yqnjm/why_does_the_hivemind_hate_cod_their_ww2_stuff/ | {
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"I liked some of the COD games because their FPS mechanics simply felt better than anything else on the market. Battlefield always had better vehicle support and large, strategically oriented maps, but never really nailed \"run and gun\" until BF3.\n\nOf course, now that BF3's out, there's simply no reason to play any COD game. In terms of infantry combat alone, BF3 spanks COD with a wall-mantling target-spotting bullet-dropping building-destroying enemy-enveloping squad-spawning M16A3 of doom.\n\nIt's actually intimidating just how easily BF3 made the latest COD game look like it's fifteen years old.",
"The games are very simple with an emphasis on you, no teamwork required. Obviously the more mature players will gravitate torward BF and CS.\n\nBesides that, people dislike how linear the series is, most of the games even use the same guns and perks over, and over, and over, and over again. People also dislike IW and treyarch in general, as well as activision, for how they treat their customers, how the price their dlc etc.\n\nI played MW3 quite a bit, and it was solid, although it had huge issues..The rest of the games are, meh. WaW has horrible balancing issues, Mw2 was the biggest fustercluck in gaming to date, BO had a ton of problems as well."
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3ldr5n | what happens when homeless people are picked up by an ambulance in the states? | They have to know that the homeless probably don't have insurance, and definitely can't afford the thousand dollar ambulance bill. Is there any program to help at for this? Can they just leave a homeless man dying in the street? Do they actually try and bill him? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3ldr5n/eli5_what_happens_when_homeless_people_are_picked/ | {
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"Ambulances and hospitals are required by law to give life saving and stabilizing treatment to anyone regardless of their ability to pay. So, they would get a ride to the emergency room. ",
"The details depend on the particular ambulance agency and the state's laws. However, the people working on the ambulance and in the emergency room are expected to stabilize any patient regardless of their ability to pay. They cannot just let someone die. If the patient cannot afford the services provided to them, the medical personnel may try to bill the patient, but it's understood that many patients simply cannot pay. The result of this situation is that other people (i.e. those paying \"out of pocket\" and people with insurance) are charged larger bills to make up for the expenses associated with treating the poor."
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5rqkjo | why are there literally millions of porn movies on the internet for completely free viewing, but so few regular movies? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/5rqkjo/eli5_why_are_there_literally_millions_of_porn/ | {
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"Movie production companies make their money from the movies themselves, but free, for-profit sites make money from advertising to you. They need to offer something to make you want to use the site so that you will see the ads. ",
"Mostly because the porn industry is much less aggressive about enforcing their copyright. Although it does occasionally happen, and it's pretty embarrassing to get sued for pirating Anal Adventures 12.",
"You'd be surprised at how much free, quality content can be found on the internet. Even non-porn.",
"The short answer is that most of the free porn out there is either amateur porn (which costs almost nothing to make), free samples from a pay site, or pirated.\n\nThink about it this way. Literally anyone with a camera can make a serviceable porno for literally or almost nothing, but even a half-decent independent movie takes at least a couple hundred thousand dollars to make. Usually millions.\n\nSo naturally, there are going to be more porno movies than regular movies to begin with.\n\nSince it costs so much less to make, you could potentially fill an ad-supported site with thousands of user-made videos, free samples from pay sites, or straight-up pirated porn (especially on sites that allow user uploads, since you get plausible deniability) for little or no cost, and then collect all that sweet ad revenue.\n\nTo do that with a movie site, you'd have to either pay to make the movie, or pay to license the movie. Which could cost you more than it costs to upload thousands of amateur porno clips. But you'd still only have one movie! So it would be very hard to do it 100% on ad revenue. Since a movie is much longer (two hours +) than a typical porn clip (5-20 minutes), your bandwidth costs per user are also much higher. Especially if, you know, they finish browsing early.\n\n\n\nIt's also the reason why YouTube is FULL of people talking about their opinions into their webcams but only has a handful of properly free ad-supported (not pirated) movies. Any moron with a mic and a camera can become a YouTuber, but making even a shitty movie requires a budget and at least basic film-making skills.",
"How about comparing porn movies to youtube? Even though the things you're comparing both contain \"movies\" doesn't mean they're similar enough to be compared in that respect.",
"You can find many free movies. Get a library card. Try Hoopla and Overdrive. Many movies are on Youtube.",
"A lot of free movies are online, such as short films, art projects, and amateur video. \n\nThere are even free alternatives to Netflix/streaming services such as _URL_0_ and most TV channels offer some free tv shows.\n\nA lot of pron online is simply homemade, and this is analogous to the massive amount of homemade youtube videos (from reviews, rants, farting dogs, kinder eggs, whatever)\n\nOther porn is short clips released as promotional material for longer porn or exclusive content available behind a paywall; this is like a movie trailer or TV channel website that offer a limited amount of online TV show episodes.\n\nThen there's the glut of pirated porn videos, originally produced as paid content that then gets ripped and released on a free site, which is analogous to a movie torrent; however there's a lot less *streaming* pirated movies because they get targeted and taken down by the copyright holders defending their property.",
"Practically every movie ever made is available online for free. You just have to be willing to take it illegally. Thats just what I heard from some guys, Ive never actually done it myself...",
"In my opinion, not a lot of people would want to/can sit around for 2 hours jerking it. Unless you can go that long. ",
"And why do I spend so much time watching it over movies? Oh that's right because porn gives me the feelings of women without the want for love like fucking movies and TV do. I want to die.",
"? Every movie is on the internet for free, you obviously just don't know where to look. It's not even that it's particularly well hidden. Porn is so prevalent because, well, sex is the most universally popular subject for humans. All animals, in fact, although most will deny it out of shame ;) \n\nNote to whoever said Porn companies do not enforce their copyrights - in fact they do and quite aggressively, especially on p2p networks. ",
"Hollywood is pretty good about enforcing their copyright. Porn can't do that. They either dont have the cash to throw lawsuits around, or they feel that courts won't be very friendly to porn. Without copyright enforcement, its copied everywhere. ",
"Because you only need two minutes? ",
"There are literally millions of YouTube videos. \n\nYou are talking *real* movies? Tell me a porno that has a hundred million dollar budget and I'll let you compare.",
"So the problem is you are comparing Pornhub with Hollywood when you should be comparing Pornhub with youtube. \n\nYoutube is full of free content made by people who just wanted to make something and put it out there or to rake in a little revenue from ads / merchandise / exposure. It's also a dumping ground of stuff that nobody owns the rights to anymore (or the people who do don't care to challenge anyone for it). \n\nPorn sites are the same thing: amatuer videos made by people who just wanted to make something, or companies uploading shortened clips of their professional stuff for exposure and advertising reasons. When you see professional stuff on these sites it's either a clip of a much larger video uploaded for the reasons I stated before, a movie made by a company that doesn't exist anymore (porn companies come and go like the tides) or doesn't have the resources to constantly challenge pirate uploads, or a pirate upload nobody has caught yet (many porn sites aren't as helpful with fulfilling take-down requests as youtube is).",
"Yeah, gee, I wonder what the difference between a production that uses hundreds of people, many months, the biggest of stars, and hundreds of millions of dollars that expects massive return on investment and something that takes 10 people, a thousand dollars, and one afternoon to shoot is",
"Most of the porn online is a sample of a full movie. Most people are fine wacking it to a 15 minute cut or jumping between several short clips. \n\nSome people would even be surprised that normal pornos are hour long full films.\n\nI would argue you can see more full length regular movies online than full length pornos. Good luck finding 2 hours of full length porn on youtube.",
"Pornhub, youporn, redtube, and most other main porn websites are all owned by the same company, MindGeek, that owns major porn production cimpanies such as Babes, Brazzers, etc. It is basically a monopoly of producers and distributors, which means that the movies are uploaded directly as they are produced, since the views end up as revenue for the company either way.\n\nMany others producers also upload incomplete videos to these websites in hopes of attracting premium customers. it's the equivalent of handing out movie trailers to cinemas, but the trailers themselves are usually enough to satisfy most viewers.\n\nSince they can't stream in cinemas and the rental industry doesn't pay ad well, the production of online videos is prominent in the industry; that also makes it easier to pirate, and it is difficult to win lawsuits against a large company such as mindgeek so I doubt people would try. You also have a steady production of free videos like amateur porn.\n\nYou can find many regular movies online for free, it's just that they are lower quality or not protected by copyright. The movies that are nkt readily available are the ones produced by huge distributors, who make their money off official sales in cinema and dvd stores. \n\nAlso, With porn, the demand for higher quality is lower, and the production process is easier (budget and time wise) so there are a lot more movies being produced on a regular basis. You could probably make 100 movies in the time it takes to plan out and film a blockbuster, no bureaucracy to stop the process in its tracks, and the budget is minimal.",
"A lot of the comments here focus on the fact that most of the free porn out there are either samplers or low quality amateur work. However, the proliferation of these tube sites with an indigestible mountain of freely available porn points towards other factors as well.\n\nWhy doesn't the porn industry crack down on copyright issues as hard as Hollywood? To get to the root of this issue, we have to think about the role of a movie/film versus that of porn.\n\nLet's first agree that both pornos and blockbuster films are scarce goods. They are limited, and they have some value to consumers. The point I want to make is that porn is commoditized; movies are not. What I mean here is that, for an average consumer of porn, it doesn't matter if they are going to watch Lusty Milfs 5 or Busty Soccer Moms 7; they're just going to pick the one that's most easily available to them. On the other hand, movie goers definitely care if they are watching Star Wars versus Star Trek.\n\nThere a variety of reasons for this, but the net result is the same:\n\n* Pornos are commodities, and they are priced at commodity prices. Within a certain porn genre, all else being equal, one film is more or less indistinguishable from another.\n* Movies are hard to commoditize. Even within the same genre, you'll be hard-pressed to convince someone bent on watching the new Star Wars movie to settle for Star Trek, and vice versa.\n\nOf course, there are certain exceptions:\n\n* Fans of a certain porn actor/actress will have a stickier (heh) preference towards certain films, and to them, they are not indistinguishable from other films.\n* Certain genres of movie films are nearly commoditized. For example, people who go for one rom-com probably wouldn't mind if they were told that they had to settle for another.\n\nNow, there are two sets of dynamics we need to look at. First, we need to discuss what the outcome of this type of market is; next, we need to discuss why this is the way things are.\n\n### So what if Porn is a commodity good?\n\nWell, since porn (especially within a specific genre) is more or less indistinguishable from other porn, they undergo heavy competition. In particular, the competitive nature of the market tend to push their price down towards a nearly-optimal commodity price. That is, porn in its current form tend to be lowly-valued and directly selling porn (in the current state of affairs) is a low-margin affair. This can be seen not only by the proliferation of cheap studio access passes ($1 a month specials are pushing it these days), but also by the fact that most of the porn that are consumed costs absolutely nothing!\n\nTherefore, since porn is valued so cheaply, it's actually very inefficient to sell them directly. Instead, porn producers and distributors have realized that selling the attention of users of their pages to interested advertisers actually captures higher revenues. This is why you see some of the most clever ad-blocker workarounds on these porn sites; that's where they get most of their revenues from, even the more reputable sites.\n\nIn addition, because producing porn is a low-margin affair itself, there's really no reason to spend a lot of money towards a high-production film. As a result, the porno landscape is dominated by near-amateur level work.\n\nOn the other hand, because block-buster films cannot be commoditized, they:\n\n1. Are much pricier, and they\n2. Tend to be higher production value, because in order to price their films at a higher price, they need to give some justification that their goods are higher quality.\n\nOf course, companies like Hulu and Netflix are trying to create revenue by commoditizing the movie/film sector, so our perceptions may change in the future. Additionally, porn wasn't always a commodity. When distribution cost (the problem of getting a porn film to the hands of a consumer) was a significant bottle-neck, they couldn't be sold at a commodity price because their supply was much more limited than today.\n\n### So what changed?\n\nThe internet. Let's look at the major way in which porn and films were consumed before the rise of the internet. Blockbuster movies were usually viewed in a movie theater; porn usually in the comfort of your own home.\n\nOnce internet speed and bandwidth were fast/large enough, it was able to \"commoditize\" (here, improve the efficiency, hence lowering the price of) the distribution of movies to your home. Porn was hit hard by this innovation, but movies were still more or less something that you still had to watch in theater.\n\nBecause the porn industry was suddenly able to streamline their supply-chain, porn-sites started popping up. This lowered the barrier of entry into the porn industry, because now you don't have to negotiate deals with brick-n-mortar Adult XXX Videomax store fronts. You just need a website.\n\nWith the main distribution bottle-neck solved, content started to flood the internet. As a result of the increase of the supply, its price dropped significantly. As a result, the internet commoditized porn and made it a relatively cheap (discounting opportunity cost) venture to go into.\n\n--------------------------------------\n\nAnyways, other digitizable goods that were/are commoditized by the internet includes video games, music, news, journals, and to a certain extent, movies and television shows. For each one of these goods, you'll often find a similar content pathway. You have way more green-lit Steam games than what has been stocked at Game Stop; Spotify has more music than you can fit on an iPod; etc.",
"Jesus....ELI5 has the worst possible rules and makes submitting simple answers (and even asking questions, sometimes) a pain in the fucking ass. \n\nAds. Porn has ads *all over the place* that produce tons of revenue. Movies don't. \n\nThere, ELI5, are you happy? I love this sub, but dammit you are such a pain in the ass sometimes. ",
"Really? You cant figure out the difference between a porn filmed with your cellphone and a hollywood movie that involves actors, camera operators, sets, studios, etc etc etc? ",
"It's harder to find full length porn productions than it is to find 15 minute edited versions. \n\nNo one wants to watch a movie that is missing 80% of the film, but your genitals are less picky.",
"Huh? There's tons of free movies online.\n\nArrrrrrrrr, matey.",
"\"I'll... I can tell you when you're older. Where did you hear about that kind of stuff anyway?\"",
"Porn was made and monetized for the internet. Legacy movies are monetized around licensing and physical copies.",
"What do you think youtube ultimately is? It's all the creatives making movies. Why aren't their 2 hour videos? The reward system doesn't promote 2 hour videos.",
"Several reasons, notably:\n\n- Porn is really cheap to make. Even for a full-blown pornographic 'movie', the production quality is usually a lot lower than what you see on the silver screen. This makes it easier to recoup the investment through advertising revenue alone.\n\n- Porn gets really high views. Often the same video will get many hits *even from the same viewer.* As compared to regular movies, which you watch once, or maybe once or twice a year if it's a movie you *really* like. This also makes it easier to recoup the investment through advertising revenue, because you simply get to show more ads.\n\n- Porn is really interchangeable. Unless you're into some very specific fetish, there's not *that* much difference between one porn video and the next. So you don't have this phenomenon of exclusivity like you do with regular movies (e.g. everyone needs to see the new Star Wars at some point because the franchise is big in pop culture, and no other movie will fill the Star Wars hole). As a result, porn publishers have to be much more competitive in how they make their material available- hence, free online videos.\n\n- Porn generally doesn't have access to the same media channels as regular movies. You can't watch porn at your local imax, you can't watch it on broadcast TV. So porn companies are basically relying on the Internet for the bulk of their distribution. They just don't have the same options open to them that other film publishers do.",
"This situation is juat opposite in China where all the movies and TV shows are free and porn are charged or even banned!",
"I hope this helps a little but I watched an interview with this crazy porn recruiter once. The man claimed to be Ron Jeremy's cousin and I feel that might have been one of his trust-inducing lines though he did look a bit like Jeremy. His 'job' was waiting at the Hollywood bus station and recruiting witless new 'actresses' into the porn business.\n\nAnyways, he explained porn in such ELI5 ways. He simply explained that in fact they are totally aware that 99% of porn viewers actually do not care about the topic, theme, fetish (or no fetish). Typical guy would just as easily watch \"Spanking Lesbians part 76\" as he'd watch 'Shaved Juggs' *and* that they (porn makers) they know full well 99% will pay the lowest price or watch free.. whatever is quickly available. \n\nBut wait.. see, he explains, the money is totally in that tiny 1% fraction. All the money. 99% of the cash comes from a tiny little group. Obsessed, niche-market infatuated 'fetish' kink people. \n\nSo what they do is make \"Lactating Jugs parts 1-110\" because they will barely make a penny from the 99% of viewers who are totally satisfied seeing ANY Jugs. They are a 'wash', a neutral, nothing either way.\n\n BUT holy hell.. whoever is the 1% (or.0001%) he explains are psychofans. Yes, they will watch the free episodes but more importantly if they are who signs up for the mailing lists, notifications of new episodes, the exclusive 'lactating jugs VIP memberships' and they will drive across LA in rush hour to be the very first to stand in line paying $59.99 for the new Blu-Ray release of Lac-Jugs 111. Oh and hoarding 110 previous DVDs and Blu-rays like they were made of gold. \n\nIn a real way, they actually want to make 99% of their movies available for free HOPING that big free net catches 1% who will then gladly pay a lot of money for the 1% of movies they hold back as pay-only for a while.",
"I don't know why, but could we all just pause for a moment to give thanks that there are literally millions of porn movies on the internet for completely free viewing? Amen.",
"Ummm, at lot of amateur economists using economics 101 to explain this; porn is a commodity, really?\n\nMy understanding of what makes a good or service a commodity is that it's the same where ever you get it. Oil from Saudi Arabia is the same as oil from Venezuela. Gold is gold no matter which gold mine it comes from.\n\nI don't think porn is a commodity because it really is a movie. Not all movies are the same; people clearly have a preference for one movie over another. It makes a difference if you're watching Star Wars: A New Hope versus Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.\n\nSo why is there so much commercial porn on the Internet?\n\nProbably because porn companies do not really enforce pirating of their content as much.\n\nThat's basically what it probably comes down to.\n\nAsk yourself this: A website lists full movies for illegal streaming of all the recent blockbusters and hundreds of other movies from the past 30 years. Do you think Hollywood is just going to let that slide?\n\nPorn companies don't go after illegal streaming as much, but I'm sure stuff gets taken down. And on top of that, what some other poster mentioned was that the major porn sites are owned by the same companies that make pornography. They provide for free for streaming and probably get money from views or that it's just a sample for their pay site.\n\nIt's weird a completely incorrect post such as this:\n\n_URL_0_\n\nGets 1800+ upvotes when it's using Economics 101 to explain something that fails to see that it's because porn companies make their HD/Premium available for free."
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69io2w | why do banks and credit card companies partner up with airlines and hotels? | [deleted] | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/69io2w/eli5_why_do_banks_and_credit_card_companies/ | {
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"Air tickets and hotel bills are the largest dollar volume on many credit cards, because they are expensive and (for regular travelers) repeated.\n\n",
"It benefits both companies. \n\nFor the credit card company, having exclusive rewards connected to an airline helps them get more customers, as many people's biggest recurring expense is traveling.\n\nFor the airline, it incentivizes the card holder to use their airline more often. If someone has a Delta Airlines reward card, they will try to always fly Delta, even if other carriers are a bit cheaper. Also, as the card holder builds up enough air miles for a free ticket, they might book a vacation so that they can use the free ticket. But that if that ticket was free, how does that benefit the airline? Several ways. Most people don't travel alone, so maybe they buy another ticket or convince friends to fly with them. Also, there are some fees to use the miles on top of the normal bag fees."
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ah1715 | when an anxiety medication “binds to dopamine and serotonin receptors” what does that actually mean and what is it’s purpose/effects? | explainlikeimfive | https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/ah1715/eli5_when_an_anxiety_medication_binds_to_dopamine/ | {
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"Ok, so basically dopamine and serotonin are neurotransmitters - meaning they bind to their specific receptors (dopamine to dopamine receptors, serotonin to serotonin receptors) in the brain, which has many effects including inciting emotions etc, which can contribute to anxiety. \n\nAnxiety medication can be dopamine or serotonin blockers, so they basically mimic dopamine or serotonin and bind to the receptors. This blocks real dopamine/serotonin from binding to them. Thus it can inhibit some of the effects of dopamine and serotonin binding such as the emotional response, diluting anxiety :) "
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2k4crm | snoop dogg has given enough probable cause to think theres tons of weed in his house. why wont police raid it ? | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2k4crm/eli5_snoop_dogg_has_given_enough_probable_cause/ | {
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"Artistic freedom. Song lyrics are not a confession and will not hold up in court",
"It's medicinal, he lives in California and has a diagnosed case of glaucoma. ",
"Because he is rich and famous and he has his medical permission slip. Pot is no longer a big deal in Calif. ",
"Singing or talking about having something is not a reason for police to think you must have something and Snoop is a sick man and needs his medicine to stay healthy.",
"Mr. Snoop Doggie Dog is a very wealthy and well connected individual who employees many people in the State of California. There simply is no benefit to either the District Attorney or the police to raid an otherwise upstanding and popular citizen. These people have careers to think about and nobody will look fondly on them for causing trouble.",
"And imagine the police department that had to explain the reasoning behind arresting a *celebrity*, which is already hard for them to justify doing, for something as passive as smoking weed. It is not worth nearly the effort they'd have to go through. ",
"Cuz he inta-nationally known and locally ruspected ",
"If the dude is worth his salt in wisdom, he keeps all of his incriminating materials in a blast furnace controlled by an encrypted remote signal. Ain't gonna be no evidence left.",
"1. I'm not sure if suspicion that a person has weed for personal use can be used to justify a police raid on a home in California. Seems like a waste of police resources to me.\n\n2. Just because Snoop Dogg has frequently admitted to marijuana use or even currently uses it regularly, doesn't mean he has any in his house at any given time. A police raid could come up with nothing. That would definitely be a waste of resources.\n\n3. Snoop Dogg is rich and can hire high-priced lawyers. That means any case against him would be a lot of trouble for prosecutors. And prosecutors/cops prefer easy, no trouble convictions. That's why they usually target poor people who can't defend themselves and are willing to accept quick plea bargains. Snoop Dogg's expensive lawyers could drag out the legal process for years and make the cops and prosecutors work their butts off for a minor conviction.",
"Real answer: The police don't really care that much about marijuana possession. They actually *do* like nailing rich celebrities with charges, but the charges can't be something the public will shrug off. Back in the 70s rich guys like Keith Richards were arrested for such crimes because the public gave a shit.",
"Maybe because he's rich and can afford amazing lawyers, and famous, so he could get a huge amount of public support.",
"Once you have enough money and know enough famous people you can sort of get away with things normal folks can't.",
"Snoop has his shit together. I wanna know how Tommy Chong stays out of the slammer. ",
"Snoop Dogg's fictitious house having weed is not PC to raid Calvin < whatever his name is > 's house.",
"The negative effects.\n\nIf they raid his house and do not find anything, the public can claim police overreach and cause further scrutiny for themselves. \n\nIf they do find something, he can be the matyr of pot possession and his fans are likely to vote massively in favor of way less strict laws which could end up badly on the higher end drugs.",
"We live in America. The police can't just come into your house to see if you have weed. They need to get a judge to sign a warrant.Now the cops can't just go to a judge and say\"I am pretty sure Snoop has some weed in his house ,give me a warrant.\" Judges want a little more substantial evidence.\n\n ",
"Would be a colossal waste of Police resources. There are real crimes that need attention.",
"He has been busted before while traveling. But he lives in Cali and has a prescription. ",
"The standard answer nowadays is weed card, but even before then Snoop was smart enough to cover his ass.\n\nSnoop's mansion is technically in an unincorporated area outside of Diamond Bar, CA. That means that local, city police departments aren't allowed to search, raid, or even visit his home, since he's not in their jurisdiction.",
"Because there's no point. He's not causing any trouble for anyone.\n\nwait who am I kidding, that doesn't stop them.\n"
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2usrab | how come my face feels enormous when it's been numbed at the dentist? | Currently sitting in the chair and wondering why the left side of my face feels like it's blown up. | explainlikeimfive | http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/2usrab/eli5_how_come_my_face_feels_enormous_when_its/ | {
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"The reason for this, I would think, would be because one of your senses could be described as the \"body sense.\" Like, you've got the five basic senses we learn about in Elementary school, right? Sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. But humans are actually equipped with a few other senses as well, like your sense of temperature, your body sense, and your sense of balance. \n\nThis body sense is the way that you can close your eyes, and someone can ask you to touch your nose, and you're able to do it without needing to use your eyes to see. It's the way that you can sense the positions of your other body parts as well. When you numb a body part, you kind of lose that body sense, as well as your sense of touch in the area. Your brain is attempting to compensate for the unexpected lack of input, so things can start to feel a little funny."
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