Technology
Exploring "Why" questions about Technology
491 articles
why do computer hackers get a longer/harsher sentence than a murderer would?
Because governments are afraid of hackers. Murderers only kill people. Hackers can kill banks, defense systems, nuclear plants, expose politician's dirty secrets etc.
Why is internet (a direct connection) only fast enough to stream a few TV shows at once when digital TV antennas can receive hundreds simultaneously?
Just for terminology correction. The antenna does NOT receive and do anything with the channels it hears. IT just funnels the signal into a tuner.
Why are most popular websites created by Americans?
English, plus the largest portion of internet traffic is American, so anyone who can appeal to the American market will find it easier to make a popular website.
Why does a GPS tracker require a monthly fee/service to “connect,” but a GPS car navigator (e.g. Garmin) does not?
So GPS is a completely passive technology. A GPS receiver listens to signals broadcast by a group of satellites at known locations, and uses the timing difference between those signals to calculate it
Why don’t national flags have the name of the country displayed on them? Instead, we’re stuck guessing which of the 196 countries it is.
What language would you write the name in? If you can only read English, the flags of several Asian nations would look very similiar. Same for other similiar languages.
Why do TV’s use red, blue, and green for their pixels, but red, blue, and yellow are the primary colors?
Red blue and yellow are the primary colors for paint and the such, red blue and green are the primary colors of light. Edit: I suppose technically magenta cyan and yellow
Why do some mobile phones have a replaceable battery and some don’t?
I suspect it's down to size. Adding clips and removable backs. Adding battery contacts etc are much harder than just a small snap on connection that never moves.
Why did older CRT monitors for computers typically work in a black background with green text?
[Green P1 phosphors ](_URL_0_) had long persistence (decay time). Amber P3 was medium persistence. White P4 was faster.
Why are green screens green? Why not blue? Or red?
> Is there something special about the color green that makes it easier to superimpose images onto it? They don't superimpose images onto it, they're removing it from the image, and green is a good
Why do trams shake and vibrate when they go in cobblestone streets even though they are still on steel tracks?
Without any further information about the situation youre talking about, my best *educated guess* is either 1) trams naturally vibrate due to the motion of their internal mechanism(s), such as suspen