Technology
Exploring "Why" questions about Technology
491 articles
Why nuclear plant computers are connected to the Internet and vulnerable to cyberattacks?
Imagine you have a computer on your house. Now you want to connect that computer to your friend 100 miles away. How do you do it?
Why do they make ‘normal’ cars that go faster than the speed limits? e.g. Hyundai i10 that goes up to 150mph
Because otherwise it's not very sympathetic to the car's mechanical parts. For instance if you say "Well my highway has speed limit of 70mph so I'll buy a car that has a top speed of 70mph". Well grea
why is it now code to install outlets upside down?
If a conductive object falls accidentally across the main two prongs of a "right side up" (😮) plug that isn't completely flush against the outlet, it will close the circuit. If it's your finger you ge
Why has broadcasting TV never caused bandwidth problems, whereas streaming movies does?
It does cause a bandwidth problem. That's why there are only a few TV stations in a given area, and they only broadcast a few movies at a time to millions of people.
Why, when looking at a computer screen from a lower angle, do the colors invert to a weird blue and black?
Light coming at a flat angle from the screen has passed through a thicker layer of liquid crystal than intended, and is thus more rotated. Colors that were supposed to be blocked may thus pass, and co
Why does it make sense for an internet company to charge more money for a faster connection speed?
The more traffic you want to be able to carry, the more that network will cost to build and to maintain. The equipment capital expenditure is a lot of it, but service contracts and transit opex is als
Why do reporters still use overly large hand-held microphones instead of headsets or a boom mic off screen?
Hard to interview people with a headset mic and news crews usually consist only of the camera person and the reporter, which leaves no one to hold a boom mic overhead.
Why do browsers and websites prompt you for saving your passwords if it is considered unsafe?
The Average Joe is unlikely to be "hacked", but very likely to forget the password to a site he hasn't used in a while. Browser password-saving is meant to be a convenience feature, not a security fea
Why does the pdf format seem to be still the most common digital format for digital books?
The most common? Amazon uses the MOBI format on its Kindles, so I think that would be more common. MOBI and EPUB (the main open source book format) are closer to a standard web page format, in that th
Why do you have to eject a thumb drive before removing it from your computer? How does not ejecting damage your computer?
Imagine someone is writing on a piece of paper. By asking the computer to remove the drive you are letting that person finish their sentence and the writing makes sense to the next person reading it.