3. Rules of the game
• There are a total of 20 questions in the prelims. No negative marks.
• Top 5 teams will qualify for the finals.
• 5 questions are star-marked and would be used to resolve tie-breakers. Please
mark these questions on your answer sheets.
• The answer to none of the questions in this quiz is 42. Answering 42 to any
question would result in immediate disqualifications.
• The more you stare at the question, the more the answer stares back at you.
• Kindly refrain from cybernetic investigations.
• The team sitting besides you has written the wrong answer. So don’t copy.
• Hints on special request (valid only if the QM is in a good mood).
• While preparing the quiz, Wikipedia has been assumed to be factually correct.
• QM is Ozymandias, the King of Kings. His decisions are final and binding.
4.
5. Q - 1
What is the significance of this forum post?
6. Q - 2
On X’s 72nd birthday, a UPI photographer Arthur Sasse
was trying to persuade X to smile for the camera, but
having smiled for photographers many times that day,
X did something different. This photograph became
one of the most popular photographs of X, often used
in merchandise depicting him in a lighthearted sense.
X liked this photo and requested UPI to give him nine
copies for personal use, one of which he signed for a
reporter. On June 19, 2009, the original signed
photograph was sold at an auction for $74,324.
Which famous photograph am I talking about?
7. Q - 3
This is the promotional poster of a reality TV show called “Planet of the apps” which was
announced in March 2016 by X. This reality series is being produced by X with help
from Ben Silverman and “MasterChef Junior’s” creator Howard Owens. In this TV show,
contestants would be competing for mentorship, VC funding, and free marketing. This
show will feature Gwyneth Paltrow, Will.i.am and Jessica Alba as the mentors.
Id X.
8. Q - 4
The device shown in this picture was conceived as an experiment to
demonstrate the rotation of the earth in the year 1851. Nowadays, this
device is a popular display in science museums and universities all over
the world.
Identify this scientific device.
9. Q - 5
In the year 1963, The State Mutual Life Assurance Company of
Worcester, Massachusetts (now known as Hanover Insurance) had
purchased Guarantee Mutual Company of Ohio. The merger resulted
in low employee morale.
In an attempt to solve this, a graphic designer named Harvey Ross
Ball was employed as a freelance artist by the company, to come up
with an image to increase the employee morale. In less than ten
minutes, Harvey Ross Ball came up with a simple yet world-changing
image. He was paid $45 for his iconic creation by the executives of
The State Mutual Life Assurance Company.
The use of this image became part of the company's friendship
campaign whereby State Mutual handed out hundreds of buttons with
this image printed upon to it’s employees.
What famous image did Harvey Ross Ball create?
10. Q - 6
This amusing poster (next slide) was spotted at
the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the
year 2012 and uses the highly recognizable style
of IKEA instruction manuals to illustrate just how
“easy” it is to build something.
What particular thing is this poster referring to?
11.
12. *Q - 7*
This is a 3rd party predictive keyboard app called X launched by Y in April 2016.
The app supports some standard 3rd party keyboard features, like the ability to
text via swipe, or tapping on suggested words to speed up typing, for example.
The app also includes support for Z, GIF and emoji search. But, what makes X
unique, however, is the one-handed typing mode which displays a wheel-like
interface that pops off the side of the screen, allowing users to reach all the
letters with just a thumb.
Id X and Y.
13. Q - 8
Recently, on 24th August 2016, X launched a new Netflix-style
on-demand streaming service called “Manbang”. In the local
language, the word “manbang” means “everything”.
The service is being provided by KCTV (X’s TV service). Users
will hook up a set-top box to access X controlled intranet
through IPTV protocol, with limited viewing options. Most
content will centre around X’s history and leadership.
Funnily enough, after the launch of this service, Netflix changed
it’s Twitter bio to “Manbang knockoff”. (Images on the next
slide)
Id X.
14.
15. Q - 9
"A Sound Of Thunder" is a short story by Ray Bradbury, first published in Collier's
magazine in the June 28, 1952 issue and and in the book The Golden Apples of the Sun in
1953.
The plot of the story is set In the year 2055, when time travel has become a practical
reality. A hunter named Eckels pays $10,000 to join a hunting party that will travel back to
the late Jurassic Era, on a guided safari to kill a T-rex. As the party waits to depart, they
discuss the recent presidential elections in which a fascist candidate, Deutscher, has been
defeated by the more moderate Keith, to the relief of the public. When the party arrives in
the past, the hunting guide warns Eckels about the necessity of minimizing the events he
changes before they go back, since tiny alterations to the distant past could snowball into
catastrophic changes in history.
Upon returning to 2055, Eckels notices subtle changes - English words are now spelled
and spoken strangely, people behave differently, and Eckels discovers that Deutscher has
won the election instead of Keith. Looking at the mud on his boots, Eckels finds a crushed
___________, whose death has apparently set in motion a series of subtle changes that
have affected the nature of the alternative present to which the safari has returned.
This short story is often mis-credited as the origin of the term X.
Id X.
16. Q - 10
Phil Zimmermann created the first version of X encryption
in the year 1991. The name, X was inspired by the name
of a grocery store, "Ralph's ______ ____ Grocery", which
featured in radio host Garrison Keillor's fictional town,
Lake Wobegon.
Phil Zimmermann had been a long-time anti-nuclear
activist, and created the X encryption so that similarly
inclined people might securely use BBSs and securely
store messages and files.
Id X.
17. Q - 11
Id the blacked out part. (Image on the next slide)
18.
19. *Q - 12*
In astronomy and astrobiology, the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ), or simply the
habitable zone, is the range of orbits around a star within which a planetary surface
can support liquid water given sufficient atmospheric pressure. The bounds of the
CHZ are based on Earth's position in the Solar System and the amount of radiant
energy it receives from the Sun. Due to the importance of liquid water to Earth's
biosphere, the nature of the CHZ and the objects within is thought to be instrumental
in determining the scope and distribution of Earth-like extraterrestrial life and
intelligence.
This habitable zone is also called the X zone. The term “X Zone” had been first coined
on ABC radio, as a metaphor, by Dr Charley Lineweaver and Stuart Gary to describe
the habitable zone around a star where the temperature is “just right” - not “too hot”
and not “too cold” - for liquid water to exist on an planet.
The location of a X Zone around another star depends on the type of star. Bigger
hotter stars have their X Zones further out, while smaller cooler stars such as red
dwarf stars have X Zones much closer in. Looking for planets in the X Zone is a way
that allows scientists to hone in their search for Earth-like planets that could contain
life.
Id X.
20.
21. Q - 13
Erythema ab igne also known as the “toasted skin
syndrome” is a skin condition caused by long-term
exposure to heat. Patients complain of mild
itchiness and a burning sensation, but often,
unless a change in pigmentation is seen, it can go
unnoticed.
What has been reported as one of the top causes
for the same, a consequence of our tech
saviness?
23. *Q - 15*
The X is a unit of measurement of the number of Twitter
followers a person has, relative to the celebrity Y. The
measurement was standardised when Y achieved half a
million Twitter followers. But, as many Twitter users have
fewer than one million followers, the milli-X (500 followers) is
more commonly used.
Y himself has around 6 Xs followers now, as of August 2016.
Id X.
24. Q - 16
This is a theorem from the book “Principia Mathematicia" written by
Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead. In this book, the
authors tried to derive all mathematical truths from a well defined set
of axioms and inference rules in symbolic logic.
This theorem is the proof of which mathematical truth?
25. Q - 17
In August 2016, X’s CEO Y introduced an entirely new product in front of the
American Association for Clinical Chemistry. This product was an all-in-one
Zika detecting tabletop miniLab (Image on the next slide).
According to Y, the miniLab can run a number of automated tests using blood
and urine samples, including one which Y claimed was a first-of-its-kind for
detecting the Zika virus. Those tests are then uploaded through a centralized
system that can collect samples, process the data and dispense results.
To test it’s miniLab, X collected finger-stick samples from subjects, including
in the Dominican Republic, and shipped those to Palo Alto to run on the
miniLab.
Y told audience members that the plan was to fast-track the device through
FDA approval under the newly issued emergency use authorization for Zika
detectors.
Id X and Y.
26.
27. *Q - 18*
The person in this picture (next slide) is Marc Lore. He is the co-founder and CEO of
X, an e-commerce startup launched in 2014.
Prior to the founding of X, Marc Lore had co-founded Diapers.com with his childhood
friend Vinit Bharara. His vision for Diapers.com was inspired by his own family's
experience with the difficulty of keeping necessary baby-care goods in stock. From
2005 to 2012 the company launched a portfolio of websites catering to families,
including Soap.com and Wag.com. In 2011, the company was sold to Amazon for
$545 million and Marc Lore then worked for Amazon for over two years.
X was publicly launched on July 21, 2015. A prominent feature of the site is it’s
pricing scheme. Pricing adjustments are offered to encourage users to buy more
items at once and to purchase items that are located in the same distribution center,
thus making the purchases less expensive for the company to collect and ship.
On August 8, 2016, Y announced that it will acquire X for $3.3 billion in order to
boost it’s presence in the e-commerce sector and to compete directly with Amazon.
Id X and Y.
28.
29. Q - 19
From 1992 to 1994, AT&T had run an ad campaign which focused on
futuristic technological wonders.
For example - TV ads showed a woman at a video phone talking to her
infant on the screen, and asked: "Have you ever tucked your baby in?
From a phone booth?" All ads ended with the same promise - "You will”.
This particular ad appeared on 27th October, 1994. This ad was created
by a person named Joe McCambley, who worked for the ad agency
Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer.
What is the significance of this particular ad?
30. Q - 20
It has been widely speculated that X discovered Y while he was tripping on LSD, a
psychedelic drug.
X was a devotee of the novelist Aldous Huxley, whose accounts of his experiments with the
hallucinogen, mescaline, in the short stories “The Doors Of Perception and Heaven And
Hell” became cult texts for the hippies of the Sixties. In the late Sixties, X was a founding
member of Soma, a legalise-cannabis group named after the drug in Aldous Huxley's novel
“Brave New World”. X even wrote a famous letter to The Times in 1967 calling for a reform
in the drugs laws.
X was close friends with a brilliant young biochemist named Richard Kemp, who devised
the world's first foolproof method of producing cheap, pure LSD. However, Richard Kemp
was arrested in 1977, when police stormed his laboratory and seized enough pure LSD
and it’s constituent chemicals to make two million LSD tabs.
In an interview with a newspaper reporter, Richard Kemp stated that he had met X at
Cambridge. X had told him that some Cambridge academics used LSD in tiny amounts as
a thinking tool, to liberate them from preconceptions and let their genius wander freely to
new ideas. He claimed that X told him he had perceived the Y while on LSD.
Id X and Y.
32. Q - 1
What is the significance of this forum post?
33. Q - 2
On X’s 72nd birthday, a UPI photographer Arthur Sasse
was trying to persuade X to smile for the camera, but
having smiled for photographers many times that day,
X did something different. This photograph became
one of the most popular photographs of X, often used
in merchandise depicting him in a lighthearted sense.
X liked this photo and requested UPI to give him nine
copies for personal use, one of which he signed for a
reporter. On June 19, 2009, the original signed
photograph was sold at an auction for $74,324.
Which famous photograph am I talking about?
34. Q - 3
This is the promotional poster of a reality TV show called “Planet of the apps” which was
announced in March 2016 by X. This reality series is being produced by X with help
from Ben Silverman and “MasterChef Junior’s” creator Howard Owens. In this TV show,
contestants would be competing for mentorship, VC funding, and free marketing. This
show will feature Gwyneth Paltrow, Will.i.am and Jessica Alba as the mentors.
Id X.
35. Q - 4
The device shown in this picture was conceived as an experiment to
demonstrate the rotation of the earth in the year 1851. Nowadays, this
device is a popular display in science museums and universities all over
the world.
Identify this scientific device.
36. Q - 5
In the year 1963, The State Mutual Life Assurance Company of
Worcester, Massachusetts (now known as Hanover Insurance) had
purchased Guarantee Mutual Company of Ohio. The merger resulted
in low employee morale.
In an attempt to solve this, a graphic designer named Harvey Ross
Ball was employed as a freelance artist by the company, to come up
with an image to increase the employee morale. In less than ten
minutes, Harvey Ross Ball came up with a simple yet world-changing
image. He was paid $45 for his iconic creation by the executives of
The State Mutual Life Assurance Company.
The use of this image became part of the company's friendship
campaign whereby State Mutual handed out hundreds of buttons with
this image printed upon to it’s employees.
What famous image did Harvey Ross Ball create?
37. Q - 6
This amusing poster (next slide) was spotted at
the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the
year 2012 and uses the highly recognizable style
of IKEA instruction manuals to illustrate just how
“easy” it is to build something.
What particular thing is this poster referring to?
38.
39. *Q - 7*
This is a 3rd party predictive keyboard app called X launched by Y in April 2016.
The app supports some standard 3rd party keyboard features, like the ability to
text via swipe, or tapping on suggested words to speed up typing, for example.
The app also includes support for Z, GIF and emoji search. But, what makes X
unique, however, is the one-handed typing mode which displays a wheel-like
interface that pops off the side of the screen, allowing users to reach all the
letters with just a thumb.
Id X and Y.
40. Q - 8
Recently, on 24th August 2016, X launched a new Netflix-style
on-demand streaming service called “Manbang”. In the local
language, the word “manbang” means “everything”.
The service is being provided by KCTV (X’s TV service). Users
will hook up a set-top box to access X controlled intranet
through IPTV protocol, with limited viewing options. Most
content will centre around X’s history and leadership.
Funnily enough, after the launch of this service, Netflix changed
it’s Twitter bio to “Manbang knockoff”. (Images on the next
slide)
Id X.
41.
42. Q - 9
"A Sound Of Thunder" is a short story by Ray Bradbury, first published in Collier's
magazine in the June 28, 1952 issue and and in the book The Golden Apples of the Sun in
1953.
The plot of the story is set In the year 2055, when time travel has become a practical
reality. A hunter named Eckels pays $10,000 to join a hunting party that will travel back to
the late Jurassic Era, on a guided safari to kill a T-rex. As the party waits to depart, they
discuss the recent presidential elections in which a fascist candidate, Deutscher, has been
defeated by the more moderate Keith, to the relief of the public. When the party arrives in
the past, the hunting guide warns Eckels about the necessity of minimizing the events he
changes before they go back, since tiny alterations to the distant past could snowball into
catastrophic changes in history.
Upon returning to 2055, Eckels notices subtle changes - English words are now spelled
and spoken strangely, people behave differently, and Eckels discovers that Deutscher has
won the election instead of Keith. Looking at the mud on his boots, Eckels finds a crushed
___________, whose death has apparently set in motion a series of subtle changes that
have affected the nature of the alternative present to which the safari has returned.
This short story is often mis-credited as the origin of the term X.
Id X.
43. Q - 10
Phil Zimmermann created the first version of X encryption
in the year 1991. The name, X was inspired by the name
of a grocery store, "Ralph's ______ ____ Grocery", which
featured in radio host Garrison Keillor's fictional town,
Lake Wobegon.
Phil Zimmermann had been a long-time anti-nuclear
activist, and created the X encryption so that similarly
inclined people might securely use BBSs and securely
store messages and files.
Id X.
44. Q - 11
Id the blacked out part. (Image on the next slide)
45.
46. *Q - 12*
In astronomy and astrobiology, the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ), or simply the
habitable zone, is the range of orbits around a star within which a planetary surface
can support liquid water given sufficient atmospheric pressure. The bounds of the
CHZ are based on Earth's position in the Solar System and the amount of radiant
energy it receives from the Sun. Due to the importance of liquid water to Earth's
biosphere, the nature of the CHZ and the objects within is thought to be instrumental
in determining the scope and distribution of Earth-like extraterrestrial life and
intelligence.
This habitable zone is also called the X zone. The term “X Zone” had been first coined
on ABC radio, as a metaphor, by Dr Charley Lineweaver and Stuart Gary to describe
the habitable zone around a star where the temperature is “just right” - not “too hot”
and not “too cold” - for liquid water to exist on an planet.
The location of a X Zone around another star depends on the type of star. Bigger
hotter stars have their X Zones further out, while smaller cooler stars such as red
dwarf stars have X Zones much closer in. Looking for planets in the X Zone is a way
that allows scientists to hone in their search for Earth-like planets that could contain
life.
Id X.
47.
48. Q - 13
Erythema ab igne also known as the “toasted skin
syndrome” is a skin condition caused by long-term
exposure to heat. Patients complain of mild
itchiness and a burning sensation, but often,
unless a change in pigmentation is seen, it can go
unnoticed.
What has been reported as one of the top causes
for the same, a consequence of our tech
saviness?
50. *Q - 15*
The X is a unit of measurement of the number of Twitter
followers a person has, relative to the celebrity Y. The
measurement was standardised when Y achieved half a
million Twitter followers. But, as many Twitter users have
fewer than one million followers, the milli-X (500 followers) is
more commonly used.
Y himself has around 6 Xs followers now, as of August 2016.
Id X.
51. Q - 16
This is a theorem from the book “Principia Mathematicia" written by
Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead. In this book, the
authors tried to derive all mathematical truths from a well defined set
of axioms and inference rules in symbolic logic.
This theorem is the proof of which mathematical truth?
52. Q - 17
In August 2016, X’s CEO Y introduced an entirely new product in front of the
American Association for Clinical Chemistry. This product was an all-in-one
Zika detecting tabletop miniLab (Image on the next slide).
According to Y, the miniLab can run a number of automated tests using blood
and urine samples, including one which Y claimed was a first-of-its-kind for
detecting the Zika virus. Those tests are then uploaded through a centralized
system that can collect samples, process the data and dispense results.
To test it’s miniLab, X collected finger-stick samples from subjects, including
in the Dominican Republic, and shipped those to Palo Alto to run on the
miniLab.
Y told audience members that the plan was to fast-track the device through
FDA approval under the newly issued emergency use authorization for Zika
detectors.
Id X and Y.
53.
54. *Q - 18*
The person in this picture (next slide) is Marc Lore. He is the co-founder and CEO of
X, an e-commerce startup launched in 2014.
Prior to the founding of X, Marc Lore had co-founded Diapers.com with his childhood
friend Vinit Bharara. His vision for Diapers.com was inspired by his own family's
experience with the difficulty of keeping necessary baby-care goods in stock. From
2005 to 2012 the company launched a portfolio of websites catering to families,
including Soap.com and Wag.com. In 2011, the company was sold to Amazon for
$545 million and Marc Lore then worked for Amazon for over two years.
X was publicly launched on July 21, 2015. A prominent feature of the site is it’s
pricing scheme. Pricing adjustments are offered to encourage users to buy more
items at once and to purchase items that are located in the same distribution center,
thus making the purchases less expensive for the company to collect and ship.
On August 8, 2016, Y announced that it will acquire X for $3.3 billion in order to
boost it’s presence in the e-commerce sector and to compete directly with Amazon.
Id X and Y.
55.
56. Q - 19
From 1992 to 1994, AT&T had run an ad campaign which focused on
futuristic technological wonders.
For example - TV ads showed a woman at a video phone talking to her
infant on the screen, and asked: "Have you ever tucked your baby in?
From a phone booth?" All ads ended with the same promise - "You will”.
This particular ad appeared on 27th October, 1994. This ad was created
by a person named Joe McCambley, who worked for the ad agency
Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer.
What is the significance of this particular ad?
57. Q - 20
It has been widely speculated that X discovered Y while he was tripping on LSD, a
psychedelic drug.
X was a devotee of the novelist Aldous Huxley, whose accounts of his experiments with the
hallucinogen, mescaline, in the short stories “The Doors Of Perception and Heaven And
Hell” became cult texts for the hippies of the Sixties. In the late Sixties, X was a founding
member of Soma, a legalise-cannabis group named after the drug in Aldous Huxley's novel
“Brave New World”. X even wrote a famous letter to The Times in 1967 calling for a reform
in the drugs laws.
X was close friends with a brilliant young biochemist named Richard Kemp, who devised
the world's first foolproof method of producing cheap, pure LSD. However, Richard Kemp
was arrested in 1977, when police stormed his laboratory and seized enough pure LSD
and it’s constituent chemicals to make two million LSD tabs.
In an interview with a newspaper reporter, Richard Kemp stated that he had met X at
Cambridge. X had told him that some Cambridge academics used LSD in tiny amounts as
a thinking tool, to liberate them from preconceptions and let their genius wander freely to
new ideas. He claimed that X told him he had perceived the Y while on LSD.
Id X and Y.
62. Q - 2
On X’s 72nd birthday, a UPI photographer Arthur Sasse
was trying to persuade X to smile for the camera, but
having smiled for photographers many times that day,
X did something different. This photograph became
one of the most popular photographs of X, often used
in merchandise depicting him in a lighthearted sense.
X liked this photo and requested UPI to give him nine
copies for personal use, one of which he signed for a
reporter. On June 19, 2009, the original signed
photograph was sold at an auction for $74,324.
Which famous photograph am I talking about?
64. Q - 3
This is the promotional poster of a reality TV show called “Planet of the apps” which was
announced in March 2016 by X. This reality series is being produced by X with help
from Ben Silverman and “MasterChef Junior’s” creator Howard Owens. In this TV show,
contestants would be competing for mentorship, VC funding, and free marketing. This
show will feature Gwyneth Paltrow, Will.i.am and Jessica Alba as the mentors.
Id X.
66. Q - 4
The device shown in this picture was conceived as an experiment to
demonstrate the rotation of the earth in the year 1851. Nowadays, this
device is a popular display in science museums and universities all over
the world.
Identify this scientific device.
68. Q - 5
In the year 1963, The State Mutual Life Assurance Company of
Worcester, Massachusetts (now known as Hanover Insurance) had
purchased Guarantee Mutual Company of Ohio. The merger resulted
in low employee morale.
In an attempt to solve this, a graphic designer named Harvey Ross
Ball was employed as a freelance artist by the company, to come up
with an image to increase the employee morale. In less than ten
minutes, Harvey Ross Ball came up with a simple yet world-changing
image. He was paid $45 for his iconic creation by the executives of
The State Mutual Life Assurance Company.
The use of this image became part of the company's friendship
campaign whereby State Mutual handed out hundreds of buttons with
this image printed upon to it’s employees.
What famous image did Harvey Ross Ball create?
70. Q - 6
This amusing poster (next slide) was spotted at
the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the
year 2012 and uses the highly recognizable style
of IKEA instruction manuals to illustrate just how
“easy” it is to build something.
What particular thing is this poster referring to?
73. *Q - 7*
This is a 3rd party predictive keyboard app called X launched by Y in April 2016.
The app supports some standard 3rd party keyboard features, like the ability to
text via swipe, or tapping on suggested words to speed up typing, for example.
The app also includes support for Z, GIF and emoji search. But, what makes X
unique, however, is the one-handed typing mode which displays a wheel-like
interface that pops off the side of the screen, allowing users to reach all the
letters with just a thumb.
Id X and Y.
75. Q - 8
Recently, on 24th August 2016, X launched a new Netflix-style
on-demand streaming service called “Manbang”. In the local
language, the word “manbang” means “everything”.
The service is being provided by KCTV (X’s TV service). Users
will hook up a set-top box to access X controlled intranet
through IPTV protocol, with limited viewing options. Most
content will centre around X’s history and leadership.
Funnily enough, after the launch of this service, Netflix changed
it’s Twitter bio to “Manbang knockoff”. (Images on the next
slide)
Id X.
78. Q - 9
"A Sound Of Thunder" is a short story by Ray Bradbury, first published in Collier's
magazine in the June 28, 1952 issue and and in the book The Golden Apples of the Sun in
1953.
The plot of the story is set In the year 2055, when time travel has become a practical
reality. A hunter named Eckels pays $10,000 to join a hunting party that will travel back to
the late Jurassic Era, on a guided safari to kill a T-rex. As the party waits to depart, they
discuss the recent presidential elections in which a fascist candidate, Deutscher, has been
defeated by the more moderate Keith, to the relief of the public. When the party arrives in
the past, the hunting guide warns Eckels about the necessity of minimizing the events he
changes before they go back, since tiny alterations to the distant past could snowball into
catastrophic changes in history.
Upon returning to 2055, Eckels notices subtle changes - English words are now spelled
and spoken strangely, people behave differently, and Eckels discovers that Deutscher has
won the election instead of Keith. Looking at the mud on his boots, Eckels finds a crushed
___________, whose death has apparently set in motion a series of subtle changes that
have affected the nature of the alternative present to which the safari has returned.
This short story is often mis-credited as the origin of the term X.
Id X.
80. Q - 10
Phil Zimmermann created the first version of X encryption
in the year 1991. The name, X was inspired by the name
of a grocery store, "Ralph's ______ ____ Grocery", which
featured in radio host Garrison Keillor's fictional town,
Lake Wobegon.
Phil Zimmermann had been a long-time anti-nuclear
activist, and created the X encryption so that similarly
inclined people might securely use BBSs and securely
store messages and files.
Id X.
85. *Q - 12*
In astronomy and astrobiology, the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ), or simply the
habitable zone, is the range of orbits around a star within which a planetary surface
can support liquid water given sufficient atmospheric pressure. The bounds of the
CHZ are based on Earth's position in the Solar System and the amount of radiant
energy it receives from the Sun. Due to the importance of liquid water to Earth's
biosphere, the nature of the CHZ and the objects within is thought to be instrumental
in determining the scope and distribution of Earth-like extraterrestrial life and
intelligence.
This habitable zone is also called the X zone. The term “X Zone” had been first coined
on ABC radio, as a metaphor, by Dr Charley Lineweaver and Stuart Gary to describe
the habitable zone around a star where the temperature is “just right” - not “too hot”
and not “too cold” - for liquid water to exist on an planet.
The location of a X Zone around another star depends on the type of star. Bigger
hotter stars have their X Zones further out, while smaller cooler stars such as red
dwarf stars have X Zones much closer in. Looking for planets in the X Zone is a way
that allows scientists to hone in their search for Earth-like planets that could contain
life.
Id X.
88. Q - 13
Erythema ab igne also known as the “toasted skin
syndrome” is a skin condition caused by long-term
exposure to heat. Patients complain of mild
itchiness and a burning sensation, but often,
unless a change in pigmentation is seen, it can go
unnoticed.
What has been reported as one of the top causes
for the same, a consequence of our tech
saviness?
92. *Q - 15*
The X is a unit of measurement of the number of Twitter
followers a person has, relative to the celebrity Y. The
measurement was standardised when Y achieved half a
million Twitter followers. But, as many Twitter users have
fewer than one million followers, the milli-X (500 followers) is
more commonly used.
Y himself has around 6 Xs followers now, as of August 2016.
Id X.
94. Q - 16
This is a theorem from the book “Principia Mathematicia" written by
Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead. In this book, the
authors tried to derive all mathematical truths from a well defined set
of axioms and inference rules in symbolic logic.
This theorem is the proof of which mathematical truth?
96. Q - 17
In August 2016, X’s CEO Y introduced an entirely new product in front of the
American Association for Clinical Chemistry. This product was an all-in-one
Zika detecting tabletop miniLab (Image on the next slide).
According to Y, the miniLab can run a number of automated tests using blood
and urine samples, including one which Y claimed was a first-of-its-kind for
detecting the Zika virus. Those tests are then uploaded through a centralized
system that can collect samples, process the data and dispense results.
To test it’s miniLab, X collected finger-stick samples from subjects, including
in the Dominican Republic, and shipped those to Palo Alto to run on the
miniLab.
Y told audience members that the plan was to fast-track the device through
FDA approval under the newly issued emergency use authorization for Zika
detectors.
Id X and Y.
99. *Q - 18*
The person in this picture (next slide) is Marc Lore. He is the co-founder and CEO of
X, an e-commerce startup launched in 2014.
Prior to the founding of X, Marc Lore had co-founded Diapers.com with his childhood
friend Vinit Bharara. His vision for Diapers.com was inspired by his own family's
experience with the difficulty of keeping necessary baby-care goods in stock. From
2005 to 2012 the company launched a portfolio of websites catering to families,
including Soap.com and Wag.com. In 2011, the company was sold to Amazon for
$545 million and Marc Lore then worked for Amazon for over two years.
X was publicly launched on July 21, 2015. A prominent feature of the site is it’s
pricing scheme. Pricing adjustments are offered to encourage users to buy more
items at once and to purchase items that are located in the same distribution center,
thus making the purchases less expensive for the company to collect and ship.
On August 8, 2016, Y announced that it will acquire X for $3.3 billion in order to
boost it’s presence in the e-commerce sector and to compete directly with Amazon.
Id X and Y.
102. Q - 19
From 1992 to 1994, AT&T had run an ad campaign which focused on
futuristic technological wonders.
For example - TV ads showed a woman at a video phone talking to her
infant on the screen, and asked: "Have you ever tucked your baby in?
From a phone booth?" All ads ended with the same promise - "You will”.
This particular ad appeared on 27th October, 1994. This ad was created
by a person named Joe McCambley, who worked for the ad agency
Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer.
What is the significance of this particular ad?
104. Q - 20
It has been widely speculated that X discovered Y while he was tripping on LSD, a
psychedelic drug.
X was a devotee of the novelist Aldous Huxley, whose accounts of his experiments with the
hallucinogen, mescaline, in the short stories “The Doors Of Perception and Heaven And
Hell” became cult texts for the hippies of the Sixties. In the late Sixties, X was a founding
member of Soma, a legalise-cannabis group named after the drug in Aldous Huxley's novel
“Brave New World”. X even wrote a famous letter to The Times in 1967 calling for a reform
in the drugs laws.
X was close friends with a brilliant young biochemist named Richard Kemp, who devised
the world's first foolproof method of producing cheap, pure LSD. However, Richard Kemp
was arrested in 1977, when police stormed his laboratory and seized enough pure LSD
and it’s constituent chemicals to make two million LSD tabs.
In an interview with a newspaper reporter, Richard Kemp stated that he had met X at
Cambridge. X had told him that some Cambridge academics used LSD in tiny amounts as
a thinking tool, to liberate them from preconceptions and let their genius wander freely to
new ideas. He claimed that X told him he had perceived the Y while on LSD.
Id X and Y.
107. Rules of the game
• 3 rounds of Infinite Pounce. 2 Written Rounds.
• The answer to none of the questions in this quiz is 42. Answering 42 to any
question would result in immediate disqualifications.
• Hints on special request (valid only if the QM is in a good mood).
• The more you stare at the question, the more the answer stares back at you.
• Kindly refrain from cybernetic investigations.
• In case of a tie, weapons of choice shall be provided.
• While preparing the quiz, Wikipedia has been assumed to be factually correct.
• QM is Ozymandias, the King of Kings. His decisions are final and binding.
108. Bad Luck Brian memes serve as safety slides in
this quiz, keep an eye out for some easy chuckles.
111. Rules of the round
• There are 5 questions in this round. One direct for each team.
• Questions are passable. No negatives on a pass.
• +20/-10 on a pounce.
• +10/-0 on a direct question.
112. Q - 1
The device in the image (next slide) was called X. It is widely considered to be the first
virtual reality head-mounted display system. It was created in 1968 by Ivan Sutherland
(who later won the Turing Award for Sketchpad) with the help of his student Bob Sproull.
The device was primitive both in terms of user interface and realism, and the graphics
comprising the virtual environment were simple wireframe rooms. X displayed output from
a computer program in the stereoscopic display. The heavy weight of X, and the need to
track the head movements necessitated the HMD to be attached to a mechanical arm
suspended from the ceiling of the lab. The formidable appearance of this mechanism
inspired it’s name.
The name X is derived from a story in the Greek mythology. According to this story, a
person named Y once told Dionysius, the king, that he was truly fortunate to be a man of
power and authority, surrounded by magnificence. Dionysius then offered to switch places
with Y so that he could also experience it. Y eagerly accepted the king's proposal. Y sat
down in the king's throne surrounded by every luxury, but Dionysius arranged that a huge
_____ should hang above the throne, held only by a single hair of a horse's tail. Y finally
begged the king to be allowed to depart because he was always tensed due to the _____,
realising that with great fortune and power also comes great danger.
Id X.
116. Q - 2
X is a company founded in 2004 by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, Joe
Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen, and Nathan Gettings. Early investments
were $2 million from the CIA’s venture arm In-Q-Tel, and $30 million
from Peter Thiel and his firm, Founders Fund.
The company name X comes from a fictional magical artefact
mentioned in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy books. A X (sometimes
translated as "Seeing Stone" but literally meaning "Farsighted" or "One
that Sees from Afar") is a crystal ball, used for both communication
and as a means of seeing events in other parts of the world.
The names of X’s offices are - the Shire, Grey Havens, Rivendell and
Gondor, all derived from J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy books. Also, the
name of X’s annual company gathering is HobbitCon.
Id X.
119. Q - 3
This is a modern day replica of the head of a ventriloquist
dummy called “Stooky Bill” which was used by someone to
demonstrate an everyday technology for the first time.
What everyday technology? Also give me the funda.
120.
121. Answer
John Logie Baird used this dummy in the 1924 experiment to transmit a televised
image between the rooms in his laboratory.
Due to the low sensitivity of the photoelectric cells, Baird's TV was not able to
televise human faces, because they had inadequate contrast. So he used a
ventriloquist's dummy, whose brightly painted face had greater contrast, and
made it move and talk before the scanner. Stooky Bill has been jokingly called
"the first television actor".
122. Q - 4
FoldIt was developed as an experimental research project
by the University of Washington in collaboration with the
Department of Biochemistry. The objective of FoldIt is to fold
structures of selected proteins as well as possible using
tools provided in-game. Scientists would then use these
solutions to identify a native structural configuration, helping
in eradicating diseases. Nearly 57,000 players provided
useful results, outperforming algorithmically computed
solutions.
FoldIt is an example of application of game-design elements
and game principles in typically non-game contexts.
What is this concept called?
125. Q - 5
This law has often been illustrated using the
example of fax machines as follow -
“A single fax machine is useless, but the value of
every fax machine increases with the total number
of fax machines in the network, because the total
number of people with whom each user may send
and receive documents increases.”
What law is being talked about?
126.
127. Answer
Metcalfe’s Law
(the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to
the square of the number of connected users of the system)
129. Rules of the round
• There are 10 separate image slides in this round.
• All images are of mascots of various tech companies,
operating systems, softwares etc.
• Write down the name of the tech company, operating system,
software etc. whose mascot is shown.
• +10 for each correct answer. No negative marks.
• Bonus +20 marks if you get all the 10 answers correct.
• Only your team is writing the answers, everyone else is
drawing dirty pictures. So don’t copy.
143. Rules of the round
• There are 5 questions in this round. One direct for each team.
• Questions are passable. No negatives on a pass.
• +20/-10 on a pounce.
• +10/-0 on a direct question.
144. Q - 1
X was a bioengineering company founded by John ________ in the year 1983 with the
support of the ________ Foundation, the Law Offices of Cowan, Swain and Ross, and
several Japanese investment firms. X’s slogan was - "We Make Your Future”.
X’s management was headquartered at Farallon Road, Palo Alto, California. When the
company was being formed, the scientist Norman Atherton was it’s chief geneticist. X
originally handled normal genetics and biological tampering, such as making a miniature
elephant that helped Donald Gennaro raise money to fund the corporation from consortia.
However, X's true intentions were something much grander. When Norman Atherton died,
his student, Henry Wu, was made the new chief geneticist. Henry Wu designed a very
unique scientific procedure for which X became world famous for.
However, interference from one of X's rivals, BioSyn, resulted in a debacle and caused the
company to go bankrupt. X filed for Chapter 11 protection in United States Bankruptcy
Court in San Francisco on October 5, 1989. Biosyn tried to buy X in it's bankruptcy, but
the Japanese investors wouldn't sell it. The company was last heard of when it's corporate
headquarters and laboratory were being sold off, and it's creditors taking their loses.
Id X and the unique scientific procedure for which X became world famous for?
145.
146. Answer
X = InGen Technologies
They developed the scientific procedure for cloning Dinosaurs
147. Q - 2
25924 X is an asteroid from the asteroid belt. It was discovered
by Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) on February
19, 2001.
It was named after the humorist, guitarist and environmentalist
X, because it’s provisional designation was “2001 DA42” which
happened to contain the year of X’s death, his initials, and Y.
Id X.
150. Q - 3
X was a famous mathematician and physicist who made significant
contributions to many fields, including number theory, algebra,
statistics, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, geophysics,
mechanics, electrostatics, astronomy, matrix theory, and optics.
He has been referred to as “greatest mathematician since antiquity”.
X was a child prodigy. When X was 8 years old, his class teacher was
frustrated with the students. So, in an attempt to punish them, she
demanded that they add up all of the numbers from 1 to 100. This is a
daunting task for the average person. She expected to have the
students start working on the problem, so she could leave and take a
break. As she was about to walk out the door, X raised his hand and
declared that the answer was 5050. The teacher was stunned. After
checking his work, they found that 5050 was the correct answer.
Id X.
153. Q - 4
The person in this picture (next slide) was a famous American portrait painter
in the 1800s. He made a few historic portrait paintings of some American
politicians and Presidents - like John Adams, James Monroe etc. X sought to
capture the essence of America's culture and life by his paintings. His most
famous painting was titled “Dying Hercules”, which seemed to represent a
political statement against the British and also the American Federalists.
In 1825, New York City had commissioned X to paint a portrait of Lafayette in
Washington DC. While X was painting, a horse messenger delivered a letter
from his father that read - "Your dear wife is convalescent". The next day he
received a letter from his father detailing his wife's sudden death. X
immediately left Washington for his home at New Haven, leaving the portrait of
Lafayette unfinished. By the time he arrived, his wife had already been buried.
Heartbroken that for days he was unaware of his wife's failing health and her
death, he decided to explore a means of rapid long distance communication.
Id X and what did he invent?
154.
155.
156. Answer
X = Samuel Morse
He invented the telegraph and developed the Morse Code
157. Q - 5
In USA, The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), is an amendment made
in 1986 to the Counterfeit Access Device and Abuse Act that was passed in
1984 and essentially states that, whoever intentionally accesses a computer
without authorization, and thereby obtains information from any protected
computer, shall be punished under the Act. While the CFAA is primarily a
criminal law intended to reduce the instances of malicious interferences with
computer systems and to address federal computer offences, an
amendment in 1994 allows civil actions to brought under this law as well.
In June 2013, Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Sen. Ron Wyden introduced X’s Law in
the US Congress. The proposed bill updated the CFAA to keep small
violators from being charged under federal law. X’s law amended the CFAA
to narrow the scope of the CFAA so that basic offences like violations of a
website's or software's terms-of-services agreement could not lead to federal
charges. It also limits the ability of prosecutors to bring federal charges on
top of state charges.
X’s law is named after a famous personality. Id this personality.
161. Rules of the round
• There are 10 separate image slides in this round.
• All images are of Google Doodles honouring various scientists,
inventors or mathematicians.
• Write down the name of the scientist, inventor or
mathematician.
• +10 for each correct answer. No negative marks.
• Bonus +20 marks if you get all the 10 answers correct.
• Only your team is writing the answers, everyone else is
drawing dirty pictures. So don’t copy.
173. Answers
1. Erwin Schrödinger
2. Heinrich Hertz
3. Niels Bohr
4. Thomas Alva Edison
5. Alessandro Volta
6. George Boole
7. Robert Noyce
8. Gregor Mendel
9. Pierre de Fermat
10. William Roentgen
175. Rules of the round
• There are 5 questions in this round. One direct for each team.
• Questions are passable. No negatives on a pass.
• +20/-10 on a pounce.
• +10/-0 on a direct question.
176. Q - 1
The development of the X came about as part of a collaboration
between Y and the seasoned film title designer Dan Perri. In 1976, Y
invited Perri to Z, W's post-production operation at Van Nuys, California.
They took inspiration from the 1939 Cecil DeMille film, “Union Pacific”.
Perri developed sketches and prototype mechanical artwork. He also
designed a logotype, consisting of block-capital letters.
The X in the films were accomplished by filming physical models laid out
on the floor. The models were approximately 60 cm wide and 1.80 m
long. The X was accomplished by the camera moving longitudinally
along the model. It was difficult and time-consuming to achieve a
smooth _________ effect. Nevertheless, for an analog technique, the
results were spectacular.
Id X.
179. Q - 2
X and Santiago Ramon Cajal were awarded the Nobel Prize for
Physiology and Medicine in the year 1906 “in recognition of their
work on the structure of the nervous system''.
While working in a psychiatric hospital, X discovered a method of
staining individual neurons, which allowed him to see complex
outlines of the shapes and was later used to visualise, for the first
time, the branched connections between nerve cells.
X's most famous (and eponymous) discovery, however, was greatly
doubted in his lifetime, with many people arguing that it was merely
an illusion created by the microscopy technique he was using. It
was confirmed only with better microscopes in the 20th century.
Id X and what did he discover?
182. Q - 3
Guglielmo Marconi won the Nobel Prize for Physics
in the year 1909 for inventing the radio.
But, Marconi’s invention was based on the work
previously done by X.
After Marconi became world famous for sending the
first transatlantic message, X said the following -
“Marconi is a good fellow. Let him continue. He is
using seventeen of my patents.”
Id X.
185. Q - 4
The original inspiration for X occurred to Y in the year 2008 when Jim
McKelvey, an old friend of Y, was unable to complete a $2,000 sale of
his glass faucets and fittings because he could not accept credit cards.
The name X refers to the idiomatic term for settling debts - “________ up”
and also to the _____ of the company’s hardware products.
Several other names for the company were considered, including
“squirrel”, “stash”, and “wallet”. The name Squirrel was used during a
meeting the company had with Apple's Scott Forstall, SVP of iPhone
Software, at that time, wherein Y saw that the Apple cafe's point-of-sale
system was provided by a company called "Squirrel Systems”, and
decided to change the name.
Id X and Y.
200. Q - 2
The following images are of two legendary Japanese Sumo wrestlers, Akebono
and Konishiki. In 1992, two Stanford University students got addicted to watching
Sumo wrestling. Hence, they named their workstations after these two Sumo
wrestlers. In 1994, they both started X and used their workstations as the first
servers of X. Also, the URL of X initially was www.akebono.stanford.edu/X
Id X.
206. Q - 4
The person in this picture is Soleio Cuervo (next slide). He
studied music composition at Duke University and learned to
program websites by creating one for his music band. After
graduating in 2003, he set up his own Web development firm.
In 2005, he joined X as a web designer.
At X, Soleio Cuervo spearheaded an effort to unify the ways in
which people left comments on the website. As part of the
overhaul, he wanted to introduce an idea that had been cooked
up at one of X's "hackathon" coding sessions (all-night events
where employees gathered to work on projects that they
haven't had the time to do on their regular jobs).
What did he create?
210. Q - 5
In the field of Chemistry, the discovery of X was a very important milestone
and it’s 25th anniversary was celebrated in great style in 1890 by the German
Chemical Society.
At the 25th anniversary of the discovery of X, Friedrich August _______, the
German chemist who discovered X, reminisced about his major
accomplishment and told about two dreams that he had at key moments of his
work. In his first dream, in 1865, he saw atoms dance around and link to one
another. He awakened and immediately began to sketch what he saw in his
dream.
Later, Friedrich August _______ had another dream, in which he saw atoms
dance around, then form themselves into strings, moving about in a snake-like
fashion. This vision continued until the snake of atoms formed itself into an
image of a snake eating its own tail. This dream gave him the idea of X.
Id X.
213. Q - 6
The people in this image (next slide) are wearing “cleanroom suits”.
A cleanroom suit is an overall garment worn in a cleanroom, an
environment with a controlled level of contamination. One common
type is an all-in-one coverall worn by semiconductor and
nanotechnology line production workers.
The suit covers the wearer to prevent skin and hair being shed into a
cleanroom environment. The suit may be in one piece or consist of
several separate garments worn tightly together. It must also
incorporate a properly fitted bouffant cap or mob cap.
More advanced designs with face covers were introduced in the
1990s by Intel and featured prominently in the Intel Pentium product
advertisements.
How do we popularly know a cleanroom suit as?
217. Q - 7
This is the trailer of sci-fi thriller movie called “Morgan”. This movie was
released on 2nd September 2016 and it tells the story of a humanoid
robot with advanced AI that essentially rebels against it’s creators.
What is so special about this trailer?
218.
219. Answer
This trailer was created by IBM Watson
(It analysed the trailers of 100 existing horror movies, and analysed scenes
both in terms of visuals and audio to come up with this resulting teaser.)
220. Q - 8
In the year 2009, X decided to implement a “low-carbon approach” in it’s HQ. They
rented a company called “California Y” to bring in about 200 _____s which then spend
about one week at X’s HQ, doing their work.
Amy Cook, an Assistant Manager of Marketing for PETA said this about the approach -
“PETA has no problem with letting _____s do what _____s want to do, but we do have
concerns about how the _____s may be transported, whether they are provided with
access to shelter during storms and shade as well as water during hot weather, where
they are housed when they aren’t “working,” what kind of veterinary care they receive,
and what becomes of old and/or excess _____s. PETA has found over and over that
whenever animals are used by a business to make money, corners are cut and animals
often suffer as a result. And that really gets our _____, if you’ll pardon the pun.”
Niki Fenwick, a X representative replied back - “X takes the wellness of our employees
very seriously and we pride ourselves on having a responsive and adaptable culture.
The _____s are not, of course, full-time X employees, but we would certainly respond
directly to any concerns about their treatment. I can confirm that during their time in our
HQ, like other X employees, each _____ is entitled to a free organic lunch.”
Id X and what “low-carbon approach” is being talked about?
221.
222. Answer
X = Google
They stopped using lawn-movers to mow their HQ lawns and instead
decided to used goats to mow and fertilize the lawns at the same time.