[Wolves] Christmas Quiz answers

[Ron Wellsted]

As promised here are the answers to the quiz:

1.BASIC
Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC.

2.CUTS
Computer Users' Tape Standard.  This was a method of storing programs
using audio cassettes, also known as the Kansas City Standard, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUTS.  With the right equipment you could
store data at upto 2400 bits/sec (!) giving a capacity of around
400Kbytes per side of a C60 (it would only take 30 mins to save/load!)

3.COFF
Common Object File Format. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COFF.
Although developed for UNIX a variant of this is used by Microsoft
(the PE format).

4.ELF
Executable and Linkable Format, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executable_and_Linkable_Format.  This is
now the native file format on Linux for executables, .o, .so etc.
files.

Right, now you have been lulled into a false sense of security with
the easy questions, we'll start on the really hard ones:

5.What is the claim to fame of Adam Beckenbaugh.
He was the actor who provided the voice for bomb number 20 in the 1974
film “Dark Star” by John Carpenter.  See
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1104654/.

6.Who were Huey, Dewey and Louie? (hint: not Donald Duck's nephews).
Huey, Dewey and Louie were the three robots in the 1972 film “Silent
Running”, directed by Douglas Trumbull.  See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_running.

7.What use did some Tibetan monks have for a computer?
To calculate all the possible names of God (approximately 9 billion of
them), at which time the universe would cease to exist.  This comes
from the Sir Arthur C. Clarke short story “The Nine Billion Names of
God”.  See http://lucis.net/stuff/clarke/9billion_clarke.html.  This
story is similar to the Towers of Hanoi legend.

8.How would you, as an adventurer, kill the dragon?
With your bare hands.  This is from the Crowther & Woods Colossal
Cave.
The game dialogue goes as follows:
“You are in a secret canyon which exits to the north and east.
A huge green fierce dragon bars the way! 
The dragon is sprawled out on a Persian rug!! 
> kill dragon
With what?  Your bare hands?
> yes
Congratulations! You have just vanquished a dragon with your bare
hands!  (Unbelievable, isn't it?) ”

9.What large artefact was created by the Pak about 200 light-years
from Earth?
The Ringworld. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringworld. 

10.What is the name of second greatest computer in the Universe of
Time and Space?
Deep Thought.  The greatest computer in the Universe of Time and Space
is, of course, “The Earth”. - The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy by
Douglas Adams.

11.Who is regraded as the first computer programmer?
Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Byron.  See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace.

12.Why was the PNG file format developed?
Unisys held a patent on the LZW algorithm which is used in the GIF
format.  When Unisys tried to enforce the patent, developers rebelled
and developed the PNG format which is patent-free.  See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Network_Graphics.

13.What unique computer is capable of “once and future computing”?
Hex from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hex_(Discworld).

14.Who famously sang the song “Daisy Bell”?
HAL 9000 in the film “2001: A Space Odyssey”, although this was not
the first computer to do so.  Arthur C. Clarke was visiting Bell Labs
(the birthplace of UNIX) where he saw a demonstration of a IBM 704
singing the song. See
http://www.bell-labs.com/news/1997/march/5/2.html

15.What login and password would you use to access W.O.P.R.?
falken/joshua.  This is from the 1983 film “War Games”  See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarGames. 

16.“Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is the war room.”
From the 1964 Stanley Kubrick film, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned
to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” staring Peter Sellers,  See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove.

17.How many Enterprise's did Captain Jean-Luc Picard command?
3.  The U.S.S Enterprise NCC-1701-D, The U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E
and the H.M.S. Enterprise (a 19th century brig on the Holodeck in the
opening sequence of “Star Trek: Generations”)  See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Enterprise and
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Talk:USS_Enterprise_(brig). This was a
trick question!

18.What computer has “the same IQ as 6000 PE teachers”?
Holly, from “Red Dwarf” See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holly_(Red_Dwarf).

19.What is a DMC-12?
The DMC-12 is a stainless steel bodied sports car, originally built in
Northern Ireland, but now made in Huston, Texas.  When fitted with a
Flux Capacitor, it becomes a time machine.  See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeLorean_time_machine.

20.Where is the Colossal Cave?
It is a of a cave within the Mammoth cave system in Kentucky.  The
cave in the game “Adventure” is actually based on the Bedquilt Cave,
which is a part of the same system. See
http://www.rickadams.org/adventure/b_cave.html

The 1st place went to Chris Procter with 19/20 and 2nd place to James
Turner with 18/20.

Congratulations to everyone who took part. (Next year's quiz will have
to be much harder).

-- 
Ron Wellsted
ron at wellsted.org.uk http://www.wellsted.org.uk
N 52.567623, W 2.136111 Linux Counter No. 202120
Ekiga: 645022
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