Monday, December 7, 2009

You don't know tech: The InfoWorld news quiz

Windows users get false alarm, Arrington's Web tablet buys the farm
by Dan Tynan

It was a week full of hazards, bogeys, shanked shots, and bad lies -- and that's just Tiger Woods' love life. But he's not the only one who suffered a subpar week. Michael Arrington's CrunchPad Web tablet went into the lake; Microsoft was handicapped by rumors of a fatal Windows error (that was ultimately less than terminal); and while Mac clone maker Psystar has yet to hit the clubhouse, it still appears to be stuck in a bunker. Can you ace this week's quiz? Give yourself 10 points for each correct answer. Now let's get this round started.

1. A new Windows problem has entered the geek lexicon. What is this one called?

a. The Red Screen of Dangerb. The Green Screen of Moneyc. The Black Screen of Deathd. The Yellow Screen of Fear

2. The CrunchPad Web Tablet is dead. Which of the following is not one of the reasons given by its grieving poppa, Michael Arrington?

a. Greed

b. Jealousy

c. Miscommunication

d. Humility

3. The top three search engines unveiled their lists of the most searched terms of 2009. Who's No. 1 with a bullet?

a. Michael Jackson

b. Balloon Boy

c. Jon and/or Kate Gosselin

d. Lady Gaga

4. Not to be left out, Ask.com also published its own zeitgeist-seeking missive. Which of the following was the most frequently asked question of 2009?

a. Why do cats purr?

b. How much should I weigh?

c. Is Miley Cyrus pregnant?

d. Are vampires real?

5. Psystar has struck a deal to settle its suit with Apple. What's it going to cost the company?

a. $270,000

b. $2.7 million

c. $27 million

d. $270 million

6. According to gossip site TMZ, adultery-friendly dating site AshleyMadison.com is seeking a new spokeshuman. Who just got offered $5 million to become the new face of cheatin'?

a. Bill Clinton

b. Eliot Spitzer

c. Tiger Woods

d. Jon Gosselin

7. "A crisis for news-gathering is not just a crisis for the newspaper industry. The flow of accurate information, diverse views and proper analysis is critical for a functioning democracy. We also acknowledge that it has been difficult for newspapers to make money from their online content. But just as there is no single cause of the industry's current problems, there is no single solution." Who's talking about how to cure the newspaper industry's woes?

a. News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch

b. Google's Eric Schmidt

c. Craigslist's Craig Newmark

d. TechCrunch's Michael Arrington

8. Just in time for Christmas, Comcast stopped by the media mall and picked up a few things for the kids. Which major television network did the cable giant just snap up?

a. ABC

b. CBS

c. NBC

d. The WB

9. Facebook's 25-year-old CEO Mark Zuckerberg sent an open letter to all 350 million of his close personal friends this week. What did he announce?

a. Facebook Connect is integrating with Yahoo

b. Facebook is adding new privacy controls

c. A new apps that lets you find your Facebook twin

d. He's finally started shaving

10. Take the number of iPhone apps IDC predicts will be found in the wild by 2011. Multiply by the number of iPhones sold in its first two weeks at China Unicom's online iPhone store. Now divide that by AT&T's rank among the four largest U.S. telecoms in a recent customer satisfaction survey conducted by Consumer Reports. Put that on a color-coded map and banish it to the Island of Misfit Toys. What do you get?

a. 375,000

b. 3,750,000

c. 37,500,000

d. 375,000,000

Answer key

Question 1: A new Windows problem has entered the geek lexicon. What is this one called?

Correct Answer: The Black Screen of Death

The BLSOD problem first appeared after a blog post by an obscure U.K. security firm called PrevX, which claimed Microsoft security patches caused some Windows PCs to seize up and display a blank (or black) screen. A few days later PrevX backed off those claims, saying it didn't know what (if anything) caused the problems. The reign of the original BSOD appears safe.

Question 2: The CrunchPad Web Tablet is dead. Which of the following is not one of the reasons given by its grieving poppa, Michael Arrington?

Correct Answer: Humility

In a not entirely surprising development, Arrington publicly declared the much-hyped, off-delayed Tablet dead-before-arrival after (he purports) his manufacturing partners decided they didn't actually need him. Because, we assume, hot air is cheap and easy to come by. The device was quickly buried after a brief yet tasteful ceremony.

Question 3: The top three search engines unveiled their lists of the most searched terms of 2009. Who's No. 1 with a bullet?

Correct Answer: Michael Jackson

The Gloved One topped Bing's list, beating out Twitter, swine flu, and Farrah. The King of Pop also reigned over Yahoo (beating out "Twilight" and Megan Fox) and was ranked the "fastest rising" search term by Google (ahead of Facebook and Tuenti, its Spanish equivalent). We always knew He would rise again.

Question 4: Not to be left out, Ask.com also published its own zeitgeist-seeking missive. Which of the following was the most frequently asked question of 2009?

Correct Answer: How much should I weigh?

It seems Ask.com has the fatties market sewn up. Other questions noted as answer choices topped the Pet, Celebrity Rumor, and "Is it real?" categories, respectively. Amazingly, nobody asked "what have you done with Jeeves?" That's what we really want to know.

Question 5: Psystar has struck a deal to settle its suit with Apple. What's it going to cost the company?

Correct Answer: $2.7 million

The Mac clone maker paid to settle a copyright suit filed by Apple, which it had been losing rather badly. Psystar also agreed to stop selling computers with the Mac OS pre-installed. But it held onto the right to sell "naked" Mac-compatible hardware and the Rebel EFI program, which theoretically would allow users to install the Mac OS on their own. The next legal battle will commence in three ... two ... one ...

Question 6: According to gossip site TMZ, adultery-friendly dating site AshleyMadison.com is seeking a new spokeshuman. Who just got offered $5 million to become the new face of cheatin'?

Correct Answer: Tiger Woods

The golf legend, who was recently accused of playing the greens of at least three women who are not his lovely wife, was offered a $5 million contract by the site whose motto is "Life is Short. Have an affair." Of course, offering Tiger $5 million is like offering Oprah a cookie -- it's not like the man needs more money. Then again, divorce attorneys can be expensive.

Question 7: "A crisis for news-gathering is not just a crisis for the newspaper industry. The flow of accurate information, diverse views and proper analysis is critical for a functioning democracy. We also acknowledge that it has been difficult for newspapers to make money from their online content. But just as there is no single cause of the industry's current problems, there is no single solution." Who's talking about how to cure the newspaper industry's woes?

Correct Answer: Google's Eric Schmidt

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, the Google CEO outlined his "fantasy" for the digital news in 2015 and noted that, just as "video didn't kill the radio star," the Net won't kill newspapers. Or, to put it another way, newspapers will eventually turn into Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh. Now there's a comforting thought.

Question 8: Just in time for Christmas, Comcast stopped by the media mall and picked up a few things for the kids. Which major television network did the cable giant just snap up?

Correct Answer: NBC

The No. 1 U.S. cable company (and second-largest ISP) bought 51 percent of NBC Universal from GE in a deal that values the peacock network and its cable stable (SyFy, Bravo, USA, MSNBC) at around $30 billion. Still to be determined: What will happen to the Sheinhardt Wig Co.?

Question 9: Facebook's 25-year-old CEO Mark Zuckerberg sent an open letter to all 350 million of his close personal friends this week. What did he announce?

Correct Answer: Facebook is adding new privacy controls

In his letter, Zuckerberg recapped changes Facebook originally announced in July that will let subscribers more finely control which of their friends can access each piece of content they post. Though Zucky's letter didn't address it, Facebook did announce plans to integrate its Connect service with Yahoo Mail and other Yahoo services. And Coca-Cola also debuted a creepy new app that lets you find your digital doppelganger on Facebook. However, there's still no sign of razor burns on Zuckerberg's boyish mug.

Question 10: Take the number of iPhone apps IDC predicts will be found in the wild by 2011. Multiply by the number of iPhones sold in its first two weeks at China Unicom's online iPhone store. Now divide that by AT&T's rank among the four largest U.S. telecoms in a recent customer satisfaction survey conducted by Consumer Reports. Put that on a color-coded map and banish it to the Island of Misfit Toys. What do you get?

Correct Answer: 375,000

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