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  You don't know tech: The InfoWorld news quiz
Reported by Industry Standard on Friday, 6 November 2009 (on November 6, 2009)
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It was hard to follow tech news this week without getting icky lawyer-stuff all over you. AT&T filed suit against Verizon, Intel got sued by New York State, an alleged cable modem hacker got indicted, and EMI sued to stop a tiny music Web site from sharing The Beatles' love. Also: A former high-tech CEO looks for better position in D.C., and Google seeks employees who speak nothing but geek. Do you have the qualifications to ace this week's quiz? Give yourself 10 points and a pat on the back for each correct answer. Now hand over your résumé and begin.
1. The Beatles' music will finally be available in disc-less digital form this December. Where will you soon be able to find the Fab Four?
a. On Apple's iTunes Storeb. At BlueBeat.comc. On Verizon phonesd. On an apple-shaped USB drive
2. New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is beating on Intel like a drum, accusing the chip giant of all manner of bad behavior. Which of the following is one of the official charges?
a. Misleading advertising
b. Strong-arming PC makers using bribery and coercion
c. Shipping defective merchandise
d. Charging exorbitant early termination fees
3. AT&T is suing Verizon. What's the dispute about?
a. Verizon's attempts to wrest the iPhone from AT&T
b. AT&T's claim to offer the "fastest 3G network"
c. Verizon's exorbitant early termination fees
d. Maps
4. Pew Research has conducted a study of the dominant ways people interact. How many days per year, on average, do Americans communicate via cell phone?
a. 210
b. 195
c. 125
d. 72
5. Watch your back, Twitter. A new microblog has formed and it's apparently got God on its side. What's this new blessed blog called?
a. TweetBabyJesus
b. HeavenlyTwits
c. ChristianChirp
d. ChristianTwerp
6. "The decisions made in Washington impact every family and every business, of any size, in America. Throughout my career, I've brought people together and solved problems, and that is what I plan to do in government: Set aside ego and partisanship and work to develop solutions to our problems." What former high-tech CEO plans to bring the hard-won lessons of business management to Washington, D.C.?
a. Jerry Yang
b. Carly Fiorina
c. Hector Ruiz
d. Meg Whitman
7. Alleged cable modem hacker Ryan Harris was indicted this week by federal prosecutors in California. What is Harris's hacker alias?
a. DerCable
b. DerEngel
c. DerSpiegel
d. DerWeinerschnitzel
8. Careers coach Lewis Lin has released a list of 140 questions Google asks of prospective employees. Which of the following questions is not on Lin's list?
a. How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?
b. There's a latency problem in South Africa. Diagnose it.
c. Explain the significance of "dead meat."
d. Why are manhole covers round?
9. The Doodle -- the six-letter logo that adorns Google's otherwise sparse home page -- changed multiple times in the last week to honor various icons of childhood. Which of the following was not a Google Doodle?
a. Wallace and Gromit
b. Sesame Street
c. Asterix & Obelix
d. The Great Pumpkin
10. Take the number of iPhones Apple sold the first weekend it was available in China and multiply by the new early termination fee Verizon plans to charge users of smartphones who bail on their contracts. Add the volume of apps in the iPhone Store, rounded to the nearest large number. Download that to your Windows Mobile phone and pray someone will buy you an iPhone for Christmas. What do you get?
a. 1,850,000
b. 185,000
c. 18,500
d. 1,850
Answer key
Question 1: The Beatles' music will finally be available in disc-less digital form this December. Where will you soon be able to find the Fab Four?
Correct Answer: On an apple-shaped USB drive
The digitally remastered tunes will be available from record company EMI on a 16GB key drive shipped in a container made to resemble Apple Corp.'s Granny Smith-style logo. At press time BlueBeat.com, which was selling Beatles tracks for 25 cents each, found itself sued by EMI. The odds of the site surviving until December? Tomorrow never knows.
Question 2: New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is beating on Intel like a drum, accusing the chip giant of all manner of bad behavior. Which of the following is one of the official charges?
Correct Answer: Strong-arming PC makers using bribery and coercion
Cuomo's 83-page complaint echoes what the European Union fined Intel $1.5 billion for, and AMD has been suing Intel over since 2005 -- the company kicked back billions to computer makers who agreed to limit the use of AMD chips in their machines, and threatened those who would not be bribed. Others argue that, with the price of computers plummeting regardless of Intel's bad behavior, the harm to consumers is largely imaginary. Looks like somebody's running for governor.
Question 3: AT&T is suing Verizon. What's the dispute about?
Correct Answer: Maps
More specifically, AT&T is suing Verizon over an ad campaign showing maps of their respective 3G coverage, with Verizon's mostly full and AT&T's nearly empty. AT&T claims the map ad is misleading because it implies AT&T offers no data coverage over much of the United States, when it in fact offers slower 2G service. Thus suggesting a new AT&T ad slogan: Slow service is better than no service.
Question 4: Pew Research has conducted a study of the dominant ways people interact. How many days per year, on average, do Americans communicate via cell phone?
Correct Answer: 195
According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, Americans communicate face to face an average of 210 days a year, followed by mobile phones (195 days), texting and landlines (tied at 125), e-mail (72), instant messaging (55), and social networks (39). Their conclusion: Technology is not turning us into hermits. The caveat? Pew did not release data showing how many people talk on their phones, text, or e-mail during face-to-face meetings.
Question 5: Watch your back, Twitter. A new microblog has formed and it's apparently got God on its side. What's this new blessed blog called?
Correct Answer: ChristianChirp
The service was launched by Net entrepreneur James L. Paris after Twitter allegedly shut down his account temporarily for "posting an article in support of Rush Limbaugh." FYI, Paris's other venture, ChristianMoney.com, aims to "help you make the most of God's money." Because, after all, He's got more money than, well, Himself.
Question 6: "The decisions made in Washington impact every family and every business, of any size, in America. Throughout my career, I've brought people together and solved problems, and that is what I plan to do in government: Set aside ego and partisanship and work to develop solutions to our problems." What former high-tech CEO plans to bring the hard-won lessons of business management to Washington, D.C.?
Correct Answer: Carly Fiorina
The former HP chief confirmed long-standing rumors by officially joining the U.S. Senate race in California. She'll be fighting Republican Assemblyman Chuck Devore for the chance to challenge Senator Barbara Boxer a year from now. Considering the shape HP was in when she left, Fiorina might have a better shot running on the Amnesia Party ticket.
Question 7: Alleged cable modem hacker Ryan Harris was indicted this week by federal prosecutors in California. What is Harris's hacker alias?
Correct Answer: DerEngel
Harris, author of "Hacking the Cable Modem," has been charged with conspiracy and fraud for allegedly selling software and modded modems that allowed customers to access cable ISPs and/or boost their bandwidth for free. He's facing up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. No word yet whether he also plans to run for the Senate in California.
Question 8: Careers coach Lewis Lin has released a list of 140 questions Google asks of prospective employees. Which of the following questions is not on Lin's list?
Correct Answer: Explain the significance of "dead meat."
The actual question is "Explain the significance of 'dead beef'," the answer to which involves hexidecimal code. The other questions on Lin's list are equally baffling to the uninitiated. So unless you bone up before the interview, you are in fact dead meat. So much for those dreams of a comfortable retirement fueled by Google stock options.
Question 9: The Doodle -- the six-letter logo that adorns Google's otherwise sparse home page -- changed multiple times in the last week to honor various icons of childhood. Which of the following was not a Google Doodle?
Correct Answer: The Great Pumpkin
However, which Google Doodle you saw depended on where you were sitting. Googlers in the United Kingdom saw Wallace and Gromit (in honor of the animated duo's 20th anniversary). U.S. searchers saw the Doodle visited by the Cookie Monster, Big Bird, and others (Sesame Street turned 40 this week). Ancient Gauls Asterix & Obelix got the Doodle treatment for their 50th anniversary (visible in 43 countries, but not the States). Also in the mix: various Doodles for Halloween and the Day of the Dead (in Mexico). Do you suppose Google has a Chief Doodle Officer, and if so, what kind of questions would you need to answer to get that job?
Question 10: Take the number of iPhones Apple sold the first weekend it was available in China and multiply by the new early termination fee Verizon plans to charge users of smartphones who bail on their contracts. Add the volume of apps in the iPhone Store, rounded to the nearest large number. Download that to your Windows Mobile phone and pray someone will buy you an iPhone for Christmas. What do you get?
Correct Answer: 1,850,000
China Unicom signed up 5,000 new subscribers, or one iPhone for every 263,000 people. (By contrast, Apple sold 1 million 3GS models over a similar time frame in Europe and the United States.) Verizon plans to ding its customers $350 for weaseling out of their commitments, minus $10 for every month they stayed in contract -- or roughly double what it charged in the past. Apple proudly announced its iPhone Store now serves more than 100,000 apps. So 5K * 350 + 100K = 1,850,000. Subtract the apps related to beer drinking, plastic surgery, or farting, though, and you're down to around 10,000. Come back next week for another gaseous quiz.
Links: Full news story
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