Q 01/05

Before machines took the name, the word 'computer', first recorded in 1613, described what?

A) A person doing calculations

B) A mechanical adding machine

C) A navigator's logbook

D) A surveyor's measuring chain

Answer · why

A) A person doing calculations

A person doing calculations was a 'computer' for three centuries: the word meant 'one who computes', and teams of them worked through astronomical and...

Q 02/05

Which animal is Tux, the official mascot of the Linux kernel, drawn by Larry Ewing in 1996?

A) A penguin

B) A gnu

C) A platypus

D) A puffin

Answer · why

A) A penguin

A penguin was Linus Torvalds' own idea for the Linux brand character; Ewing drew Tux as an entry to a logo competition, and distributions still swap i...

Q 03/05

The 1975 Altair 8800 hobby computer reportedly took its name from a destination in which TV series?

A) Doctor Who

B) The Outer Limits

C) Star Trek

D) The Twilight Zone

Answer · why

C) Star Trek

Star Trek supplied the name: Popular Electronics editor Les Solomon said his 12-year-old daughter Lauren suggested Altair because 'that's where the En...

Q 04/05

Hotmail launched on which symbolic 1996 date, chosen to suggest freedom from ISP-tied email?

A) 1 January

B) 14 February

C) 4 July

D) 31 October

Answer · why

C) 4 July

4 July, American Independence Day, was chosen to symbolise 'freedom' from ISP-based email and the novelty of reading an inbox from anywhere; Microsoft...

Q 05/05

What kind of gadget was the first BlackBerry, launched by Research In Motion in 1999?

A) A flip phone

B) A pocket PC

C) A satellite phone

D) A two-way pager

Answer · why

D) A two-way pager

A two-way pager called the Inter@ctive Pager 950 was the first BlackBerry; RIM did not ship a BlackBerry that could make phone calls until the 5810 ar...