All posts by aditya.aditude

Quiz

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1) This word was historically used to refer to a person who carried out calculations and was used in that sense until the middle of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th century onwards, the word began to take on its more familiar meaning, describing a machine that carries out calculations. Which word are we talking about ?


2) The famous author Douglas Adams once said “It is the only thing I know of whose shortened form takes three times longer to say than what it is short for”, What was he talking about?

3) While a student at the University of Texas at Austin in 1984, this person started a company named PC’s Limited with capital of $1000. The startup aimed to sell IBM PC-compatible computers built from stock components .In 1985, the company produced the first computer of its own design, named the “Turbo PC”, which was sold for US$795. What is this company known as today and who is the founder?


4) The film describes a future in which reality perceived by humans is actually a computer program: a simulated reality created by sentient machines in order to pacify and subdue the human population while their bodie’s heat and electrical activities are used as an energy source. The film contains many references to cyberpunk and hacker subcultures, philosophical and religious ideas and homage to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Hong Kong action cinema, Spaghetti Westerns , dystopian fiction and Japanimation. Which movie?


5) Joseph N. Grasso of New Jersey had originally listed a certain trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in July 2000 for Internet kiosks. The first of these kiosks had been demonstrated to the public in New Jersey in 1998 but had apparently been discontinued by 2001. Grasso gave away this trademark to a certain company in 2005. What is this trademark better known as today?


6) Jack Thompson is an attorney not to be crossed. He is known for his public advocacy of conservative Christian moral standards, and for his role as an anti-video-game activist, particularly against violence and obscenity. In 2007, he threatened to sue a particular video-game developing company; he claimed that an upcoming game developed by the company contained an assassination target based upon him. Which game are we talking about?


7) Its mission is “To create educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning”. This mission led by Nicholas Negroponte is better known as what?


8) It is a combination of keystrokes created by David Bradley. It is also popularly known as the “Three Finger Salute” or “The Vulcan Nerve Pinch”. What are we talking about?


9) He is the 32nd richest person in the world, worth about $10.5 billion. He is the founder and chairman of Vulcan Inc., which is his private asset management company, and is chairman of Charter Communications. He also owns three professional sports teams: the Seattle Seahawks, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Seattle Sounders FC. He also owns a yacht called the Octopus, which was also the venue for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s summer wedding. Who are we talking about?


10) It is “one of the world’s largest facilitators of illegal downloading”. The website is currently run by Gottfrid Svartholm(anakata) and Fredrik Neij(TiAMO). It was initially established in 2003 by the Swedish anti-copyright organization, which translates into English as “The Piracy Bureau”. Which popular organization are we talking about?


11) The character first appeared in the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong as a carpenter named “Jumpman” (more commonly called “Mr. Video Game” in Japan). He is depicted as an Italian plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. Who are we talking about?


12) It is a Sony brand used to market its camcorder range. It was launched in 1985 as the name of the first Video8 camcorder, replacing Sony’s previous line Betamax -based models, and the name was intended to emphasize the portable nature of the camera, made possible by the new miniaturized tape format. This was in marked contrast to the larger, shoulder mounted cameras available before the creation of Video8, and competing smaller formats such as VHS-C. What are we talking about?


13) Jimmy “Jimbo” Wales has revolutionized the flow of information on the Internet as we know it. Wales outlined the vision for his non-profit organization as “Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That’s what we’re doing”. What are we talking about?


14) It is the best-selling Macintosh in history, and has replaced the iBook and 12″ PowerBook series of notebooks as a part of the Apple Intel transition. Which notebook is this?


15) Google has had several logos since its renaming from “BackRub”. The company also includes various modifications and/or humorous features, such as cartoon modifications, of their logo for use on holidays, birthdays of famous people, and major events, such as the Olympics. These special logos, designed by Dennis Hwang, are known as what?


16) The word ‘killer application’ has been used to refer to any computer program that is so necessary or desirable that the user will buy the hardware required; simply to run that particular application. What was the killer application for the Xbox gaming console?


17) It has been incorporated into the Silicon Valley culture to a wide extent, Some sources attribute its introduction to Intel Inc. though its creation is generally attributed to Robert Propst, a designer from Colorado who worked for Herman Miller Inc., a manufacturer of office furniture. It was based on a 1965 prototype and named the Action Office, composed of modular units with an open plan, a novel system at the time. What am I talking about?


18) Identify the webcomic



19) Identify the historical landmark in the image given below.

20) Given below is the first of a very famous organization. Which one ?

Eric Schmidt Resigns from Apple’s Board of Directors

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CUPERTINO, California—August 3, 2009—Apple today announced that Dr. Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google, is resigning from Apple’s Board of Directors, a position he has held since August 2006.

“Eric has been an excellent Board member for Apple, investing his valuable time, talent, passion and wisdom to help make Apple successful,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple’s Board.”

MIMANSA 2009 – Overall Winners

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Exunclan bagged the Overall Trophy in MIMANSA 2009 held at the St. Mary’s School on 31st July. The results are as follows:-

1. Gaming – 1st position

  • Mayank Sharma
  • Mohit Singh
  • Kartik Raj Gupta
  • Akhil Raj Gupta

2. Web Designing – 1st position

  • Bhuwan Khattar
  • Ishan Sharma

3. Thinkware – 1st position

  • Aditya Anand

4. Catch the Bug – 2nd position

  • Akhand Pratap Singh
  • Anshu Garodia

Congratulations to all the winners.

Exun Elite 2009 Quiz Qualifiers

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The following teams have qualified for the Exun Elite Finals to be held on Tuesday, 28th of July. Finals will be held in the AVH after the break.

  • Mayank Bhatt X M
  • Dhruv Batra X M
  • Nayan Aggarwal XI A
  • Sarthak Khuntia XI E
  • Abhinaav Singh XI F
  • Shartendu Gautam XI F
  • Kush Agarwal XI I
  • Aditya Somani XI H
  • Aditya Mitra XI D
  • Ujwal XI D
  • Vidur Butalia VIII D
  • Pratul Tandon VIII D

Tragedy at Shenzhen; 4G iPhone prototype goes missing, person responsible for it commits suicide

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Last Thursday, 25 year-old Sun Danyong committed suicide after a fourth-generation iPhone prototype he was responsible for went missing. It’s a story, from what tech-industry friends in China tell me, of how Apple’s secretive ways send extreme pressure all the way down the company’s international supply chain.


Full story can be found here

This does have some implications quite serious in nature. The brand is Apple’s crown jewel and they wont tolerate stuff like this. News of Foxconn mistreating workers is not new. As far as I know Steve Jobs is certainly calling up Foxconn to know just what on earth is going on, now that he’s back at work.
Is there going to be any friction between Foxconn and Apple ? Remains to be seen.

Apple acts like a jerk and loses respect, gets self-owned

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Apple may have plenty of announcements of its own to make at this year’s WWDC, but it looks like it just couldn’t help itself from taking a few jabs at Microsoft as well. Doing the honors was Bertrand Serlet, who took the stage by saying “what a sharp contrast with Vista our OS is,” and only got rolling from there, pointing out “what a big hole Microsoft has dug,” and adding that “they’re trying to get out of it with Windows 7.” Of course, Serlet didn’t have many good things to say about Windows 7 either, which he says has “even more complexity” than Vista because it’s just based on the “same old tech as Vista.”


These are some of the disgusting,shocking tactics Apple stooped to this WWDC, bashing a product that has been hailed by the entire tech community. I remember Jobs in the 1997 Boston Macworld. I remember him saying “We have to let go off the notion that for Apple to win Microsoft has to lose. We must understand that for Apple to win, We have to perform better.”

I clearly dont see the same company before my eyes today. Throwing away my iPod and Time Capsule. Not using it until Apple comes up with a public apology.


Web Response
“Seems like Apple are scared about Windows 7“
“Apple is scared, and they should be, because Windows 7 is better that anything they could hope to make. Can’t beat it? Bash it. …Pathetic.”
“At least Windows 7 is not called Windows Snow Vista.“
“What’s more telling is that in their own keynote, Apple still feels it necessary to try to belittle the competition, not by outdoing them, but by making snide remarks about how bad that competition is. I’d much rather hear them talk about how they’re improving their products to overcome the competition, rather than them talk about how much of misguided tech-snobs they are.”
“That’s pretty tasteless, I’ve got to say.“
“Windows 7 is just the same old Windows Vista! Now let’s take a look at our OS which is just the same old Leopard”
“They know that Windows 7 will sell more copies in the first week than they’ve ever sold of OSX.“

Post concluded

Boom

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Microsoft has a new twitter account in support of its Office 2010 product launch. What’s strange though, is that the people behind the account seem to care more about the future of the Zune than Office. Two tweets (of five) from this account have caught our attention. The first says, 

June 2009 will be an important month for Zune lovers.

Then as a followup to the barrage of questions received, @officethemovie adds, 

New product launch, that’s all I’m allowed to say. Hold off from buying an iPhone/Pre.

If you’re having trouble comprehending that let me get it straight for you. Zune Phone. Boom.

Forever

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Its over. After 12 years of intense waiting, The game Duke Nukem Forever, the greatest vaporware of all times has been called off after the developing studio 3d Realms went down due to financial problems. Though technically, the publisher of the game, Take two, could still save the day. Here’s hoping that they do.