Saturday, July 12, 2008

General Quiz-6

Mail the answers to batty_bharath@yahoo.co.in. Answers will be put up in a week


1. United States Patent 6152797. In the ‘Object and advantages section’ of the patent:

It is an object of the present invention to provide tetrahedral or octahedral modules that snap together at adjoining faces so that the octahedral or tetrahedral modules won't slide relative to each other.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide tetrahedral or octahedral modules would be durable and reusable.

It is still yet a further object of the present invention to provide tetrahedral and octahedral modules that come in contact with each other over a maximal amount of surface area, thus distributing stress more evenly and resulting in a stronger structure.

It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide modules not based on the 90° angles of most modules. In the modules of the present invention can be found these angles: 600°, 120°, arc cosine(1/3)--approximately 70.5°, and arc cosine(-1/3)--approximately 109.5°.

What am I talking about?


2. A study was conducted by the Pontificate Centre for Culture in 1992. After the study published its results, the then Pope John Paul II expressed regret at how things had been till that date and carried out a major decision. What was the study about and what did the Pope do?


3. Jackson Pollock was an influential American painter and a major force in the abstract expressionist movement. Jackson Pollock has commented: "...look passively and try to receive what the painting has to offer and not bring a subject matter or preconceived idea of what they are to be looking for.”

This is the reason for a practice that Pollock follows. What?


4. The Conquered Lorikeet is a species of parrot that became extinct 700-1300 years ago. It was named by David Steadman, as a wordplay on ___________. Its range was from the Cook Islands to the Society and Marquesas Islands.

What was its scientific name?


5. The word X (as used in Y) a language puzzle that has never been satisfactorily accounted for. A fairly old and widely-used word, it refers to a community social gathering at which friends and neighbors join together in a single activity. Those who used the word, including most early students of language, assumed that it was the same word as referred to the insect. They thought that this particular meaning had probably been inspired by the obvious similarity between these human gatherings and the X’s social nature.

One possibility is that it comes from the Middle English word _____, which means "a prayer" or "a favor“ . In England, a dialectal form of this word, referred to "voluntary help given by neighbors toward the accomplishment of a particular task .


6. X was the first service uniform registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The tight costume forced Y to bend at the knees, not the waist, when serving drinks in a manoeuvre known as Z. There was usually a seamstress for each Club to maintain the fit. To avoid rumors, the Club Manager had only two responsibilities for the Y, floor service and weigh in. Before every shift the Manager would weigh in each Y as they could not gain or lose more than one pound.

Genuine X in good condition have sold for over $10,000. The only two on public display are in the collections of The Smithsonian and the Chicago History Museum.


7. X, Chief __________to the Cabinet Office (c. 1988 – March 2006) served under the premierships of Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair, but retired a few months after the Blairs moved in to Downing Street.

At a cost of about £100 a, X was said to be of considerably great value. In June 1995, X went missing. On 25 September 1995, the Prime Minister's press office announced his apparent death. Upon his return, X issued a statement through the civil service stating, "I have had a wonderful holiday at the Royal Army Medical College, but it is nice to be back and I am looking forward to the new parliamentary session.”


8. The origin of the band name was described by Brian Downey in an interview in the 2007 DVD Live and Dangerous: The band's lead guitarist Eric Bell, who was a fan of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, bought a copy of The Dandy comic after seeing Eric Clapton depicted reading a copy of its sister publication The Beano. Bell suggested ________, the name of a robot character from the comic which was in turn named after the nick for _________. Lynott liked the idea, but while arranging a gig at a Dublin venue over the telephone, the venue owner assumed that '_____' was actually '______' due to Phil's strong Dublin accent. The band turned up to find themselves advertised outside the club as '_______' and the name stuck.Identify the band.

9. X went on to solve the Sphinx's riddle: "What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?" To this X answered "Man." Distraught that her riddle had been answered correctly, the Sphinx threw herself off the side of the wall. His reward for freeing the kingdom of Thebes from the Sphinx's curse was kingship and the hand of the queen, Jocasta.


10. It weighs an estimated 23 tons, has a waistline of 33 feet, and is about 800-1000 years old. In February 1998, a local company took cuttings from the Major Oak and began cultivating clones of the tree with the intention of sending saplings to be planted in major cities around the world. The purpose was to provide a focal point for an Internet-based study of the Major Oak, its history.

What is it famous for?


Ciao......


Saturday, July 5, 2008

ANSWERS GENERAL QUIZ-5

1 .During the 2004 U.S presidential elections there were allegations of data irregularities and systematic flaws especially in Florida. Diebold, the company manufacturing the voting machines tightened its security after it was revealed that a simple virus can hack its electronic voting machines. But however months later a hacker broke their lock. How did he do it?

The advertisement contained the image which was an exact replica of the key to the electronic voting machines.


2 . Helen Duncan (1897 – 1956) a scottish woman, during World War II. In Portsmouth, she indicated knowledge that a warship had been sunk. Because this fact had been kept from the public, the British Admiralty chose to attempt to discredit her. She was arrested and eventually charged at first __________, she was jailed for nine months. Winston Churchill was less than impressed with the whole thing and eventually repealed the___________Act in 1951.

WITCHCRAFT


3. X is a catchphrase and proverb used in discussing economic inequality. William Harrison said, in an October 1, 1840 speech, " I believe and I say it is true Democratic feeling, that all the measures of the government are directed to the purpose of making X.

In 1821, Percy Shelley argued that in his England, "the promoters of utility" had managed to exasperate at once the extremes of luxury and want. X; and the vessel of the State is driven between the Scylla and Charybdis of anarchy and despotism.
The phrase X was also very famously quoted in a movie. Give me the name of the movie and the phrase.

X- The rich richer and the poor poorer Movie is Rajnikanth's latest Sivaji

4.
Fill in the first blank

'Why does a chicken cross the street?


5. During Perestroika, they began to feature leaders of the Soviet Union. Easily Mikhail Gorbhachev was the largest, then Leonoid Brezhnev, Nikita Khruschev, Josef Stalin and the puniest Vladimir Lenin.

But in recent times the largest Gorbhachev has been replaced with Vladimir Putin, then comes Boris Yelstin, Mikhail Gorbhachev, Josef Stalin and then the Vladimir Lenin. Explain.

A matryoshka doll or a Russian nested doll

6 X are non-structural details that make up letters and symbols. The explanation proposed by Father Edward Catich in his 1968 book The Origin of the X is now broadly accepted: the Roman letter outlines were first brushed onto stone, and the stone carvers followed the brush marks which flared at stroke ends and corners, creating X.

In print, Y are more typically used for headlines than for body text. The conventional wisdom is that X help guide the eye along the lines in large blocks of text. In typography, a Y is one that does not have the small features at stroke endings. Y have become the de facto standard for body text on-screen, especially online.

X- Serif Y-Sans-Serif

7 In "From the Ruins of the Reich", Douglas Botting claims the term originated among black GIs in occupied Germany when the occupying soldiers sometimes slept with German war widows; getting sex he didn't deserve so she could feed her children.Whats is the not so famous word but used ubiquitously?

This question is not meant to offend anyones sentiments.... just for the sake of quizzing.... Motherfucker

8 Moghal-e-Azam (1960)
Taj Mahal (2005)
Sohni Mahiwal (1984)

What connects these three films?

Indian films that were screened in Pakistan

9 The first person who claimed to be X was the Brazilian businessman José Roberto Penteado. When Penteado started to get media attention, including an offer to be in a Volkswagen commercial, a 25 year old Hungarian man named Péter Guzli came forward as the real X.
Guzli took the photo on November 28, 1997, and was also responsible for the initial edit. He edited the image for a few friends, not realizing it would spread so quickly. He first provided the original undoctored photo and several other photos from the same series as proof to a Hungarian newspaper. Later on, the show Wired News examined the evidence and confirmed that Guzli was the real X. What are we talking about?

The tourist guy, also known as the accidental tourist ,WTC Guy, or tourist of death, is an Internet phenomenon consisting of a photograph of a tourist that has appeared in many photoshopped pictures after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

10 What is the name of this rather commercial painting/cartoon?

"The last breakfast" ---the characters are the mascots of kellogs cereals.

Ciao
Bharath