Answer key: You don't know tech

IDG News Service — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:16:37 -0800

Now that you know how you scored, you probably want to know why. Check out the answers below for the gory details. And be sure to return next year for another news quiz, ripped straight from the tech headlines.

Question 1: What is Microsoft likely to do next in its battle to swallow Yahoo?

10 points a. Wage a proxy battle for control of Yahoo's board

Reports suggest Microsoft's next move will be to convince shareholders to elect merger-friendly members to Yahoo's board. With board elections not slated to happen until May, we may be in for another three months of this, Gates help us.

Question 2: Who's big on protecting the world's children from smut?

10 points c. Steve Hirsch, co-founder of Vivid Entertainment

In an address to MBA candidates at Yale, the crown prince of porn urged search engines and ISPs to "erect stronger barriers" against the content his company churns out, and added how important it is for Vivid "to stay on top of all new technologies." Consider us engorged with irony.

Question 3: Whose site was not clouded over by Amazon's S3 outage?

10 points c. SmugMug

This was a bit of a trick question. SmugMug does use S3, but according to comments posted on TechCrunch by CEO Don MacAskill, it wasn't affected by Amazon's disappearing act. Parts of Twitter, the New York Times archive, and SnapSeeker were taken offline by the outage, but all three plan to keep their heads and data in the clouds, at least for now.

Question 4: HD-DVD is to Blu-ray as which is to what?

10 points c. Sony Betamax is to VHS

Now that Toshiba finally pulled the plug on its Hi-Def disc format, HD-DVD is ready to join the Betamax, the eight track, and the Replay in the dustbin of technological history. The difference? Only Betamax and VHS competed head-to-head for the hearts and minds of content providers. And unlike with Britney and Lindsay, there will be no rehab.

Question 5: Where can kids learn to share the Microsoft way?

10 points a. MyBytes

MyBytes invites teens to mix their own 20-second tunes using cheesy sound samples, post them on the site in return for payment (in "credits"), then lets other MyBytes users download the mixes by paying whatever they feel like -- or nothing at all. See how you like it when people steal your stuff? Not so funny now, huh? Luzer.

Question 6: Which Caribbean money laundry got caught in its own spin cycle?

10 points a. Bank Julius Baer

The Cayman Islands branch of the Zürich-based bank managed to get the WikiLeaks.org domain delisted, but the site itself lives on at other domains, buoyed by a surge of news coverage over Baer's ham-handed attempt to censor it. Baer is suing WikiLeaks for publishing confidential documents alleging the bank is a haven for tax-evading money launderers -- a claim Baer has yet to dispute.

Question 7: What's caused Microsoft to give Vista SP1 the boot?

10 points d. All of the above

Microsoft says the boot problems only affect "a small number of customers in unique circumstances" and has identified the culprit as a pair of 'prerequisite' files sent via Windows Update before users could install SP1. The service pack also keeps at least a dozen programs (mostly security apps) from running as intended. No word on whether MSFT plans to release a service pack for its service pack.

Question 8: What did it take to bring down one busted satellite?

10 points a. Three warships, three anti-ballistic missiles, and US$60 million

The errant spy satellite was brought in from the cold by a modified Aegis SM3 missile fired from the cruiser Lake Erie. Two other ships accompanied the cruiser, each with its own missile at the ready. Total cost of the operation is estimated at $30 to $60 million, though we're pretty sure Bruce would have done it for free if anyone asked.

Question 9: What did Microsoft not vow to do, interoperability-wise?

10 points d. Stop spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt over Linux

The "significant" announcement precedes next week's meeting of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) on whether to declare Microsoft's Open Office XML format an industry standard. Purely a coincidence, of course.

Question 10: What's Linkin Park times Microsoft's 'significance' times missiles?

10 points b. 240 million

Linkin' Park played six tunes outside Apple's SoHo store. The word "significant" appears four times in Microsoft's release (and was used seven more times in the press conference). The modified missiles cost $10 million a piece (though we understand volume discounts are available). So 6 x 4 x 10 million = 240 million. Is it too late to drop tech journalism and get into the missile biz? Check back next week for another explosive quiz.

The Industry Standard - Answer key: You don't know tech - Comments

Answer key: You don't know tech