QFI Meeting Quiz - 24th January

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QFI Meeting24th January 2016

By Rohit Suresh

Format

1. 32 Questions – 16 clockwise and 16 anti-clockwise

2. +10/0 on normal bounce; +10/-10 on pounce

3. Written Round in between – 6 Questions; +10 per answer

“It is a very difficult thing to talk about. Because I studied them for six and a half years. So I saw them as they grew like children, and when they grew up, I married them with a ______, in the shape of a smile, a catenary curve, not a straight line. ‘Catenary’ is the Latin word for ‘chain’. I am a self-proclaimed engineer from the world of daydreams”

Who on what?

Q1

And the answer is…

Philippe Petit on the 9/11 World Trade Centre Attacks

Baumkuchen is a German variety of spit cake. It is a traditional pastry in many countries throughout Europe and is also a popular snack and dessert in Japan. It gets its name due to its appearance when sliced. What does ‘Baum’ mean?

Q2

And the answer is…

Baumkuchen means ‘tree cake’ because of its resemblance to tree rings

Approved by the IESG on December 18, 2015, this is an error status code of the HTTP protocol to be displayed when the user requests an illegal resource, such as a web page censored by a government. Examples of situations where such an error code could be displayed include web pages deemed a danger to national security, or web pages deemed to violate copyright, privacy, blasphemy laws, or any other law or court order.

What is the code used for these purposes?

Q3

And the answer is…

HTTP 451 – Referring to Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

In the summer of 1925, Herbert Chapman left Huddersfield Town following winning two consecutive Championships to take over the reins at Arsenal.

In 1930, Arsenal faced Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup Final at Wembley. Chapman suggested the teams to do something, because of his strong links with both of them – and that’s why it still happens to this day.

What tradition did Herbert Chapman thus begin?

Q4

And the answer is…

Teams walking out together before the start of the match

In many languages other than English, its use was less common until the mid-1990s. Consequently, it is often perceived (in those languages) as denoting modernization in general. Its meaning in other languages are as follows:

Afrikaans – aapstert, meaning ‘monkey tail’ Belarusian – slimak, meaning ‘helix’ or ‘snail’ Hungarian – kukac, meaning ‘worm’ or ‘maggot’ Italian – chiocciola, meaning ‘snail’ Welsh – malwoden, meaning ‘snail’

What is being talked about?

Q5

And the answer is…

@ Sign

In late November, the New York City Subway 42nd Street shuttle train connecting Times Square and Grand Central had this imagery wrapping the seats, walls and ceilings of its cars (shown in the next slide).

Later, they were pulled on the intervention of Mayor Bill de Blasio, for being “irresponsible and offensive to World War II and Holocaust survivors, their families, and countless other New Yorkers”.

What was the purpose of the installation?

Q6

And the answer is…

Promotion for ‘Man In the High Castle’ TV Series by Amazon

Until 1841, they were almost entirely native only to Mexico, which controlled most of the trading activity. This was because of the presence of bees of the specific genus ‘Melipona’ in Mexico. When French colonists brought it to Mauritius, a slave, Edmond Albius, discovered a technique to perform the function of the Melipona bee artificially.

Because of his technique (which is still used today), control shifted entirely from Mexico to Reunion, and finally now in Madagascar, which along with Indonesia accounts for 90% of world production.

What did Albius discover?

Q7

And the answer is…

Artificial pollination of vanilla

All vanilla obtained today is pollinated by hand, with Madagascar being the world’s chief producer

The title of this electronic instrumental composed by Harold Faltermeyer as the theme to a 1984 movie, comes from the name of the main character’s name, and simultaneously happens to be in the key as denoted by the name. A cover version of the song in 2005 by the creation of Swedish actor and playwright Erik Wernquist reached number 1 in the UK and other countries. The video portrayed the ‘artist’ being chased by a bounty hunter, eventually ending in an explosion.

Name the song, movie and the ‘artist’ who covered it in 2005.

(Download: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx2gvHjNhQ0)

Q8

And the answer is…

Axel F, named for Axel Foley from the Beverly Hills Cop, played by Eddie Murphy (Key = F minor)

The track was covered in 2005 by Crazy Frog

_______ Redding was an American hairdresser, chemist, hair care products entrepreneur and businessman. Redding is credited with being the inventor of modern-day hair conditioner. He was the first to make ‘pH balanced’ shampoos, to put vitamins in hair care products, and to market added minerals.

He lends his name to something that gained popularity in the 1980s, thanks in large part to ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson. It also formed part of the identity of a character from a 1994 film, resulting from an error from someone working in the props department.

Fill in the blanks.

Q9

And the answer is…

Jheri Curl

Samuel. L. Jackson in ‘Pulp Fiction’ was supposed to wear an Afro.

Taken by Tom Jenkins of the Guardian, which photograph is being described here?

“We tried everything with him and then I saw him on his knees. As a kid at Lancashire I was taught that you respect the opposition, respect the umpires and referees, then it’s time to celebrate. At Durham, Steve was also taught that, but what Steve wasn’t taught is how to work a camera. Steve actually shook his hand first, but he’s not very camera savvy. I went afterwards and then they took that photograph and it was beamed around.”

Q10

And the answer is…

Andrew Flintoff and Brett Lee after the Edgbaston Test match

Steve Harmison was actually the first to go over to Brett Lee

This ship, one of the first iron-hulled ships built for the Royal Navy, was wrecked on 26 February 1852, while transporting troops to Algoa Bay at Danger Point near Gansbaai, 140 kms from Cape Town, South Africa.

There were not enough serviceable lifeboats for all the passengers, and the soldiers famously stood firm, and eventually only 193 of the 643 people on board survived.

With a lasting legacy of denoting courage in the face of hopeless circumstances, name the ship and what did it popularise?

Q11

And the answer is…

HMS Birkenhead, which popularized the Birkenhead Drill

“Women and Children First”

Paul Ekman is an American psychologist, who has often been given the title of ‘best ___ _______ in the world’, because of his field of study. He has served as an advisor to police departments and anti-terrorism groups (including the Transportation Security Administration).

In popular culture, he contributed to the following. Name both.

1. A TV Series from January 2009 to January 2011, where the chief protagonist was based on him and Ekman served as a scientific advisor for the series

2. A 2015 film, as part of which he has also written a parent’s guide to help parents talk to their children

Q12

And the answer is…

He studies micro-expressions; Blanks being ‘lie detector’

Lie to Me Inside Out

In 2000, in order to minimize unpleasantness in the game, the English Premier League referees were allowed to enforce this particular rule. A longstanding feature of sports such as rugby, the scheme had been trialed by the FA in the Auto Windscreens Trophy and found to be effective against bothersome behavior.

However, FIFA decided to scrap the rule in 2005 following a few instances where the opposition had used the rule to their advantage and game the system, most notably once in a Sunderland vs Manchester United match at Old Trafford.

What was this rule and how did players use it to their advantage?

Q13

And the answer is…

Free kicks to be advanced by 10 yards if the opposing player indulged in dissent

If the free kicks were in range, the player would deliberately engage in dissent which would result in the ball getting advanced

and creating a less favorable angle. The same thing happened with a David Beckham free kick against Sunderland

One popular theory regarding his name identifies him as a member of an extremist splinter group of the Jewish Zealots, who fought the Roman occupation of Judea in an attempt to expel the Romans and their partisans from the area. They used daggers to attack Romans and Roman sympathizers, and were the first instance of an organized assassinating unit.

However, the opinion is objected to by many historians, mainly because Josephus documents them as being from the timeline of 50 AD, and hence can have no relation to him.

Identify the group (which lends its name (derived form) to a 2015 film) and the person being talked about.

Q14

And the answer is…

Sicarii/Sicario

Judas Iscariot

This TV show (logo shown) was originally intended to be the continuation of another TV show, which was cancelled in 2001. First broadcast on April 8, 2002, it featured a lot of ex-presenters of the cancelled show, and attempted to use the same name, but failed.

Later however, the earlier show was relaunched making them competitors. From the logo, identify the name of the show and the show it was intended to replace.

Q15

And the answer is…

Fifth Gear

Top Gear

What material was used to make this portrait?

Q16

And the answer is…

Black Eyed Peas

Portrait was of Will.i.am

Written Round

6 Questions; +10 per answer

Theme: Words/Phrases of the year

First referenced in a Dilbert comic in 1996 with respect to pagers, the term is not technically a syndrome, but is better characterized as a tactile hallucination since the brain perceives a sensation that is not present.

The exact causes for this condition are not known. It is thought that it results from the cerebral cortex misinterpreting sensory inputs such as muscle contractions, pressure from clothing, or music.

In 2012, the term was chosen as the Australian Macquarie Dictionary's word of the year. What’s the good phrase?

Q1

This was Chris Messina’s answer to why he didn’t patent his idea on Quora. What did he create, declared American Dialect Society’s Word of the Year for 2012?

Q2

After being elected as the US Senator from Tennessee in the 1952 elections, Albert Gore Sr., was influential in sponsoring and enacting the legislation creating the Dwight Eisenhower Interstate Freeway System, authorized for construction in 1956.

As a tribute to this father’s legacy, Al Gore Jr., introduced this term at a 1978 meeting of people in the computer industry. Wired magazine defines the term as “the whole digital enchilada - interactive, cable, broadband, 500-channel”.

Which two-word term is this, which was the 1993 Word of the Year as decided by the American Dialect Society?

Q3

In 2003, Aheda Zanetti, founder of Ahiida Pty Ltd (AHIIDA) was inspired by watching her niece playing netball to begin a search for alternative solutions. Unable to find anything which matched the demands for comfort and flexibility with the requirements for modesty, she came up with this trademark brand (now getting genericised) to fill the gap in the market.

It has found adoption from celebrities like Nigella Lawson, who instead uses it to protect her skin.

Name the invention, the Macquarie Dictionary word of the year for 2011.

Q4

Angelo Mozilo, the former chairman and CEO of Countrywide Financial (until July 2008), later cited as one of the persons responsible for the economic meltdown of 2008, is said to have coined this term. In April 2006:

“In all my years in the business I have never seen a more ________ product. It's not only subordinated to the first, but the first is subprime. In addition, the FICOs are below 600, below 500 and some below 40. With real estate values coming down ... the product will become increasingly worse.”

What term is this, Macquarie’s word of the year for 2008?

Q5

A 2012 study by scientists in New Zealand and Canada titled, “Nonprobative photographs (or words) inflate ______” in the Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, examined the reasons behind this phenomenon. In four different experiments they discovered that people believe claims when a decorative photograph appears alongside the claim. “We know that when it’s easy for people to bring information to mind, it ‘feels’ right,” said Eryn Newman, the lead investigator.

Fill in the blanks with a word, named Word of the Year for 2005 by the American Dialect Society and for 2006 by Merriam-Webster.

Q6

EXCHANGE SHEETS!

First referenced in a Dilbert comic in 1996 with respect to pagers, the term is not technically a syndrome, but is better characterized as a tactile hallucination since the brain perceives a sensation that is not present.

The exact causes for this condition are not known. It is thought that it results from the cerebral cortex misinterpreting sensory inputs such as muscle contractions, pressure from clothing, or music.

In 2012, the term was chosen as the Australian Macquarie Dictionary's word of the year. What’s the good term?

Q1

1. Phantom Vibration Syndrome/Ringxiety/Fauxcellarm

This was Chris Messina’s answer to why he didn’t patent his idea on Quora. What did he create, declared American Dialect Society’s Word of the Year for 2012?

Q2

1. Phantom Vibration Syndrome/Ringxiety/Fauxcellarm

2. Hashtag, on Twitter

After being elected as the US Senator from Tennessee in the 1952 elections, Albert Gore Sr., was influential in sponsoring and enacting the legislation creating the Dwight Eisenhower Interstate Freeway System, authorized for construction in 1956.

As a tribute to this father’s legacy, Al Gore Jr., introduced this term at a 1978 meeting of people in the computer industry. Wired magazine defines the term as “the whole digital enchilada - interactive, cable, broadband, 500-channel”.

Which term is this, which was the 1993 Word of the Year as decided by the American Dialect Society?

Q3

1. Phantom Vibration Syndrome/Ringxiety/Fauxcellarm

2. Hashtag, on Twitter

3. Information Superhighway/Infobahn

In 2003, Aheda Zanetti, founder of Ahiida Pty Ltd (AHIIDA) was inspired by watching her niece playing netball to begin a search for alternative solutions. Unable to find anything which matched the demands for comfort and flexibility with the requirements for modesty, she came up with this trademark brand (now getting genericised) to fill the gap in the market.

It has found adoption from celebrities like Nigella Lawson, who instead uses it to protect her skin.

Name the invention, the Macquarie Dictionary word of the year for 2011.

Q4

1. Phantom Vibration Syndrome/Ringxiety/Fauxcellarm

2. Hashtag, on Twitter

3. Information Superhighway/Infobahn

4. Burqini

Angelo Mozilo, the former chairman and CEO of Countrywide Financial (until July 2008), later cited as one of the persons responsible for the economic meltdown of 2008, is said to have coined this term. In April 2006:

“In all my years in the business I have never seen a more ________ product. It's not only subordinated to the first, but the first is subprime. In addition, the FICOs are below 600, below 500 and some below 40. With real estate values coming down ... the product will become increasingly worse.”

What term is this, Macquarie’s word of the year for 2008?

Q5

1. Phantom Vibration Syndrome/Ringxiety/Fauxcellarm

2. Hashtag, on Twitter

3. Information Superhighway/Infobahn

4. Burqini

5. Toxic Debt / Toxic Asset

A 2012 study by scientists in New Zealand and Canada titled, “Nonprobative photographs (or words) inflate ______” in the Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, examined the reasons behind this phenomenon. In four different experiments they discovered that people believe claims when a decorative photograph appears alongside the claim. “We know that when it’s easy for people to bring information to mind, it ‘feels’ right,” said Eryn Newman, the lead investigator.

Fill in the blanks with a word, named Word of the Year for 2005 by the American Dialect Society and for 2006 by Merriam-Webster.

Q6

1. Phantom Vibration Syndrome/Ringxiety/Fauxcellarm

2. Hashtag, on Twitter

3. Information Superhighway/Infobahn

4. Burqini

5. Toxic Debt / Toxic Asset

6. Truthiness

ANSWERS

1. Phantom Vibration Syndrome/Ringxiety/Fauxcellarm

2. Hashtag, on Twitter

3. Information Superhighway/Infobahn

4. Burqini

5. Toxic Debt / Toxic Asset

6. Truthiness

Legend goes that this was originally a trading settlement in Thrace. When on his death bed, the warden called his daughter Phidalia, who built many buildings in the settlement. He told her to make a wall from sea to sea. After the death of her father Phidalia was married to the King of Thrace (picture next slide), who named the area after himself and ruled in the city.

The city/word was introduced into the public consciousness by 16th century German historian Hieronymus Wolf, who set the foundation for further works on medieval Greek histories. The city itself has changed its name twice since then. What is the word/city in question?

Q16

And the answer is…

Byzantion / Byzantine / Byzantine empire

Byzantion later became Constantinople and then further still, Istanbul

This dam is built on the Mutha river, which in itself emerges from the confluence of Ambi and Mose rivers. Built to combat the severe droughts in the 19th century in East Pune, it just lies a few kilometres up the road from Sinhagad Fort. It happens to be the first masonry gravity dam built in the world.

An institution with the motto, “Seva Paramo Dharma” meaning “Service Before Self” was set up near this dam.

Name the dam.

Q17

And the answer is…

Khadakvasla Dam, where NDA is set up

In the 1930s, gas companies fought to stop customers switching to electricity. They identified radio as a game changer and so, the gas companies developed a gas-powered radio set. For rural areas in Russia, companies developed a kerosene-powered radio to use without electricity.

As part of the marketing efforts directed at such consumers, the radio companies asked customers to open their windows so as to get better reception. While it did make the radios function better, it didn’t have anything to do with reception of radio waves. Why were they asked to do so?

Q18

And the answer is…

All gas-powered devices used the thermoelectric effect: a current is obtained by exploiting the difference in temperature between

the device and its surroundings. Opening the windows to the cold, increased the temperature difference.

Derived from the Ancient Greek word for ‘prophet’, the family of animals, to which this creature belongs, were considered to have supernatural powers by early civilizations, including Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, and Assyria.

With the scientific name, “_______ religiosa”, its common name is often misspelt, thanks to the fact that they are mainly ambush predators.

Which creature is this?

Q19

And the answer is…

Praying Mantis, often misspelt as Preying Mantis

The surge in sale of this book has been attributed to 77-year-old retired advocate, Danielle Mérian who gave a viral heartfelt TV interview in November. The book’s title in the local language which loosely translates to “______ is a celebration”, has now been used by the city’s Mayor in an ad campaign. The book normally shifts about 8,000 copies a year. In the week from December 14-20 alone, more than 40,000 copies were sold.

In a similar instance, in January last year, a 1763 work written after the execution of Protestant merchant Jean Calas, portrayed as a wrongly convicted victim of Catholic persecution, surged in sales with it hitting the bestseller list, with the author featuring on many posters calling for understanding. Identify both works.

Q20

And the answer is…

A Moveable Feast Treatise on Tolerance

Ernest Hemingway Voltaire

After the ISIS attacks After Charlie Hebdo

Apart from directly lifting the closing lines as an excerpt, there are other similarities between the two works. Name both:

1. One of the important characters is named Barsad. In the earlier work, John Barsad is a spy and scoundrel who helps Sydney and Charles switch places before the execution.

2. The assistant of the corrupt businessman is a man called Philip Stryver. Stryver is also the name of the barrister under whom Sydney Carton works.

3. In the earlier work, Charles is put on trial for his life in a rowdy court of “people”, also referenced in the later work.

4. As an homage to the villain Madame Defarge, the villain in the later work is also shown to be knitting.

Q21

And the answer is…

The Dark Knight Rises and A Tale of Two Cities

Contrary to popular belief, the phrase didn’t start off with any homoerotic undertones.

In the textile trade, the last part of the piece of cloth was made of coarser material than the rest and left hanging loose. Hence the phrase came down to us.

What phrase are we talking about?

Q22

And the answer is…

Fag End

One instance of the word being mentioned in, ‘Inglorious Basterds’ is as below. Who named his production company after finding this word amusing? Give the word as well.

LT.ALDO: Hirschberg, you know how to drive, right?

HIRSCHBERG: Yes.

LT.ALDO: Teach 'em.

BRIDGET: But there is a problem. I'm a movie star. This is a movie premiere. I can't show up looking like I was just in a Nazi gun fight. Now I have a dress for the premiere at my hotel. But sometime tomorrow, I have to get my hair done. All The Basterds, except Donny, burst out laughing.

LT. ALDO: Sister, you must got _________ luck. Guess who went to beauty school?

Q23

And the answer is…

Wunderbar Productions, by Dhanush

In 1921, an ad for Gold Medal Flour was placed in the Saturday Evening Post. The ad featured a puzzle and contestants were encouraged to complete the puzzle and send it in for a prize. In addition to the response, many of the completed puzzles were accompanied by letters filled with questions and concerns, something the company hadn’t anticipated.

Previously, the company’s advertising department had dealt with customer mail and questions with the manager, Samuel Gale consulting the women of the staff. However, Gale never felt completely comfortable signing his name to this advice.

What did the department do to overcome this problem?

Q24

And the answer is…

Created the character ‘Betty Crocker’

He often pokes fun at himself on his blog as one of his posts say: “The second of the Four Noble Truths, the most fundamental tenets of Buddhism, tells us that the cause of all suffering is ____.  I bristle at this gross exaggeration.  Surely _____ are responsible for no more than 25% of human suffering.  (Most of the rest, I think, is caused by cancer, reality television, and okra.)”.

Twenty years after he invented the concept, the four original members reunited (picture in next slide) to recreate the first ever _______.

Fill in the blanks.

Q25

And the answer is…

Nathaniel Borenstein, who wrote the MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension) protocol for standardizing attachment

facilities. (Picture shown is the first ever e-mail attachment)

In one 1999 thread, a guy named Marco Cimarosti proposed a canonical encoding of the symbol in Unicode, using these combining characters:

01AC LATIN CAPITAL LETTER T WITH HOOK

030A COMBINING RING ABOVE

0335 COMBINING SHORT STROKE OVERLAY

032C COMBINING CARON BELOW

What was he trying to create in Unicode?

Q26

And the answer is…

Prince (TAFKAP) symbol in Unicode

Whose mock dictionary entries are these supposed to be?

007 [noun]: a nickname for surgeons who kill their patients

it's handled [idiom]: to cover up, spin, shut down and/or bury a problem by any means necessary; usually requires quick thinking, manipulation, coercion and fiery speeches

jam [noun]: what you make in your married lover's fantasy; preferably done in Vermont and when not in flagrante delicto

shooting star [noun]: a term used to describe an ambitious law student who flames out early

Q27

And the answer is…

Shondictionary

Shonda Rhimes, producer of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘How To Get Away With Murder’, ‘Scandal’ and many other TV shows

According to a 2000 research study, when people asked to execute A (which can be broken down into 11 steps), they got dizzy no matter how many years they train. Alternatively, while executing B (which seems more complicated as it can be broken down to 15 steps), people never got dizzy.

The reason for this was identified as something called ‘spotting’. When you turn, your body whips around in one continuous motion, and if your head went with it, you'd get dizzy very quickly. In order to prevent this, one needs to fix their eyes on a single point and move their head faster than the rest of them. People doing B fix their gaze more easily as compared to A because they don’t need to jump.

What are the two activities being discussed?

Q28

And the answer is…

Discus Throw Hammer Throw

Q29

On her most recent role, she remarked on her character name (perceived by many to be a literary in-joke):

“Yes, it’s all to do with reminiscence. The movie is all about his past coming back to the surface – she’s the ______ that brings back memories.”

Identify the name of the character. What was the supposed in-joke/literary reference?

And the answer is…

Madeleine Swann in Spectre

Reference to ‘Rememberance of Things Past’ by Proust

Going as far back as 1878, this piece of technology is still widely used in modern day electronics.

The current version is essentially a miniaturized form of the quarter inch version. The basic TRS (tip, ring and sleeve) connection is still being used, where the tip and the ring transfers signals to the left and the right. The sleeve acts as the ground.

Identify this technology, in the news currently, for its alleged omission in an upcoming product.

Q30

And the answer is…

3.5mm Audio Jacks

When it was under British administration from 1811 to 1816, the appointed governor took great interest in the history of this island. He collected antiques and made notes during his tour.

On an inspection tour to Semarang in 1814, he was informed about a big monument deep in a jungle near Bumisegoro. He sent H.C. Cornelius to investigate. In two months, Cornelius and his men cut down trees, burned down vegetation and dug away the earth to reveal the monument. Due to the danger of collapse, he could not unearth all galleries.

Which forgotten monument’s rediscovery is this? Also, name the governor who commissioned the expedition.

Q31

And the answer is…

Borobudur Temple, Sir Stamford Raffles

Makoto Imai and his team was trying to come up with a solution to the fact that most people who are killed in building fires are asleep or elderly. So, they created fire alarms from allyl isothiocyanate, which causes  a ‘somatosensation’, which the nervous system perceives it as a painful, stinging feeling. It won the 2011 Ig Nobel prize for Chemistry.

The innovation was launched in 2009 following development by Kobe-based fire extinguisher company Air Water Safety Service and Seems, a bioventure in Tokyo with customers such as hotels in Nagoya (who offer it to deaf people) starting to use it.

What is the source of the chemical used in the alarm?

Q32

And the answer is…

Wasabi

THANK YOU!