This Week’s Panel
Doubledown Tandino, Gaius Luminous, Menubar memorial & Joel Savard
Quotes
I would rather be poor in a cottage full of books than a king without the desire to read.
Thomas B. Macaulay
A person possessed with an idea cannot be reasoned with.
James Anthony Froude
Word – UP of the week - Mishomer - the nonsense that shows up on the screen when you type with your hands in the wrong place on the keyboard
Joel Savard
Audience quote of the week – There are 10 types of people: those who know binary and those who don't.
Haplo Eberhart
Questions
For the answers go to The 1st Question blog at treet.tv
1)Sun Danyong, apparently committed suicide after an iPhone prototype went missing. The company he worked for gave his family $44,000, and his girlfriend received an Apple laptop. Sun apparently was given not just one, but 16 prototype iPhones on July 9 or 10 to deliver to R&D, and he reported one missing three days later. He committed suicide early in the morning on July 16, after allegedly suffering through brutal interrogations. Even if you don't know the company’s name, you know the products they produce. Major, beloved hardware brands like Apple and Nintendo rely on their assembly lines to make some of the most coveted gadgets in the world. What is the name of this company which asks for perpetual overtime and pays about $220 a month? (Thanks to Gismodo for this)
2) ) Artificial skin is now in mass production in this country , and can produce up to 5,000 little swatches of human skin per month. Each little swatch is about one-tenth of a square inch and costs just $49 to produce. The process is completely automated; computers monitor the vats that the skin grows in, guiding the blade that cuts them free and tests the final product (including checking for infection). The artificial skin comes complete with blood vessels and can be used for grafts and plastic surgery. What country is this being done in?
3) In Greek mythology, she was the goddess who personified triumph throughout the ages, the Winged Goddess of Victory. She was sister of (Strength), (Force), and (Rivalry). According to classical myth, Styx brought the sisters to Zeus when the god was assembling allies for the Titan War against the older deities. She assumed the role of the divine charioteer, but is often seen with wings to remind people that victory is fleeting. She is one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins and on the Olympic coins her figure holds a palm frond in her left hand and a winner’s crown in her right.
4) With a reported one third of the currency in circulation being fake, in 1865 the Treasury Department needed them to suppress counterfeiting, The United States Marshals Service did not have the manpower to investigate all crime , so this group was used to investigate everything from murder to bank robbery to illegal gambling. After the assassination of McKinley in 1901, Congress informally requested that they provide presidential protection. And it wasn’t until 2003, they were transferred from Treasury to the newly established Department of Homeland Security. They almost put their lives on the line when a hand grenade was thrown at President Bush but failed to detonate What is this armed force called in the US?
5) He went to Bronx High School of Science & During his lifetime, he founded two companies for manufacturing electronic musical instruments. Moog was already building theremins when his friend sparked his interest in synthesizers. When he built a prototype for the 1964 Audio Engineering Society Convention, the response was enthusiastic He built the moog, the minimoog and the Kurzweil K2000, possibly the maximoog. It was however this 1968 release by Wendy Carlos that brought him his greatest success. What was this platinum selling album?
6) Alarm clocks come in all shapes and sizes, I am still waiting for the fly alarm clock which lands on your nose till you wake up. There’s the Puzzle Alarm Clock to get the gray matter working first thing in the morning and the Clocky to get you up and running. Joining the ranks of masochistic devices is this alarm clock which comes in charcoal gray and features a simple digital LCD clock display. The Shape Up Alarm Clock won’t stop screeching until you’ve done 30 reps. What is the shape of this alarm, the perfect gift for anyone you're not that fond of. (
7) Geometric modeling, A Knowledge Engine possibly the first literary description in history of something resembling a computer., and Bio – Energy were first described in a 1726 book whose hero is rescued after a shipwreck by a fictional flying island that can be maneuvered by its inhabitants in any direction This islands residents had discovered the two moons of Mars (which in reality would not be discovered for another 150 years), but couldn't construct well-designed clothing or buildings - The population of the island mainly consisted of educated people, who wee fond of mathematics, astronomy, music and technology, but failed to make practical use of their knowledge. Yes the book is Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. What is the name of the magnetically levitated island ?
8) Scientists in Nevada have found a new and environmentally friendly source for something quite important using “chicken feather meal”, a delightful material that consists of chicken feathers, blood, and innards made from the 11 billion pounds of poultry industry waste that accumulates annually in the US alone. Currently feather meal is used as animal feed and fertilizer because of its high protein content. It has a 12 percent fat content, and using boiling water could create 152 million gallons of what?
9) There’s no doubt the refrigerator is the central hub of the kitchen, serving more than its primary purpose of keeping things cold. In recent years we’ve seen fridge manufacturers pack their products with all manner of technological additions, from iPod docks to touch screens and TVs. In most households though the humble fridge remains a central place to stick notes that are sure to be seen. Whirlpool has saved us the hassle of hunting for a scrap of paper on which to scribble and the magnet to hold it with What kind of finish does the Amana jot fridge have?
10) One theory is that the song was inspired by the banning of rock music in Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini The song gives a fabulist account of the ban being defied by the population". The King orders jet fighters to bomb any people in violation of the ban. The pilots ignore the orders, and instead play rock music on their cockpit radios. The lyrics include a mixture of Arabic, Jewish, Urdu, and North African terms such as sharif, bedouin, sheikh, kosher, raga, muezzin, minaret, and casbah. "Rock the Casbah" originated when the Clash's manager asked facetiously , after a very long track them "does everything have to be as long as this raga?" Who was the The Clash’s manager?
11) Stopping to smell the roses is a good mantra to encourage you to take the time to appreciate what’s around you. Aromatherapy has become a popular form of alternative medicine. But another smell can reduce emotional stress more than roses. Scientists exposed lab rats to stressful conditions (presumably getting them to do some public speaking) while inhaling and not inhaling this. Those exposed to this scent did not go into stress overdrive. What is this scent that measurably reduces stress?
12) The i-Aroma is loaded with 6 base oils and attached to a PC via USB cable. Japanese company NTT Com is hoping to attract volunteers for the Fragrance Communication trials. An astrologist and aroma therapist will determine what scents are mixed and released into the air notably fragrances for various aspects of daily life such as walking, working and sleeping. A company named DigiScents tried this sort of thing for a while back in the late 1990s and had big dreams, which bombed, of scent-enabled websites. Its product was called what?
13) He moved to France and through a grant from Louis XIV of France helped to set up the Paris Observatory, which he remained director of until his death. He was the first to observe four of Saturn's moons, and discovered divisions in the rings of Saturn in 1675. and shares credit for the discovery of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter . He was an astrologer and an astronomer.. His method of determining longitude using eclipses of the satellites of Jupiter as a clock measured the size of France accurately for the first time. The country turned out to be considerably smaller than expected, . Who was the man The sun king quipped had taken more of his kingdom from him than he had won in all his wars.
14) The Russian Navy has declassified records of encounters with undersea UFOs during the Cold War. Their records detail underwater encounters at the world's oldest and deepest freshwater lake, 25 million years, and 5,000 feet In one case in 1982 a group of military divers training there spotted a group of humanoid creatures dressed in silvery suits. The encounter happened at a depth of 50 meters, and the men tried to catch the strangers. Three of the seven divers died, while four others were severely injured." Fans of the 1989 movie The Abyss are familiar with the storyline. What is the name of this lake where close encounters of the fishy kind occurred?
15) Actually, these are not my words but the commentary of the consistently excellent Boris Johnson writing in the UK Daily Telegraph about the Nanny State mentality. In describing ubiquitous signage warning of water being wet, slippery rocks being slippery and the sheer drop off a mountain being an “edge of cliff” Mr. Johnson gives this year’s winner of the prize for the Most Successful Special Interest Group to them?
Wednesday 29 July 2009
Wednesday 22 July 2009
The 1st Question 59 - 21 Jul 09
This Week’s Panel
Nexeus Fatale, Delinda Dyrssen, Rysan Fall & Perplexity Peccable
Quotes
One of the definitions of sanity is the ability to tell real from unreal. Soon we'll need a new definition.
Alvin Toffler
I can't imagine a person becoming a success who doesn't give this game of life everything he's got.
Walter Cronkite
Word UP of the week – Twidiculous - people who tweet what silly things like what they had for lunch
Delinda Dyrssen
Audience member saying of the week – “Muting is like grounding”
Pim Peccable
Questions
For the answers go to The 1st Question blog at treet.tv
1) There are other more well known names for this creature but Mogollon Monster, Momo the Monster, Nuk-luk, Old Yellow Top, Mono Grande, Yowie & the Fear liath as it is called in Scotland are some. Do you what urban legend these words describe?
2) He was the one responsible for the phrase “Warts & All” when asked if he wanted to be prettied up for his official portrait. He couldn’t have been prettied up from within. He exiled thousands of prisoners to Barbados (and Jamaica) to farm sugar cane. In 1701 there were 25000 slaves in Barbados, of which 21700 were white. The Redlegs are survivors of the indentured servants in Barbados during the seventeenth century. Who sent them there to begin with?
P:3) He originally had intended to study astronomy, however while serving in the German army, he almost died. His sister many miles away had a feeling he was in danger and got her father to telegram him. This astonished him so much that he switched to study psychology. His main contribution to medicine and neurology was the systematic study of the electrical activity of human brain and the development of electroencephalography (EEG), f and was also the first to describe the different waves or rhythms which were present in the normal and abnormal brain, such as the alpha . Disturbed by the consequences of the Second World War and National Socialism to his professional and private world, he committed suicide by hanging himself in 1941. Who was he?
4) WellAWARE Systems has created a passive monitoring system for older people who may need assistance, but prefer to live independently Monitoring key wellness indicators, such as eating, sleeping, bathing, activity, toilet use, and psycho-social aspects. Science fiction fans saw this one coming from a long way off. In his 1951 collection of short stories The Illustrated Man, Ray Bradbury writes about a similar kind of system in his classic short story The Veldt. What was the name of this Home that clothed fed and rocked them to sleep?
5) This remarkable hockey team was based in Manitoba. And founded in 1911 with a roster of entirely Icelandic players who were not able to play on the other Winnipeg teams due to racial prejudice. In their first season, they finished at the bottom of their league. But i8 years later they won big and went on to play in the first modern Olympics in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium. And soundly beating all their opponents, won the first Olympic Gold Medal in Hockey for Canada & the first Olympic Gold Medal in ice hockey.. What is the name of this historic team?
6) The Committee of Safety, formally the Citizen's Committee of Public Safety, was a 13-member council composed of American, & European Hawaiian citizens that planned and carried out the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. The goal of this group was to achieve annexation of Hawaii to the United States, which occurred in 1898 when Congress approved a joint resolution of annexation. The stage was set for this in 1887, when they forced King David Kalākaua to enact a constitution that stripped almost 75% of the native population of voting rights. Who forced him to sign the constitution under bayonet?
7) Security theater is a component of the culture of fear and consists of security countermeasures intended to provide the feeling of improved security while doing little or nothing to actually improve it. Security Theater gains importance both by satisfying and exploiting the gap between perceived risk and actual risk. Security theater encourages people to make uninformed, counterproductive political decisions as the feeling of (and wish for) safety can actually increase the real risk, and large economic costs aiding only those who wish to exploit or profit from it. The term Security Theatre was coined by him. Who is he?
H:8) Around the age of thirteen, he had a recurring dream that he was in a bookstore, trying to find an issue of Astounding Magazine, which would reveal the secrets of the universe.. His later works reflect his personal interest in metaphysics and theology, often drawing upon his own life experiences: addressing the nature of drug use, paranoia and schizophrenia. He was a "fictionalizing philosopher, married 5 times, Robert Heinlein bailed him out of financial trouble & Paul Giametti will play him in a movie soon called the owl in the daylight. After he died he was "resurrected" by his fans in the form of a remote-controlled android which was misplaced in 2006, and it has not yet been found. Who was this original science fiction writer who explored themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments, and altered states?
9) Born Christa Päffgen, she was a German singer-songwriter, fashion model, actress, and Warhol Superstar. She had a bit part in La Dolce Vita and starred in the 1966 art film Chelsea Girls, which she named her solo debut album after. She was also a heroin addict for over 15 years. Her comeback concert at CBGB in early 1980 was glowingly reviewed in The New York Times. She died in 1988 after a bicycling accident, just shy of her 50th birthday. Who was this Velvet underground legend, lover of Lou Reed, Jim Morrison, Jackson Browne, Brian Jones, Tim Buckley, Bob Dylan and Iggy Pop?
10) She was a Greek scholar from Alexandria and considered the first notable woman in mathematics, who also taught philosophy and astronomy She lived in Roman Egypt, and was killed by a Christian mob who blamed her for religious turmoil. Some suggest that her murder marked the end of the Hellenistic Age, & she worked as teacher of philosophy, teaching the works of Plato and Aristotle. Who was this famous woman of history, who Skylar Smythe recently produced and directed a smash hit play here of?
11) In the Crash of 1929, his family lost almost everything and moved to Gravesend, Brooklyn, where as a teenager, he delivered bread every morning before school to help make ends meet. In 1940 he wrote The Man Who Had All the Luck, which was produced yet closed after four performances. He was often in the public eye, particularly during the late 40s to early 60s, a period during which he testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and was married to Marilyn Monroe. He traveled to Salem, Massachusetts to research the witch trials of 1692. And wrote a famous allegorical play in which he likened the situation with the House Un-American Activities Committee to the witch hunt in Salem.
Award winning and controversial playwright. Who died at the age of 89-year-old intending to marry his 34-year-old minimalist painter girlfriend?
12) This designer’s project originated from an "impact" brief and news about a British streaker who jumped into the Japanese Emperor's palace moat. She was interested in this news & wanted to represent this principle. Since the invention and proliferation of the photocopier, office clowns around the world have been united in a single desire - particularly around Christmas party time. Ignoring the hazard of broken glass and the virtual certainty of dismissal should they be discovered, thousands of pranksters annually drop their strides or hike their skirts and enjoy the age-old ritual of photocopying their backsides for their innocent co-workers to find in the out tray. This Japanese woman has designed a chair for this very purpose. What is this called?
13) He lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut and it is his library which made me swoon. This is a man after Pooky’s wee heart.. Stuffed with landmark tomes and eye-grabbing historical objects-on the walls, on tables, standing on the floor-the room occupies 3,600 square feet on three mazelike levels. Is that a Sputnik? (Yes.) are those books bound in rubies. (Yes.) Gee, that chandelier looks like the one in the James Bond flick Die Another Day. (It is.). A 1665 Bills of Mortality chronicle of London (you can track plague fatalities by week), the instruction manual for the Saturn V rocket (which launched the Apollo 11 capsule to the moon), a framed napkin from 1943 on which Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined his plan to win World War II. and an original copy of the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle, the first illustrated history book According to the 1999 Forbes 400, his net worth once topped $4 billion, which was almost entirely Priceline.com stock. Much was lost during the dot-com crash. Who is this man of treasure?
14) As we commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo moon landing this week, it’s worth asking what happened to those old dreams of lunar colonies and missions to Mars. NASA is reportedly struggling thanks to a general lack of interest and, it claims, funding. But, even with $187 billion, their Project Constellation is unlikely to reach the moon before 2020. The best hope right now seems to be driven by the private sector: Google’s $30 million Lunar X PRIZE which is a deceptively simple competition: safely land a robot on the surface of the moon. Odyssey Moon, first team to register wants to “capitalize on commercial opportunities and is backed by one of the world’s largest advertising agencies. And it has its first paying client, from what country?
15) This skyscraper is capable of providing a sprawling urban populous with food, the reuse of natural resources and biodegradeable waste. Called the Dragonfly it represents an extension of vertical farming, and use of renewable energy resources such as solar, wind and tide-turbine power. The space between the pair of "wings" would use solar energy to accumulate warm air within the structure during winter months, and the design of the spine would efficiently separate and recirculate waste products from plants, humans beings and animals. The importance of research into this area is huge the UN predicts by 2025, worldwide urban population have risen from 3.1 billion to 5.5 billion. The long-term effect would seem to far outweigh the short-term cost. In what City will this very hopefully be found?
16) Its not Smell-o-vision and it’s not aromatherapy but this company has come up with a the fragrance designed as an abstract vision for a scent. The fragrance contains the scent of leather and minerals--to evoke watchbands and the quartz mechanism--and also top notes meant to evoke electricity. The point, is a "glam future"--to hark back to the 1960s and 1970s. "Futurism used to be optimistic, not terrifying, The Company began in 2004, around the idea of telling time as a linear graph. What is the company who made a watch perfume called?
17)ATMs from this country have gone hot with their latest means of fighting thieves - they are now equipped with pepper spray. The cash machines make use of cameras and special software that detect miscreants tampering with the card slots. The autonomous ATM apparently makes the decision to use pepper spray without the assistance of a human operator. But the mechanism backfired in one incident last week when pepper spray was inadvertently inhaled by three technicians who required treatment from paramedics. In what country does the attack ATM’s exist?
18) Usually, when a young baby cries, the cause is one of three things. They are hungry, tired or need their diaper changed. if not this they are sick! -An inventor and parent set about searching for an ink pigment with heat-sensitive molecules. And spent six years and over USD 1.15million working with scientists to embed the pigment into cotton baby suits. The baby suits come in pastels but if the child’s temperature rises above 98.6, the suit turns white, instantly alerting you that they are too hot what is the name of this?
Nexeus Fatale, Delinda Dyrssen, Rysan Fall & Perplexity Peccable
Quotes
One of the definitions of sanity is the ability to tell real from unreal. Soon we'll need a new definition.
Alvin Toffler
I can't imagine a person becoming a success who doesn't give this game of life everything he's got.
Walter Cronkite
Word UP of the week – Twidiculous - people who tweet what silly things like what they had for lunch
Delinda Dyrssen
Audience member saying of the week – “Muting is like grounding”
Pim Peccable
Questions
For the answers go to The 1st Question blog at treet.tv
1) There are other more well known names for this creature but Mogollon Monster, Momo the Monster, Nuk-luk, Old Yellow Top, Mono Grande, Yowie & the Fear liath as it is called in Scotland are some. Do you what urban legend these words describe?
2) He was the one responsible for the phrase “Warts & All” when asked if he wanted to be prettied up for his official portrait. He couldn’t have been prettied up from within. He exiled thousands of prisoners to Barbados (and Jamaica) to farm sugar cane. In 1701 there were 25000 slaves in Barbados, of which 21700 were white. The Redlegs are survivors of the indentured servants in Barbados during the seventeenth century. Who sent them there to begin with?
P:3) He originally had intended to study astronomy, however while serving in the German army, he almost died. His sister many miles away had a feeling he was in danger and got her father to telegram him. This astonished him so much that he switched to study psychology. His main contribution to medicine and neurology was the systematic study of the electrical activity of human brain and the development of electroencephalography (EEG), f and was also the first to describe the different waves or rhythms which were present in the normal and abnormal brain, such as the alpha . Disturbed by the consequences of the Second World War and National Socialism to his professional and private world, he committed suicide by hanging himself in 1941. Who was he?
4) WellAWARE Systems has created a passive monitoring system for older people who may need assistance, but prefer to live independently Monitoring key wellness indicators, such as eating, sleeping, bathing, activity, toilet use, and psycho-social aspects. Science fiction fans saw this one coming from a long way off. In his 1951 collection of short stories The Illustrated Man, Ray Bradbury writes about a similar kind of system in his classic short story The Veldt. What was the name of this Home that clothed fed and rocked them to sleep?
5) This remarkable hockey team was based in Manitoba. And founded in 1911 with a roster of entirely Icelandic players who were not able to play on the other Winnipeg teams due to racial prejudice. In their first season, they finished at the bottom of their league. But i8 years later they won big and went on to play in the first modern Olympics in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium. And soundly beating all their opponents, won the first Olympic Gold Medal in Hockey for Canada & the first Olympic Gold Medal in ice hockey.. What is the name of this historic team?
6) The Committee of Safety, formally the Citizen's Committee of Public Safety, was a 13-member council composed of American, & European Hawaiian citizens that planned and carried out the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. The goal of this group was to achieve annexation of Hawaii to the United States, which occurred in 1898 when Congress approved a joint resolution of annexation. The stage was set for this in 1887, when they forced King David Kalākaua to enact a constitution that stripped almost 75% of the native population of voting rights. Who forced him to sign the constitution under bayonet?
7) Security theater is a component of the culture of fear and consists of security countermeasures intended to provide the feeling of improved security while doing little or nothing to actually improve it. Security Theater gains importance both by satisfying and exploiting the gap between perceived risk and actual risk. Security theater encourages people to make uninformed, counterproductive political decisions as the feeling of (and wish for) safety can actually increase the real risk, and large economic costs aiding only those who wish to exploit or profit from it. The term Security Theatre was coined by him. Who is he?
H:8) Around the age of thirteen, he had a recurring dream that he was in a bookstore, trying to find an issue of Astounding Magazine, which would reveal the secrets of the universe.. His later works reflect his personal interest in metaphysics and theology, often drawing upon his own life experiences: addressing the nature of drug use, paranoia and schizophrenia. He was a "fictionalizing philosopher, married 5 times, Robert Heinlein bailed him out of financial trouble & Paul Giametti will play him in a movie soon called the owl in the daylight. After he died he was "resurrected" by his fans in the form of a remote-controlled android which was misplaced in 2006, and it has not yet been found. Who was this original science fiction writer who explored themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments, and altered states?
9) Born Christa Päffgen, she was a German singer-songwriter, fashion model, actress, and Warhol Superstar. She had a bit part in La Dolce Vita and starred in the 1966 art film Chelsea Girls, which she named her solo debut album after. She was also a heroin addict for over 15 years. Her comeback concert at CBGB in early 1980 was glowingly reviewed in The New York Times. She died in 1988 after a bicycling accident, just shy of her 50th birthday. Who was this Velvet underground legend, lover of Lou Reed, Jim Morrison, Jackson Browne, Brian Jones, Tim Buckley, Bob Dylan and Iggy Pop?
10) She was a Greek scholar from Alexandria and considered the first notable woman in mathematics, who also taught philosophy and astronomy She lived in Roman Egypt, and was killed by a Christian mob who blamed her for religious turmoil. Some suggest that her murder marked the end of the Hellenistic Age, & she worked as teacher of philosophy, teaching the works of Plato and Aristotle. Who was this famous woman of history, who Skylar Smythe recently produced and directed a smash hit play here of?
11) In the Crash of 1929, his family lost almost everything and moved to Gravesend, Brooklyn, where as a teenager, he delivered bread every morning before school to help make ends meet. In 1940 he wrote The Man Who Had All the Luck, which was produced yet closed after four performances. He was often in the public eye, particularly during the late 40s to early 60s, a period during which he testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and was married to Marilyn Monroe. He traveled to Salem, Massachusetts to research the witch trials of 1692. And wrote a famous allegorical play in which he likened the situation with the House Un-American Activities Committee to the witch hunt in Salem.
Award winning and controversial playwright. Who died at the age of 89-year-old intending to marry his 34-year-old minimalist painter girlfriend?
12) This designer’s project originated from an "impact" brief and news about a British streaker who jumped into the Japanese Emperor's palace moat. She was interested in this news & wanted to represent this principle. Since the invention and proliferation of the photocopier, office clowns around the world have been united in a single desire - particularly around Christmas party time. Ignoring the hazard of broken glass and the virtual certainty of dismissal should they be discovered, thousands of pranksters annually drop their strides or hike their skirts and enjoy the age-old ritual of photocopying their backsides for their innocent co-workers to find in the out tray. This Japanese woman has designed a chair for this very purpose. What is this called?
13) He lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut and it is his library which made me swoon. This is a man after Pooky’s wee heart.. Stuffed with landmark tomes and eye-grabbing historical objects-on the walls, on tables, standing on the floor-the room occupies 3,600 square feet on three mazelike levels. Is that a Sputnik? (Yes.) are those books bound in rubies. (Yes.) Gee, that chandelier looks like the one in the James Bond flick Die Another Day. (It is.). A 1665 Bills of Mortality chronicle of London (you can track plague fatalities by week), the instruction manual for the Saturn V rocket (which launched the Apollo 11 capsule to the moon), a framed napkin from 1943 on which Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined his plan to win World War II. and an original copy of the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle, the first illustrated history book According to the 1999 Forbes 400, his net worth once topped $4 billion, which was almost entirely Priceline.com stock. Much was lost during the dot-com crash. Who is this man of treasure?
14) As we commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo moon landing this week, it’s worth asking what happened to those old dreams of lunar colonies and missions to Mars. NASA is reportedly struggling thanks to a general lack of interest and, it claims, funding. But, even with $187 billion, their Project Constellation is unlikely to reach the moon before 2020. The best hope right now seems to be driven by the private sector: Google’s $30 million Lunar X PRIZE which is a deceptively simple competition: safely land a robot on the surface of the moon. Odyssey Moon, first team to register wants to “capitalize on commercial opportunities and is backed by one of the world’s largest advertising agencies. And it has its first paying client, from what country?
15) This skyscraper is capable of providing a sprawling urban populous with food, the reuse of natural resources and biodegradeable waste. Called the Dragonfly it represents an extension of vertical farming, and use of renewable energy resources such as solar, wind and tide-turbine power. The space between the pair of "wings" would use solar energy to accumulate warm air within the structure during winter months, and the design of the spine would efficiently separate and recirculate waste products from plants, humans beings and animals. The importance of research into this area is huge the UN predicts by 2025, worldwide urban population have risen from 3.1 billion to 5.5 billion. The long-term effect would seem to far outweigh the short-term cost. In what City will this very hopefully be found?
16) Its not Smell-o-vision and it’s not aromatherapy but this company has come up with a the fragrance designed as an abstract vision for a scent. The fragrance contains the scent of leather and minerals--to evoke watchbands and the quartz mechanism--and also top notes meant to evoke electricity. The point, is a "glam future"--to hark back to the 1960s and 1970s. "Futurism used to be optimistic, not terrifying, The Company began in 2004, around the idea of telling time as a linear graph. What is the company who made a watch perfume called?
17)ATMs from this country have gone hot with their latest means of fighting thieves - they are now equipped with pepper spray. The cash machines make use of cameras and special software that detect miscreants tampering with the card slots. The autonomous ATM apparently makes the decision to use pepper spray without the assistance of a human operator. But the mechanism backfired in one incident last week when pepper spray was inadvertently inhaled by three technicians who required treatment from paramedics. In what country does the attack ATM’s exist?
18) Usually, when a young baby cries, the cause is one of three things. They are hungry, tired or need their diaper changed. if not this they are sick! -An inventor and parent set about searching for an ink pigment with heat-sensitive molecules. And spent six years and over USD 1.15million working with scientists to embed the pigment into cotton baby suits. The baby suits come in pastels but if the child’s temperature rises above 98.6, the suit turns white, instantly alerting you that they are too hot what is the name of this?
Saturday 18 July 2009
The 1st Question 58 - 14 Jul 09
This Week’s Panel
Charlie Navarathna, Wynx Whiplash, Filthy Fluno & Marc Montague
Quotes
If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should never grow old.
John Kenneth Galbraith
I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see.
Duane Michals
Never wear anything that panics the cat.
P. J. O'Rourke
Word – UP of the week
"mooncrookies" - the circles and bags under eyes resulting from the antics of a person up all night under the influence of a full moon.
Charlie Navarantha
E.g. upon rising, Cassandra went to the bathroom, looked in the mirror and sighed when she saw the dark mooncrookies under her eyes.
Questions
For the answers go to The 1st Question blog at treet.tv
P:1) David Merrill, of MIT is the inventor of these interactive electronic building blocks which he demonstrated at the 2009 TED conference. They are a platform for physical interaction with information and media. Each one has sensing, feedback, and wireless communication capabilities, making them a mashup of tangible interface and sensor network. The platform is collaboration with Jeevan Kalanithi (of taco lab.) What is this revolution in Cookie-Scale Computing called?
2) It is a field of computer research which deals with the combination of real-world and computer-generated data where computer graphics objects are blended into real footage in real time. At present, most research is concerned with the use of live video imagery. Commonly known examples are the yellow "first down" line seen in broadcasts of American football games, and the colored trail showing location and direction of the puck in hockey games. What is this kind of imagery called that uses graphics in real time called?
3) He was a German civil engineer and computer pioneer. His greatest achievement was the world's first functional program-controlled computer, the Z3, in 1941 He started working in his parents' apartment in 1936, his first attempt, was called the Z1, In 1946 he founded one of the earliest computer companies: his capital was raised with an IBM option on his patents The Z4 was finished in 1950. At that time, it was the only working computer in continental Europe, and only the second computer in the world to be sold, only beaten by the BINAC.. he made it to the Z22, the first computer with a memory based on magnetic storage. Who was the man who also suggested digital physics, that the universe itself is running on a grid of computers?
4) The inventor of this data engine is a British physicist, software developer, mathematician, author and businessman, known for his work in theoretical particle physics, cosmology, and complexity theory. At 16, he published an article on particle physics and the following year entered Oxford . He is the author of the controversial book A New Kind of Science. His conclusion is that the universe is digital in its nature, and runs on fundamental laws which can be described as simple programs: cellular automata. In March of this year he announced, a computational data engine with a new approach to knowledge extraction and an easy-to-use interface. His engine is not a search engine in that it does not simply return a list of results based on a query, but instead attempts to compute an answer to its input & this could be as important as Google. What is this knowledge engine called, and /or who is its inventor?
5) One of his inspirations is from a 1937 lecture by Sherrington. In it the brain is described "as if the Milky Way entered upon some cosmic dance. Swiftly the brain becomes an enchanted loom where millions of flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern, always a meaningful pattern though never an abiding one; a shifting harmony of subpatterns." And so he said, "I got interested in virtual reality because I wanted to be able to visualize brain-like circuits, as a model for artificial neural systems. I want to design, analyze, and simulate systems designed on the principles of biology." He developed eLoom, and using theory, simulation and virtual environments to understand how brains work. He created the University of New Mexico’s Visualization Lab in 1998 to advance the science of visualization and virtual environments so they can more effectively amplify human comprehension. Who is this man who coined the term Augmented Reality?
6) The term describes a market situation where sales of a product decline due to consumer anticipation of the product's successor. It originates from the supposed demise of this home computer, when in 1983, its inventor pre-announced several next-generation computer models (the "Executive" and "Vixen" models), which had not yet been built, highlighting the fact that they would outperform the existing model. Accordingly, sales of the first immediately plummeted as customers opted to wait for the more advanced systems, leading to a sales decline from which the company was unable to recover. What is the name of this effect?
7) It is a handheld gaming console which was released by Tiger Telematics in 2005.and was supposed to use The Smart Adds system as a way for consumers to subsidize part of the cost. displaying advertisements at random intervals. These advertisements would be downloaded via the device's GPRS data connection and would be targeted based on data inputted directing users to the nearest store carrying the advertised product. Launched with a line-up of fourteen titles with all were canceled before their release due to bankruptcy. What happened? A future better model was announced just a few weeks before the original US launch prompting some not to buy and instead wait for the improved model. Sales did not recover. What was this that gave us a classic case of the Osborne effect?
8) The magnetosphere of this planet is the largest and most powerful of any and the largest known continuous structure in the Solar System after the heliosphere. It’s existence was first inferred from observations of radio emissions at the end of 1950s and was directly observed by the Pioneer 10 spacecraft in 1973. The internal magnetic field is generated by electrical currents flowing in its outer core, which is composed of metallic hydrogen. Volcanic eruptions on it’s moon eject large amounts of sulfur dioxide gas into space, forming a large torus around the planet, which loads the magnetic field with plasma. Its aurorae have been observed in almost all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum including infrared, visible, ultraviolet and soft X-rays. What is the name of this planet?
9) The Book of the Moon is the definitive Moon book (even surpassing goodnight Moon) - it covers ancient fascination and study, mythology as well as scientific advancement and even medicinal ones. The author is a British Film Director who recently interviewed Buzz Aldrin onstage in London. Buzz told him ‘And there’s one person on earth who really understands the moon’s magnificent desolation.’ Who is this man ?
10) In March 2009 Honda created an interface that allows the control of an Asimo robot using thought alone via EEG. Now this car company and RIKEN have teamed up to create a revolutionary wheelchair steered by mind control. This remarkable development is one of the first practical uses of EEG signals. Designed for people with severe disabilities, the wheelchair is fitted with an EEG detector in the form of a electrode array skull cap, a cheek puff detector brake and a display that assists with control. Each signal is a composite of the electrical activity of billions of brain cells working in unison. Which car company name is behind this?
11) She was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities and one of the oldest. Often described as the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of forests and hills, child birth, virginity, fertility, the hunt, and often was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows. The deer and the cypress were sacred to her. What is the Greek name deity the Romans worshipped as Diana
12) Giving robots a taste for flesh might not seem like a great idea given that they’re probably going to rise up and enslave us in the next few decades. But that’s just what a couple of UK-based designers have done with their prototype flesh-eating robotic clock. The fuel cell is able to produce a current by mimicking chemical interactions found in nature. This current is then used to drive the rollers and power the LCD clock display. The designers believe that robots will need to pull their weight and blend with the furniture if they are going to be accepted into people’s homes. To that end they’ve also designed a coffee table that is designed to catch and digest mice, and a lampshade inspired by carnivorous pitcher plants. What is the flesh eating robotic clock currently eating?
13) A 1908 French satirical novel by Nobel Prize winning author Anatole France, called penguin island, narrates the fictional history of a population of these birds which are mistakenly baptized by a nearsighted missionary. The last population however lived on Geirfuglasker off Iceland. When the colony was initially discovered in 1835, nearly fifty birds were present. Museums, desiring the skins for preservation and display, quickly began collecting them from the colony. They were extinct in 1844. They are known to have been preyed upon by Neanderthals over 100,000 years ago as well-cleaned bones have been found by their campfires. Native Americans also valued it as a food source, because it tasted like chicken. Found in great numbers on islands off eastern Canada, Northern Europe and Great Britain, What is this now extinct species of bird believed to have mated for life?
14) The lofty ambitions of the Solar Impulse project are approaching reality with a fully assembled prototype unveiled to the public for the first time late last month. Entirely powered by the sun, the aircraft has a giant wingspan of 61 meters and is covered in almost 12,000 solar cells. .The plane’s four motors each achieve no more than what the Wright Brothers had available to them in 1903. As a result, the Solar Impulse can only average speeds of around 43.5mph And the only way a plane that slow will stay in the air is to have an enormous wingspan, comparable to that of an Airbus A340. What percentage of the plane’s flight is powered by the sun?
15) The Trans-Saharan gas pipeline (also known as NIGAL pipeline and Trans-African gas pipeline) is a planned natural gas pipeline. The annual capacity of which would be up to 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas, and is expected to be operational by 2015. Investment for the pipeline will be around US$10 billion and for gas gathering centers around $3 billion. It is seen as an opportunity to diversify the European Union's gas supplies. Name one of the 3 countries directly involved with this
16) His doctoral thesis established the quantum theory of solids, using waves to describe the electrons. He studied with Pauli in Zürich, Bohr in Copenhagen and Fermi in Rome before he went back to Leipzig. In 1933, immediately after Hitler came to power, he left Germany, emigrating to work at Stanford University in 1934, where he became the first professor for theoretical physics. During WW II he worked on atomic energy at Los Alamos. After the war he concentrated on investigations into nuclear induction and nuclear magnetic resonance, which are the underlying principles of MRI. Who was the man who with Edward Mills Purcell was awarded the 1952 Nobel Prize for "their development of new ways and methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements."
17) It is a new, very promising (although still in its infancy) technology in which the intrinsic spin of electrons, rather than the value of a voltage like in today's electronics, is used to store and transport information to be interpreted as either a "1" or a "0". Advantages of semiconductor-based applications of this sort are lower power use and a smaller footprint than electrical devices used for information processing Topological insulators have the property of opposing no resistance at all to an electrical flow next to their surface, making them much more fit to practical applications. What is this infant field, also known as magnetoelectronics?
Charlie Navarathna, Wynx Whiplash, Filthy Fluno & Marc Montague
Quotes
If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should never grow old.
John Kenneth Galbraith
I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see.
Duane Michals
Never wear anything that panics the cat.
P. J. O'Rourke
Word – UP of the week
"mooncrookies" - the circles and bags under eyes resulting from the antics of a person up all night under the influence of a full moon.
Charlie Navarantha
E.g. upon rising, Cassandra went to the bathroom, looked in the mirror and sighed when she saw the dark mooncrookies under her eyes.
Questions
For the answers go to The 1st Question blog at treet.tv
P:1) David Merrill, of MIT is the inventor of these interactive electronic building blocks which he demonstrated at the 2009 TED conference. They are a platform for physical interaction with information and media. Each one has sensing, feedback, and wireless communication capabilities, making them a mashup of tangible interface and sensor network. The platform is collaboration with Jeevan Kalanithi (of taco lab.) What is this revolution in Cookie-Scale Computing called?
2) It is a field of computer research which deals with the combination of real-world and computer-generated data where computer graphics objects are blended into real footage in real time. At present, most research is concerned with the use of live video imagery. Commonly known examples are the yellow "first down" line seen in broadcasts of American football games, and the colored trail showing location and direction of the puck in hockey games. What is this kind of imagery called that uses graphics in real time called?
3) He was a German civil engineer and computer pioneer. His greatest achievement was the world's first functional program-controlled computer, the Z3, in 1941 He started working in his parents' apartment in 1936, his first attempt, was called the Z1, In 1946 he founded one of the earliest computer companies: his capital was raised with an IBM option on his patents The Z4 was finished in 1950. At that time, it was the only working computer in continental Europe, and only the second computer in the world to be sold, only beaten by the BINAC.. he made it to the Z22, the first computer with a memory based on magnetic storage. Who was the man who also suggested digital physics, that the universe itself is running on a grid of computers?
4) The inventor of this data engine is a British physicist, software developer, mathematician, author and businessman, known for his work in theoretical particle physics, cosmology, and complexity theory. At 16, he published an article on particle physics and the following year entered Oxford . He is the author of the controversial book A New Kind of Science. His conclusion is that the universe is digital in its nature, and runs on fundamental laws which can be described as simple programs: cellular automata. In March of this year he announced, a computational data engine with a new approach to knowledge extraction and an easy-to-use interface. His engine is not a search engine in that it does not simply return a list of results based on a query, but instead attempts to compute an answer to its input & this could be as important as Google. What is this knowledge engine called, and /or who is its inventor?
5) One of his inspirations is from a 1937 lecture by Sherrington. In it the brain is described "as if the Milky Way entered upon some cosmic dance. Swiftly the brain becomes an enchanted loom where millions of flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern, always a meaningful pattern though never an abiding one; a shifting harmony of subpatterns." And so he said, "I got interested in virtual reality because I wanted to be able to visualize brain-like circuits, as a model for artificial neural systems. I want to design, analyze, and simulate systems designed on the principles of biology." He developed eLoom, and using theory, simulation and virtual environments to understand how brains work. He created the University of New Mexico’s Visualization Lab in 1998 to advance the science of visualization and virtual environments so they can more effectively amplify human comprehension. Who is this man who coined the term Augmented Reality?
6) The term describes a market situation where sales of a product decline due to consumer anticipation of the product's successor. It originates from the supposed demise of this home computer, when in 1983, its inventor pre-announced several next-generation computer models (the "Executive" and "Vixen" models), which had not yet been built, highlighting the fact that they would outperform the existing model. Accordingly, sales of the first immediately plummeted as customers opted to wait for the more advanced systems, leading to a sales decline from which the company was unable to recover. What is the name of this effect?
7) It is a handheld gaming console which was released by Tiger Telematics in 2005.and was supposed to use The Smart Adds system as a way for consumers to subsidize part of the cost. displaying advertisements at random intervals. These advertisements would be downloaded via the device's GPRS data connection and would be targeted based on data inputted directing users to the nearest store carrying the advertised product. Launched with a line-up of fourteen titles with all were canceled before their release due to bankruptcy. What happened? A future better model was announced just a few weeks before the original US launch prompting some not to buy and instead wait for the improved model. Sales did not recover. What was this that gave us a classic case of the Osborne effect?
8) The magnetosphere of this planet is the largest and most powerful of any and the largest known continuous structure in the Solar System after the heliosphere. It’s existence was first inferred from observations of radio emissions at the end of 1950s and was directly observed by the Pioneer 10 spacecraft in 1973. The internal magnetic field is generated by electrical currents flowing in its outer core, which is composed of metallic hydrogen. Volcanic eruptions on it’s moon eject large amounts of sulfur dioxide gas into space, forming a large torus around the planet, which loads the magnetic field with plasma. Its aurorae have been observed in almost all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum including infrared, visible, ultraviolet and soft X-rays. What is the name of this planet?
9) The Book of the Moon is the definitive Moon book (even surpassing goodnight Moon) - it covers ancient fascination and study, mythology as well as scientific advancement and even medicinal ones. The author is a British Film Director who recently interviewed Buzz Aldrin onstage in London. Buzz told him ‘And there’s one person on earth who really understands the moon’s magnificent desolation.’ Who is this man ?
10) In March 2009 Honda created an interface that allows the control of an Asimo robot using thought alone via EEG. Now this car company and RIKEN have teamed up to create a revolutionary wheelchair steered by mind control. This remarkable development is one of the first practical uses of EEG signals. Designed for people with severe disabilities, the wheelchair is fitted with an EEG detector in the form of a electrode array skull cap, a cheek puff detector brake and a display that assists with control. Each signal is a composite of the electrical activity of billions of brain cells working in unison. Which car company name is behind this?
11) She was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities and one of the oldest. Often described as the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of forests and hills, child birth, virginity, fertility, the hunt, and often was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows. The deer and the cypress were sacred to her. What is the Greek name deity the Romans worshipped as Diana
12) Giving robots a taste for flesh might not seem like a great idea given that they’re probably going to rise up and enslave us in the next few decades. But that’s just what a couple of UK-based designers have done with their prototype flesh-eating robotic clock. The fuel cell is able to produce a current by mimicking chemical interactions found in nature. This current is then used to drive the rollers and power the LCD clock display. The designers believe that robots will need to pull their weight and blend with the furniture if they are going to be accepted into people’s homes. To that end they’ve also designed a coffee table that is designed to catch and digest mice, and a lampshade inspired by carnivorous pitcher plants. What is the flesh eating robotic clock currently eating?
13) A 1908 French satirical novel by Nobel Prize winning author Anatole France, called penguin island, narrates the fictional history of a population of these birds which are mistakenly baptized by a nearsighted missionary. The last population however lived on Geirfuglasker off Iceland. When the colony was initially discovered in 1835, nearly fifty birds were present. Museums, desiring the skins for preservation and display, quickly began collecting them from the colony. They were extinct in 1844. They are known to have been preyed upon by Neanderthals over 100,000 years ago as well-cleaned bones have been found by their campfires. Native Americans also valued it as a food source, because it tasted like chicken. Found in great numbers on islands off eastern Canada, Northern Europe and Great Britain, What is this now extinct species of bird believed to have mated for life?
14) The lofty ambitions of the Solar Impulse project are approaching reality with a fully assembled prototype unveiled to the public for the first time late last month. Entirely powered by the sun, the aircraft has a giant wingspan of 61 meters and is covered in almost 12,000 solar cells. .The plane’s four motors each achieve no more than what the Wright Brothers had available to them in 1903. As a result, the Solar Impulse can only average speeds of around 43.5mph And the only way a plane that slow will stay in the air is to have an enormous wingspan, comparable to that of an Airbus A340. What percentage of the plane’s flight is powered by the sun?
15) The Trans-Saharan gas pipeline (also known as NIGAL pipeline and Trans-African gas pipeline) is a planned natural gas pipeline. The annual capacity of which would be up to 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas, and is expected to be operational by 2015. Investment for the pipeline will be around US$10 billion and for gas gathering centers around $3 billion. It is seen as an opportunity to diversify the European Union's gas supplies. Name one of the 3 countries directly involved with this
16) His doctoral thesis established the quantum theory of solids, using waves to describe the electrons. He studied with Pauli in Zürich, Bohr in Copenhagen and Fermi in Rome before he went back to Leipzig. In 1933, immediately after Hitler came to power, he left Germany, emigrating to work at Stanford University in 1934, where he became the first professor for theoretical physics. During WW II he worked on atomic energy at Los Alamos. After the war he concentrated on investigations into nuclear induction and nuclear magnetic resonance, which are the underlying principles of MRI. Who was the man who with Edward Mills Purcell was awarded the 1952 Nobel Prize for "their development of new ways and methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements."
17) It is a new, very promising (although still in its infancy) technology in which the intrinsic spin of electrons, rather than the value of a voltage like in today's electronics, is used to store and transport information to be interpreted as either a "1" or a "0". Advantages of semiconductor-based applications of this sort are lower power use and a smaller footprint than electrical devices used for information processing Topological insulators have the property of opposing no resistance at all to an electrical flow next to their surface, making them much more fit to practical applications. What is this infant field, also known as magnetoelectronics?
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