Answer key: The 2008 InfoWorld Geek IQ Test

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 check out our Programming IQ Test to measure your mettle where it really matters.

Question 1: What’s on the Net’s birth certificate?

5 points

c. 1969, ARPANET

-2 points

d. 1991, World Wide Web

The Internet was first built because the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) needed a way to link research sites across the U.S. The first version was called ARPANET and went live in September 1969.

Question 2: What’s UMA and when do you use it?

5 points

b. Uniform Memory Access, used mostly for time-sharing and multi-user systems 2 points d. Unified Memory Architecture, a form of shared memory architecture where a graphics subsystem shares memory with main system RAM because it doesn’t have any of its own

While d is also technically correct, the correct term is Shared Memory Architecture (SMA), not UMA.

Question 3: What’s “bash” to a Linux geek?

5 points c. A basic command shell -2 points b. The Binary Attribute System Hierarchy program library

Yes, a basic command shell — though I’m fairly proud of the B.S. acronym in b.

Question 4: Triple kill: What do you know about it?

5 points c. When a single attack of yours kills three enemies, and it falls under the category Multi-Kill -2 points b. This would be when you turn down three dates to sit home and play Halo 3, and it falls under the category EverVirgin

Hit YouTube and you can find several video examples.

Question 5: What’s the mode of a bunch of numbers?

5 points a. 6

I have no idea why. I’m a damn Medieval English Lit. major.

Question 6: What would you use to create a MIB for SNMP?

5 points d. ASN.1

Though if you were looking to create a game based on the MiB storyline, you could use some of the others.

Question 7: What’s the JIDL?

5 points b. Java Interface Definition Language 2 points d. Just Incredibly Dependable Liquor, aka Johnnie Walker Black

Johnnie Walker Black qualifies on Fridays and Saturdays.

Question 8: What does “Silverlight” mean?

5 points c. A Microsoft programmable Web-browser plug-in for providing rich Web interfaces

MS Silveright is currently available in Version 1 as well as a beta-level Version 2.

Question 9: What’s the “who” and “when” of 404’s birth?

5 points d. 1992, Tim Berners-Lee -2 points a. 1989, Steve Jobs b. 1981, Al Gore

As part of the 0.9 HTTP specification.

Question 10: What are you getting into Saturday at midnight?

5 points c. A juicy discussion on Linux vs. Windows on /. 2 points a. Bed alone except for your stuffed Yoda doll d. The pants of your girl/boyfriend whom it took you more than six months to woo e. Your own pants and your second fifth of scotch 1 point b. The pants of a cocktail waitress/bartender (male/female) you met two hours ago

Points around, but let’s face it, if you answered b you probably shouldn’t be taking this quiz.

Question 11: What’s the original Roddenberry starship?

5 points c. Yorktown 1 point a. Enterprise -2 points b. Nimitz

The original story was more along the lines of a caravan into space, included a spaceship called Yorktown, and had a whole slew of different characters.

Question 12: What’s big and man-made?

5 points d. The Fresh Kills Landfill in New York 2 points a. Steve Jobs’ ego

The Fresh Kills Landfill grew to its record-setting size in 1991, causing a mass grave rollover of Chinese emperors.

Question 13: MSNBot: What is it?

5 points d. The earliest incarnation of Microsoft’s own Internet search technology

Discovered in 2003 when Microsoft decided that the search tech it purchased from Inktomi simply wasn’t enough.

Question 14: How many network protocols can be bound to a NIC?

5 points d. Unlimited -2 points a. One

Question 15: What’s “InfoWorld” in binary?

5 points d. 010010010110111001100110011011110101011101101111011100100110110001100100

Yeah, I checked it.

Question 16: Who made the first jumperless?

5 points d. Abit -2 points b. Apple

In case you didn’t know, the term “jumper” refers to a small plastic plug-style connector that fits over two motherboard pins, thereby closing an electrical connection. Moving jumpers around is a way to change configuration settings on devices such as motherboards and hard disks.

Question 17: Which is NOT used as an underlying protocol for SIP?

5 points a. HTTP -2 points b. TCP c. UDP d. SCTP

HTTP/SIP operates at the same OSI layer as HTTP, but doesn’t use it as its underlying protocol.

Question 18: What are Unix curses?

5 points f. B and C 1 point b. A programming library to allow for terminal-independent cursor movement c. A way to convert the curses command into terminal hardware language no matter what terminal is in use -2 points e. A or E

Unix curses are a programming library for terminal-independent cursor movement because they convert Unix curses commands into hardware lingo independent of terminal type.

Question 19: What’s GRIP?

5 points c. Globally Resilient IP, a Cisco IOS feature for stopping packet loss during IOS router switchovers 1 point b. GNU Remote Imaging Protocol, the last form of an old imaging format from TeleGrafix designed for transmitting graphics over low-bandwidth links using native Linux protocols

If you fell for b, don’t beat yourself up; that was an inspired dollop of B.S. on my part.

Question 20: What did “grok” mean originally?

5 points c. “To drink” in Martian 1 point d. “To understand” in Martian -2 points a. “To absorb” in Venutian

Hey, Robert Heinlein knew how to get to the bottom of it all.

Ready for more? Take another stab at the quiz, or quizzes past: 2008 Geek IQ Test Test your programming IQ InfoWorld tech celebrity quiz Test your geek IQ Test your network security IQ InfoWorld news quiz: August 8