Answer key: You don’t know tech

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

Question 1: What is not one of Ubuntu’s alliterative pet names?

10 points

d. Mighty Minx

Not yet, anyway. At CanSecWest’s PWN 2 OWN challenge, the MacBook Air was the first to fall, followed quickly by the Fujitsu laptop running Windows Vista Ultimate, but both required some social engineering to get at the goods. That must mean either Ubuntu boxes are more secure or their users are just smarter. Right?

Question 2: How do you PWN 2 OWN a MacBook?

10 points

a. Via a vulnerability in Safari 3.1

The exact details are unknown, per the rules of the challenge. But the Mac got done in by a Safari bug, and the Windows box got 0wned via Flash. Quoth winning hacker Charlie Miller, “We wanted to spend as little time as possible coming up with an exploit, so we picked Mac OS X.” (Oh snap!) The Apple faithful claim the Mac was unfairly targeted, and a week later, they’re still holding their breath and stomping their little feet.

Question 3: What was not part of Google’s April Foolishness?

10 points

d. Google Media Boot Camp for YouTube wannabes

Among Google’s goofs: a “custom time” feature that lets you send gmail into the past so you never miss deadlines; a wake-up kit complete with a bucket and water; and a joint venture with Virgin (called “Virgle”) to establish a human colony on Mars. But a media boot camp might be a good idea, given the incredibly stiff video Sergey and Larry recorded for the Virgle prank. No wonder these guys never go out in public.

Question 4: Which story is just another April Fools’ Day prank?

10 points

c. Facebook CEO to host Saturday Night Live

No, Mark “Babyface” Zuckerberg is not appearing on SNL, as far as we can determine. But yes, Amazon is launching a shopping service for cell phones, an Oregon couple was arrested for posting a bogus Craigslist ad to camouflage a robbery, and transgender wonder Thomas Beatie is either really pregnant or has pulled off the April Fools’ prank of the century.

Question 5: What are Intel’s new ultraportable chips called?

10 points

b. Atom

Intel is aiming the chips at the “mobility Internet device,” aka MID, market, which is largely theoretical at this point. But without the ability to process voice data, the chips may prove to be an Atom bomb.

Question 6: What unhealthy product is still advertised in Yahoo searches?

10 points

c. Cigars

Yahoo recently added cigarettes to its list of “questionable products,” but not those Cohibo Magicos. Then again, maybe they just screwed up. The IDG News Service found several instances of products officially banned by Yahoo whose ads still displayed next to search results (most of which Yahoo later removed). Maybe the folks running Yahoo’s ad program also have fake diplomas.

Question 7: Who is planning to ride the digital distribution horse til it drops?

10 points

a. Neil Thompson, Microsoft’s Xbox chief for Northern Europe

In an interview with The Guardian, Thompson defended Microsoft’s decision to support HD-DVD instead of Blu-ray by pooh-poohing the notion of discs entirely. Which is a bit like saying it doesn’t matter what tires you put on your car because eventually all cars will fly. Thompson was later trampled by a team of runaway logicians.

Question 8: What Google exec is now gone gone gone?

10 points

a. CIO Doug Merrill, to EMI Music

Merrill is now president of EMI’s digital business group. He’s the third high-ranking exec to flee the Googleplex in the past month but the first to sign on with a company that isn’t named Facebook. Then again, this could be just another of Google’s wacky April Fools’ Day jokes.

Question 9: Who’s not singing along with MySpace Music?

10 points

d. EMI Music

Though according to The New York Times, EMI may also sign on soon. (Maybe Doug Merrill will nudge them in that direction.) As dedicated quiz fans know, EMI is also the keeper of the Beatles catalog, which means we’ll soon be deluged with rumors about the Fab Four coming to MySpace.

Question 10: What’s DoubleClick layoffs times hacker payoff times video gamers?

10 points

c. 2,160,000

Google plans to lay off 300 employees following its merger with DC. Miller won $10,000 for hacking a MacBook Air in CanSecWest’s PWN 2 OWN contest. According to NPD Group, some 72 percent of Americans played video games last year, most of them online. So 300 x 10,000 x .72 = 2.16 million, or about the number of people who’ve volunteered for the Virgle Mars mission. Tune in next week for another foolish quiz.

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