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 did Blockbuster offer for Circuit City?

10 points

b. $6 to $8 a share in cash

The offer, valued at around $1.3 billion, drove Blockbuster stocks down and Circuit City’s up, but both are already so deep in the toilet that it won’t make much difference. Troubled video rental chain swallows struggling big-box retailer — it’s a marriage made in heaven, if by heaven you really mean Hoboken.

Question 2: What cities decided to manage their own municipal Wi-Fi?

10 points

b. Corpus Christi, Milpitas

The move leaves Earthlink with just three city Wi-Fi nets — in Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Anaheim — and it’s looking to dump them, too. Maybe they can convince Blockbuster to buy them.

Question 3: What’s the newest Mac clone called?

10 points

a. Psystar Open Computer

The “Open Computer: The Smart Alternative to an Apple” sells for $400 with Leopard pre-installed (the OpenPro is $1,000). Steve Jobs famously put a halt to licensed Mac clones when he returned to Apple in 1997. That scraping sound you hear is Apple’s legal eagles sharpening their claws.

Question 4: Where in the world is Psystar?

10 points

d.All of the above

Or maybe none. Reporter Charles Arthur at the U.K.’s Guardian noted at least three Miami addresses on the Psystar Web site over a 24-hour period. Other reporters could find no evidence that any such company existed prior to last week. The site’s online store mysteriously disappeared then reappeared in midweek. So you might want to hold off giving them your credit card numbers for a bit.

Question 5: What “tweet” saved James Buck’s hide?

10 points

c. ARRESTED

Journalism student Buck was photographing an anti-government protest in Mahalla, Egypt, when he was swept up by police, but managed to tap out one word on his cell phone before being hauled off. The Twitterati then called Buck’s university, the American Embassy, and the media in an effort to get him freed. Buck’s interpreter and colleague, Mohammed Maree, is still in an Egyptian jail; Buck has launched an online petition urging the authorities to release him. So it turns out Twitter is actually useful. Who knew?

Question 6: Who’s on a meaningful, important, serious mission with or without her corporate motto?

10 points

a. Google VP Marissa Mayer re: “Don’t be evil”

Google’s glamorous veep was talking about whether the search giant now regrets its famous motto. It doesn’t, by the way.

Question 7: Why didn’t Comcast participate in the FCC’s hearing on net neutrality?

10 points

b. Too busy composing a P2P bill of rights

Technically, it’s called the “P2P Bill of Rights and Responsibilities,” and the project is being lead by Comcast and Pando Networks, a provider of managed (and presumably legal) P2P distribution services. They’ve invited the rest of the industry to add their two cents to the project — even Valleywag can pitch in.

Question 8: How many U.K. women would trade their passwords for chocolate?

10 points

c. 45 percent

Infosecurity Europe collared 576 office workers outside London’s Liverpool Street Station, offering sweet meats to anyone who filled out their survey, which asked for their passwords and contact info. Nearly half of all women happily handed over their passwords for a bar of chocolate. But only 10 percent of men agreed, which leads us to one inevitable conclusion: They should have offered beer instead.

Question 9: How many top executives got speared by a fake subpoena?

10 points

a. 10 percent

Approximately 2,100 executives who believed they were being subpoenaed via e-mail visited a malware-laden site and downloaded a browser plug-in to “read” the document. The plug-in installed a keylogger on the executives’ computers that captured their passwords and other vital info. And these guys didn’t even get a chocolate bar out of the deal.

Question 10: What’s Intel profits times AMD layoffs divided by Aerosmith?

10 points

a. 1.4 million

Intel made $1.4 billion on revenues of $9.7 billion. AMD is slashing its headcount by 10 percent. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will retail for $99 on the Wii, Xbox, and PS3 (but let’s just call it an even $100). So $1.4B x 0.10 / 100 = 1.4 million, give or take a guitar pick. Climb back in the saddle next week for another riff-filled quiz.

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