Question for 31st August, 2010

X's original name is "only pronounceable in an obscure Betelgeusian dialect" which was almost wiped out by the "Great Collapsing Hrung Disaster of Gal./Sid./Year 03758," a mysterious catastrophe which took place on the planet of Betelgeuse Seven and which X's father was the only man to survive. X never learned to pronounce his original name, which was a matter that caused his father to die of shame (which is still a terminal disease in some parts of the Universe). At school, he was nicknamed "Ix," which translates as "boy who is not able satisfactorily to explain what a Hrung is, nor why it should choose to collapse on Betelgeuse Seven.". X then took his current name after he had simply mistaken the dominant life form on the planet he landed. Who's X?

Shot on/Shown on Campus- August 30th 2010

Every year, the Crimson Key society, a student organisation at Harvard that conducts campus tours and otherwise promotes college spirit, runs X strictly for laughs for first-year students during their orientation. This year’s two screenings take place on Aug. 30.

That involves Crimson Key’s nearly 100 members sitting in the rear of the auditorium of the Science Center building and jeering the proceedings. Just before Ms. MacGraw utters the deathless catchphrase Y, Crimson Key members loudly implore her, “Don’t say it!” At the conclusion, when Mr. O’Neal repeats her bathetic utterance, they shout, “Plagiarist!” And so it goes.

Crimson Key’s hallowed tradition apparently began in the late 1970s. They regard its presentation as a bonding experience. “Most people have a soft spot for X, ” said Eeke de Milliano, the group’s president. “It is sentimental hogwash, but the freshmen are, I think, secretly proud to see their university on the screen.” That sentiment eluded Raymond Vasvari, a Cleveland-based lawyer who underwent his X indoctrination in 1983. “You take all these people from different socioeconomic backgrounds who are suddenly stamped with the Harvard imprimatur and marched into this big, brutalist, antiseptic space with 1,600 other geeks to watch this girl die."

Identify X. Bonus points for the quote Y.

Question for Aug. 25th.

A theory as to the origin of X and Y is that it came from when men-at-arms wore armor. They evolved from a way of showing that the right hand was not concealing a weapon. A combination of showing an empty right hand, palm outwards (X), which was then raised formally to a helmet to raise a visor (Y) would demonstrate non-aggressive intentions, and therefore respect.

Identify X and Y.

(To clarify, the above theory is not the most widely accepted origin theory for X and Y.)

Question for Aug 24 - PS

The below note can be found in page 61 of a book B published in 1670, originally written by X (who died in about 280 BC), with additions by Y (who died in 1665).

Cubum autem in duos cubos, aut quadratoquadratum in duos quadratoquadratos, et generaliter nullam in infinitum ultra quadratum potestatem in duos ejusdem nominis fas est dividere: cujus rei demonstrationem mirabilem sane detexi. Hanc marginis exiguitas non caperet.

A famous event related to the above note happened in 1995.

Identify X, Y, B. Why is this particular note in this page of this book famous?

X led to Slugging- August 23rd, 2010

Slugging involves the creation of free, unofficial ad hoc networks, often complete with published routes and pick-up and drop-off locations. Sluggers go to facilities with lines of sluggers. Y pull up to the queue for the route they will follow and either display a sign or call out the designated drop-off point they are willing to go to and how many sluggers they can take. There are a number of unofficial rules to the arrangement-

* No talking unless the Y initiates conversation.
* No open windows unless all approve.
* No money will ever be exchanged or requested.
* Smoking and drinking beverages is prohibited, unless the Y permits it.
* The Y has full control of the radio.
* Y are not to pick up sluggers outside the line, referred to as "body-snatching".

While the practice is most common and most publicized in the Washington, D.C. area, slugging is also used in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and other U.S. cities. What legal modification, X, made slugging attractive to all? (Y is just a place-holder)

Question for Aug 20, 2010

In 1941, Roosevelt's State of the Union address addressed the topic of X. He said, "In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential X. ... (description of the X follows) ... That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb."

Normal Rockwell, an American artist of that time, produced a series of oil paintings depicting each of the four X (shown in the montage below). Though created in response to world war II, the paintings have developed an iconic identity and are now part of America's cultural and social fabric.

What is X? Bonus points for identifying each of the four X.

QOTD - 19 Aug 2010 - Hari

Put funda.

Qn. for Aug. 18th.

Sorry for the late post. What is the below pic about?

Can you identify what (some of) the abbreviations stand for?

Question for August 17, 2010

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, X took up a job polishing and shining boots, and was enraged when a ditchdigger paid him with an 1875 US dime, which was useless as currency in 19th century Glasgow. However, the coin inspired him to take a position as cabin boy on a Clyde cattle ship to the United States to make his fortune. X is now the richest of his ilk in the world, rivalled only by  Y, John D. Rockerduck and, less prominent, the maharaja of Howdoyoustan. His net worth is often disputed and estimates have ranged from one multiplujillion, nine obsquatumatillion, six hundred twenty-three dollars and sixty-two cents to a mere $28.8 billion and some geometric calculations based on his safe size have led to an estimate of $27 trillion. Identify X. Bonus points for guessing Y.

Question for Aug 16 - PS

Connect the following:

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5.

Question for Aug 13

The visual shows USS Columbia being attacked by the X on January 6, 1945. The X were used in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, to destroy as many Allied naval vessels as possible. The word X (translated as "divine wind")  originated as the name of major typhoons in 1274 and 1281, which saved Japan from the Mongolian invasions.

Identify X.

Progression (Aug 12th 2010)

What's this graph about? What's the X & Y axis? The leftmost (dark) line is the one in the news, what's it about?

What's that equation? (Aug 11th 2010)

Question for Aug 10, 2010

Connect the following images (not in any order). This might be a tad difficult, so use google if you have to, but mention it in the comments.

1)

2)

3)

4)

Qn for Aug.6th.

The following conversation occurred between two operators of the American Telegraph Line between Boston and Portland, Maine, on the night of September 2, 1859:

Boston operator (to Portland operator): "Please cut off your battery [power source] entirely for fifteen minutes."
Portland operator: "Will do so. It is now disconnected."
Boston: "Mine is disconnected, and we are working with the X current. How do you receive my writing?"
Portland: "Better than with our batteries on. - Current comes and goes gradually."
Boston: "My current is very strong at times, and we can work better without the batteries, as the X seems to neutralize and augment our batteries alternately, making current too strong at times for our relay magnets. Suppose we work without batteries while we are affected by this trouble."
Portland: "Very well. Shall I go ahead with business?"
Boston: "Yes. Go ahead."

The conversation was carried on for around two hours using no battery power at all and working solely with the current induced by the X, and it was said that this was the first time on record that more than a word or two was transmitted in such manner.

Identify X. Who or what caused it?

Question for August 5, 2010

X began the service in 1995 as an email distribution list of friends, featuring local events in the SFO bay area, before becoming a web-based service in 1996. After incorporation as a private for-profit company in 1999, Y expanded into nine more U.S. cities in 2000, four in 2001 and 2002 each, and 14 in 2003.

In 2009, Y operated with a staff of 28 people. It's main source of revenue is paid job ads in select cities and paid broker apartment listings in New York City.

The site serves over twenty billion page views per month, putting it in 33rd place overall among web sites worldwide and 7th place overall among web sites in the United States, with over 49.4 million unique monthly visitors in the United States alone. With over eighty million new classified advertisements each month, Y is the leading classifieds service in any medium. The site receives over two million new job listings each month, making it one of the top job boards in the world.

Identify Y. Bonus points for getting X.

Question for Aug 4 - PS

Connect the following pictures:

1.

2.

3.

Question for Aug 3

Who would sign the check shown in the visual?

Hint: The quote
                  
               "   Intelligence: Finding an error in a _____ text.
                   Stupidity: Cashing that $2.56 check you got.  "   

Progression - August 2nd 2010

This is the progression through 8 years of X. X = ?