Question for September 28, 2010

Sorry for the extremely late post ...

X was an adviser to the first Maurya Emperor (c. 340-293 BCE), and was the chief architect of his rise to power. He has been considered as the pioneer of the field of economics and political science. In the Western world, he has been referred to as The Indian Machiavelli, although his works predate Machiavelli's by about 1,800 years. He was responsible for the creation of Mauryan empire, the first of its kind on the Indian subcontinent. Identify X.

Question for September 16, 2010

Connect the following images:

 

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 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 July 26, 2010

X is a website that allows the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser. Y was the first X. It was named so because the developer remembered a Honolulu International Airport counter employee telling him to take the X shuttle bus that runs between the airport's terminals. According to him, "I chose X-X as an alliterative substitute for 'quick' and thereby avoided naming this stuff quick-web". Identify X. Bonus points for naming Y as well.

Question for July 13, 2010

Sorry for the late post ...

X while talking about Y said, "To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about Y perfectly rational. The real challenge is to work out what Y might actually be like." "If Y visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans".

Identify X & Y.

Question for June 16, 2010

A precursor of X was present in 1958 World Cup and was dubbed "giganternas kamp" by the local press. The term itself was coined in Spanish by Mexican journalists in the 1970 World Cup. It was used again in Mexico during the 1982 World Cup in Spain. It was popularized after the draw for the 1986 FIFA World Cup. The label was widely repeated by the English-language media. After a game in the 1986 tournament, Uruguay were criticized for persistent foul play in the decisive match with Scotland; Scotland's coach Borrás was suspended for retorting, "The X? Yes, there was a murderer on the field today. The referee."

Identify X.

Question for June 07, 2010

Born in 85 B.C., X is a diminutive but fearless and cunning warrior, ever eager for new adventures. He lives around 50 BC in a fictional village in northwest Armorica. This village is celebrated as the only one in the area still not conquered by Julius Caesar and his Roman legions. He is one of the smartest (and sanest) members of the village, and so he is usually chosen for any dangerous, important or exotic mission. Unlike most of the other villagers, he does not start or join brawls for the fun of it, although he does enjoy a good fight when there's cause. He rarely resorts to weapons, preferring to rely on his wits, and when necessary, his fists — though he carries his shortsword with him at all times, he is shown to be an occasional swordsman at best. What he does for a living is never truly known, though he is often shown going on missions, quests, or hunting.

Identify X.

Question for May 25, 2010

What does this map show?

Question for April 28, 2010

As easy as the come. Identify the following list and name the last item,

1. Telstar
2. Telstar Durlast
3. Tango Durlast
4. Tango Espana
5. Azteca, Etrvsco
6. Questra
7. Tricolore
8. Fevernova
9. Teamgeist
10. X.

Question for April 14, 2010

The origin of the game X is uncertain, though it is most likely German or Scandinavian in origin. The game became popular in France in the early 19th Century reaching England and America in the latter half. X was first mentioned in literature circa 1765. The earliest known recording of a game of X occurred in 1783 in the German game anthology Das neue Königliche L'Hombre-Spiel.

There is an old tradition in the German or Scandinavian countries to use "X" as a guide to what the near future has to offer, a kind of "luck" meter. This belief assumes that a person’s "luck" will vary from time to time and important matters should not be initiated or conducted when the conditions are not favorable. If there are no winnings in the game for a number of tries it spells caution in what you do. If a win at the first try times are good and “luck” smiles at you, thus the immediate future can be used for important decisions. Timing the game is a further indicator of the strength of the outcome.

For a "standard" game of X the number of winnable games is between 82-91.5%. The number of unplayable games is 0.025% and the number of games that cannot be won is between 8.5-18%. However, the theoretical odds of winning a standard game of X are currently unknown. It has been said that the inability for theoreticians to calculate these odds is "one of the embarrassments of applied mathematics”. What is X.

Question for March 31, 2010

Connect the following,

A)

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

B) C)

Question for March 18, 2010

X is a mythical sea monster of gargantuan size, said to have dwelt off the coasts of Norway and Iceland. The sheer size and fearsome appearance attributed to the beasts have made them common ocean-dwelling monsters in various fictional works. The legend may actually have originated from sightings of real giant squid that are variously estimated to grow to 13–15 m (40–50 ft) in length, including the tentacles. These creatures normally live at great depths, but have been sighted at the surface and reportedly have "attacked" ships. The name X is a Scandinavian word designating an unhealthy animal, or something twisted. In modern German, X means octopus.

A representative early description is given by the Swede Jacob Wallenberg in his book Min son på galejan ("My son on the galley") from 1781:

... X, also called the Crab-fish, which [according to the pilots of Norway] is not that huge, for heads and tails counted, he is no larger than our Öland is wide [i.e. less than 16 km] ... He stays at the sea floor, constantly surrounded by innumerable small fishes, who serve as his food and are fed by him in return: for his meal, if I remember correctly what E. Pontoppidan writes, lasts no longer than three months, and another three are then needed to digest it. His excrements nurture in the following an army of lesser fish, and for this reason, fishermen plumb after his resting place ... Gradually, X ascends to the surface, and when he is at ten to twelve fathoms, the boats had better move out of his vicinity, as he will shortly thereafter burst up, like a floating island, spurting water from his dreadful nostrils and making ring waves around him, which can reach many miles. Could one doubt that this is the Leviathan of Job?

Identify X.

Question for March 4, 2010

X was one of several famous French mathematicians during the time of Napoleon. His most famous contribution, which was actually developed to solve heat equation but is now used in the original form or some derived form in almost every applied mathematics field. The original article was submitted to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, but was heavily criticized by the reviewers (most strongly by Lagrange among others including Laplace, Legendre and Malus). In their report, the committee concluded: "the manner in which the author arrives at these equations is not exempt of difficulties and [...] his analysis to integrate them still leaves something to be desired on the score of generality and even rigour." He later succeeded Laplace as the president of Academy of Science and his work including the previously rejected work was then published in what is now considered a classic.

Identify X and the contribution.

Question for February 18, 2010

The ships (used during WW-1) used this coloring scheme (see examples below) after the Allied Navy's failure to develop effective means to disguise ships in all weather. I should mention that the colors were bright and bold (but shown in black & white here). What was the reason/logic behind it? Bonus points for providing the name for it.

Question for January 28

X is described as following in various languages around the world.

Chinese - 'little mouse',

Danish - 'elephant's trunk',

Dutch - 'monkey's tail',

French, Hebrew, Italian, Korean - 'snail',

Hungarian - 'worm/maggot',

Russian - 'little dog',

Swedish - 'cat's foot',

Arabic, German, Turkish - 'ear'

Swedish - 'cinnamon bun',

Czech/Slovak - 'collared herring/rollmop'

Serbian - crazy "a"

Identify X.

Question for January 18

X was the world's first national electronic media service organization and was founded on 18 October 1922. The original Company was founded in 1922 by a group of six telecommunications companies to start experimental radio services. The first transmission was on 14 November of that year, from station 2LO. X was created by the General Post Office (GPO). The company was wound-up and in 1927 a new non-commercial entity called Y (it’s current name) became successor in interest. To represent its purpose and values, the Y adopted the coat of arms, incorporating the motto "Nation shall speak peace unto Nation". Y is now the largest electronic media service organization in the world. Identify X or Y.

Question for January 5, 2010

Happy New Year to one and all. Here is an easy one,

Connect the following and identify the blank. The list is in chronological order but not exhaustive.

Willie, Juanito, Tip and Tap, Gauchito, Niranjito, Pique, Ciao, Ato & Kaz & Nik, Goleo VI, -------.

Question for December 15

X was born to a Parsi family in Navasari, Gujarat. His father was the first businessman in a family of Parsi Zoroastrian priests. X joined his father's business soon after graduating from the Elphinstone College in 1858. In 1868, he started his own trading company with a seed capital of Rs. 21,000. In 1869, he acquired a bankrupt oil mill in Chinchpokli, converted it into a cotton mill and renamed the mill to Alexandra Mill. He sold the mill two years later for a healthy profit. Thereafter he set up a cotton mill in Nagpur in 1874. He christened it Empress Mill on 1 January 1877 when Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. He devoted himself to bringing to fruition four of his key ideas: Y, a world class learning institution, a one of a kind Hotel and a hydro electric plant. Only one of the ideas became a reality during his lifetime. The Taj Mahal Hotel was inaugrated on the 3rd of December 1903.

Identify X and Y. Bonus points for identifying what the other 2 ideas led to.

Question for December 5

He is a politician, entrepreneur, real estate and insurance tycoon, bank and media proprietor and a sports team owner. He is the proprietor of three analogue television channels, various digital television channels, as well as some of the larger-circulation national news magazines. Together these account for nearly half the country's market. He also wrote the anthem for the sports team that he owns. He has a very successful business career though funding sources have always been a bit fishy. Of course he had his share of legal problems. He said of his legal problems, "I'm the universal record-holder for the number of trials in the entire history of man -- and also of other creatures who live on other planets."

On his entering politics he said,

"----- is the country I love. Here I have my roots, my hopes, my horizons. Here I have learned, from my father and from life, how to be an entrepreneur. Here I have also acquired the passion for liberty.

I have chosen to enter the field and become a public servant because I do not want to live in an illiberal country, ruled by immature forces and by people who are well and truly bound to a past that proved both a political and economic failure."

Who am I talking about?