Round 1: Brevity is the soul of wit
Please give the expansions to these tech initialisms:
- UX
- ETH
- MVP
- MP3
- FIFO
- I18N
- PAAS
- BYOK
- WYSIWYG
- TSTTCPW
Round 2: Techno-archaeology
- This typeface was created in 1957 is one of popular — possibly the most popular — typeface of all time. What is its name?
- The silicon in the name “Silicon Valley” refers to silicon used to create what computer components?
- In “The Mother of All Demos”, this inventor showed off the first ever computer “mouse”. Who was the inventor? And what decade did he invent it?
- The first commercial computer to have a screen was the Xerox Alto, created in 1973. What display technology did it use?
- TCP and IP were originally invented for the ARPAnet network that existed before the modern internet. What does ARPA stand for?
- Apple computers was founded in 1976 in Los Altos, California. What year was the Apple Macintosh (128k) released?
- In 1991, the first ever website titled “The World Wide Web Project” went online. What research organisation created it?
- As file sharing networks like Napster and Kazaa began their decline, 2001 saw the creation of a new type of network that focused on decentralisation and peer-to-peer sharing. This protocol became the dominant file sharing tech of the 2000s. What was it called?
- The first high-res “retina” device most people ever encountered was a Retina Display iPhone. What was the earliest iPhone model to have it?
- What year was the first Android device (the G1) released?[1pt]
Round 3: Design
- What is the name for three colours chosen at equal distance from one another on the colour wheel?
- Every freelance designer has had the experience of having their designs questioned by the client. In particular, clients always demand that the designer make what specific thing bigger — always bigger?
- In UI design, the design approach that makes digital interfaces mimic real world objects and textures is referred to as what?
- In Typography, the spacing between letters is called “kerning.” What word is used when the kerning is too tight and leads to readability issues?
- In 2014, Google created and opened for public use a design system for creating user interfaces. What is the name of this design system?
- Which of the following is not a design principle: contrast, rhythm, vibrance, emphasis, proportion
- In website layout design, what is the religious name for a page layout that has a full width header, three column body with a large middle column, and a full width footer?
- What is the common name for the hexadecimal color code #ff8800 ?
- Since the 1500s, when designing around content that hasn’t yet been decided, designers have employed made up Latin-like dummy text commonly called “Lorem ipsum”. Answer as many words of “Lorem ipsum” as you can recall from memory. One half point per word.
- The film Avatar is famed for its groundbreaking computer generated graphics. It’s also famed for its conspicuous use of a much-maligned font for the film’s logo graphics. Name the font they used.
Round 4: Laws, Theories, and Speculation
- According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Godwin’s Law states that as an online debate increases in length, it becomes inevitable that someone will eventually compare someone or something to what?
- Brook’s Law states that adding more people to a late project only makes it later. A common way of stating this is that adding more women doesn’t make what more quickly?
- Moore’s Law (roughly) states that hardware gets twice as fast or half as expensive every amount of time? What is the amount of time?
- The Infinite monkey theorem involves a monkey, a particular device, and an infinite amount of time. What device does the monkey need?
- Fitts’ law states that the amount of time required for a person to move a pointer (e.g., mouse cursor) to a target area is a function of the (a) what divided by the (b) what.
- Dunbar’s number is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships — what number did Dunbar assert is the limit?
- What is the “Two Pizza Rule” rule and who made it famous?
- Arthur C. Clarke once said that ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from…’ what?
- A bozo explosion occurs when a company has hired so many mediocre people that it cannot recover. A defence against the Bozo Explosion is attributed to Steve Jobs, breaking all employees into three classes — As, Bs, and Cs. What was Steve Jobs assertion about these types of employees?
- Modern social networks uphold Metcalfe’s Law, which originally described the value of a telecommunications network. Metcalfe’s Law states that the value of a network is proportional to the number of connected user in that network multiplied by what?