Question: The MITS Altair computer could support up to 64 kilobytes of memory, but most hobbyists made do with the memory that it shipped with. How much RAM was standard equipment in that computer?
Answer: 256 bytes
Source: The History of Computers by Les Freed
Add comment November 30th, 2007
Question: What microprocessor provided the computing power for the Pioneer 10?
Answer: Intel 4004
Source: The History of Computers by Les Freed
Add comment November 29th, 2007
Question: The Florida woman who gave birth live on the Internet in June of 1998 was arrested two weeks later. For what?
Answer: writing bad checks
Publicity surrounding the birth led to curiosity about her identity. A newspaper disclosed she and her husband had lengthy criminal records on bad check charges in several states.
Source: Florida cybermom surrenders on bad check charges, Reuters, 07-01-1998
Add comment November 28th, 2007
Question:
What obsolete graphical user interface is shown here?
Answer: NewWave
A forgotten GUI from Hewlett-Packard, circa 1988.
Add comment November 27th, 2007
Question: Who devised the printed circuit board?
Answer: National Bureau of Standards
Invented during World War II, the National Bureau of Standards was working on a proximity detector for artillery shells.
Source: The History of Computers by Les Freed
Add comment November 26th, 2007
Question: A widely-circulated Internet hoax claimed that Intel engineers etched a tiny hidden message on the surface of the Pentium microprocessor. What was that message?
Answer: Bill Sux
Add comment November 25th, 2007
Question: What processor chip did the Radio Shack TRS-80 color computer use?
Answer: Motorola 6809E
Source: The FACTS for the TRS-80 Color Computer by Spectral Associates, 1981
Add comment November 24th, 2007
Question: What is the magic number for a Java class file?
Answer: 0xCAFEBABE
Add comment November 23rd, 2007
Question: An estimated 100,000 copies of the PlayStation game Tiger Woods 99 were recalled after something was discovered in a hidden file on the CD-ROM. What was it?
Answer: a cartoon called The Spirit of Christmas
The Spirit of Christmas introduced the characters that would become the stars of South Park.
Add comment November 22nd, 2007
Question: Which was the earliest of these early calculators?
Answer: Blaise Pascal’s Pascaline calculator
Add comment November 21st, 2007
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