Question Ably - 9

This one is for the geeks.

In 1988, when the Internet had only about 50,000 computers, 10% of them were crippled by a worm. The worm, a first of its kind, was released into the Internet by a graduate student at Cornell, _______ Tappan ________. What was intended to be a harmless prank became serious, thanks to a design error. The young man surrendered to the FBI. He was convicted, released on probation, fined $ 10,000 and ordered to do community service. He eventually got a Ph.D. from Harvard, made millions developing and selling software and currently teaches at the MIT.

This question is not about him. It is about his father, a pioneering cryptographer who was part of the core team that developed Unix. He is said to have assisted the US government in penetrating Saddam Hussain's defence computer systems leading to crippling missile strikes against key Iraqi installations. The father died last Sunday at the age of 78. Name him to also get the first and last names of the son.  

Question Ably - 8

The origins of this word are dubious. But consensus has it that its roots are in air force slang of the war years. Merriam-Webster cites 1942 as the year of first known use. Originally, the word meant the biggest of bombs. It was soon appropriated by a completely different industry which gave the word its current common usage. What word?

Hint 1: The word may have been two separate words as originally used but the airmen won't vouch for that.

Hint 2: Some netizens say that the word was adopted widely in its current sense after Spielberg's 'Jaws'

Question Ably 1 - 7: Answers

A good response to Question Ably so far.

Mulligatawny seems to be the one almost everyone got. Many got the answer to QA 2 (about the two brothers) and QA 4 (the cricketer question)

Just to make life simple, the answer to each question will be posted as a comment to that entry.

Question Ably - 7

Bill Bryson writes in 'Down Under': "On our second day out from Broken Hill, we entered the mighty ______. Many people, even Australians, assume _____ is an Aboriginal term, but in fact it is a corruption of the Latin for 'no trees', and the name could not be more apt. For hundreds of miles the landscape is as flat as a calm sea and unrelievedly barren - just glowing red soil, tussocky clumps of bluebush and spinifex, and scattered rocks the colour of bad teeth. In an area four times the size of Belgium there is not a scrap of shade. It is one of the most forbidding expanses on earth."    Name _________.

Question Ably - 6

The English name given this soup is a (Anglicized) portmanteau of two words of a language native to the region where the recipe originated. We learn that there are many recipes for this soup with the non-vegetarian version having chicken, beef or lamb meat. What soup? By the way, literally translated, the two non-English words mean 'pepper water'.

Question Ably - 5

This iconic Indian retail brand is managed by the man you see in this picture. The company (owning the brand if you want to be technically correct) was established in 1960 as a one-man export company by his father, an American working for the Ford Foundation. As a retail brand it started out in 1976, though even now the company's name retains a word linking it to its export oriented origins. 

The brand is all the more iconic because it is said that the company doesn't advertise. [At least I don't remember any ads on TV or hoardings on the roads, except notices of new store openings.] It is also an innovative ownership model because a part of its stock is community owned. The man in the picture has also written an insightful book on India from a social entrepreneur's perspective. Since I know this makes a difference to your life by making you feel nice, I can tell you his sister is named after a climatic phenomenon.

Question Ably

I had circulated some quiz questions among friends where the focus was on the question, not on the answer. The idea being to have interesting questions a la the KQA questions. It's taken for granted that those who don't know the answer offhand will Google and Wiki to find out. That's perfectly fine. As I said, the spotlight is on the question.

Here are the questions 1 - 4. Question 5 was a picture quiz and will be posted separately.

Question Ably 1: The NY Times opines this 'may be the single best thing ever accomplished by a committee'. 54 people participated in the endeavour over 7 years in 6 9-man subcommittees called 'companies'. What?

Question Ably 2: A and B are brothers, both born in Jhelum, Pakistan. A went on to become the prime minister of his country. B went on to become and still is a leading painter, sculptor, and architect of his country. B's design of the Belgian Embassy in his country was rated by the International Forum of Architects as one of the 1000 best designed buildings around the world in the 20th century. A and B? 

Question Ably 3: In 2010 - 11, consulting firm McKinsey carried out a study of this family-owned and managed Indian company under the code name 'Kamadhenu' (named after the wish-fulfilling cow in Hindu mythology). But its recommendations are in cold storage pending resolution of disputes among the family members. Name the company.

Question Ably 4: X's highest test score was 256 against India. X was described by Y thus: "To say that he is the greatest batsman I have ever seen so far is to put it mildly." Ramachandra Guha informs us that X introduced Y to his (Y's) future wife. A sense of awe about X and perhaps gratitude for making the introductions led Y to name his son Z after X. (Ergo X = Z!)

Name X and Y. And if you're really desperate congratulate yourself on naming Z.

Answers on Monday.

  

Sach is life!

The Times of India (Jun 9, 2011) says:

He may be the cricket legend, but Sachin Tendulkar will have to bow down to beauty because the Bollywood sensation Katrina Kaif yet again topped the list of the sexiest women 2011 with her average rating being higher than that of Sachin. 

The head. It reels.