Cumulative 48-hour Computer Trivia

[Lucky]

Hmm, what could be informative?!

Which law describes the constant further development in the semiconductor industry (computer chip industry)? Name it and describe it!

Yes, that is good.

 

[Serutan]

Moore's Law. It states that the speed of microprocessors
will double every 2 (?) years.

 

[starlifter]

Moore's Law. It states that the speed of microprocessors
will double every 2 (?) years.

Make that 18 months .... For awhile, some pundits have been predicting the demise of it, but so far, it's held up for over 20 years.....

 

[Lucky]

Yes and no, CPU speed doubling every 18 months is the common interpretation of it!

But WHAT does it exactly say (HINT: what does a CPU consist of?)?

 

[ainwood]

That the number of transistors on a CPU will double every 18 months.

 

[Lucky]

Yep!
The law was actually inspired by the linear development in semiconductor technology, the linear decrease in structure width. Moore deducted from that, that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit would also grow in a linear way.

Either of you, Serutan or ainwood, go on.

 

[ainwood]

Don't think its really fair that I go! I only answered the last little bit!

 

[Lucky]

And serutan only answered the first bit! Starlifter corrected the middle bit and you appended the last bit!

Anyone of you, just ask a question!!!

 

[Serutan]

Originally posted by Lucky
And serutan only answered the first bit! Starlifter corrected the middle bit and you appended the last bit!

Anyone of you, just ask a question!!!

Such impatience!

OK, here's a question to root out the old farts in the forum:

What was the original mass storage device for the TRS-80
Model 1 computer?

 

[starlifter]

Cassette tape drive.

 

[Serutan]

Originally posted by starlifter
Cassette tape drive.

Which worked about 1 time in 3.
Your turn, SL

 

[starlifter]

OK, here's one:

Define at least 9 of the 10 the following computer acronyms... if there is ambiguity, then cite your soure (or provide the hyperlink):

1. GNU
2. CD-RW
3. WORM (as in "WORM Drive")
4. bit
5. QBASIC
6. DRDOS
7. NT
8. CORE (a hacking group name)
9. VBA
10. RAM

 

[Serutan]

Originally posted by starlifter
OK, here's one:

Define at least 9 of the 10 the following computer acronyms... if there is ambiguity, then cite your soure (or provide the hyperlink):

1. GNU
2. CD-RW
3. WORM (as in "WORM Drive")
4. bit
5. QBASIC
6. DRDOS
7. NT
8. CORE (a hacking group name)
9. VBA
10. RAM

1. GNU is Not Unix (Infinite Regression Alert!)
2. Compact Disk - Read/Write
3. Write Once, Read Many.
4. BInary digiT
5. Quick Basic
6. Digital Research Disk Operating System.
7. New Technology (cough, cough)
8. Crackers from OREgon.
9. Visual Basic for Applications (out, foul demons!)
10. Random Access Memory.

 

[Richard III]

I've always wondered whether anyone would remember what "modem" stands for...

Anyone?

R.III

 

[Grisu]

MoDem - Modulator/Demodulator IIRC, since the analogue signals need to me modulated/demodulated into digital data for the computer to understand (so there's no such thing as an ISDN-Modem since the data already is digital)
But we're jumping the queue here it looks like it's serutan's turn, although I always thought that NT stood for "Nice Try"

 

[starlifter]

Nice job, Serutan.

8. CORE is Challenge Of Reverse Engineering (Crackers from OREgon may be one, but I've not heard of it personally .


You're up!

 

[Serutan]

Originally posted by starlifter

8. CORE is Challenge Of Reverse Engineering (Crackers from OREgon may be one, but I've not heard of it personally .

I hadn't heard of it either.

The question:

What are RLL and MFM (Description, not spelling out the
acronym) ?

 

[Lucky]

RLL / MFM describes a certain harddisk drive types, which were used in the early PCs.
RLL=run length limited: is the "newer" encoding algorithm to store data, that enables faster access and increases also the capacity of the drive.
MFM=modified frequency modulation: was the "older" encoding scheme for harddisks but is still used for floppy disks.

 

[Serutan]

Originally posted by Lucky
RLL / MFM describes a certain harddisk drive types, which were used in the early PCs.
RLL=run length limited: is the "newer" encoding algorithm to store data, that enables faster access and increases also the capacity of the drive.
MFM=modified frequency modulation: was the "older" encoding scheme for harddisks but is still used for floppy disks.

Yup. Fire when ready.

 

[Lucky]

Ok, here goes again:

Describe the OSI network reference model (all layers)! Is it the correct model for the networks (e.g. internet) of today? If not, which model is and what are the differences?