283 Computer Trivia Questions (Ranked from Easiest to Hardest)

Computers have become an essential part of our daily lives, and the technology behind them is constantly evolving. From the first computers that took up entire rooms, to the smartphones we carry with us everywhere we go, the world of computers is constantly changing. There is a wide range of computer trivia questions that can be asked, whether you're a computer science student or someone who is simply interested in technology.

Here are some examples of computer trivia questions you might come across: Who invented the first computer? What is the most common operating system? What was the name of the first computer virus? What is the name of the first search engine? These questions cover a wide range of computer history, technology and innovations.

In addition to the history of computers, there are also many fun and interesting facts to learn about them. For example, did you know that the first computer was called the Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC)? Or that the most common operating system is Microsoft Windows? These trivia questions will not only test your knowledge, but also give you a glimpse into the many fascinating aspects of computers, the history of their development, the different types of computers and their impact on our daily lives.

283 Computer Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)

1. Although the keyboard shortcut for copying information is Ctrl + C, the shortcut for pasting information is not Ctrl + P (that's a shortcut for printing). Instead, the shortcut letter for pasting is closer to the shortcuts for copying and cutting. What letter is used to to paste information when clicked synchronously with Ctrl?
   
   Answer: V
   
   
2. Microsoft reportedly included what one-person card game on its earliest machines because they wanted to calm down users who were intimidated by computers
   
   Answer: Solitaire
   
   
3. The “Big Four” in the tech industry are Google (Alphabet), Apple, Meta (Facebook), and Amazon. Which corporation known for computers, software, and Bill Gates, is sometimes added to form the “Big Five” (or GAMAF)?
   
   Answer: Microsoft
   
   
4. In 2004, “thefacebook” was launched as a social networking site for Harvard by students led by which computer programming student who later dropped out to become the face of the site (so to speak)?
   
   Answer: Mark Zuckerberg
   
   
5. What “S” Microsoft laptop is a hybrid tablet/computer, first announced in 2012? Its name implies that it is the top layer of your computer needs.
   
   Answer: Microsoft Surface
   
   
6. What popular operating system, launched in 1991, also has its own mascot, Tux the penguin?
   
   Answer: Linux
   
   
7. It sounds like a circus performer from Taos and allows you to download PDFs with the greatest of ease. I'm talking about what A-word family of software?
   
   Answer: Adobe Acrobat
   
   
8. Which acronym for a computer’s main memory system sounds like a Daft Punk album or a horned mountain animal?
   
   Answer: RAM
   
   
9. What computer and printer giant was founded in 1939 in Palo, Alto, CA? It is sometimes better known by the two-letter acronym based on its founders' names.
   
   Answer: Hewlett-Packard
   
   
10. The mobile app development company Niantic struck gold in 2016 with what smash-hit smartphone game that captured tens of millions of players within days of its release? The game became a global phenomenon with players largely playing outdoors.
    
    Answer: Pokemon Go
    
    
11. You might think of it more as something you’d want for a new phone or computer, should something go wrong, but solar panels usually come with what kind of written guarantee that they’ll last around 10 years without failing?
    
    Answer: Warranty
    
    
12. While some typists would argue that the Dvorak model is more efficient, the majority of computer keyboards still use what layout, named for a certain six-letter sequence that's probably right in front of you?
    
    Answer: qweryty
    
    
13. When a password is limited strictly to numeric characters, the secret is often referred to as a PIN. What does that acronym stand for?
    
    Answer: Personal Identification Number
    
    
14. What term is used for a testing environment in a computer system in which new or untested software or coding can be run securely? In a different context, this term refers to a children’s play area.
    
    Answer: Sandbox
    
    
15. In the acronym BIOS, which refers to the firmware that provides runtime services for operating systems and programs, the "B" stands for "Basic" and the "S" for "System." What two words do the "I" and "O" stand for?
    
    Answer: Input and Output
    
    
16. Supposedly pronounced as "wizziwig," what is the meaning of the acronym WYSIWYG? The phrase largely means that the printer will print what you see on your monitor.
    
    Answer: What you see is what you get
    
    
17. In the early ‘90s, Symantec acquired a software program developed by a computer programmer named Peter Norton. It’s since become one of the most commonly used and well-known of which kind of computer security software?
    
    Answer: Antivirus
    
    
18. Voice actor Elwood Edwards recorded the famous “You’ve got mail!” announcement (as well as “Welcome,” File’s done,” and others) on a tape deck in his home. You’d know his voice if you had which Internet service provider in the 1990s?
    
    Answer: AOL
    
    
19. What website was co-founded by computer scientist Larry Page in 1998 under the name BackRub?
    
    Answer: Google
    
    
20. Although the exact origin is unknown, this piece of technology and calculating tool used beans or stones moved in grooves of sand to perform calculations. Although computers have mostly replaced it, this tool is still in use for teaching arithmetic to children in many parts of the world. What is it?
    
    Answer: Abacus
    
    
21. What three-letter internet initialism for audibly cackling debuted on Usenet in the ‘80s and was officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2011?
    
    Answer: LOL
    
    
22. What is an integrated development environment used in computer programming, written in Java with a base workspace and an extensible plug-in system? Initially released in 2001, it gets its name from an obscuring of light caused by a celestial body.
    
    Answer: Eclipse
    
    
23. Which American tech conglomerate that starts with C and is headquartered in San Jose, was founded in 1984 by a couple of Stanford computer scientists, and is known for its products and services like Jabber and Webex?
    
    Answer: Cisco
    
    
24. It sounds like the “floppy” you used to put in a computer back in the day, but which part of an owl’s feathery facial anatomy is what allows them to adjust their hearing?
    
    Answer: Disk
    
    
25. Although cartoon bears might like it, a hacker might not enjoy being tricked into hacking what sweet-sounding, eight-letter decoy computer system that's purposely made to attract attackers to gain insight into how to decrease cybersecurity threats?
    
    Answer: Honeypot
    
    
26. A pre-cursor to Wi-Fi was an ethernet connection, and a precursor to ethernet was the ALOHAnet which used a UHF wireless packet network to connect parts of what U.S. state?
    
    Answer: Hawaii
    
    
27. Typically considered the successor to dial-up internet access in many American homes, what was the "B" term for wide bandwidth data transmission which was able to transport multiple signals and traffic types? This replacement technology allowed for always-on and faster internet.
    
    Answer: Broadband
    
    
28. What delicious computer term did web browser programmer Lou Montulli coin to refer to information that is sent from the browser to the web server?
    
    Answer: Cookie
    
    
29. On the market for four decades, AutoCAD is a specific brand of CAD software. CAD stands for "Computer-Aided" WHAT?
    
    Answer: Design
    
    
30. Not long after he founded Sequoia Capital, Don Valentine became one of the first investors in what fruity little tech startup by a computer engineer at Atari named Steve?
    
    Answer: Apple
    
    
31. The first Android-powered device from Samsung Mobile also became the first in a long-running product line for the company. What was the name of this device?
    
    Answer: Samsung Galaxy
    
    
32. Since 2013, what technology company focused on payments has owned the popular smartphone cash transfer app Venmo?
    
    Answer: PayPal
    
    
33. Now appearing prophetic, what device was announced in 2007 with the following slogan? "This is only the beginning."
    
    Answer: iPhone
    
    
34. Mendicant Bias and Offensive Bias are fictional AIs in what "holy" video game franchise that shares its name with a Beyonce´ song?
    
    Answer: Halo
    
    
35. Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi were MIT students that founded a file hosting service in 2007. Fast forward 11 years, and they were taking this company public with an Initial Public Offering. What is the name of this "D" company?
    
    Answer: Dropbox
    
    
36. In "Superman Returns," Lois Lane's computer password is the name of what pretty guessable superhero?
    
    Answer: Superman
    
    
37. What “M” computer security company, founded by namesake John in 1987 before being acquired by Intel in 2011, is well known for its anti-virus software that is available to individual consumers?
    
    Answer: McAfee
    
    
38. Quoting “you have died of dysentery" didn’t come from “Grey’s Anatomy” or “House, M.D.”—it’s a throwback to which computer lab pioneering game from your ‘90s childhood?
    
    Answer: The Oregon Trail
    
    
39. A Rochester, New York developed what open-source operating system written in way more than three lines of code and named for what short poetry form?
    
    Answer: Haiku
    
    
40. THINK was the company motto for more than 40 years, for the company often referred to as "Big Blue." What is this frequently-acronymed company?
    
    Answer: IBM
    
    
41. You probably see it every day, but have you been paying attention...how many different colors are used in the lettering of Google's logo?
    
    Answer: Four (Blue, Red, Green, and Yellow)
    
    
42. In 2018, the athletic apparel brand Nike made a somewhat surprising acquisition of Invertex, a computer vision firm based in Tel Aviv in what country?
    
    Answer: Israel
    
    
43. What is the typical four-letter word that is occasionally referred to as "Whole Home" Wi-Fi which leverages a main router and a series of nodes placed around a home for full coverage? These all share the same SSID and password.
    
    Answer: Mesh Wi-Fi
    
    
44. What term that can describe part of a house also means a way to access a computer system or encrypted data that bypasses the system's usual security mechanisms?
    
    Answer: Back door
    
    
45. Wi-Fi is a family of wireless network protocols modeled after the IEEE 802 set of LAN protocols. What does the initialism LAN stand for?
    
    Answer: Local Area Network
    
    
46. What term is used for the most basic level or core of an operating system, responsible for resource allocation, file management and security? In a different context, this word can also mean the seed and hard husk of a cereal.
    
    Answer: Kernel
    
    
47. Known for its computers that were shipped in black-and-white cow-printed boxes, what tech company was founded by Ted Waitt and Mike Hammond in 1985 under its original name “TIPC Network”?
    
    Answer: Gateway
    
    
48. Steve Jobs is famously one of the two men who co-founded Apple in 1976. The other co-founder was also named Steve. What was this other man's surname?
    
    Answer: Wozniak
    
    
49. Which two-word term describes computer code that is freely available for distribution and modification, based on a philosophy of improvement through sharing and collaboration?
    
    Answer: Open source
    
    
50. "Ordinateur" is the word for "computer," and "logiciel" is the word for "software," in what Romance language?
    
    Answer: French
    
    
51. British-born geophysicist Cecil Green lived in Toronto and San Francisco growing up, and ultimately earned two college degrees from M.I.T. However, when he cofounded a company, the firm included what other state in its name? You might be most familiar with one of their products from algebra class.
    
    Answer: Texas Instruments
    
    
52. Larry Ellison co-founded a company in 1977 with the rather boring name of Software Development Laboratories (SDL). In 1983, the company introduced what word into its official name? This new word is the name of the company today and also means a person considered to provide wise counsel or prophetic predictions.
    
    Answer: Oracle
    
    
53. In what early computer game did pioneers often die of dysentery? The game was later inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame.
    
    Answer: Oregon Trail
    
    
54. The 2.0 version of the Android operating system was nicknamed "Eclair," and the 2.3 version was nicknamed "Gingerbread." In between was the five-letter name of a cold dessert which exploded in popularity in the 2000s with self-serve toppings. What dessert is this?
    
    Answer: Froyo
    
    
55. Released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment and set in the fictional universe of Azeroth, what is the name of the computer game that became the world's most popular "MMORPG" (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) within a few years and continues to be referenced in popular culture with its three-letter abbreviation?
    
    Answer: World of Warcraft
    
    
56. What “O” word is the name of a gaming PC made by HP? It is also a word used to describe a moment of prophetic significance, often foreshadowing good or evil.
    
    Answer: HP Omen
    
    
57. What’s the term for an extended purchase promise when you buy something big, like an appliance or computer? (Hint: The “lifetime guarantee” refers to the product’s life—not yours!)
    
    Answer: Warranty
    
    
58. Which term (“algo-trading” for short) means a computer program is automatically buying and trading crypto?
    
    Answer: Algorithmic Trading
    
    
59. What five-letter tech term is better known as temporary memory storage on a computer and whose homophone counterpart is defined by Merriam-Webster as “ready money”?
    
    Answer: Cache
    
    
60. Titan Rain was a series of attacks on U.S. computers that started in 2003. The hackers gained access to defense networks at places like Lockheed Martin and NASA. Which country did the attacks originate from?
    
    Answer: China
    
    
61. What “A” antivirus software is a freeware solution available across multiple platforms, with an amoeba like orange “A” as a logo? It is also a pirate word meaning “Stop.”
    
    Answer: Avast
    
    
62. Andy Rubin is known as one of the three founders of what massively popular cell phone operating system?
    
    Answer: Android
    
    
63. What is the somewhat-logical term for the internet prank and meme in which an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up" is "planted" into an unrelated link? The meme's popularity dates back to 2008.
    
    Answer: Rickrolling
    
    
64. When the kids online say "LoL," they're either laughing or referencing what online battle arena game that's been sponsored by Mastercard since 2018?
    
    Answer: League of Legends
    
    
65. What is the 6-letter term for a group of computers that is networked together and used by hackers to steal information?
    
    Answer: Botnet
    
    
66. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the majority owner of what manufacturing company which predominantly sells audio equipment? The company was founded by an associate professor who later in life donated his shares to the school.
    
    Answer: Bose
    
    
67. For Cyber Monday in the U.S. in 2019, Google "baked" Pixel 4 phones inside the pizza boxes of what fast food chain as a limited promotion?
    
    Answer: Dominos
    
    
68. Which free, open-source media player with a traffic cone desktop icon did you probably have on your computer circa 2001? (Hint: The original name was VideoLANClient, but that name didn’t stick as the software gained more capabilities)
    
    Answer: VLC
    
    
69. What was Verkada CEO Filip Kaliszan’s first startup (which he came up with while studying computer science at Stanford)?
    
    Answer: Course Rank
    
    
70. Which F-term refers to software that’s built into hardware, like a BIOS?
    
    Answer: Firmware
    
    
71. Doug Engelbart was the inventor of what computer accessory? The first one was made from wood.
    
    Answer: Mouse
    
    
72. The "man without a head" is the emblem of what Guy Fawkes-lovin' hacker group that reemerged in 2020?
    
    Answer: Anonymous
    
    
73. The IdeaPad laptop and ThinkCenter desktop are models offered by what Hong Kong hardware company?
    
    Answer: Lenovo
    
    
74. Osmo makes a toy set for children that allows that to experience what process, a “C” word that is interchangeably used with computer programming? It gets its name from the series of commands that unlocks processes within a computer’s program.
    
    Answer: Coding
    
    
75. Both the tax preparation application TurboTax and the small business accounting program QuickBooks are products owned and sold by what publicly traded company?
    
    Answer: Intuit
    
    
76. What color do you get if you mix together the two colors that appear twice in the Google logo?
    
    Answer: Purple
    
    
77. Said to have been the brainchild of Odysseus, what construction from ancient Greek mythology gives its name to software that misleads users of its true intent by disguising itself as a standard program?
    
    Answer: Trojan Horse
    
    
78. More commonly used in a biological sense (particularly in recent times), its name comes from the Latin word for "poisonous". In the world of computers, Anna Kournikova, SCA, Ping-pong, and Gameover ZeuS are all famous examples of what?
    
    Answer: Virus
    
    
79. When it debuted in 1999, what sea creature-inspired nickname did Apple’s colorful iBook G3 laptop get based on its design?
    
    Answer: Clamshell
    
    
80. Decades before AI apps and chatbots were a thing, which 1985 Hughes film was about a couple of high school computer nerds who use their skills to program their dream woman?
    
    Answer: Weird Science
    
    
81. What high-level, class-based, object-oriented programming language was indirectly named by designer James Gosling after a very caffeinated Indonesian island?
    
    Answer: Java
    
    
82. Today, Gmail is far and above the most popular email service in the world, with 1.5 billion users worldwide, but it's not the first Gmail: in 2004, the original Gmail was a service for fans of what lasagna-addicted comic strip character?
    
    Answer: Garfield
    
    
83. What technology publication was founded by Louis Rossetto and has a title one letter away from a synonym for "sleepy?"
    
    Answer: Wired
    
    
84. Released in 1983 and named after Steve Jobs's child, what Apple computer has been called their "most influential failure"? It shares its name with one of "The Simpsons" kids.
    
    Answer: Apple Lisa
    
    
85. Paul Allen, an American billionaire who passed away in 2018, was the owner of the Portland Trailblazers (NBA), Seattle Seahawks (NFL), and a part owner of the Seattle Sounders (MLS). Before entering the world of sports ownership, Allen was best known for co-founding what company?
    
    Answer: Microsoft
    
    
86. In 2013, IBM created a computer that was able to understand clues from the quiz show ‘Jeopardy!’ and answer them with an automated voice. It did so well, it beat legends of the show Ken Jennings and Brad Ritter in a match. What six-letter name did IBM give this computer?
    
    Answer: Watson
    
    
87. What type of printer works by implementing a moving head that prints in a line-by-line motion, but in contrast to inkjets, employ an impact ‘head and ribbon’ method of printing, punching tiny holes through the ribbon and into the page, leaving a mark?
    
    Answer: Dot Matrix
    
    
88. In 1994, which computer company launched its first web browser, Navigator?
    
    Answer: Netscape
    
    
89. I didn't know Hansel and Gretel were web designers. What name is given to secondary navigation aids that assist users in understanding the relationship between their location on a page, and higher-level pages?
    
    Answer: Breadcrumbs
    
    
90. What is the seven-letter branded software standard created by Apple that enables a car radio or touchscreen to be a display and a controller for an iOS device?
    
    Answer: CarPlay
    
    
91. What is the two word term for the type of cybersecurity breach in which a user is convinced to disclose secrets due to an exploitation of trust and reliance on cognitive biases? In short, this is a type of attack focused on human gatekeepers of information rather than the computer system itself.
    
    Answer: Social engineering
    
    
92. ChipTest, Hydra, Deep Blue, and HiTech are all computers or computer programs developed to play what?
    
    Answer: Chess
    
    
93. In the mid-2000s, Beijing-based Lenovo started making ThinkPads after acquiring the PC side of which American tech giant?
    
    Answer: IBM
    
    
94. Notably portrayed in the film "The Imitation Game," what British computer scientist predicted how patterns might emerge in zebra stripes, desert vegetation, and other natural phenomena?
    
    Answer: Alan Turing
    
    
95. Officially known as a "Stop error" or a "Blue Screen error" the acronym BSOD is commonly used for the error screen in the Windows operating system that displays upon a fatal system error. What do the letters BSOD stand for?
    
    Answer: Blue Screen of Death
    
    
96. Ajay Bhatt in 1995 developed what commonly used computer connector that did not give him a single cent of his invention?
    
    Answer: USB
    
    
97. Although the spelling is different, what Berlin-based language-learning software company co-founded by Thomas Holl and Markus Witte in August 2007 shares its name with a famous Biblical tower?
    
    Answer: Babbel
    
    
98. According to a former Facebook employee, the company used to have a master password that could unlock any user's account. This password was a variation on the name of what martial artist and actor, perhaps because he definitely couldn't be considered "too weak"?
    
    Answer: Chuck Norris
    
    
99. What American tech company had a microprocessor facility in Costa Rica that at one time was responsible for 20% of Costa Rican exports and 5% of the country's GDP?
    
    Answer: Intel
    
    
100. What is the tasty name of the series of small single-board computers developed by an eponymous foundation in the UK and often used for the promotion of teaching computer science concepts in schools and developing countries?
     
     Answer: Raspberry Pi
     
     
101. Aye, aye, captain! Abbreviated as the C64, what 8-bit home computer and gaming device was named “the best-selling single computer model of all time” by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2011?
     
     Answer: Commodore 64
     
     
102. Microsoft Disk was one of the original widely used operating systems all the way from the 1980s, but it has been fully unsupported since 2006. What hyphenated nickname is this classic system more commonly known by?
     
     Answer: MS-DOS
     
     
103. In an attempt to soften user experience of outages and errors, many websites use "error mascots" (or "fail pets") when things stop working. Famous examples include Twitter's "Fail Whale" and Tumblr's "TumblBeasts". What animal is used for a similar purpose by the browser Google Chrome when it is in offline mode?
     
     Answer: T-Rex
     
     
104. What is the name of the evil computer in the film "2001: A Space Odyssey," who famously said "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that?"
     
     Answer: Hal
     
     
105. While working at Motorola in the 1970s, Martin Cooper invented what is typically considered the first cell phone. Cooper is a graduate of IIT: an Institute of Technology located in what state?
     
     Answer: Illinois
     
     
106. From the Greek for "around", what is the term for an auxiliary device like a keyboard or printer that's attached to a computer?
     
     Answer: Peripheral
     
     
107. Although the company maintains and distributes many types of open-source software, it is most well-known for its enterprise Linux and virtualization products. What is this company headquartered in Raleigh and purchased by IBM in 2019? You might also see their name written when visiting a haberdasher.
     
     Answer: Red Hat
     
     
108. The U.S. National Cyber Security Division opened for the first time in 2003 and is currently housed within what Federal Department? John Kelly, Kirstjen Nielsen, and Kevin McAleenan all served as Secretary of this Department during the Trump administration.
     
     Answer: Department of Homeland Security
     
     
109. Ridley Scott directed the dystopian, Orwell-inspired, hammer-tossing commercial for what now-behemoth but then-underdog company during the 1984 Super Bowl?
     
     Answer: Apple
     
     
110. Long before she married Bill, which philanthropist and computer scientist (born and raised in Dallas) first “clicked” with an Apple II computer when she was a student at St. Monica Catholic School?
     
     Answer: Melinda Gates
     
     
111. The Fugaku supercomputer has topped the list of the fastest computers in the world since 2020. Reaching such an explosive height makes its name fitting, since it was named after what stratovolcano in Japan?
     
     Answer: Mount Fuji
     
     
112. In 1988, the Morris Worm was created (and released) just to see whether it could be pulled off. As it spread via the Internet, mayhem (and a criminal conviction) followed. It was the first major example of which “highly infectious” computer security threat?
     
     Answer: Virus
     
     
113. In 2005, Linus Torvalds created software for tracking changes on files in order to improve development of the Linux kernel. Since 2005, the open-source software has had Junio Hamano as the core maintainer. What is the three-letter name of this uber-popular software among developers?
     
     Answer: Git
     
     
114. While working at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center during the 1970s, computer scientist Larry Tesler coined what three common computer commands first used to edit documents on a word processor he co-created called Gypsy?
     
     Answer: Cut, copy, paste
     
     
115. Named in Forbes magazine's Top 10 Most Powerful Women every year since 2010, which Dallas-born former computer scientist only received about 2% of her former husband's roughly $100 billion wealth when they divorced in 2021?
     
     Answer: Melinda French Gates
     
     
116. Introduced in 1985, what line of Commodore personal computers has a name that means "friend" in English?
     
     Answer: Amiga
     
     
117. Which computer company based in Tawain is known for its PCs, including the ZenBook, VivoBook, and Republic of Gamers laptop?
     
     Answer: Asus
     
     
118. The non-profit Mozilla is likely best-known for its Firefox browser but also built what aviary email and RSS client that was first launched in 2004 and is currently supported by a wholly owned subsidiary?
     
     Answer: Thunderbird
     
     
119. Norton AntiVirus is an anti-malware and anti-virus software package that has been developed and distributed by what company since 1991? This parent company has a portmanteau'd name and was first publicly traded in 1989.
     
     Answer: Symantec
     
     
120. For some reason, it wasn't until 2016 that Tim Berners-Lee won the Association for Computing Machinery's top "Nobel-level" award, named for what British mathematician and computer scientist?
     
     Answer: Alan Turing
     
     
121. Since 2016, the tallest building in Indianapolis has been known by what official name? This is also the name of the tallest building in San Francisco and the name of an enterprise software company.
     
     Answer: Salesforce Tower
     
     
122. The integrated circuit intended to securely store information and a key on a mobile phone is widely known as a SIM card. Name ANY of the three words that SIM stands for.
     
     Answer: Subscriber Identity Module
     
     
123. A global ransomware attack on Windows computers that occurred in May 2017 came from a virus with what "tearful" name?
     
     Answer: WannaCry
     
     
124. Typically around 0.1 mm, a mickey is a unit for the smallest detectable movement of which piece of computer hardware?
     
     Answer: Mouse
     
     
125. Which sturdy, more affordable, all-in-one Apple computer designed just for schools was launched in 2002?
     
     Answer: eMac
     
     
126. After Microsoft and IBM, which Texas-based computer tech corp (known for its databases) is the third largest in the world?
     
     Answer: Oracle
     
     
127. Known as Presenter when it was initially put out, Microsoft PowerPoint was first released in which year of the 1980s?
     
     Answer: 1987
     
     
128. What three-letter acronym is used for the industry standard, first released in 1996, used to connect computers with peripheral devices?
     
     Answer: USB
     
     
129. With the first name Peter, which programmer released a series of computer utilities in 1982, which included Unerase, a utility to find deleted files? His name is well known in anti-virus software
     
     Answer: Norton
     
     
130. What simulation video game franchise was originally developed by Will Wright and launched in 1989 for the Macintosh computer?
     
     Answer: SimCity
     
     
131. With an initial release in 2003, what is the free open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL (or MariaDB) database that features numerous plugins and templates known as "Themes" and is currently used by 39% of the 10 million most-popular websites in the world?
     
     Answer: WordPress
     
     
132. What “A” French startup company offers online insurance on a price-quality ratio plan, and its name is also the first name of groundbreaking computer scientist Turing and “Watchmen” author Moore?
     
     Answer: Alan
     
     
133. What “H” cybersecurity company based in Miami, FL offers cybersecurity services and related training to corporations? It sounds like a college for people who want to use computers to get access to unauthorized data.
     
     Answer: HackerU
     
     
134. What technology company was founded in 1993 with the vision that the next wave of computing would be graphics-based? The company took its name from the Latin word for "envy" and features product families GeForce, Quadro, and Tegra.
     
     Answer: Nvidia
135. You might have been jealous if your high school BFF had a VX8500 “Chocolate” sliding phone/mp3 player. Which electronics company that’s also known for its LCD TVs, tablets, home appliances, and computer accessories released the phone in 2006?
     
     Answer: LG
     
     
136. Mostly famous for its "Notebook" product, what is the name of the open-source community and project taking its name as a combination (in some order) of three core programming languages: R, Julia, and Python?
     
     Answer: Jupyter
     
     
137. The University of Cambridge offered the first degree in computer science but what Midwestern university had the country’s first computer science department? The school is located in West Lafayette, Indiana.
     
     Answer: Purdue University
     
     
138. Benedict Cumberbatch was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for playing computer science legend Alan Turing in what 2014 biopic?
     
     Answer: The Imitation Game
     
     
139. In a standard game of "Civilization" chariots aren't available until the invention of what pretty key chariot ingredient?
     
     Answer: Wheel
     
     
140. Mike, a sentient computer, is instrumental to the revolt of a lunar colony against absentee rule from Earth in what 1966 sci-fi novel by Robert A. Heinlein?
     
     Answer: The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
     
     
141. What “A” Chinese consumer electronics company, founded in 1993 in Bejing, sells MIDs, digital media players, and a variety of other computer peripherals?
     
     Answer: Aigo
     
     
142. Howard Aiken received a PhD in Physics from Harvard in 1939, and in 1944 he installed the Harvard Mark I, a computer designed for what giant company in the computer field?
     
     Answer: International Business Machines
     
     
143. In computer security, what type of attack, a targeted form of brute force attack, involves running through lists of common words, phrases and leaked passwords to gain access to accounts? This type of attack shares its name with a term used for a book comprising a listing of lexemes.
     
     Answer: Dictionary attack
     
     
144. Delawarean John Backus is responsible for inventing what classic computer programming language, whose name is a portmanteau of the phrase "Formula Translating System?"
     
     Answer: FORTRAN
     
     
145. Which M-word is short for “modulator-demodulator” and is the part of the computer that takes digital data and puts it into analog form? (Hint: Remember the “dial-up” sound of the one you had in the ‘90s?)
     
     Answer: Modem
     
     
146. While it’s best known for its mobile phones of the ‘90s and early 2000s, which Finnish company also makes the PureBook laptop?
     
     Answer: Nokia
     
     
147. In 1979, Apple released its first spreadsheet computer program for the Apple II. What was the software called?
     
     Answer: VisiCalc
     
     
148. Born to two computer scientists, it’s no wonder that which Google co-founder grew up to become one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the tech industry?
     
     Answer: Larry Page
     
     
149. With an estimated $38 billion in damage caused, what 2004 computer virus has been ranked the worst of all time? NB: For the computer fans this was technically a worm, not a virus, but it appears on the virus lists.
     
     Answer: Mydoom
     
     
150. When search the web, the HTTP error code 404 is commonly associated with the phrase “File not found”. What two word phrase is associated with the code 502?
     
     Answer: Bad Gateway
     
     
151. In 1956, researchers at MIT created Whirlwind, the first computer to use which method of direct user input?
     
     Answer: Keyboard
     
     
152. In 1983's War Games, Matthew Broderick averts nuclear disaster by instructing the out-of-control supercomputer to play against itself in what children's game?
     
     Answer: Tic Tac Toe
     
     
153. What was the name of the first Apple laptop computer? It was introduced in 1989, five years after the introduction of the Macintosh.
     
     Answer: Macintosh Portable
     
     
154. Which stablecoin’s symbol is USDT? (Hint: It might remind you of hooking up your phone to your computer to gain Internet access)
     
     Answer: Tether
     
     
155. What was the first commercial personal computer with a graphical user interface (GUI)? It was released in 1983, one year before the release of the Apple Macintosh, which was the first successful computer with a GUI.
     
     Answer: Lisa
     
     
156. What programming language got its one-letter name because it came after a language that was named either “Byte” or “Bell” but was just called “B”?
     
     Answer: C
     
     
157. What word for a desktop computer case sounds like something you’d find in a castle’s defense strategy (perhaps a place for a lookout)?
     
     Answer: Tower
     
     
158. Decades before you could play flight simulator video games, the U.S. Navy sought out experts at MIT to develop the first one for training purposes (as part of a project called Whirlwind I) during which war?
     
     Answer: WWII
     
     
159. The 1822 protocol for connecting a host computer to an IMP was developed in 1969. Which American electrical engineer who helped bring us the first TCP and IP came up with the 1822 protocol, naming it after a report number and not a year?
     
     Answer: Bob Kahn
     
     
160. What golf course-destroying animal is also an Internet search tool that allows users to access textual information through a series of menus, or if using FTP, through downloads?
     
     Answer: Gopher
     
     
161. In "2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)”, what’s the numerical part of HAL’s computer name?
     
     Answer: 9000
     
     
162. The HTTP standard response code for "Not Found" is famously 404 (hence the "404 Not Found" web page displayed when following a broken or dead link). What is the similarly palindromic three-digit error code for "See Other", a response redirects web applications to a new URI?
     
     Answer: 303
     
     
163. While designing the IBM Stretch computer in 1956, computer scientist Werner Buchholz was one of the first people to coin what four-letter term that is equivalent to eight bits?
     
     Answer: Byte
     
     
164. Elk Cloner was one of the first microcomputer viruses that ended up “in the wild,” having escaped the computer system it was written on. It started as a joke written by a high school student, who put it on what now obsolete piece of tech that also ended up being the means through which the virus was spread from one machine to the next?
     
     Answer: Floppy disk
     
     
165. When Douglas Engelbart came up with the first computer mouse in the 1960s, he probably should have considered the possibility of hand splinters, since the prototype was made of what material?
     
     Answer: Wood
     
     
166. “Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought” by Douglas Hofstadter may not sound like a page-turner, but it’s famous for being the first book sold on what Internet shopping platform?
     
     Answer: Amazon
     
     
167. In 1997, IBM’s Deep Blue had all the right moves and became the first computer to be a champion player at what game?
     
     Answer: Chess
     
     
168. What online information service was founded in 1969 as a way to share excess capacity on a computer, and was acquired by AOL in 1998?
     
     Answer: CompuServe
     
     
169. Named after the tech company’s founder and first CEO, what IBM supercomputer exhibited its incredible quizzing abilities by defeating notable game show champions Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings on the “Jeopardy! The IBM Challenge” in 2011?
     
     Answer: Watson
     
     
170. What term is given to a way of harvesting personal information, where a hacker puts a malicious code on your computer that redirects you to a fake site?
     
     Answer: Pharming
     
     
171. What term beginning with R is an image file format that's defined by a pixel with one or more numbers associated with it?
     
     Answer: Raster
     
     
172. In 1992, Cirque’s GlidePoint introduced what finger-controlled technology in laptops?
     
     Answer: Touchpad
     
     
173. What term beginning with B refers the part of an application that performs an essential task not apparent to the user?
     
     Answer: Back-end
     
     
174. What two-word term is for the processes, authorities for, and procedures to be used for all changes that are made to the computerized system and/or the system's data?
     
     Answer: Change control
     
     
175. A desire to monitor the level of the coffee pot in the Trojan Room of Cambridge University's Computer Laboratory led to the invention of the world's first of what type of now-common hardware?
     
     Answer: Webcam
     
     
176. What was the name of the default "Office Assistant" that appeared in Microsoft's Office suite of software, beginning with Windows 97?
     
     Answer: Clippit (Clippy)
     
     
177. In January 2024, the AI startup ElevenLabs achieved unicorn status as people are getting stoked about its tech that clones what human feature?
     
     Answer: Voice
     
     
178. Which famous computer scientist was the first person to write a chess-playing algorithm for a computer in 1950?
     
     Answer: Alan Turing
     
     
179. Developed independently by two scientists in 1958 and paving the way for the creation of microprocessors, IC stands for "integrated" WHAT?
     
     Answer: Circuit
     
     
180. The Atanasoff-Berry Computer, the world’s first electronic digital computer, was built during the 1930s in what U.S. state nicknamed the “Hawkeye State”?
     
     Answer: Iowa
     
     
181. Ask Rupert Murdoch: in 2010, Oracle swallowed up an American tech company that created Java and was named for what astronomical body?
     
     Answer: Sun (Sun Microsystems)
     
     
182. Which type of “bomb” is a bit of code put into software that is set up to trigger a malicious function if certain conditions are met? For example, some computer worms were infamously designed to attack on certain dates, like Friday the 13th.
     
     Answer: Logic
     
     
183. With revenue over $700 million in 2018 and more than 20 years in the education technology market, what is the name of the privately-held DC-based company which claims more than 17,000 schools and organizations in 100 countries as customers? The company's name is likely to remind you of something you'd find in a school.
     
     Answer: Blackboard Inc
     
     
184. What company providing hosting for software development and distributed version control familiar to computer programmers is known for its iconic Octocat (part cat, part octopus) logo?
     
     Answer: Github
     
     
185. What colorful apparel is also a two-word term for a computer security expert who engages in “ethical hacking” to help expose and fix security flaws within a company’s information system?
     
     Answer: White hat
     
     
186. Featuring singles like "Paranoid Android" and "Karma Police," "OK Computer" was a classic 1997 album from what British rock band?
     
     Answer: Radiohead
     
     
187. Before it found its stride with cellphones and plans for “mobilizing your world,” which telecommunications company (formerly known as Cingular) tried to sell PCs and personal tablets (like the $3,000 “EO Personal Communicator” in 1993)?
     
     Answer: AT&T
     
     
188. What is the name of the computer worm, which was first uncovered in 2010, that was used in a cyberattack to ruin nearly 20% of Iran's nuclear centrifuges, setting their program back years?
     
     Answer: Stuxnet
     
     
189. What “A” term describes a program capable of running on any computer regardless of its operating system? It kind of sounds like a round tree fruit that comes in red and green.
     
     Answer: Applet
     
     
190. Before his death in 2023, which American hacker-turned-security consultant was known for getting arrested by FBI in 1995 after breaking into the DEC’s computer system and copying software?
     
     Answer: Kevin Mitnick
     
     
191. C++, Java, and Python are just a few of many examples of which kind of computer coding language that’s abbreviated OOP?
     
     Answer: Object-Oriented Programming
     
     
192. A computer’s SoC is an integrated circuit that handles everything from the CPU to the graphics—for example, Apple’s M1. What is SoC an acronym for?
     
     Answer: System on a chip
     
     
193. Starting with "C," what kind of "jacking" involves a hacker tricking another user into installing a seemingly harmless yet malicious program onto their computer and using the device's computing power to mine virtual currency?
     
     Answer: Cryptojacking
     
     
194. A November 1998 article titled "New CYBERSCAPE: Digital Assistants Get Sophisticated" was the first article in the New York Times's archive to use what now-ubiquitous word which, despite its name, does not necessarily refer to the IQ of a pocket computer?
     
     Answer: Smartphone
     
     
195. What is the common alphanumeric abbreviation for the "predictive text technology" developed by Tegic Communications and used on mobile phones prior to the widespread adoption of touchscreen keyboards?
     
     Answer: T9
     
     
196. Which adjective is used to describe computer memory that only retains data while the device is powered? This adjective can be used to describe a person liable to display rapid changes of emotion.
     
     Answer: Volatile
     
     
197. Google Buzz, Google Friend Connect, and Orkut were all Google products that were retired attempts at a social media platform. The fourth attempt was named what?
     
     Answer: Google+
     
     
198. Unicode, the standard for character encoding used to represent multilingual text as binary, is the successor of what US encoding standard?
     
     Answer: ASCII
     
     
199. Steve Jobs was famous for his black turtleneck, blue jeans, and what brand of sneakers?
     
     Answer: New Balance
     
     
200. Before the Wi-Fi branding originated, a university in Pittsburgh built the first campus-wide wireless Internet network and named it Wireless Andrew. What was this school?
     
     Answer: Carnegie Mellon
     
     
201. In the Marx Brothers classic Horse Feathers, what's the password Groucho gives to gain admission to Chico's speakeasy? This word was later used as the title of a 2001 film about computer hackers.
     
     Answer: Swordfish
     
     
202. Named after a Founding Father associated with Philadelphia, what retro computer company manufactured clones of the Apple II series in the 1980s, including its Ace 1200 model?
     
     Answer: Franklin
     
     
203. Founded by a computer programmer and a box office expert, what company had an Electric Light Orchestra concert at the University of New Mexico as its first ticketed event?
     
     Answer: Ticketmaster
     
     
204. MacOS X 10.4.11 is better known to the average user by what animalistic operating system nickname that shares its name with an apex predator that’s scientifically known as “panthera tigris?”
     
     Answer: Tiger
     
     
205. In a 1997 chess match, Garry Kasparov lost against what colorfully named IBM computer?
     
     Answer: Deep Blue
     
     
206. Professor David Malan is well-known as the teacher of CS50, an introductory computer science course. He is well-known beyond his formal campus because the class is available online as a MOOC (massive open online course) and has been started by over two million students. However, Malan is technically a faculty member at what school?
     
     Answer: Harvard
     
     
207. Which “sharp” American-Singaporean tech company makes PCs, laptops, monitors, accessories, and lifestyle must-haves like chairs and streaming set-ups for serious gamers?
     
     Answer: Razer
     
     
208. The IBM 3380 was the first hard drive of what ginormous-size byte that cost $81,000—or US$287,687 in today’s money—when it came out in 1980?
     
     Answer: Giga
     
     
209. AMD is an American semiconductor company based in Santa Clara that has been an industry-leader for developing computer processors. The company is a primary competitor to both Intel and Nvidia. What does AMD stand for?
     
     Answer: Advanced Micro Devices
     
     
210. What “D” term refers to a group of computers, printers and devices that are interconnected and governed as a whole? The word can also be used to describe a specified area of knowledge.
     
     Answer: Domain
     
     
211. Which discontinued spreadsheet program, originally written by Jonathan Sachs, peaked in popularity in the late 1980s after its release in January 1983? This spreadsheet program was the first computer software to use television consumer advertising.
     
     Answer: Lotus 1-2-3
     
     
212. Which computer networking equipment manufacturer that was founded by Patrick Lo in 1996 sells products like “Orbi” and “Nighthawk” routers, modems, cable switches, and network-attached storage devices?
     
     Answer: Netgear
     
     
213. The word "bit" (as in the smallest unit of data that a computer can process and store) is a contraction of what two words, the first of which starts with "bi-" and the second ends with "-it"?
     
     Answer: Binary Digit
     
     
214. The website Ranker named GLaDOS, a fictional artificially intelligent computer system, the greatest video game villain of all time. GLaDOS was introduced in what groundbreaking computer game?
     
     Answer: Portal
     
     
215. What British band, whose name might describe a character from Greek mythology like Calliope or Clio, sang about how "we are caged in simulations" in their 2018 song "Algorithm?"
     
     Answer: Muse
     
     
216. Founded in 1985, what computer company is perhaps best known for its machines being shipped in boxes designed with Holstein cow markings?
     
     Answer: Gateway
     
     
217. Sharing a name with an art form which flourished in ancient Rome, Greece, and the Middle East, what was the first freely available Web browser to display both graphics and text? NCSA, its developers, discontinued it in 1997 due to declining usage.
     
     Answer: Mosaic
     
     
218. What “divide” refers to the gaps in access to technology like smartphones and computers that contribute to inequalities in accessing resources and knowledge that’s available through the Internet?
     
     Answer: Digital
     
     
219. Founded in the UK in 1978, what now-defunct British computer company was named after part of an oak tree and made models like the Archimedes and the Electron?
     
     Answer: Acorn
     
     
220. IEEE 802.3 is a collection of standards produced to define the physical layer and data link of wired Ethernet. The standards are named for the group which drafted them, IEEE. What does this acronym stand for?
     
     Answer: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
     
     
221. Called a "giant brain" by the media, ENIAC was a pioneering computer that debuted in 1946 after being built in secret at what southernmost Ivy League university?
     
     Answer: University of Pennsylvania
     
     
222. In 2009, the United States White House switched its website's CMS from a proprietary system to what popular "D" open-source CMS system that was initially released in 2001?
     
     Answer: Drupal
     
     
223. In what year did the first AWS (Amazon Web Services) service launch to the public?
     
     Answer: 2004
     
     
224. What is the name of the online service and iOS app used for over-the-air installation and testing of mobile applications on Apple devices? This program is owned by Apple and is frequently used for downloading and testing alpha and beta versions of apps.
     
     Answer: TestFlight
     
     
225. The cybersecurity startup Island received $11 million in funding from what Bosack and Lerner-founded San Jose tech giant that pioneered the LAN?
     
     Answer: Cisco Systems
     
     
226. According to Fast Metrics, the fastest internet in the world was considered to be in the country where the highest % of Wi-Fi connections had a speed of at least 4 Mbps. The leading country met this qualification with more than 95% of its internet connections as of 2015. What is this eastern hemisphere nation?
     
     Answer: South Korea
     
     
227. According to an analysis by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre that investigated passwords belonging to hacked accounts worldwide, what is the most common six-letter "word" that is used for passwords that don't require numbers or punctuation?
     
     Answer: Qwerty
     
     
228. In what year did Apple standardize their chargers with the introduction of the Lightening cable?
     
     Answer: 2012
     
     
229. Will Shortz lets competitors know how much a computer named Dr. Fill has beat them at Stamford, Connecticut's annual ACPT, or American WHAT WHAT Tournament?
     
     Answer: Crossword Puzzle
     
     
230. What company was founded in 2006 by Tobias Lütke after attempting to open Snowdevil, an online store for snowboarding equipment. Dissatisfied with the existing e-commerce products on the market, Lütke, a computer programmer by trade, instead built his own.
     
     Answer: Shopify
     
     
231. Hiro Protagonist is a hacker fighting the insidious influence of a virus that affects both computers and human beings in what 1992 sci-fi novel by Neal Stephenson?
     
     Answer: Snow Crash
     
     
232. Nuts to von Neumann: computer architecture featuring separate storage and signal pathways for instructions and data is named for what Ivy League school?
     
     Answer: Harvard
     
     
233. Famously advertised in 1984 during Super Bowl XVIII by a sledgehammer-throwing English athlete named Anya Major, what PC with a 7.8 MHz processor and 9’’ display succeeded a model known as the “Lisa?”
     
     Answer: Macintosh
     
     
234. Microsoft was founded in 1975. You probably know that Bill Gates was one of the founders, but what was the name of his friend (and future owner of the Seattle Seahawks) with whom he co-founded the company?
     
     Answer: Paul Allen
     
     
235. What keyboard key did IBM programmer Bob Bemer invent in 1960 as means to switch between one programming language to another?
     
     Answer: Escape Key
     
     
236. IBM's chess-playing computer Deep Thought was named after a computer designed to answer the "Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything" in what "trilogy in five parts" by Douglas Adams?
     
     Answer: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
     
     
237. Presumably the singer of the top selling album of the 21st century is a fan. Which computer hardware company (founded by and named after the now 16th-richest man in the world) produces a range of gaming computers called Alienware?
     
     Answer: Dell
     
     
238. The Computer Museum was a museum that opened in 1979 and operated in three different locations until 1999. It closed in 2000 and sent much of its collection across the country to the Computer History Museum in California. In what city would you have found the Computer Museum while it was open?
     
     Answer: Boston
     
     
239. Don't get salty if you miss this: Which Japanese printer company started out in 1942 as a company that manufactured watch and clock parts as Daiwa Kogyo Ltd?
     
     Answer: Epson
     
     
240. Headquartered (somewhat ironically?) in Santa Clara, California, what is the name of the American cybersecurity company that serves 85 of the Fortune 100 and is the home to both the Unit 42 threat research team and the Ignite cybersecurity conference?
     
     Answer: Palo Alto Networks
     
     
241. When the full extent of the 2020 SolarWinds-focused cyberattack on the U.S. federal government was starting to be understood, Microsoft's president described the attack as "largest and most sophisticated the world has ever seen." The malware responsible for the attack was named for what astronomical-sounding explosion?
     
     Answer: Sunburst
     
     
242. The Alto computer released in 1973 was the first to feature a GUI (graphical user interface). Although Apple's far more successful Macintosh system brought the GUI to wider acclaim, what was the company that released the Alto?
     
     Answer: Xerox
     
     
243. What British computer scientist with a hyphenated surname is known as the founder of the World Wide Web?
     
     Answer: Tim Berners-Lee
     
     
244. What was the spooky name of the first computer worm, created in 1971, that could be defeated by the first antivirus software (aptly named Reaper)?
     
     Answer: Creeper
     
     
245. Dylan Field and Evan Wallace got the idea for their software startup while they were still computer science students at Brown. When they launched their collaborative, cloud-based web app for applying your imagination to user interface design in 2016, what did they call it? (Hint: Fans were miffed when Adobe acquired it in 2022)
     
     Answer: Figma
     
     
246. The radix is the number of unique digits, including zero, used to represent numbers in a "positional numeral system." By what term is this concept more often referred? This other, more common term is also an acronym for a risky type of athletic feat and functions as a Microsoft Excel formula.
     
     Answer: Base
     
     
247. The MateBook line of laptops is manufactured by which Chinese tech giant?
     
     Answer: Huawei
     
     
248. Written in Python and used as an open-source workflow management platform, what is the name of the "ventilated" Apache-managed project started at Airbnb in 2014 and designed under the "configuration as code" principle?
     
     Answer: Airflow
     
     
249. What kind of malware places itself deep inside a computer’s code, allowing for the hacker to have remote control? Maybe control by a band co-founded by Tarik “Black Thought” Trotter in 1987.
     
     Answer: rootkit
     
     
250. "Reroll" is a reboot of a strangely addictive, building-a-universe-from-an-adhesive-ball game with what Japanese name meaning "clump spirit"?
     
     Answer: Katamari Damacy
     
     
251. "Computer World" and "Computer Love" are 1981 songs by what German band whose name translates to "power station" in English?
     
     Answer: Kraftwerk
     
     
252. Which 3-letter server scripting language is used to code dynamic web pages?
     
     Answer: PHP
     
     
253. Before he founded ServiceNow, what university did Fred Luddy drop out of (in his home state) because he was just spending too much time computer programming to keep up with his studies?
     
     Answer: Indiana University
     
     
254. What C-word cybersecurity firm based in Austin has a one-word compound name that implies it can attack problems quickly across a variety of software? Its logo is a red hawk swooping in, just like bad luck on July 18, 2024.
     
     Answer: CrowdStrike
     
     
255. What is the name of Google's unified design language, first introduced in 2021 with the Android 12 operating system?
     
     Answer: Material You
     
     
256. What English man was a mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, and is largely considered the originator of the concept of a digital programmable computer? Hint: his name rhymes with a common vegetable.
     
     Answer: Charles Babbage
     
     
257. APKs are downloadable files that store applications for which operating system?
     
     Answer: Android
     
     
258. Named after the computer scientist who coined the term, whose list 12 rules of relational databases actually has 13 “commandments” because they’re numbered zero to 12?
     
     Answer: Codd
     
     
259. Decades after it become known for its Magic Wand, which Japanese manufacturer created the first 1 TB hard disk in 2007? (Hint: The name combines the kanji characters “sun + rise”)
     
     Answer: Hitachi
     
     
260. Player reaction to a simulated disease in a computer game resembled historical records about plagues so closely that epidemiologists are using the data evaluate scenarios related to a potential future virus outbreak. What was the computer game in which this happened?
     
     Answer: World of Warcraft
     
     
261. “Big iron” is a nickname for which type of computer that is mostly used to quickly process a lot of data—for example, companies that have to process a lot of customer transactions?
     
     Answer: Mainframe
     
     
262. What kind of process or task can be run by the computer instead of the user, therefore freeing up the user to do other work on the machine?
     
     Answer: Background
     
     
263. What university initially maintained the text file named HOSTS.TXT that mapped host names to the numerical addresses of computers on the ARPANET?
     
     Answer: Stanford
     
     
264. "The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence" is a thought-provoking nonfiction book published in 1999 and written by what American computer scientist?
     
     Answer: Ray Kurzweil
     
     
265. What’s the name of the plain-text version of a computer program that humans can read and (maybe) understand?
     
     Answer: Source Code
     
     
266. Found on a shipwreck off Greece by archeologists in 1902, the Antikythera mechanism (an ancient model of the Solar System) is considered the oldest example of which type of computer?
     
     Answer: Analog
     
     
267. While you might know that the answer to the "Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything" is "42" from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," what's the name of the supercomputer who provided the confusing and anticlimatic answer in the 2005 film?
     
     Answer: Deep Thought
     
     
268. What P-word is given to a specific method in which messages are formulated, formatted, and passed between computers in a network?
     
     Answer: Protocol
     
     
269. It sounds like the software is headed to the gallows, but which term actually means that a piece of code is telling a computer what to do (like giving it instructions)?
     
     Answer: Executable
     
     
270. What AWS service is a machine learning (ML) Appliance and Software Development Kit (SDK) that organizations can use to bring computer vision (CV) to on-premises cameras to make predictions locally?
     
     Answer: Panorama
     
     
271. You know the CAPTCHA drill: click the button on the website to prove you’re not a robot. If you’re a real internet privacy geek, you know that CAPTCHA is an acronym for what?
     
     Answer: Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart
     
     
272. When it was built in the 1950s, the Weizmann Automatic Computer (WEIZAC) was one of the first computers of its kind in the world and the actual first in which Western Asian country?
     
     Answer: Israel
     
     
273. The first mass consumer product that offered Wi-Fi connectivity was branded as AirPort because the product was produced by Apple. What was this series of laptops that was first released in 1999?
     
     Answer: iBook
     
     
274. Which type of computer database supports storage of all data types, with specific attributes and methods for each individual item of data?
     
     Answer: Object-oriented database
     
     
275. In 1982, Carnegie Mellon computer scientist Scott Fahlman proposed on the school's digital message boards that posters use a "joke marker" to indicate when a comment was meant to be funny. He pitched a :-), the first ever appearance of this symbol that predates the emoji. What is this symbol called?
     
     Answer: Emoticon
     
     
276. The H-Store system is considered one of the most prominent examples in the class of parallel database management systems which are typically known by what six-letter name?
     
     Answer: NewSQL
     
     
277. What “K” IT infrastructure technology company, based out of Armonk, New York, started as a spinoff of IBM? Its logo is its own name, spelled out in lowercase orange letters.
     
     Answer: Kyndryl
     
     
278. Which children’s artsy software program was a fixture on computer lab PCs and your home desktop in the ‘90s, with several iterations like “Deluxe,” and “Studio” released by “edutainment” publishers like Broderbund and The Learning Company?
     
     Answer: KidPix
     
     
279. What “C” cybersecurity company based out of Israel offers cybersecurity protection for the computer systems inside of cars? In 2021, the company was acquired by LG.
     
     Answer: Cybellum
     
     
280. Which unit is used to measure a FPU’s processing power? (Hint: One of them equals 1 billion floating point operations per second)
     
     Answer: Gigaflop
     
     
281. If you’re an ‘80s kid who grew up playing computer learning games on your Apple II like “The Prisoner,” “Empire,” and “Windfall,” you have Sherwin Steffin and Steven Pederson to thank, as they funded which software company that made the games in 1979?
     
     Answer: Edu-Ware
     
     
282. In 1961 Charles Bachman developed the first computer database management system. What company did Bachman work for?
     
     Answer: General Electric
     
     

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