Challenge Set #6

Questions Still Open
Here are some questions you can still seize upon (please answer 'em below rather than on the old post).

4.1) The bonus part of the Jonson question is still open — why can he be referred to as the killer cleric? (10 pts.)

5.2) Who wrote it, where and, if appropriate, who said it [20 pts.]:

To pass our youth in dull indifference, to refuse the sweets of life because they once must leave us, is as preposterous as to wish to have been born old, because we one day must be old. For my part, my youth may wear and waste, but it shall never rust in my possession.

Frankly, I'm not surprised no one is getting this quote and you aren't missing much for not knowing it. It's part of a play I'd grieve if I had to read through at the moment.

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New Questions
1.) What was the first commercially available MP3 player? (10 pts.)

2.) What was convened tomorrow (January 28) in 1521? (10 pts.)

3.)What major U.S. tragedy occurred in more recent times on that day? (5 pts.)

4.) What I am quoting and who penned it? (15 pts.)

(To JS/07 M 378 This Marble Monument
Is Erected by the State) He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint

5.) What will the new trilogy by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins be about? (5 pts.)

Time's Ticking

For the sake of simplicity, I think I'm going to close the Jonson questions tomorrow. That means this is your last chance to get the points on questions 4.1 and 4.6, including the bonus question I added yesterday concerning Jonson as the “killer cleric.” For the last day, I'll give 2x points to anyone who figures out the answer. Speak now, or forever hold your peace.

Also, I think I'll address the “assignment” question (see here) tomorrow. Take a look at what's being suggested and give your $0.02 if you haven't already. Or give your $0.04 if you've already said something on this issue. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to pry in to my brain (and hear it echo once you've opened it up!).

Questions Set #5 and Roundup

Score Board (as of 2004 December 18 @ 21:50 CST)
Kevin: 75
Christopher: 30
Flip: 30
Eduardo: 20
Jason: 15
Ed: 10
Chris (answering vicariously for his wife): 10

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Questions still pending
Excellent chances to catch up with Kevin, or for Kevin to further solidify his lead.
4.1.) Where does the following quote come from (20 pts.) [link to original post]:
Now, luck yet send us, and a little wit
Will serve to make our play hit;
(According to the palates of the season)
Here is rhime, not empty of reason.

So far: Flip has correctly guessed that this is Ben Jonson. Ben Jonson what is the question that must be solved for the points. Where did the “killer cleric” write this (10 pts. more if you can make sense of “killer cleric” too).

4.6) If someone is speaking one or both quotes [in the last question]], who is that person or persons? [15 pts.] [link to original post]

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New Questions:
5.1) What famous, now secularized figure attended the council of Nicene, what position within the church did he hold and where at [5 pts.]?

5.2) Who wrote it, where and, if appropriate, who said it [20 pts.]:

To pass our youth in dull indifference, to refuse the sweets of life because they once must leave us, is as preposterous as to wish to have been born old, because we one day must be old. For my part, my youth may wear and waste, but it shall never rust in my possession.

5.3) Who wrote/said this and in what [10 pts.]? BONUS: Explain the source and meaning of the name of the “what” part of the last question [10 pts.]. Hint on the bonus: The source of the bonus part of the question has been recently mentioned somewhere on this blog.

It has gotten to my head. Permeates the path I tread. But I tread, I'm moving on in a new and happy song.
I can sing about the night, how my tunnel without light
Led me to the other side where the sky is blue.

5.4) What is the bus speed of the iMac G5 1.8 GHz and what is the relation between the bus speed of iMac G5 models and the CPU clock speed? How does this differ, if it does, from the original PowerMac G5 1.8 GHz [5 pts.]? Note: No offense, Chris (Olson), but you aren't eligable for this question… it just wouldn't be fair! If you want to play this round, give me the fastest supported bus speed of the present, fastest AMD 64 processor instead.

5.5) Useless trivia: What was the cpu model and clock speed of my first IBM-compatible computer (this has been mentioned at one point here on asisaid)? What did I have before having an IBM-compatible? [10 pts.]

A Little Help

I realize question 4.1 is really using an obscure passage. Here is something that should help a bit more:

I fear, I shall begin to grow in love With my dear self, and my most prosperous parts,
They do so spring and burgeon; I can feel
A whimsy in my blood: I know not how,
Success hath made me wanton.

Also Flip is correct about 4.5, it should be “Seek truth knowing that there can be no conflict between God and truth,” not behind “God and truth.”

Building off question 4.1 and the above hint, I present question 4.6:

• If someone is speaking one or both quotes, who is that person or persons? [15 pts.]

asisaid Challenge #4: More Questions

1.) Where does the following quote come from (20 pts.):

Now, luck yet send us, and a little wit Will serve to make our play hit;
(According to the palates of the season)
Here is rhime, not empty of reason.

2.) What are the original names of the units that form C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity and what form did they take (5 pts.)?

3.) In honor of the IBM PC division sale, name the company that was hired to develop the software for the first IBM PC. Name the software this latter company purchased the rights to as part of the IBM PC Project (10 pts.).

4.) Who wrote “How many deaths did I die before I was awakened to new life again” (10 pts.)?

5.) BIG BONUS ROUND: I don't know the answer to this one, but I want to. Who was the author of the quote “Seek truth knowing there can be no conflict behind God and truth.” My friend who gave it to me recalls originally reading it in a 1960's magazine aimed at soon to be college freshmen, such as he was at the time (200 pts. [no typo there]). You may use Google and other search engines on this question and this question only.

Don't forget, Borges work from round one has yet to be named. I'll offer double points to the person who names it.

Also, don't forget, no web search engines may be used in searching for the quotes in these questions, but you may use any web resource other than that.

Summary of Past Answers, Current Point Board, New Questions

Here's the status of previous questions:

1.1.) It was armor for the Humvees (military Hummers). [solved]

1.2.) Yes, Jason and Flip are correct that it is Borges. The complete answer for this one is still pending.

2.) Thomas Jefferson was a deist and the organization I had in mind was the Unitarian Universalists Association (UUA). [solved]

3.1.) As Kevin noted, this flew right over asisaid readers, but the answer that Kevin correctly named is none other than our new theist friend, Antony Flew. See my post from December 9 to see why this relates to this blog. [solved]

3.2.) UNIX was properly linked to Multics by Ed. Flip correctly added the words behind the Multics acronym: Multiplexed Information and Computing System. What's left is the pun that is the name UNIX. It began as UNICS (Uniplexed ICS), but the bad jokes that came from what the word sounds like (think castrated Multics) were alleviated by changing the name to UNIX which does not stand for anything. [solved]

3.3.) Kevin got this one too, the answer being the song Whisper by Evanesence (Amy Lee and Ben Moody). I don't recall blogging about this group, but regardless, Kevin got it. I was hoping the Latin would make it confusing (call me mean). [solved]

This leaves only question #1.2 remaining. Aren't there any Borges fans on here? Try to take different routes and maybe you will arrive at the answer.

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Kevin pulls in the lead by taking on my two “difficult” questions from set three. Jason makes a fast rise toward the top. And the two EDifying readers Ed and Eduardo are tied at 10. For the first time in the history of this blog, Christopher has fallen behind someone in points. What in tarnation is going on here?!?!? Mr. W needs to get to work.

Kevin: 40 [30 from 3.3, 10 from 3.1.]
Christopher: 20
Flip: 20
Jason: 15
Eduardo: 10
Ed: 10

(If you see an error in this scoring, let me know.)

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As long as everyone seems to be enjoying this, I'll post a few more questions. If this gets old faster than I run out of challenges, someone hit me on the head and tell me.

1.) What country recognized 5 minority languages on 1 April 2000? [10 pts.]

2.) What important event in Catholic (and, technically, Protestant) history occurred on 13 December? [10 pts] What international events happened on the same day in 1996 and 2003? [5 pts ea.]

3.) What famous Librarian of Congress was a member of Skull and Bones? (Name the activity that this person was best known for as well.) [20 pts.]

4.) What did dioxin have to do with politics this week? [5 pts.]

5.) What is the proper name of the color of the first iMac? [5 pts.]

More Challenge will appear on Tuesday.

asisaid challenge: Question Set #3

1.) Here is a tough one, but one that fits into the puzzle of this blog… somehow. Who wrote it? [15 pts]

Suppose then that we are in doubt as to what someone who gives vent to an utterance is asserting, or suppose that, more radically, we are sceptical as to whether he is really asserting anything at all, one way of trying to understand (or perhaps to expose) his utterance is to attempt to find what he would regard as counting against, or as being incompatible with, its truth. For if the utterance is indeed an assertion, it will necessarily be equivalent to a denial of the negation of the assertion. And anything which would count against the assertion, or which would induce the speaker to withdraw it and to admit that it had been mistaken, must be part of (or the whole of) the meaning of the negation of that assertion. And to know the meaning of the negation of an assertion, is as near as makes no matter, to know the meaning of that assertion. And if there is nothing which a putative assertion denies then there is nothing which it asserts either: and so it is not really an assertion. When the Sceptic in the parable asked the Believer, “Just how does what you call an invisible, intangible, eternally elusive gardener differ from an imaginary gardener or even from no gardener at all?” he was suggesting that the Believer's earlier statement had been so eroded by qualification that it was no longer an assertion at all.

DISCLAIMER: I do not agree with the above statement, at least in its original context and the point it tries to make.

2.) How was the term UNIX originally spelled and what did it serve as an acronym for? [5 pts.]

3.) Where did this quote come from (Hint: it is only a few years old)? The final quote had more than one person involved in “preparing it” for public consumption — if you can name more than one, you'll get 5 extra points, if you can name all three of the best answers, I'll give you 10 extra points. [20 pts.]

Speaking to the atmosphere No one's here and I fall into myself
[…]
Servatis a pereculum.
Servatis a maleficum

Remember, no web search engines (other than for searching only this site, using site:asisaid.com in the query), but you can use other web resources, if you wish to really seek out this answer (as Jason is trying to do with Question #1.2).

Hint Added; New Question

For those of you who were wondering about question #2, I have a hint for you. I posted it in the comments.

And now a new question: What was the theological system that Thomas Jefferson adhered to and what is its most closely related organization today? [10 pts.]

No Googling again. And Flip, I promise to think of some less Ameri-centric ones.

asisaid challenge: Question Set #1

See the last post to understand the “asisaid challenge.” Here's two questions; the first is worth 5 points, the second is worth 10.

1.) What type of armor was Sec. Rumsfeld questioned about today. Specifically, it was asked by Spc. Thomas Wilson. [5 pt.]

2.) Where does this quote originate from (hint: it is fiction) — author and work?

On page 22 of Liddell Hart's History of World War I you will read that an attack against the Serre-Montauban line by thirteen British divisions (supported by 1,400 artillery pieces), planned for the 24th of July, 1916, had to be postponed until the morning of the 29th. The torrential rains, Captain Liddell Hart comments, caused this delay, an insignificant one, to be sure.

Remember, no Googling!