Question - 511

Today's question is courtesy Anand. This is a picture taken in 1956. What is being loaded onto the plane?

Answer: This is the very first computer hard disk which had a massive 5 MB storage. Shravan, Raghu, Krithi, Aravind, Jamie, v.chandrashekar, Karthik, neuron.spike, Arvind, iamtheicebox, sumo_ftb, Renuka, Adi, Kaushik, Aaslesh, Akshay, Matti Tapaninen and Nihar got it. Well done.

Question - 510

Where is this located? What does it signify?

Answer: The sculpture is called the Broken Chair and is located opposite the Palais de Nations in Geneva and is a reminder of the tragedy of landmines. Economics Reader, Matti Tapaninen, Ramji, Vetti, sumo_ftb, Krithi, Arvind, anon, tsp, Adi, Anand, Shravan, Aaslesh, Swapnaa, Jamie, Karthik, neuron.spike, Hari, Anshuman, Jaggi, Kaushik and Akshay got it. Well done.

Question - 509

The device shown in the left was invented in the mid 18th century and is used to store static electricity. To increase capacity, multiple devices are often coupled as shown. Benjamin Franklin gave a certain name to this assembly based on its similarity with the group shown on the right. Identify the device and the name.

Answer: The device is the Leyden jar and its arrangement resembled a battery of cannons from which we get the word battery for any charge storage device. Karthik, Akshay, Anand, Krithi, Iam, Hari, Govind Paliath, Rajesh K, Vetti, Arvind, Adi, Jaggi, Jamie and paragbm got it. Well done.

Question - 508

Whats the significance of the score?

Answer: Nadia Comaneci's perfect score was displayed as 1.00 since the scoreboard wasn't equipped to display a 10.0. If I had waited a couple of days, I could have had a nice connect between this and the Isner-Mahut scoreboard. Akshay, Mihir, RV, Jaggi, Hirak, anon, Mekie, v. chandrashekar, Jamie, Rajesh K, Karthik, Arvind, Ramji, escapist, tsp, anon, Mainak, Manix, Vetti, Ramki, nice try, Kaushik, Iam, NJ, Firebringer, Shravan and Anand got it. Well done all.

Question - 507

Today's question is courtesy Manix. What product is this ad for?

Answer: The ad is for Xerox 914 photocopied which recently celebrated its 50th birthday. Mekie, Jamie, Anirudh Patil and Swapnaa got it. Well done.

Question - 506

All that remains of this once (in)famous site is a stone pillar (first visual) to mark its location. The second visual is a model of how this site might have looked like. Which site?

Answer: The Rashomon gate which inspired the short story which inspired Kurosawa's famous film by the same name. Debasish, Jamie and Akshay got it. Well done.

Question - 505

The structure shown in the second visual (the one with the white arch) is in front of a famous landmark and is built to commemorate the event shown in the first visual. Identify and connect.

Answer: The first event is the 1923 finals of the FA cup at the Wembley stadium dubbed the "White horse" final. The bridge in front of the stadium is called the white horse bridge to commemorate this. Ramki, anon, Matti Tapaninen and Shibin azad got it. Well done.

Question - 504

Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about soccer but I had to have a soccer question to mark the occasion. This concept was developed by the man in the first visual and refined further by the men in the second and third visuals. The footballer in the fourth visual is its most famous exponent. What are we talking about?

Answer: The concept is Total football. The men are Jack Reynolds, Rinus Michels and Johan Cryuff. Aravind, Ramji, AJ, White Jack and Black Lagoon, v.chandrashekar, Raghu Kainkaryam, anon, Karthik, Krithi, Ramki, anon, imitator and Matti Tapaninen got it. Well done.

Question - 503

What similar event is about to happen in the two visuals?

Answer: These are two occasions when unix time reached interesting landmarks - 1000000000 and 1234567890 respectively. Kaushik, Jamie and Adi got it. Well done.

Question - 502

Today's question is courtesy Krish. Identify the blanked out portion of the first visual. For bonus points, connect the answer to the second visual.

Answer: Bibendum is the Michelin man. In the French version of Asterix in Switzerland, the man holding the chariot wheel is the logo of the oil company Antar. It was replaced by the Michelin man in the English translation. Obelix says in the next panel, "Call me fat! Did you see HIS spare tyre?". Priceless!!! Karthik, White Jack and Black Lagoon, Anirudh Patil, Semisimplicity, Kamal Rathi, Lt Col Shankar, Jamie, anon, Krithi, Pranav, Hirak, AJ, Manix, Adi, Mainak and Ramki got it. Well done.

Question - 501

Identify the artist.

Question - 500

Matti Tapaninen wants you to identify what this is and who it is named for.

Akshay M. R. wants you to identify what the ad is for.

Vateez didn't really send this as a guest question but I really like the question. Identify this place.

Answers: 1) Vespasian - a street urinal named for the Roman emperor. Anon, Jaggi, Krithi, Kamal Rathi, Rajesh K and Jamie got it.

2) The ad is for Guinness. Akshay, anon, Jaggi, Krithi, Kamal Rathi, Rajesh K and Jamie got it.

3) Kowloon walled city. Jaggi and Kamal Rathi got it. Well done all.

Aside: Yaay!!! Finally got to number 500. Thanks to all who have contributed to the blog. Send in any comments and questions you have.

Question - 349

Connect.

Aside: I found out sometime back that we missed a question and so here it is - Question 349. Also, I was thinking we can have a guest question marathon to commemorate the 500th question. Please (re)send your questions/suggestions/gripes to me in the next couple of days.

Answer: The visuals are Ostrich, twinkie, King Kong and Chewbacca. These are names of bizarre legal defense strategies. The Ostrich defense is another name for the idiot defense and seems to have thrown some of you off. The Chewbacca defense is a South Park invention but the others are from real life. White Jack and Black Lagoon, Raghu Kainkaryam, Rajesh K, Manix, Iam, Arvind and Jamie got it. Brownie (twinkie?) points to Krithi for a valiant if surreal attempt that would have done Bunuel himself proud. Well done.

Question - 499

What is this?

Answer: This is a political cartoon parodying the redrawing of legislative districts in Massachusetts during an election in 1812 to align more favorably with party affiliations. Its resemeblence to a salamander made the cartoonist term it a gerrymander and the name stuck. Kamal Rathi, Ameya, Akshay, anon, Matti Tapaninen, Vetti, Jamie (you must have known the etymology too, right?), anon and Kr!sh got it. Well done.