Brain of BITS 2006 Finals

BOB 2006 Jayendran Srinivasan


RULES

• The quiz is divided into 3 phases – An Infinite Bounce Phase, A Theme Connect Phase and a Closed Loop Theme Connect.

• Rules for the phases will be given when the phases are encountered.


RULES

• Every correct answer, regardless of whether itis to a direct question or to a question that has passed, fetches you

10 points.

• There is no negative marking in the Infinite Bounce Phase.

• As far as the extent of correctness of answers is concerned, the quizmaster’s decision is final.


“Still, I dare to submit my imperfect work for my readers to judge. Perhaps some of you will find my bursts of word-fire too long, others may regard them too brief and broken. What matters is if my words hit the target.” Whose autobiography begins this way?


This name was given by a father to his son to honour a comrade who went missing during the Vietnam War, the hope being the friend would surface when the son became famous. The son calls himself ethnically Cablinasian – a portmanteau he made up himself. A regular on the Mike Douglas Show when he was a kid, he has appeared in a commercial that states: “…Hello, World. I’ve heard that I’m not ready for you. Are you ready for me?” What is the name of the son?


A French Professor of Pathology and Anatomy reinvented a machine, which the Persians had used for ages. The inventor said that the machine was faster than the tool that was then used for the same purpose. A person named Nicolas-Jacques Pelletier was chosen for testing out the tool for the first time. The invention was officially accepted by the authorities in 1792 and was later named after the inventor. Which invention?


This phrase was first coined by H G Wells in his sci-fi novel “The Food of the Gods” published back in 1904. It was extensively employed by Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister, during The Second World War. The phrase was however popularized in a speech at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri in 1946. What phrase ?


What was set up giving the following as the explanation: “I have seen thousands of boys and young men – hunched up, miserable specimens, smoking endless cigarettes, many of them betting…”?


Connect:


What is being partially described here: “…it is 9 feet 4 inches at its widest point, 15 feet long, and approximately 5 feet high. It runs on regular unleaded fuel and weighs 2.5 tons. It is equipped with a 5.7 liter, 350 cubic inch, 340 horsepower engine with approximately 400 pounds of torque. It has no front axle, hereby enabling it to make extremely tight turns…”?


Which popular drink owes its origin to a Franciscan monk Marco d’Aviano, who invented it after the Ottoman retreat in the Battle of Vienna circa 1683?


Connect:


Which immensely popular product was born out of a hasty dinner its designer had with friends, drawing inspiration from a pizza with one slice missing?


What informal military practice owes its origin to Aubrey Eberhardt, a US Army Private, who in an attempt to win a bet and calm his nerves, did this, inspired in part by a movie he had watched a day earlier?


Audience Question: Hyderabad, Jaipur Mysore, Patiala, Bikaner, ,

and . Complete and connect the list.


CLOSED LOOP CONNECT PHASEThe next six slides will consist of the closed loop connect phase. Six questions will appear on the screen one after the other. The answers are all linked to a theme. The participants are required to write the answers to the questions on a paper provided to them. The marking system for each individual question follows the Relative Grading System:

1 person answers correctly: 10 points

2 persons answer correctly: 8 points each




All on stage answer correctly: 0 points each

At any point, any participant may go for the theme connect. The marking for this is as:

After first 2 questions - Right :+40 Wrong: -30

After next 2 questions – Right: +20 Wrong: -10

After next 2 questions – Right: +10 Wrong: -5


A major character in a very influential novel in its genre (the themes of the novel were inspired by the author’s own recurring childhod experiences of extensive immobility and later miraculous convalescence), she was painted as the ideal Victorian woman. In the novel, her best friend is called Lucy Westenra who is portrayed as a perfect foil to her. An unfortunate accident(?) happens to her when she travels as a newlywed to a province near Hungary called Erdely by the Magyars. This accident sets off the whole novel. Who is this lady?


The subject of a novel about narcissism and megalomania, this extremely handsome young man was the model for a work of art. He shares his first name with the comic character The Mask’s traditional nemesis. Who?


Protagonist of an 1897 long short-story, this character has been adapted to fit very many contexts. The character himself was based on a real-life English-born American homeopathic doctor by the name H H Crippen, who murdered his wife. The crime and his subsequent transatlantic arrest added notoriety to an already-shady man. The 1897 story begins with a bandaged man renting a room in Iping. He was the subject of the compositions of rock bands Queen and Helloween as also the loose basis of a 2000 movie starring Kevin Bacon. Who?


The creation of this character is greatly influenced by Romans 7:20 – “Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” The character is the subject of an immensely popular work, of which numerous stage adaptations have been made, the most famous of them with Richard Mansfield in the lead role. A dual-exposure photograph of Mansfield in this role also has gained world renown. Which character?


The subject of an extensive series by a widely-travelled Victorian novelist, this character was quite progressive in his outlook in those time as far as native rights were concerned. A product of Eton College, his companions in his most memorable adventures were known by the names Incubu and Bougawan. Similarities have been drawn between him and James Fenimore Cooper’s Hawkeye. Who am I talking about?


Created first as a Polish noble vengeful of the Russian repression, the author had to change this character’s origins for fear of offending Russia, a powerful ally of his country at that time. The new character was purported to be a nephew of Tipu Sultan who makes his money from salvaging gold from sunk Spanish galleons in the Bay of Vigo. Who is this very famous hero?


INFINITE BOUNCE PHASE


Connect:


Which Hollywood star of the 1990s died of pneumonia at the age of 27 in 2003 at the Taknes Fjord, near the Norwegian town of Halsa?


In 1851, an immigrant opened an office in London to transmit stock market quotations between London and Paris via the new Calais-Dover cable. Two years earlier he had started to use pigeons to fly stock prices between Aachen and Brussels, this service was used by the Rothschilds to “predict” Napoleons defeat at Waterloo and make a killing on the London stock market. The company the immigrant founded counted among its employees in the 1930s, a future manager of Kemsley. Name the company.


Connect:


Named after a duke who was a member of the royal family of England, this place was designed by Robert Tor Russell in association with W H Nicholls. The architects felt the horseshoe shape of their project would prove lucky to the people who would later manage their businesses there. What very recognized landmark is this?


A Monty Python skit about the recurrence of a certain item in a restaurant menu gave rise to the popularity of using which word in the world of the internet, the word originally being a brand marketed by the Hormel Company?


King Philip of Macedonia, Alexander the Great’s father, before he was to enter the Spartan capital, sent a message to his opponents: “If I enter your city, I will raze it to the ground.” Within minutes, he received a reply: “If.”

Which word, meaning speaking very little or using very few words in communication, gets its name from the Spartan capital in honour of this incident?


What connects Sands, Riviera, Flamingo, Desert Inn and Sahara?


Connect:


Connect.

1. Except in amorphous solids, such molecular disarray could presumably be ascribed to thermal agitation, and the experimental results appeared to support this view. The fact that molecules are optically anisotropic and can orientate freely in liquids was found to give rise to an additional type of scattering. This could be distinguished from the scattering due to fluctuations in density by reason of its being practically unpolarized, whereas the latter was completely polarized in the transverse direction...


2. May the Lord forgive our sins And gather all the nationsHere under this Uniting Roof.

To give up hate and fearAnd learn to understandHere under this Uniting Roof.

They took the risks of warand dying, wished us takethe better risks of peaceHere under this Uniting Roof.


3.


Often called called a “kangaroo”, known properly as a “Bradford”, one of two things (to achieve the same purpose and immortalized in filmdom) can be done to this. What is the object in question?


The indication of a recorded vote (as opposed to a voice vote) in British parliament is denoted by which specific action, the geographical reach of which is defined as the Westminster Bubble? (The name of the specific action has been made very famous in the world of music)


Audience Question: Used in WW II by the RAF and the USAF and alternatively known as cookies, these bombs had a thin outer casing that meant much of the bomb weight could be present as explosive as opposed to other bombs at that time where explosives made up only half the weight. Later the term became very ubiquitous in another industry and is still in use today. What was the name of the bomb and hence the word that originated from it?


CONNECT PHASE

• The connect phase passes like the infinite bounce phase. Every right answer gets 10 points and no negatives.

• The marking for getting the theme is the same as the closed loop connect phase, i.e.,

After first 2 questions - Right :+40 Wrong: -30After next 2 questions – Right: +20 Wrong: -10After next 2 questions – Right: +10 Wrong: -5


Derived from the Sanskrit word mahamatra, meaning ‘one with great measure’, there are three kinds of people in this profession: Reghawan, Yukthiman and Balwan. The most common tool used by these people is an anlius, an object that is often present in the hands of various Hindu gods. Name the profession in question.


Widely used as an ornamental feature in medieval castles, they consist of two parts – an opening called an embrasure and a raised wall portion called a merlon. Also called castels (no typo here), they were probably used as a line of defence for archers. What am I talking about?


This word, an often-used cliché for valuable contribution and service, originates from the Anglo-Saxon term Geongra Mannus meaning younger-district-man. The word describes a farmer of middling social status. The word’s origin is sometimes wrongly attributed to a certain type of wood. Which word?


A Jewish political movement in the 1st century AD that sought to incite the people of the Iudea province to rebel against the Roman Empire, this word means one who is jealous on behalf of God. The New Testament attests that there were two of this movement among the apostles – Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot. What were the members of the mentioned movement called?


A device that is principally based on a famous expression called the Tsiolkovski equation, it has been the subject of a movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Scientists in the field of study of these devices were the particular objective of Operation Paperclip during World War II. What device is this?


Known indigenously as Mnya, this term represents the energy contained in the trinity of Chiminigagua, which constitutes the creative power of everything that exists, according to the Muisca Indians. References to this, albeit in a slightly different form, can be found in Milton’s Paradise Lost and the works of Edgar Allan Poe. What is Mnya better known as?


When an American counterpart of his asked who the best in his business was in India, he replied, “I am.” When asked, who the second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-best were, he replied, “I am.” A recipient of the Padma Bhushan, the Padma Vibhushan and Ramon Magsaysay awards, his work is ubiquitous and has even appeared in Hindi movies like Mr. and Mrs. 55. His timeless creation stands in the Symbiosis Institute in Pune. Who?


Connect.


This company was founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi, whose family business previously made tabi, a form of traditional footwear. He derived the company’s name by reversing his own surname, Ishibashi. The company Ishibashi founded can be seen in confluence often with names like AMD. What was the name of the company he founded?


What connects footballers Franz Beckenbauer and Daniel Passarella and the motorcycle company Yamaha?


Connect the two images with respect to television:


The origin of this word is contested: independent sources say it comes from Valencia, the Ebro-delta, the Guarani and Mapudungun languages of South America. Interestingly, the Spanish football club Valencia is known by this moniker. It has served as the start of innumerable tango songs. Which word?


He took French as his first language from his French mother Suzanne Briere. He also enlisted in a French regiment called Le Saphis. In a certain contest, his stalling and helping out a contender named Aspy Engineer led to Engineer winning. The mentioned incident took place in Aboukir Bay in Egypt in the year 1930. He was part of a select group that included David Rockefeller, Giovanni Agnelli and Henry Kissinger, among others. Who am I talking about?


Connect.


How do we, in geography, better know the Intertropical Convergence Zones, areas in the Atlantic and the Pacific, named so because of the low spirits they caused sailors when there were days of no wind and only a hot, muggy climate?


The theft and the capture of the statue of Pallas eventually paved the way for the conquest of which reputedly invincible city?


Fill in the blanks and connect.


“The time has come,” the said, “To talk of many things:

Of shoes- and ships- and sealing wax- Of —And why the sea is boiling hot-

And whether .”


Originally developed by a famous chemist, this chemical comprises of prussic acid impregnated into a solid substrate, usually diatomaceous earth. It is today in production only in the Czech Republic under the name Uragan D2. Which chemical is being discussed here?


Well-known for a characteristic “Hayulp! Hayulp!” distress cry in an affected American South accent, who drove a car called the Compact Pussycat ?


Two types of what are being discussed here?

i) Useful software that has been corrupted by a cracker inserting malicious code that executes while the program is used. like various implementations of weather alerting programs and peer to peer file sharing utilities.

ii)A standalone program that masquerades as something else, like a game or image file, in order to trick the user into some misdirected complicity that is needed to carry out the program's objectives.


A useful tail-end batsman and right-arm medium bowler, this cricketer plays regularly for his home team, the Gestetner Eagles. His first ODI versus Pakistan in 1998. He was dropped from the national team in 2002 but returned after a three-year hiatus for their recent tour of Australia. One of the few coloured players on the team, he is yet to make his Test debut. Which cricketer?


Who was the writer of a very well-known piece of literature that commemorated the first of two attempts by to break the Siege of Sevastopol; a battle from which two pieces of clothing borrow their names?


Born with the middle names Augustine Aloysius, he rejected Catholicism at 16 but remained greatly influenced by the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. He divided his time between his native hometown in the UK, Trieste, Italy and Zurich, Switzerland where he died on January 13, 1941. A relatively humdrum event in his life of a first date on June 16, 1904 would later be celebrated annually in his honour. Who is this remarkable personality?


Originally introduced in the Chhandashastra by the ancient Indian scientist Pingala in 500 BC, this concept was revisited by academicians Gopala and Hemachandra in 1150 on problems related to binary packing. Circa 1200, Leonardo of Pisa was the first in Europe to discuss it in connection with apian and rabbit reproduction. It appeared significantly in the Steven Spielberg miniseries Taken. What concept am I talking about?


Connect.


A merchant, Don FacundoMasso, sailed from Catalunya to Cuba in the early 19th century. What Don Masso produced was not something used by “polite society” at that time. He set up an enterprise where the major inventory was a copper- and cast iron- alembic. Here he discovered something that he associated with what he set up. What he discovered has become the universally recognizable symbol of his company as we know it today. Name the discovery, and thereby, the company.


Which organization was started on July 5, 1865 to combat the threat to the US economy caused by counterfeit money?


Connect.


What does the text below (translated from Italian) begin to describe?

“…a palm is the width of four fingers A foot is the width of four palms A cubit is the width of six palms A man’s height is four cubits (and thus 24 palms) A pace is four cubits…”


Connect the two excerpts:

1.…if the inherent nature of did not primordially exist but does now exist, then it would not be free from taints nor would it be eternally present in nature. Because of the obscuring darkness of the mental afflictions, beings do not see it. The Tathagatha, endowed with omniscient awareness, lights the lamp of insight with his skill-in-means and causes the enlightened souls to perceive the Eternal, Bliss, the Self, and the Pure of .


2. To Boddah

Speaking from the tongue of an experienced simpleton who obviously would rather be an emasculated, infantile complainee. This note should be pretty easy to understand…

3.


Connect.


1. Known for inventing a rabdologous product that was the precursor of the slide rule, this British scholar was something of a 15th-century Archimedes, with numerous sketches of tank prototypes, giant mirrors to incinerate ships and other artillery weapons. His most famous contribution rapidly simplified calculation and was widely prevalent before the advent of the electronic calculator (the concept is still used, though). He has a lunar crater named after him and shares his name with the Government Museum in Trivandrum. Name him.


2. In Roman mythology, who, apart from guarding the gates of Heaven, was also the god of all beginnings?


3. Which band composes and arranges all its music in a studio on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza?


4. Element No. 34, discovered in by Jons Jakob Berzelius, is named after which classical goddess?


Connect.


Originally a company founded by G P Putnam and John Wiley, it counted among its staff in 1884 the former US President, Theodore Roosevelt. In 1936, the chief of this company was Allen Lane, who gave it the name we know it by today. The company’s dealings with the Nabokov book Lolita made it the subject of much controversy in 1958. Which company?


All the pictures shown culminate in what specific connection?


Known as “The Lone Eagle”, a reference to a tragedy in his life is made at the start of Agatha Christie’s Poirot novel Murder on the Orient Express. 3 years back, his most famous feat was repeated by his grandson. A Pulitzer Prize winner, he also instituted an award for breakthroughs in organ research. He was immortalized by a tribute to him on the debut of another famous person. Who?


Connect.


Connect the pictures with a Spanish phrase that means “good view”.


Connect the two pictures.


In the late 1960's,Burroughs, GE, RCA, Honeywell, NCR, Sperry Rand (Univac), Control Data (CDC) were the competitors of the giant IBM. What popular nickname was used to refer to these companies?

Brain of BITS 2006 Finals

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