Words! Words! Words!

On this day in 1975, at a time when most Americans were using typewriters, childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft, a company that makes computer software. Originally based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Microsoft relocated to Washington State in 1979 and eventually grew into a major multinational technology corporation. See how your vocabulary skills compute today.

1. CD-ROM:

1. computer data/read open monitor;
2. compact data/random-only memory;
3. compact disc/read-only memory;
4. computer died – read our minds.

2. BASIC:

1. Binary Assembler Sorting Instruction Computer;
2. Bill’s Assembly Stack Instruction Code;
3. Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code;
4. Binary Assembly String Internet Code.

3. binary:

1. consisting of distinct or unconnected elements;
2. having or marked by two mutually repellent forces or diametrically opposed natures or views;
3. consisting of only one in number;
4. relating to, being, or belonging to a system of numbers having 2 as its base.

4. word:

1. a number of bytes processed as a unit and conveying a quantum of information in communication and computer work;
2. a unit of computer information or data-storage capacity that consists of a group of eight bits and that is used especially to represent an alphanumeric character;
3. a unit of computer information equivalent to the result of a choice between two alternatives;
4. a temporary storage unit.

5. hexadecimal:

1. affected as if by an evil spell;
2. of, relating to, or being a number system with a base of 16;
3. evil or misfortune that comes as if in response to imprecation or as retribution;
4. of, relating to, or being a number system with a base of 6.

6. MS-DOS:

1. Microsoft Disk Operating System;
2. Management System Disk Overwrite Software;
3. Microsoft Data OnSite;
4. Mediocrity Stays – Deliver Or Stagnate.

7. VoIP:

1. Virtual or Independent Processor;
2. Virtual office Internet Protocol;
3. voice over internet protocol;
4. Very old Interactive Program.

8. Boolean:

1. a logical combinatorial system that represents symbolically relationships (as those implied by the logical operators AND, OR, and NOT) between entities (as sets, propositions, or on-off computer circuit elements);
2. the quality, state, or capability of being connective or connected;
3. a tree diagram which is used for making decisions in business or computer programming and in which the branches represent choices with associated risks, costs, results, or probabilities;
4. well versed in computer use and technology.

9. Ethernet:

1. an electronic communications network that connects computer networks and organizational computer facilities around the world;
2. a computer network architecture consisting of various specified local-area network protocols, devices, and connection methods;
3. a computer architecture in which a number of processors are interconnected in a manner suggestive of the connections between neurons in a human brain and which is able to learn by a process of trial and error;
4. something that provides security against misfortune or difficulty.

10. bell curve:

1. the symmetrical bell-shaped curve of a normal distribution;
2. a curve describing the large market of mediocrity, which the makers of Windows have aspired to dominate;
3. a graph of a Gaussian distribution, with a large rounded peak tapering away at each end;
4. all of the above.

Correct answers:

1c; 2c; 3d; 4a; 5b; 6a; 7c; 8a; 9b; 10d

Figure your spot on the upgrade chart: