Quiz: Do you speak Geek with the Simpsons?
In honor of the Simpsons movie hitting megaplexes (and likely BitTorrent clients) worldwide, we've put together yet another technology quiz for the readers of WhatIs.com, aptly entitled "Do you speak Geek in Springfield?" See how much you know about the Simpsons and technology, two endless sources for trivia and entertainment. And don't forget to get Simpsonized over at the official Simpsons movie site, where you too can create and download your very own Simpsons avatar .
Write down your answers and scroll to the end to see how well you did. 1. While Homer has been an astronaut, rock star, television personality, snow plowman and nearly endless other things, he's best known for being in charge of safety at the local power plant. (This one's a freebie.) What sort of power source does he "watch over" between donut breaks and naps?
a. Cold fusion
b. Nuclear fusion
c. Coal power
d. Photovoltaic cells (solar)
e. None of the above 2. The writing staff at the Simpsons hasn't let the whole "Internet" thing go by unnoticed. At one point, Homer started up an _____ called "Compu-Hyper-Global-Mega-Net." What sort of startup company was it? 3. In one classic episode, Homer is transported into an eerie ___ world that resembles the 80s video game, Tron. How did the way that Homer was drawn change? 4. Apu, the friendly and ever-working owner of the Kwik-E-Mart, turns out to have quite an impressive technology background, holding a Ph.D in computer science. His doctoral dissertation was the world's first computer program to play perfect tic-tac-toe. What old-school computing system did Apu use to create his program? 5. In a episode dating all the way back to 1992, Snake, our favorite non-Mafia affiliated crook, steals a VCR. On further inspection, however, he's disgusted with his booty, exclaiming "Oh no, ____!" Why does Snake wish he could slither back to grab another model? 6. What's the name of the Springfield football team? 7. A recent episode features Marge joining Bart in an MMPORG, where her adventures shed some insight into the difficulty of online ______ with your children. What was she doing? 8. After the 13th season, the animators of the Simpsons switched from traditional cel animation to "digital ink and paint," where drawings are _____ into a computer and then colored using various applications. What's the missing link? 9. Stephen Hawking made a thoroughly irreverent cameo in one episode, "They Saved Lisa's Brain," where he flies Lisa to safety in his jet-propelled wheelchair just as an angry mob gets ugly. While many fans doubted it was really Hawking (it was!), no one doubts his contributions to the fields of _______ theory and ______ computing. What is the paralyzed polymath known for, along with an apparently well-honed sense of humor? 10. No discussion of the Simpsons and technology could possibly leave out Professor John Nerdelbaum Frink, Jr., of the "GLAVIN!" and mad, wonderful inventions. Which of the following did Frink NOT invent?
a. A sarcasm machine
b. A monsterometer
c. The de-Loch-enator
d. The Hoaxascope
e. Hamburger earmuffs _________________________________________________________________________ How well did you do? 1. e. None of the above. The local nuclear power plant uses boring old nuclear fission to produce heat, along with copious amount of <a href="http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci775674,00.html">ionizing radiation</a>, measured in <a href="http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci802907,00.html">curies</a>. 2. It was an <a href="http://searchwindevelopment.techtarget.com/definition/ISP">ISP</a>, or <a href="http://searchwindevelopment.techtarget.com/definition/ISP">Internet Service Provider</a>. 3. The world (and Homer) are drawn in <a href="http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci211499,00.html">3-D</a>. In fact, Homer ends up in the real world at the end of the episode in a startlingly odd transposition. 4. The punch card system, invented by <a href="http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci214627,00.html">Herman Hollerith</a>. Sadly, Bart destroyed Apu's program by removing a card, leading Apu to trash the program. 5. Snake says "Oh no, Beta!", a reference to the infamous <a href="http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci1042195,00.html">Betamax</a> version of the VCR, the loser in the 80s "format wars" to <a href="http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci1042197,00.html">VHS</a>. We'll see if Snake says something similar in the millennium about <a href="http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci810790,00.html">Blue-ray</a> or <a href="http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid5_gci1176758,00.html">HD-DVD</a>. 6. The Springfield <a href="http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid183_gci211610,00.html">Atoms</a>, who face off against the Shelbyville Sharks. 7. Marge was <a href="http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci1241429,00.html">gaming</a>, specifically in a massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMPORG) with a medieval theme that looked to the viewer verrry similar to World of Warcraft. 8. The animators use <a href="http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci212942,00.html">scanners</a> to import the images, though it's a safe bet they're a bit more advanced than the flatbeds you might pick up at Microcenter or CompUSA. 9. Hawking's seminal work, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Time-Stephen-Hawking/dp/0553380168">A Brief History of Time</a>, delves into <a href="http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid183_gci332247,00.html">quantum theory</a> and <a href="http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci332254,00.html">quantum computing</a> at a level of clarity, brevity and brilliance seldom matched before or since. 10. e. Hamburger earmuffs. As you might have guessed, that particular invention is attributed to Homer. How did you do? Are you a master of Simpsons and Tech Trivia? Do you have questions you think should be added to the list? Let us know! Are you dying for more tech trivia? Ccheck out our index of quizzes .
If your appetite for Simpsons trivia hasn't been satisfied, try some of the following other great trivia sites:
|
|
|
| Last updated on: Nov 09, 2010 |
|
Sign up for the 
Follow us on 
