QFI Ender Bender 2014

Kiran Vijayakumar

1. Identify the title of this work that has appeared on multiple top-10-books-of-2014 lists. Without the cover, the 5-letter title could easily be mistaken for a work on mathematics.

2. In 2000, designers at IDEO created this Ultimate Cubicle in an attempt to address the myriad issues connected with partition-based offices: lack of personal control, absence of privacy, inadequate space and tools, and so on. Based on whose request did they take up this concept?

Scott Adams.

3. In geometry, it is the largest cube that can pass through a hole cut through a unit cube (each side’s length 1). Its side length is approximately 6% larger than that of the unit cube through which it passes. It is named after ____ who has a more fanciful “science toy” (also known as Dutch tears) named after him. According to a story recounted in 1693 by English mathematician John Wallis, ____ wagered that a hole could be cut through a cube, large enough to let another cube of the same size pass through it. Wallis showed that in fact such a hole was possible and ____ won his wager. Who?

Prince Rupert of the Rhine.

4. Covers of 2 soundtrack albums: ____ –Volume Alpha (released on March 4, 2011) and ____ – Volume Beta (released on November 9, 2013). Both contain ambient electronic music produced by German composer Daniel "C418" Rosenfeld. What soundtrack are we talking about?

Minecraft.

5. What’s this a plan of?

The Kaaba.

6. Which company sold these computer workstations from 1990 until 1993? Its design influenced the Power Mac G4 Cube, the cult model debuted by Apple in 2000 (and designed by Jonathan Ive).

NeXT, founded by Steve Jobs after he was forced out of Apple.

7. During the 1911 Salon des Indépendants, the hanging committee ensured that the works of Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, Henri Le Fauconnier, Robert Delaunay, Fernand Léger and Marie Laurencin are shown together in Room 41. The result of the group show was a major scandal and made what everlasting contribution to the world of art?

Popularised the term ‘Cubists’. ‘Cubism’ would follow soon after.

8. The ‘cubit’ is an ancient unit of length. The term is still used in hedge laying, to determine the interval between stakes placed within the hedge. It comes from the Latin cubitum – what does it mean? The methodology frequently used in hedge laying or how a cubit is measured without a tape should give a hint.

Elbow. It is usually the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger.

9. It is a highball made of cola, lime, and dark or light rum. Bacardi says it is the world's second most popular drink. Identify.

Cuba Libre.

10. According to Wikipedia, he “is often depicted as a dwarf, with fair complexion and a big belly. He is described as having three legs, only eight teeth, one eye, and being adorned with jewels. He is sometimes depicted riding a man. The description of deformities like the broken teeth, three legs, three heads and four arms appear only in the later Puranic texts. He holds a mace, a pomegranate or a money bag in his hand. He may also carry a sheaf of jewels or a mongoose with him.” Who?

Kubera.

11. One of the most popular notations for it was developed by David Singmaster and uses the following characters:FBUDLRfbudlrxyz‘ (single quote)2What are we talking about?

Moves of Rubik’s Cube.

12. This product, named Cube, is the latest from which pioneering company?

Polaroid.

13. Oliver Shea Jackson is an American musician, record producer, actor, screenwriter, film producer and director. Under what “cool” nickname do we know him better?

Ice Cube.

14. Jacob Christoph Rad was a Swiss-born Czech entrepreneur and a factory director in Dačice in Moravia. In the 1840s, his wife Juliana Rad complained about frequent finger injuries and asked for a way to make their afternoon ritual more enjoyable. His innovation was to use a press to process something, and he soon presented a box of them to his wife. He patented this specialized press in 1843. What did he thus invent?

Sugar cubes.

15. What are these weird looking pieces used for?

For drinking absinthe.

16. Which iconic design marvel located at the General Motors Plaza in New York would you associate the firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architecture with?

Apple Store.

17. Who? About What? Fill in the blank.“On awakening he appeared to himself to have a distinct recollection of the whole, and taking his pen, ink, and paper, instantly and eagerly wrote down the lines that are here preserved. At this moment he was unfortunately called out by a person on business from ____, and detained by him above an hour, and on his return to his room, found, to his no small surprise and mortification, that though he still retained some vague and dim recollection of the general purport of the vision, yet, with the exception of some eight or ten scattered lines and images, all the rest had passed away like the images on the surface of a stream into which a stone has been cast, but, alas! without the after restoration of the latter!”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Kubla Khan. Porlock.

18. Colour Me ____is a 2005 film directed by Brian W. Cook. The film stars John Malkovich as Alan Conway, a man who had been impersonating ____ since the early 1990s. Who fills the blank?

Kubrick (Stanley Kubrick).

Merry Xmas&

Happy New Year