The Questions Concerning Technology
- The Toad to Wigan Pier
- Tidus
- Posts: 528
- Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2005 6:58 pm
- Location: Seattle
The Questions Concerning Technology
In an effort to make myself finally finish this, I am today announcing The Questions Concerning Technology. This is an all tossup side event about technology. This will not just be on modern gadgets and shit, but on the technology in general. The distributional per packet I am using is:
2 Consumer Technology
1 Trash
2 Historical Technology
1 Failed/Defunct Products
1 Computer Technology
1 Industrial
1 Transportation
1 Military
1 "Science"
4 Hard Computer Science
1 Food/Agricultural/Medical
4 Miscellaneous (this includes technologies that don't fit elsewhere, commentary/criticism of technology, people noted for using technology, etc)
The distribution is more of a guideline I am using as opposed to a rule I am following, so there will be variation. As for difficulty, while there will be questions as easy as "keyboard" or "airplane", a lot of these questions will be very difficult. This tournament will have a lot of my take on Cheynesian style whimsy in the answer lines, clues(lots of ancedotes, some even personal!), and even language. There will be at least 10 packets and I am targeting finishing by Chicago Open(whenever that is).
Locations:
Waterloo?
2 Consumer Technology
1 Trash
2 Historical Technology
1 Failed/Defunct Products
1 Computer Technology
1 Industrial
1 Transportation
1 Military
1 "Science"
4 Hard Computer Science
1 Food/Agricultural/Medical
4 Miscellaneous (this includes technologies that don't fit elsewhere, commentary/criticism of technology, people noted for using technology, etc)
The distribution is more of a guideline I am using as opposed to a rule I am following, so there will be variation. As for difficulty, while there will be questions as easy as "keyboard" or "airplane", a lot of these questions will be very difficult. This tournament will have a lot of my take on Cheynesian style whimsy in the answer lines, clues(lots of ancedotes, some even personal!), and even language. There will be at least 10 packets and I am targeting finishing by Chicago Open(whenever that is).
Locations:
Waterloo?
William Butler
UVA '11
Georgia Tech 13
UVA '11
Georgia Tech 13
Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
YESThe Toad to Wigan Pier wrote:4 Hard Computer Science
Matt Hayes
Unaffiliated
Unaffiliated
- Mike Bentley
- Sin
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Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
It goes without saying that I am interested in playing in this tournament.
Mike Bentley
Treasurer, Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence
Adviser, Quizbowl Team at University of Washington
University of Maryland, Class of 2008
Treasurer, Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence
Adviser, Quizbowl Team at University of Washington
University of Maryland, Class of 2008
- Fond du lac operon
- Wakka
- Posts: 228
- Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2012 8:02 pm
Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
What exactly does "hard computer science" entail? Presumably tossups on Half-Life don't count, and presumably stuff like flip-flops do, but what about a tossup on, like, C++? Or PSPACE? Or Turing machines? Or von Neumann architecture?The Toad to Wigan Pier wrote: 4 Hard Computer Science
(I'm definitely interested, especially if this ever gets mirrored somewhere closer to me than Chicago.)
Harrison Brown
Centennial '08, Alabama '13
"No idea what [he's] talking about."
Centennial '08, Alabama '13
"No idea what [he's] talking about."
- The Toad to Wigan Pier
- Tidus
- Posts: 528
- Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2005 6:58 pm
- Location: Seattle
Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
Flip-Flops would fall under Computer Technology or Miscellaneous Technology. C++, PSPACE, Turing Machines, von Neumann arch are all things that would fall under my view of "Computer Science", but only PSPACE would I consider to be "hard".What is it like to be a Batman? wrote:What exactly does "hard computer science" entail? Presumably tossups on Half-Life don't count, and presumably stuff like flip-flops do, but what about a tossup on, like, C++? Or PSPACE? Or Turing machines? Or von Neumann architecture?The Toad to Wigan Pier wrote: 4 Hard Computer Science
(I'm definitely interested, especially if this ever gets mirrored somewhere closer to me than Chicago.)
William Butler
UVA '11
Georgia Tech 13
UVA '11
Georgia Tech 13
- Fond du lac operon
- Wakka
- Posts: 228
- Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2012 8:02 pm
Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
Ah, so hard as in "hard tournament," rather than "hardware" or "hard science fiction."
My interest is climbing even further in that case.
My interest is climbing even further in that case.
Harrison Brown
Centennial '08, Alabama '13
"No idea what [he's] talking about."
Centennial '08, Alabama '13
"No idea what [he's] talking about."
- Sima Guang Hater
- Auron
- Posts: 1958
- Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 1:43 pm
- Location: Nashville, TN
Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
I would enjoy having someone carry me through this tournament.
Eric Mukherjee, MD PhD
Brown 2009, Penn Med 2018
Instructor/Attending Physician/Postdoctoral Fellow, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Coach, University School of Nashville
“The next generation will always surpass the previous one. It’s one of the never-ending cycles in life.”
Support the Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Foundation
Brown 2009, Penn Med 2018
Instructor/Attending Physician/Postdoctoral Fellow, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Coach, University School of Nashville
“The next generation will always surpass the previous one. It’s one of the never-ending cycles in life.”
Support the Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Foundation
Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
I'd like to play this.
Charles Hang
Francis Howell Central '09
St. Charles Community College '14
Washington University in St. Louis '19, 2x (President, 2017-19)
Owner, Olympia Academic Competition Questions, LLC
Question Writer, National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC and National History Bee and Bowl
Francis Howell Central '09
St. Charles Community College '14
Washington University in St. Louis '19, 2x (President, 2017-19)
Owner, Olympia Academic Competition Questions, LLC
Question Writer, National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC and National History Bee and Bowl
- Quantum Mushroom Billiard Hat
- Rikku
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:16 pm
- Location: Midland, MI
Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
This sounds fun.
Michael Hausinger
Coach, Bay City Western High School
formerly of University of Michigan and East Lansing High School
Coach, Bay City Western High School
formerly of University of Michigan and East Lansing High School
- SnookerUSF
- Rikku
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Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
Yes...please.
Ahmad Ragab, itinerant moderator at the New School for Social Research
ACF Nationals 2011:"Too real for the streets"
-Auroni Gupta
"Can 40,000 redacted topic Tossups be wrong?"
"With my gnomes I'm highlighting the danger of political opportunism and right-wing ideology. I get the feeling that this gnome has reopened an old wound."
-Ottomar Hoerl
ACF Nationals 2011:"Too real for the streets"
-Auroni Gupta
"Can 40,000 redacted topic Tossups be wrong?"
"With my gnomes I'm highlighting the danger of political opportunism and right-wing ideology. I get the feeling that this gnome has reopened an old wound."
-Ottomar Hoerl
Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
I'd be in, if this is mirrored near us.
Matthew Hill
U Buffalo '14
Secretary, Past Treasurer and Founding Member, U Buffalo Academic Bowl 2010-2014
Captain, Pembroke, NY HS Quiz Team 2008-2010
U Buffalo '14
Secretary, Past Treasurer and Founding Member, U Buffalo Academic Bowl 2010-2014
Captain, Pembroke, NY HS Quiz Team 2008-2010
Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
This happened and was fun.
We ran a modified singles format in which the field split into two rooms of eight (top) and nine (bottom) after a 40-question seeding round. After each 40 questions, the top four players in the top room stayed, and the top four players in the bottom room were promoted, with the bottom four in the top room being relegated. The final standings reflect the total aggregate scores in the top room over 160 questions.
The final ranking was:
1. Jerry Vinokurov: 3-21 (255)
2. Andrew Hart: 1-20 (215)
3. Ike Jose: 4-8 (140)
4. Rob Carson: 1-12 (135)
5. Ashvin Srivatsa: 1-9 (105)
6. Trevor Davis: 2-6 (90)
7. Sam Bailey: 1-3 (45)
8. Bernadette Spencer: 0-4 (40)
9. Bryan Berend: 0-3 (30)
10. Matt Hayes: 0-2 (20)
10. Steve Oppenheim: 0-2 (20)
12. Alex Gerten: 0-1 (10)
12. Drew Scheeler: 0-1 (10)
12. Sinan Ulusoy: 0-1 (10)
Thanks to Ryan Westbrook and Mike Cheyne for reading and to Will for an exciting tournament.
We ran a modified singles format in which the field split into two rooms of eight (top) and nine (bottom) after a 40-question seeding round. After each 40 questions, the top four players in the top room stayed, and the top four players in the bottom room were promoted, with the bottom four in the top room being relegated. The final standings reflect the total aggregate scores in the top room over 160 questions.
The final ranking was:
1. Jerry Vinokurov: 3-21 (255)
2. Andrew Hart: 1-20 (215)
3. Ike Jose: 4-8 (140)
4. Rob Carson: 1-12 (135)
5. Ashvin Srivatsa: 1-9 (105)
6. Trevor Davis: 2-6 (90)
7. Sam Bailey: 1-3 (45)
8. Bernadette Spencer: 0-4 (40)
9. Bryan Berend: 0-3 (30)
10. Matt Hayes: 0-2 (20)
10. Steve Oppenheim: 0-2 (20)
12. Alex Gerten: 0-1 (10)
12. Drew Scheeler: 0-1 (10)
12. Sinan Ulusoy: 0-1 (10)
Thanks to Ryan Westbrook and Mike Cheyne for reading and to Will for an exciting tournament.
Andrew Hart
Minnesota alum
Minnesota alum
Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
These questions seemed like much fun although I would say for the benefit of the poor readers, the questions at times seemed excessively long--obviously side events should get a little leeway, but massive questions which arguably only one or two people in any given field will get did not always seem like the best idea. That said, there were all kinds of exciting clues and I had fun reading it.
Round five's tiebreaker has an erroneous clue that can be pretty easily corrected if one looks at the question before reading it.
Round five's tiebreaker has an erroneous clue that can be pretty easily corrected if one looks at the question before reading it.
Mike Cheyne
Formerly U of Minnesota
"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
Formerly U of Minnesota
"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
- The Toad to Wigan Pier
- Tidus
- Posts: 528
- Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2005 6:58 pm
- Location: Seattle
Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
Oops, I see what you mean about that tiebreaker, that's kind of embarrassing. I think I had another question on my mind when I wrote that tiebreaker. Yeah, I admit these questions are way too long. Sorry, about both of those things.Cheynem wrote:These questions seemed like much fun although I would say for the benefit of the poor readers, the questions at times seemed excessively long--obviously side events should get a little leeway, but massive questions which arguably only one or two people in any given field will get did not always seem like the best idea. That said, there were all kinds of exciting clues and I had fun reading it.
Round five's tiebreaker has an erroneous clue that can be pretty easily corrected if one looks at the question before reading it.
William Butler
UVA '11
Georgia Tech 13
UVA '11
Georgia Tech 13
- Excelsior (smack)
- Rikku
- Posts: 386
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- Location: Madison, WI
Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
This was quite possibly the most enjoyable quizbowl-related thing I've played all year. Many thanks to Will for writing this set.
Ashvin Srivatsa
Corporate drone '?? | Yale University '14 | Sycamore High School (OH) '10
Corporate drone '?? | Yale University '14 | Sycamore High School (OH) '10
- grapesmoker
- Sin
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Re: The Questions Concerning Technology
It seems remiss of me to not say that this was easily the most entertaining side event I've ever played.
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance