Greetings intrepid quizzers,
For the next week (or so) we’ll be posting questions sent in by some Boiledbeans toppers (Some of you probably already know about this). Thanks a lot for sending in your questions guys!
Please keep the questions coming to boiledbeans[at]gmail[dot]com !
Who is this man, and what is he talking about?
Cracked by udupendra , priyananda , WikiWaki , rajeshvj and Goyal!
This is James Randi of the JREF talking about the origins of the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge. Randi is a former stage magician and now a professional skeptic, who spends his time debunking claims of the paranormal and/or supernatural. The JREF sponsors a $1M challenge for anyone who can prove their claims under a sensible test environment
udupendra, priyananda, WikiWaki, rajeshvj and Goyal
Identify this “cool” thing
2. 
2 is just a closeup of 1.
Cracked by: udupendra , Goyal , insufferablejake , rajeshvj. “Cool” job, guys!
udupendra, Goyal, insufferablejake and rajeshvj
Ladies and gents,
Lord Devadutta king of the knurds, crown prince of computing and patron saint of all things geeky turns a year older today!
Happy birthday dude! May you be blessed by many more gadgets and toys to tinker with this year!
(Leave your wishes here, folks)
What meme connects the two?
Cracked by Rohan , Goyal , Dibyo , rajeshvj , udupendra and BiGFooT
Rohan, Goyal, Dibyo, rajeshvj, udupendra and BiGFooT
The “Chuck Norris Facts” website become a hugely popular destination for posting totally exaggerated accounts of Norris’s prowess. Along similar lines, someone set up the same sort of site for Bruce Schneier, the famous cryptographer, with facts involving cryptography.
Cracked by: insufferablejake , Dibyo , Prasad , udupendra. Great job guys!
insufferablejake, Dibyo, Prasad and udupendra
(1) and (2) wrote some documents that got leaked to (3) at an inopportune moment, leading to much furore after (3) publicized them.
ID 1, 2, 3 and the docs in question.
Cracked by Rohan , Goyal , insufferablejake , Debasish , madhur , rajeshvj , udupendra and svgreatest.
Rohan, Goyal, insufferablejake, Debasish, madhur, rajeshvj, udupendra and svgreatest
Explain
+ 
= 
Cracked by: joe , udupendra , Goyal , Rohan , rajeshvj , yaksha.
joe, udupendra, Goyal, Rohan, rajeshvj and yaksha
(2) made something that was used in many places to good effect. One of those uses caused a great deal of consternation when it was discovered, and you can see it being discussed in (1).
Identify (1) and tell us why it caused such a hullabaloo (I’ve always wanted to use that word…).
Cracked by Dibyo , Goyal , joe , gammafunction , udupendra , Rohan , VikraM , svgreatest and rajeshvj.
Answer
(1) is one model of the seal of the USA that had a passive listening device inside. The bug was activated by beaming microwaves and picking up reflected responses. The responses would have been modulated by the speech of the people in the room before reflection, and the spymasters could demodulate it to get the speech signal back.
This model was gifted by Russian school kids to the US ambassador ages ago. Look up “The Thing” for more info.
The bug itself was developed by Leon Theremin (2).
Dibyo, Goyal, joe, gammafunction, udupendra, Rohan, VikraM, svgreatest and rajeshvj
This half-Indian American actress appears in many US TV shows. But, her role in 2 is what made her famous on the web. Who she? what is 2?
1 
2. 
Cracked by: insufferablejake , udupendra , jayanth , Goyal , akhi , duriel , Dibyo , Phani , priyananda , rajeshvj , svgreatest , Anu , Rohan
insufferablejake, udupendra, jayanth, Goyal, akhi, duriel, Dibyo, Phani, priyananda, rajeshvj, svgreatest, Anu and Rohan