176 Computer Trivia Questions (Ranked from Easiest to Hardest)

Computers have become an essential part of our daily lives, and the technology behind them is constantly evolving. From the first computers that took up entire rooms, to the smartphones we carry with us everywhere we go, the world of computers is constantly changing. There is a wide range of computer trivia questions that can be asked, whether you're a computer science student or someone who is simply interested in technology.

Here are some examples of computer trivia questions you might come across: Who invented the first computer? What is the most common operating system? What was the name of the first computer virus? What is the name of the first search engine? These questions cover a wide range of computer history, technology and innovations.

In addition to the history of computers, there are also many fun and interesting facts to learn about them. For example, did you know that the first computer was called the Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC)? Or that the most common operating system is Microsoft Windows? These trivia questions will not only test your knowledge, but also give you a glimpse into the many fascinating aspects of computers, the history of their development, the different types of computers and their impact on our daily lives.

176 Computer Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2025)

1. Although the keyboard shortcut for copying information is Ctrl + C, the shortcut for pasting information is not Ctrl + P (that's a shortcut for printing). Instead, the shortcut letter for pasting is closer to the shortcuts for copying and cutting. What letter is used to paste information when clicked synchronously with Ctrl?

Answer: V

2. The “Big Four” in the tech industry are Google (Alphabet), Apple, Meta (Facebook), and Amazon. Which corporation known for computers, software, and Bill Gates, is sometimes added to form the “Big Five” (or GAMAF)?

Answer: Microsoft

3. What “S” Microsoft laptop is a hybrid tablet/computer, first announced in 2012? Its name implies that it is the top layer of your computer needs.

Answer: Microsoft Surface

4. What popular operating system, launched in 1991, also has its own mascot, Tux the penguin?

Answer: Linux

5. Some of the more fun acronyms out there are SCUBA (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus), CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart), and what word that stands for “radio detection and ranging?

Answer: RADAR

6. Which acronym for a computer’s main memory system sounds like a Daft Punk album or a horned mountain animal?

Answer: RAM

7. What computer and printer giant was founded in 1939 in Palo, Alto, CA? It is sometimes better known by the two-letter acronym based on its founders' names.

Answer: Hewlett-Packard

8. The mobile app development company Niantic struck gold in 2016 with what smash-hit smartphone game that captured tens of millions of players within days of its release? The game became a global phenomenon with players largely playing outdoors.

Answer: Pokemon Go

9. When a password is limited strictly to numeric characters, the secret is often referred to as a PIN. What does that acronym stand for?

Answer: Personal Identification Number

10. What term is used for a testing environment in a computer system in which new or untested software or coding can be run securely? In a different context, this term refers to a children’s play area.

Answer: Sandbox

11. Supposedly pronounced as "wizziwig," what is the meaning of the acronym WYSIWYG? The phrase largely means that the printer will print what you see on your monitor.

Answer: What you see is what you get

12. Voice actor Elwood Edwards recorded the famous “You’ve got mail!” announcement (as well as “Welcome,” File’s done,” and others) on a tape deck in his home. You’d know his voice if you had which Internet service provider in the 1990s?

Answer: AOL

13. Although the exact origin is unknown, this piece of technology and calculating tool used beans or stones moved in grooves of sand to perform calculations. Although computers have mostly replaced it, this tool is still in use for teaching arithmetic to children in many parts of the world. What is it?

Answer: Abacus

14. It sounds like a circus performer from Taos and allows you to download PDFs with the greatest of ease. We're talking about what A-word family of software?

Answer: Adobe Acrobat

15. What is an integrated development environment used in computer programming, written in Java with a base workspace and an extensible plug-in system? Initially released in 2001, it gets its name from an obscuring of light caused by a celestial body.

Answer: Eclipse

16. A precursor to Wi-Fi was an Ethernet connection, and a precursor to Ethernet was the ALOHAnet which used a UHF wireless packet network to connect parts of what U.S. state?

Answer: Hawaii

17. What delicious computer term did web browser programmer Lou Montulli coin to refer to information that is sent from the browser to the web server?

Answer: Cookie

18. On the market for four decades, AutoCAD is a specific brand of CAD software. CAD stands for "Computer-Aided" what?

Answer: Design

19. The first Android-powered device from Samsung Mobile also became the first in a long-running product line for the company. What was the name of this device?

Answer: Samsung Galaxy

20. If computers had been around 100 years ago, who would have been most likely to install Scrivener on their laptop? Al Capone, Charles Lindbergh, Coco Chanel, or Ernest Hemingway?

Answer: Ernest Hemingway

21. Since 2013, what technology company focused on payments has owned the popular smartphone cash transfer app Venmo?

Answer: PayPal

22. Typically considered the successor to dial-up internet access in many American homes, what was the "B" term for wide bandwidth data transmission which was able to transport multiple signals and traffic types? This replacement technology allowed for always-on and faster internet.

Answer: Broadband

23. Now appearing prophetic, what device was announced in 2007 with the following slogan? "This is only the beginning."

Answer: iPhone

24. Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi were MIT students that founded a file hosting service in 2007. Fast forward 11 years, and they were taking this company public with an Initial Public Offering. What is the name of this "D" company?

Answer: Dropbox

25. A Rochester, New Yorker developed what open-source operating system written in way more than three lines of code and named for what short poetry form?

Answer: Haiku

26. What “M” computer security company, founded by namesake John in 1987 before being acquired by Intel in 2011, is well known for its anti-virus software that is available to individual consumers?

Answer: McAfee

27. What five-letter palindrome is both the name of a water transportation vessel and a transportation-focused website that went public in 2012? At one point, this company's namesake app was featured on Travel + Leisure's list of "Best Apps and Websites for Travelers."

Answer: Kayak

28. In "Superman Returns," Lois Lane's computer password is the name of what pretty guessable superhero?

Answer: Superman

29. Wi-Fi is a family of wireless network protocols modeled after the IEEE 802 set of LAN protocols. What does the initialism LAN stand for?

Answer: Local Area Network

30. THINK was the company motto for more than 40 years, for the company often referred to as "Big Blue." What is this frequently-acronymed company?

Answer: IBM

31. In 2018, the athletic apparel brand Nike made a somewhat surprising acquisition of Invertex, a computer vision firm based in Tel Aviv in what country?

Answer: Israel

32. What term that can describe part of a house also means a way to access a computer system or encrypted data that bypasses the system's usual security mechanisms?

Answer: Back door

33. What term is used for the most basic level or core of an operating system, responsible for resource allocation, file management, and security? In a different context, this word can also mean the seed and hard husk of a cereal.

Answer: Kernel

34. What is the typical four-letter word that is occasionally referred to as "Whole Home" Wi-Fi which leverages a main router and a series of nodes placed around a home for full coverage? These all share the same SSID and password.

Answer: Mesh Wi-Fi

35. Steve Jobs is famously one of the two men who co-founded Apple in 1976. The other co-founder was also named Steve. What was this other man's surname?

Answer: Wozniak

36. Ordinateur" is the word for "computer," and "logiciel" is the word for "software," in what Romance language?

Answer: French

37. Larry Ellison co-founded a company in 1977 with the rather boring name of Software Development Laboratories (SDL). In 1983, the company introduced what word into its official name? This new word is the name of the company today and also means a person considered to provide wise counsel or prophetic predictions.

Answer: Oracle

38. In what early computer game did pioneers often die of dysentery? The game was later inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame.

Answer: Oregon Trail

39. British-born geophysicist Cecil Green lived in Toronto and San Francisco growing up, and ultimately earned two college degrees from M.I.T. However, when he cofounded a company, the firm included what other state in its name? You might be most familiar with one of their products from algebra class.

Answer: Texas Instruments

40. The 2.0 version of the Android operating system was nicknamed "Eclair" and the 2.3 version was nicknamed "Gingerbread." In between was the five-letter name of a cold dessert that exploded in popularity in the 2000s with self-serve toppings. What dessert is this?

Answer: Froyo

41. What “O” word is the name of a gaming PC made by HP? It is also a word used to describe a moment of prophetic significance, often foreshadowing good or evil.

Answer: HP Omen

42. What’s the term for an extended purchase promise when you buy something big, like an appliance or computer? (Hint: The “lifetime guarantee” refers to the product’s life—not yours!)

Answer: Warranty

43. Which term (“algo-trading” for short) means a computer program is automatically buying and trading crypto?

Answer: Algorithmic Trading

44. Which two-word term describes computer code that is freely available for distribution and modification, based on a philosophy of improvement through sharing and collaboration?

Answer: Open source

45. Released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment and set in the fictional universe of Azeroth, what is the name of the computer game that became the world's most popular "MMORPG" (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) within a few years and continues to be referenced in popular culture with its three-letter abbreviation?

Answer: World of Warcraft

46. What is the somewhat-logical term for the internet prank and meme in which an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up" is "planted" into an unrelated link? The meme's popularity dates back to 2008.

Answer: Rickrolling

47. Doug Engelbart was the inventor of what computer accessory? The first one was made from wood.

Answer: Mouse

48. When the kids online say "lol," they're either laughing or referencing what online battle arena game that's been sponsored by Mastercard since 2018?

Answer: League of Legends

49. Andy Rubin is known as one of the three founders of what massively popular cell phone operating system?

Answer: Android

50. What “A” antivirus software is a freeware solution available across multiple platforms, with an amoeba like orange “A” as a logo? It is also a pirate word meaning “Stop."

Answer: Avast

51. What is the 6-letter term for a group of computers that is networked together and used by hackers to steal information?

Answer: Botnet

52. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the majority owner of what manufacturing company which predominantly sells audio equipment? The company was founded by an associate professor who later in life donated his shares to the school.

Answer: Bose

53. For Cyber Monday in the US in 2019, Google "baked" Pixel 4 phones inside the pizza boxes of what fast food chain as a limited promotion?

Answer: Dominos

54. Mendicant Bias and Offensive Bias are fictional AIs in what "holy" video game franchise that shares its name with a Beyonce´ song?

Answer: Halo

55. What website was co-founded by computer scientist Larry Page in 1998 under the name BackRub?

Answer: Google

56. Osmo makes a toy set for children that allows them to experience what process, a “C” word that is interchangeably used with computer programming? It gets its name from the series of commands that unlocks processes within a computer’s program.

Answer: Coding

57. What color do you get if you mix together the two colors that appear twice in the Google logo?

Answer: Purple

58. Both the tax preparation application TurboTax and the small business accounting program QuickBooks are products owned and sold by what publicly-traded company?

Answer: Intuit

59. More commonly used in a biological sense (particularly in recent times), its name comes from the Latin word for "poisonous". In the world of computers, Anna Kournikova, SCA, Ping-pong, and Gameover ZeuS are all famous examples of what?

Answer: Virus

60. Featuring a logo shaped like a bird, what is the name of the programming language released by Apple in 2014 for use in developing apps for iOS, macOS, watchOS, and more?

Answer: Swift

61. What technology publication was founded by Louis Rossetto and has a title one letter away from a synonym for "sleepy?"

Answer: Wired

62. Paul Allen, an American billionaire who passed away in 2018, was the owner of the Portland Trail Blazers (NBA), Seattle Seahawks (NFL), and a part owner of the Seattle Sounders (MLS). Before entering the world of sports ownership, Allen was best known for co-founding what company?

Answer: Microsoft

63. The tiny town of Green Bank, West Virginia is located within the National Radio QZ because it is home to the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope. This means that there are strict Wi-Fi and cell phone restrictions in the city. What does QZ stand for in this context?

Answer: Quiet Zone

64. The "man without a head" is the emblem of what Guy Fawkes-lovin' hacker group that reemerged in 2020?

Answer: Anonymous

65. In 1994, which computer company launched its first web browser, Navigator?

Answer: Netscape

66. What is the seven-letter branded software standard created by Apple that enables a car radio or touchscreen to be a display and a controller for an iOS device?

Answer: CarPlay

67. What is the two word term for the type of cybersecurity breach in which a user is convinced to disclose secrets due to an exploitation of trust and reliance on cognitive biases? In short, this is a type of attack focused on human gatekeepers of information rather than the computer system itself.

Answer: Social engineering

68. What A-word is given to a software application that automatically downloads or displays marketing banners or pop-ups when a user is online?

Answer: Adware

69. In addition to majoring in computer science, what data engineering team member majored in theater in college?

Answer: Paddy

70. According to a former Facebook employee, the company used to have a master password that could unlock any user's account. This password was a variation on the name of what martial artist and actor, perhaps because he definitely couldn't be considered "too weak"?

Answer: Chuck Norris

71. Love Thru the Computer" is a 2019 song from what American rapper whose stage name includes an Italian fashion design house?

Answer: Gucci Mane

72. What American tech company had a microprocessor facility in Costa Rica that at one time was responsible for 20% of Costa Rican exports and 5% of the country's GDP?

Answer: Intel

73. Thom Yorke is the lead singer and songwriter for what record-breaking British experimental rock band known for the albums "In Rainbows," "Kid A," and "OK Computer?" Taken literally, the group's name describes an unlikely humanoid-technological combination.

Answer: Radiohead

74. What is the tasty name of the series of small single-board computers developed by an eponymous foundation in the UK and often used for the promotion of teaching computer science concepts in schools and developing countries?

Answer: Raspberry Pi

75. While working at Motorola in the 1970s, Martin Cooper invented what is typically considered the first cell phone. Cooper is a graduate of IIT: an Institute of Technology located in what state?

Answer: Illinois

76. Microsoft Disk was one of the original widely used operating systems all the way from the 1980s, but it has been fully unsupported since 2006. What hyphenated nickname is this classic system more commonly known by?

Answer: MS-DOS

77. What is the name of the evil computer in the film "2001: A Space Odyssey," who famously said "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that?"

Answer: Hal

78. From the Greek for "around", what is the term for an auxiliary device like a keyboard or printer that's attached to a computer?

Answer: Peripheral

79. Although the company maintains and distributes many types of open source software, it is most well known for its enterprise Linux and virtualization products. What is this company headquartered in Raleigh and purchased by IBM in 2019? You might also see their name written when visiting a haberdasher.

Answer: Red Hat

80. Ridley Scott directed the dystopian, Orwell-inspired, hammer-tossing commercial for what now-behemoth but then-underdog company during the 1984 Super Bowl?

Answer: Apple

81. Long before she married Bill, which philanthropist and computer scientist (born and raised in Dallas) first “clicked” with an Apple II computer when she was a student at St. Monica Catholic School?

Answer: Melinda Gates

82. What animated 1999 science fiction film blended traditional animation and computer animation in the directorial debut of Brad Bird? The film was based on a 1968 Ted Hughes novel and follows a young boy named Hogarth Hughes during the Cold War as he befriends a giant robot.

Answer: The Iron Giant

83. Introduced in 1985, what line of Commodore personal computers has a name that means "friend" in English?

Answer: Amiga

84. The U.S. National Cyber Security Division opened for the first time in 2003 and is currently housed within what Federal Department? John Kelly, Kirstjen Nielsen, and Kevin McAleenan all served as Secretary of this Department under the Trump administration.

Answer: Department of Homeland Security

85. For some reason, it wasn't until 2016 that Tim Berners-Lee won the Association for Computing Machinery's top "Nobel-level" award, named for what British mathematician and computer scientist?

Answer: Alan Turing

86. In 2005, Linus Torvalds created software for tracking changes on files in order to improve development of the Linux kernel. Since 2005, the open-source software has had Junio Hamano as the core maintainer. What is the three-letter name of this uber-popular software among developers?

Answer: Git

87. Since 2016, the tallest building in Indianapolis has been known by what official name? This is also the name of the tallest building in San Francisco and the name of an enterprise software company.

Answer: Salesforce

88. While working at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center during the 1970s, computer scientist Larry Tesler coined what three common computer commands first used to edit documents on a word processor he co-created called Gypsy?

Answer: Cut

89. The non-profit Mozilla is likely best-known for its Firefox browser but also built what aviary email and RSS client that was first launched in 2004 and is currently supported by a wholly-owned subsidiary?

Answer: Thunderbird

90. Norton AntiVirus is an anti-malware and anti-virus software package that has been developed and distributed by what company since 1991? This parent company has a portmanteau'd name and was first publicly traded in 1989.

Answer: Symantec

91. The integrated circuit intended to securely store information and a key on a mobile phone is widely known as a SIM card. Name ANY of the three words that SIM stands for.

Answer: Subscriber Identity Module

92. A global ransomware attack on Windows computers that occurred in May 2017 came from a virus with what "tearful" name?

Answer: WannaCry

93. Typically around 0.1 mm, a mickey is a unit for the smallest detectable movement of which piece of computer hardware?

Answer: Mouse

94. After Microsoft and IBM, which Texas-based computer tech corp (known for its databases) is the third-largest in the world?

Answer: Oracle

95. What three-letter acronym is used for the industry standard, first released in 1996, used to connect computers with peripheral devices?

Answer: USB

96. What simulation video game franchise was originally developed by Will Wright and launched in 1989 for the Macintosh computer?

Answer: SimCity

97. With an initial release in 2003, what is the free open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL (or MariaDB) database that features numerous plugins and templates known as "Themes" and is currently used by 39% of the 10 million most-popular websites in the world?

Answer: WordPress

98. What “A” French startup company offers online insurance on a price-quailty ratio plan, and its name is also the first name of groundbreaking computer scientist Turing and “Watchmen” author Moore?

Answer: Alan

99. What “H” cybersecurity company based in Miami, FL offers cybersecurity services and related training to corporations? It sounds like a college for people who want to use computers to get access to unauthorized data.

Answer: HackerU

100. What technology company was founded in 1993 with the vision that the next wave of computing would be graphics-based? The company took its name from the Latin word for "envy" and features product families GeForce, Quadro, and Tegra.

Answer: Nvidia

101. What smartphone app and fintech company was founded by father and son duo Walter Wemple Cruttenden III and Jeffrey James Cruttenden to promote incremental and passive investing in 2014? The company's app features a light green color scheme and shares its name with a seed enclosed in a tough, leathery shell. The portfolio options the company offers were designed in part by Nobel laureate Harry Markowitz.

Answer: Acorns

102. The University of Cambridge offered the first degree in computer science but what Midwestern university had the country’s first computer science department? The school is located in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Answer: Purdue University

103. Benedict Cumberbatch was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for playing computer science legend Alan Turing in what 2014 biopic?

Answer: The Imitation Game

104. In a standard game of "Civilization" chariots aren't available until the invention of what pretty key chariot ingredient?

Answer: Wheel

105. Mike, a sentient computer, is instrumental to the revolt of a lunar colony against absentee rule from Earth in what 1966 sci-fi novel by Robert A. Heinlein?

Answer: The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

106. What “A” Chinese consumer electronics company, founded in 1993 in Bejing, sells MIDs, digital media players, and a variety of other computer peripherals?

Answer: Aigo

107. Howard Aiken received a PhD in Physics from Harvard in 1939, and in 1944 he installed the Harvard Mark I, a computer designed for what giant company in the computer field?

Answer: International Business Machines

108. In computer security, what type of attack, a targeted form of brute force attack, involves running through lists of common words, phrases, and leaked passwords to gain access to accounts? This type of attack shares its name with a term used for a book comprising a listing of lexemes.

Answer: Dictionary attack

109. Delawarean John Backus is responsible for inventing what classic computer programming language, whose name is a portmanteau of the phrase "Formula Translating System?

Answer: FORTRAN

110. The Atanasoff-Berry Computer, the world’s first electronic digital computer, was built during the 1930s in what U.S. state nicknamed the “Hawkeye State”?

Answer: Iowa

111. Mostly famous for its "Notebook" product, what is the name of the open source community and project taking its name as a combination (in some order) of three core programming languages: R, Julia, and Python?

Answer: Jupyter

112. Popular as a standalone smartphone app, Candy Crush Saga initially debuted on what website's games platform?

Answer: Facebook

113. What company providing hosting for software development and distributed version control familiar to computer programmers is known for its iconic Octocat (part cat, part octopus) logo?

Answer: GitHub

114. With revenue over $700 million in 2018 and more than 20 years in the education technology market, what is the name of the privately-held DC-based company which claims more than 17,000 schools and organizations in 100 countries as customers? The company's name is likely to remind you of something you'd find in a school.

Answer: Blackboard Inc

115. Featuring singles like "Paranoid Android" and "Karma Police," "OK Computer" was a classic 1997 album from what British rock band?

Answer: Radiohead

116. Before it found its stride with cellphones and plans for “mobilizing your world,” which telecommunications company (formerly known as Cingular) tried to sell PCs and personal tablets (like the $3,000 “EO Personal Communicator” in 1993)?

Answer: AT&T

117. What colorful apparel is also a two-word term for a computer security expert who engages in “ethical hacking” to help expose and fix security flaws within a company’s information system?

Answer: White hat

118. What is the name of the computer worm, which was first uncovered in 2010, that was used in a cyberattack to ruin nearly 20% of Iran's nuclear centrifuges, setting their program back years?

Answer: Stuxnet

119. What “A” term describes a program capable of running on any computer regardless of its operating system? It kind of sounds like a round tree fruit that comes in red and green.

Answer: Applet

120. Before the Wi-Fi branding originated, a university in Pittsburgh built the first campus-wide wireless Internet network and named it Wireless Andrew. What was this school?

Answer: Carnegie Mellon

121. A November 1998 article titled "New CYBERSCAPE: Digital Assistants Get Sophisticated" was the first article in the New York Times' archive to use what now-ubiquitous word which, despite its name, does not necessarily refer to the IQ of a pocket computer?

Answer: Smartphone

122. Google Buzz, Google Friend Connect, and Orkut were all Google products that were retired attempts at a social media platform. The fourth attempt was named what?

Answer: Google+

123. Unicode, the standard for character encoding used to represent multilingual text as binary, is the successor of what US encoding standard?

Answer: ASCII

124. Steve Jobs was famous for his black turtleneck, blue jeans, and what brand of sneakers?

Answer: New Balance

125. What is the common alphanumeric abbreviation for the "predictive text technology" developed by Tegic Communications and used on mobile phones prior to the widespread adoption of touchscreen keyboards?

Answer: T9

126. What cult British TV series focused on three members of the IT department at the fictional Reynholm Industries?

Answer: The IT Crowd

127. In the Marx Brothers classic Horse Feathers, what's the password Groucho gives to gain admission to Chico's speakeasy? This word was later used as the title of a 2001 film about computer hackers.

Answer: Swordfish

128. Founded by a computer programmer and a box office expert, what company had an Electric Light Orchestra concert at the University of New Mexico as its first ticketed event?

Answer: Ticketmaster

129. Professor David Malan is well-known as the teacher of CS50, an introductory computer science course. He is well-known beyond his formal campus because the class is available online as a MOOC (massive open online course) and has been started by over two million students. However, Malan is technically a faculty member at what school?

Answer: Harvard

130. "Computer Blue" is a song by Prince and the Revolution from what 1984 album that is also the title of the movie Prince starred in the same year?

Answer: Purple Rain

131. Which adjective is used to describe computer memory that only retains data while the device is powered? This adjective can be used to describe a person liable to display rapid changes of emotion.

Answer: Volatile

132. In a 1997 chess match, Garry Kasparov lost against what colorfully named IBM computer?

Answer: Deep Blue

133. What “D” term refers to a group of computers, printers, and devices that are interconnected and governed as a whole? The word can also be used to describe a specified area of knowledge.

Answer: Domain

134. AMD is an American semiconductor company based in Santa Clara that has been an industry-leader for developing computer processors. The company is a primary competitor to both Intel and Nvidia. What does AMD stand for?

Answer: Advanced Micro Devices

135. Which discontinued spreadsheet program, originally written by Jonathan Sachs, peaked in popularity in the late 1980s after its release in January 1983? This spreadsheet program was the first computer software to use television consumer advertising.

Answer: Lotus 1-2-3

136. The website Ranker named GLaDOS, a fictional artificially intelligent computer system, the greatest video game villain of all time. GLaDOS was introduced in what groundbreaking computer game?

Answer: Portal

137. What term is used in place of the traditional "manufacturing" when referring to the production of steel or semiconductors?

Answer: Fabrication

138. A computer’s SoC is an integrated circuit that handles everything from the CPU to the graphics—for example, Apple’s M1. What is SoC an acronym for?

Answer: System on a chip

139. IEEE 802.3 is a collection of standards produced to define the physical layer and data link of wired Ethernet. The standards are named for the group which drafted them, IEEE. What does this acronym stand for?

Answer: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

140. Computer Age" is a 1982 song by what artist who famously removed his song catalog from Spotify in February 2022?

Answer: Neil Young

141. Besides being an actual witch, what "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" character played by Alyson Hannigan was also a skilled computer hacker?

Answer: Willow

142. Called a "giant brain" by the media, ENIAC was a pioneering computer that debuted in 1946 after being built in secret at what southernmost Ivy League university?

Answer: University of Pennsylvania

143. Author Stieg Larsson's "Millennium" trilogy traced the arc of what serial killer-tracking computer hacker? We're looking for the name of the famous woman with the "Dragon Tattoo.

Answer: Lisbeth Salander

144. In 2009, the United States White House switched its website's CMS from a proprietary system to what popular "D" open-source CMS system that was initially released in 2001?

Answer: Drupal

145. In what year did the first AWS (Amazon Web Services) service launch to the public?

Answer: 2004

146. What is the name of the online service and iOS app used for over-the-air installation and testing of mobile applications on Apple devices? This program is owned by Apple and is frequently used for downloading and testing alpha and beta versions of apps.

Answer: TestFlight

147. The cybersecurity startup Island received $11 million in funding from what Bosack and Lerner-founded San Jose tech giant that pioneered the LAN?

Answer: Cisco Systems

148. According to Fast Metrics, the fastest internet in the world was considered to be in the country where the highest percentage of Wi-Fi connections had a speed of at least 4 Mbps. The leading country met this qualification with more than 95% of its internet connections as of 2015. What is this Eastern Hemisphere nation?

Answer: South Korea

149. According to an analysis by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre that investigated passwords belonging to hacked accounts worldwide, what is the most common six-letter "word" that is used for passwords that don't require numbers or punctuation?

Answer: Qwerty

150. In what year did Apple standardize their chargers with the introduction of the Lightning cable?

Answer: 2012

151. Will Shortz lets competitors know how much a computer named Dr. Fill has beat them at Stamford, Connecticut's annual ACPT, or American what (two words) Tournament?

Answer: Crossword Puzzle

152. Hiro Protagonist is a hacker fighting the insidious influence of a virus that affects both computers and human beings in what 1992 sci-fi novel by Neal Stephenson?

Answer: Snow Crash

153. Nuts to von Neumann: computer architecture featuring separate storage and signal pathways for instructions and data is named for what Ivy League school?

Answer: Harvard

154. Headquartered (somewhat ironically?) in Santa Clara, California, what is the name of the American cybersecurity company that serves 85 of the Fortune 100 and is the home to both the Unit 42 threat research team and the Ignite cybersecurity conference?

Answer: Palo Alto Networks

155. When the full extent of the 2020 SolarWinds-focused cyberattack on the U.S. federal government was starting to be understood, Microsoft's president described the attack as "largest and most sophisticated the world has ever seen." The malware responsible for the attack was named for what astronomical-sounding explosion?

Answer: Sunburst

156. The Alto computer released in 1973 was the first to feature a GUI (graphical user interface). Although Apple's far more successful Macintosh system brought the GUI to wider acclaim, what was the company that released the Alto?

Answer: Xerox

157. The radix is the number of unique digits, including zero, used to represent numbers in a "positional numeral system." By what term is this concept more often referred to as? This other, more common term is also an acronym for a risky type of athletic feat and functions as a Microsoft Excel formula.

Answer: Base

158. Written in Python and used as an open-source workflow management platform, what is the name of the "ventilated" Apache-managed project started at Airbnb in 2014 and designed under the "configuration as code" principle?

Answer: Airflow

159. What kind of malware places itself deep inside a computer’s code, allowing for the hacker to have remote control? Maybe control by a band co-founded by Tarik “Black Thought” Trotter in 1987.

Answer: Rootkit

160. Reroll" is a reboot of a strangely addictive, building-a-universe-from-an-adhesive-ball game with what Japanese name meaning "clump spirit"?

Answer: Katamari Damacy

161. Computer World" and "Computer Love" are 1981 songs by what German band whose name translates to "power station" in English?

Answer: Kraftwerk

162. What Englishman was a mathematician, philosopher, inventor, and mechanical engineer, and is largely considered the originator of the concept of a digital programmable computer? His last name rhymes with a common vegetable.

Answer: Charles Babbage

163. APKs are downloadable files that store applications for which operating system?

Answer: Android

164. What’s the name of the plain-text version of a computer program that humans can read and (maybe) understand?

Answer: Source Code

165. Decades after it became known for its Magic Wand, which Japanese manufacturer created the first 1 TB hard disk in 2007? (Hint: The name combines the kanji characters “sun + rise”.)

Answer: Hitachi

166. Player reaction to a simulated disease in a computer game resembled historical records about plagues so closely that epidemiologists are using the data evaluate scenarios related to a potential future virus outbreak. What was the computer game in which this happened?

Answer: World of Warcraft

167. Big iron” is a nickname for which type of computer that is mostly used to quickly process a lot of data—for example, companies that have to process a lot of customer transactions?

Answer: Mainframe

168. What university initially maintained the text file named HOSTS.TXT that mapped host names to the numerical addresses of computers on the ARPANET?

Answer: Stanford

169. Found on a shipwreck off Greece by archeologists in 1902, the Antikythera mechanism (an ancient model of the Solar System) is considered the oldest example of which type of computer?

Answer: Analog

170. You know the CAPTCHA drill: click the button on the website to prove you’re not a robot. If you’re a real internet privacy geek, you know that CAPTCHA is an acronym for what?

Answer: Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart

171. The first mass consumer product that offered Wi-Fi connectivity was branded as AirPort because the product was produced by Apple. What was this series of laptops that was first released in 1999?

Answer: iBook

172. Which type of computer database supports storage of all data types, with specific attributes and methods for each individual item of data?

Answer: Object-oriented database

173. What “K” IT infrastructure technology company, based out of Armonk, New York, started as a spinoff of IBM? Its logo is its own name, spelled out in lowercase orange letters.

Answer: Kyndryl

174. The H-Store system is considered one of the most prominent examples in the class of parallel database management systems which are typically known by what six-letter name?

Answer: NewSQL

175. What “C” cybersecurity company based out of Israel offers cybersecurity protection for the computer systems inside of cars? In 2021, the company was acquired by LG.

Answer: Cybellum

176. Which unit is used to measure a FPU’s processing power? (Hint: One of them equals 1 billion floating point operations per second.)

Answer: Gigaflop

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