Test Your Nerd Knowledge: Dec 7, 2021

Here’s a review of this week’s questions:

1. In what year was the uninterrupted power supply invented?
2. What was the name of the microarchitecture processor unveiled by Intel in 2006?
3. What type of applications are available with a source code to modify and add features to it?

And the answers are:

1. In 1934, John Hanley patented what he referred to as an “Apparatus For Maintaining An Unfailing and Uninterrupted Supply of Electrical Energy,” or what is now known as a UPS. The original device consisted of a flywheel that would provide short bursts of backup power. It was mostly inefficient and didn’t offer surge protection. Today’s UPS’s are far more robust and are available in three variations – online double-conversion, offline standby and line-interactive.
2. Intel Core and its subsequent generations have powered most of the PCs on the market for many years. In the Core brand of Intel chips (and only there), you’ll find a brand modifier such as i3, i5, i7, or i9 after the “Core” name. Higher modifier numbers generally mean better performance and more features. In 2021, we are up to 11^th Gen. Each generation delivers significant performance upgrades, increasing productivity and connectivity, such as longer battery life, and faster clock speeds.
3. The term open source refers to something people can modify and share because its design is publicly accessible. “Source code” is the part of software that most computer users don’t ever see; it’s the code computer programmers can manipulate to change how a piece of software—a “program” or “application”—works. Programmers who have access to a computer program’s source code can improve that program by adding features to it or fixing parts that don’t always work correctly.