IWS #117 Results

[gstelmack]

A mediocre turnout of 29 entries. Apparently there are fewer geeks here than I thought. But alas, on to the results:

1. What antivirus software do you use?

Norton	26
AVG Free	1
McAfee	1
Bit Defender	1

Sigh, yup everyone figured Stupid with go with Norton, and they were right. I figured McAfee would get more hits here as the original, but Norton is the big name now. Even if Norton Anti-Virus is the main reason behind all those "turn off your A/V software before installing / running this program" warnings you see...

2. Name the best Pixar movie ever.

Toy Story	16
The Incredibles	8
Shrek	3
Finding Nemo	1
Ice Age	1

It was interesting to see that a few people figured Stupid would assume "Pixar = computer animated film" and go with the biggie, Shrek, even though it's not a Pixar movie, but a surprising number of astute observers figured Stupid would go with the first big computer animated hit, Toy Story. Runner-up went to the most recent Pixar film, "The Incredibles".

The "correct" answer here, of course, is "Finding Nemo", as the jokes are still funny and you can still find new subtleties even after the 250th viewing with your 2-1/2 year old daughter who thinks it is the best movie ever ("Silly, whales don't eat fish, they eat Krill. Oh look, Krill!")

3. Name a programming language.

C++	14
Java	5
C	3
Visual Basic	3
Basic	2
Perl	1
HTML	1

This was the first question where I had to make some judgement calls. People who gave two answers (C/C++ was common) got the first one chosen. It's not fair to everyone else to cover your bases, so I made a call. If you're not happy with this, then re-read the rules

4. Who makes the CPU in your computer?

Intel	25
AMD	2
Pentium	2
Dell	1

Sorry to the person who answered "Dell", but not enough people went with the common definition of "CPU" as "the big box next to your monitor / under your desk that all the cables connect to", but instead went with the correct definition of "the tiny little chip inside that big box that makes everything work". I was actually surprised there weren't more answers along those lines.

The interesting psychology here is despite the overwhelming calls on this forum to upgrade to an AMD processor, everyone figured Stupid would buy into the "Intel Inside" marketing machine and put down Intel. Of course, in this case, Stupid is actually the correct one, since most people with AMD boxes uses non-AMD chipsets, and while they get great speed they have to put up with occasional weird stability issues (heck, Nvidia's nForce entry into the Intel market is plagued with memory stability issues with their latest BIOS update). "Intel Inside", baby!

(Yes, I just did an upgrade yesterday, and put a 3.0GHz Intel P4 HyperThreaded processor in my box)

5. What brand of video card do you own?

ATI	12
Nvidia	8
GeForce	3
Radeon	3
Gigabyte	1
Voodoo	1
ASUS	1

Another interesting breakdown, as the GeForce/Radeon vote split the ATI/Nvidia factions a bit (and again, the "GeForce/Nvidia" entry got marked down as "GeForce"). Of course, "Radeon" and "GeForce" are model numbers, much like answering "Explorer" instead of "Ford" if someone asks you who makes your SUV. Not enough people figured Stupid would go that route. And there is at least one 3dfx holdout in the group.

Up until yesterday's upgrade, I would have said "Nvidia" is the correct answer here, thanks to pixel shader 3.0 support and a bit tighter adherence to the D3D spec, but then the 6600GT I tried to put in my box choked big time every time I went to install drivers for it, so it's being RMA'ed back to NewEgg and my older ATI 9600 went back in. And there's the fact that "Nvidia" does not actually make video cards, just the chips that go in them, so I won't say that "Nvidia" was the "correct" answer.

6. How big is your hard drive?

80GB	8
100GB	7
40GB	6
60GB	2
50GB	1
20GB	1
10 inches	1
200GB	1
120GB	1
64GB	1

A really nice spread on these answers. A good run by the nice, round 100GB answer, even though very few people actually own or make a 100GB drive (80 or 120 are the more common sizes).

One person was oh-so-close to the "correct" answer, which is 3.5 inches (or 2.5 if you own a laptop). But they haven't made 10-inch platters in years (I used to have one lying around the house somewhere), so "No soup for you!"

The "I just want to browse the web and write some e-mail" club:

tucker342	6552
LoneStarGirl	11200
BrianD	12000
capsicum	26000
vtbub	28672
albionmoonlight	39936
finkenst	46592

The "I was a member of the Audio/Visual Club in High School" group:

pennywiseb	204750
ThunderingHERD	249600
terpkristin	280800
MikeVic	372736
saldana	374400
Leonidas	491400
Chas in Cinti	561600
Raven Hawk	582400
panerd	582400
timmae	624000
RPI-Fan	748800
Wolfpack	764400
Sublime 2	873600

The "I built my own machine" collection:

Dutch	1497600
TazFTW	1664000
st.cronin	1747200
General Mike	1747200
Cringer	9318400

The "Steve Jobs/Steve Wozniak" combo (i.e., the runners-up) of FOFC:

JeeberD	10483200
Raiders Army	10483200

And finally, your co-winners, the "Bill Gates/Paul Allen" combo of FOFC:

MIJB#19	12230400
Barkeep49	12230400

I don't know how MIJB will take actually winning another one of these things, so maybe Barkeep should just do the questions for #118...

[vtbub]

Stupid should never pay for anti-virus.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

MIJB#19 -- 12230400

Sounds like a major bug in the system. Recommend fix prior to release. Possible showstopper for GM.

[Barkeep49]

So I was thinking as I was waiting for the results to load "I don't think I've got much of a chance to win this one". Shows what I know. I would be happy to do 3 and 3 with MIJB if he wants or I would be happy to host the game.

[jeff061]

I'd be pissed if I was one of those two pentium votes. How can you split Intel and Pentium?

[pennywisesb]

Jees. This is my worst effort ever on an IWS. I'm embarrassed.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by jeff061

I'd be pissed if I was one of those two pentium votes. How can you split Intel and Pentium?

Same way I can split "Radeon" and "ATI" or "NVidia" and "GeForce". What if someone had submitted "Celeron"? I still feel that they are distinct answers. If someone asked "What Make car do you drive?", would you lump "Ford", "Explorer", and "Mustang" all the same? If Stupid doesn't know that Intel is the maker of the Pentium, well, the game is "I'm With Stupid".

[Raiders Army]

So close yet so far.

[tucker342]

ummm ouch

[MikeVic]

I said Pentium, but was thinking Intel.

[Leonidas]

I'm stunned no one picked PC Cillin as best anti-virus since it's clearly the popular choice of an internet generation. Knowing Norton would be chosen I caveated my answer by saying I had Cillin.

[Cringer]

damn, i fell from my usual 4th to 5th.

[JeeberD]

Argh! So damn close!!!

[MIJB#19]

Woohoo!
Go google!

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

So I was thinking as I was waiting for the results to load "I don't think I've got much of a chance to win this one". Shows what I know. I would be happy to do 3 and 3 with MIJB if he wants or I would be happy to host the game.

Go ahead and host the next IWS. If you have a theme in mind and would like to have me contribute with 3 questions, I'm open for it. If you'd really love to run it alone, I've hosted enough of these already.

[General Mike]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Possible showstopper for GM.

Too little +s cost me it all.

[st.cronin]

my best showing ever

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by General Mike

Too little +s cost me it all.

Heh. The one decision I had to make that did end up helping someone was the person who sent in "C+" as an answer. I figured that was a typo and added the missing "+" on the end...