Technology encompasses the tools, systems, and innovations humans create to solve problems and improve daily life. It spans hardware — the physical components such as processors, memory, and storage — and software, including operating systems, applications, and programming langua Read more
Which company acquired GitHub in 2018?
MediumMicrosoft acquired GitHub in 2018 for 7.5 billion. GitHub is the world's largest platform for hosting and collaborating on software source code, used by millions of developers.
At the time of the purchase, many developers were worried Microsoft would change GitHub, but it has largely remained an open and independent platform for the coding community!
What is the term for 'overclocking'?
MediumOverclocking is the practice of increasing a computer component's clock rate, running it at a higher speed than it was designed for by the manufacturer. This is usually done to get better performance in gaming or video editing.
Overclocking produces a lot of extra heat, so extreme overclockers sometimes use liquid nitrogen to keep their processors from melting!
Which tech is used in cryptocurrency?
MediumBlockchain is the decentralized, distributed ledger technology that powers cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. It records every transaction across a network of computers in a way that makes it impossible to change or hack the data after it has been written, creating a "chain" of trust without a central bank.
While blockchain is famous for money, it is now being used for many other things, including "Smart Contracts" that automatically execute when conditions are met, and tracking the supply chain of luxury goods like diamonds to ensure they are ethically sourced.
Which company owns Facebook?
MediumMeta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook, Inc.) is the parent company that owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. The company rebranded to "Meta" in 2021 to signal its focus on the "metaverse," a future vision of the internet based on 3D virtual and augmented reality.
Mark Zuckerberg famously started Facebook in his Harvard dorm room in 2004. At the time, it was called "TheFacebook" and was intended only for students at elite Ivy League colleges before it became a global social media giant.
What is the name of the first artificial satellite?
MediumSputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. It was a metal sphere with four antennas that transmitted a "beep-beep" radio signal back to Earth.
Sputnik was only about the size of a beach ball, but its launch started the Space Race and led to the creation of NASA!
What does 'SSD' stand for?
MediumSSD stands for Solid State Drive. Unlike traditional Hard Disk Drives (HDDs), which use spinning platters and a moving read/write head, SSDs use flash memory to store data, making them much faster, quieter, and more durable.
Because they have no moving parts, SSDs are much more resistant to physical shock-if you drop a laptop with an SSD, your data is much more likely to survive!
What does API stand for?
MediumAPI stands for Application Programming Interface, which is a set of rules that allow two different pieces of software to communicate with each other. For example, when you see a "Google Maps" window inside a restaurant's website, that website is using an API to "ask" Google's servers for the map data.
Modern apps are mostly built using APIs. When you use an app like Uber, it uses separate APIs to find your location (GPS), to process your payment (Stripe), and to send you a text message (Twilio), rather than building all those features from scratch.
Which programming language uses 'gems' as libraries?
MediumRuby is the programming language that uses "Gems" as its library system. The RubyGems package manager allows developers to easily share and install pieces of code (gems) to add functionality to their apps.
The most famous "gem" is Ruby on Rails, a web framework that powered the early versions of Twitter, GitHub, and Airbnb!
What does 'Mbps' stand for?
MediumMbps stands for Megabits per second. It is the unit of measurement used to describe the speed of an internet connection (the rate at which data is transferred).
Be careful not to confuse "Megabits" (Mbps) with "Megabytes" (MBps)-since there are 8 bits in a byte, a 100 Mbps connection actually downloads data at a maximum of 12.5 MB per second!
What is the term for software that is free to use and whose source code is available?
MediumOpen-source software is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance. Examples include the Linux operating system, the Firefox browser, and the Python programming language.
Much of the technology that runs the modern world (including the servers for Google and Facebook) is built on open-source software!
What is the maximum storage capacity of a standard CD-ROM?
MediumA standard CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory) has a storage capacity of 700 MB. This was a massive amount of storage when it was released in the 1980s, equivalent to about 480 floppy disks.
The 700MB/74-minute limit for CDs was supposedly chosen so that a single disc could hold a complete recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony!
What does 'P2P' stand for?
MediumP2P stands for Peer-to-Peer. It is a decentralized communications model in which each party (node) has the same capabilities and either party can initiate a communication session. Examples include file-sharing services like BitTorrent and the Bitcoin network.
P2P networks are very difficult to shut down because there is no central server; if one computer goes offline, the rest of the network keeps working!
Which programming language is most used for Data Science?
MediumPython is the most widely used programming language for Data Science. Its popularity is due to its simple syntax and the vast ecosystem of libraries like Pandas, NumPy, and Scikit-learn that make data analysis and machine learning much easier.
Python wasn't actually named after the snake; the creator, Guido van Rossum, named it after the British comedy troupe "Monty Python"!
What is the term for a person who uses their tech skills for ethical hacking?
MediumA White Hat hacker is an ethical hacker who uses their skills to find security vulnerabilities in systems so they can be fixed before "bad" hackers (Black Hats) find them. Many companies pay "Bug Bounties" to white hat hackers for finding flaws.
Some of the world's most famous white hat hackers were formerly black hat hackers who got caught and decided to switch sides!
Which company developed the 'C#' language?
MediumMicrosoft developed the C# (C-Sharp) programming language, released in 2000. Led by Anders Hejlsberg, the goal was to create a modern, object-oriented language that would work seamlessly with Microsoft's .NET framework.
The name "C#" was inspired by musical notation, where a "sharp" (?) indicates a note should be higher in pitch; it implies that C# is an "incremented" or better version of the C++ language!
What is the standard port for HTTPS?
MediumPort 443 is the standard port used for HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure). Unlike regular HTTP (Port 80), traffic sent over Port 443 is encrypted using SSL/TLS, ensuring that your data-like credit card numbers and passwords-cannot be intercepted.
If you see a "padlock" icon in your browser's address bar, it means you are connected to the website through Port 443!
What does 'NFC' stand for?
MediumNFC stands for Near Field Communication. It is a short-range wireless technology that allows devices to share data when they are very close (usually within 4 centimeters). It is the technology behind "tap-to-pay" services like Apple Pay.
NFC is actually a specialized subset of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), designed specifically for secure, two-way communication between smartphones and readers!
Which company is known for the 'Creative Cloud' software suite?
MediumAdobe is the company known for the Creative Cloud software suite, which includes industry-standard tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and After Effects.
Adobe was named after Adobe Creek in Los Altos, California, which ran behind the house of one of the company's founders!
What does 'SIM' in SIM card stand for?
MediumSIM stands for Subscriber Identity Module. It is an integrated circuit that is intended to securely store the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and its related key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephony devices.
The first SIM cards, released in 1991, were the size of a credit card!
What does DNS do?
MediumThe DNS (Domain Name System) acts as the "phonebook" of the internet. It translates human-friendly web addresses (like www.google.com) into the machine-readable IP addresses (like 142.250.190.46) that computers use to find each other on the network.
There are 13 "root name servers" around the world that form the absolute top of the DNS hierarchy. While there are hundreds of physical machines, they are logically grouped into 13 addresses (named A through M) that serve as the foundation of the entire global internet.
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