Tynan on Tech

Is Microsoft-Yahoo truly dead? Why did CBS buy CNET? How much would you pay for a letter from a dead genius? And what is Carl Icahn’s problem anyway? The answers to these questions and more are found in this week’s quiz — provided you choose wisely. Correct responses are worth 10 points a shot. Ready? Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines.
– Dan Tynan

1. Corporate mega-nudge Carl Icahn has his own ideas about the moribund Microsoft-Yahoo merger, including whom he wants to sit on Yahoo’s board. Which of the following people is NOT one of Icahn’s candidates?

a. Frank Biondi
b. Mark Cuban
c. Al Gore
d. Carl Icahn

2. Meanwhile, Microsoft appears to have moved on. What is its new strategy for luring surfers to its (barely) Live Search site?

a. Bribing them with rebates for goods purchased via the site
b. Offering a clothing-optional version of the Ms. Dewey search page
c. Buying Facebook and making Live Search the default search engine
d. Buying the rest of the Internet, except for Yahoo

3. When CBS dropped $1.8 billion to get CNET, it got some valuable URLs in the deal. Which of the following domains is NOT part of the CNET portfolio?

a. TV.com
b. Radio.com
c. News.com
d. Love.com

4. "When I talk to people and tell them we can run Windows, they are very impressed. You pass a sort of virility test." Who says Windows is the new Viagra?

a. Peter Chou, CEO of HTC
b. Ronald A. Rittenmeyer, CEO of EDS
c. Nicholas Negroponte, chair of OLPC
d. Dennis Moore, CEO of OQO

5. He’s been dead for more than 50 years, but he’s still got street cred. A letter penned in Albert Einstein’s hand sold at auction last week. How much did the letter fetch?

a. $44,000
b. $144,000
c. $404,000
d. It’s all relative

For the an interactive version of the quiz — and the snarky answers — visit Infoworld.com’s quiz page.