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The Internet

The internet is a marvelous invention. Did you know it was created by the government in the sixties, but made popular in the nineties? Today everyone uses it, and it is becoming an essential part of everyday life. But the reality of it is, how much do you really know about it?

Can you answer the following questions?

  • What does the http and https stand for in a web address?
  • What is the internet protocol suite called?
  • What important piece of hardware began mass production in 1958 thanks to SAGE?
  • What protocol replaced DIXIE and DAS in 1993?

Now for a riddle:

Search for the answer, next knows the way.
Tell me the apple wants me to stay.
Eat quite the bill.
Very alien will.
Each has their place in this play.

What computing giants are present here?

  • What references were made for the giants?

But wait, there's more!

For a one time fee of answering the question below (along with the questions and riddle above), your answer will be accepted! But act now because time is running out!

  • Which computing giant's technology do I use most?

Also, I would really enjoy some feedback on my very first limerick!

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  • $\begingroup$ Are the questions up top used in the riddle/bonus ? $\endgroup$
    – JGibbers
    Commented Oct 12, 2018 at 19:50
  • $\begingroup$ Correct @JGibbers $\endgroup$
    – Taco
    Commented Oct 12, 2018 at 23:18
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    $\begingroup$ Re: the limerick, you've got the rhyme scheme down, but the rhythm/meter needs to be anapestic. i.e., "one two THREE one two THREE one two THREE". $\endgroup$
    – generalcrispy
    Commented Oct 15, 2018 at 12:15

4 Answers 4

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What does the http and https stand for in a web address?

hypertext transfer protocol

What is the internet protocol suite called?

TCP/IP

What important piece of hardware began mass production in 1958?

Modem (thanks @Braegh instead!)

What protocol replaced DIXIE and DAS in 1993?

LDAP

Which would give:

HTML

Riddle:

Search for the answer, next knows the way.

Steve Jobs was ceo of next

Tell me the apple wants me to stay.

Apple rehired steve jobs (alternatively Steve Wozniak wasn't asked to leave by apple)

Eat quite the bill.

Steve Ballmer replaced bill gates as CEO (fits the steve acrostic), but Microsoft is probably the answer. Alternative explanation is they heavily use the term eating your own dog food

Very alien will.

IBM is one letter off HAL (from 2001 a space odyssey)

Each has their place in this play.

Silicon Valley

To sum it all up

The acrostics come out to be STEVE NAMIS, I expect my answer for #4 is wrong, so I'm guessing it's STEVE NAMES which would be jobs and wozniak most likely.

Bonus:

Microsoft

@PerpetualJ should be able to figure out my reasoning for the bonus

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Search for the answer, next knows the way.

Steve Jobs founded NeXT, the company on whose computer the www was created

Tell me the apple wants me to stay.

Apple - Maybe the reference here is the re-hire of Steve Jobs as the interim CEO or iCEO

Eat quite the bill.

Microsoft - reference bill - Bill Gates the founder.

Very alien will.

SpaceX - Not so clear about the reference

Each has their place in this play.

By "their place", I assume they all have their headquarters in the United States

Which computing giant's technology do I use most?

Apple's? Since the first letter of each hints is STEVE. - Source

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  • $\begingroup$ HAHAHA That's awesome! +1 for the StackOverflow reference there! Very resourceful. You have lines 1 and 2 correct. Line 3 is technically acceptable, but there are actually two references there (think similar to line 2); line four isn't really a giant but more of a high dollar brand. Just as line 1 isn't really a giant either. As for the technology, you'll need to answer the questions I posed. $\endgroup$
    – Taco
    Commented Oct 12, 2018 at 16:33
  • $\begingroup$ Yes.. I realized the extras in Line 1. I have just edited the answer. You might want to check Line 1 and Line 3 again. :) $\endgroup$
    – Vivek Parekh
    Commented Oct 12, 2018 at 16:36
  • $\begingroup$ Lines 1, 2, and 3 are correct references; the secondary reference on line 3 is not correct though. The line as a whole in reference to the titan named in line 3 is a literal reference. Line 5 is a play on words to tie everything together; and line 4 is still incorrect. $\endgroup$
    – Taco
    Commented Oct 12, 2018 at 16:42
  • $\begingroup$ Line 4 is a tough one $\endgroup$
    – Vivek Parekh
    Commented Oct 12, 2018 at 16:59
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    $\begingroup$ Might be rot13(nyvrajner)? $\endgroup$
    – obl
    Commented Oct 12, 2018 at 17:36
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Partial answer for Question 3

I think question 3 might be the

modem

which leads to

the initials of the four questions' answers spelling out HTML

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  • $\begingroup$ Great find! +1 From me! $\endgroup$
    – Taco
    Commented Oct 13, 2018 at 14:08
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Questions:

What does the http and https stand for in a web address?

hypertext transfer protocol (secure). Application layer protocol for making requests.

What is the internet protocol suite called?

"It is commonly known as TCP/IP because the foundational protocols in the suite are the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP)." -wiki

What important piece of hardware began mass production in 1958?

"The first integrated circuit was produced in September 1958" - wiki. Allowed us to step away from vacuum tubes.
SAGE: Semi-Automatic Ground Environment, goes online in 1958. Early instance of networked computers. What piece of hardware became mass produced because of it? shrug. Hopefully this helps someone figure that out.

What protocol replaced DIXIE and DAS in 1993?

Huh, apparently: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

Riddle:

Search for the answer, next knows the way.

NeXT computing

Tell me the apple wants me to stay.

Apple / Steve Jobs. Was thinking this but @Vivek Parekh had better details.

Eat quite the bill.

Microsoft / Bill Gates. US Gov (NSF - National Science Foundation) fund National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) leading to Mosaic.

Very alien will.

Something more literal like SETI, or something more figurative like the departure from the norm that Apple / Steve took to get to the original iPhone?
NASA?

Each has their place in this play.

Internet or the Web, particularly in bringing to homes/widely available.

Bonus:

Apple / MacOS / iOS. The references to apple, as well as the STEVE acrostic?

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  • $\begingroup$ Okay so the piece of hardware from 1958 is technically acceptable but it is wrong for the purposes of the puzzle. I shall refine that to narrow the possibilities. $\endgroup$
    – Taco
    Commented Oct 12, 2018 at 19:33
  • $\begingroup$ For the riddle, 1 and 2 are correct, three is partially correct, and 4 is wrong. $\endgroup$
    – Taco
    Commented Oct 12, 2018 at 19:36

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