You might be an Instagram whiz or know your way around the perilous forums of 4chan, but the internet has a long and incredible history, full of firsts, foibles, and what-ifs.
On this week’s episode of 2 GIRLS 1 PODCAST—a show that explores fascinating online subcultures—we’re taking a break from our usual interviews and challenging our intrepid hosts (Alli and Jen) to a trivia showdown. The stakes? Two glorious Trader Joe’s gift cards.
Can Alli and Jen combine their intuition and knowledge of the wild, untamed web to best this trivia beast? Listen to the episode here:
And if you’d like to play along at home in text form, we’ve shared the questions here, with answers at the very bottom. No peeking, and definitely no Googling!
QUESTION 1
In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg reportedly met with MySpace to discuss selling Facebook.
But MySpace rejected the offer because Zuck was asking for too much money.
What was the offer?
- A) $25 million
- B) $75 million
- C) $150 million
QUESTION 2
In 1995, Broadcom wanted to demonstrate how powerful their T4 Ethernet technology was. At an industry conference, they successfully sent data at 100/Mbps over:
- A) Barbed wire
- B) 1,000 tin cans laid end-to-end
- C) A human body
QUESTION 3
How many employees worked at Instagram when it was acquired by Facebook in 2012 for $1 billion?
- A) 8
- B) 13
- C) 19
QUESTION 4
What year was the first emoticon appear in message boards?
- A) 1976
- B) 1982
- C) 1990
QUESTION 5
In 2015, Swiftkey, the makers of a very popular smartphone keyboard app, analyzed 1 billion pieces of data to learn which emoji are the most popular.
According to their analysis, which country uses the poop emoji more than any other?
- A) The U.S.
- B) Turkey
- C) Canada
QUESTION 6
What is the name of Snapchat’s adorable ghost mascot?
- A) Ghostface Chillah
- B) Snappington
- C) Myrtle
QUESTION 7
Comcast bought Dreamworks Animation in 2016 for $3.8 billion. Disney bought Star Wars in 2012 for $4 billion.
How much did Activision pay for King Games, the makers of Candy Crush, in 2015?
- A) $5.9 billion
- B) $7.7 billion
- C) $10.1 billion
QUESTION 8
What is the best-selling video game of all time, by units sold?
- A) Super Mario Bros.
- B) Minecraft
- C) Tetris
QUESTION 9
What band was the first major-label artist to release a single directly onto Napster before it was available in stores, in 2001?
- A) Coldplay
- B) Dave Matthews Band
- C) U2
QUESTION 10
Why did Vanna White sue Samsung in 1993?
- A) They used her face on billboards in Korea.
- B) They used her voice as a blueprint to create a synthesized female voice in their computer products.
- C) They made a commercial showing a robot turning over letters on a game show.
ANSWERS
Find out how many you got right. And how did you fare against our hosts?
QUESTION 1
B) $75 Million
“One of the most interesting stories, however, is a report that MySpace could have acquired Facebook for just $75 million in early 2004, but passed on the deal as too expensive.”
QUESTION 2
A) Barbed wire
They were trying to prove that their tech would work, even on outdated wiring infrastructure. The message they sent over the wire was “Buy Our Parts.”
QUESTION 3
B) 13
QUESTION 4
B) 1982
The earliest known e-use of an emoticon traces back to a message board post made by user Scott E. Fahlman:
I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers: :-)
Read it sideways.
Actually, it is probably more economical to mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use :-(
QUESTION 5
C) Canada
According to Swiftkey, French love to use heart emoji. Arabic speakers use flowers and plants 4x more than average. Australia uses a lot of indulgence-themed emoji — alcohol, drugs, and junk food. Americans are kind of random: Chicken legs, eggplant, skulls, and “feminine” emojis like lipstick and pink bows.
QUESTION 6
QUESTION 7
A) $5.9 billion
QUESTION 8
C) Tetris
Actual list:
- Tetris
- Minecraft
- GTA V
- Wii Sports
- Super Mario Bros.
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
QUESTION 9
“In January 2001, Dave Matthews Band made history by becoming the first major artist to release a single directly to Napster, posting “I Did It” on the controversial file-swapping service 6 weeks before the new album was officially released.”
QUESTION 10
C) They made a commercial showing a robot turning over letters on a game show
“In 1993, White sued the Samsung Electronics corporation over its use of a humorous ad featuring a robot turning letters on a game show, alleging a violation of her personality rights. The lower court’s decision in Samsung’s favor was reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the Ninth Circuit denied a rehearing; Judge Kozinski issued a dissent. The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari. White ultimately was awarded $403,000 in damages.”
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2 Girls 1 Podcast is hosted by Allison Goldberg and Jennifer Jamula and is produced and edited by Matt Silverman in New York City. Production assistance is provided by the Podglomerate.
Want to hear more from the Daily Dot? Check out the Upstream Podcast, tackling the week in streaming entertainment, and We’re All Gonna Die, our weekly politics roundtable.
Update 3:50pm, Aug. 9, 2019: Thanks to an eagle-eyed reader, we’ve adjusted question 4 (and its corresponding answer) to be more accurate.
