Another classic-computer 'test'
Tony Duell
ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk
Sun Mar 1 13:34:15 CST 2009
This one did the rounds of a system I was on aout 20 years ago. Some of
the questions are certainly classic-cmputer related...
Enjoy..
-tony
----------------------------
ARD's Hacker Test.
To remove the somewhat IBM and UNIX bias from the original Hackers test,
here is one which is either non-biased, or DEC biased.
Computer Usage
--------------
000000) Have you ever used a _dedicated_ computerised control system?
(e.g. the syscon processor in a VCR, so having used a video would count
here )
000001) Have you ever used a computer (general-purpose programmable)
000002) ... For more than 30(8) Hours continuously
000003) Have you ever programmed a computer
000004) ...In assembler
000005) ...In machine code (binary/octal/decimal/hex/whatever)
000006) Has you use of computers ever caused you to miss an important event
000007) Do you work the hours 9-5?
000010) Are they the ones at night?
Hardware
--------
000011) Have you ever built a computer
000012) Have you ever designed a computer
000013) ... 16 bit or more
000014) ... 32 bit (or more)
000015) Have you ever repaired a microcomputer
000016) Have you ever repaired a minicomputer
000017) Have you ever debugged an item of computer hardware with minimal test
equipment (e.g. LED and resistor, Battery tester)
000020) Did that item contain >100 ic's, and have a logic fault
000021) Have you ever repaired a printer
000022) .... A laser printer
000023) .... A hard disk (demountable or winchester)
000024) .... A floppy disk
000025) .... A paper-tape punch/reader
000026) .... A card punch/reader
Can you use :
000027) A logic probe
000030) A logic pulser
000031) A protocol analyser
000032) A manufacturer's maintenance unit (KM11 or whatever)
000033) Have you ever wire-wrapped a board or backplane
000034) .... Did it work first time?
000035) Ever found an undocumented feature in a piece of hardware?
000036) ... Did you exploit it?
000037) Did you complain when later versions/clones didn't have it?
000040) Ever written microcode?
000041) Ever reverse-engineered microcode?
000042) .... Did you find any undocumented features?
000043) .... Did you find any bugs?
000044) Ever linked 2 devices that were claimed to be incompatible
000045) ....Did it work?
000046) Have you ever voided the warranty on a piece of hardware
000047) ...Ever not (owned a piece of hardware for >30mins without voiding the
warranty?)
000050) Can you wire an RS232 cable?
000051) ... And get it right first time?
Operating systems
-----------------
Which of the following OS's have you used:
000052) RT-11
000053) RSX (MCR)
000054) RSX (DCL)
000055) RSTS-E
000056) OS-8
000057) OS-9
000060) MS-DOS
000061) LDOS
000062) UCSD P-system
000063) Unix (Any version)
000064) VM/CMS
000065) MVS or TSO
000066) VMS
000067) TRS-DOS (any version <6.0. versions 6.0 and higher are LDOS!)
000070) CP/M 80
000071) CP/M 86
000072) CP/M 68
000073) Tripos
000074) XtalDOS
000075) XXDP+
000076) Have you ever sysgened a Operating System (Note, the CPM sysgen program
doesn't count, writing/hacking the CBIOS does)
000077) have you ever written a device driver?
000100) ... For a piece of you own-design hardware?
000101) Have you ever found an undocumented feature in an Operating system?
000102) ... Did you use it?
000103) ... Did you abuse it?
Micros
------
Which of the following assemblers/machine codes do you know?
000104) 6502
000105) Z80
000106) Z8
000107) Saturn
000110) 6800
000111) 6809
000112) 8080
000113) 8085
000114) 680x0
000115) 80x86
000116) 1802
000117) SC/MP
000120) 32016 (or similar nat/semi processor)
000121) LSI-11
000122) Have you ever cracked a copy-protection scheme?
000123) .... Or created one?
000124) Have you ever created your own disk format?
000125) Have you ever read a disk for one machine on an incompatible machine
000126) ... with your own program?
Calculators
------------
000127) Do you own a programmable calculator?
000130) ... Is it RPN
000131) .....Is it RPL?
000132) Have you ever programmed a calculator in machine code?
000133) Have you ever found an undocumented command on a calculator?
000134) Have you ever logged on to a larger machine from your calculator
000135) Have you ever logged on to your calculator from a larger machine
000136) Have you ever written a significant application program for a pocket
calculator
000137) Do you own a desktop calculator
000140) ... Is it mechanical (Monroematic etc)?
000141) ... Does it use core memory?
000142) Can you divide on a monroe, or similar machine?
000143) Have you ever built a peripheral device for a pocket calculator?
000144) Have you ever reverse-engineered the ROMs of a calculator?
000145) Have you ever met the designer of your calculator?
Minicomputers
-------------
000146) Have you ever installed a minicomputer
000147) Have you ever upgraded/expanded a minicomputer using ready-made modules
or peripherals?
000150) Have you ever annoyed the manufacturer of a minicomputer by making it
out-perform the next model up in the range?
000151) Have you ever toggled in the bootstrap code for a minicomputer?
000152) ... For more than 1 type of machine?
000153) Have you ever toggled in a program for a minicomputer other than the
bootstrap loader?
000154) Have you ever used a minicomputer other than one made by DEC or IBM?
000155) Have you ever mounted a disk pack?
000156) Or a magtape?
000157) Have you ever used paper tape
000160) Have you ever edited paper tape
000161) Can you read paper tape by eye?
000162) Have you ever used punched cards?
000163) Can you read punched cards by eye?
000164) Have you ever used a hand-punch (one of those with 12 keys - one for
each row)?
000165) Have you ever seen/heard a disk crash?
000166) Have you ever rebuilt a crashed drive?
000167) Have you ever watched the flashing lights on a front-panel?
000170) ...for more than 1 hour?
D.E.C.
------
000171) Can you name and describe at least 4 models of PDP11?
Can you identify the following (assume someone gave you a board. Could you work
out what it is)?
000172) An SPC board
000173) A dual-height UNIBUS peripheral
000174) A MUD board
000175) A Q-Bus peripheral (Dual Height)
000176) A Q-bus peripheral using CD interconnect
000177) A Quad-Height Q-BUS board
000200) Can you tell an RL01 pack from an RL02 pack?
000201) ... At 20 feet?
Can you expand these acronyms?
000202) SPC
000203) ODT
000204) RSX
000205) PDP
000206) PDT
000207) VAX
What sort of device would your data be on if it's name was : (Ignore logical
devices!)
000210) DX0:
000211) PP:
000212) DL0:
000213) DM0:
000214) CR:
000215) DD:
000216) PD:
Can you identify these DEC boards?
000217) M7821
000220) M8100
000221) M7800
Can you find DCL equivalents for :
000222) PIP DM1:[*,*]*.MAC;*/LI
000223) SET /cli=tt3:dcl
Can you find MCR equivalents for
000224) DEL DL3:[1,4]TEMP.TXT
000225) show queue
Languages/Application software
------------------------------
Which of the following languages do you know?
000226) PL/M
000227) Lisp
000230) RPL
000231) FORTH
000232) APL
000233) ... Have you ever used an APL terminal?
000234) PL/Z
000235) Occam
000236) Postscript
Which of the following have you written?
000237) Language Compiler
000240) Language Interpreter
000241) Assembler
000242) Disassembler
000243) Monitor (Rom preferably)
000244) Editor/Text processor
000245) Spreadsheet
000246) Database
000247) Data Aquisition system
000250) Real-time control system
000251) Have you ever found a bug in a commercial program?
000252) Do you never comment code?
000253) Do you prefer to find commands by disassembling the program, rather
than reading the manual?
000254) Do you edit your programs by patching the Binary?
000255) Is TECO your favourite editor?
General
-------
There now follow a mixed lot of questions to test your knowledge of some of
the obscure bits of computing and to see just how mad you are.
000256) Have you ever sent e-mail
000257) ... Internationally
000260) ... Between 2 sites in the same country, but going through a second
country
000261) Do you read USEnet News?
000262) Do you post to USEnet News?
000263) Have you ever had a program of yours distributed by a mail-server?
000264) Do you prefer meeting computers to meeting people?
000265) Do you count on your fingers in Binary?
000266) Do you own a talking door?
000267) Have you ever logged on to a talking door?
000270) Do you know the ASCII code table?
000271) ... In Octal?
000272) Do you use 8" disks?
000273) ... Do you carry them in your pocket?
000274) Do you own a computer?
000275) ...more than 4?
000276) ...more than 10(8)?
000277) ...more than 40(8)?
000300) Have you ever eaten a floppy disk?
000301) ...paper tape?
000302) ...Punched cards?
000303) Do you carry a computer (or advanced pocket calculator) around with
you?
000304) Do/Did you take your lecture notes on a computer?
000305) Do you know more computer phone numbers than people's phone numbers?
000306) Do you use VMS phone, Broadcast or similar to communicate with the chap
sitting next to you?
000307) Have you ever transmitted software on an IR beam?
000310) Are you a member of a User Group?
000311) ...Have you founded a user group?
000312) Is your first question on meeting a person 'What computer do you use?'?
000313) Do you think that a mouse is 'a filthy creature that squeaks and
spreads disease'?
000314) Do you wish your brain had an RS232 port?
000315) Do you wish that 'Caps lock' keys were remote controllable?
000316) Can you expand the expression 'FUBAR'?
000317) ...SNAFU?
000320) ...RYFM?
000321) Do you have a collection of old bits of computer?
000322) Do you have core memory?
000323) ... Delay line memory?
000324) ... Demountable hard disk?
000325) ... High-speed paper tape?
000326) Does your brain ever crash?
000327) ... Get interrupt-bound?
000330) ... Loose context?
000331) Have you ever repaired a teletype?
000332) Have you ever removed that screw in the ASR33 that causes various bits
to become airborne?
000333) ...Did you get them back together again?
000334) Do you type random commands 'just to see what happens'?
000335) ... In TECO?
000336) Have you ever cut a computer in half?
000337) Did it work afterwards?
000340) Have you ever aligned a floppy disk head?
000341) ...A hard disk head?
000342) ...A print head?
000343) Do you have any line printer pictures (TTYpics)?
000344) Do you draw circuit diagrams as TTYpics?
000345) ... Do you then submit them to USEnet News?
000346) Do you know any computer jokes?
000347) Do you have to explain them to people?
000350) Do you know about (DEC) flip-chip?
000351) Have you ever used flip-chip?
000352) On what machine is 207F the opcode for HALT?
000353) Where would you use synthetic programming?
000354) Do you own the circuit diagrams of your computer?
000355) ...The Microcode source?
000356) ...The OS source?
000357) ...The diagnostic source?
000360) Have you ever found bugs in any of the above?
000361) Have you ever punched dot-matrix characters on paper tape (or cards)?
000362) ... Have you projected the image with an OHP?
000363) Have you used/do you own a vector graphics unit?
000364) If asked 'Do you want <A> or <B>?' do you often reply 'Yes'?
000365) Can you write a (mathematical) routine quicker than it takes to find
the documentation, and understand it, for the one in the standard
library?
000366) Have you ever named your computer?
000367) In what number system does: 1+1=110 and 110+110=100?
000370) Do you ever build hardware just to get round the need of writing a
program?
000371) Do you write 'Do Not fold,spindle or mutilate' on items to be sent
by snail-mail
000372) Do you wish to be buried 'Face down, nine edge first'?
000373) Do you ever 'push buttons, just to see what happens'?
000374) Have you ever filled a printer with water?
000375) ... Did it work better at the end?
000376) Have you ever run a multi-user machine?
000377) Do you have a collection of computer trivia (e.g. Nutworks).
Scoring.
-------
Count 1 point for each yes, or question answered correctly.
If your score is between: You are:
000000 and 000010 Naive User
000011 and 000040 User
000041 and 000100 Hacker
000101 and 000200 Sage
000201 and 000300 Guru
000301 and 000377 Wizard
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