THE HACKER TEST - Version 3.0 HISTORY: ======== 06/16/89 This test was conceived and written by Felix Lee, John Hayes and Angela Thomas at the end of the spring semester, 1989. It has gone through many revisions prior to this initial release, and will undoubtedly go through many more. 12/27/89 Made into a computer program by Rich 'Crash' Lewis at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Debugging help from his friend Sherry 'Dazzler' Foster. Many small errors corrected, and some changes made to the HACKER.DAT file. Contact Rich on the following systems: Via GEnie : RICH.LEWIS Via Compu$erve: 73040,3405 Via Internet : 73040.3405@compuserve.com Via U.S. mail : Rich Lewis, Jr. President: SuperNova Software, Inc. 2490 Royal View Ct. Cincinnati, Ohio 45244 04/04/92 Final version of the computer program released free to the world by Rich 'Crash' Lewis after forgetting about it for two years. Errrr, I mean, after extensive modifications and a massive two year beta-testing program the likes of which the software industry has never seen! :-p Received RAVE reviews from industry mags such as Byte, PC Computing and the National Enquirer and Star. INTRO: ====== Herewith a compendium of fact and folklore about computer Hackerdom, cunningly disguised as a test. SCORING: ======== Scoring - Count 1 for each item that you have done, or each question that you can answer correctly. If your score is between: You are: 0x000 and 0x010 -> Computer Illiterate 0x011 and 0x040 -> a User 0x041 and 0x080 -> an Operator 0x081 and 0x0C0 -> a Nerd 0x0C1 and 0x100 -> a Hacker 0x101 and 0x180 -> a Guru 0x181 and 0x200 -> a Wizard Note: If you don't understand the scoring, stop here. And now for the questions... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- #512 0001 Have you ever used a computer? * Have you ever used a computer; 0002 ... for more than 4 hours continuously? 0003 ... for more than 8 hours? 0004 ... for more than 16 hours? 0005 ... for more than 32 hours? 0006 Have you ever patched paper tape? 0007 Have you ever missed a class while programming? * While programming, have you ever; 0008 ... Missed an examination? 0009 ... Missed a wedding? 0010 ... Missed your own wedding? 0011 Have you ever programmed while intoxicated? 0012 ... Did it make sense the next day? 0013 Have you ever written a flight simulator? 0014 Have you ever voided the warranty on your equipment? 0015 Ever change the value of 4? * Ever change the value of 4; 0016 ... Unintentionally? 0017 ... In a language other than Fortran? 0018 Do you use DWIM to make life interesting? 0019 Have you named a computer? 0020 Do you complain when a "feature" you use gets fixed? 0021 Do you eat slime-molds? 0022 Do you know how many days old you are? 0023 Have you ever wanted to download pizza? 0024 Have you ever invented a computer joke? 0025 ... Did someone not 'get' it? 0026 Can you recite Jabberwocky? 0027 ... Backwards? 0028 Have you seen "Donald Duck in Mathemagic Land"? 0029 Have you seen "Tron"? 0030 Have you seen "Wargames"? 0031 Do you know what ASCII stands for? 0032 ... EBCDIC? 0033 Can you read and write ASCII in hex or octal? 0034 Do you know the names of all the ASCII control codes? 0035 Can you read and write EBCDIC in hex? 0036 Can you convert from EBCDIC to ASCII and vice versa? 0037 Do you know what characters are the same in both ASCII and EBCDIC? 0038 Do you know maxint on your system? 0039 Ever define your own numerical type to get better precision? 0040 Can you name powers of two up to 2**16 in arbitrary order? * Can you name powers of two in arbitrary order; 0041 ... up to 2**32? 0042 ... up to 2**64? 0043 Can you read a punched card, looking at the holes? 0044 ... feeling the holes? 0045 Have you ever patched binary code? 0046 ... While the program was running? 0047 Have you ever used program overlays? 0048 Have you met any IBM vice-president? 0049 Do you know Dennis, Bill, or Ken? 0050 Have you ever taken a picture of a CRT? etc, etc, etc. There are 512 such questions, all of them included in the zipped executable test file. It will automatically score you according to your answers. This executable file has been scanned for possible viruses and none were found. If you still don't want to take my word for it, scan it yourself... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- AUTHOR, AUTHOR! =============== If you have any comments or suggestions regarding the HACKER TEST, Please send them to: The program's author: Rich 'Crash' Lewis Via GEnie: RICH.LEWIS Via Compu$erve: 73040,3405 Via Internet: 73040.3405@compuserve.com Via U.S. mail: Rich Lewis, Jr. President: SuperNova Software, Inc. 2490 Royal View Ct. Cincinnati, Ohio 45244 The authors of the original Hacker Test questions: hayes@psunuce.bitnet or jwh100@psuvm.bitnet / jwh100@psuvmxa.bitnet or jwh100@psuvm.psu.edu / jwh100@psuvmxa.psu.edu or ...!psuvax1!psuvm.bitnet!jwh100