PNSQC 2020 Fun & Games – Answer Key

A: 1947
“On September 9, 1947, a team of computer scientists and engineers reported the world’s first computer bug. A bug is a flaw or glitch in a system. Thomas Edison reported “bugs” in his designs as early as the 1800s, but this was the first bug identified in a computer.”
“The team at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, found that their computer, the Mark II, was delivering consistent errors. When they opened the computer’s hardware, they found … a moth. The trapped insect had disrupted the electronics of the computer.”

Source: Nation Geographic

A: Ada Lovelace

“In 1843, Lovelace translated an article on the Analytical Engine by Italian Engineer Luigi Menabrea. Mathematician Charles Babbage asked Lovelace to expand upon the article in appendix notes—which eventually ran triple the length of the original piece. Those notes included an algorithm, steps the computer would take in solving certain mathematical sequences, which over time has awarded her credit as the first computer programmer.”
Source: World Science Festival

A: Because OCT 31 = DEC 25

The letter E, the most common letter in the English language is missing from the entire paragraph!

Accessibility
Heuristic
Integration
Measurement
Milestone
Pairing
Quality
Random
Regression
Requirements
Retrospective
Scalability
Waterfall