2014 Oct 31st - Q73

Zoe Quinn, pictured, is an indie-game developer. In February 2013, she developed a game called Depression Quest, based on depression. The game was given favourable reviews on gaming news site Kotaku, in August 2014. What did this apparently lead to?

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=> GamerGate or #gamergate - her ex-boyfriend claimed that she was given favourable views as a journalist of the site had a romantic relationship with her. This led to harassment of Quinn, and later, many who supported her.

2014 Oct 31st - Q72

In this picture taken October 31st 2013, identify the lady -

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=> Heidi Klum - media-labelled as the "Queen of Halloween", Klum brings out outrageously brilliant costumes every 31st of October; last year, she wrinkled herself (amoung other things) to look old.

2014 Oct 31st - Q71

From November 7 - 9, for a certain silver anniversary, an open-air installation titled "Boundary of Light" will be displayed. This installation, designed by Christopher Bauder and Marc Bauder, will trace 15km and will be made of 8000 eight-thousand balloons, that sways in the wind. What is this installation about?

Note that "Boundary of Light" is the literal translation of the installment's name

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=> Fall of the Berlin Wall - the installment traces a segment of the fallen wall, which celebrates its 25th anniversary on November 9.

2014 Oct 31st - Q70

Halloween, celebrated every October 31st in the modern world, is said to have originated from the merging of the All Saints' Day or All Souls' Day [celebrated on November 1st and 2nd respectively] with which Gaelic festival - that is celebrated on October 31st? By one theory, the Gaelic festival has its etymological roots in the Sankrit for season or year - as the festival celebrates the end of the harvest season.

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=> Samhain

2014 Oct 30th - Q69

Fill the blank, which is the blanked out picture too -

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=> "New World Cup logo" - the Russia 2018 Word Cup logo, released recently, got its fair share of memes, with one being its resemblence to Roger, the alien in American Dad.

2014 Oct 30th - Q68

Following the death of Michael Sata in London, Guy Scott was installed as the interim President of Zambia till the elections for a new President. With Scottish ancestry, Scott cannot compete in the elections, as his parents were not born in Zambia. 

But in this upcoming short tenure of Presidency, Scott has become the first white President of a continental African country since twenty years. The question is, who was the last white President of an African country, before Guy Scott?

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=> FW de Klerk of South Africa - his Presidency ended with the end of the Apartheid regime in South Africa.

2014 Oct 30th - Q67

On 29th October 2014, the logo for the FIFA World Cup 2018, Russia, was revealed from the International Space Station, and also through an animation projected on the Bolshoi Theatre.

Miguel Viana, CCO of the logo designing company Brandia Central, says the "human element of the logo" shows mankind's desire to reach for the stars, just as any footballer's dream to hold the World Cup trophy. The top element represents a "magic football", and is also shaped as a well-known Russian man-made object.

Name the "object", which this logo pays homage to.

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=> Sputnik-1 - the "desire to reach the stars" referred to the satellite, and the "magic ball" is in the shape of the Sputnik-1.

2014 Oct 29th - Q66

Called (as a sobriquet) the "heart of the scorpion", referring to the constellation Scorpius, this star's name literally means "equal to Mars". This is because of its red hue when viewed by an unaided eye, like planet Mars. Some also speculate that it may be named in relation to Antarah ibn Shaddad, the Arab warrior-hero celebrated in the Golden Mu'allaqat.

Name this star, in the news for the wrong reasons.

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=> Antares - this is the name of the recently exploded ISS supplier rocket of NASA.

2014 Oct 29th - Q65

In the following Google Doodle of October 29th, the 84th birthday of a French sculptor is celebrated, making the Google logo using the sculptor's famous 'Nanas' (freely posed forms made of papier-mâché, yarn, and cloth). Identify the sculptor.

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=> Niki de Saint Phalle

2014 Oct 29th - Q64

The picture shows a character from Activision's Call Of Duty : Black Ops II, nicknamed "old pineapple face" by other characters in the game. In the game, "old pineapple face" helps the CIA capture a Nicaraguan terrorist before turning on the Americans. Then, he himself is hunted.
Quite recently, an imprisoned ex-dicatator sued Activision (and lost the case) for depicting him as the shown character in the game. Which ex-dictator are we talking about, who bears resemblance in both appearance and actions to the character? Also give the country he ruled.

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=> Manuel Noriega of Panama - Initially, Noriega worked as an informant to the CIA, but they later severed their links with him. In 1989, President George Bush Sr. ordered the invasion of Panama, due to concerns of Noriega's violent regime, and took him as a prisoner.

2014 Oct 28th - Q63

Identify the man in the middle of this recent Google doodle, celebrating his 100th birthday - he famously discovered X, and even more famously, refused to patent it, remarking : "There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?".

Also, X? - X, quoting a 2009 documentary, helped to solve "America's biggest problem apart from the atomic bomb".

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=> Jonas Salk - discovered the Polio vaccine. 

2014 Oct 27th - Q62

In terrorism, this two-word term is used to refer to someone who, "commits or prepares for, or is suspected of committing or preparing for, violent acts in support of some group, movement, or ideology, but who does so alone, outside of any command structure and without material assistance from any group." 

Identify the term, used frequently in news nowadays, owing to the Canadian shooting at Parliament Hill.

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=> Lone Wolf or Lone-Wolf fighter - it is a common term for solo quizzing too.

2014 Oct 27th - Q61

Which ongoing horror movie, whose name literally means "yes-yes", is sponsored by three companies, including Hasbro? 

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=> Ouija - the movie is based on Ouija boards, which is a trademarked product of Hasbro (who own Parker Brothers). Ouija gets its name from the French and German words for yes - "oui" and "ja".

2014 Oct 27th - Q60

With countries like Finland having this as a free legal right, the recent proposal for the taxation of this commodity has led to a more than hundred-thousand people strike in Hungary. What commodity?

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=> The Internet - the tax was based on amount of data traffic per consumer (in Gigabytes).

2014 Oct 27th - Q59

The Environmental Partnership Association is running a "Europe's Best Tree" event in April 2015 - the nominee for the event, from England, is currently being selected though a public online poll brought out by Woodland Trust. The ten nominees of "England's Best Tree" are culturally and historically significant trees like the Shugborough Yew, Staffordshire and Whiteleaved Oak, Herefordshire. The question is, identify the significance of three other trees listed below -

Located in Lincolnshire, and related to a former member of Parliament of England
for Cambridge University

Major Oak, Nottinghamshire - related to a legendary folk figure

Ankerwycke Yew, Surrey - witnessed a 1215 event, that has inspired
the current US Constitution

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=> Newton's Apple tree is the first; Major Oak - the tree where Robin Hood and his band of "merry men" were believed to be living; Ankerwycke Yew - the tree that is said to have bore witness to the signing of the Magna Carta.

2014 Oct 26th - Q58

Though hinted earlier, this artist confirmed on the Graham Norton Show on October 16, that he wears his (now-iconic) goggles due to glaucoma - a condition that makes the eyes sensitive to light. Which artist, whom iOS users have certainly noticed, are we talking about?

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=> Bono - the silhouette on the "Artists" icon in the iOS Music app is actually Bono.

2014 Oct 26th - Q57

Kathrin Altwegg, the principal investigator of the ROSINA science team, on a blog post said that, in general, a X will be a poor source for perfumes - having a strong smell, a X has the odour of "rotten eggs (hydrogen sulphide), horse stable (ammonia), and the pungent, suffocating odour of formaldehyde. This is mixed with the faint, bitter, almond-like aroma of hydrogen cyanide. Add some whiff of alcohol (methanol) to this mixture, paired with the vinegar-like aroma of sulphur dioxide and a hint of the sweet aromatic scent of carbon disulphide, and you arrive at the ‘perfume’ of our X."

X?

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=> Comets - the ROSINA team is the Rosetta Orbiter Sensor for Ion and Neutral Analysis - the studies were based on data aquired by the Rosetta Orbiter from the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

2014 Oct 26th - Q56

Following is the format of a now-popular bumper sticker humorising the Ebola pandemic. What does the design of letter 'O' signify?

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=> Its a 'no' slash over Barack Obama's presidential campaign logo - the bumper comes captioned with, "Obama's legacy to America"

2014 Oct 25th - Q55

The picture of a famous "building" (which is a namesake of a fictional, ideally republic island) is present on the main theatrical poster of which record-breaking film?

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=> Happy New Year - the "building" is The Atlantis

2014 Oct 25th - Q54

Identify XY, where XY is the stage name :

Born X Roger Stephens, this artist became a chart-topper in early 2014 with a single. Popular early on for his collaborations, X got the idea of his stage name from a remark by poet J. Ivy. Ivy had reportedly said : "I heard your music and it reminds me of that music from the old school. You sound like one of the legends. As a matter of fact, that's what I'm going to call you from now on! I'm going to call you XY."

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=> John Legend

2014 Oct 25th - Q53

Which multi-millionaire comedian, who recently proclaimed that he would "die or go to prison" for his political revolution, has been sent many sarcastic graphs on Twitter, with the hashtag "#send*******graphs"?

Note - ******* is the person's name.

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=> Russell Brand - he created a buzz with mixed reviews for his 9/11 conspiracy theories.

2014 Oct 25th - Q52

Fill the identical blank in both tweets - and identify the tweeters. 

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=> Breaking Bad - Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul's tweets in reference to Toys R Us's decision to remove the Breaking Bad action figures from stores. This was caused as a result of an online petition started by a Florida mom, Susan Schrivjer, which collected over 9000 signs. The toys were were for 15+ year olds and came packed with a small bag of fake meth.

2014 Oct 25th - Q51

Alan Eustance, a University of Central Florida graduate, is an American computer researches who is the current Senior Vice President of Knowledge at Google. He also owns ten patents. On October 24th 2014, using a balloon among many other equipments, what record set on 12th October 2012 did he break? Also name the previous record-holder.

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=> He broke the World record for the highest-altitude jump. The previous holder being Felix Baumgartner

2014 Oct 24th - Q50

In a match between Argentinean teams Estudiantes de la Plata and Rosario Central in 1948, Ricardo Infante scored a goal using a certain move. The football magazine El Grafico set up a cover showing Infante as a pupil with the caption : "El infante que se hizo la _______". This was a pun on Infante (meaning "infant" in Spanish) and literally meant "the boy who played hooky". _______, meaning to play hooky or to bunk classes, has stuck with this move since. Name this move, recently used exquisitely for a goal by Erik Lamela.

Note : The blanks contain the required name.

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=> Rabona - a method of kicking the football whereby the kicking leg is wrapped around the back of the standing leg. Lamela scored the mentioned goal in the Europa League against Asteras Triplois F.C.

2014 Oct 24th - Q49

Having broken down a deal with Irish rivals Fyffes, this company is expected to go in a deal with Brazil's Cutrale and Safra. Which company is being talked about, whose name literally means "Little Girl" in Spanish, and has a mascot that is a cartoon of the following picture? 

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=> Chiquita (Bananas) - the company may also be named after the Chiquita river in Venezuela, around where their banana plants grow.

2014 Oct 24th - Q48

On 24th October 2014, alongside inaugurating the Information Gallery in the London's Science Museum, Queen Elizabeth II also inaugurated her Twitter account, @BritishMonarchy. Her first tweet went : "It is a pleasure to open the Information Age exhibition today at the @ScienceMuseum and I hope people will enjoy visiting. Elizabeth R."

The Elizabeth R. would be used as a sign-off to the Queen's personal tweets. It is also used when the Queen signs official documents. What does the 'R.' stand for?

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=> Regina, which means royal.

2014 Oct 24th - Q47

Mike Tyson's remarks on a certain June 2014 "incident" : "_______ ____? I understand it. It was a blackout moment which can happen at times. It was just one moment in which the competition can make the blood in your veins boil and it overpowers your rationality. Sometimes you become something you are not." What is this incident?

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=> Luis Suarez's bite against Georgio Chiellini in the World Cup match between Uruguay and Italy - the consequent footballing ban is set to expire on 24th October, and Suarez is expected to make his official FC Barcelona debut against Real Madrid the very next day in the Spanish League.

2014 Oct 23rd - Q46

President Xi Jinping recently, at a Beijing symposium, gave a call for less "weird architecture" in China. These "weird" buildings referred to buildings like the CCTV Headquarters, the People's Daily Headquarters, and the Gate of the Orient, which have ridiculed for resembling "big pants", a phallus, and long johns respectively. Two others that could fall into this "weird" criteria  include the Guangzhou Circle, and the Wangjing SOHO project. Which specific (different) Chinese artifacts have inspired the two buildings?

This is supposed to be three of these artefacts; notice the arches.

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=> A Chinese Jade Bi-disk (for the Guangzhou Circle) and three Chinese Fans (for the Wangjing SOHO project) - the latter is designed by the Pritzker laureate Zaha Hadid.

2014 Oct 23rd - Q45

Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance is a well-critiqued 2014 movie directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The movie is about how a washed-up actor, who once played an iconic superhero "Birdman", must overcome his ego and family trouble as he mounts a Broadway play in a bid to reclaim his past glory. Which actor, quite apt for the role in a way, stars in this movie?

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=> Michael Keaton - he acted as Batman in the 1989 and 1992 versions. Many magazines and newspapers showed the headline "Batman to Birdman" on this count.