FAQ is an abbreviation for "Frequently Asked Question(s)". The term refers to listed questions and answers, all supposed to be frequently asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. Since the acronym originated in textual media, its pronunciation varies; both "fak" and "F.A.Q." are commonly heard (and therefore, when used with an indefinite article, it is either "a FAQ" or "an FAQ"). Depending on usage, the term may refer specifically to a single frequently-asked question, or to an assembled list of many questions and their answers. An alternative suggestion is that FAQ is actually a clumsily-constructed three letter acronym purported to have come from computer IT specialists, frustrated with answering over and over again the same, perceived stupid questions from computer users, and which secretly stands for the pronunciation "fah-queue". For example: "Please read the FAQ list to ensure your question has not already been answered before bothering the overworked IT department".

Origins

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While the name may be recent, the FAQ format itself is quite old. For instance, Matthew Hopkins wrote The Discovery of Witches in 1647 in FAQ format. He introduces it as "Certaine Queries answered," ... Many old catechisms are in a question and answer format.

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Hardware News items, Blog posts | ZDNet

July 4th, 2008: A trip down memory lane
Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:29:59 -0700
A 1 question civics quiz Today American's celebrate the Declaration of Independence, the legal foundation of the USA and, after the failure of the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution of the United States. I revere the Constitution as a magnificent piece of political engineering. But it...
Say it ain't so AVG, say it ain't so: AVG LinkScanner = Badware?
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:11:01 -0700
The Register covered a very interesting story about AVG.  Apparently AVG is spamming the Internet with traffic that looks to be coming from Internet Explorer.  AVG software pre-crawls search results to try to protect users, but uses a user agent that makes the software appear to be Internet Explorer.  This pre-crawling is flooding websites with...
Beaches and BBQs vs. Blackberrys: Holiday weekends of the IT set
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:48:48 -0700
"Weekend? What's a weekend?" While the rest of the country is escaping their offices for a leisurely weekend, many in IT could end up back at theirs at the beep of a Blackberry. by Deb Perelman
Airport security part 4: Attack of the body scanners!
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:52:00 -0700
If you read my blog postings semi-often, you know that I'm very, very critical of problems with airport security.  Nicole Wong of the Boston Globe reported that Boston's Logan International Airport will become the next airport to implement full-body scanners (thanks for the link from the LiquidMatrix guys!) that can see...
First look at Ubuntu 8.10 - Intrepid Ibex
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:01:09 -0700
On Saturday the first alpha release of Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex" was made available for download. So what's new on the horizon for Ubuntu users? by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Getaway day: How to secure your laptop for holiday travel
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:24:20 -0700
It's getaway day and as we prepare to hit the road, trudge through airport security and snag that car rental, spare a thought for the valuable data that travels with you on that trusty old laptop. According to a recent study by the Ponemon Institute, more than...

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