Online Fame Distracts 9th-Grader Who Built That Clock Mistaken For A Bomb (washingtonpost.com) 319
An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: This week the Washington Post ran a long profile of Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old boy whose home-made clock got him arrested after school officials and the local police mistook it for a bomb last summer. The Justice Department is currently investigating the incident -- while the school district is suing the Texas attorney general, and the boy's family is suing the school district. But Ahmed has just returned back to Texas, and spoke to the press -- including a local Fox news affiliate which later broadcast a commentary saying his family was obsessed with fame and plotted the arrest.
Over the last year Ahmed's read everything that appeared online about him, but never responds because he doesn't want to give in to anger. The Post writes that while some kids at school called him ISIS Boy, "Sympathetic crowdfunders raised $18,000 for his education. He visited the White House, the Google Science Fair and the president of his home country of Sudan (a wanted war criminal, but Mohamed said it would be rude not to accept the invitation)." Though he'd like to return to the U.S. someday for college, he's been living in Qatar, where a government organization paid for private schooling for him and his sister. But the Post says he still sometimes imagines what his life might've been like if the incident had never happened. "By now he could have invented something new -- not just a clock that only took him a few minutes to put together from parts in his family's garage, which was full of '90s-era electronics from when his uncle ran a chain called Beeper Warehouse."
Over the last year Ahmed's read everything that appeared online about him, but never responds because he doesn't want to give in to anger. The Post writes that while some kids at school called him ISIS Boy, "Sympathetic crowdfunders raised $18,000 for his education. He visited the White House, the Google Science Fair and the president of his home country of Sudan (a wanted war criminal, but Mohamed said it would be rude not to accept the invitation)." Though he'd like to return to the U.S. someday for college, he's been living in Qatar, where a government organization paid for private schooling for him and his sister. But the Post says he still sometimes imagines what his life might've been like if the incident had never happened. "By now he could have invented something new -- not just a clock that only took him a few minutes to put together from parts in his family's garage, which was full of '90s-era electronics from when his uncle ran a chain called Beeper Warehouse."
He didn't "build" anything (Score:5, Informative)
He took a click out of its casing and took it to school at the suggestion of his father, hoping to start a racial incident. They succeeded.
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There's no actual evidence for the conspiracy theories. The police didn't charge him for a hoax bomb and they actually investigated it.
Everything else is just pure speculation.
Re:He didn't "build" anything (Score:4, Insightful)
Exactly. It was a publicity stunt. It's no different than the Clinton campaign hiring Kahn to speak at their convention and then a few days later the guy decides that he doesn't want all the publicity... after the world learns that he was scamming green cards.
Re:He didn't "build" anything (Score:4, Insightful)
So what does a Micronta clock have to do with Heathkit?
Re:He didn't "build" anything (Score:4, Funny)
Uh-oh, somebody's not a real nerd.
Re:He didn't "build" anything (Score:5, Informative)
On the contrary, I have built MANY Heathkits, up to and including a 70s era 25" color TV and a "Hero Jr" robot.
But Heathkit was a separate company, never a Tandy/Radio Shack brand, like Micronta, Radio Shack's kit line were called "ArcherKits", and were nowhere near as nice as Heathkits....
Re: He didn't "build" anything (Score:2)
and a "Hero Jr" robot.
Holy fucking blast from the past: I remember lusting after one of those; must've been thirty years ago...
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I'm looking at a Heathkit micrometer, and at least the power supply is clearly marked "Micronta".
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Heathkit built a micrometer? That needs a power supply?
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Now that I look closely, it was a Radio Shack kit, not a Heathkit. But if Micronta was making parts for Radio Shack kits, doesn't it support the possibility that this kid did in fact build his clock the same way I built this old multitester (which doesn't work, by the way)?
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"Micronta" didn't make anything. It was a brand name that Tandy used on clocks, multimeters, and other test equipment, which were generally made by Asian subcontractors.
AFAIK, RS never offered a line powered digital clock as a kit. Certainly not the one repackaged by this kid. There are several sites online which compare his project to the original clock. It does appear to have been nothing more than removing the guts and putting them in another box.
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The photos show a circuit board printed with "Micronta" which is a Tandy/Radio Shack trademark.
Yes, he took apart an alarm clock, made it look like a Hollywood bomb, and claimed he "invented" it. He is a liar, a swindler, and a piece of shit human. He tried to play the media with his pity party. Then he left the country. Good riddance! But someone left the door open and the vermin got back in again.
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This is actually true of most people who get their 15 minutes of fame these days. I mean shit, the black lives matter movement is all over the media, but they don't give a shit about an actual black life unless it involves all of 1) a gun 2) a cop 3) a stolen case of cigarettes, a stolen bike, or a stolen car. But, that's the world we live in today: The best way to get presidential involvement is to be a liar, a cheater, or a petty thug who happened to receive an overzealous (but in many cases, deserved) re
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Good to know you support a literal police state where police can kill anyone because idiots like you will support them.
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Re:He didn't "build" anything (Score:4, Interesting)
despite mounting video evidence that is almost never the case.
Citation needed. I'd be willing to bet that the GP was alluding to that Gentle Giant (TM) in Ferguson, where the evidence supported the officer. [washingtonpost.com] But hey, let's perpetuate the lie that was "Hands Up, Don't Shoot!"
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How do we teach people to not rape, steal, and kill each other?
Yes, I'm Mr TFTFY today. Deal with it.
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It is if he attacks a cop.
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So obviously, you would allow riot control police to just start shooting everyone in the crowd.
It's funny and concerning how so many people are willing to let the police be the judge, jury and executioner.
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So many Slashdotters want a literal police state these days.
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Classic tactic: racists calling everyone else the racist.
...Wow, you actually said that.
Reflect on it for a minute and then come back and explain to me why you feel that you aren't a racist.
Here's a hint: someone being violent is NOT a reason to kill them. Bunch of fascists suggesting that it's okay to kill anyone just for being violent.
The thing is, you yourself are behaving much like a fascist would, and you're being bigoted. The only difference between you and any other bigot is that you think speaking on behalf of minorities automatically gives you the high ground. But I'm here to tell you that you're quite wrong.
That said, if somebody is behaving violently, sometimes that is reason to kill them. It reall
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You seem to be quite adept at calling everyone racist. Three people have already responded, and they are very much on target. One of the AC's suggests that you've bullied and browbeat me, but that part is inaccurate. You have ATTEMPTED to bully and browbeat me, but failed.
Any violent person is subject to having lethal force used against them. It's the "violent" part that qualifies them. Some AC below suggests that the person punching another person shouldn't be subject to a violent and/or lethal respon
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That said, if somebody is behaving violently, sometimes that is reason to kill them.
Uh no. Unless they are actually about to kill someone, then no. EVEN IF it looks like another person may get punched a few times, that is still not a reason to kill someone.
If we follow what you just said however, then the cops had no business shooting at the Pulse Nightclub shooter, and they should have just asked him to lay down his weapons and turn himself in.
Only if you're an idiot who can't tell the difference between a positive statement and a negative statement. I only said someone being violent is not a reason to kill them. I never said never kill anyone even if they are violent. LEARN THE DIFFERENCE.
Reflect on it for a minute and then come back and explain to me why you feel that you aren't a racist.
Don't need a minute. What I said isn't racist because I didn't say anything "whites shou
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Re: He didn't "build" anything (Score:2, Troll)
And I love how even bigger assholes think that, in the grand scheme of things, this happens "many" times and is the rule rather than the exception.
Yes, cops are human. Yes, cops kill innocent people sometimes. But to attribute it to racism, especially in cases like Zimmerman who had a long pro-civil rights history, is just politically correct assfuckery meant to insert a motive that was never there.
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Considering that cops killing black people have shown to be not correlated with black crime rates, it's looking very likely to be a rule. Keep denying facts all you want.
Yeah when you say not correlated, you mean cops kill blacks at a far lower rate than the crime rates indicate should be the rate.
Why don't you come back and compare the crime rate for black crime, the black on black homicide rate and the homicide by cop for blacks.
Then you can apologize for being full of shit.
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Considering that cops killing black people have shown to be not correlated with black crime rates, it's looking very likely to be a rule. Keep denying facts all you want.
It's a good thing I'm not in the position to attack your credibility on this one, because you're doing a pretty good job of ruining it all by yourself.
No further comment.
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Black on black homicide is high, therefore cops should have equal rights to kill black people. Okay.
Amazing. You're completely illiterate but somehow operate a computer.
Re: He didn't "build" anything (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: He didn't "build" anything (Score:5, Insightful)
Zimmerman wasn't a cop, racist or not, he was a member of a neighborhood watch, and ultimately, whatever you think about race, he should not have done what he did.
I'm aware of that. I'm also aware that the physical evidence and witness testimony fully supports his version of the events that transpired. And I don't know about you, but if somebody is slamming my head into pavement, and I had a gun on me, I would have done exactly as he did. Even the witnesses who were in favor of Trayvon Martin made this much clear.
They could have at least made him stand up in court and assert his affirmative claim of self-defense, but the prosecutor, nope, couldn't manage it.
You're quite uneducated, to be honest. No prosecutor anywhere ever can make the accused testify in their own defense; that would be a clear violation of the 5th amendment. And you know what? No defendant ever does unless either they're insane or they've literally run out of options. Why? Because the prosecutor will get to cross examine you, and during a cross examination a good prosecutor can make you look guilty of assassinating a pope that is still very much alive. The Zimmerman case was so airtight that they didn't even want to prosecute to begin with, as even the detectives who investigated the case honestly believed it to be justified homicide. There never, at any time, would have been any reason for Zimmerman "stand up" in court.
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There were no witnesses to the start of the confrontation. There were witnesses during, whose attention was drawn by the sound of fighting, but none were present when Zimmerman and Trayvon met. If there were then the investigation would have been a lot easier. While the physical evidence shows there was certainly a fight, there is no way to tell who started the violence.
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“This is what happens when we (IPD) screw something up,” one Irving Police Department detective wrote in an email later uncovered as part of a public records request from Vice. “That thing didn’t even look like a bomb.”
You've got some Trump jizz on your chin.
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Movies use visual language. The movie word for bomb is 'big red clock display.' It might also be 'lots of exposed wires.' Everyone recognises that in movies, this is what a bomb looks like, because if movies depicted a bomb realistically it might take the audience too long to realise what is going on. Action movies move fast, if the audience is lost for ten seconds it'll take them another thirty to figure out what just happened.
Unfortunately people are often stupid and panicky, and when scared (either of th
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Or he's just a kid who used a word wrongly. Why don't we dredge up every piece of shit thing you said when you were in school and hold you to it?
As for using words incorrectly...
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Re:He didn't "build" anything (Score:5, Insightful)
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He was most likely put up to it by his activist dad, particularly since he knew exactly what to say to the cops - he told them the truth, but in such a way that they would think he's lying. That's not something you know when you're 14.
The whole thing smells rotten to me too, but I have to disagree with your reasoning. A 14 year old kid can be just as shifty and generally suspicious as adults. He didn't have to know how to be truthful but suspicious. That might just be his character. Plenty of people just seem to be "up to something" or "hiding something" all the time. Those behaviors didn't just appear at age 18.
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Even if your claim is true and he did plan the whole thing as a publicity stunt, it only worked because he knew that if the school saw a brownish Muslim student with some electronics they'd go into full bomb-scare-panic, while a white Christian student with exactly the same device would have been ignored.
Re:He didn't "build" anything (Score:4, Insightful)
Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple) spent the night in jail when he was high school for doing this kind of thing, and didn't get to meet the president:
http://www.businessinsider.com... [businessinsider.com]
Re:Liberal? (Score:4, Insightful)
Not a liberal (Score:2)
For background, answer these two questions with yes or no:
Q1: Can you think of an example of a poisonous snake?
Q2: Can you think of an example of a venomous snake?
Reading these two lines, many people have sudden insight that the words have different meanings. They 'kinda knew, but hadn't realized it yet. They may have read "poisonous" and "venomous" many times and not made the connection, simply because the words are so close in meaning. We almost never bother to look up the definitions, preferring to get t
Re:Not a liberal (Score:5, Insightful)
A 14 year old knows the difference between building and inventing. Ask any 14 year old who invented the telephone, the car, or the cotton gin. They may not know the correct answers, but they know the meaning. Then, ask them who currently manufactures cars and telephones. Very different answers.
Your argument would work for a 5 year old, but not a 14 year old. Many 14 year olds are freshmen in high school and should have learned the difference between building and inventing back in elementary school.
He didn't even make the clock -- he removed it from its housing and placed it into another housing. He made a box for a clock... one he stated he specifically chose to disguise what it was.
No sane person would believe his story that he invented a clock and wanted to show it off to his teacher at school -- no, he pulled a clock out of its housing, hid it inside another housing on purpose to disguise it, and then showed it to kids knowing they'd think it could be a bomb. 14 year olds aren't innocent 'lil ignorant angels that don't know what words mean. They have sex, do drugs, lie their asses off to their parents and elders, sneak out of their houses at night, and yes -- make fake bombs for attention. Not ALL of them, obviously, but yeah... he's 2 years shy of driving and holding down a part-time job in most states, not a baby to be coddled and forgiven for doing something he damned well knew was stupid and made up lies to cover it up.
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Re:Not a liberal (Score:4, Insightful)
I wouldn't have put it that way, but you have a valid point. This is a kid who didn't do anything actually dangerous and was taken from a school in handcuffs. It was made worse because it's apparent it wouldn't haven't have happened if his skin had been light enough.
There seem to be a lot of comments talking about the will or intent of the kid, but honestly it shouldn't matter. We put our children in a government mandated situation where we have to trust the institution with rights otherwise reserved to parent. We expect, and have every right to expect, the institution to handle discipline with consistency and good judgement. It's absolutely justified that we should react with outrage when they fail to do it in such a spectacular fashion. Don't forget this kid was pressured by authorities to sign something admitting to something he didn't do without parental or legal defense.
I don't care what the kid did, kids do stupid stuff sometimes. I don't care what his parents did because having stupid parents shouldn't be an excuse to abuse kids. What I do care about is how the authorities put in charge of our children behave and in this case it was objectively terrible.
That's going to happen. Kids are going to do stupid stuff. Parents are going to do stupid stuff. Authorities are going to react badly. You can't and shouldn't expect to be able to prevent every kid from ever doing something stupid. You can only do so much to prevent parents from being stupid. What we can and must do is prevent authorities from doing stupid stuff, particularly those who are given the authority of force.
Re: Not a liberal (Score:2)
Given that he didn't even build a clock, the discussion of the relation of "build" and "invent" is a waste of words.
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Moron
venomous
venms/
adjective
adjective: venomous
(of animals, especially snakes, or their parts) secreting venom; capable of injecting venom by means of a bite or sting.
synonyms: poisonous, toxic; More
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Re: He didn't "build" anything (Score:4, Insightful)
Why was this labeled flamebait? It's exactly what happened.
It is not what happened. What actually happened is a sequence of events that could have happened to any of us when we were kids.
A 14 year old kid took a clock apart and put it back together. The word "invention" was thrown around (he may or may not have used the word himself; this is unclear), but the kid was absolutely clear about his motives: he wanted to understand how it worked. Many, many Slashdotters can relate to this. This happened to me when I was a kid.
He was proud of himself and took it to school to show it off to a world which isn't very impressed by such things. He was told to put it away but couldn't help himself. Many, many Slashdotters can relate to this. This happened to me when I was a kid.
What most Slashdotters can't relate to is having the cops called on you and being the subject of a viral shitstorm for doing this. This did not happen to me when I was a kid. The kid is not an inventor. He might be a genius (his measured IQ may well be in the top 2%), or he might not be. The central point is that he is one of us, and we take care of our own. When normal geek childhood is criminalised, that's news for nerds and stuff that matters.
There has been a lot of talk (with no actual evidence, I might add) that the kid's father somehow engineered this, or wanted an incident, or to make a point. Even if that were true, the point was indeed made. So many social media commenters (and sadly Slashdot comments have devolved to the level of social media commenters) concentrate on what the kid did wrong, and don't stop to ponder just why it's so easy for incidents like this to happen if your skin has a bit of melanin in it.
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Yes, because it's everyone's life dream to face violent arrest and even death by cop for shits and giggles. At the age of 14.
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Or just ponder how easy it is to get everyone elses attention if your skin has a bit of melanin in it, hmmmm?
Indeed. I don't know why people with more melanin tend to attract the attention of the police and other unthinking authority figures more than people with less melanin. Perhaps we should all ponder on this.
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It's a mix of facts and narrative. The "He took a [clock] out of its casing and took it to school" part is a fact. The "at the suggestion of his father, hoping to start a racial incident" is a narrative.
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If you read the post carefully, it states that "a local Fox news affiliate [...] later broadcast a commentary saying his family was obsessed with fame and plotted the arrest". If unsubstantiated commentary from a local Fox News affiliate now counts as evidence, Deity help us all.
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His sister was suspended earlier because another student accused her of making a bomb threat. Do you have a reliable source for that being a "stunt"?
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When I first saw the circuit board, I was very impressed. The soldering job was quite good for an adult. It would be amazing for a mere 14 year old to pull off a soldering job of that caliber....
The circuit board coming from a commercial clock is much more realistic. A person smart enough to come up with a circuit for a board that big would be more intelligent than to call it merely an 'invention'.
Or Steve Jobs.
sue everyone (Score:2)
Probably not (Score:5, Informative)
By now he could have invented something new
Probably not.
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Only if by invent you mean take something out of one case and put it into another one.
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By now he could have invented something new
Probably not.
That is correct. Both Apple and Samsung has been awarded patents on "inventing something new" and are currently suing anyone with a semi-original thought.
Re:Probably not (Score:4, Insightful)
Probably not.
Certainly not. The only reason this boy enjoyed any fame at all is because he simultaneously satisfied several fetishes of the American Left. He was a minority child from a Muslim family who appeared to be interested in a technical or scientific subject. An electronic clock is not the sort of thing that will get you the blue ribbon at your state science fair, but that didn't matter to the politicos. Here was a politically correct family to use as a prop and they took full advantage, although arguably the family tried to take advantage too. Like so many things on the Left it's the appearance, not the merit or lack thereof that matters.
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Well sure he could have (Score:2)
If "invented" means what he did with his original thing which was "stuffed some over the counter parts in a box". I "invented" lots of shit like that as a kid. Turns out tearing apart electronics is not only fun, but pretty easy. ...
However it is also not inventing and nothing this kid has done is worthy of news or praise.
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He was only 14 at the time. He has the interest, he just hadn't had time to refine the skills. If this whole incident hadn't gotten out of hand he'd probably be playing with arduinos by now and building little gadgets around the house like most hobbyists.
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Lots of flack for being called an "inventor"... (Score:2, Interesting)
While repackaging a digital clock may not appear to take much in the way of technical skill to the minds of most of the highly technologically literate folks here at slashdot, truthfully even that is still something that most people would not necessarily think of ever trying to build, or at least not without following some
Re:Lots of flack for being called an "inventor"... (Score:5, Interesting)
While repackaging a digital clock may not appear to take much in the way of technical skill to the minds of most of the highly technologically literate folks here at slashdot, truthfully even that is still something that most people would not necessarily think of ever trying to build, or at least not without following some instructions.
Yep, most people would not think to repackage a clock because it ALREADY CAME IN A PERFECTLY GOOD CASE. There is no invention here, unless you want to claim that choosing to paint your room a different color, or changing the screen door on your home is invention.
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Remember that fashion many years ago for electronics with transparent or near-transparent casing? Some people like the workings to be visible.
It was a bit of a sloppy job - no proper mounting for one of the circuit boards - but he was only 14 at the time, so I wouldn't expect him to have a lot of experience.
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Invented? (Score:5, Insightful)
Honestly, This is how bad it has become in the USA? This is considered invented?
That means the kids that actually learn Arduino programming and make sumo bots are Fucking Alien Technomancer Magicians!
Re:Invented? (Score:5, Funny)
That means the kids that actually learn Arduino programming and make sumo bots are Fucking Alien Technomancer Magicians!
You say that as if it were a bad thing.
Re:Invented? (Score:4, Funny)
That means the kids that actually learn Arduino programming and make sumo bots are Fucking Alien Technomancer Magicians!
You say that as if it were a bad thing.
His statement is also flawed, he said "Fucking Alien Technomancer Magicians". It stands to reason that any Alien Technomancer Magician who came to visit earth, being essentially an alien nerd, would naturally become a member of the biggest gathering of nerds on the planet earth, i.e.Slashdot and if this Alien Technomancer Magician didn't pass the rigorous admission process all members Slashdot must undergo he would really be a fraud, not a real nerd and certainly not a 'Techno Mancer'. Since it is a well know fact that no Slashdot member, like all nerds throughout the universe, has any kind of a sex life that involves partner these Fucking Alien Technomancer Magicians Lumpy speaks of cannot possibly exist. Now some of you might be tempted to ask: "But what if the species the Alien Technomancer Magician belongs to is asexual?". Asexual species don't really 'fuck' themselves to reproduce since that would involve a partner and an exchange of DNA but they do snog and exchange DNA so even if you define that as 'fucking', this hypothetical Fucking Alien Technomancer Magician would still need a partner which means he could never attain the title Technomancer Magician because in order to attain that title you must be a nerd and as was previously mentioned, it is a well known fact that nowhere in the universe do nerds have sex with partners. Thus it is quite clear that the titles 'fucker" and 'Technomancer Magician" are mutually exclusive.
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Life without Internet (Score:2)
wasn't it simpler in some aspects?
Can't get the genie back in the bottle, have to find some solemn place in the mountains - or something like that.
Will it work?
He's learning... (Score:3)
Welcome to the internet. It's full of stuff that is intended to make you angry. Most kids don't learn this until they're much older.
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Embrace the anger. The anger lets you survive.
Leave the damned kid alone, go after the father (Score:5, Insightful)
Ahmed is a genuine nerd, just as I was at his age. When I assembled and installed alarm systems from salvaged alarm parts I stated clearly and honestly that I had "built" them. To an electronics beginner even taking something apart and re-presenting it in a novel way gives great satisfaction. There is nothing fake-ass about any of it. It saddens me to read all these arbitrarily constructed harsh judgements here, which NONE of you would ever apply to your OWN children. At that age you have to compare the desire to handle and understand electronics to the act of doing nothing at all, watching television, or tunelessly strumming a guitar imagining you're a few songs away from screaming fame.
The totality of the response by the school was a surprise to the boy... who may have been aware that his project might stir some suspicion but the boy also honestly believed he could 'diffuse' such concerns with the power of his own words, and the simple fact that the truth was on his side. It was a small thing, and (maybe) fun to give a little push back to any alarm. The fact that his science teacher had seen and approved of the project underscores this.
Ahmed's father was another story. There was certainly a gleam in his eye as he participated in the project, knowing of the unique social forces and ugly escalating institutional response that was possible. Ahmed needs to come to the firm conclusion that his own father is an asshole. Please do not judge the kid for his father being an asshole.
If his father has not apologized to him at least privately, his father is a flaming asshole.
And some of the responses in this thread indicate the presence of flaming assholes as well.
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It saddens me to read all these arbitrarily constructed harsh judgements here, which NONE of you would ever apply to your OWN children.
Quite. I get the impression from some people that unless he had a full set of ISO9001/2008 process, complete with engineering change notices, quality managed soucing of all circuit board mounts and an up to date revision history signed in duplicate, they'd piss on him for not being a "proper engineer".
at 14.
Riiiigggghhhhttttt (Score:3)
Right - so convinced were the teachers and school administrators and police that:
The teacher picked up the bomb and walked with it to the office,
The administrators stood around the bomb and never evacuated the building,
The police never sent the bomb squad to the school,
just like happens everytime a suspected bomb is found in a school building.
Ahmed was arrested because he refused to answer any questions about either his 'invention' or his intentions until the police took him in to custody.
BTW, it's kind of interesting to note we're what, a year out and STILL the Dept. of Justice is still 'investigating' this case... What's the hold-up? They are only investigating an event that transpired over the course of 4 or 6 hours - how long can it take?
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It wasn't made to look like a bomb. At most, it was made to look like an idiot's conception of a bomb: A circuit board with scary glowing red clock display. Anyone who actually gave it three seconds of thought would realise that it's missing any form of explosive. Even the school officials knew it wasn't a bomb, because if they had thought it was a bomb they would have immediately confiscated the device, physically kept him away from it, evacuated the building and called in the bomb disposal experts. This i