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Ahmed Mohamed: 'Clock boy' seeks $15m from city and school

bbc.com

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Re: Ahmed Mohamed: 'Clock boy' seeks $15m from city and school

#41

Post by fleitz »

mcphage wrote: post #24
hannibalhorn wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wasn't sure what you were talking about, with respect to the other side of the story, but after searching ran across this article: http://blogs.artvoice.com/techvoice/2015/09/17/reverse-engin... Not sure how I missed it, but if anyone else did as well, it really looks like he just moved the guts of an old clock into a new casing. He didn't really design any circuitry at all.

> it really looks like he just moved the guts of an old clock into a new casing. He didn't really design any circuitry at all He's 14 years old and learning electronics—I'm not sure what light this sheds on anything?

It sheds light on the issue in that his parents likely orchestrated the whole thing.

Re: Ahmed Mohamed: 'Clock boy' seeks $15m from city and school

#43

Post by kevindeasis »

Why the internet changed their attitude and started hating Ahmed Mohammed

https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/3tzyos/e...

TLDR: People believe everything was set up by his sociopath Dad, who has a background in being obsessed with the spot light.

Re: Ahmed Mohamed: 'Clock boy' seeks $15m from city and school

#45

Post by ameen »

hannibalhorn wrote: post #19
addisonj wrote: post #17

Regardless of what you think about all the actors at play here, this is one of those stories to look back on that says... something... about the internet. A few million tweets led to media attention, discourse about schools and race, meetings with presidents and scholarships to prestigious universities. All good things and all was once again well in the world and the internet won. However, with time, more details com…

I wasn't sure what you were talking about, with respect to the other side of the story, but after searching ran across this article: http://blogs.artvoice.com/techvoice/2015/09/17/reverse-engin... Not sure how I missed it, but if anyone else did as well, it really looks like he just moved the guts of an old clock into a new casing. He didn't really design any circuitry at all.

That's how people learn things, by tinkering with existing stuff. Had the media not picked up this story, this kid would've been warned to stay away from doing such stuff, essentially killing any motivation he would've had.

Hackers hack things, most of the time on things that exist.

Re: Ahmed Mohamed: 'Clock boy' seeks $15m from city and school

#46

Post by jrockway »

lemiant wrote: post #23

This makes no sense. The standard award for one death is $8m. In no world is what he went through equal two people losing their lives.

Living people appeal better to the emotions of jurors. If you want a lot of money out of a lawsuit, don't die.

Re: Ahmed Mohamed: 'Clock boy' seeks $15m from city and school

#47

Post by unethical_ban »

mcphage wrote: post #22
addisonj wrote: post #17

Regardless of what you think about all the actors at play here, this is one of those stories to look back on that says... something... about the internet. A few million tweets led to media attention, discourse about schools and race, meetings with presidents and scholarships to prestigious universities. All good things and all was once again well in the world and the internet won. However, with time, more details com…

> with time, more details come out that make the whole thing not quite as clear cut What details came out that made it less clear cut?

There are multiple comments in this thread that describe it.

* He didn't really make a clock

* His dad is an Islamic activist likely staging this whole thing for money and attention

* His family intends to move to Qatar in order to be in a "more accepting" place

* The kid was interviewed saying something about "soldering CPUs" or some crap. This isn't a 5 year old. He has no idea what he's talking about.

TL;DR he's kind of a little shit, and his dad is using him for money and politics.

Re: Ahmed Mohamed: 'Clock boy' seeks $15m from city and school

#48

Post by sciguy77 »

When I was in middle school a kid got suspended for bringing a paper mache firework to class (basically just a fist-sized cylinder with a wick). It turns out it was completely hollow and didn't contain any black powder, but he still got a suspension since it looked like a bomb. The kid was white. Islamophobia is very much a real problem, but it seems reasonable that any kid in the same situation might get in trouble as well. I haven't read the Steve Jobs book in awhile, but didn't Wozniak bring a metronome to his high school that they mistook for a bomb? Again, I'm not saying racism and Islomophobia in our school system don't exist, but there's a long history of educators mistaking harmless devices for explosives, and I think its a tad presumptuous to say that this issue is only about race. Just my 2c.

Re: Ahmed Mohamed: 'Clock boy' seeks $15m from city and school

#50

Post by [deleted] »

fleitz wrote: post #39
serge2k wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Schools are budget-deprived enough without adding frivolous lawsuits to the mix. I'm sorry, in what way is this frivolous?

In that getting called into the office for your homemade 'clock' is not a big deal, and certainly not a $15m big deal.

[deleted]
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