I remember when the stories about Afra getting certified came out years ago. Regardless of some comments on HN about her accomplishments being over-hyped, I think we can all agree that she had a bright future and her death is tragic.
Programming prodigy passes away at 16
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Re: Programming prodigy passes away at 16
#22I remember reading about this girl years ago. Like some of the other commenters I wasn't that surprised about her MSFT certification. I mean even a 10-year old can geek out on that kind of stuff, it wasn't that notable.
However I just noticed this quote from her, which is so much more remarkable for a 10-year old:
"If you want to do something big in your life, you must remember that shyness is only the mind," she said. "If you think shy, you act shy. If you think confident you act confident. Therefore never let shyness conquer your mind."
To me that's the amazing part of her story, and something she can teach others about forever.
Re: Programming prodigy passes away at 16
#23There's definitely a life lesson in her tragedy that's getting lost amongst folks arguing whether or not she was a true prodigy.
It seems clear that she had emotional intelligence above and beyond analytical. That should be enough.
I feel terrible for her parents. Burying a child has to be the hardest thing in the world.
Re: Programming prodigy passes away at 16
#24Sure being an "MCP" in the HN circle is absolutely meaningless and doesn't warrant the title "programming prodigy", but that's not the point of this article. The point is that this was a girl who came from a third world country where women are not treated as well as men are in the West, and made it to the Redmond campus based on her own ambition and drive to do something for herself.
> and made it to the Redmond campus based on her own ambition and drive to do something for herself.
Sorry but no. Again, I don't want to belittle her accomplishments - it's certainly a feat for any girl or boy her age to be even able to put a very simple application together, but she came from a very wealthy Pakistani family. Saying that she made it to Redmond out of her own ambition and drive is spitting in the face of all her not so privileged compatriots who are struggling to do the same.
Re: Programming prodigy passes away at 16
#25Sure being an "MCP" in the HN circle is absolutely meaningless and doesn't warrant the title "programming prodigy", but that's not the point of this article. The point is that this was a girl who came from a third world country where women are not treated as well as men are in the West, and made it to the Redmond campus based on her own ambition and drive to do something for herself.
> and made it to the Redmond campus based on her own ambition and drive to do something for herself. Sorry but no. Again, I don't want to belittle her accomplishments - it's certainly a feat for any girl or boy her age to be even able to put a very simple application together, but she came from a very wealthy Pakistani family. Saying that she made it to Redmond out of her own ambition and drive is spitting in the fac…
Would you care to elaborate on your last statement?
EDIT: Actually never mind. This is only going to end up bad. You have your opinion and I have mine.
Re: Programming prodigy passes away at 16
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
> and made it to the Redmond campus based on her own ambition and drive to do something for herself. Sorry but no. Again, I don't want to belittle her accomplishments - it's certainly a feat for any girl or boy her age to be even able to put a very simple application together, but she came from a very wealthy Pakistani family. Saying that she made it to Redmond out of her own ambition and drive is spitting in the fac…
Would you care to elaborate on your last statement? EDIT: Actually never mind. This is only going to end up bad. You have your opinion and I have mine.
> You have your opinion and I have mine.
So let's not try to have a discussion about it? I've never understood that frame of mind.
Re: Programming prodigy passes away at 16
#27I'm going to refrain from commenting on her abilities. One problem I have with "X accomplished person passed away" on the internet is that a free-for-all seems to start, wherein everyone feels qualified to judge that person's accomplishments from behind a monitor. Steve Jobs, whoever, it might seem unfair that just because someone died that the "unworthy" things they did get celebrated. I disagree.
What did strike me as particularly relevant for HN and the drive to succeed was the following quotation from an earlier article on her life, where the author so kindly informed her that she was no longer the "youngest MCP in the world":
“This is the first time I’ve seen this story. But I must say that I’m really happy to have read it. This is exactly what I had been wishing for ever since I got to bring laurels for my country. I am very glad to see that people are following what I did and have succeeded in beating me. I don’t know whether you’ve heard or not but a boy, named Bilal, from Gujranwala in Pakistan also became a Microsoft Certified Professional at the age of nine. I would say that the other youngsters should follow suit, thereby convincing the people to take us kids seriously. Our generation is very talented and so should be promoted.”[1]
A lot of people are brought here by the will to do Something Great, so much so that we get caught up in whether or not credit is given rightly, whether we'll get it, whether the whole world of doing Great Things is fair (it's not). It was this perspective of humility in the face of eventually being passed up, which is so rare in externally validated precocious children, that I found inspiring.
Re: Programming prodigy passes away at 16
#28I hate to write this, since the tragic happening but really, the hype is widely unjustified. I started programming when I was 8, I know a lot of people that started meddling around with computer around the same age, and I was born a decade before her which, in computer years, is like a century. Everything programming related was a hundred times more difficult to accomplish than it is now - I wrote assembly on a C64,…
Jesus, every damn time someone of note passes away we get a bunch of morons on here telling us how the accomplishments aren't as good as they seem. You people need to learn when to bite your tongues. I'm willing to bet if it were some VC going on and on about his/her life's works, the last thing you'd do is point out how unremarkable and unimpressive any of it is.
Let's see if a similar article is written up about your achievements when you pass away.
Thanks for the insight, though!
Re: Programming prodigy passes away at 16
#29I hate to write this, since the tragic happening but really, the hype is widely unjustified. I started programming when I was 8, I know a lot of people that started meddling around with computer around the same age, and I was born a decade before her which, in computer years, is like a century. Everything programming related was a hundred times more difficult to accomplish than it is now - I wrote assembly on a C64,…
Jesus, every damn time someone of note passes away we get a bunch of morons on here telling us how the accomplishments aren't as good as they seem. You people need to learn when to bite your tongues. I'm willing to bet if it were some VC going on and on about his/her life's works, the last thing you'd do is point out how unremarkable and unimpressive any of it is. Let's see if a similar article is written up about yo…
> we get a bunch of morons on here telling us how the accomplishments aren't as good as they seem.
Whoa, easy. I have expressed my opinion and I have backed it up well I think. No hate for the poor girl, that's just terrible that somebody 16 years old have to die, no matter his or her accomplishments.
On the other hand, what accomplishments are we talking about here? Seriously, I'm really sorry for the poor girl, I really am, but still I can't see the accomplishment she's made.
And, honestly, I don't give a rat's ass about what people will write about me when I'm dead.
Re: Programming prodigy passes away at 16
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Jesus, every damn time someone of note passes away we get a bunch of morons on here telling us how the accomplishments aren't as good as they seem. You people need to learn when to bite your tongues. I'm willing to bet if it were some VC going on and on about his/her life's works, the last thing you'd do is point out how unremarkable and unimpressive any of it is. Let's see if a similar article is written up about yo…
> we get a bunch of morons on here telling us how the accomplishments aren't as good as they seem. Whoa, easy. I have expressed my opinion and I have backed it up well I think. No hate for the poor girl, that's just terrible that somebody 16 years old have to die, no matter his or her accomplishments. On the other hand, what accomplishments are we talking about here? Seriously, I'm really sorry for the poor girl, I r…
Bullshit. Utter bullshit.
I don't get this angry when commenting here but the disgusting lack of empathy continually expressed on HN really, really gets to me. If you truly felt sorry for the girl, for her family, considered her family's pride for what she accomplished not only for herself but possibly for other kids in Pakistan, then you wouldn't feel the need to point out any of what you've stated.
I read the article and found it quite inspirational that a girl her age had so much motivation. Most kids at the age of 9 are playing their Wii's and watching early-morning reruns of Power Rangers. Her achievements go beyond technical certification.
But it's alright. Let's be champions of truth and justice at the sacrifice of appreciation and empathy. It'd be the hacker thing to do, anyway. It's happened with Dropbox, AirBnB, Steve Jobs, etc, already; so one more added to the list is a drop in the bucket.