Electronics now a threat to national security

[Andrew_C]

They're smart in Texas, y'all.

[Arthur]

The Register has obtained a photo of the 'bomb'

That is different from what was described in other news sites.

 

Most are saying it was a pencil case, so if it is that then it's a huge pencil case!

It was a pencil case. One which looked like a briefcase. You can buy them online (amazon.com/dp/B001BXZ28K) or from Target (which is what Ahmed did).

 

Reverse Engineering Ahmed Mohamed’s Clock… and Ourselves

 

... Ahmed Mohamed did not invent, nor build a clock. He took apart an existing clock, and transplanted the guts into a pencil box, and claimed it was his own creation. It all seems really fishy to me.

 

If we accept the story about “inventing” an alarm clock is made up, as I think I’ve made a pretty good case for, it’s fair to wonder what other parts of the story might be made up, not reported factually by the media, or at least, exaggerated.

 

I refer back again to this YouTube video interview with Ahmed. He explains that he closed up the box with a piece of cord because he didn’t want it to look suspicious. I’m curious, why would “looking suspicious” have even crossed his mind before this whole event unfolded, if he was truly showing off a hobby project, something so innocuous as an alarm clock. Why did he choose a pencil box, one that looks like a miniature briefcase no less, as an enclosure for a clock? It’s awful hard to see the clock with the case closed. On the other hand, with the case open, it’s awful dangerous to have an exposed power transformer sitting near the snooze button (unless, perhaps his invention was to stop serial-snooze-button pressers by giving them a dangerous electrical shock!)

 

 

 

Ahmed took apart a mid-80s digital alarm clock and put it in a pencil case. To be fair it does look a little like a bomb that you might see in a movie.

 

Interestingly, Ahmed mentioned in the interview below that he didn't want it to look suspicious before he took his homework project to school (

) so he must have thought people might think it looked like a bomb.

 

[Arthur]

:eek:

 

Ahmed Mohamed receives Surface Pro 3, Microsoft Band and more freebies from Microsoft

 

[comrade]

To be fair it does look like the sort of bomb you see in movies, as said, but perhaps they should not have arrested him.

[LosOjos]

I think some people are somewhat missing the point here. The "inventor" tag which people are taking issue with is one that was given to him by the media and, being a teenager, Ahmed accepted; would most of you not at his age? Anyone who's interested in electronics, coding, music or anything else with an element of creativity will have been in a similar position to Ahmed whereby, through sheer excitement, they've wanted to show off whatever they've done, regardless of the simplicity.

 

Altered a line of code in a larger program so it says "Hello earthling" in stead of "Hello World"? Wow, gotta show someone!

Got a tab off the internet and played Smoke on The Water on guitar? Wow, gotta show someone!

Took apart something electronic and built it in to a new enclosure? Wow, gotta show someone!

 

I find it quite upsetting that so many people are out to question Ahmed's credibility; he's an excited child and should be encouraged, not ridiculed. His achievement, no matter how small to those more experienced, should be congratulated so that he pursues his hobby further to a point where he can make his own clock from components, and then more.

 

Further to that, the school did not seriously think this was a bomb threat; this was institutionalised bullying at best, almost undoubtedly motivated by racism.

 

They did not call a bomb squad.

They sat in a room with "the bomb" while they questioned the boy.

The "bomb" was not destroyed.

The school was not evacuated.

Nothing that would normally be done in the case of an actual bomb scare was done.

They did not believe it was a bomb.

 

Is Ahmed an inventor? No, not yet. But with the encouragement of the many organisations that have come forward, perhaps one day he will be.

[Garacesh]

Oh, I completely agree. The school should be heavily reprimanded for either

A) Not taking a bomb threat seriously and as such risking the lives of hundreds of children and members of staff OR

B) Institutionalised racism, bullying a child who was just excited about a small electronics project.

 

That being said, the response the kid is getting is ridiculously out of proportion and is being done simply for publicities sake. The kid is getting scholarship offers for $dieties sake! There are people fighting tooth and nail to get a good scholarship, and he takes the gubbins out of a clock and put it inside a pencil case and gets it handed to him on a silver platter? Personally I see this as a bad thing, and if I were looking for a scholarship I would not be considering an institution that values itself so little it hops on the bandwagon for the sake of publicity. As far as I see it, they're throwing away their academic credibility.

 

He should be encouraged, oh yes, certainly. But this kind of response? Unwarranted.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Garacesh

[clockend25]

Yep, that's the only real issue I see with that is going on. People are tripping over themselves to get a piece of this.

 

Worth noting however that he's received little to no support from his local community, and is having to move to another school, which is pretty sad. Hopefully he'll benefit from all of this in the long run.

[localzuk]

Oh, I completely agree. The school should be heavily reprimanded for either

A) Not taking a bomb threat seriously and as such risking the lives of hundreds of children and members of staff OR

B) Institutionalised racism, bullying a child who was just excited about a small electronics project.

 

That being said, the response the kid is getting is ridiculously out of proportion and is being done simply for publicities sake. The kid is getting offer scholarships for $dieties sake! There are people fighting tooth and nail to get a good scholarship, and he takes the gubbins out of a clock and put it inside a pencil case and gets it handed to him on a silver platter? Personally I see this as a bad thing, and if I were looking for a scholarship I would not be considering an institution that values itself so little it hops on the bandwagon for the sake of publicity. As far as I see it, they're throwing away their academic credibility.

 

He should be encouraged, oh yes, certainly. But this kind of response? Unwarranted.

 

The issue is racism - and people rushing to support him is the counter to that racism, inventor or not. The rallying of support shows him that he is, quite frankly, not alone and that not everyone is racist.

 

So, it isn't unwarranted at all. Its the only reasonable response in the hyper-connected world we now live in.

[Garacesh]

The issue is racism - and people rushing to support him is the counter to that racism, inventor or not. The rallying of support shows him that he is, quite frankly, not alone and that not everyone is racist.

 

So, it isn't unwarranted at all. Its the only reasonable response in the hyper-connected world we now live in.

Utter tosh. You can show support against racism without throwing away academic credibility or handing out a tonne of free gifts. It's nice to see people rallying against racism but they're doing it completely wrong. Giving one kid a bunch of free stuff and some unfair advantages just because people were racist doesn't do anything to stop racism. If anything, it perpetuates it. Hell, I know I'd be a bit miffed if I were trying to get into New European College or Space Camp USA* and some kid got it handed to them for free without (let's be honest, in the grand scheme of things) doing anything impressive or technologically difficult at all, just because some people were racist? Granted it wouldn't make me, personally, a racist, but I can certainly see how some people might have some disdain about that.

 

Yeah, I bet going through that sucked something fierce. It won't have been easy. It probably still isn't easy now that he's done with it. He'll still get some stick for it at his new school. But being offered a scholarship? You'll forgive me if I'm being old-fashioned, but last I checked scholarships were awarded based on academic merit, not social hardships.

 

* Though I willingly admit I know nothing about these organisations.

[localzuk]

Scholarships are offered based on hardship, and merit. Rich people don't generally get offered scholarships - they can pay their way. So, its poorer people, stuck where they won't get the encouragement they need that need and get scholarships. He ticks those boxes very nicely.

 

How should people have shown support in your view? To me, actions always speak louder than words. Also, you have to take into account the drag factor of his local community (who elected an anti-muslim mayor).

[Garacesh]

The little things like sending him an R.Pi and other electronics kits were appropriate, reasonable responses. Plus the vocal public support from the laymen and from organisations. For large institutions like MIT and the White House to say [paraphrasing]"Actually, we stand by this kid. He's not some terrorist, he's a young lad with an interest in electronics and science, and we should encourage that, not condemn it. Quit with the knee-jerk idiotic reactions and use some uncommon sense." were definitely in the right ballpark of actual support.

Sure, re-shelling a clock (as it turns out he didn't really 'build' anything) isn't so great, but it's still pretty good for a kid that age with such little experience. And that's a good thing. But it sure as hell isn't enough to be getting a scholarship. Keep an eye on him, and if he continues to express interest* and keeps tinkering and learning, then offer him a scholarship in some years time, when he's shown some academic progress and an understanding of the subject.

 

Support doesn't equal free stuff. All these donations smacks more to me as 'Quick, get some publicity and be seen as the good guys!' rather than actually supporting him. Consider my cynical if you must, but that's how I see it. I'm sure it's good-natured in of itself, but there's definitely a "Everyone! Look at us! Aren't we so kind and awesome and not racist?!" undertone to it.

 

* Because, to be fair, this incident would be more than enough to put some people off.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Garacesh

[Andrew_C]

All these donations smacks more to me as 'Quick, get some publicity and be seen as the good guys!'

 

Maybe the latter offers, but I felt that the early ones were more "That sucks; what can we do to help the kid? What can we do to show that not all Americans are racist?"

[pcstru]

That

recreated.

[Garacesh]

That

recreated.

 

Tomorrow's headlines:

BOMBS AND OUR CHILDREN

"A YouTube user identifying only as G O'LastName has been arrested in a daring Police raid after submitting instructions to build a bomb to the popular video sharing website."

[hardtailstar]

Well this is interesting....

 

US teen 'clock maker' files suit against former Texas school and city, from Qatar

[Garacesh]

Fifteen million?!

Bit excessive.

[Gibbo]

He's lost my respect now. He didn't too badly out of the incident, its a shame they need to cash in to boot.

[localzuk]

Sounds typical of the American legal system though...

[Arreks]

I get the feeling the teen's parents are the ones pushing for that rather than the kid.

[JRowley]

I get the feeling the teen's parents are the ones pushing for that rather than the kid.

 

This is obviously the case.