Boy arrested for making digital clock.

[JoeJester]

Interesting, Matt.

It's nice to see MIT being scammed. Maybe an Alumni from the school should warn the school not to waste a scholarship and disinvite the visitor.

 

[large_ghostman]

Just a note, he did not actually make the clock. He took an alarm clock apart and moved the innards to the case. My friend replicated this by taking his own alarm clock apart. Below are Ahmed's clock (left) and my friend's clock (right):

View attachment 94255 View attachment 94254

My friend doesn't know much about electronics at all.

There is obviously alot more to this than making a clock, like others have said it dosnt stack up. Personally I would have shied well away from the publicity and would have wanted it dropped and kept quiet, he seems to be enjoying it to say the least. I still think the clever aspect wasnt making a clock but creating a situation where your future was taken care of , I think he has made a much better business person than electronics engineer

 

[large_ghostman]

Time to get into the briefcase business

 

[DerStrom8]

Interesting, Matt.

It's nice to see MIT being scammed. Maybe an Alumni from the school should warn the school not to waste a scholarship and disinvite the visitor.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the kid isn't smart. Maybe he is. But this project was simply repackaging consumer electronics.

There is obviously alot more to this than making a clock, like others have said it dosnt stack up. Personally I would have shied well away from the publicity and would have wanted it dropped and kept quiet, he seems to be enjoying it to say the least. I still think the clever aspect wasnt making a clock but creating a situation where your future was taken care of , I think he has made a much better business person than electronics engineer

You do have a point, though I don't think that was ever his intention. Originally I don't think there was anything more to it than repackaging a clock. But, as with many 14-year-olds who have this opportunity, I'm sure he did get caught up in the publicity. Heck, if I was invited to meet the President, Mark Zuckerberg, etc at his age, I would have loved to (and I hate publicity. I am an antisocial introvert and prefer being a loner).

 

[large_ghostman]

I agree with you Matt, I still cant believe he did this without knowing it would cause a storm, I dont think he anticipated the scale of it but surely he knew it would cause problems?
And lets be honest even someone with little or no knowledge isnt going to think a repacked clock is going to impress teacher! not at 14. I laughed when I first read about it, I thought of my teacher and what he would of said lol, 'it's ok but hardly a bedside table clock is it!'. No matter how I look at it I smell mischief all over it, it was guaranteed Obama et al would be go on the side of the down trodden and stereotyped. Both are well known to have cut and fried potato on the shoulders.

 

[mvs sarma]

Our hobby/profession is getting riskier by the day.


Ahmed Mohamed: No charges for boy, 14, arrested over clock

First they assassinate an electrician on the underground and now this.

Mike.

Perhaps the housing selected and type beeps ( if i got it right) made the item suspicious after seeing many movies and detective serials.
the boy could have chosen a conventional box rather than a brief case and i suppose it might not have lead into confusion.

how ever let us wish that boy all the best in his academic career, and later in professional career.

 

[nsaspook]

I laugh when I see complex theories of how the boy had some sort of plan to cause an event at school. Most classic conspiracy theories are built on the deconstruction of events that actually (and usually in a random fashion) evolved in real-time and were not deterministic. The need to see random events as deterministic seems to stem from our need to be in control of events instead of just falling down the well of time and random events. Occam's razor and all information so far available point to the events happening just like he said from the choice of an infinite number of possible and more complex alternatives.

 

[large_ghostman]

I laugh when I see complex theories of how the boy had some sort of plan to cause an event at school. Most classic conspiracy theories are built on the deconstruction of events that actually (and usually in a random fashion) evolved in real-time and were not deterministic. The need to see random events as deterministic seems to stem from our need to be in control of events instead of just falling down the well of time and random events. Occam's razor and all information so far available point to the events happening just like he said from the choice of an infinite number of possible and more complex alternatives.

So in short your saying he wasnt bright enough to work out that turning upto school with a case of electronics and clock face in it wouldnt look iffy? You might be right seeing as he didnt actually make the circuit.
Ok I revise my theory from he was being clever and knew the risks to one of, he was stupid and thought a repacked clock in a briefcase would impress a tech teacher. He might be right seeing as the world renound MIT thinks its clever enough to offer him a place, I am very happy all the same because if he can get such a coveted place like that with a case of tat I should have no problem getting in to a decent uni.
Somehow though I think I am lacking the essential ingredient of not being news worthy.
The only worry I have now is that you think my original theory was complex

 

[Ratchit]

Our hobby/profession is getting riskier by the day.


Ahmed Mohamed: No charges for boy, 14, arrested over clock

First they assassinate an electrician on the underground and now this.

Mike.

See post #5 of this link below.

Ratch

https://www.electronicspoint.com/threads/how-to-foster-learning-and-inquiry-in-our-kids.275506/

 

[large_ghostman]

See post #5 of this link below.

Ratch

https://www.electronicspoint.com/threads/how-to-foster-learning-and-inquiry-in-our-kids.275506/

I have posted loads about this kind of thing, I get geography teachers teaching me chemistry and had a history teacher that taught technology yet didnt have a clue how to calculate a resistor value for a LED.
I honestly dont think many of my science or technology subject teachers would know what they were looking at.

 

[nsaspook]

So in short your saying he wasnt bright enough to work out that turning upto school with a case of electronics and clock face in it wouldnt look iffy? You might be right seeing as he didnt actually make the circuit.

I think the kid is very bright with some limited electrical/electronic knowledge (that's easily fixed with formal education) but I see no signs that he had any other motive but the one he said he did. So yes, I'm saying believing that he gamed this in advance is about as silly as the teachers calling the police about his pencil box "clock'.

 

[large_ghostman]

I think the kid is very bright with some limited electrical/electronic knowledge (that's easily fixed with formal education) but I see no signs that he had any other motive but the one he said he did. So yes, I'm saying believing that he gamed this in advance is about as silly as the teachers calling the police about his pencil box "clock'.

Thats a, pencil box over there .
you cant have it both ways, if he is very bright then he knew it would cause attention, if he didnt know then he isnt very bright.

 

[shortbus=]

One thing no one has mentioned is the mayor of Irving in this incident and the way it was handled. She is known to be a racist and xenophobe. And has transferred that to all of the other departments in the town. **broken link removed**

Stopping Muslims from having their own court for things in their own comunity, is OK? What do you think would happen if they went after the Beit Din? It does the same for the Jewish faith.

 

[Pommie]

One thing no one has mentioned is the mayor of Irving in this incident and the way it was handled. She is known to be a racist and xenophobe. And has transferred that to all of the other departments in the town. **broken link removed**

Stopping Muslims from having their own court for things in their own comunity, is OK? What do you think would happen if they went after the Beit Din? It does the same for the Jewish faith.

You think it's acceptable to have different laws depending on religion or sex?

Mike.

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

The education program needs to be updated. T/F test with pics of items that are bomb/no bomb. Identify.
Sprinkle the test with pics of racially different people holding the IED's.and different scenes.

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

Caption: "I just wanted attention, so I disassembled an alarm clock and put it in a suitcase"

 

[Pommie]

It does appear that the "invention" was in fact an old alarm clock. **broken link removed**.

Mike.

 

[DerStrom8]

It does appear that the "invention" was in fact an old alarm clock. **broken link removed**.

Mike.

Yep, that was pointed out in this thread a while ago

 

[nsaspook]

Thats a, pencil box over there .
you cant have it both ways, if he is very bright then he knew it would cause attention, if he didnt know then he isnt very bright.

I mean bright in a nerd way. I can completely relate to the naivety of a 14yo nerd to the stupidity of the adult world. I've seen the junk pencil box and I've seen the junk clock. Together it looked like a junk clock in a junk pencil box that IMO the idea that it might get him in trouble or cause trouble never crossed his mind. So yes, he wanted the attention of his STEM teacher and he has said many times that he wanted to impress his teacher.

 

[large_ghostman]

Now the racist card has come out I am out of this, I dont want to get into that side of it. But for what its worth I agree with Pommie on this, different rules and courts for different people hardly bring's communities together does it!