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1.) DParker - 09/27/2015
...where the hell is my invitation to the White House, and piles of cool toys from Microsoft?
2.) Triton Rich - 09/27/2015
[B]Am I the only one who noticed that, even though the school/police department totally overreacted and that there was clearly to intent on the kids part to frighten anyone, his invention DID kinda look like a fake briefcase bomb?[/B]
3.) billy b - 09/27/2015
I wonder what would have happened to him if he had tried to board a plane with that in his luggage. Aren't our school kids as important as a plane.
4.) DParker - 09/27/2015
[QUOTE=Triton Rich;34817][B]Am I the only one who noticed that, even though the school/police department totally overreacted and that there was clearly to intent on the kids part to frighten anyone, his invention DID kinda look like a fake briefcase bomb?[/B][/QUOTE]
Given the online and media discussion on the subject I'd say you're most definitely not the only one who got that impression. But I think this issue is a little more complicated than most recognize (which is true of most issues). A few observations:
1) It was a small pencil case, not something the size of a briefcase. It contained an equally small amount of old electronic junk, but nothing even remotely resembling explosives.
2) In spite of the above, most people don't know anything about electronics or explosives, and tend to perceive things like that based on what they see on TV and in the movies. I wouldn't expect the average English teacher to know the difference.
3) It's pretty obvious that neither school officials nor the responding officers thought it was anything dangerous, otherwise the school would have been evacuated and the bomb squad called out...instead of Barney Fife rifling through the case and repeatedly asking the boy what it was.
4) This was also clearly not an attempt to "impress his engineering teacher". Even a 14 year-old isn't stupid enough to think that disassembling an old store-bought clock and stuffing its guts into a pencil box (that's literally all he did) is going to impress an engineering teacher.
5) While I'm not prepared to conclude that there were any nefarious motives behind the action, the boy's father [i]is[/i] well-known as an Islamic political activist who, both individually and in conjunction with various local groups, has an axe to grind with the Irving city government. That, combined with the way the boy behaved when told not to show the "clock" to anyone else (he did it anyway) and was not forthcoming with the English teacher who reported the incident tells me the possibility that this was something that Dad put the boy up to isn't completely far-fetched.
6) The boy is still lying on camera about what he did, continuing to claim that he "invented" a clock...though these appearances very much have the feel of adult manipulation and orchestration about them.
Whatever was behind it, the result was epic amounts of stupidity all around. From the cop who didn't realize that cuffing and arresting a 14 year-old nerd for possession of clock guts was ill-advised, to those who were so easily duped into thinking little Ahmed is some sort of engineering prodigy...not to mention those who immediately seized on the opportunity to use him as another pawn to push a sociopolitical agenda.
That said...I'm having a blast playing with all of this "maker" electronics stuff. Credit card sized full-blown computers (like the [URL="https://www.raspberrypi.org"]Raspberry Pi[/URL] (I have one), programmable microcontrollers like the many [URL="https://www.arduino.cc"]Arduino[/URL] variants (I have 6), accessories for them (a multitude of sensors, radio frequency transceivers, motor controllers, etc)...all of it dirt cheap...and the possibilities for geeky hobbiests are nearly endless. For instance, the two ungainly looking gizmos above are prototypes I put together and programmed using two microcontrollers, a humidity+temperature sensor, two low-power RF transceivers and an LCD display. The one with the sensor is powered by a battery pack so it can be placed outside (or any other remote location) and is programmed to periodically read the sensor and send the data acquired from it via the RF transceiver to the corresponding module on the other microcontroller, which is programmed to interpret the date and display it as degrees F and % relative humidity on the LCD display. Nothing practical nor terribly sophisticated, but a simple little project that allowed me to learn a great deal about how to use all of the components involved. I also have a small solar panel I plan on integrating into the mix to keep the batteries charged when the unit is outside.
Between that and the emerging home automation market I'm slowly turning my house into something out of a sci-fi show. I already have an [URL="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X4WHP5E"]Amazon Echo[/URL] (which is the coolest thing since sliced bread) that I use to, among many other things, control the downstairs lights via voice commands. I'm working on using all these little electronics maker goodies to build my own comprehensive whole-house automation system. Tons of fun.
At a minimum it's given me an excuse to dust off my soldering skills, which have gone unused for 30+ years.
Given the online and media discussion on the subject I'd say you're most definitely not the only one who got that impression. But I think this issue is a little more complicated than most recognize (which is true of most issues). A few observations:
1) It was a small pencil case, not something the size of a briefcase. It contained an equally small amount of old electronic junk, but nothing even remotely resembling explosives.
2) In spite of the above, most people don't know anything about electronics or explosives, and tend to perceive things like that based on what they see on TV and in the movies. I wouldn't expect the average English teacher to know the difference.
3) It's pretty obvious that neither school officials nor the responding officers thought it was anything dangerous, otherwise the school would have been evacuated and the bomb squad called out...instead of Barney Fife rifling through the case and repeatedly asking the boy what it was.
4) This was also clearly not an attempt to "impress his engineering teacher". Even a 14 year-old isn't stupid enough to think that disassembling an old store-bought clock and stuffing its guts into a pencil box (that's literally all he did) is going to impress an engineering teacher.
5) While I'm not prepared to conclude that there were any nefarious motives behind the action, the boy's father [i]is[/i] well-known as an Islamic political activist who, both individually and in conjunction with various local groups, has an axe to grind with the Irving city government. That, combined with the way the boy behaved when told not to show the "clock" to anyone else (he did it anyway) and was not forthcoming with the English teacher who reported the incident tells me the possibility that this was something that Dad put the boy up to isn't completely far-fetched.
6) The boy is still lying on camera about what he did, continuing to claim that he "invented" a clock...though these appearances very much have the feel of adult manipulation and orchestration about them.
Whatever was behind it, the result was epic amounts of stupidity all around. From the cop who didn't realize that cuffing and arresting a 14 year-old nerd for possession of clock guts was ill-advised, to those who were so easily duped into thinking little Ahmed is some sort of engineering prodigy...not to mention those who immediately seized on the opportunity to use him as another pawn to push a sociopolitical agenda.
That said...I'm having a blast playing with all of this "maker" electronics stuff. Credit card sized full-blown computers (like the [URL="https://www.raspberrypi.org"]Raspberry Pi[/URL] (I have one), programmable microcontrollers like the many [URL="https://www.arduino.cc"]Arduino[/URL] variants (I have 6), accessories for them (a multitude of sensors, radio frequency transceivers, motor controllers, etc)...all of it dirt cheap...and the possibilities for geeky hobbiests are nearly endless. For instance, the two ungainly looking gizmos above are prototypes I put together and programmed using two microcontrollers, a humidity+temperature sensor, two low-power RF transceivers and an LCD display. The one with the sensor is powered by a battery pack so it can be placed outside (or any other remote location) and is programmed to periodically read the sensor and send the data acquired from it via the RF transceiver to the corresponding module on the other microcontroller, which is programmed to interpret the date and display it as degrees F and % relative humidity on the LCD display. Nothing practical nor terribly sophisticated, but a simple little project that allowed me to learn a great deal about how to use all of the components involved. I also have a small solar panel I plan on integrating into the mix to keep the batteries charged when the unit is outside.
Between that and the emerging home automation market I'm slowly turning my house into something out of a sci-fi show. I already have an [URL="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X4WHP5E"]Amazon Echo[/URL] (which is the coolest thing since sliced bread) that I use to, among many other things, control the downstairs lights via voice commands. I'm working on using all these little electronics maker goodies to build my own comprehensive whole-house automation system. Tons of fun.
At a minimum it's given me an excuse to dust off my soldering skills, which have gone unused for 30+ years.
5.) Swamp Fox - 09/27/2015
Oh, big deal...I can turn off the lights by clapping my hands...LOL :wink
My thoughts exactly on Dweebgate....I would have called it Nerdgate, but Dweebgate better reflects my feeling that little Ahmed and his family and fanclub are at a lower point on the human spectrum of admirability.
:wave:
My thoughts exactly on Dweebgate....I would have called it Nerdgate, but Dweebgate better reflects my feeling that little Ahmed and his family and fanclub are at a lower point on the human spectrum of admirability.
:wave:
6.) Swamp Fox - 09/27/2015
From "Ahmed's" twitter feed:
[COLOR="#FF0000"]
[I] Ahmed Mohamed
✔ @IStandWithAhmed
Thank you fellow supporters. We can ban together to stop this racial inequality and prevent this from happening again
10:38 AM - 16 Sep 2015
19,843 19,843 Retweets
22,096 22,096 favorites
[/I]
[/COLOR]
Just a thought here: Ahmed or his Twitter ghostwriter (possibly both) need to spend more time in English class and less on the internet and high school "Engineering."
I'm all for banning "this type" of racial inequality together, except that maybe a few niggling realities of the Constitution, what's racial and what's not, and a few practical things about law enforcement and common sense might present a challenge...As for *banding* together, I believe in freedom of association, so you go, kid...but that's beside the point...
Also, a bit of advice for Ahmed and his handlers: Your efforts to "stop this racial inequality" and "prevent this from happening again" seem a redundant expenditure of energy, especially when you are limited to 140 characters on Twitter, and by the dopiness of yourselves and your "fellow supporters."
[COLOR="#FF0000"]
[I] Ahmed Mohamed
✔ @IStandWithAhmed
Thank you fellow supporters. We can ban together to stop this racial inequality and prevent this from happening again
10:38 AM - 16 Sep 2015
19,843 19,843 Retweets
22,096 22,096 favorites
[/I]
[/COLOR]
Just a thought here: Ahmed or his Twitter ghostwriter (possibly both) need to spend more time in English class and less on the internet and high school "Engineering."
I'm all for banning "this type" of racial inequality together, except that maybe a few niggling realities of the Constitution, what's racial and what's not, and a few practical things about law enforcement and common sense might present a challenge...As for *banding* together, I believe in freedom of association, so you go, kid...but that's beside the point...
Also, a bit of advice for Ahmed and his handlers: Your efforts to "stop this racial inequality" and "prevent this from happening again" seem a redundant expenditure of energy, especially when you are limited to 140 characters on Twitter, and by the dopiness of yourselves and your "fellow supporters."
7.) DParker - 09/27/2015
Ahmed only pawn in game of life.
8.) Swamp Fox - 09/27/2015
LOL....
No, I mean LMAO!
:laugh:
No, I mean LMAO!
:laugh:
9.) Jon - 09/28/2015
Now the boy's parents are claiming he has PTSD from the stress. I'm so friggin tired of the BS that people go through to try and get money thinking they have been wronged. The kid clearly isn't suffering from any stress related disorder, nevermind PTSD.
The damn "clock" was a count down device that is obviously made to time something, he certainly didn't "make" it. Screw the little bastard and his family, rumors have it that his sister was thrown out of school last year for some sort of threat towards the school.
Sounds like a great family to me, lets get his entire family from burkaville and have them camp out at the white house.
The damn "clock" was a count down device that is obviously made to time something, he certainly didn't "make" it. Screw the little bastard and his family, rumors have it that his sister was thrown out of school last year for some sort of threat towards the school.
Sounds like a great family to me, lets get his entire family from burkaville and have them camp out at the white house.
10.) billy b - 09/28/2015
[B]Well said.[/B]
11.) luv2bowhunt - 09/28/2015
Sick of the whole racial profiling routine.
It isn't blonde haired Dutch Reformed people that are blowing us up.
It isn't blonde haired Dutch Reformed people that are blowing us up.
12.) Wild Bob - 09/28/2015
Watch out Luv2!
There's a censor stalking about these days. You probably won't even get to read this.
There's a censor stalking about these days. You probably won't even get to read this.
13.) Swamp Fox - 09/28/2015
I heard President 0 wants him at the White House so he can tell him he didn't build that...
Also, Hillary wants to know how a really, really powerful magnet works.
[url]http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407192,00.asp[/url]
Also, Hillary wants to know how a really, really powerful magnet works.
[url]http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407192,00.asp[/url]
14.) Swamp Fox - 09/29/2015
[QUOTE=luv2bowhunt;34856]Sick of the whole racial profiling routine.
It isn't blonde haired Dutch Reformed people that are blowing us up.[/QUOTE]
I don't know...That Geronimo guy was kind of a menace....LOL...
Of course, he had dark hair...but so do a lot of blondes.
[url]http://www.leben.us/volume-5-volume-5-issue-4/290-geronimo-a-study-in-grace[/url]
It isn't blonde haired Dutch Reformed people that are blowing us up.[/QUOTE]
I don't know...That Geronimo guy was kind of a menace....LOL...
Of course, he had dark hair...but so do a lot of blondes.
[url]http://www.leben.us/volume-5-volume-5-issue-4/290-geronimo-a-study-in-grace[/url]
15.) bluecat - 09/29/2015
[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;34903]
Of course, he had dark hair...but so do a lot of blondes.
[/QUOTE]
Oh snap!
Of course, he had dark hair...but so do a lot of blondes.
[/QUOTE]
Oh snap!
16.) Swamp Fox - 09/29/2015
I had blond hair when I was a kid...After being born with a full head of black hair...At least that's the story...The other part of the tale is that everyone thought I was an Indian kid at the hospital...LOL...Go figure....In most states I still can't legally run a casino.
And I'm not sure what the explanation is for always getting the Double Extra Special Security Screening at airports, now that my hair is more brown than anything else. I always get the pat-down and the explosives swab, and about half the time I get my bags searched. Maybe I look like I belong to a rightwing militia (You can call me "Colonel") or an insane clown posse.
So I've been working on trying to look less shifty, but you know you can only do so much with the hand God dealt you....
And I'm not sure what the explanation is for always getting the Double Extra Special Security Screening at airports, now that my hair is more brown than anything else. I always get the pat-down and the explosives swab, and about half the time I get my bags searched. Maybe I look like I belong to a rightwing militia (You can call me "Colonel") or an insane clown posse.
So I've been working on trying to look less shifty, but you know you can only do so much with the hand God dealt you....
17.) Jon - 09/29/2015
Can't have anything to do with your interest in EVERYTHING on the internet I'm sure........
18.) luv2bowhunt - 09/29/2015
[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;34911]Maybe I look like I belong to a rightwing militia (You can call me "Colonel")....[/QUOTE]
I was thinking more on the lines of 'vigilante'. Are you sure you don't mean 'colonial' in lieu of 'Colonel'? Given your obsession with hoarding old things and such.:wink
I was thinking more on the lines of 'vigilante'. Are you sure you don't mean 'colonial' in lieu of 'Colonel'? Given your obsession with hoarding old things and such.:wink
19.) DParker - 09/29/2015
[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;34911]I always get the pat-down....
...half the time I get my bags searched[/QUOTE]
Quit complaining. Some of us have to tip extra for that.
[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;34911](You can call me "Colonel")[/QUOTE]
Who in the world would give this guy extra scrutiny at the airport?
...half the time I get my bags searched[/QUOTE]
Quit complaining. Some of us have to tip extra for that.
[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;34911](You can call me "Colonel")[/QUOTE]
Who in the world would give this guy extra scrutiny at the airport?
20.) Swamp Fox - 09/29/2015
So what y'all are saying is it IS me, and not them...:wink
As far as my browsing history goes, if they're keeping track...."I clicked on some links...The kids weren't home..." LOL
As far as my browsing history goes, if they're keeping track...."I clicked on some links...The kids weren't home..." LOL
21.) bluecat - 09/29/2015
[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;34918]So what y'all are saying is it IS me, and not them...:wink
As far as my browsing history goes, if they're keeping track...."I clicked on some links...The kids weren't home..." LOL[/QUOTE]
As far as my browsing history goes, if they're keeping track...."I clicked on some links...The kids weren't home..." LOL[/QUOTE]