5 ms·

The real question here is: how can we help this kid? I'm not talking about from the legal perspective, but rather what can we (me, you, the larger tech world) d

by mbreese 11y ago

The real question here is: how can we help this kid? I'm not talking about from the legal perspective, but rather what can we (me, you, the larger tech world) do to make it so that this kid and others like him keep tinkering. He needs to know that what he built wasn't wrong, it was awesome.

rorykoehler 11y ago
Exactly my thoughts. Depending on the kid, this experience could be so traumatizing to the point of killing his enthusiasm and curiosity. We need more tinkering not less. It starts with teachers. Too many teachers turn up in body only. Teaching is a role that should be held in much higher esteem than it is but instead we irrationally hold high paying but stupid money jobs like finance in high regard and leave the teaching jobs to the 'failures' of society.
sp332 11y ago
Offer support: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ws7e8WyQvrsLfhSFvdGot3n9NWKfY3XLPBgbHaZDy3k/viewform?c=0&w=1 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ws7e8WyQvrsLfhSFvdGot3n9NWK... Sign up to be notified when some plans are made: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1zCtwhsEh_zB4PkuwlgAVZRTFV4IxueXZmvrBb-0VjC4/viewform https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1zCtwhsEh_zB4PkuwlgAVZRTFV4I...
- mbreese 11y ago
  This needs to be at the top of this thread.
  - sp332 11y ago
    Here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10226632 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10226632
- nickhalfasleep 11y ago
  Perhaps we can all pitch in on an airplane ticket to someplace he can get a tour of a facility where people like him are valued and rewarded. SpaceX? Mountain View? Cape Canaveral? Also, if/when he considers higher education I'm sure there are plenty of alumni who could consider opening doors for him.
  - criddell 11y ago
    He's been invited to the Whitehouse! https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/644193755814342656 https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/644193755814342656
- criddell 11y ago
  Maybe there should be a fund to provide a workshop for the teachers, administrators, and police of Irving to attend and acquire some critical thinking skills.
mindcrime 11y ago
President Obama has invited him to the White-House in a very public fashion, and Zuck has invited him to visit Facebook. That, at least, show help show Ahmed, and other kids, that there is support for kids who like to tinker. The one person I personally wish would extend a similar offer, is Elon Musk. I think a lot of nerds / hackers / etc. see him as one of the most prominent and awesome nerds around, and if he offered Ahmed a tour of Tesla and/or SpaceX... well, how cool would that be?
mindcrime 11y ago
Also, I'm a member at Splatspace, the hackerspace in Durham, NC. I've just sent an email to our group list, soliciting ideas for ways we could make a show of support to Ahmed. My first thought is maybe send him a box with some parts, kits, tools, and/or books of some sort. Nothing is definite yet, but I have a feeling we'll be able to put something together. If anybody else is in a hackerspace, let me encourage you to try and get your group involved, and do something as a group. Better yet, do it and send out a press release and announce it to the world.
- DanBC 11y ago
  He definitely needs some reparations, and shows of support are great. But there are probably very many young people like him who could also do with a bit of mentoring, a bit of tutorship, some tools and equipment. It'd be nice if the publicity from Ahmed's case could be used to provide more support to a wide range of people.
  - mindcrime 11y ago
    I absolutely agree. That's one reason I encourage any group making a show of support to back it with a press release and a very public announcement. That way this story can be show as part of the broader struggle to preserve the 'right to hack" for all of us. The downside, of course, is creating the perception that Ahmed is being used as a figurehead, and making him, as somebody else said, a "political football". At 14 I doubt he wants all of that. But his story is part of a larger story, and I think we should all acknowledge that and help make that point to the rest of the world who don't realize it. Edit: Also, FWIW, at SplatSpace we spend a lot of our energy on exactly that - encouraging young people. We do a lot of outreach with local public schools and the various local library systems. We have done a lot of things like offering Scratch programming workshops, and electronics demos using 'squishy circuits' and taking 3D printers to "math and science night" at local schools, etc. So yeah, I totally agree with the sentiment that we (in the broadest possible sense) should do all we can to encourage and support young hackers/makers.
mindcrime 11y ago
Make have offered to send him and his school a carton of books: https://twitter.com/make/status/644219347079143425 https://twitter.com/make/status/644219347079143425 and also an offer from somebody at NASA to come see how they drive the Opportunity rover: https://twitter.com/mikeseibert/status/644152049525899265 https://twitter.com/mikeseibert/status/644152049525899265 Stuff like this somewhat restores my faith in humanity. At least it shows we're not all complete assholes, all of the time.

by mbreese 11y ago

rorykoehler 11y ago

Exactly my thoughts. Depending on the kid, this experience could be so traumatizing to the point of killing his enthusiasm and curiosity. We need more tinkering not less. It starts with teachers. Too many teachers turn up in body only. Teaching is a role that should be held in much higher esteem than it is but instead we irrationally hold high paying but stupid money jobs like finance in high regard and leave the teaching jobs to the 'failures' of society.

sp332 11y ago

Offer support: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ws7e8WyQvrsLfhSFvdGot3n9NWKfY3XLPBgbHaZDy3k/viewform?c=0&w=1 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ws7e8WyQvrsLfhSFvdGot3n9NWK... Sign up to be notified when some plans are made: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1zCtwhsEh_zB4PkuwlgAVZRTFV4IxueXZmvrBb-0VjC4/viewform https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1zCtwhsEh_zB4PkuwlgAVZRTFV4I...

mbreese 11y ago
This needs to be at the top of this thread.
- sp332 11y ago
  Here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10226632 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10226632
nickhalfasleep 11y ago
Perhaps we can all pitch in on an airplane ticket to someplace he can get a tour of a facility where people like him are valued and rewarded. SpaceX? Mountain View? Cape Canaveral? Also, if/when he considers higher education I'm sure there are plenty of alumni who could consider opening doors for him.
- criddell 11y ago
  He's been invited to the Whitehouse! https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/644193755814342656 https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/644193755814342656
criddell 11y ago
Maybe there should be a fund to provide a workshop for the teachers, administrators, and police of Irving to attend and acquire some critical thinking skills.

mindcrime 11y ago

President Obama has invited him to the White-House in a very public fashion, and Zuck has invited him to visit Facebook. That, at least, show help show Ahmed, and other kids, that there is support for kids who like to tinker. The one person I personally wish would extend a similar offer, is Elon Musk. I think a lot of nerds / hackers / etc. see him as one of the most prominent and awesome nerds around, and if he offered Ahmed a tour of Tesla and/or SpaceX... well, how cool would that be?

mindcrime 11y ago

Also, I'm a member at Splatspace, the hackerspace in Durham, NC. I've just sent an email to our group list, soliciting ideas for ways we could make a show of support to Ahmed. My first thought is maybe send him a box with some parts, kits, tools, and/or books of some sort. Nothing is definite yet, but I have a feeling we'll be able to put something together. If anybody else is in a hackerspace, let me encourage you to try and get your group involved, and do something as a group. Better yet, do it and send out a press release and announce it to the world.

DanBC 11y ago
He definitely needs some reparations, and shows of support are great. But there are probably very many young people like him who could also do with a bit of mentoring, a bit of tutorship, some tools and equipment. It'd be nice if the publicity from Ahmed's case could be used to provide more support to a wide range of people.
- mindcrime 11y ago
  I absolutely agree. That's one reason I encourage any group making a show of support to back it with a press release and a very public announcement. That way this story can be show as part of the broader struggle to preserve the 'right to hack" for all of us. The downside, of course, is creating the perception that Ahmed is being used as a figurehead, and making him, as somebody else said, a "political football". At 14 I doubt he wants all of that. But his story is part of a larger story, and I think we should all acknowledge that and help make that point to the rest of the world who don't realize it. Edit: Also, FWIW, at SplatSpace we spend a lot of our energy on exactly that - encouraging young people. We do a lot of outreach with local public schools and the various local library systems. We have done a lot of things like offering Scratch programming workshops, and electronics demos using 'squishy circuits' and taking 3D printers to "math and science night" at local schools, etc. So yeah, I totally agree with the sentiment that we (in the broadest possible sense) should do all we can to encourage and support young hackers/makers.

mindcrime 11y ago

Make have offered to send him and his school a carton of books: https://twitter.com/make/status/644219347079143425 https://twitter.com/make/status/644219347079143425 and also an offer from somebody at NASA to come see how they drive the Opportunity rover: https://twitter.com/mikeseibert/status/644152049525899265 https://twitter.com/mikeseibert/status/644152049525899265 Stuff like this somewhat restores my faith in humanity. At least it shows we're not all complete assholes, all of the time.