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It sheds light on the issue in that his parents likely orchestrated the whole thing.

by fleitz 11y ago

Ollinson 11y ago
It's unfortunate that the "hoax" label on this clock story is being considered by some a conspiracy theory. All it takes is 15 minute to look into the political history of the kids father and the nature of the clock that he "built" to realize something is amiss.
- fleitz 11y ago
  Yeah, his father is certainly a very savvy man, no doubt about that. I do think even orchestrated the police took it a little far, however, probably not $15m far.
mcphage 11y ago
So this is your argument? 1. He got a bit overexcited about his electronic puttering. 2. something goes here 3. It must be a scam. I'm not sure what goes in the blank for you, but man, it must be a doozy.
- robwilliams 11y ago
  That's not his argument at all; he's claiming that his parents orchestrated it, not that he "got a bit overexcited." The internals of another clock were put into a box. That's not electronic puttering.
  - mcphage 11y ago
    > The internals of another clock were put into a box. That's not electronic puttering. Then maybe you're a lot better at electronics than I am, but that would have qualified for me when I was 14.
    - robwilliams 11y ago
      You don't think his talk about soldering and "inventing" is a little suspicious considering what he actually did? Unscrew the back of a clock and put it in a box?
      - mcphage 11y ago
        > You don't think his talk about soldering and "inventing" is a little suspicious considering what he actually did? Well, first off: you don't know what he actually did unless you see it up close. A couple of grainy photos won't show much. And secondly: No, absolutely not. Unequivocally not.
- fleitz 11y ago
  Bomb in a briefcase is a common movie trope, since most people's working knowledge of explosives and bombs comes from movies it's reasonable to assume that an older style clock in a metal briefcase like they do in movies would be interpreted by a few people as a bomb, especially those in positions of authority who view everything that isn't 'normal' as a problem. Obviously Ahmed was aware enough of this to try to make the briefcase look less suspicious by wrapping it in wires which is generally how I try to make electronics in a brief case less suspicious. A few years ago in the winter I had an issue with the electronics in my car so coming home from Reno, I pulled the climate control panel out of my car so I could manually connect the wires to make the heat go. I ended up going across the border like this, and ended up explaining to the border guard the wiring of the car to assure her that nothing was amiss. The border guards suspicions were naturally raised because most people don't even know how to pull the panel out let alone jerry rig their own climate control system.

It sheds light on the issue in that his parents likely orchestrated the whole thing.

by fleitz 11y ago

It sheds light on the issue in that his parents likely orchestrated the whole thing.

It's unfortunate that the "hoax" label on this clock story is being considered by some a conspiracy theory. All it takes is 15 minute to look into the political history of the kids father and the nature of the clock that he "built" to realize something is amiss.

fleitz 11y ago
Yeah, his father is certainly a very savvy man, no doubt about that. I do think even orchestrated the police took it a little far, however, probably not $15m far.

mcphage 11y ago

So this is your argument? 1. He got a bit overexcited about his electronic puttering. 2. something goes here 3. It must be a scam. I'm not sure what goes in the blank for you, but man, it must be a doozy.

robwilliams 11y ago
That's not his argument at all; he's claiming that his parents orchestrated it, not that he "got a bit overexcited." The internals of another clock were put into a box. That's not electronic puttering.
- mcphage 11y ago
  > The internals of another clock were put into a box. That's not electronic puttering. Then maybe you're a lot better at electronics than I am, but that would have qualified for me when I was 14.
  - robwilliams 11y ago
    You don't think his talk about soldering and "inventing" is a little suspicious considering what he actually did? Unscrew the back of a clock and put it in a box?
    - mcphage 11y ago
      > You don't think his talk about soldering and "inventing" is a little suspicious considering what he actually did? Well, first off: you don't know what he actually did unless you see it up close. A couple of grainy photos won't show much. And secondly: No, absolutely not. Unequivocally not.
fleitz 11y ago
Bomb in a briefcase is a common movie trope, since most people's working knowledge of explosives and bombs comes from movies it's reasonable to assume that an older style clock in a metal briefcase like they do in movies would be interpreted by a few people as a bomb, especially those in positions of authority who view everything that isn't 'normal' as a problem. Obviously Ahmed was aware enough of this to try to make the briefcase look less suspicious by wrapping it in wires which is generally how I try to make electronics in a brief case less suspicious. A few years ago in the winter I had an issue with the electronics in my car so coming home from Reno, I pulled the climate control panel out of my car so I could manually connect the wires to make the heat go. I ended up going across the border like this, and ended up explaining to the border guard the wiring of the car to assure her that nothing was amiss. The border guards suspicions were naturally raised because most people don't even know how to pull the panel out let alone jerry rig their own climate control system.