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by squirtle24 1179 days ago
I highly doubt this was truly written by a 14 year old. Perhaps someone fudged their age to try and make the content go viral? The GitHub profile is 3 weeks old but it's clear this ain't his first GH profile, and there are commits for SEO optimization! The English skill alone seems too advanced for that age level.

Maybe he really is a genius but I've become far more cynical in recent years, don't believe everything on the internet! By the way, I'm 12 years old.

9 comments

Sorry, but I'm definitely 14! I created a separate profile because I didn't want anybody (i.e. Amazon) to be able to trace it back to my main account and find my full name. I usually do more web development in my spare time, so this was a completely different experience for me, hence the misunderstanding with hashing passwords. Also, I didn't write this from scratch, as you'll see on the GitHub page it's a fork of a project to jailbreak kindles, but thanks for the positive feedback!
Congratulations, you've been initiated into the long and cranky tradition of "no way was that the work of an X-year-old" on the internet!
You're awesome. I did stuff like this when I was 14, but didn't have the skill to write about it (and still don't) due to autism. But on the other paw, your article seems really well-written!
do you mind explaining why your writing skills are limited by your autism? Sorry if I am misreading you.
It's because I have to express concepts in a certain way, and it doesn't usually flow very naturally. It usually sounds really serious or insensitive. When writing articles, my perceived tone is just really boring, because of the way I have to explain things. My words come out weird and the "sorry, I'm a native speaker" is real.
To the author, you should absolutely wear it as a badge of honor that people have looked at your technical writing and said, "no, I don't believe that you're 14."
Man when I was 14 my peak was hacking runescape accounts. OP good job haters gonna hate.
Well the 14 year old's writing was judged as 'too good' by a 12 year old, so...
> I've become far more cynical in recent years, don't believe everything on the internet! By the way, I'm 12 years old.

Amazing level of cynicism for a 12 year old, I'm impressed.

As the original 14 year old on the internet (see my entry in the NET.LEGENDS FAQ), I'm glad 14 year olds on the internet are still going strong - and making a better go of it than I did.
Learned this today, Great to see the progress you've made over you the years.
Back in my late teens I collaborated with a 13yo that had written an entire NES emulator himself. These people exist.
14 isn't that young. I was running BBS built and modded using C when I was 14 back in the late 80s, and it's much easier to get deep into tech now. I'm no genius.
I’m cynical too, but if somebody lied about their age to do it for the clout, that’s weird and whatever, let it go. If they did it to try and get noticed, it’s not like they’re going to get a job out of it. They’re either actually 14, or they’re a total weirdo liar that you’re absolutely not going to hire.
> The English skill alone seems too advanced for that age level.

Anyone can write with this level of skill now. Just have ChatGPT give you suggestions for improvements

The exact same things were said about geohot.