[nyolfen]

this story never made sense to me. he disassembled a digital clock then put the pieces in a pencil case? he didn't fabricate it or design any of the electronic components; what was he supposed to be demonstrating, that you can put a digital clock in new case? also his dad was a sudanese opposition politician??

[tdeck]

I used to take apart electronics and sometimes show the internals to people. Most folks haven't really looked inside any electronic device and don't know what the components look like or do, so it can be an interesting thing to share.

In this case it says he wanted to show it to an "engineering teacher" (wish my high school had that). I once printed out an entire program I wrote and tried to show it to the teacher who ran our computer lab.

[jjmarr]

A lot of younger people today would be surprised you can remove a digital clock from its case and it'll still work.

Like, a phone or any piece of technology is just a black box. If it breaks nowadays, you're expected to throw it away or fully replace it.

[hmcq6]

It sounds weird when you put it that way because that's not what happened.

> he disassembled a digital clock then put the pieces in a pencil case?

The Wikipedia article does say he "reassembled" the clock but if you check out the linked source The Dallas Morning News is very clear that it is a homemade.

He did not disassemble a digital clock and reassemble it in another case. He took existing parts and built them into a clock.

From the pictures my guess would be that he took an existing clock and connected it to that older 8 segment display (he may have also changed the power source photos are inconclusive but I don't see a 9 volt in the 9 volt reciever/mount point).

[dudeinjapan]

As a 14 year old kid, I did this sort of thing all the time. Also I was trying to build bombs.

[rdtsc]

I remember the incident in the news.

Yeah, I could see if he was 8, taking an electronic component, stripping all the insides and moving it into new box and plugging it in sounds very plausible. But doing it 14, and then using what looks like a suitcase, where more than one adult thought it was a bomb, makes his story that it's just a "clock" a bit hard to believe.

Moreover, the first teacher he showed it to, urged him to keep the devices in his backpack and not take it out [1]. But he didn't, so that indicates he wanted really hard to get a reaction, and he set the alarm off in another class. Another strike against their story is the speed with which they demanded $15m from the school district.

[1] His engineering teacher, upon seeing the clock said, "That's really nice", but advised him to keep the device in his backpack for the rest of the school day.

[KennyBlanken]

Not only was he told not to take it out of his backpack, he whipped it out in English class, plugged it into the wall, set the time, and then caused the alarm to go off. he was purposefully seeking attention.

His family filed three lawsuits against various parties, all dismissed, two with prejudice, and they were ordered to pay legal costs in two of the three cases.

His father was an eccentric type who had twice tried to run for president of Sudan.

Sure seems like an intentional ploy to get a reaction from staff that could be labeled Islamophobia, though I would blame the father more than the kid.

[benfortuna]

>where more than one adult thought it was a bomb

Clarification: more than one American adult, where collectively some states/localities are more likely to jump at shadows than others..

[rdtsc]

Did the first teacher who asked him to just keep the device in his backpack "jump at shadows"? He knew what it looked like and was trying to help his student stay out of trouble. He didn't report him. Ok, so that's one "crazy" adult. The kid didn't listen.

Another teacher thought the same thing and asked him to put it away, and the kid didn't listen, again, and proceeds to set the alarm on the device. Only then they called the police. I guess, I don't see how brining this kind of a device, looking like a typical movie bomb, to a school in LA, NY (I don't know? think of the least "jumpy-at-shodows" area of the country) could have ended up any better without the police involvement. Heck, I am surprised the first teacher didn't report him and they didn't immediately evacuate the building.

[amiga386]

Indeed. Some states are brimming with absolute morons, especially in positions of power.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_Mooninite_panic

These idiots run your country.

[KingMob]

Ehh. I'm sure any number of equally awkward HN commenters at 14 might have done the same, and if they weren't muslim, gotten the benefit of the doubt instead of being hauled off to the police dept.

[rdtsc]

> if they weren't muslim, gotten the benefit of the doubt instead of being hauled off to the police dept.

I don't see what that had so to with him being muslim? I don't see how bringing a most prototypical looking bomb-like device and not listening at least twice to the teacher put it away, then proceeding to set off the alarm on it, could have ended without the police involvement. If anything, the first teacher showed quite a bit of restraint and compassion, trying not to get the kid in trouble. So did the second teacher, up until the point the kid started to disobey and proceeded to set the alarm on it. Sure we can make fun of Texas being Islamophobic or backwards, I don't see how this would have played any better in California, or NY, for instance.

[erklik]

It's a 14 year old kid. He wasn't demonstrating anything.

He took apart a clock, stuck in back in a different case, wanted to show his teacher that in a, I am guessing : "Hey look, I took all this apart, and managed not to destroy it"..

Honestly, this entire event shows me two things:

1. The jumps people make to crazy assumptions when faced with someone they don't like because of ideological reasons.

2. The low level of technological acumen/knowledge to assume that this is even similar to a dangerous device.

[jaxelr]

This, a hundred times this, I used to do this quite often since I was 5-6 years old with all the hardware that I was tired of using (games, toys, etc...)

[dyauspitr]

It’s cool in a way. I know I was opening all of my toys at that age and making modifications to them.

[mongol]

To me it seems like a prank. He made something that looked like a bomb from movies, basically.

[crummy]

What's your explanation?

[nyolfen]

i don't have one because it makes no sense! but frankly if it were me at that age i probably would have been showing it to my friends because it looked like a bomb

[carabiner]

Yeah all of the beginner kid's electronics projects I've heard of are interactive. Stuff like building a radio, or a toy that moves, or a flashlight. I think it's very likely that this was a stunt that was successful, and got him and his family an all-expenses move to Qatar.