News Article: 9th-grader arrested after taking homemade clock to school

TIDE-HSV · Sep 18, 2015

Aside from being a genuine juvenile bomber, blowing up the household kitchen at age 10, if anyone had seen the Heathkit shortwave radio I built during finals my senior year in law school, as a pressure reliever, I'm sure I'd have been segregated as a bomber, since I had to take it on to NYC to finish. Couldn't expect TSA to have the combined expertise in electronics as this high school and police department did...

CrimsonNagus · Sep 18, 2015

Al A Bama said:
If nothing had been done and it had been a bomb, school officials would have been greatly criticized for that.

That is the excuse of a society who does nothing but live in fear, and frankly I'm stick and tired of it.

I guess the terrorist have really won because this country does nothing but live in terror everyday. We now fear and assume that every clock will blow up in our face.

Maybe one day this country will realize that this way of thinking does nothing to prevent terrorism or acts of violence. We live in fear so much that not one person of authority took on step back to say that maybe this thing is just a clock. That's really sad.

Arresting that kid did nothing to protect anyone because, no one needed protecting. But we can play the "what if" card, pat ourselves on the back, and make it to our next fearful day.

I can't wait, until after the new Star Wars movie comes out, to see how many kids get arrested for fighting with imaginary lightsabers on the playground.

cuda.1973 · Sep 18, 2015

I knew the second I saw the picture of the so-called "homemade" clock this is all BS. It looks like a 70s era clock. Today, the entire thing would be a tiny SMT chip, and not some HUGE through-hole pig, like that clock. Everything, including the backlighting, for the LCD, would be in that chip. No HUGE LED displays, with leads, for each segment. Today, it would have just a few wires (and not run on that style of ribbon cable) with the segments multiplexed.

And the PCB............hand-drawn traces................no one does that any longer.

Add to that you can not buy those chips or displays, and it is real hard to buy the supplies to make a PCB that way. You can not even buy the tape and pads, we used back then, before everything was CAD. You might still be able to buy an etching pen, and ferrous sulfate, and make one in the sink. (Just like the ham radio stuff I made a kid.)

Except it has a silk screen...............yeah, he really did that in his sink.

I also thought it was probably a Radio Shack clock, and sure enough, someone with better eyes than mine (no great feat!) read the silk screen, and found the RS p/n! Yes, it is a Micronta (RS) model.

But, what do I know? Been designing and building electronics for around 50 years.

Someone who agrees:

http://blogs.artvoice.com/techvoice/2015/09/17/reverse-engineering-ahmed-mohameds-clock-and-ourselves/

Al A Bama · Sep 18, 2015

RollTide1017 said:
That is the excuse of a society who does nothing but live in fear, and frankly I'm stick and tired of it.

I guess the terrorist have really won because this country does nothing but live in terror everyday. We now fear and assume that every clock will blow up in our face.

Maybe one day this country will realize that this way of thinking does nothing to prevent terrorism or acts of violence. We live in fear so much that not one person of authority took on step back to say that maybe this thing is just a clock. That's really sad.

Arresting that kid did nothing to protect anyone because, no one needed protecting. But we can play the "what if" card, pat ourselves on the back, and make it to our next fearful day.

I can't wait, until after the new Star Wars movie comes out, to see how many kids get arrested for fighting with imaginary lightsabers on the playground.

That sentence was taken out of context, but I'd like to appoint you as the Principal of a high school of my choosing and demand that you keep that school safe for students, teachers, et al. It's not living in fear but in the real world that we do live in. You have to be prepared for anything. Columbine is just one case in point. You treat everyone with respect and in a calm or Ben Carson-like manner but you are cautious and realistic and not idealistic to the point of not having a clue or your head is stuck in the sand.

And if an incident did occur, and you as the Principal were involved in malfeasance, misfeasance, or non-feasance, you'd be crucified by the media.

I'm sure glad we (growing up in the 1950's and 1960's) didn't have to deal with the crap that educators deal with currently.

Al A Bama · Sep 18, 2015

cuda.1973 said:
I knew the second I saw the picture of the so-called "homemade" clock this is all BS. It looks like a 70s era clock. Today, the entire thing would be a tiny SMT chip, and not some HUGE through-hole pig, like that clock. Everything, including the backlighting, for the LCD, would be in that chip. No HUGE LED displays, with leads, for each segment. Today, it would have just a few wires (and not run on that style of ribbon cable) with the segments multiplexed.

And the PCB............hand-drawn traces................no one does that any longer.

Add to that you can not buy those chips or displays, and it is real hard to buy the supplies to make a PCB that way. You can not even buy the tape and pads, we used back then, before everything was CAD. You might still be able to buy an etching pen, and ferrous sulfate, and make one in the sink. (Just like the ham radio stuff I made a kid.)

Except it has a silk screen...............yeah, he really did that in his sink.

I also thought it was probably a Radio Shack clock, and sure enough, someone with better eyes than mine (no great feat!) read the silk screen, and found the RS p/n! Yes, it is a Micronta (RS) model.

But, what do I know? Been designing and building electronics for around 50 years.

Someone who agrees:

http://blogs.artvoice.com/techvoice...gineering-ahmed-mohameds-clock-and-ourselves/

You probably need to provide Staff Development for Administrators at Allen High School and throughout the state of Texas because of your expertise. I'm sure some don't have a clue about electronics, etc.

ValuJet · Sep 18, 2015

I saw that earlier today as well. Frankly, with the president's silence on dead police officers and quick comments on this story, it's suspect.

RammerJammer14 · Sep 18, 2015

cuda.1973 said:
I knew the second I saw the picture of the so-called "homemade" clock this is all BS. It looks like a 70s era clock. Today, the entire thing would be a tiny SMT chip, and not some HUGE through-hole pig, like that clock. Everything, including the backlighting, for the LCD, would be in that chip. No HUGE LED displays, with leads, for each segment. Today, it would have just a few wires (and not run on that style of ribbon cable) with the segments multiplexed.

And the PCB............hand-drawn traces................no one does that any longer.

Add to that you can not buy those chips or displays, and it is real hard to buy the supplies to make a PCB that way. You can not even buy the tape and pads, we used back then, before everything was CAD. You might still be able to buy an etching pen, and ferrous sulfate, and make one in the sink. (Just like the ham radio stuff I made a kid.)

Except it has a silk screen...............yeah, he really did that in his sink.

I also thought it was probably a Radio Shack clock, and sure enough, someone with better eyes than mine (no great feat!) read the silk screen, and found the RS p/n! Yes, it is a Micronta (RS) model.

But, what do I know? Been designing and building electronics for around 50 years.

Someone who agrees:

http://blogs.artvoice.com/techvoice...gineering-ahmed-mohameds-clock-and-ourselves/

Thanks for that. So the kid disassembled an alarm clock, put it back together in a metallic case, then acts all surprised when the school administration doesn't think it is funny.

Idk, seems like a staged publicity stunt to me.

Reminds me of the kid who got "trapped" in his dad's homemade hot air balloon and had all the media sympathy until the kid told the reporter that his dad told him to get in there.

And now the President has invited the kid to the White House for his own publicity stunt. Again. Would have been cool if I got invited to the White House when I got my pocket knife confiscated for accidentally bringing it to school in 5th grade and they never gave it back to me.

Bama Reb · Sep 19, 2015

RammerJammer14 said:
Thanks for that. So the kid disassembled an alarm clock, put it back together in a metallic case, then acts all surprised when the school administration doesn't think it is funny......
...And now the President has invited the kid to the White House for his own publicity stunt. Again. Would have been cool if I got invited to the White House when I got my pocket knife confiscated for accidentally bringing it to school in 5th grade and they never gave it back to me.

Idk.. I don't think you'd get invited for doing something that serious. Perhaps if it were something less violent, like maybe just blowing up a police station, you'd not only get invited, he'd send AF1 to pick you up.

ValuJet · Sep 19, 2015

Catfish said:
Change the clothes and it's an Open Carry patriot mowing the lawn before he heads out to Chili's for a quick bite.

Where in the world did you get that picture?

AV8N · Sep 19, 2015

If the reverse engineering story posted above is true, then this young man needs to be put into a decent Engineering program ASAP, because this ain't gonna cut it. He's a freshman in high school. There are kids his age hacking into multinational corporations, and he's... repackaging a clock?

Catfish · Sep 19, 2015

ValuJet said:
Where in the world did you get that picture?

It came from Bazza's post. Bazza?

ValuJet · Sep 19, 2015

AV8N said:
If the reverse engineering story posted above is true, then this young man needs to be put into a decent Engineering program ASAP, because this ain't gonna cut it. He's a freshman in high school. There are kids his age hacking into multinational corporations, and he's... repackaging a clock?

Good point. I also saw when Daddy Mohammed was asked for comment, he immediately referenced 9/11 and Islamophobia. That's all it took to catapult Obama into action.

crimsonaudio · Sep 19, 2015

RollTide1017 said:
There was a time in this country when we would be proud that a young boy showed talent and promise by building something like this; we would encourage and help the young kid to develop his skills and pursue a career in engineering or computer science, etc.

Had he actually designed and built this, I'd agree. Chopping up an existing clock and laying the pieces into a 'pencil box' is about as ingenious as the Chinese copying an iPhone.

Bazza · Sep 19, 2015

Catfish said:
It came from Bazza's post. Bazza?

I 'borrowed' it from another forum.

Oop......there goes Matty Maulk...TD Mizzou!

92tide · Sep 19, 2015

crimsonaudio said:
Had he actually designed and built this, I'd agree. Chopping up an existing clock and laying the pieces into a 'pencil box' is about as ingenious as the Chinese copying an iPhone.

that's how a lot of folks get started in this kind of thing. take something apart and put it back together learning by trial and error.

cuda.1973 · Sep 19, 2015

Al A Bama said:
You probably need to provide Staff Development for Administrators at Allen High School and throughout the state of Texas because of your expertise. I'm sure some don't have a clue about electronics, etc.

Not at our middle school. We win all the robotics competitions around. Even beating the HS teams. Including Allen HS.

So, there are plenty of engineers around here who are capable. Plus, most are out of work! Whether or not they can tell you the p/n of that obsolete chip is another issue. (At one time I could, but my memory is not that sharp any longer.)

Point well taken, as actual electronics is a dying art. EE colleges now mainly teach computer engineering. Which is why so much stuff made now breaks so often.

When "we" finished our undergrad work, we were idiots.* But, we were taught how things work, by the older and more experienced engineers. That does not happen now, as we have all been put out to pasture. And replaced by lower paid, and lower performing, counterparts.

* = OK, I did know more than others, as I built ham radio stuff. At least I was smart enough to know I learned ZIP ZERO NADA in engineering school. It has only gotten worse.

TideMom2Boys · Sep 19, 2015

Bazza said:
I wonder if the kid's parents didn't have pause when their son wanted to bring the "device" to school.

I may be completely out of line here but that things does not look like a clock....but it does look like something that could be construed as dangerous.

Also......the fact that women and children are commonly used to carry bombs in the mid east has to factor into this.

Clearly........the situation could have been handled better by the "authorities' but isn't hindsight always 20-20?

Have the kid take the device outside and away from the school and then call the bomb squad in to determine if it's an issue.

Shrug....

Exactly...I showed the pic of the clock to my husband. And we both agreed...that we wouldn't let our children bring it to school. I would have thought that they would react like that. You just have to think and have common sense nowadays. Just like expect to get in trouble if your child brings a toy gun to school.

Bazza · Sep 19, 2015

TideMom2Boys said:
Exactly...I showed the pic of the clock to my husband. And we both agreed...that we wouldn't let our children bring it to school. I would have thought that they would react like that. You just have to think and have common sense nowadays. Just like expect to get in trouble if your child brings a toy gun to school.

*LIKE*

Tide1986 · Sep 19, 2015

TideMom2Boys said:
Just like expect to get in trouble if your child brings a toy gun or a pop tart to school.

FIFY

crimsonaudio · Sep 19, 2015

92tide said:
that's how a lot of folks get started in this kind of thing. take something apart and put it back together learning by trial and error.

Yah, if you actually have to disassemble anything. Bunch of surface-mount parts on a PCB isn't going to teach him anything. Looking at the picture, I'm not sure he even soldered anything.

News Article: 9th-grader arrested after taking homemade clock to school

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