Youngest Software Executive is Three Years Old 185
rkt writes " Times of India reports a three year old kid who has been "certified" and recogonized as the "youngest software executive" in the world by organizations like Microsoft, CNN and CNBC. With the news
about Comdex not letting in kids below 18, and with Corel mentioning
age factor in the EULA, it seems that computer industry is still unaware of how deep computers have penetrated. Computing is no more a symbol of western world, nor are the users always 40 year old executives. Internet has brought about lots of changes, younger customer base is just one of them. "
Re:MS raises certification standards (Score:1)
I'll hire him. (Score:1)
Spellcheck (Score:1)
yeah, but who are his clients? (Score:1)
My 2 year old nephew danced to Bon Jovi (Score:1)
My thoughts are:
Make something that even an idiot can use, and only an idiot will use it.
hmm... (Score:1)
Re:how young is too young? (Score:1)
My concern is that people are not giving their children the appropriate variation necessary in life. Your child is a great example of a good time-management and awesome parenting ^_^. But, alot of children are basically parented by the Television. I guess the dummied down version of what im saying is that replacing the awesome parenting skills of television (sarcasm) by the parenting skills of a computer isnt a positive thing. I can reccomend some great literature for you if you are interested in what im trying to get across here. Try out "Failure To Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds -- for Better and Worse" by Jane M. Healy, PH.D. (hey, the PH.D. bit was on the cover..) And for the other side of the argument try Seymour Papert's (guy who helped deveop LOGO) "The Children's Machine." These two present the arguments far better then I can on a slashdot post.
On a side note, I used to watch startrek:TNG with my parents when there was a new episode on. It was a family occasion and we were even allowed to stay up past our bedtimes to watch. I always looked forward to it
Let me wish you and your child the best in life. Good parents are a rarity nowadays.
----------------------------------
Lets have a contest (Score:1)
Bill Gates is the devil (Score:1)
Re:I always have been disenfranchised (Score:1)
The difference here, however, is fairly pronounced. This child is obviously very intelligent, as to use Word and email people at three years old you must be somewhat literate. I was a "gifted" child, and I could read a couple years before I went to school, but that puts me at four years old. This kid is doing the same at three. Cool.
Again though, a three year old who can read and type does not a software executive make. If Microsoft is willing to certify this kid and pretend it is anything but a joke, they are only cheapenning their degree further.
And it's not as though we respect the average MSCE all that much, is it?
Sample test question:
When Windows fails to reboot after you have machine-gunned Ctrl-Alt-Del, what do you do?
a) Press Ctrl-Alt-Del again
b) Click Start, Click Shutdown, Click Shutdown, Click Okay.
c) Press the "Reset" button
d) Call HQ on your cell for backup.
------
What Do They Put In The Water Down There (Score:1)
Bad Command Or File Name
my son uses linux (Score:2)
He started when he was 18 months old, too late (Score:2)
They visited us when the kid was 18 months old. Trust me, that kid was seasoned. Just after his nap on the couch, he wandered off, managed to climb to my chair without anyone noticing, pounded on my keyboard and wrote a nice document that was something like this:
fhdsjsdfm vfrwef
wreu2398zacx
asdh78yhvsabn
safh,..fsadf..................
He really appreciated it when I switched the font size to 72 points
Afterwards, he began pointing to the other monitors I have around, all of them turned off (but bigger than the one he has at home), and stared at me. I could see he was kind of asking me: 'Pleeze, turn them onn, wanna feeel how yourr iron rockks'
When he saw I was not doing it, he began touching the green LEDs in the monitors, to better explain himself.
Now, I am 32 and I'm scared
Wow... but so? (Score:1)
"Ajay Puri ... is comfortable working on the computer using software such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook Express. He is also Internet savvy."
Is there a major shortage of competent company executives out there? If I put "Internet savvy." and "Ability to use software." on my resume, am I going to become (god forbid) a highly paid Microsoft employee?
Hey, it's nice this kid knows how to email, but is that all you need nowadays?
Perhaps, given this telling comment: "For a moment I envied him that he could do all that an older executive could." Does this mean to say that Microsoft's Board of Directors has to make tech support calls to "fix my browser's 404 error"? (probably not, I doubt it's called "404" in IE).
I just find this all pretty sickening. I can't believe what passes for "computer-savvy" nowadays. All those hours writing code wasted... they could have been so much better spent memorizing the menu-hierarchy of Outlook Express (c).
Kid, don't listen to the dark side! There's more to a computer than (I)Explorer and Office!
What's the big deal? (Score:1)
Staff (Score:2)
Put this guy on the debian team, he'll actually do something productive as well as marketing there.
Software Executive?? (Score:1)
What is so amazing?!? (Score:1)
If the kid were coding weather simulations or helped John Carmack w/a OpenGL problem he just couldn't figure out (
yea for gender bias (Score:1)
Aww, how cute (Score:4)
I wonder how quickly the Child Labor "saviors" will jump to protect Microsoft "exploiting" this young child and the US pressuring Thailand to pressure MS Thai on child labor abuses.
Oh well, it's good to see a youngster building up a good resume at such a young age... too many people wait until 15 or gosh, 20, to start thinking about future career goals... he'll be a fine asset to any MBA program... assuming he is "potty trained."
Alex
yea for gender bias (Score:1)
This is just silly (Score:3)
Cheers,
Rick Kirkland
Re:http://anon.free.anonymizer.com/Re:Aww, how cut (Score:1)
--Fesh
Re:This is just silly (Score:1)
All in all I think you'd be better of with a dog.
minors (Score:1)
So... um... (Score:2)
Or is this an off-the-wall PR stunt by Microsoft, in an attempt to show how easy their stuff is to use? My guess is that it's the latter.
Come to think of it, how many child labor laws does this violate? I admit that I don't know the child labor laws in India, but this has to break something.
Child Exploitation (Score:1)
Let us moderate *features* as well as responses... (Score:1)
Nevermind, found it... (Score:2)
Anyway check this [seattleweekly.com] out and tell me if this doesn't seem oddly prescient...
QUICK!!!! (Score:1)
well, don't let the "linux" part slip out (Score:1)
Re:QUICK!!!! (Score:1)
I wonder... (Score:1)
Is an auto mechanic who uses an Access form to enter his time card a software executive? Is the checker at Walmart, who uses a computer all day (integrated into the cash register/scanner) a software executive?
I think this kid does a great job at software USAGE. But by the definition in the article, thousands, no millions, of people fall into the same category.
and if he's lucky (Score:1)
Oooo look (Score:3)
Microsoft = Marketing (Score:1)
Re:Minnie Me (Score:1)
Me too! Me too!! (Score:1)
Although that really does sound marginally pornographic... Not that that's a bad thing, mind you...
--
--
Wow, I'm an executive, too? (Score:1)
It also goes to show what is required to me a Microsoft executive... I can just see the advertisements now:
"Executives wanted, must know how to make charts, PowerPoint presentations, and Microsoft Word documents - sending blank e-mails a plus"
I wish our execs sent more blank e-mails, the ones they do send always contain work...
Re:Nevermind, found it... (Score:2)
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
Re:i can just hear it now: (Score:3)
-Chris
Re:This is just silly (Score:1)
The keyboard is now M$ and cat proofed. -d.
Can I be their next executive? (Score:1)
SO I see myself as being fully qualified of becoming a Microsoft Executive. Where do I sign?
Re:Three Year Old Marketing Ploy (Score:1)
When I was kid... (Score:2)
PUKE!
Life is like a Linux Box, the possibilities are endless.
What's the big deal? (Score:1)
And they all act suprised when some tiny kid can use it.
I personally think the this is terrible publicity, unless all you care about is how cute some kid is.
"Hey look, my operating system is so lame and simple that a 3 year old can use it with ease. I don't know why those computer geeks hate it so much.."
I bet I can train an ape to get my e-mail and load picture books.
- Wiglaf [IoStream Productions [slashdot.org]]
What utter nonsense! (Score:1)
Plenty of kids his age can use computers; this is just an absurd Microsoft PR stunt. Anyway, what is a "certified" executive? And what is his function in the company? It is clear that no three year old will have any impact in making decisions to help run the real business world. And, even if he could, so what? What's the difference btwn a three year old and a fifty year old as an executive if they both have the same knowledge?
Giving this MSFT stunt any attention is a _bad_ idea. Ignore it.
Re:yea for gender bias (semi off-topic) (Score:2)
This cheapens a lot of things... (Score:1)
Microsoft: Reducing themselves to this PR stunt. But well all know what kind of stuff they will do for PR, so this doesn't matter.
MSCE's: People who actually get certified now have to put up with the fact that there is a 3 year-old with the 'same' qualifications as them. They're getting ripped off.
The 3 year old: This kid could very well be smart and on his way to becoming a good computer user, but it's stupid to hand him all this recognition, when he wants to deserve it. It's like giving someone a BSEE when they are 3 years old. In the future, they won't strive as hard for one cause they already have it.
And finally, the real youngest soft. exec: I mean, there is an honest-to-god software exec who is, I don't know, 16 who is doing a lot of work and not getting recognized.
ugh. This is just cheap and unfair to many people.
Rick
Re:Aww, how cute (Score:1)
.. (Score:1)
Another anti-trust solution (Score:1)
"I want a cookie! WAaaah! You'we fiewed, Mistew Bawmer!"
"I can't spell Mhyrvold, so yower name will be Stumpy."
"Stewawt Awchin, wead me bedtime stowie."
_____
From Cradle to CAT (Score:1)
Impressed by the ease with which he handles "contemporary heavy machinery", Caterpillar recently certified AJ as the youngest heavy machinery executive in the world.
"He is an ordinary child but becomes a master when controlling heavy machinery," his mother told The Times from her residence.
The "master" can take out buildings and people when controlling heavy machinery. He breaks apart buildings to prepare his wrecking ball presentation. And accesses porn on the Internet! Having recently mastered the alphabet (and Ba Ba Black Sheep), AJ can write to his grandparents, taking spelling instructions from his father. I just felt like adding that even though that had almost nothing to do with the topic at hand.
Often, his grandfather finds loads of bricks in front of his house - all broken. He knows where they are from.
AJ began when he was 18 months old. He would watch his father, a wrecking ball operator for Caterpillar, work on heavy machinery.
"After months of exposure to such heavy machinery, he has grasped the destruction process step by step," his mother said.
Caterpillar, meanwhile, is doting its new celebrity. "Torei is real," gushed an employee in the company's Bangkok office. "He is a smart kid. For a moment, I envied him that he could destroy stuff better than an older machinery operator could," she said over the telephone.
AJ's next move is to meet machinery mogul Jack Benning in the next couple of months. The pre-nursery student will also have an audience with some important political guy this week. He was invited after the politician's campaign staff realized this could be a good publicity stunt, even though he has no idea what this is all about.
AJ has already been featured on CNN and CNBC. "He is being discussed by Iron Valley parties," observed his grandfather. His grandmother is a bigger fan, "I am amazed that my grandson does things I'm in dread of," she said.
The boy told CNN he would like to become Jack Benning. For the moment, however, he may have to settle for the role of lead campaigner for Caterpillar's Massive Destruction Suite 2000.
"How wonderful it will be to have your son join us for the launch of Massive Destruction Suite 2000," Caterpillar's product manager John Doerring wrote recently. And I'll just stop there since there doesn't seem to be anything more to say.
All names are fictitious. Any similarity to real life is purely coincidental. Apologies to Caterpillar Corporation.
baby Stepanie (Score:1)
Seriously though, never thought I'd see that ridiculous TV show situation even come this close to being real
Re:Stupid publicity stunt (Score:1)
>How many adult CEOs do you think can compile a Linux kernel?
Heck, even Bill Gates can't compile a kernel! In fact he probably doesn't know what that is. But he can buy one....
Re:Windows brain wash (Score:2)
My kid knows better than to send empty e-mail, at any rate... I've sent more than my share of "I qwerty you too" e-mails in reply.
However, and this is the reason for my reply to this particular message, my son is *almost* as comfortable with our Linux box as the win 98. And that's fairly cool, as my Linux box is old, slow, and configured with a pretty cryptically configured OLD distribution of Afterstep (if it ain't broke, don't fix it).
I tell you, it's every bit as likely for Simon to say "Dad, can I go look at pbs dot org [nick dot com/cartoonnetwork dot com]?" as it is for him to beg to watch Digimon or Dexter AGAIN.
I took my family to San Francisco a little over a week ago, and Simon says to my adult friend who put us up: "Why is your computer so DAMN slow? You should get DSL like my dad." I swear. No fooling. Gotta work on my language around the boy.
astro
Wow! Just imagine a beowulf cluster of these kids. (Score:1)
Re:Can I be their next executive? (Score:1)
Come on, this is such a joke.
The kid is going to meet with the Indian Ambassador to Thailand and then Bill Gates, when he probably has no idea what in the world is even going on.
Its sad that Microsoft is already trying to corrupt this poor kid.
I think we should have Linus pay him a visit
I don't know what to say about this but... (Score:1)
Wait a second. (Score:1)
-Warren
Re:So... um... (Score:1)
how young is too young? (Score:2)
I'm taking this class in computers and education. Its a fabulous class with an extremely intelligent group of people and very stimulating conversations and arguments. One of the topics we often discuss is the social "retardation" that comes along with excessive computer use. It has become serious enough that doctors are starting to identify the social limitations that occur due to excessive computer use as a form of autism. Not only that, but there has been a serious increase in the number of eye-glasses for young children (4-7 years old.) And although it hasnt been sufficiently documented yet, most optometrists associate this with excessive computer use.
Now im not saying that kids shouldnt have access to computers, hell I was pretty proficient in basic by the time I was 9. But I was a social outcast at the time and it took me nearly a decade to finally figure out "how to be sociable."
Im just saying that the fact that this child can use the computer at such a level at such an age probably doesnt mean the kid is a genious or anything like that. Kids have infinite patience, if you give them enough time they will figure anything out. (See metal gear for the old NES for evidence) Perhaps they should take a second look at their childs computer time. Being good with computers hardly makes a child a genious, or even above average.
I'd rather have my 3 year old (if i had one) climbing in a real cardboard box then exploring a virtual one. There are just some sensations and experiences that a simulation by computer cant fully mimic (yet.)
Give it some thought.
Ok, its waaay past my bedtime and I need sleep now...
------------------------
Re:Stupid publicity stunt (Score:1)
Lack of training opportunities? I think not! (Score:2)
Microsoft goes out of their way to train you.
All you have to know is that you can bend their rules.
1. You can get Eval copies of NT Server/Workstation/Terminal server/Backoffice/Small Biz server and the list goes on... For FREE. Where? Microsoft.com has such offers online, takes a short time to find them. Some offers carry a nominal fee.
2. You can get more free software than you will have time to deal with at tradeshows, admission is mostly free. I'd been going to them since I was 14 with perfectly fake information
3. You can get free training at http://www.microsoft.com/seminar
4. You can read free e-books at http://www.informit.com
5. Technet is now online and free! So is knowledge base. http://technet.microsoft.com, http://support.microsoft.com/support/c.asp
6. There is Reslink at http://mspress.microsoft.com/reslink
Do I really have to go on?
Now, let's be fair, I should give some resources for linux
1. Linux documentation project, on your favorite mirror.
2. Full distributions are online, but you can get them free at tradeshows on CDs.
3. There is a real-time Linux support network at http://irc.linpeople.org - I haven't logged on in a while, so check web site for updates in server lists etc. That assistance is Free
4. There are tons of How-To's and FAQs.
5. You got the source code to figure everything out. An unlikely proposition for beginners, but I resort to it quite often at times.
6. There are some e-books on informit.com on Linux.
If you wanted to learn the software, you would be able to find this rather fast.
--
Leonid S. Knyshov
Network Administrator
Child Abuse (Score:1)
It's sad that anyone could harm a young child like that by exposing him to BillyShit software.
He'll probably grow up thinking that all software is buggy, and fences you in by only letting you do things the designers explicitly thought about.
Is there a Linux distributor in Thailand that'll show him a proper OS, before his mind is permanantly damaged?
Re:i can just hear it now: (Score:1)
I'm beginning to see a career path for this 3 yr. old. A position in a newly formed software powerhouse might be possible after the breakup of MS.
If Gates' handlers brigade is broken up too, then there will be people experienced in this kind of thing who will need work.
Re:This is just silly (Score:1)
(Score:1)
Geez, looks like we're gonna have to put up a "No Stariway" sign here, too.
(I feel my karma sinking...)
MCSE (Score:1)
(Score:1)
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's a hypnotist
A hypnotist with laaaaaaaaaadies.
you won't remember why you liiiiiiked himmmm
---- (obviously, I don't need no steenkin karma...)
Re:Pointless... (Score:2)
Kids should spend their childhood being kids, and not have their parents living vicariously thru them.
Dumbing down of software...Arcane is fun... (Score:2)
The GUI stuff nowadays is great, and pretty, but kind of relating back to Tom Christiansen's article yesterday...Sometimes arcane is fun.
Oh well.
Re: Youngest Software Executive is Three Years Old (Score:1)
Scott4000
"If it looks like an OS and it runs like an OS, it's probably FreeBSD."
Re:Need To Know (Score:1)
It would be just as valid to e.g. call "Linus Torvalds" as "LinusTor" since Linux has a limit of 8 character login names. However, most of the people who dislike Linux tend to be more mature than the Linux-loving counterparts so you never see this in practice.
Re:Seriously... (Score:1)
Given a few weeks, I'm sure I could teach the 2-year-old daughter of some family friends how to use email, Word, and Excel, and she doesn't even really understand how to play Mickey Mouse Yahtzee.
Marissa
Re:how young is too young? (Score:2)
Every parent like to see that their kids are smarter than others. This drive parents to invent (or easily adopt) all kinds of standard to prove their point. Sometimes their force their kids fit into the framework with which they measure smartness. Most of the time, if not all, they don't know what kind of impact this will bring to their beloved children. And they fight firecely against those who disagree.
I know that "hothousing" children has been fairly common amongst academic families in China. I remember when I was little, seeing a four-year-old Chinese boy on TV doing algebra and speaking multiple languages (his parents were University academics). The only thing I can say about this practice is that it's a matter of balance. Some parents will get it right, others will push too hard for a single narrow goal which isn't appropriate for that child. In that case it's really a form of child abuse.
But I don't believe for a minute that it invalidates the whole concept of accelerated education. In my opinion the key thing is to keep the curriculum broad and proceed at a pace the child feels comfortable with. Learning should be fun.
I still like to claim that I'm smarter than the average. Whether this is true or not it keep me wandering what I would have been if I were not entered USTC so early.
I think you need to realise that applying a term like "smart" or "clever" is a hopeless attempt to reduce the multidimensional world of human capability down to one single easy measurement. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. I'd guess that you must have got something out of your time at university, it just wasn't what you personally needed to exploit the areas where you had the most potential. Heaven knows, the University system isn't right for everyone. I went to Uni at the age of 18 and found out only much too late that I simply wasn't ready. Learning wasn't fun any more, suddenly "fun" was women and beer and...all that stuff. After a shining school career my academic performance bombed, and never recovered in time. Maybe if I'd gone to work for a year or two to learn some discipline, gain a sense of perspective and get all the teen lust out of my system, things would have been different. Who knows.
After I graduated from USTC, I found myself less competent than my other collegues for a simple reason -- I can't write a proper report. I'm still suffering from this deadly shortcome which drove me started my own company here in Holland so I don't need to report to anyone.
If you have difficulty writing reports maybe you suffer from a mild form of dyslexia. But then, dyslexia is just a convenient label for one particular brain syndrome that just happens to be easily detectable. There must be many other disorders of language processing (or logical reasoning ability) which are harder to identify and some of these might not even have names yet. Possibly a very large proportion of the world's population suffers from one or more of these syndromes to a varying degree. There was a discussion here on Slashdot some weeks ago about the prevalence of mild autism (Asperger's syndrome) in "geek" types which was basically about the same thing.
When these syndromes have names it can sound a bit scary. No-one wants to be thought of as subnormal, a candidate for "special needs" teaching. But I really think that there is a continuous range of ability in all our mental skills and what you get born with is pretty much the luck of the draw. Some people are born with a very low score in one particular aptitude and there's nothing that can be done about that because the neural machinery for that skill just isn't there, i.e. you can't cure dyslexia. But you make up for it by exploiting all the other skills that you have, and you might have a very high score in one or more of those.
Vive la difference, as the French say. What a boring world it would be if we were all the same.
I like to think that insofar as there is any purpose at all in life, it is to be the best that you can be; to take what potential you have and make the most of it. Starting your own company in a foreign country is no small achievement in itself, it certainly shows balls.
Consciousness is not what it thinks it is
Thought exists only as an abstraction
Is this why? (Score:1)
Why did my previous message disappear? (Score:1)
So what exactly is a "software executive"? (Score:1)
It's just super that this kid can use a computer, but I think it would be misleading to characterize him as some kind of prodigy, although he's likely pretty bright.
-lx
What did I do wrong? (Score:1)
"software executive" != MSCE (Score:2)
Impressed by the ease with which he handles ``contemporary software'', Microsoft Thailand recently certified Ajay as the youngest software executive in the world.
For one, what exactly IS a "software executive". I don't ever recall people with a MSCE being called Software Executives.
And it sure looks to me like he didn't do his MSCE exams... although I've seen stories of 12-14 year olds doing them. At that age you can grasp the concepts involved, but not at 3! The kid is simply a 3 year old who can press buttons, and type emails. The word "certified" used in that article has been taken totally out of context.
This story is simply about some poor kid who has worked out how to send email and do things in Office programs. As my marketting manager always tells me "Use terms that are technically meaningless" but sound cool.
"We are the leading software company in the world"
"Our software is more better, more dynamic, and totally sploogerific."
Microsoft have called this guy a "software executive", which technically means nothing so they can't be challenged on it, and have latched onto him for the cuteness factor.
Show me where it says he has his MSCE, and I'll believe he's "certified".
Adam
"Sleep is for the genetically inferior"
Pointless... (Score:2)
Why in the hell would you allow your kid to be used for such a publicity stunt? I don't understand it. A 3 year old kid and he has is face and name plastered all over the net and papers. I would think most parents would'nt want that to happen to their kids.
I don't know, but IMHO it seems exploitive and just plain wrong...
Re:i can just hear it now: (Score:2)
I think it is good that the kid is getting exposure to computers at a young age, but a real test of his talents would be to put him on a different computer and see how he does. I don't mean to bash the kid, but how much of this is "if I click here I e-mail grandpa" as opposed to "I will now access my e-mail program, compose an e-mail to my grandfather, and press the send button".
My four year old knows how to operate the four different computers in our house, but tends to get a bit confused when he gets on my Linux box.
He can usually poke around the menus on any system and find familiar icons and start the software that he's used to, but sometimes he just starts up random programs to see what will happen.
Where does the line between using a computer and just clicking things to make things happen get drawn? If the kid has talent, turn him on to Linux now.
--
um (Score:2)
Re:So... um... (Score:1)
(Note this from a George Carlin act satirizing American Foreign Policy and is not meant to offend or demean anyone. Laugh. )
Re:So... um... (Score:1)
it is quiet possible that the kid will get a prize from the government or a publicized meeting with a local minister.
With respect to Microsoft
WELL!!! the less said the better.
Re:Stupid publicity stunt (Score:1)
Which month is it? (Score:2)
Re:He started when he was 18 months old, too late (Score:2)
fhdsjsdfm vfrwef
wreu2398zacx
asdh78yhvsabn
safh,..fsadf..................
Omigosh--I just decrypted that! It reads:
The experiment has gone horribly wrong. I am trapped in a nearly helpless body. They force me to eat strained vegetables. The invasion will have to wait a few years.
---- It's even better when you play it backwards...
Not impressed (Score:2)
Children learn very rapidly, mimicking adult actions, exploring their environment. Reinforced by positive feedback from adults, children do those things that garner praise from adults. These actions are no different than that a 3 year-old that has learned how to build a tower out of blocks. Chris Hammel
Re:This is just silly (Score:2)
Grin, having your cat as the first feline beta-tester would be cool... or if you can teach it to churn out regression tests... the first quality assurance proffessional that broke the sapiens barrier... when will the feline descrimination end! Write your congressman supporting affirmative action for feline friends!
Windows brain wash (Score:2)
I don't think the case has anything to do with child labor - its like kids acting in movies. The kid is just going to be used for promotion of MSucks Windows. Good for him and his family. He can earn his college tution early in life
- (Score:2)
*coughbullshitcough* (Score:2)
A three year old "software executive? Give me a break.
On the other hand, this story does have an upside:
And later:
------
Anakin Skywalker! (Score:2)
By G Lucas
By Galaxy Business Times Bureau
MOS EISLEY: He is Empire's ``youngest Dark Side Jedi knight'' in the Galaxy. While most others of his age grapple with sand, Anakin Skywalker, all of three years, is comfortable working on the Force using tools such as lightsabers, racepods and C3P0 protocol droids. He is also mydichlorian rich.
The Mos Hyderabad-born Anakin, currently with his parents in Mos Eisley, communicates through telepathy with his grandparents in South Naboo's ***** Vasant Kunj.
Impressed by the ease with which he handles ``the mystical way'', Empire Tatooine recently certified Anakin as the youngest Dark Side Jedi knight in the Galaxy.
``He is an ordinary child but becomes a master when in front of a light saber,'' his mother Shmi Skywalker told The Prequel Times from her Mos Eisley residence.
The ``master'' can take blueprints and make racepods out of spaceport debris. He puts together pieces in a droid to prepare his little Visual Basic Protocol Unit. And accesses Natalie Portman posters on the Forcenet. Having recently mastered the alphabet (and Ba Ba Binks), Anakin can telepath to his grandparents, taking spelling instructions from his father.
Often, grandfather B N Skywalker finds disturbance in the Force - all blank. He knows where it is from.
Anakin began when he was 18 months old. He would watch his father Ravi Skywalker, an export manager of Watto Group's Millenium Missiles, work on the slave shop.
``After months of exposure to the Force, he has grasped the process step by step,'' Bhanta Skywalker said.
The Empire, meanwhile, is doting on its new celebrity. ``Skywalker is real,'' gushed an ILM graphic in the Empire's Mos Eisley office. ``He is a smart kid. For a moment I envied him that he could do all that an older commander could,'' she said over holophone.
Anakin's next move is to meet Empire mogul Darth Gates in the next couple of months. The pre-nursery student will also have an audience with the Naboo ambassador to Tatooine this week. The ambassador invited him after the local media went to town over the whizkid.
Anakin has already featured on SW:ANH, SW:TESB and SW:TROTJ. ``He is being discussed in Dagobah swamp parties,'' observed his grandfather. His grandmother, Indiana, is a bigger fan. ``I am amazed that my grandson does things I'm in dread of,'' she said.
The boy told Lucasfilm he would like to become a Darth Gates. For the moment, however, he may have to settle for the role of lead campaigner for Episode 2.
``How wonderful it will be to have your son join us for the launch of Episode 2,'' Empire Tatooine's planet manager Darth Chantaruck wrote to Anakin's parents recently.
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MS raises certification standards (Score:5)
Product launch. (Score:4)
"Microsoft also disclosed that it has plans to integrate young Ajay Puri's brain right into the next release of their popular Office suite of products.
'With advances in cybernetics, we can finally integrate a whole human brain into Excel,' said a Microsoft spokesman. 'We just needed one young enough to get used to being trapped inside that helpful paperclip for the rest of his life.'"
Keep up the good work!
Hotnutz.com [hotnutz.com]
Everyone's getting younger. I keep getting older. (Score:2)
i can just hear it now: (Score:3)
But aside from that, this whole thing seems like nothing like a publicity gimmick. Good for the kid to know how to use a few simple MS apps. But I fail to see the supreme genius of the kid as well as the whole reason for naming him an executive... I mean he's not actually going to anything.
To be honest I just find this analagous to those "geography whiz" or "math whiz" kids you often see on the tonight show and the like. True, it's rare that a little tyke can spout data from his head or mess around with a program, but is that genius? Rather I find it more similar to a trained monkey, just that the training began real early. It takes no real talent to memorize and recite facts or in this kid's case,use a program. He might be a bit better at learning stuff, but once you consider it all he can do is mess around with a few MS apps, and (even considering his age) how much skill does that take? And certainly knowing how to send Email and attachments by no means makes one internet saavy. Let's give the kid a few years and see if he set up a shell box or run his own domain or set up sendmail.
All it is, is hype, hype, hype, with a dash of MS propaganda. I'd go along with the general public and call it "cute", but dear god this is too lame to even merit that.
Re:how young is too young? (Score:2)
A year ago I realised I had to get my son his own computer when he started giving me technical support ("Just log on as root and delete the lock file, Dad"..."Dad, just get on the net and download the newest driver").
So I got him a PC last Christmas and by now he's a fairly competent Win98 user. He still gives me technical support sometimes, but I'm a bit more competent with Win98 these days so I don't need it so often. And now he's got his own Windows box at least I can get to my Linux machine, which he used to hijack so he could play xboing.
He celebrated his 6th birthday last week.
I gave him the PC mainly to play educational games appropriate to his age and ability and to access an encyclopedia, and there is no doubt that, in conjunction with books, homework and instructional videos it has helped to improve his maths and reading skills which are way beyond the norm for his age. He reads books written for 12 year olds. Though the contribution of the computer to all of that is probably fairly small.
However, he also plays games such as Wormz Armageddon, Doom, Heretic, Quake, Tomb Raider and a host of others. His favourites are strategy games, namely Age of Empires and Populous. You'd be amazed at how quickly he learned how to operate these games. Much faster than I did.
I'm not saying that it's turned him into a military genius or an expert in government or anything like that. But these strategy games are certainly training him to evaluate a range of options, to formulate and carry out a plan. I know because when he works out how to get over a difficult point in the game he just loves to make me sit and watch while he demonstrates his plan in action.
Sometimes I also supplement his education with books and blackboard chalk-and-talk sessions. We play question-and-answer in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography and whatever else comes up.
Every evening we watch old Star Trek videos together over dinner (the boy's already addicted
But despite all this he still loves to play make-believe and rough-and-tumble with his little sister and with his friends. He loves to watch Cartoon Network. He loves to make music and sing along while I bash out old Beatles and Pink Floyd songs on the guitar. Most of all (and ever since he was old enough to sit up) he loves to draw and paint (with real paper, not on the computer), and make models out of scrap materials.
Oh, and he also loves his karate, swimming and football lessons.
I therefore hardly think that using the coputer regularly is about to turn him into an autist. He is an athletic, articulate, creative, intelligent, sensitive, enthusiastic, sociable, loving, mischievous little boy. Quite normal, though perhaps a little better endowed upstairs than most his age.
The point I'm trying to make is that there are some child psychologists and left-of-centre educationalists who think there is something wrong with giving your child an educational head start. They somehow seem to imagine that the child misses out on an important experience of childhood in some way. This is arrant nonsense.
If I succeed in my plans for him he will be neither a geek nor a jock but an all-rounder in every sense. Remember the great men of the Renaissance? That's the model I'm working to. By enabling him to exercise his abilities in every possible dimension, he will have the greatest opportunity to discover where his own interests lie and to choose his own destiny. Hopefully he'll also retain an active interest in music, arts, sciences, sport etc.
It's be really swell if I could also steer him safely past the bad choices I made later on in life, but that's probably hoping for too much
Consciousness is not what it thinks it is
Thought exists only as an abstraction