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On Afghanistan's Thomas Edison

Posted by simoniker on from the eureka dept.

13.7BillionYears writes "The Institute for War and Peace Reporting details on the exploits of Ghulam Sediq Wardak, a 62 year old semi-literate Afghan with 341 clever inventions to his credit. His first was a radio powered by the low voltage produced by the human body. His most recent is a 1980 Volkswagen rigged to run on solar power. A handful of others are mentioned. Like many a Slashdotter, his parents were once very worried and he eschews patents. 'The main purpose of my inventing is not to earn money,' he says. 'I want to render a service to my countrymen and to all people in the world.'"

11 of 445 comments (clear)

  1. bitch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    you all

  2. 'Semi-literate' Slashdotter? by Mordant · · Score: 1, Troll

    Say it isn't so!

  3. get him first by anandpur · · Score: -1, Troll

    Get him before he transfer tech. to Terrorists or Talibans or open source it.

    1. Re:get him first by dnahelix · · Score: 0, Troll

      Bush & Co. (aka Helliburton) aren't worried about the solar-powered VW as a terrorist threat, they're worried about it as a threat to the oil companies! I'm sure the wan't to kill the fucker.

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      They Are Vermin Feeding On Each Other's Feces.
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  4. Amazing by Ratfactor · · Score: 0, Troll

    While there's nothing groundbreaking about the 'inventions' themselves, the fact that he has persisted with his tinkering in the midst of an Arab culture speaks of incredible curiosity, freethinking, and persistence.

    I applaud this man. A kindred spirit in an alien world.

  5. tall tales by The+Pim · · Score: -1, Troll
    In 1996, he developed a solar-powered pump powerful enough to lift water from wells up to 20 metres deep. His invention is widely used in his home province of Wardak and the neighbouring province of Logar as well.

    One atmosphere of pressure is about 10 meters of water. You can't pump water any higher than that. I smell exaggeration.

    --

    The evaluation of an action as 'practical' . . . depends on what it is that one wishes to practice.
  6. Re:Geek, thy name is "Sediq" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    i prefer the more colorful term "nigger rigged" myself.

  7. ep! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    worthwhile. It's short of a miracle Be on a wrong offended some conducted at MIT not so bad. To the the project If you have or make loud noises We''l be able to track of where right now. I tried,

  8. Re:well by ShockerFan · · Score: -1, Troll
    he could have gone about patenting his inventions and...

    Except he would then have to deal with attorneys--likely Jews--who would steal his inventions by claiming them as their own. After all, he's a semi-literate Afghani--who the fuck is gonna believe he is capable of anything more beneficial than killing for Allah? I mean, damn--we save their asses from the Nazi holocaust and how do they repay us? They send us to jail for making backups of our own CDs. That and they keep tricking us into starting wars to make them feel safer from the consequences of their own Nazi-style genocide project.

    --

    Ask me about The Shocker!

  9. Land of Patent Free. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    > Like many a Slashdotter, his parents were once
    > very worried and he eschews patents...

    I think the Soviet Bolsheviks did too. Why
    don't you go live in some Marxist (patent
    free) country and then you won't have to worry
    about those evil patents.

  10. Politically incorrect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Afro-engineered