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Programming Prodigy Arfa Karim Passes Away At 16
quantr writes "Arfa Karim, child prodigy, youngest certified Microsoft Professional in the world and winner of the president’s Pride of Performance, breathed her last breath on Saturday night at the Combined Military Hospital in Lahore. Arfa had an epileptic attack on December 22 and had been in a coma since."
poop.
Women make lousy software developers anyway.
That doesn't sounds like something to be proud of.
This is a better fate than being known as a certified Microsoft Professional.
Dead at 16 of a treatable disorder?
Her genes would've contributed little to the world, what good is brilliance if it shines so briefly?
Since it was an epileptic seizure could it have been caused by stress ? I doubt a corporate environment is a good place for a kid to grow up...
Oh well, it could have been a bus, or IED, or who knows what. But Taliban? No where put Pakistan. Even India is 10x safer for womwn.
...it must be asshole day at /.
Seriously, folks - what the hell is wrong with you?
A young woman of tremendous promise and an incredibly positive outlook on life dies far before her time, and this is what you have to say?
Some really sick folks. First time in a long time that I've actually been embarrassed of the folks here at /., despite some seriously differing opinions.
Check your premises.
Wow, what a bunch of badasses we have here. Way to slam a dead teenager for not being as cool as you are. Real men, you are.
I had no idea epilepsy could be fatal.
I know the years of blood vessel stress can lead a migraine sufferer like myself to suffer an aneurism -- a blood vessel in the brain "blowing out" and bleeding, causing stroke symptoms or even death. But the concept doesn't scare me, it's just a factual risk I live with.
My heartfelt condolences to her family. She was so young and so gifted, with such a future ahead of her. :(
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
Have gnu, will travel.
Was she hot?
If you find this post offensive, don't read it! THINK ABOUT YOUR BREATHING! I am what I am because of how apes behave.
the comments on this topic are disgusting, shows something about an average person (and they are voters).
You can't handle the truth.
Why is this posted on Slashdot?
This is a sad event indeed, but the sad news here is that a young person, yet to live a good and full life died. Not that a possible future program hero died.
Its not news for slashdot. Its news that in this world, a lot of people still die because of diseases that should be able to be helped.
... are seemingly all arseholes. Sometimes you fuckers make me want to puke. Have a little respect; she's dead.
--D
I think it's about time /. gets rid of the AC policy. If you can't be bothered to make an account, why should you be able to constantly stink this place up with the sort of bile we see in the first few comments to this?
That is really tragic.
A moment of silence for a bright little star winking out, no more to lend its brilliance to our future.
If 80% of your blood is in your left hand, while it may allow you to play tennis without the need of a racket, can cause varying types of seizure. See pic in article for details.
People have to die. Sad fact. Don't take it so hard. I bet about a million other people died the same day. Are you mourning for them? Lighten up, Francis.
I know that, in the face of the appallingly low level of most of the comments here, it is easy to take the moral high ground. I know. But still - this is tremendously sad. We ( with "we" I mean both "humanity" and "we, the engineering community" ) lost something valuable here: a promising life.
Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
She died because she left?
I didn't know her, had never heard of her, but to pass at 16 is just sad. So much unfulfilled.
It's sad that she passed so early. She appeared truly gifted and it's a shame that she died too soon to learn how awful Microsoft products are. She could have become quite the *nix wiz.
So in other words, no human life has value, and we should just shrug our shoulders and move on. I hope on the day someone you care about dies, no one follows it up with insults and a "lighten up, Francis!"
Perhaps, but I don't make a habit of pissing in open graves before the dirt's even shoveled in.
And I find it reprehensible when others do it out of some sort of misbegotten patriotism, envy or need to prop them selves up by being vile to others.
Especially in the case when such potential for brilliance is snuffed out so early.
Check your premises.
I blame Microsoft. She must have seen what they did to the Metro API in Windows 8, lol.
She may very well have been a "child prodigy", but is being a "Microsoft Certified Professional" (especially in Lahore...) really evidence of that? *ANY* reasonably smart high school kid can jump through those hoops, and quite honestly, being a skilled Windows GUI Cowboy is not exactly an indication of being a "prodigy".
By the way, why so emotional about someone you don't even know? Too much coffee this morning?
Step back, take a deep breath, and cut back on the Twinkies.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
Arfa, thank you for being an inspiration during your too-short life. You'll never know the positive example you've been to tens of thousands!
To think that a [presumed] Muslim female, a child at that, could accomplish what she did is amazing on so many levels. I am with others on the presumption that her ability was possibly also part of her undoing. The brain is a tricky thing. Hers was likely wired in such a way that it contributed to its burning itself out.
That said, those woman-oppressing Islamic fundamentalists out there can look upon her with all the anger they like. They can't deny what she was. She was female. She was extremely young. She was extremely accomplished and had extremely high potential. I doubt this is the type of symbol she would have wanted to be, but she is definitely a symbol of defiance against ridiculous religious ideals which seek to limit and oppress women into specific roles in life.
Yes, epilepsy can be fatal. It can shut down the central nervous system, starve the brain and other vital organs of oxygen, causing death. That just happened here to a very promising young student here in North Carolina. I convey my condolences to the family. There is no crueler cut of life than having to bury a child.
So what we have hear is a head line that makes a big deal about the cert. Now can one any point to some real work (not just passing a test) that she did??
Not saying anything bad about her but the summary makes a big deal about the cert and not much more other then a trip to the main MS office.
It is quite obvious to me, even if it is not to others: her great coding talent was only eclipsed by her beauty.
This suggests in turn, that her earning potential as a young, intelligent software engineer was snuffed out by the indifference of nature; just as her greater potential as a highly paid fellatio and anilingus specialist was.
In the words of a much wiser man:
I was thinking about these younger women, who got buried today. Did you ever think about them? *Probably not*. But I was thinking about these younger women who died three or four days ago, got buried today. And some of them had a bad heart, some of them a bad kidney, but a lot of them had perfectly good pussies. Good pussies, nice tits, reasonably tight assholes, going to waste! In the ground! It just seems a shame to me, that some fine young pussy should be rotting away six feet under. Because you’d think, you *would think*, in this era, that if you can donate a heart to someone who needs one, there ought to be a way to recycle some of these pussies. And give them to people who need them. Some old guy living up in the mountains. Wow Holy shit, look at this fucking thing, this is great! Thank you very much, sir, thank you, I appreciate it, thank you, God bless you, you’re doing God’s work, I hope you know that. Hey this is better than Publisher’s Clearing House. Listen here, buddy, you haven’t got a red-headed one of these, by any chance? Nah, I didn’t think so, never did run into one of those myself. Thank you very much. Now listen, this is the real thing, isn’t it? This isn’t one of them storeboard pussies from your old bookstore? Huh, what’s that? Oh, okay. Hold on for just a second.
[takes a hard sniff and growls]
Jesus Christ on the cracker, that’s the real fucking thing. I recognise that son of a bitch anywhere. That straightened out my nose hairs. I better get this sucker home and get it in the refrigerator as quick as I can.
To Save A Pussy Foundation. Give the gift that keeps on giving. Fuck the whales. Save the pussies. But you wouldn’t want to save all of them. Not all of them. Some of them are worn out. You wouldn’t want one of those big old rubbery things, that isn’t no good. What you want is, you want yourself something nice and tight but flexible, maybe you’d have an age limit. Or a mileage check. You figure out the average length of the average dick, the average number of thurst per event, the average number of events per life time, you’ve got that lady’s mileage. And you women, I don’t want you to think we’re going to leave you without fun, we’re going to get you a nice set of cock and balls, okay? Will get you something nice, just after rigor mortis has set in. Tell the truth ladies, wouldn’t you like a nice set of cock and balls without all the bullshit that comes with them? Fucking A. We’ll get you something nice, you’ll keep it on the night stand. It’s real easy to find in the dark. And if your mother comes over, put a hat on it. Well somebody has got to think of these things and apparently I’ve been appointed. I was dancing with a woman and she told me she a had a yeast infection. I said, well bake me a fucking loaf of bread. A couple of corn muffins, a jelly donor, I don’t give a shit, I’m always on the market for quality baked goods. You couldn’t squeeze a birthday cake out of that by any chance, now could you? No I didn’t think so, honey, no pressure, no pressure at all. Why don’t you just turn over and get me a nice pineapple upside down cake? And a dozen oatmeal cookies. Skip the raisins. It’s nay on the raisins, aye?
I am sickened by some of the posters here. I expect stupidity and ignorance from the CNN posters, here I thought there were be a higher standard because of the average intelligence and educational levels of the average reader here. I was sorely mistaken. If you're so jaded and bitter that you use the news of the death of a young girl, who seemed to be quite remarkable by the way, to post stupid shit about how you hate Microsoft, certifications, or whatever, you need to get your humanity checked. I know you can feel so smarmy posting your bullshit into the ether, but, you are genuinely fucked up for doing so. I really have to stop reading reader's comments on websites, it's actually beginning to damage my soul. Thanks assholes.
Same about the young kids with high level PHD's and degrees.
Now if some kind was high along in some kind of a IT apprenticeship then it's a big deal but the degrees over real work and tech school is wrong with IT today.
CS does not give the skills to do IT work and it's to long in a class room for IT any ways and that some leads to people rolling software / ideas / plans with the knowledge of working with at user end and up.
theory does help but CS is over loaded with with. Some cert tests are some what theory / way off base from the real work place. Other cert tests can be done by people who are good test takes.
Holy cow, now you're attributing jingoistic motivation to the comments of people who didn't get as teary eyed as you over the death of a stranger.
And, earth to self-righteous guy, don't beatify the girl - her "brilliance" was not demonstrated. If she had lived, she might have done something more than pass a test, but you'll never know. This is the same bullshit emotional inflation that makes people weep over Di and Marilyn.
Lastly - comments on /. != pissing in graves. You must be thinking of those heros of ours in Afghanistan.
But go ahead, up the ante - you're already irretrievably invested in your emotional position, get your panties twisted a little tighter.
(Grabs popcorn.)
she didn't die because she was burning twice as bright. she died from complications after they made an incision to insert a breathing tube into her trachea. that means she didn't have to die, and it was an incredible tragedy that she did. i am both sad and angry at this terrible news.
From TFA: "In recent weeks, Microsoft had stepped in to help provide expert medical care."
Look, I find it as disgusting the people straight up insulted a dead person. However, millions of people die every day. Such things happen. And if I don't feel sad for a person I've never heard before that might have or then again might have not been smarter than the average, then that's my choice.
Lack of empathy is a clear social dysfunction and the only excuse is adolescence.
I would not ridicule a 16yo for not understanding how others might feel or how things are for someone else. If you are still busy finding your own identity it is difficult to feel for others. But if you're 20+ and still posting things like the above comments, you are on the way of becoming a pathetic loser.
You obviously don't get the reference, or the respect that the reference implies.
You're an asshole.
Are you so attached to the idea of performance and computer skills that you'd even consider it a relevant subject of discussion when such a young person has passed away? You're all like Scrooge, but with computers chained to your souls instead of cash.
Emotions! In your brain!
are known to cause madness. Arfa should have used GNU/Linux.
an ill wind that blows no good
I studied up on her, and, one of the things I noticed is that when asked if she's a net applications developer, she resopnds that she programs in C#. And when I studied the requirements for MCP, I couldn't find an instance of the word "Java". So... at least we can say that the poor young soul never had to know the pain of Java.
"Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
On one side we have the who cares, this is not the place to post this. The on the other side we have Its such a tragedy we lost such a great young mind! Then we have the people who probably agree with the first but are to afraid to comment for the karma loss inflicted by the second side.
Lets be honest, it is a tragedy any time someone dies, even more so when that person had potential to change alot of peoples lives through their work, but let us remember we lose people everyday with more potential and intellect than this girl. She had the right combination to get to the point were she could excel, good parents that encouraged her that had money to make possible what she wanted to do. So I think on that point is a greater tragedy when we lose someone who tries to excel even though they have none of those things to help the process. Where is the press then? Where is microsoft to help them find the best medical care? Where is the overzealous out cry of mourners for those people?
I think its time the second group of people step back and re-look at all the shit they are giving the first group of people, unless you can name every bright mind the world has lost in the last year and how that young kid who was working themselfs through college because his mother was a crack head and his farther was in jail has effected you.
"I think it's about time /. gets rid of the AC policy. If you can't be bothered to make an account, why should you be able to constantly stink this place up with the sort of bile we see in the first few comments to this?" - by Beelzebud (1361137) on Sunday January 15, @04:38PM (#38708108)
What about misusing mult. registered 'luser' accts used to troll/harass/stalk others?
(Don't even *TRY* to bullshit me & say it doesn't go on either - it goes on like MAD...)
E.G. - I've got the MOST "infamous" of the lot here, literally, and with he saying this week I was "RAPED" & more, violating the rules of this site... Doesn't faze him I wrote the GeekNet legal dept. etc. (thus, he's not afraid of breaking the law (in terms of libel or defamation of character, obviously!))
* In fact, I'm an ac who posts that way consistently (as AC), & I was very happy that folks rode the morons who acted like complete assholes hopefully FEEL that way, & yes, that they voiced their opinions in that regard to the ones acting like asses!
So please - don't even *TRY* to make it out like cutting off the 'ac' posting identity more prone to being "better people", because I'm dealing with possibly the WORST OF THE LOT in "registered 'lusers'" -> The fool that keeps around 500 bogus alternate registered accounts, in "MichaelKristopeit"...
APK
P.S.=> There's also a pack of trolls here, literally ADMITTED trolls (gmhowell, tomhudson, webmistressrachel, squiggleslash, countertrolling, mcgrew, & other registered LUSER 'guises'), that cheat the moderation system, literally, in 2 ways:
1.) Modding themselves up in collusion/teams
2.) Modding down those they are stalking/harassing/trolling
Think it's bullshit? Ok, fine - here's where they LITERALLLY ADMIT TO ALL OF THE ABOVE & how they cheat the mod system here:
A.) countertrolling telling others how to moddown opponents as registered lusers 1st, then to logout to save your karma/cookie state of your reg'd luser account, & then to troll others via ac replies -> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2245866&cid=36491652
B.) mcgrew stating how he modded up webmistressrachel 5 times, & she's his "partner in crime" around here (probably SAME person with multiple guises is my guess) -> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2212152&cid=36361542
C.) I've literally CAUGHT a fool named clone53421 posting in the same post as clone52431 (notice the #'s appended, not the same)
& plenty more I've caught doing bogus things around here to "fool the system/game the system"... would you like more? I can list them, in seconds... apk
What's more saddening is that she died so early that she probably didn't enjoy childhood, and living, that much.
I wouldn't be sad that from X child prodigies in the world, we now have X-1; that's alright, the world will go on.
She won't.
And that's the sad part...
DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee, 5
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell, 10
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
Perhaps, but I don't make a habit of pissing in open graves before the dirt's even shoveled in.
And I find it reprehensible when others do it out of some sort of misbegotten patriotism, envy or need to prop them selves up by being vile to others.
Especially in the case when such potential for brilliance is snuffed out so early.
For all of you who are inexperienced socially I will make things easy and tell you that what forkfail said is a proper human response to what singingjim1 said. Seriously you guys need to know when to apply the saying "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
the most promising people always go first and yet assholes are still amongst us?
I'm just venting, don't take me too seriously.
My thoughts are with her family and friends.
RIP, Arfa Karim Randhawa. :'(
They're miserable scum that WISH they had 1/10th the talent & drive this kid had... their ONLY 'recourse' for the waste of their OWN LIVES? Shitting on those that didn't do the same as they have - wasting their lives crapping on others as "trolls" (that's a "pc" word for harassing/stalking, nothing more).
* I've got the WORST of the LOT in "MichaelKristopeit" here, this week, saying I was RAPED (wtf?), & a lot more that's worse imo... I wrote GeekNet's LEGAL about it, told him I was doing so - doesn't faze him, he's keeping it up anyhow.
(That only tells me he's f'd up his life & doesn't care what the repercussions, if ANY that is, are of his obviously insane activity he's widely KNOWN around here for doing in fact)
* In fact, I post as AC here, on purpose... why? So that MichaelKristopeit only catches a small percentage of my posts (he & others, like the "trolltalk.com" crew - see my p.s. below)
The world's got a %-age of people who are either just born that way, or their MADE that way afterwards over time (usually I've found they're just dissatisfied w/ the messes they made of their own lives & "misery loves company" as the old adage goes)... I think their "head trip" involves "schadenfreude" or something, & they "get off" on it! That's twisted imo...
APK
P.S.=> There's also a pack of trolls here, literally ADMITTED trolls, they run a domain called "trolltalk.com" in fact!
(gmhowell, tomhudson, webmistressrachel, squiggleslash, ountertrolling, mcgrew, & other registered LUSER 'guises'),
They regularly cheat/game the moderation system, literally, in 2 ways:
1.) Modding themselves up in collusion/teams
2.) Modding down those they are stalking/harassing/trolling
Think it's bullshit? Ok, fine - here's where they LITERALLLY ADMIT TO ALL OF THE ABOVE & how they cheat the mod system here:
A.) countertrolling telling others how to moddown opponents as registered lusers 1st, then to logout to save your karma/cookie state of your reg'd luser account, & then to troll others via ac replies -> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2245866&cid=36491652 [slashdot.org]
B.) mcgrew stating how he modded up webmistressrachel 5 times, & she's his "partner in crime" around here (probably SAME person with multiple guises is my guess) -> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2212152&cid=36361542 [slashdot.org]
C.) I've literally CAUGHT a fool named clone53421 posting in the same post as clone52431 (notice the #'s appended, not the same)
& plenty more I've caught doing bogus things around here to "fool the system/game the system"... would you like more? I can list them, in seconds!
... apk
A new one begins.
Got Geometrodynamics? Awe, too hard to figure out? Too bad.
This is it. You people are monsters who do nothing but make half life and portal jokes when your not whining about copyrights. Now you are attacking a child for getting a cert. Of course she had no great work, she didn't have enough time! Shill for microsoft? Ya getting a cert from a company with enormous worldwide market share is certainly a terrible idea.
Young death knows no intelligence range, it will take them all.
No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as a manor of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Enjoy your mortality, fellow beings...
Conclusive proof that if you want long uptimes, Linux is the way too go.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
You obviously don't get the reference, or the respect that the reference implies.
and i also wouldn't have shown my respect by wishing her a speedy recovery from chemotherapy.
You're an asshole.
that is correct, coward.
i will correct the common misconception that she died from a seizure no matter how tragic it is. i want candles to burn twice as bright AND twice as long, and i'm not afraid to say it.
Being familiar with this girls story, I came here to say some kind words. I see that they have already been said.
For those of you with unkind words all I can say is I have been on Slashdot since 1997 and I have never been so embarrassed and ashamed to call myself a part of this community.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
What is it with Slashdotters' pathological fear of sites like Reddit? It's as if Slashdotters are living in an alternative reality in which community websites never progressed past 2002, and Slashdot's broken model is the only thing out there. "Let *everyone* moderate? That's preposterous!"
I even remember when CmdrTaco publicly predicted that Wikipedia would fail. There's this strange fear of relinquishing control around here.
Hell, look at your post, which is modded up, compared to the post you're replying to, which is -1 Offtopic. Why is his off-topic but you're isn't? Because people who don't like the OP modded it down, while people who don't like Reddit modded you up. Agendas rule the day because the moderator pool is so small.
Here are the reasons why this is a news-worthy item here on Slashdot and why she should be credited for what she did:
1. The girl was from Pakistan and therefore unlikely to have been afforded similar social & educational privileges than a 16-year old girl in the USA or Europe.
2. Pakistan is a mainly Muslim country meaning that women have a lower status than men from the moment of birth. Therefore what she did was that little bit more harder for her than for a boy in Pakistan.
3. It's good to occasionally get a new story from Pakistan where everyone isn't portrayed as either a Taliban terrorist in the mountains or a member of the Pakistan government hiding them.
4. Maybe if a few more kids in our rich Western countries (I'm in the UK) took an interest in intellectual pursuits like programming, we wouldn't have so many of them dropping unwanted kids or getting addicted to drugs or alcohol. Maybe just one or two of those kids will read this story and take some inspiration from it, possibly change their own lives.
So now kindly shut the fuck up if you cannot show some compassion.
Windows 10 is great - I used it to download Linux.
That's, like, the polar opposite of being a expert, professional or programmer.
I'm willing to give him the benefit of doubt, and assume he did it to infiltrate the enemy... and "for the lulz". ^^
Sadly TFS does not mention her achievements.
I really fuckin' hope, they are not just dragging her around for "president’s Pride of Performance" propaganda. Cause then there are some asses to be kicked!
Really funning considering /. generally complains when one has to sign-up to random sites in-order to read their articles. 'They're violating my priavcy! Their database could be hacked! I'm being tracked! etc...' Some people don't post enough to feel like it's worth creating an account and remembering new login details. Use something like KeePass? then you can only post from one computer. Use a cloud based service? then you've given all your passwords to a third party. Remember them yourself? that's hard to do for secure passwords for 20+ site you rarely log onto.
Anyway, you're only trying to hide the problems, not fix them (I know, extremely hard to do). Lets all push those disgruntled people over there so they become ever more disgruntled. When has that ever worked out in the long term?
Why are you people with accounts making such a big deal about us ACs? If you guys didn't make such a fuss, I would have never even known there were a few bad first posts (which there normally are anyway). Now instead of discussing the girl, half the posts are about ACs. Why can't you raise your viewing threshold one point?
It's funny to see people on /. crying think of the children when it suites them then bash everyone else doing it in many of the articles.
One last point: without bad ACs posts, you'd get a more distorted view of the world. Many people feel having distorted views of things is bad in general. Even /. tends to argue against it.
~8 year AC poster (1-3 posts a month)
And happy Epilepsy!
...is when you troll gleefully about the death of a teenage Pakistani girl who was a genius with Microsoft stuff but attacked anyone who trolled gleefully when Steve Jobs passed away.
Windows 10 is great - I used it to download Linux.
No kidding. For those who don't care, we won't care for them when they die.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
She was interested in M$ stuff, after all.
So Microsoft and Saint "I'm an honest rich man! And a hero!" Gates reap free publicity from this kid even in death.
you had me at #!
And if i go, ...I will be there.
while you're still here...
Know that I live on,
vibrating to a different measure
-behind a thin veil you cannot see through.
You will not see me,
so you must have faith.
I wait for the time when we can soar together again,
-both aware of each other.
Until then, live your life to its fullest.
And when you need me,
Just whisper my name in your heart,
By Colleen C. Hitchcock
Sigs suck!
The death is tragic, but there are no "programming geniuses", it does not work that way. You simply cannot even have the amount of experience to be very, very good at that age. The potential can be there, but not the actual skill. My deduction is that she had very good memory and was drilled to get through that test. Afterwards, my guess would be that she was used basically as a PR asset. Makes sense when you think about it. And in basically all cases like this, when you dig a bit, you find over-ambitious parents.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
I'm just saying a bunch of people die every single day. You cared about this woman? You knew her? I'm sorry for your loss if so, but in reality you life has not changed and by tomorrow you will have forgotten this person existed and that this exchange even took place.
Seizure salad! Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week. Try the duck.
Fine. I'll get off your lawn.
Perhaps, but I don't make a habit of pissing in open graves before the dirt's even shoveled in.
How convenient from the standpoint of a consequentialist censor: hold off on saying anything until nobody is listening anymore. Well, I salute all the trolls, because I know that there's no time like the present, the immediate, to say what we want to -- while we too are still alive.
Same about the young kids with high level PHD's and degrees.
Now if some kind was high along in some kind of a IT apprenticeship then it's a big deal but the degrees over real work and tech school is wrong with IT today.
CS does not give the skills to do IT work and it's to long in a class room for IT any ways and that some leads to people rolling software / ideas / plans with the knowledge of working with at user end and up.
theory does help but CS is over loaded with with. Some cert tests are some what theory / way off base from the real work place. Other cert tests can be done by people who are good test takes.
Your post might carry a bit more weight if you would slow down, check your spelling, and do a bit of proof reading. As it is you appear to be semi-literate at best. No one will take you seriously if they can't even understand what it is that you have written.
'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
There aren't nearly enough cute geek girls in the world that ANYONE here ought to be gleeful about any geek girl dying!
"Today is the black day of my life and same for Pakistan because I lost my princess colleague and Pakistan lost her Pakistani." -Gates
Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, has reportedly approached parents of Arfa Karim, world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP, to offer her treatment in United States at billionaire’s expense.
It is obvious why he would invest into saving her. I do not fault it. But, I have to point out to anyone looking for some low-hanging fruit to invest into from a utilitarian perspective, there are lives to be saved in Africa for a much lower cost; money is fungible. Just something to consider before that next purchase of an Apple product.
Man, take a deep breath, relax... This is the web, you get all sorts of people here. Yes I've seen some pretty horrible comments on this one, but it seems you're taking everything that's going on here too seriously.
OK, this smells.
I successful female of marrying age in Pakistan who is a role model to all the young girls in Pakistan. Can't have that in the backwards Islamic society.
Odds are her parents wanted to marry her off to some 70 year old distant relative and she would have nothing to do with it, so they beat her senseless to save their "family honor".
This has been going on for ME, personally, for over a year here now (mainly from trolltalk.com people - not only harassing me/stalking me via their registered 'luser' accounts here, but also via ac stalking posts)
They are:
gmhowell
tomhudson
webmistressrachel
squiggleslash
countertrolling
mcgrew
(& other registered LUSER 'guises' they have).
* I am NOT sure if they are just a single user with multiple guises (though I was told that tomhudson = webmistressrachel by others here), OR, if they are a collective of idiots with like mind, that have LITERALLY SAID they enjoy trolling others!
E.G.->
"I've been trolling people for 36 years. Why would I stop now? I've also never denied trolling you. Why would I?" - by gmhowell (26755) on Sunday April 17, @05:03AM (#35846218) Homepage
QUOTED VERBATIM DIRECTLY FROM -> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2087330&cid=35846218
"I never denied trolling you" - by gmhowell (26755) on Tuesday December 14 2010, @01:55AM (#34543612) Homepage Journal
QUOTED VERBATIM DIRECTLY FROM -> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1907528&cid=34543612
gmhowell posts journal on trolling myself, years ago now -> http://slashdot.org/journal/266768/the-best-thing-about-trolling-apk
PERTINENT QUOTE/EXCERPT:
"The best thing about trolling APK?" - http://slashdot.org/journal/266768/the-best-thing-about-trolling-apk
QUOTED VERBATIM FROM -> http://slashdot.org/journal/266768/the-best-thing-about-trolling-apk
---
gmhowell says he will stop next below (after I got on his case) too:
"But seriously, I may stop" - by gmhowell on Thursday June 16, @09:38PM (#36470452) Attached to: The best thing about trolling APK?
and
"Hmm... Maybe oughta lay off for a while." - by gmhowell (26755) on Thursday June 16, @09:38PM (#36470452) Homepage
I took him @ his word, & then laid off on retrolling he, but?
gmhowell starts up YET again (now by AC posts only)!
Proof? Ok, this week -> http://slashdot.org/journal/276148/now-this-is-entertaining
APK
P.S.=> You'd start taking it seriously too, were YOU targetted this way in being constantly harassed/stalked/trolled - In fact, that LAST link shows that gmhowell's been doing that to myself. I know 1 thing:
Eventually though, & I've done it before?
I've always gotten the better of dorks like them, only a matter of time, & just like novocaine, it's guaranteed to work, only takes time...
Kristopeit I'm working on right now as I speak (going to his ISP/BSP, hosting providers, the legal team for this website & more)... I'm going to finish that screwball, whatever it takes... apk
who. cares. ?
I have zero respect for the certification. It will not buy me in a job interview. I have the slashdot'ers natural inclination to treat MS certification for what it is: someone I don't trust vouching for someone I don't know.
If you are in an interview with me:
o Prove you can code
o Prove you didn't lie on your resume
o Prove you can communicate with other engineers
Given all that, she seems like a smart little shit. I would have given her a chance.
Judging her life after the fact without extra information is not useful, and doing so makes you a dick.
--Terry
Never heard of her until she died. Sad. Perhaps her case will help promote health care generally in India. Would be nice if losing a clearly large potential helps put the focus on curing disease (especially the more exotic ones that the west doesn't focus much on).
That said though I've heard that prodigies often fail to reach their potential. Ie do amazingly well and get into Harvard Law at 15 and than ... nothing. Their career is just like the rest of the Joe Smoes that got their degree when they were 25. I guess as two examples of ones that succeeded: Beethoven and Bobby Fischer. Any others? I guess what I'm saying is they have the intelligence of an adult extremely early but often they don't continue to develop. That is the nature of human development in general from what I understand. 0-4 or so really rapid development. Than more from 14-30 or so. In between and afterwards nothing that special. You learn but your reasoning doesn't improve at a great rate (might even decrease later on even not counting senility. So sad, but one good thing is she'll be remembered for what she was excellent at not as a 70 year old that had a hoo hum career and "oh yeah was the first MS MCP, you know that company from back in the 2010's?".
1. She belongs to the Microsoft camp which tried to, - and still trying to, - harm the FOSS movement
2. She belongs to a sect that worships the Satan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arfa_Karim
Slashdot = Sarcasm
Who is there to be angry at? Doctors who were trying to save her life? You know, not all tragedies have people you can blame.
I really dont get why people need a reason to be sad about her death (she had an MCP!) and someone to be mad at (those incompetent doctors). Is this what we have come to? Someone's death is only of note if they were of a particular skill set, and if we can blame someone for it?
this is too bad.
she wouldve greatly advanced technology
in a world full of stupid, it's sad to see a genius come and go so quickly
Computer or health/life. Choice is yours.
Recipes for USA bankrupt - http://tinypaste.com/0d66f dd = dollar deluge (printed in the infinity)
"Two weeks ago her outlook appeared to improve. In recent weeks, Microsoft had stepped in to help provide expert medical care."
Well, isn't that awkward.
"if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
All right. No more criticism, jokes, or insults. Some people don't like it. Therefore, it should never be done.
Let's just ban all words. Someone could take offense to one of them. That would bring about the apocalypse. Anyone who disagrees isn't a 'proper' human!
Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
We are waiting for you to pass ... eagerly.
She is called a programming prodigy but no evidence is given, the only "evidence" is a MS certification on a site where MS certification is a gigantic red flag. Certification in general tends not to be popular and the ones from MS are often considered to have less value then the paper they were written upon if the paper was made of shit.
The article writer probably knows this and also knows that controversy sells ad impressions.
The simple fact is that a young person died who had some minor accomplishments that most on /, simply do not value since they know adults with the same who are the waste of IT. Maybe if the article poster had given some examples of actual code she had written? Something that would actually impress other developers? But the only links I seen so far are to software that is frankly not that impressive to people from a generation that had to create their own computer from scratch. Don't forget, there are REAL rocket scientists on Slashdot. People that built their own home computer before there were home computers are supposed to be all impressed with a kid that made a calculator in a modern development environment? Not even a very good calculator.
It might be hard for a 9 year old to do that particular exam but so what? Coders judge other coders on code, not certificates.
All this is to me is a young person who died who seems to have gotten some minor press attention for an achievement I do not value. Show me her 3D engine, new sorting algorithm, something that makes her a true child prodigy and not just a very boring kid who read a training manual cover to cover.
Sad she died, but millions die each day. What makes her worthy of special attention? I just don't like fake emotion from people who shed tears over this but never made a donation to stop people from dying or to cure a disease. Slashdot doesn't need human interest stories.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I'm just saying a bunch of people die every single day. You cared about this woman? You knew her? I'm sorry for your loss if so, but in reality you life has not changed and by tomorrow you will have forgotten this person existed and that this exchange even took place.
The point is that when we hear of someone young and promising dying, we have this feeling called "empathy". I realise that your Asperger's makes it a difficult thing to comprehend. We think of children we know, we think of others we have lost at a young age, we think of what her parents must be feeling. It's part of being human.
I'm sorry if it's not logical, Spock.
Who is there to be angry at? Doctors who were trying to save her life? You know, not all tragedies have people you can blame.
not who; what. i get pissed when bad things happen to nice people. i may even turn my anger to constructive use, but this should not be construed as finger-pointing.
I really dont get why people need a reason to be sad about her death (she had an MCP!) and someone to be mad at (those incompetent doctors). Is this what we have come to? Someone's death is only of note if they were of a particular skill set, and if we can blame someone for it?
are you asking why i had an emotional reaction to this news, or do you really not know that in many cultures solemnity is the appropriate reaction to news of someone's death?
Quoting from the news paper her uncle said just a nice words "Speaking to The Express Tribune, Major Ahsan Randhawa, Arfa’s uncle, articulated the family’s grief as best as he could. “We are grieving her loss but she was a strong child”, he said – adding “she was God’s gift to us and now she has returned to Him”. May Allah peace on her and family
http://askaralikhan.blogspot.com/
"[...] became the world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional at 9 years old [...] Two weeks ago her outlook appeared to improve. In recent weeks, Microsoft had stepped in to help provide expert medical care."
I'm probably just reading too much into things, but...
Ballmer: "Hey, this 10-year old is great! Awesome! And best of all she gives loads of PR to our company!"
MS lackey: "... She's 16. And she recently switched over to Linux and is telling everyone how hopelessly dated our dev tools are!"
Ballmer: "... WTF??? *throws chair* I'm fucking going to kill her!!!"
Mozart schmozart. If he'd waited till he was older he might not have put too many notes in.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
That's the problem, right there.
They probably tried to switch her off and on again.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Let's get this right - you base your choice of OS on whether other users of it affect a sufficient display of emotional platitudes over someone they didn't know? I can almost imagine Tony Blair calling her "The People's Programmer" when I read your bleatings.
P.S. I hope you're not using ReiserFS.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
My heartfelt condolences to her family. She was so young and so gifted, with such a future ahead of her. :(
Not trying to be cold here, but death is part of life. There is no future really, there is only this moment. Why grief for something that is not ?
Accept the fact that you and me are going to die and live life to the fullest. She sounds like she did just that. We all make choices in our lives, even the moment when we die. We are all one and playing a game where death may not seem like it is our choice, but ultimately everything we do and everything we are born with we have chosen. Death is natural.
GeoKone.NET
Take that any way you like.
The complications were not necessarily avoidable. Medical science, unlike mathematics, is not exact - there are few perfect answers to a given situation.
It is very sad that her life had to end this way, however there is nobody to blame here. They would have had to have a constantly monitored camera in her trachea to catch the bleeding as soon as it happened. Even then, the chances of correcting the complication in time to save her would have been unlikely.
If you care the slightest whatsoever about **/.** fyuckfyuck mod-points then you are a useless, infantile bytefag who deserves to work a call-center telephone for 50 years. Here is my bootheel in yo' face. SMASH!
I hope her family can stand the pain. May her rest in piece.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8goV81mY7cs
That was an epic quote at the end about shyness.
>> Two weeks ago her outlook appeared to improve. In recent weeks, Microsoft had stepped in to help provide expert medical care.
Gennady korotkevich, have you?
http://petr-mitrichev.blogspot.com/2009/10/gennady-korotkevich.html
He's only 16, yet he is the ranked second in the world in topcoder.
http://community.topcoder.com/tc?module=MemberProfile&cr=22263204
It's so sad to see someone pass away who very well would have contributed something great to the profession. Something needs to be done to remember this young girl. Anyone want to name a useful application after her?
A community that regularly toutes the importance of education (especially in math and sciences) and rants about how stupid and immature the younger generation is nowadays yet...
When a story is posted about the passing of an individual who very obviously valued their education and gained recognition at such a young age by siezing oppourtunities given to her...
Part of the same community responds with: "So what?".
Part of the same community responds with: "Psh it was only a MS Cert, she doesn't deserve any respect from me".
I sense bitterness and a lack of empathy.
we have this feeling called "empathy".
What makes you think the one who you replied to doesn't? What makes you think that they don't feel empathy for people that they actually know? Personally, I find it difficult to believe that many people really are saddened by her death. I don't know how they're feeling, but I suspect they're nothing more than pretty words.
Asperger's
The number of pretend psychologists here who try to insult others by (likely incorrectly) diagnosing mental disorders seems to be staggering.
The fact that someone seems to be more in control of their emotions than you are doesn't make them a sociopath, emotionless, or anything of the sort.
It's part of being human.
They're aliens!
Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
my name is ali raza for fifteen years i lived in pakistan and now i am 15 and living in england 2 days ago when i heard about arfas death i became very sad and when i read about her information i cried lods i dont know why but i still consider her as my older sister if anyone from her family finds this post please contact me on aliraz1 at hotmail.co.uk because iwant to know more about my sister please ... i pray to god that she gets peace in her grave and a nice and massive house in jannat pleasse contact me