
Google Code-In winner whose Cameroon hometown is cut off from the internet - SimplyUseless
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-38922819
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wzy
Some of you guys have no idea how lucky you are to have good, fast and
reliable internet.

I've been around computers since 1998 and it's been 4 weeks since I have a
good enough internet connection to watch my first 1080P internet video

~~~
noobermin
I moved in 1998 (ironically) to an isolated island my parents were from and
lived there till 2008 and moved back here for college. It was like walking
into and out of a time-capsule, I missed the emergence of the internet into
what it is today.

I still learned to hack and everything else in Palau regardless, it was just
like playing with a handicap, it's still possible to learn and all, it's just
harder.

EDIT: to clarify, I didn't have it that bad, there was <20 kbps internet with
a monthly total hour cap, but it was expensive and not very reliable and slow.

~~~
bb101
Palau looks - from pictures and travel brochures - to be incredible. Why did
you leave?

~~~
JetSpiegel
Not having Internet access, probably.

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mattnewton
Another great reminder that top talent could be born anywhere, and America's
edge is that people want to move here to work for American companies.

~~~
pizza
“I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s
brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and
died in cotton fields and sweatshops.” - Stephen Jay Gould

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rwoodley
What a great story! Cameroon is highly dysfunctional; the government is one of
the most corrupt in the world. The fact that this boy can prevail regardless
is impressive in a way those of us in more functional societies have trouble
appreciating.

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dankohn1
I will show this article to my sons this weekend and redouble my time with
them teaching them to program. As with many things in life (healthcare, food,
peace, schools), we also need to appreciate having high-speed Internet access
and two parents with programming experience and the time and interest to
mentor our children.

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vermontdevil
I also found the part about cutting off mobile for the English-speaking part
of Cameroon to be scary.

Esp when Africa relies on mobile for financial transactions and banking and
now these people are stuck.

[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38895541](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-
africa-38895541)

~~~
sangnoir
> Esp when Africa relies on mobile for financial transactions and banking and
> now these people are stuck.

"Africa" has no such mobile money reliance - you are probably thinking of
Kenya. Africa is 54 countries and 1 billion people, your generalization is
overbroad.

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j_s
This is the firs time I've heard about this competition for high school age
developers.

Glad it finally got some traction here on HN; I apparently need to find a more
education-specific technology news site!

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mooveprince
Good read to end the week

~~~
Cyph0n
Kind of ruined by an unusual number of toxic comments. But what an inspiring
kid.

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cryptozeus
And then just a day after the deadline for final submissions, the internet
went dead.

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tw04
I fully expect Ajit Pai to use this as proof we don't need any improvements to
infrastructure in the US.

