CNet News
Marko Calasan, a 9-year-old from Macedonia, is more than just a kid who’s into computers.
At age 6, he got his first systems administrator credential from Microsoft and, last month, he became perhaps the youngest Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.
“I must say that from the technological point of view, Marko is definitely a wonder child,” said Matej Potokar, the general manager of Microsoft Slovenia. Potokar said in an e-mail interview that he first heard about Marko two years ago and was eager to get the chance to meet the young prodigy.
Amazing!
Says a lot about MCSEs.
He will be an alcoholic by the time he is 20. Ever seen the “child stars” edition of Intervention. The kids that went to college when they were 12 all ended up as losers.
Lighten up.
Multiple Choice Selection Expert
Pretty good effort for a 9yo though. If he can make a Linksys router (on screen) work properly, he is truly a prodigy.
One reason why I never bother to get my certs… Where is the credibility if a 6yr old could make such a accomplishment.
Experience walks the walk.
One more reason certifications have almost ZERO credibility with me.
Kid has great taste in netbooks as well.
Original Asus eee PC. Nice little machine.
whoopty freakin do. the kid can read and take a multiple choice test.
nice job but it sure as hell don’t qualify him to be an admin.
Some one been reading the The Top 100 Things I’d Do
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord list.
To all those criticizing the MCSE certificate:
If you think your experience is so damn comprehensive, then go take some MCSE tests without studying and see how well you do. After all, it is just simple multiple choice, isn’t it? With your experience, you should be able to go in there and just ace every test.
The kid is a genius, and passing those tests by age 9 demonstrates so. I am very impressed. I am not so impressed by those here that put him down, willing to talk the talk but not walk the walk.
#11 Awake
The biggest problem I had with the MSCE (granted this was in the NT4 days), was that it was written by Americans for Americans 😉
What’s the big deal?
I’ve know lots of IT administrators that act like 9 year olds!
I had to lmao at the comments here. Sad people that can’t stand seeing a child doing what they can’t. More than sad, it’s downright pathetic and in what the kid might say “gay.” 🙂
Regardless of what you may think the test may be, if the child is working and/or actually getting the work done then it’s kudos to him/her. I know plenty of “kids” that are way smart, technically 😀
Oh to have the brain of a 9 year old again.
Things I could do……….
wow… sounds like a few old men in the industry are a scared of a ‘little’ competition, by some of the comments above 🙂
At age 6 (1978)I saved the day when I worked out how my school’s sole U-matic video machine was connected up and explained how it worked to the teacher who had no idea…
When I was 7-8 years old I was doing things with reel to reel tape machines and sound that most adults at the time who saw were in shock, (think Brian Eno stuff revox a77’s)
but I also remember many adults not letting touch a damn thing, and would NOT believe a 6-8 year could possibly have any idea beyond their own understanding of the tech…
WRONG ! with or without the certification I have no doubt this kid is a computer genius. Why is it so hard to believe ? I worked in IT for 7 years on Unix, Solaris, Windows and Linux boxes… Some of the wintel administrators were about as clever as your modern day nine year old anyway 😉
In the mid 1990s, Microsoft’s youngest beta tester was approx. nine. The current beta tester age has probably come down to.
The next 40 year old virgin.
“Don’t compare yourself to others for there will always be greater and lesser men than you.”
I see a bright future for him in tech.
Excellent.. He’s on the fast track to underemployment!
To anyone saying passing the MCSE is hard… well.. When I was taking courses the rest of the class got all certs on either 1st or 2nd try, and one guy went for one 11 times! ELEVEN. He ended up with the same four letters after his name as the ones that actually knew what we were doing. All it takes to pass these tests is a few good braindumps.
It’s awesome he can do these computer things at a young age, just as it’s awesome for those 3-5 year old drum/guitar/piano kids on youtube. What the article doesn’t really talk about is how the kid is around people. You can be a great mind, but if you act like Nick Burns (SNL) you won’t be employed long in this PC heavy HR environment. and it’s only going to get worse.
#20
I don’t think I met a “nice” IT guy yet and I know a lot of them. Sorry, but that many IT being a-holes have to mean there’s a trend there, trend of I know-it-all and just plain being A a-hole.
I absolutely love talking with IT guys. Since I’m an multi-discipline engineer I actually understand more of how the softare/hardware works than they do. Yet, that sense of “I know more than” you always surfaces and it cracks me up like no stand-up comedian would.
If they really get cocky then all I have to reply is, “I don’t only understand it but I can design and build it.” Oh, and my favorite part is when actually talking about the low level details such as packets, bits and bytes, error checking, etc. Most are absolutely clueless.
What a bunch of jaded people you have here. I think it’s great that a 9 Year old is smart enough to take and pass these tests. Good for him!! I am taking the Microsoft Mctp Exams and while some are easy and useless others are very difficult have to know more about Microsoft Server OS’s than any normal user does and have be able to put it to use as allot of these tests now have a practical as well as multiple choice.
As for most IT people being A holes, it is most likely just the ones who have to deal with your bad attitude. IT is just like any other job there are good and bad people in all fields, I am sorry if you have only dealt with the bad one.
Thanks
You haven’t read the story yet peeves. Research and Read first before you use your no good bashful mouths!
“His latest project is trying to devise a way to send high-definition television signals over a comparatively slow network infrastructure. To support his effort, a Macedonian telecommunications company has given him a direct connection to its network backbone.”
As an IT guy, I can tell you that most of the attitude coming from the support technicians is generated from customers(either previous or current) calling and yelling at us for problems that usually stem from user errors. The majority of our phone conversations are with angry customers.
I would like to run into more customer like you, Theone…as people that call me with a general knowledge (or advanced) makes trouble-shooting easier and faster…but that happens too little.
At 6 years the child was certified and in the picture he’s configuring a router. The kid has some smarts, more than most from what it seems. Kudos to you, kiddo.