Marco the child genius - on CNN

Ten year old Marco Calasan from Skopje, Macedonia has been dubbed the Mozart of Computers by local press after becoming the worlds youngest IT Professional when he passed the Microsoft Certified System Administrator exam.Going On 10, Boy Going For Fifth Microsoft Certification
Say Hello to Marko Calasan. He's nine years old and lives in Republic of Macedonia. He's also Microsoft Certified four times over and working on his fifth certificate. (And he prefers Bing.)

This is the type of story that warms your heart but also makes you feel a little bad about yourself. Why? Because still in his single digits, Marko is more computer literate than many of us will ever be. Here he describes his first memories of using a computer:

But my first memory is from when I was approximately 3 years old when I was making simple actions like personalizing Windows, then installing Windows, making remote desktop connections with workstations and servers on remote locations, and so on.
As someone who still struggles to get remote desktop working, that hurts. But still, good for the little guy, who has earned four certificates—MCP, MCDST, MCSA and MCSE—and is going for his fifth to become a Microsoft Certified Trainer. When asked about his plans for the next ten years, Calasan said he hoped to write Windows 7 instructional books for users of all levels. He also said that Bing is his preferred search engine.

When asked if he preferred Windows or OSX, Calasan held back from indulging his literal inner fanboy, explaining, "For everyone, the choice is different, so for me I use Windows because I am satisfied with its security, stability, scalability, productivity and many other good advantages of the Microsoft Windows operating system."

That diplomatic reponse to the enduring operating system debate might be an even more impressive display of precociousness than his certificates. [Network World]

According to a report in the Times last week, Microsoft presented Marko with games and DVDs after he'd passed the exams, and although he considered it a nice gesture, he said he wasn't "really interested in those things."

Marko, who has a bent for mathematics and physics, was reading and writing by the time he was two years old, and by four he was speaking in English. In a video posted on YouTube (Macedonian), Marko explains that computing is a simple matter of mathematics and following instructions.

This simple understanding has made him into something of a local celebrity who has since been offered his own IT lab by the Macedonian Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski.

Marko's parents plan to publish a book for small children about computing based on Marko's experience and success.

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[nenadkrstevski]

yes Nikola.. but he is just 10 and i dont really trust you what you know.. CNN did not made a story and air it live :) good luck in future for you

Marko i a genius!

[bonsornoob]

thats a BOY?

[aflower122]

Thumbs up if you thought he was a girl!0_0

[asmcmnemonic]

@bonsornoob Did you expect a girl named Marco?

[YashPwnter]

i wan two cheekin feenger dees is wan big stuck together cheekin feenger

wan to get icecream?

this kid is cool ^_^

[konfusionxD]

Of course he's a boy, he's a genius!

[arrguitman]

got to cut that hair little dude!

[Sillilesshells]

omg i;m 18 and can'tr eve tell the time, i am learning russian however :p ( i find it easier than telling teh time wtf xD

[tugaric]

I kinda knew it was a boy ...coz i didn t saw a kitchen

[Sporadicus1]

Poor kid, got his looks from his mother :p

[cursedswordsman]

What the hell? A BOY???

[LexieDeaves]

wow for a genius his English sounds a bit broken. Have to agree with others, he does look like a girl,its not his hair but everything.To some idiots: he does look like a girl but he might grow up looking like a super male model or something and would be great if he does, but don't criticize me if you are blind and cant see what he looks like now. tone717cr must be a dreamer,they never get far

[RetroKingdomrules]

Sure Marko is smart as hell but the "knows more than you might ever learn in your entire life" thing is complete and utter bullshit, Being the 15 year old I am I do know much of what he is talking about I sure as hell am not smart as him but the stuff he is talking about in the video isn't hard stuff to understand at all RDC isn't hard to configure and most of the IT people on these huge networks don't know anywhere near as much as me or some of my friends they get paid to be stupid...