9-year-old Pakistani a Microsoft pro

Now 10, Arfa Karim of Multan, Pakistan, was 9 when she became a "Microsoft Certified Professional," one of the world's youngest (Indian Mridul Seth was 8 when he was certified last November), CNET reports. Arfa "met with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates last week - an experience she later described as second only to visiting Disneyland." Getting MS-certified means reaching proficiency in technologies such as .Net, Visual Studio 6.0, and Windows Server 2003, CNET adds. Apparently Arfa's dad bought her a computer so she could use email, and the rest was history. Watch out, America, ZDNET UK reports that various nations are vying "to come up with the youngest qualified computer specialist." In the US, technology teachers just formed the Computer Science Teachers Association and are calling on education departments and school districts to include technology in school curricula - see "Tech teachers: Help kids compete."