Time Traveler Still Adrift

August 17, 2010 11:48 AM

Update to now-closed thread: A time traveller in a 40s photo was theorized to be Albert and a message was dispatched to the internet to confirm. Today the internet replied that the time traveler is not Albert. (The property visible in the background did belong to Albert's family, though, according to this source.)
posted by DU to MetaFilter-Related at 11:48 AM (34 comments total)

Thanks for the update! I've wondered about that from time to time.
posted by Kattullus at 11:55 AM on August 17, 2010

BUM BUM BAH!
posted by The Whelk at 11:58 AM on August 17, 2010

This is the part where we play the scream from the beginning of the Who's "Who are You" that's so overused on CSI:Miami.
posted by TomMelee at 11:59 AM on August 17, 2010

I thought we already solved this in the thread from May 12th, 2013?
posted by blue_beetle at 12:04 PM on August 17, 2010 [6 favorites]

Oops, nevermind.
posted by blue_beetle at 12:04 PM on August 17, 2010

don't make me blow your cover BB

Nothing to see here, move along, the idea of a group of people using quantum-computing from the future to effect the Internet in the past is just baseless speculation straight out of an old- fashioned hologram.
posted by The Whelk at 12:05 PM on August 17, 2010 [3 favorites]

straight out of an old- fashioned hologram.

Like this?

I just now realized I spent more time with that one hologram cover than all the nude-native pages combined. Such a nerd.
posted by DU at 12:08 PM on August 17, 2010 [9 favorites]

This is heavy duty, DU.
posted by Rhaomi at 12:09 PM on August 17, 2010

DU I loved that cover so much and thought it was cool. Spent lots of time turning it to & fro & watching it "move".
posted by pointystick at 12:10 PM on August 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Don't fall for it. That's what they want you to believe.
posted by zarq at 12:11 PM on August 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

DRAMATIC STRINGS!
posted by The Whelk at 12:13 PM on August 17, 2010

He thought in a confused way, that the child he had been was due to be there too, watching the planes ... And when he recognized the man who had trailed him since the underground camp, he understood there was no way to escape Time.
posted by geoff. at 12:21 PM on August 17, 2010

this is going to end with us watching Vertigo with Madeline Stowe, isn't it?
posted by The Whelk at 12:24 PM on August 17, 2010

I missed this the first time. Way cool - thanks.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 12:28 PM on August 17, 2010

dude is wearing a hockey sweater, possibly the Montreal Maroons. Its old time for sure and they used to be made out of wool.
posted by Ironmouth at 12:44 PM on August 17, 2010

He may not be Albert, but he's definitely a time traveller.
posted by mazola at 12:53 PM on August 17, 2010

Every time a person looks at that picture another time line where he might have been able to return to his own time is locked away. The possible time lines where he could have slipped back into the predominant flow without causing any paradoxes are dwindling with every new observation.
posted by Babblesort at 12:59 PM on August 17, 2010 [12 favorites]

Hey, Whelk, my brother in law does quantum computing! It is not nearly as exciting as you would expect (yet)—occasionally he publishes papers with awesome results, but mostly it's a lot of "Darn it, the refrigerator broke again! I'm going to have to set the whole thing up all over!"
posted by ocherdraco at 1:10 PM on August 17, 2010

I was on pins and needles waiting to find out if the guy in that photo was Albert Wihksne. At last I can sleep.
posted by Justinian at 1:16 PM on August 17, 2010

As long as there are still radio transmitters in my teeth, I'm happy.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:18 PM on August 17, 2010

DU, that cover, I loved it too. So. Much.
posted by dabitch at 1:21 PM on August 17, 2010

I think it's pretty sad that the link to the photo at the Virtual Museum of Canada is already dead and gone after only 4 months. What kind of candy-ass webmaster can't manage to keep things on the web site of a museum for more than a couple of months?
posted by Rhomboid at 1:30 PM on August 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

I guess the jury is still out on this guy...?
posted by purephase at 1:43 PM on August 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

ocherdraco: Hey, Whelk, my brother in law does quantum computing!

My brother does quantum computing, too! And he's a MeFite (though he rarely posts, unfortunately).
posted by defenestration at 1:58 PM on August 17, 2010

shakespeherian : As long as there are still radio transmitters in my teeth, I'm happy.

Excellent, that means that they are properly transmitting the feel-good waves directly into your limbic system. I'll make a note on your records.

Please be advised that in the next month we are going to be experimenting with the following moods: paranoid, amorous, itchy, and flatulent.

Don't be afraid to let us know if any of these fail to manifest properly; we will be happy to recalibrate the cellular towers to more directly target your head.

Thank you for your continuing patronage of Moodtooth Heavy Industries, where your grin means we are doing our job!
posted by quin at 2:26 PM on August 17, 2010

The photo was taken in April. All the people except that one guy were imported from the past.
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:38 PM on August 17, 2010

I suppose we haven't closed out the Oscar possibility, though. I'm kind of surprised we haven't gotten a descendant excited in the puzzle to help us out. I know I'd be happy to jump in if it could be me great-grandpappy.

Case in point. Sort of. I was half-asleep, watching the Antiques Roadshow a few years back, and out of NOWHERE there was a picture of my great-great-great-uncle David that appeared in this clip; he was the head of security in charge of guarding Geronimo while at Ft. Sill. Now, I had the advantage of hearing his name, which I knew, but I was blown away enough by this happenstance to call my mom and make sure she saw that too (and she called the grandparents, and everyone on that side of the family knew about it in an hour and a half). Anyway, if some random stranger on the internet was trying to figure out who an ancestor of mine was, I'd have twenty people on that puzzle in twenty-four hours, is all I'm saying.
posted by norm at 2:42 PM on August 17, 2010

Anyway, if some random stranger on the internet was trying to figure out who an ancestor of mine was, I'd have twenty people on that puzzle in twenty-four hours, is all I'm saying.

So all we need to do now is figure who is the still-living descendant that we are trying to figure out the identity of the ancestor of. Should be easy, because they'll be all het-up and excited trying to help.
posted by DU at 3:54 PM on August 17, 2010

What about the robot peeking out from behind the ...

... hah, made you look!
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:12 PM on August 17, 2010

Is there a link to the picture in question? 'cause all I'm getting is a confusing custom 404.
posted by Netzapper at 5:48 PM on August 17, 2010

The forgetomori blog post in the FPP has a good closeup of the guy from the picture.
posted by Rhomboid at 6:06 PM on August 17, 2010

This is the part where we play the scream from the beginning of the Who's "Who are You" that's so overused on CSI:Miami.

That scream was from "Won't Get Fooled Again", also by the Who (whose songs are used on all the CSI shows; "Who Are You" is on the original Las Vegas-based CSI).

I'm surprised nobody pointed that out in the 7 hours since TomMelee made the comment. I guess nobody else wanted to take... the time.

[removes sunglasses]

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

And if anyone on any of the CSI shows had been involved, they would have zoomed in... and enhanced... and learned that the mystery time traveler was definitely THIS WEEK'S GUEST STAR.

[puts sunglasses back on]

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:21 PM on August 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

Somebody just make a GUI and track his temporal ID.
posted by Babblesort at 8:57 PM on August 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

Lol, sorry, thanks. My local morning zoo radio show plays that clip at the end of random stories, that's what was in my head. My familiarity w/ The Who is pretty well limited to Tommy.
posted by TomMelee at 5:16 AM on August 18, 2010