So, about that time-traveler in the 1920's...

[Tev]

So I was trying to sort out where to put this. I mean, even though I got the story from CNN it's hardly news forum worthy and even though it's in a Chaplin silent film the conversation isn't really media realted.

Anyway, here's a linky. (http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/10/28/charlie.chaplin.circus.time.travel/)

Now, from the video shown it appears that a lady in the Chaplin film "The Circus" is using her cell phone to make a call. That's cool and all except it's a silent film from the 1920's.

So, timetravel? :dance:

[Pip Boy]

I've seen this before. Its actaully an old school hearing aid. Even if a time traveler brought a cell phone to the 1920's, it wouldn't work without satellite and cell tower equipment that wasn't in place at the time. The only other way it could work is if a) There were secretly LOADS of time travelers around packing high-powered cellphones that could interconnect without a tower, in which case Im sure at one point one of them would have DIED and left behind their stuff, or b) This is a lone time traveller transmitting a cell signal into the future, which is just silly.

[BloodyMage]

That's some pretty good network service to get reception in the past.

[Art of Hilt]

Okay first off that newscaster looked and sounded pretty stupid
"Cell phone, hearing device, cell phone, heari-" IT'S A FUCKING HEARING DEVICE WOMAN FOR FUCK'S SAKE
HAVEN'T YOU EVER WATCHED TINTIN AS A CHILD AND SEEN THE PROFESSOR'S CRAZY ANTICS WITH HIS POOR HEARING

[Daimo Mac, The Blue Light of Hope]

I hate to be that guy, but the moment I saw the video my cynic side kicked up and didn't believe it.

[Tev]

or b) This is a lone time traveller transmitting a cell signal into the future, which is just silly.
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/4096/Sonic.jpg

And since fictional-tech eventually becomes future-tech ala the "Star Trek Phenominon....."

But, yeah I highly doubt it’s real. I just thought it was kinda funny.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

As Tev said, Doctor Who has a cellphone number that can e reached from anywhere anytime in the universe. And he can use ordinary cellphones to ring up aliens.
So clearly this is a displaced companion.

[bluestarultor]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a hearing device. 'Cause, you know, nobody ever commented on it until now in the intervening near-century.

It's like how apparently there are people my age who've never seen a rotary phone before. I had a teacher talking about that once. Her son found one in an antique shop and asked her what it was, because he wasn't sure, and then asked how people could have possibly used it without buttons.

Made me facepalm hearing that tale.

On the plus side, it DOES offer a means of killing text talk. I highly doubt anyone will text on a rotary cell phone. It would be a lot easier to implement than a system refusing to send the message unless all the spelling and grammar was correct. Or at least the biggest grammar mistakes.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

That's some pretty good network service to get reception in the past.

If you think that's amazing wait till you see the bill!

[POS Industries]

Plus I'm pretty sure that no time traveler would be retarded enough to bust out their trans-temporal cell phone while cameras were rolling in the scene they were hired on to work as an extra in a fucking Chaplin film.

And unless some Ed Wood-level hack direction was at play, that lady would have had to talk on her amazing future cell phone over and over again during every single take.

[Ryanderman]

I think it was special feature footage of the premier of the movie. She may nit have known she was being filmed.

[POS Industries]

Yeah, now that I see the big fucking sign in the back promoting the movie I realize the mistake.

Well, I then submit that no time traveler would be retarded enough to break out their trans-temporal cell phone at a movie premier. Or in public at all.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

The problem is POS thaty ouare treatig time travel as something special and difficult to acquire with a high threshold of entry. What about when it becomes as common as say the internet and every Tarlo, Derkha and Hofnaf has a machine in their yard?

[bluestarultor]

The problem is POS thaty ouare treatig time travel as something special and difficult to acquire with a high threshold of entry. What about when it becomes as common as say the internet and every Tarlo, Derkha and Hofnaf has a machine in their yard?

Then why would anyone want to bother going into the 1920s? Especially over a film that utterly pales in comparison to what you can catch with a cell phone even in our time?

If someone is really that much of a film buff, I'd guess they'd be smart enough to keep the phone hidden away.

[BloodyMage]

What if it's a stable time loop?

[mauve]

Then why would anyone want to bother going into the 1920s? Especially over a film that utterly pales in comparison to what you can catch with a cell phone even in our time? *eyetwitch*

[PyrosNine]

What if it's a stable time loop?

Must be, otherwise they'd have gone back and time and fixed their presence from being noticed within the film.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Especially over a film that utterly pales in comparison to what you can catch with a cell phone even in our time?


Must resist...must not say anything....
Like holy shit.

As the 20s was rocking. You got some sweet ass jazz, mobsters, fascists, wars, massive scientific undertakings, and cool optimism before the depression crushed everything.
Why do people go on holiday anywhere? To see shit that's different from what they used to. Your whole post is ridiculous Blues.
Like if they not going to see anythingin the1920s because it less technologically advaced than what they have at home whyare they time travelling>

[bluestarultor]

*eyetwitch*

Don't get me wrong, I happen to love Chaplin myself. I just meant the technology. Seriously, we're talking about black-and-white film with no speech and the only sound being from someone playing a piano up front.

By the time we get time travel technology, they'll probably be able to plug the movie straight into their brains and see it in seven dimensions or something.

Once you get that far ahead technologically, it doesn't make much sense to go back. Maybe you could take the footage and run it through a computer to convert it, but anyone going back in time to see it in its original format is darn well going to be a hardcore film buff.

[Tev]

Then why would anyone want to bother going into the 1920s? Especially over a film that utterly pales in comparison to what you can catch with a cell phone even in our time? Are you kidding? It's the roaring 20's! If time travel ever becomes semi-commonplace I know that's one of the top places on my "to visit" list.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Loneglade/Steampunk/imgp1146.jpg?t=1288294236

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Don't get me wrong, I happen to love Chaplin myself. I just meant the technology. Seriously, we're talking about black-and-white film with no speech and the only sound being from someone playing a piano up front.

By the time we get time travel technology, they'll probably be able to plug the movie straight into their brains and see it in seven dimensions or something.

Once you get that far ahead technologically, it doesn't make much sense to go back. Maybe you could take the footage and run it through a computer to convert it, but anyone going back in time to see it in its original format is darn well going to be a hardcore film buff.

I could say the same about hwy would you watch silent film today or black and white or even 2D.
I watch silent films all the time, I watch black and white, I'm not a film buff who would go see films being made ifI had timetravel.

[bluestarultor]

Are you kidding? It's the roaring 20's! If time travel ever becomes semi-commonplace I know that's one of the top places on my "to visit" list.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/Loneglade/Steampunk/imgp1146.jpg?t=1288294236

To be perfectly honest, the only thing that separates the 20s from the 80s is that we didn't live through the 20s. In the intervening time, there will probably be several more similar cycles.

Mind you, the idea of being able to keep a cheetah as a pet is pretty fuckin' awesome. It's just that future generations are going to be looking at back then and what happened in our early lives and the only difference they're going to see is there was the rise of computers in between.

Heck, if someone wants to be wild and out there, they're ALREADY going back to the 80s for inspiration.

Eventually, 80s styles are going to be just as much a genre as steampunk. Only probably with computers. There really should be a word for that. (http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&gbv=1&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=cyberpunk&btnG=Search) :ohdear:

[mauve]

Don't get me wrong, I happen to love Chaplin myself. I just meant the technology. Seriously, we're talking about black-and-white film with no speech and the only sound being from someone playing a piano up front. Yeah, but therein lies its absolute genius. Personally I prefer Keaton over Chaplin, so I have more references from Buster's films, but the ingenuity and technical tricks they came up with were absolutely brilliant. They did all their own stunts, they pioneered the field of special effects and came up with superbly-done editing tricks using RAW FILM, SCISSORS AND GLUE instead of the digital nonlinear editing systems we rely on today... Hell, look up The Playhouse, The Balloonatic or Sherlock Jr on youtube. They're amazing.

I for one would LOVE to go back in time and see one of these films in its original form, played before the audience for which it was originally intended. It's the experience. Sure, I know a lot of people don't want to watch any movies that don't have CGI explosions or alien planets full of Nav'ii or women in battle bikinis. But I think lots of people who love old movies would give an arm or a leg to go back in time and see how people watched these, to sit in an actual old-time theater with the original audiences and the original soundtrack and enjoy a classic film as it was originally intended to be seen. I sure as hell would.

[bluestarultor]

Yeah, but therein lies its absolute genius. Personally I prefer Keaton over Chaplin, so I have more references from Buster's films, but the ingenuity and technical tricks they came up with were absolutely brilliant. They did all their own stunts, they pioneered the field of special effects and came up with superbly-done editing tricks using RAW FILM, SCISSORS AND GLUE instead of the digital nonlinear editing systems we rely on today... Hell, look up The Playhouse, The Balloonatic or Sherlock Jr on youtube. They're amazing.

There are a lot of neat tricks you can do in black and white, too. Take the Dr. Jekyll movie. His "transformation" into Mr. Hyde was handled via eyeshadow. All they did was do his eyes up with either red or blue makeup (I forget which) and then stick a gradient filter in front of the camera. When you graded to one side of the blue/red filter, it was the same color as the makeup and he looked normal, but as you turned the wheel to the other side, the makeup showed more and more and made his eye sockets go dark.

I for one would LOVE to go back in time and see one of these films in its original form, played before the audience for which it was originally intended. It's the experience. Sure, I know a lot of people don't want to watch any movies that don't have CGI explosions or alien planets full of Nav'ii or women in battle bikinis. But I think lots of people who love old movies would give an arm or a leg to go back in time and see how people watched these, to sit in an actual old-time theater with the original audiences and the original soundtrack and enjoy a classic film as it was originally intended to be seen. I sure as hell would.

You also learned Old English. Imagine doing it just to see a movie. Most of the lingo from back then is totally out of our vocabularies now. By the time time travel happens, it will be incomprehensible. In this case, you'll need to not only get contemporary clothing, but also stick to the vocabulary of the time, the accent, and the body language, all of which will probably be nothing like your own.

I'm not saying the experience wouldn't be nice, but it's a lot of work to put in.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

It's not that much different from going to a foreign country where you don't speak the language. I'm living in France right now, I don't speak a word of French. You cope.
And if you're a big traveller you will learn how to communicate. You've got time travel, you probably don't have muc helse to do in your society.
And if you've got time travel you can probably make a translator and clothes. Those are pretty minor hurdles compared to travelling through time.
Also, silent films would probaly be one of the more accessible things for them- cause hey you don't need to know the language to watch one.

[Tev]

Eventually, 80s styles are going to be just as much a genre as steampunk. Only probably with computers. There really should be a word for that. (http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&gbv=1&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=cyberpunk&btnG=Search) :ohdear:
Actually, the 80's (or post apacolypse times) is more under the realm of diesel-punk (http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&q=dieselpunk&gbv=2&aq=6s&aqi=g6g-s1g3&aql=&oq=diesel+p&gs_rfai=).

[mauve]

You also learned Old English. Imagine doing it just to see a movie. Pretty sure if you were willing to time travel to a place with a different language, you'd already A) know enough of the language to have seen the movie in the first place or B) be willing to go as a stranger in a strange land for the full immersive experience. America was still fairly well known as an immigrant hotspot in the 20's.... I THINK Ellis Island was still running?? You may not have readily been accepted by the English speaking majority, but people probably would just look down at you as a "foreigner" and leave it at that. OR you'd have a badass translating machine like Dr. Who's TARDIS, or a babelfish. :)

Most of the lingo from back then is totally out of our vocabularies now. By the time time travel happens, it will be incomprehensible. Lingo... You mean lingo from the 1920's? It's not that different from lingo of the 2010's. Sure, there's some slang you might not recognize, but it's not a huge different. Plus, connotation should help.

Basically, it'd be stupid to go into a time period with no knowledge of the culture and the goings-on of the times. You'd get arrested/killed/lost/whatever and no one would ever know who you were or what happened to you. So research would be helpful as well as fun! [/I'm a nerd nerd nerd nerd]

[Fifthfiend]

Okay back up guys, I think we need to review this video.

http://i.imgur.com/NlUVU.gif

2:30 is where it actually gets into the Charlie Chaplain video. Now look closely when she turns to face the camera at 3:30. If you look real closely you'll see something dark between her teeth. Okay now jump ahead to 5:03. You see something sort of trailing down from her hand. Guys I think it's obvious what's going on here. This lady has a chewing tobacco habit, completely common for older women in the 1920s. She's holding the rag she keeps her tobacco in and is just like, pensively considering whether to bite out another piece, even as she presses it to her jaw to alleviate the tooth pain caused by her unfortunate habit.

I think we can consider this non-mystery solved.

[POS Industries]

Oh, you bastard.

[Hanuman]

I think it's safe to say we don't know a god damn thing about time travel.

[Magus]

If I were a time traveler I wouldn't be traipsing about in period dress, I would be employing my shiny jumpsuit and laser weapons to become God-Emperor of Humanity (in this case, Empress).

So it is not a time traveler.

[Krylo]

I think it's safe to say we don't know a god damn thing about time travel.

Maybe you don't, Mr. Born in the late 20th century.

[Pip Boy]

Okay back up guys, I think we need to review this video.

http://i.imgur.com/NlUVU.gif
Okay now jump ahead to 5:03.

Your directions say to jump to 5:03, but your image only goes to 4:47.

[BitVyper]

Plus I'm pretty sure that no time traveler would be retarded enough...

Care to put money on that? (http://www.abyssandapex.com/200710-wikihistory.html)

Also, silent films would probaly be one of the more accessible things for them- cause hey you don't need to know the language to watch one.

This is one of the reasons silent films were really popular among immigrants, I understand.

[Fifthfiend]

Oh, you bastard.

HA HA HA YES

[POS Industries]

Care to put money on that? (http://www.abyssandapex.com/200710-wikihistory.html)
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o159/posindustries/facepalm/thisshit-whatthefuckisit.jpg

[Fifthfiend]

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o159/posindustries/facepalm/thisshit-whatthefuckisit.jpg

http://www.mspaintadventures.com/storyfiles/hs2/scraps/FRUITYRUMPUSASSHOLEFACTORY.gif

[Magus]

That Abyss & Apex short story reminds me of both Timecop AND seems to be a general satire on forum moderation as well.

Also good show for linking Abyss & Apex, I always forget to read the stories over there (too busy reading fantasy on Beneath Ceaseless Skies, etc. that I neglect sci-fi).

[Doc ock rokc]

HA HA HA YES

Thus ending my viewing of Fifth as the classiest troll i know.

[bluestarultor]

Thus ending my viewing of Fifth as the classiest troll i know.

Should've used this. (http://cdn.anyhub.net/thebest404pageever/swf/successful_troll.swf)

[Magus]

I hate to break it to you guys but real time travel probably works exactly like Quantum Leap and you'll have to live in someone else's body while solving their problems and getting into all kinds of kooky adventures.

[Doc ock rokc]

Should've used this. (http://cdn.anyhub.net/thebest404pageever/swf/successful_troll.swf)

blue blue blue.... everyone knows Cool trolls don't look at explosions (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqz5dbs5zmo).