I don't get the ending. Is he supposed to be an impostor? posted by languagehat at 1:30 PM on December 29, 2007
languagehatwrites"I don't get the ending. Is he supposed to be an impostor?"
No, forgetful. And froma time that (presumably) has lost the birth and marriage records that would make finding the name trivial. posted by orthogonality at 1:36 PM on December 29, 2007
Like all time travel stories, it gets less and less convincing the more you think about it. And stories that hang on their last lines shouldn't let you know halfway through exactly what that last line is going to be. posted by matthewr at 1:41 PM on December 29, 2007
If he was spanish and had 6 surnames, none of this would have happened. posted by lucia__is__dada at 1:47 PM on December 29, 2007
It's not really a "story" so much as an elaborate joke, but it's all right. I did a Chris Matthews laugh at the end. It should be cut down to about 2 paragraphs to make it a truly effective long-form joke. posted by synaesthetichaze at 1:47 PM on December 29, 2007
The point is that your mother's maiden name is a horrible question to override your not having a password. In an age where "identity theft" is supposed to be a problem, proving your identity should not revolve around public data. posted by a robot made out of meat at 2:00 PM on December 29, 2007
It would have been more subtle if he'd asked for the name of his first pet. And surely, if he was from the future, he would have just had to have his iris scanned to get access?
Still, it was a well written short. posted by baggymp at 2:07 PM on December 29, 2007
Has anyone read Ken MacLeod? Does "making it to the ships" mean what I think it means, surviving until FTL travel? posted by gerryblog at 2:49 PM on December 29, 2007
No, forgetful.
Well, that was the obvious interpretation, but it was so silly I rejected it out of hand. It makes a shaggy-dog joke of the whole thing. But I guess that's what it is. posted by languagehat at 4:21 PM on December 29, 2007
Mediocre pieces of flash fiction are fpp worthy these days?
Have I got like a thousand links for you. posted by shownomercy at 4:50 PM on December 29, 2007
He was making reference to Google co-founder Sergey Brin. (It's supposed to be cute because Brin was studying at the University of Maryland, College Park at the time the story presumably takes place.) posted by anifinder at 5:41 PM on December 29, 2007
Uh.
Yeah.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:04 PM on December 29, 2007