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The 40th Anniversary of Star Trek

Digitus1337 writes to mention the 40th Anniversary of the original Star Trek series. StarTrek.com's article has a look back at that first episode, and tries to explore the whys behind the popularity that followed it. From the article: "On the evening of the 8th of September, following Daniel Boone, this new NBC show premiered with an episode called 'The Man Trap.' The angle of the story was different, to say the least: It was a love story with a sci-fi twist, borne of a relationship from the doctor's past, featuring a monster that, in the end, just wanted to live. It was moving, tragic and anything but cheesy. The viewers -- at least the ones who were paying attention -- were hooked." Update: 09/09 16:16 GMT by Z : Just to be sure you're aware of it, Slashdot's own CleverNickName is celebrating the 40th anniversary by reviewing episodes of ST:TNG on TVSquad. He begins with "The Naked Now". You know, "You are fully functional, aren't you?"

62 of 327 comments (clear)

  1. Kirk's thoughts,. . . by cashman73 · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's . . . just a . . . TV . . . show!

    1. Re:Kirk's thoughts,. . . by AKAImBatman · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's my... show... my... show!

    2. Re:Kirk's thoughts,. . . by thelost · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's.... Not... Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa an's show!

      --
      Promote Charity on Myspace, Show Your Colours!
  2. It has lived long... by The_REAL_DZA · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...and it has prospered. Who could ask for more (besides the fans...)?

    --


    This space intentionally left (almost) blank.
    1. Re:It has lived long... by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Who could ask for more?

      Is it so much to ask that B&B be fired for incompetence? But noooooooo. Paramount had to keep them on until the bitter end. :(
    2. Re:It has lived long... by idontgno · · Score: 2, Funny

      Just as long as Cyrano Jones doesn't wind up firing first.

      --
      Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
    3. Re:It has lived long... by ari_j · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If Dr. Pulaski were the worst part of Trek (and she's not), that comment would almost make sense. That said, Diana Muldaur (who played the role) appeared in two Original Series episodes, so it's not like she was brought onto TNG just to annoy you. Regardless of your thoughts on her, Dr. Pulaski was only on the show for one season. Compare that with some of the B&B blunders and it really isn't that big of a deal.

    4. Re:It has lived long... by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Pulaski's problem was that she wasn't crankable, unlike Hoshi, Seven, Jadzia, Kira, Ezri, and T'pol, and that only-lives-3-years cutsiepie, at least after she lost the pixie cut, all eminently and endlessly crankable. Hell, even Uhura's thighs got it goin' in the otherwise forgettable journey-to-the-center-of-the-galaxy movie up on that hill in the low light. Pulaski, even way back when when she guest-starred in the original Trek, didn't get the job done. Not that she had to, back then it was Rand or the Kirk BOTW (or, occasionally, the Spock BOTW.) Or Judy on Lost In Space, or Marilyn Munster, or, damn, isn't Lily's top semi-transparent?

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    5. Re:It has lived long... by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 2, Interesting

      > Enterprise episodes
      >
      > - Using sex to try to improve ratings? Check.

      With all due respect, this was hardly the first Trek show to do this. DS9 had no fewer than 2 lesbian saliva-string kisses.

      Quite frankly, Hoshi and T'pol rubbin' each other with oil in the decontamination chamber was a welcome sight. One more season was all it would have taken...I'm sure of it!

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    6. Re:It has lived long... by hdw · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well. you did refer to a review to prove you point.

      As you might remeber, the original post stated that he ranked FC as good.
      You then 'proved' that it wasn't.

      My point was that if I, or anyone else, ranks j.random movie as good, then we do, and we aren't very intrested in someone telling us that we are wrong.

      If you think it's rotten, or ok, or soso, fine, you're free to have your view, but it doesn't mean that you are right and I or anyone else is wrong.
      It just means that we have different opinions, which is quite legal, at least outside China.

      --
      Executive Pope (small) Kallisti Engineering
  3. Re:Best captain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Hurrumphhh!

    Why must you troll? The correct order is: Kirk, Picard, Sisco, Janeway, Archer. That also sums up the order of the shows as well. But I have to say that they should now just let this franchise die and we can all forget about watching it as reruns as kids in the 70's. Dr who on the otherhand...

  4. attempts to go from movies to TV by 6 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One interesting way to put Star Trek back into the culture of its time is to watch the movie, "Forbidden Planet" and then Watch the first two, filmed, episodes of Star Trek: "The Cage" ie the original pilot, and , "Where No Man has Gone Before."

    For a similar effect try "2001 a Space Odyssey" and "Space 1999" or "Star Wars" and "Battlestar Galactica".

    1. Re:attempts to go from movies to TV by ScrewMaster · · Score: 2, Funny

      ... or "Star Wars" and "Battlestar Galactica".

      And Wagon Train.

      --
      The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
    2. Re:attempts to go from movies to TV by shoor · · Score: 2, Informative


      The real predecessors to "Star Trek" were "Space Patrol" and "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet", Saturday morning
      TV series from the 50s. Even before them was one I've never seen (yet, hope to get a chance to watch
      a video to see what it was like some day), "Captain Video". These were done live, and, while necessarily
      crude in many ways, they could hold their own against Star Trek on quite a few counts.

      --
      In theory, theory and practice are the same; in practice they're different. (Yogi Berra & A. Einstein)
  5. Funny Interview with Shatner and Nimoy by blcamp · · Score: 5, Interesting


    SHATNER: Money.

    NIMOY: Yeah. The big, the big bucks.

    SHATNER: Money. The money gets you fired up.

    TOGETHER: The biiiig bucks.

    http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/06/star.trek .40/index.html

    --
    The problem with socialism is that they always run out of other people's money. - Margaret Thatcher
  6. on TVLand tonight by peter303 · · Score: 5, Informative

    TVLand is showing four episodes tonight starting a 8PM:
    Man Trap (the first broadcasted )
    City on the Edge of Forever
    Trouble with Tribbles
    Platos Stepchildren

    I think these are ones with new digital F/X, but not sure.

    1. Re:on TVLand tonight by Ogre332 · · Score: 2, Informative

      According to Sci-Fi Wire, those won't start airing until next week: "CBS Paramount Domestic Television will release the digitally remastered episodes of Star Trek for air in syndication on more than 200 broadcast stations, starting Sept. 16."

      --
      Shut up brain or I'll stab you with a Q-Tip. - Homer Simpson
  7. Re:Best captain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Your top three were respectively French, female and promiscuous. Now imagine all that combined into one captain. Another 40 years guaranteed!

  8. Re:Best captain by hcob$ · · Score: 2, Funny
    Why must you troll? The correct order is: Kirk, Picard, Sisco, Janeway, Archer. That also sums up the order of the shows as well. But I have to say that they should now just let this franchise die and we can all forget about watching it as reruns as kids in the 70's. Dr who on the otherhand...
    SULU, then Archer. Sulu was only a captain for one move and came across better.
    --
    Cliff Claven
    K.E.G. Party Chairman
    Founding Leader of: Koncerned for Egalitarin Governance
  9. Influence on Technology? by Aqua_boy17 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I was thinking about this the other day when I opened my Razr to make a call. And it suddenly occured to me how much my phone reminded me of the old ST communicators especially when I flip it open to make a call. Too bad I don't have the sound effect to go along.

    Now if I could only figure out a way to turn my PDA into a fully functional phaser...

    --
    What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
    1. Re:Influence on Technology? by B11 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well, you can get a Star Trek Skin for it, and getting a ringtone to match would be trivial. Of course, what I really want is a bluetooth communicator a la ST:TNG. I'm sure all the ladies would be impressed when I wear that bad boy in public.

      --
      insert inflammatory anti-microsoft comment here
    2. Re:Influence on Technology? by computechnica · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There is a Palm app that turns your PDA into a LCARS interface Tricorder, Includes sound effects and works with newer Palm OS5
      Tricorder v1.0 C

    3. Re:Influence on Technology? by ptbarnett · · Score: 5, Informative
      I was thinking about this the other day when I opened my Razr to make a call. And it suddenly occured to me how much my phone reminded me of the old ST communicators especially when I flip it open to make a call. Too bad I don't have the sound effect to go along.

      On a recent episode of Boston Legal, Denny Crane (portrayed by Shatner) received a text message on a newly-received cell phone, to the amusement of Shore (James Spader). Apparently, Crane had never had a cell phone until his new girlfriend gave him one so she could send him lewd text messages.

      Of course, it was a flip-phone. And when Crane/Shatner opened the phone to read the message, the foley artist inserted the easily recognizable sound of a communicator being opened on the original Star Trek series.

      Earlier this year, The Discovery Channel broadcast a mockumentary entitled: How William Shatner Changed the World. It was a semi-amusing look at the technology (cell phones, computers, etc) that was either predicted by Star Trek or even inspired by it. The "hook" was Shatner projecting his infamous ego throughout the show, taking credit for all of it.

    4. Re:Influence on Technology? by sootman · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm still amazed that no one has made a cell phone (officially licensed, etc.) that looks *just* like a communicator and makes that sound when opened. They could even do that shirt badge as a bluetooth thingie.

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    5. Re:Influence on Technology? by GSwarthout · · Score: 3, Funny
      And it suddenly occured to me how much my phone reminded me of the old ST communicators especially when I flip it open to make a call. Too bad I don't have the sound effect to go along.

      Save your "suddenly occured to me" and "too bad I don't have the sound effect" for the non-Slashdot crowd. We know better.

      --
      It is the 21st century and the time for Klax has passed.
  10. Re:Translation Help by Apocalypse111 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, according to this site there is no direct translation for the word "lonely".

    --
    There is no mod option "-1: Disagree" for a reason. "Overrated" is not an acceptable substitute. Post something instead.
  11. My Thoughts: "Star Trek" Follow-ons Are Travesty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny
    None of the later versions of "Star Trek" capture the spirit of the original "Star Trek".

    Below are the characteristics of each TV series based on "Star Trek".

    1. Original Series: brash captain, hot-looking women, dangerous adventures in a ship designed for living but not for tourism

    2. The Next Generation: refined captain who talks like an English professor, women who emphasize their intellect, adventures in a ship designed like a luxury hotel

    3. Deep Space Nine: captain who talks like a high-school dropout, women who emphasize their intellect, adventures in a space hotel

    4. Voyager: captain who emphasizes her intellect, women who emphasize their intellect, dangerous adventures in a ship designed like a luxury hotel

    5. Enterprise: captain played by an actor who cannot act, women who emphasize their intellect, dangerous adventures in a ship run by characters played by actors and actresses who cannot act

    Thank Buddha that your local CW television station will air the original "Star Trek", starting on September 16.

    "Watch 'The Original Series', you will!" exclaims Yoda.

  12. Re:Translation Help by nebaz · · Score: 2, Funny

    Speaking of Klingon, I'd be remiss if I didn't replay this classic Onion gem. (Sad, but probably true).

    --
    Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
  13. Re:I thought the "Managerie" was the pilot? by MLease · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Cage was supposed to be the pilot, but NBC rejected it. Roddenberry reworked the series, replacing Jeffrey Hunter's Captain Pike with William Shatner's Kirk, and making other cast changes. Once TOS got off the ground, footage from "The Cage" was reused as flashbacks for "The Menagerie", with its plot line of Spock being tried for violating General Order 7, breaking the quarantine of Talos IV. The "trial" turned out to be a sham to keep Kirk busy and to explain to Kirk and Starfleet (in the person of Commodore Mendez, whose physical presence on the Enterprise was an illusion, but who saw the "trial" from Starbase 11) why Pike should be allowed to live out his days on Talos IV. The exception was granted, and everyone lived happily ever after.... :)

    -Mike

    --
    I'm sorry; I don't know what I was thinking!
  14. Re:I thought the "Managerie" was the pilot? by matuscak · · Score: 2, Informative

    It was. The network types thought the show was too cerebral for the audience, and didnt like Majel Barrett as a strong second in command character. They ended up asking for a second pilot (unusual) with more emphasis on the action (Wagontrain to the stars was how rodenberry pitched it IIRC). I think I'm ashamed I know this :-)

  15. Re:Best captain by Apocalypse111 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'd have to put Sisco above Archer, and I'd put Janeway as a very close runner up to Picard. However, I think Janeway's abilities would be better used behind and Admiral's desk, with Chakotay captaining under her. Sisco was kind of average as a captain, he just had some extraordinary people working under him (a Trill, a genetically engineered genious doctor, a pretty good engineer [not Geordi, but what can you do], and later a well cultured Klingon). If anything, his best strength was delegating. Kirk was pretty gung-ho about everything, but fails on several diplomatic points. He's a man of action, but I wouldn't trust him to mediate any talks. Picard was a truely multi-talented individual. Excellent tactical ability (Picard maneuver), diplomatic ability (numerous examples including playing the Arbitor of Succession), historical knowledge (he's an archeologist), scientist (first impulse is almost always to scan and lay low), spying (trip to the Romulan homeworld to find Spock), and many others. He was also surrounded by many very talented people, as was Sisco, but he didn't rely on them as much as the Sisco did. He accomplished so much, and yet rarely had to fire a phaser himself. If this isn't the epitomy of the kinder, gentler Federation of his time, then I don't know what is.

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  16. Re:I thought the "Managerie" was the pilot? by oudzeeman · · Score: 3, Informative

    and the new pilot they shot was called "where no man has gone before" (I think), but they aired "The Man Trap" first.

  17. Re:My Thoughts: "Star Trek" Follow-ons Are Travest by Damastus+the+WizLiz · · Score: 3, Funny

    3. Deep Space Nine: captain who talks like a high-school dropout, women who emphasize their intellect, adventures in a space hotel I disagree, he enunciated every word like an oxford drop out.

    --
    I often have trouble remembering which way is out of bed in the morning.
  18. Re:Best captain by DragonWriter · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Oh since we're going to do this, I'd have to say:

    Captains: Picard > Kirk > Sisco >> Archer > Janeway
    Shows: TOS > TNG > DS9 >> Enterprise >> Voyager

    But, clearly, YMMV.

  19. of its time .. by rs232 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It was the ideal the show tried to put across. The idea of all the various ethnic groups working and living together as they brought peace and justice to the far flung corners of the Galaxy. Remember this was also the first inter-racial kiss on US television, Uhura and Kirk. Although they were under alien mind control at the time and the camera actually never registered the event. That episode was never shown in the South of course.

    With hindsight the characters were a bit steriotypical. Scotty the Scotish engineer (what else). Nurse Christine Chapel and Spock as the token Alien.

    And right in the middle of the cold war, there on the bridge was Sulu and Chekov, possibly the only Russian sounding name the viewer would be familiar with. Better that Svyatoslav Likhovtseva or that other guy perry stroika.

    Ignoring the cardboard sets and the fact that all the alien planets looked the same it did make a huge impact. A number of scientists say they took their inspiration from it.

    --
    davecb5620@gmail.com
  20. Re:Best captain by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 3, Informative

    Geneviève Bujold was the first choice to play Nicole Janeway. That's female and French...

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  21. Re:Best captain by Amazing+Quantum+Man · · Score: 3, Funny

    Excellent tactical ability (Picard maneuver),

    I didn't realize that pulling down one's uniform jacket when standing up was an indicator of tactical ability!

    --
    Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
  22. To Serve All My Days by xleeko · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Star Trek New Voyages folks are using this anniversary for the premiere of their latest episode "To Serve All My Days". It was written by DC Fontana and guest stars Walter Koeinig. Check out all of the episodes and shorts do far at: http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/

    Cheers, Xleeko

  23. Re:Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner by admiralh · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Hilarious?

    Perhaps if you enjoy 2 hours of homosexual jokes from C-list comedians.

    At what the heck was Farrah Fawcett doing there? I checked IMDB. She had never worked with Shatner before.

    I think a lot of the reaction clips (the laughs from the audience and the roasters/roastee) were cut in from other times in the show, because so much of it was so unfunny. They certainly seemed uneven to me.

    Shatner should have taken Nimoy's advice -- Don't do it.

    --
    Hopelessly pedantic since 1963.
  24. Re:Death by Fandom by DragonWriter · · Score: 4, Funny
    I'm STILL irritated they never explained how the "Heisenberg Compensators" worked...
    An oversight that left fans with too much uncertainty...
  25. Re:Death by Fandom by prgrmr · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm STILL irritated they never explained how the "Heisenberg Compensators" worked

    You can have either the working device or the explanation for how the device works, but not both.

  26. Re:Forgotten Trek by hcob$ · · Score: 2, Funny
    You forgot the animated series.
    For good reason....

    I file it right alongside Highlander 2.
    --
    Cliff Claven
    K.E.G. Party Chairman
    Founding Leader of: Koncerned for Egalitarin Governance
  27. Never was a fan by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I always hated Star Trek. It creates such an unbelievable vision of the future. Everything is so pristine, but you never the the laborers or even robots to keep it that way. Even the actors (in the Next Generation and later) were stiff and spoke perfect emotionless english. Just a bunch of cold automatons moving through pristine sci-fi sets.

    Contrast that with the original Star Wars trilogy. Everything is dirty, weathered and worn. The banter added to the credibility of the characters. Humans aren't living in some utopian vision with just the occassional evil alien to battle. I had the Star Wars RPG as a kid and their description of the Star Wars feel nailed it. Lucas' characters felt like they actually lived in their world. They weren't impressed with their own technology. I remember after the first shot of the Millenium Falcon (which is amazing to the movie viewer), Luke calls it a piece of junk. It's a small remark, but it tells you a hell of a lot about the setting the writer is trying to present.

    --
    I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
    1. Re:Never was a fan by Animats · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Lucas isn't responsible for the "grubby future" concept. That was introduced in 1972, in Doug Trumbell's Silent Running. Although it wasn't a hugely popular movie, it introduced many of the background concepts seen in later SF films. It's worth seeing today; it looks less dated than Star Trek movies made after it.

    2. Re:Never was a fan by PCM2 · · Score: 4, Insightful
      I always hated Star Trek. It creates such an unbelievable vision of the future. Everything is so pristine, but you never the the laborers or even robots to keep it that way... Contrast that with the original Star Wars trilogy. Everything is dirty, weathered and worn.

      In the original show you see the support crew a couple times, in early episodes. Maintenance men don't typically make for great drama. And to be fair, the Enterprise is a military ship. Go tour a Navy aircraft carrier sometime and you'll probably find it's pretty clean and everybody's pretty well-behaved when they're on duty, because that's how you run a military. The inside of the Death Star was pretty clean too. It was just Tatooine that looked like a 70s party town. It sounds like you just prefer the aesthetic of Star Wars, but come on ... do you think the Millennium Falcon would really look like it did, if it was designed to take off and land through planetary atmospheres? All those little panels and radars and things would fly right off. Look at the troubles the space shuttle has just putting a little paint and insulation on its fuel tank. Star Wars looks cool but that's not the same thing as being "more realistic."

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
  28. Re:I thought the "Managerie" was the pilot? by shoor · · Score: 2, Funny

    I could never say "Battlestar Galactica", it always came out as "Battlestar Ponderosa".

    --
    In theory, theory and practice are the same; in practice they're different. (Yogi Berra & A. Einstein)
  29. Re:Best captain by cayenne8 · · Score: 3, Funny
    "Kirk is an excellent battle Captain but he not very good at much else except loving women."

    Geez...what else do you need??

    That pretty much covers the bases for me....

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  30. Could have been the first inter-racial kiss... by wurp · · Score: 2, Interesting

    In fact, the scene they aired did not have an actual kiss between Uhura and Kirk. It just looked like it. I heard Shatner talking about it on some talk show - he was disappointed that they didn't actually get the first interracial kiss on TV.

  31. Re:I thought the "Managerie" was the pilot? by AKAImBatman · · Score: 2, Informative
    Noticeable again due to the discontinuity of the uniforms in "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

    Ah, but did you know that the "Where No Man Has Gone Before" that aired was quite different from the original pilot version? :)
  32. Star Trek (all of them) was crappy television. by karlandtanya · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So, I'm over at my friend's house and I want to watch...Lost in Space.
    Yes, they were both in re-runs by that time, but still opposite each other on Channels 9 and 33 in Baton Rouge, LA.
    Friend's got a much better show (what was I at the time? seven or eight?): Star Trek. And the first episode I ever saw was "The Man Trap"
    I didn't sleep that night.

    Years later, in college, I'm still playing "name that trek" (First person to name the episode wins. If nobody names the episode 10s after it starts, game's over, no winner).
    I won more than not. At a hardcore geek school (RPI).

    Yes, I realize Star Trek was crappy television played by mediocre actors with lame special effects.
    Preachy and unrealistic, the writing was among the worst literature ever produced.

    The stories were so derivative of themselves they became exponentially worse each time another ST series or movie was produced.

    And I still love it.
    Star Trek, B5, Logan's Run, Anderson, Vonnegut, Bear, Benford, Brin, Heinlein, Asimov, Bradbury, Niven (with and without Pournelle), Cherryh, Chalker, Leslie Fish, Le Guin, Van Vogt, Verne, Wells, Baen (let's not forget the BFL), Saberhagen, and a hundred others.

    Either you're a SF fan or you're not.

    And if you are, then you already know who's going to be in the spaceships when they land.

    --
    "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, it doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick
  33. Remember remember... by Arceliar · · Score: 5, Funny

    Remember Remember the Eighth of September
    The Enterprise, phasers, and Spock
    I know of no reason that Star Trek's first season
    Should ever be forgot

    Sorry, I couldn't resist.

  34. Funny you should mention "fired"... by The_REAL_DZA · · Score: 2, Funny

    About a year ago I tried to generate interest in having them fired -- out of a cannon -- but it didn't seem to go anywhere (at least not anywhere that no one has gone before...)

    --


    This space intentionally left (almost) blank.
  35. Not Anemia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    What's it called when you have too much irony in your blood....

  36. Re:My Thoughts: "Star Trek" Follow-ons Are Travest by kalidasa · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So let me get this straight - you're claiming that Avery Brooks talks like a high school dropout? Dropout from which high school, Phillips? All I can think of is the scene from Hollywood Shuffle when an actor shouts out "I can do it in iambic pentameter!!!"

  37. PDA into a phaser? by gorehog · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hmmmm,
    Well, first dig the universal translator out of your arm and pry that little piece of dilithium out of it. Careful not to damage the transtators, you're gonna need those later.

    Next you need to crack open your PDA. Drill a hole in the leading edge of the PDA. This is where your emitter element will go. Dont worry too much about getting the size right. The first test firing will finish the hole quite nicely.

    Next place the dilithium chip about .5mm behind the hole you made, inside the case. Fasten it there with some crazy glue or epoxy. NO WOOD GLUE FOR GODS SAKE. Someone once tried it with wood glue, now they have a crater named after him. Elmer's Crater they call it.

    Ok, now, reroute the plasma flow from the PDA's reservoir through one of the transtators from the translator. Direct the output at one side of the dilithium chip so it acts as a lens for the output of the transtator....

    What do you mean, you dont have a plasma reservoir in your PDA? Then, how do you power it? What? Chemical BATTERIES?

    Ugh. Stone knives and bearskins....

  38. Re:No it wasn't by AJWM · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Hispanic isn't a race (despite the little checkboxes on various government forms). Ricky and Lucy were both Caucasoid. Hispanic is a cultural term, Hispanic people can range from blonds to blacks.

    That episode may or may not have been (US) TV's first interracial kiss, but you'll have to find a better counter-example than "I Love Lucy".

    --
    -- Alastair
  39. I think you were not paying attention... by hummassa · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Women emphasizing their intellect? I was probably watching other shows...

    2. Tasha Yar (doin' it with Data!!!) and Deanna Troi (Riker and Worf)...
    3. Jadzia Dax (doin' it with Worf!!!)
    4. Seven ... of ... nine ... if _that_ outfit was emphasizing her intellect, _I_, for one, wasn't paying attention correctly.
    5. Hoshi Sato (doin' it in Risa, and with the mirror Capn'), T'Pol (doin' it with Trip -- and in occasion, imaginarily or alternative-realityly, with Reed, with the Capn' and with the Doc!!!), and _Three_ Green Babes. Don't forget Erika Hernandez (doin' it with Archer!)

    --
    It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
  40. Re:Translation Help by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 2, Funny

    That website's eyes don't open, sails don't unfurl.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  41. Klingon programmers by NullProg · · Score: 2, Funny

    I have a printout of this hanging on the wall.


    Top 10 things likely to be overheard if you had a Klingon on your software development team:

          1. "This code is a piece of crap! You have no honor!"
          2. "A TRUE Klingon warrior does not comment his code!"
          3. "By filing this bug you have questioned my family honor. Prepare to die!"
          4. "You question the worthiness of my Code?! I should kill you where you stand!"
          5. "Our competitors are without honor!"
          6. "Specs are for the weak and timid!"
          7. "This machine is a piece of GAGH! I need dual Pentium processors if I am to do battle with this code!"
          8. "Perhaps it IS a good day to Die! I say we ship it!"
          9. "My program has just dumped Stova Core!"
        10. "Behold, the keyboard of Kalis! The greatest Klingon code warrior that ever lived!"



    Enjoy,

    --
    It's just the normal noises in here.
  42. Re:Translation Help by MasterPi · · Score: 2, Informative

    According to the Klingon Dictionary (the only official source, which I of course own), hello does not have a direct translation. The closest thing to a greeting that Klingons use is nuqneH, which actually means "What do you want?". The word "lonely" has no direct translation either, though considering the Klingon culture and psyche, this does not surprising. It is also worth noting that as an adjective, (of which Klingon has none), "lonely" would be expressed as a verb meaning "to be lonely".

    --
    ( I
  43. Re:My Thoughts: "Star Trek" Follow-ons Are Travest by Eil · · Score: 2, Insightful

    1. Original Series: brash captain, hot-looking women, dangerous adventures in a ship designed for living but not for tourism

    If by "brash," you mean "talentless ego-maniac," then yes. Also, I dispute your claim of the women being "hot-looking".

    2. The Next Generation: refined captain who talks like an English professor, women who emphasize their intellect, adventures in a ship designed like a luxury hotel

    Spot on.

    3. Deep Space Nine: captain who talks like a high-school dropout, women who emphasize their intellect, adventures in a space hotel

    Wait, what? "Captain who talks like a high-school dropout"? Sisko speaks perfectly well. He was typically a little more jovial than the other captains, but I don't see anything wrong with that. I think you accidentally let some of your racism show through.

    4. Voyager: captain who emphasizes her intellect, women who emphasize their intellect, dangerous adventures in a ship designed like a luxury hotel

    Just what is it you have against shows that portray females as intelligent people? The whole "women-as-set-pieces" concept should have died along with the original series, what a shame it lives on in the form of you.

    5. Enterprise: captain played by an actor who cannot act, women who emphasize their intellect, dangerous adventures in a ship run by characters played by actors and actresses who cannot act

    I can handle inexperienced actors, the real travesty here was the writers. "Oooh, I know, let's create a new Star Trek to predate the others, but instead of writing new material, let's just rehash all of the characters, places, and technology from the other series' whilst excusing the overall sheer implausibility of it with a bit of hand-waving!"