Less a PNQ and more a general request for technical advice.

A long time ago, I had a radio-based set of wireless headphones. The power brick broke, and I'd have to spend twenty bucks online for a replacement. I'd kinda like to avoid online purchases if possible, so I've been looking for brick-and-mortar alternatives. Advice most desired.

A nearby electronics store sells a Bluetooth headset for $30, but I'd also have to get a $15 USB Bluetooth dongle for my PC. How hard is it to change the headset between receiving from the PC dongle or receiving from my iPad or Android tablet instead?

Not hard at all, though I always found PC Bluetooth sync to be problematic at best.

I just read a Star Trek novel passage where the Romulans are attempting to board the ship and someone makes the Enterprise change course suddenly in the middle of transport (only the glow of the incoming beam is visible) such that the Romulans end up beaming into space.

PNQ: Comments? Issues?

Reference materials state that a Federation transporter cycle takes about five seconds, and we can assume that the transporter computer can deal with known speeds and courses at both ends ("we have matched velocity for transport") so the factors are known. But what would happen in this case?

In theory, yeah. Or they could just adjust course a hair and all of a sudden they're in the middle of a bulkhead. Would a navigator be able to receive an order and react in time in an approximate 5 second cycle to move the ship enough in order for it to be a viable tactic is a good question.

Then again, if you think of it, there's a really obvious solution to this: computer compensation. Unless we're talking 8472 ship, usually ships are pretty consistent in size throughout; a cursory scan could allow the computer to use the dimensions of the target ship as their reference, and any sudden movements would be instantly adjusted by the ship's computer. This would also make sense within context of the show, as the transporter becomes more and more sophisticated as time marches on and can do more things.

Yeah, let's just say that someone from Ship A is trying to beam onto Ship B. The transporter operator on A has access to the latest scans of B to know where it will be at every instant during the transport cycle. Technically, even during a five-second cycle any two origin and destination points will move relative to each other unless it's two ships that have specifically matched velocity. Therefore the computer can "smear" the beam during the cycle, moving it as the person goes. But the "smearing" is based on the assumption that Ship B will be going at a specific course relative to Ship A during the entire cycle. But a sudden course change should trigger the sensors, setting off an automated recall in the transporter, right?

In theory. Also could explain Spock's mom in the reboot movie.

...yes, I went there.

Since I only read the script for that movie once years ago, whatever subtle meaning you intend is lost on me. I don't want to know, either.

So Alan Rickman died today...

PNQ: What Alan Rickman role will you remember the most?

I realize that for a lot of older folks it'll be Die Hard and for the younger folks it'll be Harry Potter, but for me it's Sense and Sensibility all the way. As a Trekkie it should be Galaxy Quest, but I confess to not being very fond of that film.

Dogma, GalaxyQuest, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Die Hard, his one guest spot on King of the Hill, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves...

Take your pick. Great actor.

Oddly enough, I think for me it'll be Marvin. Rickman was born to voice that guy. Second would probably be Galaxy Quest (which I love, unlike MST3K or Sev Trek... weird how this forum and I seem to consistently disagree on which Trek parodies are good). Another one I'll remember fondly is the HBO movie <i>Something the Lord Made</i>, where he plays Dr. Alfred Blalock, the doctor who basically invented modern heart surgery. It's a classic Rickman role: a man who's brilliant but flawed, somewhat withdrawn, and doesn't suffer fools.

Don't get me wrong, he was great as Snape -- but he didn't really match my mental image of the character, and that makes the role less memorable for me. I'm only a moderate Die Hard fan and haven't seen Robin Hood or Dogma yet.

He did a good job as Marvin but there wasn't enough of him in the film and I'm just too fond of the original Stephen Moore from radio and TV that anybody else would always come in second place.

No question, Moore is the true Marvin -- but Rickman was still a great fit. One of the highlights of that odd take on Hitchhiker's Guide.

Here's one for you:

Why is everyone dying so early in 2016?!?

As long as Marvin is still a recent memory, here are some songs!

Marvin
Metal Man
Reasons To Be Miserable
Marvin I Love You

The Harry Potter movies are what made him memorable for me, the reason I know his name. I've seen Something the Lord Made but it was long time ago and I didn't remember him being in it. He's good in Hitchhiker's and Galaxy Quest but I didn't say "oh it's Alan Rickman" when I watched them until after I'd seen the Harry Potter movies. I think those are the only one's I've seen.

Regarding the Groundhog Day tradition...

PNQ: What is the definition of "early spring" or "more winter"?

I mean, on a scientific, can't-be-disputed level. I suppose you'd have to choose a representative plant species, plant a seed in a representative location, and see how long it takes to sprout. Before Date X means "early spring" and so forth.

I think it's intended to work on more of a "Can I plant crops yet or go outside without a heavy coat" level.

If we're only talking about one city, it'd be easy enough to define "spring" as "the temperature hasn't dropped below X degrees in Y days, so it probably won't get colder than that anymore until next winter", but people seem to act like a single groundhog predicts the end of winter for the entire country, if not the entire continent.

That's the game. People read horoscopes for fun too.

PNQ: What are we going to do for the big fiftieth anniversary?

Publish 50 Star Trek Fivers?

Maybe a Top 10 List?

Change the banner graphic to a progression of ships from the start until the end of Trek?

Publish a Fiver of the new reboot movies with Spock Prime being a fanboy pointing out all the inconsistencies in the new universe?

The possibilities are as endless as Zeke's ability to ignore his inbox.

It'd have to be 1/12 of 50, so 4 1/6.

Today is Dr. Seuss' birthday...

PNQ #1: Favorite Seuss book?
PNQ #2: Favorite Seuss cartoon?

#1: I want to say either the Sneetches or Yertle the Turtle.
#2: Have to go with How the Grinch Stole Christmas! for the song.

I'm particularly fond of And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street.

Putting aside Grinch as all of our favorites, what's in second place?

I guess the Grinch Grinching the Cat in the Hat. The only other one I can remember seeing is The Cat in the Hat itself.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas was good, but I saw the cartoon for The Lorax and I thought that one was better, but a little more obscure.

And for book? Green Eggs and Ham. Used to read that to my kids.

So the title of the newest Spider-Man reboot movie is Spider-Man: Homecoming...

PNQ: What were you expecting?

There are plenty more comic book titles that could be used. I was fond of The Spectacular Spider-Man myself. Disney could've even gone with Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man if they wanted to skew a bit younger. The Web of Spider-Man would fit for a more ominous, mysterious movie.

Actually, I think it's perfect just the way it is, considering he's getting his debut in the MCU during Civil War.

The toy at 9:04 in this video (pause when the video loads, the timecode is included) is supposed to be the Silver Surfer. That's clearly not the Silver Surfer, beyond them both being silver skinned bald guys.

PNQ: Who does it look like?

I think it's Yul Brynner, and at least one commenter on the video agrees with me. Other commenters go for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Putin, Voldemort, and so forth.

Perhaps some of you have heard about Grant Morrison's summary of Superman in eight words:

Doomed planet. Desperate scientists. Last hope. Kindly couple.

On Twitter someone recapped Batman simularly:

Murdered parents. Broken window. Cowardly lot. Greatest detective.

PNQ: Do you care to attempt the same for other heroes?

Spider bite. Murdered uncle. Great Power. Great Responsibility.
Miracle child. Champion princess's secret. Win with love.
Spoiled brat. Deserted island. Survival training. Hunt evil.
One who lived. Lonely child. Magical discovery. Endure.

So I'm watching a YouTube video and one person asks another something to the effect of "if you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?"

Yikes. There's a toughie for you.

PNQ: What's your one book? All nonfiction (aside from humor) and religious texts are off the table, only pure entertainment books.

So after the unfortunate passing of Anton Yelchin and the news that Chekov won't be recast, I've been wondering what they'll do (not that I'll be watching any Abramsverse films, understand)...

(Incidentally, apparently we're supposed to call it the Kelvinverse, but they took too long to decide on that, so I'm sticking with Abramsverse)

PNQ: Would it be cool to go the route that TAS took and replace Chekov with a new version of Arex? Would a fully CG alien on the bridge work?

Well, the --
Oh. Uh. Imagine asking that, except it's only one particular thing you can eat. It wouldn't necessarily be your favorite food, it'd have to be a food you like that provides all the nutrition you need. Same thing, books nourish the mind. If I want something funny, something serious, something that goes down easy, something thought-provoking, I can't change my decision.

If the question were about movies, I'd probably go with Close Encounters based on that logic. I don't know of any book that would fit such a criterion, so I guess I'd go with Fellowship of the Ring and hope that nobody notices it's technically a volume of two books. There's enough going on in there to keep me entertained over many rereads.


They could go the CG route nowadays, it could be fun, but (still not having seen Beyond yet) I wouldn't expect them to do anything to justify the investment.

So if readily published omnibuses like The Lord of the Rings were options, you'd choose one of those? I've seen Narnia, the Baum Oz books, etc. as single volume omnibuses as well.

I have an interest in topology, so I've known about the Klein Bottle for awhile. Cliff Stoll makes glass Klein Bottles. They're beyond my budget for now, but eventually I hope to have one.

Anyway, let's get on to today's PNQ. On this page they show double and triple Klein Bottles. At least, they look like two and three Klein Bottles that have been linked up. Anyway...

PNQ: The page says that only one of these has the topological properties of a normal Klein Bottle (or as he puts it, "One of these is homeomorphic to a Klein Bottle. The other is homeomorphic to a Torus."). Which is which?

I rewatched the SF Debris review of "Skin of Evil" and the discussion about Yar's departure today...

PNQ: What plotlines can you envision for Yar had she stayed on board long enough to get into the era of the show that was more focused on the ensemble?

Granted, had Yar stayed "Yesterday's Enterprise" would've been very different and the Sela arc never would've happened. But what would have taken place instead?

Would there have been a gradual romance between Yar and Data? What would've happened to Worf? Would she have helped harden Troi, who would've helped to soften her in exchange? Would Ishara Yar have been created? Would she have been friends with Ro Laren?

I haven't seen Rogue One yet...

PNQ: Does the CGI Carrie Fisher look that bad?

Because in my experience, this is a problem that if, not solvable, can be severely alleviated by throwing enough money at. And Disney would certainly have deep enough pockets and a deep enough desire to not enrage Star Wars fans.

Yes, it was obviously CGI - they still haven't quite figured out that ALL the skin doesn't need to move when someone talks - but I thought it was pretty good.

The first 30 seconds of this video has some stills of the CGI of Carrie Fisher, and the rest is the CGI'd Peter Cushing.

Egads. Can you say "video game cutscene from five years ago?" Makes me think someone was stealing money from the CG budget under the table.

In this case, I would've just had a view of Leia from behind. The costume and hairstyle would've been enough, and only have her be onscreen long enough to get the job done and not one second more.