Link Thread

[Nate the Great]

You can now watch The Questor Tapes at the Internet Archive.


Of course a Gene Roddenberry pilot would feature Majel Barret.

Watch for Questor gambling like data.



These events will eventually be referenced in Trek novels, particularly Immortal Coil, where Questor's creator Vaslovik will be revealed to actually be Flint (who faked his aging when McCoy scanned him), and will eventually take the name again to be the mentor to Soong and Graves.

[Nate the Great]

Pre-pilot promos for TNG.


I don't like the reuse of footage, especially when it's clear that they had at least the first handful of episodes to work with.



You can't deny that the whole thing is very '80s.

[Nate the Great]

Electronic Press Kit for TNG


Stardate 41153.7, 78 years have passed since the days when the original crew of the USS Enterprise explored the unknown wonders of the universe.


This is the correct stardate for "Encounter at Farpoint. However, it is also the year 2364. 78 years would be 2386, the same year that the (bookends of) Star Trek IV are set in. Since that would've been the most recent movie at the time, this is reasonably accurate.


Now a spectacular Galaxy starship, eight times larger...


That's Galaxy-class, dude. Many online sources are ready to give overall dimensions for the various classes, but not very many are willing to give volumes. I'll trust the figures from ST-v-SW.net, which somehow has dimensions for everything in both the Trek and Wars universes.


For "Constitution B", their term for the refit, or what I still call "Enterprise-class" on occasion, the volume is 235,000 m^3. Enterprise-D is at 5,821,000 m^3. That's 25 times bigger (because the E-D's saucer is WAY TOO BIG).


(Meaningless aside, but I intend to return to st-v-sw.net in future once I've had time to explore properly)


To boldly go where none have gone before.


"None" seems a bit clunkier than "no one", doesn't it? I actually prefer the proto-Enterprise version, "no human." It doesn't seem to have the same racist vibes. "Oh yeah, only humanity counts as being people!"


The most technologically advanced starship ever built.


To adequately judge this station we need a proper definition of "most technologically advanced". One could certainly argue that the D'deridex class has more advanced tech, but is it designed to be totally self-contained for years on end like the E-D was designed to be?


It was Picard who ordered [Jack Crusher] on his ill-fated mission.

Oh boy, is there a lot to unpack here. Even after all these years we don't know all that much about Jack Crusher's death. He died while serving on the Stargazer in an accident on an away mission, that's it. While it's true that Picard as the captain would've ordered him on the mission, there's never been any indication that he knew of an extraordinary level of danger.



The novel Reunion portrays the events quite differently. It wasn't an away mission, Jack was doing a spacewalk outside the Stargazer during repairs when he was injured in an accident. Picard chose to rescue security chief "Pug" Joseph first as he was closest. Jack died before Picard could return.



The novel Q-Squared reveals that there's only one reality where Jack survived, but kharma still needed Picard and Beverly to get together, so Wesley was killed instead. Their grief split Jack and Beverly up, but it wasn't until both of them being posted on the Enterprise-D that Beverly started a relationship with Picard. It all gets a bit messy after that, by all means read the novel.


The novelization of "Encounter at Farpoint" (later contradicted by actual canon) states that Jack was killed by natives who suddenly turned violent on an away mission. I think I prefer the Reunion version.


(An alternate version of a scene from Farpoint)
Q: You will now answer to the charge of being a grievously savage race.
Picard: "Grievously savage" could mean anything. I will answer only specific charges.


A good point, I wonder why they didn't keep this one.


I never saw Robert Justman talk before! He was one of the old hands from TOS that Gene eventually scared away when he went crazy. I remember him well from the book "Inside Star Trek."


Frakes: To a long and successful voyage, the new crew of the Enterprise!
Burton: Live long and prosper!



I remember that from the "Journey's End" documentary!


Berman: We didn't want in any way to be accused of trying to recreate the old series.


Well, you kinda muffed that one, didn't you, Rick?


It's odd to see Sirtis use such a strong English accent.


Frakes: This is science fiction in a very believable format, I think.


Not really. At this point in Trek history the universe was supposed to be very aspirational. This is what we could actually do someday. Conflict was no longer required in most cases. All that Roddenberry gospel that conflicts with creating good drama.



It's too soon to tell yet whether the relationship between Riker and Counsellor Troi will develop.

This is a question that could be taken many ways. I think it was always assumed that both parties would date other people for awhile as they built a new relationship with each other based more on friendship than sexual desire or rescuing each other. I'll refer you to the novel Imzadi for that.


In the '80s it was understood that the chase was much more interesting than the actual relationship. Doing a long-term plotline like the O'Briens wouldn't even have been thought of at this point.


Best-known for his roles in the miniseries Roots and the TV movie Dummy, LeVar Burton...


I'd never heard of Dummy. It was a 1979 film where he costars with Nikolai Roshenko actor Paul Sorvino. Burton plays a deaf man who is framed for the murder of a prostitute.



Geordi sees through the use of a VISOR-a Visual Input Sensory Optical Reflector.


Eventually the acronym will be settled as Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement. Still a little clunky, although I have to admit wondering how "reflector" has any meaning in this context.


(Dorn speculates that the creators saw that he could do anything.)


You're telling me. It could be argued that of the TNG regulars, Worf transformed the most during the series. Toss in DS9 and you might have a contender for "transformed the most in the entire franchise".


(Wil Wheaton uses the term "really rad")


Had I been drinking at that moment, that might've been a spit take. I know it's the '80s, but seriously?


Berman: I think the only way that this show can work, the only reason that it is going to work, is Gene Roddenberry.


Oh, the joys of hindsight!

[Nate the Great]

Well, here's a crossover that I never expected to see: Numberphile and Eric Harshbarger!


You should all know what Numberphile is by now. Eric is another story entirely. Back in the day he was one of the foremost professional LEGO sculptors. He doesn't really do that anymore, but I didn't know that he makes games now.

[Nate the Great]

SF Debris revamped his "Darmok" review and the accompanying Tamarian language video today.


He makes a valiant effort to explain how the language works, but it completely falls apart under scrutiny. The Universal Translator can translate the Companion, a being who lacks common references with any humanoid language or mindset. Are you going to tell me that the UT became LESS sophisticated in a hundred years?



It's sad how the Babel Fish is actually more plausible than the Universal Translator. At least the Babel Fish knows how to establish a telepathic connection with the language centers of the brain. We're never given the implication that the Universal Translator can do this. If it could, the Tamarian metaphors would be convertible with no problems.



We know that the UT can't make a direct telepathic link because if it could we wouldn't need a mind-meld to understand Horta. Then again, perhaps the Horta don't "speak" via sounds, perhaps they can create vibrations in the rock around them to transmit ideas (or control their own heat signature to create patterns, for that matter). In the novels one of the Horta children joins Starfleet and has a custom UT, but that's another story and it probably took Spock's experience to build it to interpret vibrations or heat signatures or whatever.

[Nate the Great]

Tom Lehrer turned 95 a couple weeks ago. To celebrate here's a song I never knew existed, a cover of "Trees."



Of course you'll remember "Trees" as a song that Wayne and Wanda failed to sing on The Muppet Show.


And someone reworked the elements song into a song about the kinds of trees.



A compilation of live performances by Lehrer himself. A few differences from the album versions threw me off a bit.


And now a few more recent Lehrer covers:


The Masochism Tango
Lobachevsky
We Will All Go Together When We Go
Smut/The Elements (wasn't expecting that pair as a double feature!)
The Masochism Tango again...on America's Got Talent!

[DrWho42]

listening to an old favourite: from an ancient star (2009) by belbury poly

[Nate the Great]

TNG bloopers that I've never seen before.

[Nate the Great]

Route of the 1701 during TOS S2&S3

Talk about zig-zagging. One thing that I have a problem with is how close they go to the modern (i.e. 24th century) borders of the Cardassian Union and the Ferengi Alliance. All of the major powers besides the Klingons and Romulans (and minor powers like the Tholians and Gorn) should be far away from space explored in TOS. In fact I don't think the Federation even extended far enough to encounter the Cardassians and Ferengi until the 24th century.

It's also sad how many TOS planets haven't been depicted on "modern" starcharts since the '70s. You'd think all of this would've been established fairly early on in the Pocket Books era.

One of these days I really have to go episode-by-episode to see how many of the 1701's missions were really pure exploration (or at least, a result of being the closest ship when major events happen i.e. "The Trouble with Tribbles") and how many involve serious deviations from the regular patrol course. For example, "Amok Time", "The Ultimate Computer", and "Journey to Babel" would've involved major deviations.

[NAHTMMM]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01Ytsmn4gv4

It's 400 years since Shakespeare's First Folio was published. The Victoria and Albert Museum takes a look at one copy and other related things.

[Nate the Great]

LGR fills a 12-drive bay computer tower with the weirdest 5.25" drives he's collected over the years.


1. A vacuum tube audio meter
2. An audiocassette player
3. A cigarette lighter and cigarette storage drawer.
4. A cooling unit for the computer.
5. An air conditioner for you.


And more...

[Nate the Great]

A dramatic audio reenactment of Eric and the Dread Gazebo

[Nate the Great]

Ley's Play With Brigands covers Sim Tower

I spent many happy hours on this game in my youth. I had all kinds of notes written about how to best arrange things. How far are people willing to walk to the elevator, what is the optimal office/restaurant ratio, how many hotel rooms can you properly service with one housekeeping unit, etc.

[NAHTMMM]

Animating A Charlie Brown Christmas

Animating Schulz's style in four months was really hard to do, and they didn't like the result.

[Nate the Great]

If you want some real groaners of Trek puns, look no further than the comments on this Not Always Right story.

[Nate the Great]

A guy makes a motorcycle model out of old watches.

I was reminded of my dad even before I realized that today is Fathers Day. He would've loved this.

[Nate the Great]

Today I found out that this year is the 50th anniversary of Schoolhouse Rock. Of course ABC made a special to commemorate it.

I can't begin to tell you what Schoolhouse Rock means to me. It's a labor of love by people who really wanted to educate and entertain children at the same time. While it's had its clunkers (most of Earth Rock comes to mind immediately), you never feel that these guys are phoning it in. I'll forgive a lot of flaws if the creators had passion.

[Nate the Great]

As a followup to the Schoolhouse Rock 50th Anniversary here's a tape someone made way back in 1973 off their TV, including the first ever airing of Schoolhouse Rock, the first short "Three is a Magic Number." Seeing the different animation surprised me, but I guess gunshots, even from a carnival game, was deemed non-PC for the time.

(The YouTube video says 1971, but we know Schoolhouse Rock didn't air until 1973).

[Nate the Great]

So they're making a Willy Wonka prequel movie.

So, yeah, um....

Errr...

I'm conflicted.

[Nate the Great]

Another Schoolhouse Rock parody to celebrate the 50th anniversary.