If Star Trek: The Next Generation was any indication, we’re still hundreds of years away from actual holodeck technology that lets us travel the world without ever leaving home. But a music video for a Belgian group called Willow comes pretty close to recreating the experience using nothing but a triad of video projectors. More »
For sci-fi lovers, it’s on. A fan-devised project to restore the Enterprise-D bridge from Star Trek: The Experience is now actively raising cash on Indiegogo with a newly estimated $240,000 target needed to make the dream real. Crowdfunding brings the obligatory perks for larger donations, although they take on a progressively nerdy bent once you get past the t-shirts. It peaks at getting replicas of Captain Kirk’s original chair or an LCARS terminal, and you can even get a romantic evening on the deck with “complete privacy until the next morning” — wink, wink. Outlandish? Maybe, but the project is getting official sponsors and has a shorter-term plan to get Captain Picard’s chair ready for display by October. The whole bridge should be ready by late 2013. If you’d wished Paramount had preserved this piece of The Next Generation history for the ages, you now have your solution.
Filed under: Misc
Enterprise-D restoration fundraiser goes live: your chance to revive a slice of Star Trek is here originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Sep 2012 04:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Etsy is a great place to find wonderful handmade crafts, and every once in a while I come across something I can honestly say I’ve not seen before. What we have here is some of our favorite sci-fi, movie and video game characters – all transformed into fat cats by Kathleen over at Fat Cat Crafts.
Oh, and these aren’t just any overweight felines, no. The cats of Fat Cat Crafts all function as pincushions, so if you’re into sewing, you can keep your spare needles and pins in them. (Or if you just want to put a voodoo curse on your cat.) My favorite has to be the highly-detailed Boba Fett fat cat (Boba Fatt?), complete with jet pack, though I do like the sound of ”Shat Fat Cat” rolling off of my tongue too…
Among Kathleen’s other handmade creations are Han Solo, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Mario, Luigi, Doctor Who, Obi Wan Kenobi and Indiana Jones (complete with pipe-cleaner whip) – all in fat cat form.
Prices range from $17 to $23 (USD) for the geeky fat cat pincushions over at Fat Cat Crafts’s Etsy shop.
Google Doodles: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Googleship Enterprise. To boldly click where no man has clicked before. More »
If you’re a fan of the original Star Trek series, especially its role in modern science fiction history as well as television history, you’ll be glad to see Google’s newest Doodle, celebrating the birth of the series. It was on the 8th of September, 1966, that the show first broadcast its opening sequence, and set off “Where No Man Has Gone Before”. The doodle was headed by Google’s Ryan Germick who spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the situation, noting that it was Google‘s talk of a talking computer who could “get exactly what you want and have that kind of engagement, where the computer just knows all” just as it is in the Star Trek universe – thus this celebration was born.
It is the 46th anniversary of Star Trek: The Original Series today (or tomorrow, depending on which day you actually believe the pilot aired), and with it comes Google’s Doodle complete with the main cast spun into the letters of the brand word. You’ll find Spock as the G, Uhura as the O, Kirk as another O, Scotty as the G, Sulu as the L, and there’s no sign of McCoy anywhere! The E is what’s referred to as a “Red Shirt” crew member, as evidenced by clicking on him in the transporter room and seeing him shiver in terror as it’s almost inevitable that something terrible will happen to him soon.
This Doodle allows you to click in on several different interactive bits in each of the several scenes presented in the standard box size. Episodes from the series are shown in cuts, starting on the ship’s bridge and eventually bringing you down to the planet where you’ll be battling the Gorn. The Gorn creature also takes on the shape of a letter, and you’ll tap a set of elements for Kirk to access and bust him down with a home-made cannon, just like in the episode “Arena.”
What a fabulous way to celebrate the series that, believe it or not, didn’t really do all that fabulously in its initial run on TV. The power of the series as a whole, and the significance of the characters in the series and what they represented to more than just standard sci-fi television audiences – that’s what made all the difference. Star Trek is now a massive industry of shows and movies which has existed for generation after generation of fans.
“For me, it was a vision for the future. I think it was also that it was multicultural, pro-science, and full of curiosity and passion. I think like a lot of good science-fiction, it sort of says a lot about its present era. We can really appreciate what Star Trek did in its time. As an adult, you can appreciate how progressive it was. You learned to be compassionate towards all kinds of people — even alien creatures. Also, the style is just incredible: retro-futuristic. There’s so much to love. As a person that loves technology, there is so much to be inspired by. Being able to get the answers right away — that was from a crazy, far-flung era where computers were the size of refrigerators. And now, I’m so happy to work in the industry I’m in. So some of the realities from the vision of Star Trek are coming true. To be part of a company that makes it happen is really exciting.” – Germick
NOTE: Those of you who have a subscription to Netflix streaming content library can watch the entire Star Trek: The Original Series episode by episode right now – they’re up, and they’re still excellent!
Star Trek Google Doodle celebrates birth of the original series is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
The 46th anniversary of the original Star Trek series is tomorrow. In commemoration for the occasion, Google has splashed a Star Trek doodle across its home page. The doodle is colorful and fun. Rather than being a mere image, it is an interactive animation.
You start from six Star Trek characters, draped in Google’s own spelling alphabets, standing in a kind of control room. Once you click the door, you are taken to another room where apparently, two of the characters are teleported to another planet. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google Doodle celebrates the 60th anniversary of Stanislaw Lem’s first book, Google receives patent for Google Doodle,
Dammit, Jim, I’m a doctor not a Google logo.
Filed under: Internet
Google pays tribute to Star Trek with latest doodle, red shirts still can’t catch a break originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 14:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apparently Trekkies love Monopoly so much that USAopoly has released not one, but two Star Trek-themed Monopoly sets. Unlike the first one, this particular set will let you play with your Klingon friends. Yeah, I know, I’ve yet to find evidence that this “friend” creature exists either.
As you might have guessed, the most unique thing about this set is that all of the English instructions also have Klingon translations. Aside from that, almost all the other names and aspects of the game have also been Klingonized. Instead of money, players use “Klingon Forces” as currency. The standard tokens have been replaced with the captain’s chair, klingon gavel, disruptor, bat’leth, K’k tahg and a bird of prey. The set also includes a small replica of the Klingon Chancellor’s Cane.
Sadly, all of this fan service only makes this set’s weak point more apparent. Look at the board in the gallery below and you’ll see that the four corners are still from the standard edition, albeit with Klingon translations. Kinda jarring once you notice them.
Order the Monopoly: Star Trek Klingon Edition from ThinkGeek for $40 (USD) or from Amazon for about $28. What’s next, Monopoly: The Borg Game?
Star Trek purists might not appreciate the fact that I never liked the original series. I liked the original films well enough, but the original TV show was super cheesy in my opinion. I was a huge fan of The Next Generation and him firmly in camp Picard when it comes to choosing sides.
Fathead has been making life-sized vinyl stickers to decorate your walls of athletes, cars, and all sorts of other things for a long time. The company has announced it is now offering Star Trek fatheads with characters and graphics from the original series and TNG.
Whichever Captain you prefer, you’ll be able to choose between a life-size Kirk or Picard. It’s interesting to note that Kirk is only 5′-11″ tall while Jean-Luc is 6-4″ tall – a good 6 inches taller than Patrick Stewart is in real life. Though to be fair, Kirk is slightly kneeling down in his decal.
The series also includes Mr. Spock, the Enterprise from the original series, and logos from the original series. TNG fans can also get commander William T. Riker, Lieutenant Commander Data, Lieutenant Worf, as well as their updated Enterprise. Voyager, DS9 and Enterprise fans are out of luck for now though. Prices for the decals range from $39.99 for a basic starfleet logo up to $99.99 for the characters and ships.
Fathead has been around for a long time with its giant wall stickers to decorate your home. The company started offering sports themed wall decorations with giant helmets and life-size athletes to stick on the wall. Over time the company added more and more categories to its lineup, including cars and entertainment decorations.
Fathead has announced that it is now offering a collection of Star Trek wall art. The first of the Star Trek collection includes die cut and mural images. Images include Star Trek logos and popular characters from the series. Geeks who can’t decide if they like Kirk or Picard better will be glad to hear that both Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation are both featured.
Naturally, there are life-sized fathead cut outs of James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard. The Kirk cut out is one of Shatner when he was young, not the old and somewhat crusty Kirk from some of the later Star Trek films. Other than the two captains, Fathead is also offering several other popular Star Trek characters.
You can also get Mr. Spock, the original USS Enterprise, and the Enterprise used in TNG. Other life-size character cutouts included Lieutenant Commander Data, Commander William T. Riker, and Lieutenant Worf. Official insignias from the original series and TNG are also available in a more space friendly Fathead Junior size.
Fathead Star Trek lineup debuts is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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