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New Star Trek: Lower Decks and The Search For Spock Behind-the-Scenes Books Coming in 2025
  • I'm excited for the Lower Decks one.

    For SFS, though, "classic film" is one euphemism for it. 😆

  • FOSS IDEs recommendations?
  • Agree. Codium goes brrrr, honestly.

  • Lower Decks Eulogizing
  • I agree. Experience bij, Paramount!

  • Lower Decks Eulogizing
  • It’s not a spoiler. It’s from season one.

  • Annotations for *Star Trek: Lower Decks* 5x10: “The New Next Generation” (SPOILERS)
  • One thing that suggests Broken Mirror’s mirror universe is the prime one is the uniforms borrow a lot of conventions from the IDW TNG Mirror comics, which sorts out a way the empire resurges.

  • Merp Naming

    I have an odd question that will probably never be answered now unless they decide to bring this species to other Trek shows: why are members of Merp’s species called “Big Merp”, “Sleepy Merp”, or just “Merp”?

    Obviously out of universe, they’re likely just a parody of the Smurfs.

    My personal favorite theory that would be that Merpkind (or whatever they are called) doesn’t actually have a native concept of individual names. However, they’ve got to put something on the Federation paperwork, so they typically just do whatever and stick with it.

    Alternatively, fitting more with the Smurf thing, Merp communities identify each other via adjectives or roles much like the Smurfs.

    What’s your ten cents?

    EDIT: Thinking on it, it could be a combination. No one has a set name - some might call their spouse “Mate Merp”, while that spouse might be referred to by a boss as “Strong Employee Merp.” When doing Federation paperwork, Merps typically choose which descriptor they’re more fond of. For instance, Sleepy Merp may have been referred to as that by a parent.

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    Lower Decks Eulogizing

    What’s your eulogy for Lower Decks?

    Here’s mine: I wasn’t sure about Lower Decks for a well - I’d never been into the adult animation genre, and when I first heard of it, I had initially seen it as the wrong direction for Star Trek.

    Finally, in late 2023, I watched it for the first time and was surprised to enjoy it.

    Then came the crazy month of March 2024. I got rejected from all my dream schools, putting me in a sullen mood. I returned to the show and suddenly started resonating with Boimler as someone who had ambitions - some naive, some not - that weren’t always fulfilled, while I found the Cerritos to be kind of an analogue to the state school I would end up at.

    Then, at the end of that month, a close family member shared their advanced pancreatic cancer diagnosis, and they passed a month after. That was when my attachment to Lower Decks solidified - I turned to it as a comfort show and really started to appreciate it. I think I’ve rewatched it twice since then - one randomly in the summer, and one to refresh my memory for the final season that began while I was doing the (mediocre) paint job for a 3D-printed combadge for a costume: !

    Overall, it’s probably my second favorite show in the franchise at this point, only behind DS9. I’m sure I’ll rewatch it plenty times more, though maybe a bit more sparingly - just one more this year to cope with the emptiness of no more new episodes. đŸ€­

    Lower Decks! Lower Decks!

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    Annotations for *Star Trek: Lower Decks* 5x10: “The New Next Generation” (SPOILERS)
  • I might add we saw a different Terran empire variant of the Cerritos in 2x08 “I, Excretus”, albeit a holodeck one.

  • ‘Lower Decks’ Series Finale “The New Next Generation” Review, Plus Mike McMahan Interview
  • My joking theory is they did the weird Rutherford implant removal to make his live action costume easier. 😉

  • ‘Lower Decks’ Series Finale “The New Next Generation” Review, Plus Mike McMahan Interview
  • It depends. The Cerritos is passingly mentioned in Prodigy, which suggests at least one version (probably ours) of the Cerritos is in the prime timeline.

  • Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Lower Decks | 5x10 "The New Next Generation"
  • I feel like I’ve been pulled off Ketracel white cold turkey. So many good episodes. My ultimate conclusion is the best episode is probably season 2 finale, with season 4 finale very close behind.

    The Rutherford thing was weird - they could have written in a bit more foreshadowing. I’m gonna tell myself it’s a way to make Eugene Cordero’s makeup easier for a live action film. 😉

  • Annotations for *Star Trek: Lower Decks* 5x10: “The New Next Generation” (SPOILERS)
  • I could be wrong, but I think this is the first time an Ariolo has spoken on screen.

  • John Linnell’s Tele-Tele-Phone Cover
    m.youtube.com - YouTube

    Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

    I know it’s mostly Hearst doing the backing track, but man does it feel straight off State Songs.

    0
    Annotations for *Star Trek: Lower Decks* 5x09: “Fissure Quest” (SPOILERS)
  • According to Memory Alpha, there’s an okudagram in Prodigy that says Prime Harry’s a Lieutenant by 2384.

  • Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Lower Decks | 5x09 "Fissure Quest"
  • There was so much joyful “Eeeeee”-ing during this episode.

  • Linux, openSUSE ready for Everyday Users
  • I think your Adobe comment isn't quite right. I have two family members who are professional photographers and use Photoshop; Photoshop is so important to their workflow they can't give it up just to use Linux. They thus stick with Windows (though one's work had them using Macs for a bit, so they see it as acceptable).

    In contrast, although I sometimes used Photoshop in hobbies (a euphemism for memes), I never used any features so specific to Photoshop that I couldn't just replace it with a combination of Inkscape and GIMP.

    I think the truth is as much as I hate Adobe, Photoshop is the best at what it does right now compared to competitors; GIMP 3.0 has a dismal UI and a weaker feature set, and the latter is largely true of a lot of the web-based editors as well.

  • Intel or AMD CPUs for new Laptops?
  • I’ve been liking my 1st gen Thinkpad E16 AMD. It took a bit of tuning, but the battery life’s decent.

  • Which “Another First Kiss” variant?

    What’s your preferred version of “Another First Kiss”?

    Honestly, I feel like there is no real competition with Severe Tire Damage version - the Mink Car one is kind of weak. Still, thought I’d ask.

    0
    I wonder why. 😉
  • I only switch to Apple Music in July - all my top albums are They Might Be Giants albums.

  • Windows-like middle-mouse button behaviour?
  • I don't use the quick copy and paste on my Thinkpad because it's so easy to accidentally trigger. I use it more often on my desktop, though.

  • If I had a slip of latinum for every time a DS9 character went to an alien afterlife...

    In all seriousness, though, I swear I'm going to break into Rick Berman's house and send him to Gre'thor for what he did to Jadzia (and honestly, most of the female cast members at he time).

    0
    I Just Go Nuts that this song has never seen a proper lease

    I’ve heard Linnell didn’t like it, and I think he’s wrong. 😂

    0
    Hypothetical Pips

    I have a weird question. Some numbers of pips can have the black pip. However, the 4 captain pips have never been depicted with this.

    In some ways, this makes sense; a "lower" captain wouldn't make sense, and we've seen that the highest first officers hold commander pips. It's most likely that have 4 pips with one black is totally invalid.

    However, I wonder if there's ever a circumstance where the black pip would be there. For instance, let's say someone gets field promoted to acting captain, but Starfleet either takes their time making it official or it's going to take a while (a few weeks) for the ship to get back to starbase to pick up a new captain (meaning the acting captain will be a bit long-term)? Could it be used then?

    I imagine most of this is speculation, but I'm wondering if there's any example in canon of a long-term acting captain that could disprove the use of this pip configuration.

    4

    I made Cathode - don’t vote for it (or at least, don’t give it a high rank, since Debian uses ranked choice). It kind of sucks, honestly; I was just having fun.

    I have a feeling Juliette Taka’s going to keep being the de facto face of Debian for a long time - I ranked hers first in the voting.

    7
    Federating Issues with Lemmy.world?

    I’m wondering as a relative fediverse noob - are there any known issues when federating with lemmy.world?

    I ask because I run a They Might Be Giants community there that I created with an alt account and moderate with my account on this instance, in part because as giant as they may be, I feel like a They Might Giants community doesn’t fit this instance (if I am wrong, might consider migrating it).

    I made a post ~14 hours ago and it still hasn’t shown up on other instances. I’m guessing it’s either lemmy.world is a ginormous instance or it’s still on 19.3. I just find it weird because I’ve made posts without problems before.

    Anyhow, glory to the admins of this instance; they honor their houses.

    9
    The Life of Cetacean Ops Officers

    When the LD SB80 episode mentioned Matt and Kimolu were infected on an away mission, it reignited some thoughts/questions about how the lives of Cetacean officers in an era of Trek where whales are beginning to become more common as crew members.

    Here's the discussion that I think can be had within current canon: I can't help but notice what seems to be a difference in the quality of life between Gillian on Voyager-A and Matt and Kimolu on the Cerritos.

    Sure, Matt and Kimolu don't have as flashy or futuristic-looking of an aquarium, but in addition to having each other, the pool-like design of their accommodations allows them easy interaction (a.k.a parties) with the crew. I feel like there's much more opportunity for them to have a fulfilling social life on the Cerritos.

    In comparison, Gillian feels very enclosed and isolated from the rest of Voyager; there's always glass between here and the crew (as humpbacks sometimes need to surface, I image there's probably an area with some air in the aquarium), and people are shown having to wear full suits to be in the same space as her. In addition, there's no other whale with her. In fact, we don't really see a staff of officers in Cetacean ops - just Rok. It seems like a very lonely existence.

    Of course, a lot of these seeming inequalities can be attributed to circumstance rather than neglect on Starfleet's part. For one, Gillian, canonically a humpback, is more than triple the size of Matt or Kimolu, belugas, so it's much harder to design any space at all for her on a starship, let alone one that gives her the freedom to safely interact with crew.

    As for being the only humpback on Voyager, this is probably because there just aren't that many - her species was only repopulated less than a century ago during the whale probe incident.

    Now, here's some more difficult-to-answer questions:

    • How often do whales go on away missions?
    • What precautions do they have to take on away missions?
    • Do these missions come up organically, or is there some sort of quota?
    • How does their shore leave work?
    • What is the Academy like for whales? Is there an aquatic division? Do they sometimes have co-ed events with land-based cadets?
    • Honestly, what is the life of a civilian Federation whale like? Do they have mobility accommodations should they e.g want to go see Vulcan or something? Do they live like 21st century whales, or are there LCARS panels in the ocean?

    These questions definitely can't be answered with current lore, but I guess we can imagine and/or extrapolate from how Starfleet has accommodated other non-humanoid officers.

    0
    This Moment is Canon Now: O'Brien Suffers More

    I was rewatching DS9: "Bar Association" and totally thought this is what should have been done instead, so here it is.

    1
    It's been a while. Here's a meme for your troubles.

    Flans looks like the statue really did get him high in that last frame frame

    If you want to buy the thing: https://tmbgshop.com/collections/all/products/the-spine-surfs-alone-rarities-1998-2005-180g-translucent-red-vinyl

    0
    Best (or least terrible) Flag Officer

    In Trek fandom, we often think about the badmirals. However, we never consider radmirals. With that in mind, who do you think is the best admiral? This includes commodores, vice admirals, rear admirals, etcetera.

    I’m not counting main characters who got promoted after their main series e.g Picard, Kirk, Janeway, La Forge, etcetera.

    9
    This happened to me while getting a refresher on Memory Alpha

    Seriously, though. I think I've seen this guy in the grocery store down here in AZ.

    1
    SHUT UP EDDINGTON! NOBODY LIKES YOU!

    Okay, I admit Vendome came after, but still, it's not like ops/security/engineering people have never become captain. Plus, come on. Vendome's face was just begging to be memed.

    The main example I can think of from canonically before this moment is Uhura, though everyone was wearing red uniforms at the time.

    4
    More Secure Handling of Transporter Clones

    After rewatching DS9: “Defiant”, I had a thought; to prevent transporter clones from impersonating each other, could Starfleet require, as a part of duty, that transporter clones receive slight genomic resequencing that changes no major traits but allows DNA scanners to distinguish them?

    I can think of a few issues. One, would it break genetic experimentation laws even though there would be negligible changes to each transporter clone? Two, is this too sever a violation of personal liberties for the Federation to be allowed? Three, is the technology there to do this effectively in a starship’s sickbay?

    3
    data1701d data1701d (He/Him) @startrek.website

    "Life forms. You precious little lifeforms. You tiny little lifeforms. Where are you?"

    \- Lt. Cmdr Data, Star Trek: Generations

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