Super Awesome Blog

Noah Kalina started taking a self portrait of himself on January 11, 2000 and hasn’t stopped yet.

6 years of these self portraits are found in a video I found by chance on YouTube – it’s set to a powerful piano piece by Carly Comando, and shows 6 images per second of Noah as he ages over the course of 6 years – from January 11, 2000 to July 31, 2006.

Noah’s eyes are entered on the camera as the age progression occurs and his background changes, creating the effect that he’s staring at you with those big, sad, brown eyes. The work is really powerful -- transcending the normal YouTube offerings, certainly qualifying as art.

Amazing.  Noah is still taking pictures – you can see them here.  I hope this video is either updated or a new one is made following his progression from 2006 to the present.

Cryptic recently updated the launcher for the beta, and it includes a link (a new one, I think) to Star Trek Online’s game manual. Check it out!

Please note: Star Trek Online’s site will automatically re-direct you to their front page. If you select “Enter Site” you’ll get re-directed again right to the Game Manual!

When I first started using Windows 7 I didn’t really care for the new Library feature. However, as I got more familiar with the new operating system I found myself really liking libraries, and increasingly annoyed that I couldn’t add network locations. 

For me this is especially annoying, because I use a central Linux server for all my files and access them from various terminals throughout the house. You can “sort of” make Windows 7 do this already by telling Windows Media Player to add these folders, but it doesn’t work very well.

Understandably I was thrilled I was when I found out that someone has created a utility that tells Windows it really is OK to index network locations and use them in libraries. Yay!

Kudos to the Washington Post’s Rick Broida for the excellent review, and to Zorn Software for their great Win 7 Library Tool!

Get it today! It’s simple and free!

Well, Cryptic has announced the winners of the Name that Ship Contest:

Emissary and Destiny are pretty cool, if not that creative. Dervish though? DERVISH?

A Dervish or Darvesh (from Arabic or Persian درویش, Darvīsh) is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or "Tariqah", known for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus.

-Wikipedia

What?  What?  What? I don’t understand this reasoning behind this name at all. Wikipedia has a number of disambiguations for the term, however none of these seem appropriate, except the last one:

• Dervishes, Sufi Muslim ascetic worshipper in a fraternity
• a nick-name for the Sudanese mahdists
• Darvish (music), a form of traditional Persian music often featuring instruments such as the Tar, Setar, Ud, Tombak, Daf, Kamancheh and Santoor. example link
• Dervish (dance), a type of dance
• Dervish (band), an Irish folk band.
• Dervishes, a class in the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, which can be found in The Complete Warrior book.
• In the Halo (video game series), Dervish was an early name in development for The Arbiter.
• In Guild Wars Nightfall, one of the additions is the Dervish profession.
• Dervish, the first of the Allied Arctic convoys of World War II carrying supplies for the USSR.

I’m glad I don’t want an Escort class ship, because the Dervish is a decidedly silly name.

I really like Google News, it’s usually a lot like reading the Drudge-report without an allegedly closeted fedora wearing paranoid conservative madly dreaming up bombastic headlines. For example, this is what today’s headlines on “Star Trek Online” look like:

As you can see, the Star Trek Online news is mostly relevant with news about the 2009 Star Trek movie sneaking in there sometimes. Now let’s try “Atheism”:

Articles like the one I’ve highlighted here that are not so much news and basically random blog posts fill up “Atheist, Atheism” searches in Google News.  Now, I obviously have no problem with people posting their opinions on blogs… but I don’t expect to see opinion blogs showing up next to New York Times articles… especially when said blog posts are often radically biased.  I can’t stand biased opinion in my news to the right or left, and it seems like I get a lot of it leaning right with Atheist News via Google. 

Now, Google News obviously isn’t perfect, but it does seem like stories about Atheists and Atheism end up with an unusually large skew than the rest of my Google News categories.  Anyone know of some way to filter out sites, or specify “reputable news sources only”?  Anybody? Anybody?

So, where are you getting your information about Star Trek Online?  Here are several great Star Trek Online links to help get you all excited for the upcoming game!

Star Trek Online – Official Site

The obvious first stop, there’s a ton of data on Cryptic’s official Star Trek Online page, from screenshots and videos to logs of Dev Chats (where STO’s developers answer questions), Information about buying the game, and the Star Trek Online Forums.

MMORPG.com

MMORPG has a lot of great screenshots for Star Trek Online and exclusive “Inside Beta” content.  Some of the most interesting stuff I’ve found on MMORPG includes details about space movement, a look at whether or not the game has that “Star Trek” feel (yes), our first good look at character customization, and a rundown on how Bridge Officers work.  They also have some new information about Missions. insight into Good stuff!

TrekMovie.com

TrekMovie.com has a great Top 10 Trekkie Reasons To Play and a number of other interesting articles on the game. Check it out!

Memory Alpha

While not technically a Star Trek Online website, Memory Alpha is the best place to get information about the Star Trek Universe. Want to know details about past Federation Presidents? What is the background of the United Federation of Planets? How old is the Klingon Empire? What is a phaser and how is it different from a laser?  All of these answers and more are on Memory Alpha! Memory Alpha is an actual location in the Star Trek universe, one you can even visit in Star Trek Online… see the picture on the right!

Google News Search

Oh, Google. You’re so insidious. You can do a search for “Star Trek Online” on Google to get indexed news stories that Google considers worthy. Google News sometimes is a little… special, however.  I occasionally get articles in my “Star Trek Online” search that include celebrities planning “treks” up mountains.

GameTrailers.com

GameTrailers.com has a very nice collection of most of the Star Trek Online Videos.  They also have pictures and news about the game. Nothing really exclusive, but the layout is clean and organized – unlike 99% of the internet.

Massively

MMO news site Massively has some great new behind the scenes images from STO. screenshots, like the USS Intrepid fighting its way through some Cardassians, and other interesting videos.

IGN

Online mega-site IGN had a great article detailing the Star Trek Online beta on January 5. They also have some exclusive screenshots and videos.

The short answer is yes. For a longer answer, read Lisa Neff’s article at 365GAY.com – it’s enlightening. Not only does the Salvation Army passively discriminate against gays but they also actively lobby Congress to fight equality for gays.

When you see that red kettle just keep on walking… why don’t you give money to a charity, local or national, that doesn’t discriminate? Here are some good options:

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Goodwill Industries

Lambda Legal

One Iowa

Check your local area and see if there are any causes worthy of your support. A little change can do a lot of good – just make sure you like where that change is going!

TrekWeb has posted news that Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock, has signed on to narrate the back story of the game! This comes after only a few days ago we learned that Zachary Quinto signed on to play the game’s introductory EMH. Two Spocks for your gaming dollar!

It seems every day this game gains more momentum… I can’t wait!

I’ve added a countdown on the right to when Star Trek Online goes live on the right of this site.  The timer counts down to January 29, 2010 – when people with “Head Start” gain access to the game. Want in early?  Go pre-order the the game! 

Other Important Star Trek Online Dates:

Star Trek Online Open Beta is January 12, 2010 until January 26, 2010.

Star Trek Online Head Start begins on January 29, 2010 and ends on February 2nd.

Star Trek Online Launches on February 3, 2010.

Cryptic, the maker of Star Trek Online, released several new pages that seeks to clear up the confusion over the upcoming MMO’s pre-order bonus program and other issues (a good sign for player/developer relations!)  See the links below. Thanks Cryptic!

List of Star Trek Online Retailers

Cryptic Star Trek Online Pre-Order FAQ’s

FULLY Complete List of STO Bonuses This link provides some interesting updates on what the various bonuses do, however it is still somewhat incomplete.