Newsletter/Fall 2007: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:58, 12 November 2008

Newsletter for the Star Trek: Freedom Wiki. Fall 2007 edition.

To see previous editions of the newsletter, visit The Archive

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News from the Front

USS Nimitz

Mission: Blood of Angels The USS Nimitz is currently on route to join Task Force 19, and to play it's part in the main assault on Earth's defences that should lead to the end of the Federation Civil War. As Captain Devan Sash goes to lead the USS Hades, the Nimitz is now under the command of acting-Captain Jonas Lemar. The Nimitz must try and take down the Mars Defence Perimeter, before taking part in a suicidal-assault on Starbase Valhalla itself - the central command base and single most heavily fortified installation in the quadrant. Can the Nimitz's new captain keep it together in the absence of his mentor and friend? Only time will tell how much of the Nimitz survives the ordeal.

USS Boudicca

Mission: The Fires of Heaven The USS Boudicca's captain has been promoted to Admiral of Task Force 19. The ship has been given the honor of spear heading the attack on the Mars Defense Perimeter and on Starbase Valhalla. Her job is to make sure the MDP is taken down so that the rest of the fleet can continue on to Earth and the final confrontation with Doenitz. Meanwhile the ship's crew prepares for its assault under the temporary command of Archibald Stakes. A week before the assault, the task force gathers to prepare and even holds a good luck gathering aboard the Boudicca. With the battle commencing, the crew braces as it must run the gauntlet to strike the very heart of the MDP.

USS Spectre

Mission: ***Docked*** The USS Spectre is currently docked at Starbase Geneva undergoing repairs to damage sustained during her last mission to retrieve the President. Details of our next mission however have now come down the line. We have thus been ordered to proceed to the vicinity of the Arachnid Nebula to await rendezvous with the USS Alacrity, a ship not of the 52nd fleet, but bizarrely one of Admiral Doenitz own. Her Captain has been in surreptitious communication with fleet command regarding both his own & a number of other vessels current intentions. All have declared 'Intent to defect' & as a gesture of good faith, are willing to hand over database access to 52nd fleet command. It would seem that this is too good an opportunity to miss. Time will tell whether this will prove to be true.

USS Dennison

Mission:

USS Hades

Mission: Blood of Our Enemies The USS Hades crew has just been given bad news; thier beloved and respected Captain Saleke has fallen in a secret mission in the line of duty. Saleke is listed as missing in action and presumed dead, yet his death will not be in vain. The information that his team brought back due to his sacrifice has spurred on the crew as they link up with the USS Nimitz and join Task Force 19 to head for Earth and end the Federation Civil War. Captain Devan Sash is now commanding the Hades.

USS Champlain

Mission: Do Not Go Gentle The USS Champlain has been ordered to Tellar to join Task Force 19 under Admiral Caladryll Sevant. TF19 is tasked with punching a hole in the Mars Defence Perimeter so that the main fleet waiting behind can come through and attack Doenitz's standing fleet at Earth. With only 400 ships against the massed defences and fighter squadrons, not to mention 300 ships of Doenitz's finest, this is indeed a Forlorn Hope. In the vanguard of the Task Force, and heading directly for Valhalla, the risks will be high and the chances of survival slim.

USS Paladin

Mission: Mjolnir's Fury Our mission is underway at last, we are going to take the lead of 21st Task Group, consisting of 200+ ships both Star Fleet and Klingon. Our target is one of the remaining core worlds still under Doenitz control; Betazed. We will be engaging his forces around Betazed and preventing them from flanking the bulk of the 52nd during their attack on Earth. This will undoubtedly be the largest battle that the Paladin has been involved in so far in this conflict.

The mission has begun with a ship-wide battle drill, including the use of holographic enemy Marines.

Writing Star Trek Tech

By Daniel Greene

A warp core

Faster-than–light travel. Matter-energy conversion. Artificial Gravity. Semi-sentient computers. Matter/Antimatter power plants. Technology in the Star Trek Universe is a wonder to behold. Exceptionally advanced technologies affect almost every aspect of life for the federation’s citizens. No Star Trek story would be complete with out the appearance of some aspect of this incredible technology. The use of this technology is one of the factors that makes Star Trek anything but just another science Fiction story. Whether it is a transporter, hand phaser, communicator badge or the Warp Core of a starship, it may be something that at some point we might need to describe in technical terms.

Writing about the technology found in the Star Trek universe isn’t always an easy task.

Now I am certainly not a Star Trek engineer who can talk about Soliton waves or ODN network components with a complete understanding of what I am talking about. So how do I write for my Engineering characters or for any other characters that may have to answer technical questions?

Simply put, I make it up. But I don’t just arbitrarily design new pieces of technology. Instead there is a method to the madness that develops as I write the posts involving technology. Here are a few suggestions that will help you write better Trek Tech.

Basic Guidelines

The following comments provide an idea of what I believe technology should and should not be in the Star Trek universe.

An Engineering Panel

•Federation technology is super science. It can accomplish amazing, almost magical things. However while it provides characters with great power, it does not grant perfection or invulnerability.

•Technology is character enabled. It expands the powers of mind and body without replacing them. There is very little drama left in a story if every problem can be solved by technology. Machines should never be more intuitive or clever than a character.

•Technology is convenient. By the 24th century small badges can transmit messages from a planet’s surface to ship’s in distant orbit, and a hand held device has more computing power then the 21st Centuries fastest super-computers.

While Star Trek technology is all of these things, there are many things it is not.

•Technology is not easily explicable. After all, it is super science. If we could all understand how it worked, we’d possess it by now.

•Technology is not incomprehensible. While we may not understand why it works, we can always explain that it does. Given that, there is always a way to describe why something will not work.

•Technology is never the answer. It should give the crew great resources with which to solve problems, but it should never solve them.

•Technology is not infallible. Nothing adds a little spice to a crisis like an equipment malfunction. If the characters are relying too much on their technology and not enough on their cognitive skills, it’s a good time to break something.

•Technology does not break the laws of thermodynamics, although it may stretch them. That is to say there are no perpetual motion machines. Everything needs power, and you never get something for nothing. Fusion and Antimatter provide cheap and readily available power, but raw materials for conversion must still be provided.

•Federation technology is not the most advanced technology there is. There are hundreds of races out there more advanced than the Federation, with technology that may defy one or more of the guidelines above.

Consistency

Tricorders

Technology should always be a storytelling consideration. If a particularly clever application of technology works well in one situation that does not mean it should always work. By the same note, just because we see it in a movie does not mean we should always try to use that particular solution to solve other problems. Each application should be unique to the situation. Always using a command prefix code to disable an enemy vessel would make things boring after a while. The key to utilizing technology is creative use in different situations. This should be a consistent approach, especially when dealing with similar situations or circumstances.

Now that some guidelines have been provided, let’s talk about how to write Trek Tech.

The Process

First, do some basic research. If you are going to write about the Warp Core or Warp Engines, take a look at a couple of online resources. I recommend Memory Alpha [1]. This site has a good searchable technology section, which will help anyone with their technical writing. Additionally there are a lot of images, which can help in describing what your character may be seeing as they conduct repairs.

Second, use technobabble. Technobabble is the art form of taking random words and stringing them together in an attempt to create an authentic sounding piece of equipment. I have a chart that I use to help me.

I have three lists that I use on a fairly regular basis. The basic premise is to mix and match words from 2 or three lists in an attempt to create an authentic trek sounding name for a particular Trek-like component. Rarely would I use more than one word from any single list.

commbadge

Here are the lists I most commonly use.

List #1 quantum, positronic, gauss, osmotic, neutrino, molecular, resonating, thermal, photon, ionic, phased, multiphase.

List #2 flux, reaction, field, particle, gradient, induction, conversion, polarizing, displacement, feed, imaging.

List #3 inhibitor, equalizer, dampener, chamber, catalyst, coil, unit, bus, translator, grid, conduit, regulator, sustainer.

Thus using this list you could create a quantum particle coil or a neutrino polarizing unit.

Phasers

Finally consider the effect of what you are writing.

Whenever you are writing technology, especially the repair of technology, keep in mind the absolute complexity of the technology that you are working with. Create a reasonable period of time to repair it. Don’t just assume that a warp core can be repaired in a matter of minutes or even hours.

This factor is especially important when your repair projections impact the plot. If you want the warp drives to fail, it should take a while to get them back on line. If the piece of equipment is critical or central, you should always ask your captain before taking it out of the picture for long periods of time.

Conversely, taking an hour to repair a minor component of a much larger system may be an alternative.

Adding in a piece of super cool tech may spoil the entire plot. Always limit powerful tech in some manner. There should ALWAYS be a drawback to powerful technology.

Additionally you should always be prepared for those few people out there that will voice their opinions on the tech you’ve written. They are out there and they WILL tell you if you’ve written something completely wrong from canon. That’s alright. Just be prepared for it to happen and take it all with a grain of salt.

Have fun! I hope to see you all writing in the Star Trek Freedom Universe.

Creating and Convincingly Playing a Non-Humanoid Character

by herbalsheila

If you would like to play a non-humanoid character, there is a process which I use, once I stopped to think about it. It is also applicable to playing humanoid characters as well and if you apply these techniques you may find that your writing and posting will improve. It does take practice, and it is an acquired set of skills. Much of this involves asking yourself a long series of questions in steps.

Lt. (jg) Maraht the Horta, ASCO USS Hades

However, I should warn that if you are having difficulties in writing and playing humanoid characters convincingly, then playing a non-humanoid character may not be for you. Check with your Captain on this and maybe even a few honest friends to get some feedback. Creating and playing non-humanoid characters is not for everyone.

Lieutenant (jg) Dralar, Flight OPS, USS Champlain, Image by Larry Dixon, restored by Ruby Greene

If I am going to play a non-humanoid character, the first thing I do is to work up a picture of that being in my mind. I get descriptive and fill out a bio with a lot of details, both on appearance and background. This is usually where I decide on how many appendages this being will have and where they are placed, and basically how their body is structured.

How will this being express itself and communicate? What appendages will it move to convey respect, caring or rage? What and how will it eat? How will it receive sensory information? Will its physical structure be radically different from humans or will it have some similarities? How will it wear any identifying marks or rank? How will others be able to recognize it from its fellow species members?

It is helpful to work up a backstory about where that character comes from, their life prior to the present, and bits and pieces about their culture, philosophy and goals in life. Though you may or may not include lots of details about it in their specific bio and much of that may be better for a species write up, it is important for you the player to have those things in mind. You probably should write them down, so that as you play that character, you can slip in hints and tiny little bits and pieces of the character’s backstory whenever you can, to make the present story you are telling richer. You might pretend to be that character in your mind, while keeping cognizant of all of the backstory as you do so.

Ensign (sg) Serixes Ssarumon, ACSO USS Champlain

How are you, the player, going to play that character? Are they going to often be humorous, martial, angry, wise, logical or pragmatic? Will they have emotions much at all, or a deep appreciation of beauty? Will they be sensitive or battle hardened? Will they be somewhat narcissistic or will they be concerned for others? Please keep in mind that their background and their cultural norms, practices and philosophy will heavily influence them as well as their life experiences. This is called the mindset or being inside the character. It is the most difficult part of this process and it does require that you have a vivid imagination, a strong grasp of language and good writing ability.

When I write my character’s posts, I have to access a certain part of my brain. There is a particular feeling I get in my head when I do that, and it is not necessarily something that I can explain. I only know that when I am there, with that feeling, and inside my character’s mindset, that my writing comes out as the character and not as me the player.

Occasionally I get surprised. Sometimes it’s as if my characters have taken on a life of their own and they decide what to write and not me. I may have specific ideas in mind for what I want them to do, but when I sit down and attempt to write, it turns out they have their own agenda. But that is when I know things are going well and eventually they will come round to doing what I had in mind.

Sound a little schizophrenic? It probably does sound pretty demented, but I am told from some very talented wordsmiths that this is a good thing and it indicates I am on the right track.

Let me know if any of you need help in this area. Feel free to contact me. Most of you know how to find me.

Updates on Star Trek XI

by herbalsheila

Zoe Saldana

The eagerly awaited and long expected CBS Paramount film currently called "Star Trek" is planned to be shot during November 2007 to March 2008.

John Cho (Harold and Kumar) has been cast as Sulu, with Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) cast as Scotty. The lovely Zoe’ Saldana (Pirates of the Caribbean) will reprise the role of Nyota Uhura. Anton Yelchin (Hearts of Atlantis) will be playing a young Chekov. Zachary Quinto (Heroes) will be portraying a younger Spock. Karl Urban (Chronicles of Riddick) is set to play the role of grumpy medical officer Dr. McCoy.

Chris Pine

Eric Bana (The Hulk) has been signed on to play the movie’s villain named Nero.

Eric Bana

Chris Pine (Just My Luck) will play James Kirk after he gave up the chance to play against George Clooney in a movie he had agreed to star in called 'White Jazz.' The last remaining lead roles to be cast as of this writing October 2007 are Christopher Pike, and Kirk’s parents.

Sources:

Reuters Friday October 12, 2007

StarTrek.com

Counsellor's Corner

Featuring Lann A’Ders

Counsellor Laan A'Ders

Do you have any problems? Do you want advice on anything plaguing your honour? Write to our resident Klingon Counsellor.

Dear Lann A'Ders,

How can I tell when it is a good day to die and when it's not?

-Perplexed

Dear Perplexed,

While I can see how a non-Klingon may find the phrase "today is a good day to die" very ambiguous and thus prompt the idea that perhaps any today or any day may, in fact, be a good day to die, there is a way to differentiate what it means in another context.

But, how then, you ask Perplexed, do you tell the difference?

The answer lies within the concept of today. How is it that you consider today? If it is merely a demarcation of time that is used to indicate the present 24 hour period in which you are currently living, then the problem reaches its full height of ambiguity, for there is no way do differentiate the "good" day to die (today) from the bad day to die (today).

If, however, you view today as your own personal present, the answer becomes so much more clear. While the form of measuring time that we collectively experience is not anything standardized amongst all of the federation members (yes, we all subscribe to the concept of a terran day, but many planets have different lengths of day), the term "today" has come to mean the present. The here, the now.

Now, in order to discern whether or not, this present, this today, is a good day to die, we must consider the following: the personal state of being. That is correct, while the classification we are adopting of "today" is one of personal experience, the characterisation of preparedness to die must also fit in this category. So what, then, makes it a good day to die?

No regrets. The Klingon phrase "today is a good day to die", in current terran parlance actually signifies "I have lived my life to the fullest and in this moment, should death befall me, I engage it ready and willing: I fear not dying, I embrace it". It amounts to a Klingon who has accepted her/his mortality, accepted her/his fate and who has lived her/his life with duty, honour and glory. In short, that s/he has no regrets and is willing and ready, waiting for the moment that will transcend her/him into the next realm of being (both as noun and verb).

Stand up, speak out, be who you are. Ask for clarification, run the extra mile, do all that you can so that the day you die, was the good and proper day for you.

Qa'pla!

Laan

Latest Shuttle Discovery Launch From NASA

Astronaut Jim Reilly accepting the lightsaber from R2D2

by herbalsheila

Skywalker's Lightsaber, packaged for its trip into space

Shuttle Discovery has an interesting item in its payload.

Weeks before, astronaut Jim Reilly had accepted the Star Wars lightsaber for the STS-120 Discovery mission that was launched October 23, 2007.

The Star Wars prop was carried by Mark Hamill who played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films. The lightsaber was given a celebratory send off with actors dressed as characters from the Star Wars movies, such as Chewbacca and X-Wing fighters that ceremoniously escorted the item to an airport in California for its flight to NASA in Houston. The lightsaber was then packed into a shuttle locker and taken to NASA’s Space Center in Florida for loading aboard Discovery.

Seasoned astronaut Jim Reilly, who has flown three missions and successfully accomplished eight EVA spacewalks, said there is a symbolic tie between the work in space done by NASA and the lightsaber.

"There's a kind of a fine line between science fiction and reality as far as what we do and it's only just time, really, because a lot

Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek's creator

of what we're doing right now was science fiction when I was growing up. I think it's a neat link because it combines two space themes all at one time,” said the astronaut.

James Doohan as Scotty

The lightsaber will spend all of its time of fourteen days in space, in its locker for the entire trip on the STS-120 Discovery mission. It is to be returned to LucasFilm upon Discovery's return. It, like other items taken into space, will become a tangible beacon to the adventure of this final frontier for those of us who have not been able to make the trip.

The last Star Trek related space flights occurred in May 2007 when James Doohan’s ashes were flown into space following the event of Gene Roddenberry’s cremated remains shot into space in 1992.

Sources:

StarTrek.com

Nasa.gov

Want to see what else has been taken into space by NASA's shuttle crews? Please see Nasa.gov[[3]] for more information.

Starfleet Chef's Corner

Share your Star Trek inspired recipes here

Hasperat

- contributed by Rivers

Recipe based on one found in The Star Trek Encyclopedia - a Reference Guide to the Future by Michael and Denise Okuda

Ingredients

Base 1 or 2 flatbreads (tortillas) per person

Toppings Choose from: Cream cheese/houmous/guacamole/egg mayo or similar

Extras Choose from: dried chilli flakes or a few sliced jalepenos from a jar/sliced black olives/salad leaves/watercress

Method

1. Lay tortilla on a plate or clean work surface (kitchen paper also works)

2. Spread about 1/2 to 2/3 of the tortilla with topping of choice

3. Add as many or as few extras as you like (I like spicy food so I tend to lay on with the chilli flakes or jalepenos but you can leave them out if you don't like it hot)

4. Lay some salad leaves or watercress on top (again if you're not into those you can omit them)

5. Fold in the sides of the tortilla, then fold up about an inch of the edge closest to the filling and roll up carefully.

6. Cut the resulting oblong in half across the short axis and enjoy!

Trek Book Favorites

Book reviews and a chance to air your opinions on various books about Star Trek

Star Trek The Starfleet Survival Guide by David Mack, illustrations by Timothy M. M. Earls

177 pages, Cover price $15.00 US, ISBN 0-7434-1842-5, Published by Simon and Schuster

Helpful and with a tongue in cheek introduction, this little gem will help you fill in some gaps with technical bits for working with the anatomy of nanites, helping you to modify a Type 1 or Type 2 phaser into a scalpel, surviving in and escaping from damaged turbolifts and much more. Yes, you too can successfully seal a quantum fissure with an inverted warp field like any professional Starfleet engineer out there!

General areas include Standard-Issue Equipment with Non-Standard Uses, Unconventional Medicine, Dangerous Life Forms and Extreme Scenarios. Topics are covered in detail on how to cause localized seismic disturbances with tricorder and combadge signals, sterilizing food and water with a phaser, proven herbal remedies for Mugato venom, dealing with omnipotent beings, protecting a starship from an Alpha Omicron creature and introducing solar eruptions for tactical purposes.

Call me crazy, but with an epic upcoming battle, some of these things could come in handy. Either way, they can enrich your missions significantly if you are able to utilize them with your character's skills.

Purchase it at Star Trek.com, click on the ISBN number above, or check out your local bookstore.

- A really good suggestion!! I own this book and it's fun to read and could be very useful, though I suspect more on away missions than in a battle since most of the techniques suggested are fiddly or time-consuming. My favourite would be hacking into a command console using only your commbadge or tricorder. And for someone like me it's invaluable <grins>. Amazon would probably be the cheapest way to buy it, and they frequently have second hand copies available from marketplace sellers :) - Rivers

Words of Wisdom

From Captain Devan Sash-CO- USS Hades/USS Nimitz: "If it seems too easy, you probably missed something."

Captain Susan Rivers, CO, USS Champlain: "The end does not, cannot, *ever* justify the means."

Lt. Cmdr. Briana Frazier, 2O/COps USS Champlain: “Empathy and sympathy are not necessarily synonymous.”

Pain, and happiness as we usually define it, cannot co-exist. Pain and joy can. Philipians 4:4
-GrannyGM

Former Captain Remae Ktell, 2406.11.06, "I've had it, the hell with Starfleet. For years I've served and now, this. I can't take it anymore."

It take more energy and muscles to frown than it does to smile. So keep on smiling. John R Merriott

But frowning is all the exercise I get. - Counsellor Olen Rhinehart

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	But frowning is all the exercise I get. - Counsellor [[Olen Rhinehart]]		But frowning is all the exercise I get. - Counsellor [[Olen Rhinehart]]

			[[Category: Newsletter]]

Newsletter/Fall 2007: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:58, 12 November 2008

Contents

News from the Front

Writing Star Trek Tech

Top Ten Questions

Q 1

Q 2

Q 3

Q 4

Q 5

Q 6

Q 7

Q 8

Q 9

Q 10

Creating and Convincingly Playing a Non-Humanoid Character

Updates on Star Trek XI

Counsellor's Corner

Latest Shuttle Discovery Launch From NASA

Starfleet Chef's Corner

Hasperat

Trek Book Favorites

Words of Wisdom

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