Saturday, April 21, 2007

Ferengi Fun Facts

A Ferengi male is expected to remember and follow all of the 285 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition. The Ferengi Rules are actually quite funny. Ferengi Females are forbidden to quote the rules and wear clothes due to their second class residential status. Ferengi Law bans females from ever making business deals.

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The first Rule of Acquisition was written 10,000 years ago by the Original Grand Negus. His name was Gint. When Zek's (Current Grand Negus) greedy personality was changed by aliens he encountered in the Bajorian Wormhole, Zek revised the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition.

Quark and Rom of DS9 were horrified. Every good Ferengi follows the Rules with religious devotion from an early age. The use of the Bajorian Orb had a drastic effect on Zek and in his lunatic condition, the Grand Negus set up the Ferengi Benevolent Society. Fortunately for Ferengi everywhere, Zek's crazy personality was only temporary and the new society and rules were scrapped. Yee-ha!


The Ferengi Code of Living.

1 Once you have their money, you never give it back.
3 Never pay more for an acquisition than you have to.
6 Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity.
7 Keep your ears open.
8 Small print leads to large risk.
9 Opportunity plus instinct equals profit.
10 Greed is eternal.
13 Anything worth doing is worth doing for money.
16 A deal is a deal, until a better one comes along!
17 A contract is a contract is a contract, but only between Ferengi.
18 A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.
19 Satisfaction is not guaranteed.
21 Never place friendship above profit.


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22 A wise man can hear profit in the wind.
27 There's nothing more dangerous than an honest business man.
31 Never make fun of a Ferengi's mother, insult something he cares about instead.
33 It never hurts to suck up to the boss.
34 Peace is good for business.
35 War is good for business.
40 She can touch your lobes, but never your latinum.
41 Profit is its own reward.
44 Never confuse wisdom with luck.
47 Don't trust a man wearing a better suit than your own.
48 The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife.
52 Never ask when you can take.
57 Good customers are as rare as latinum, treasure them.
58 There is no substitute for success.
59 Free advice is seldom cheap.
60 Keep your lies consistent.
62 The riskier the road, the greater the profit.
65 Win or lose, theres always Huyperian beetle snuff.
69 Ferengi are not responsible for the stupidity of other races.
75 Home is where the heart is, but the stars are made of latinum.
76 Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.

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79 Beware of Vulcan greed for knowledge.
82 The flimsier the product, the higher the price.
85 Never let the competition know what your thinking.
89 Ask not what your profits can do for you, but what you can do for your profits.
94 Females and finances don't mix.
97 Enough is never enough.
102 Nature delays but latinum lasts forever.
104 Faith moves mountains of inventory.
106 There is no honour in poverty.
109 Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack.
111 Treat people in your debt like family, exploit them.
112 Never have sex with the boss's sister.
113 Always have sex with the boss.
117 You can't free a fish from water.
121 Everything is for sale, even friendship.
123 Even a blind man can recognise the glow of latinum.
139 Wives serve, brothers inherit.
141 Only fools pay retail.
144 There's nothing wrong with charity... as long as it winds up in your pocket.
162 Even in the worst of times a Ferengi turns a profit.
177 Know your enemies, but do business with them always.
181 Not even dishonesty can tarnish the shine of profit.
189 Let others keep their reputation. You keep their money.
192 Never cheat a Klingon, unless you're sure you can get away with it.
194 It's always good business to know about new customers before they walk in your front door, so you can rob them blind.
202 The justification of profit is profit.
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203 New customers are like razor toothed gree worms, they can be succulent but sometimes they bite back.
211 Employees are the rungs on the ladder to success. Don't hesitate to step on them.
214 Never begin a negotiation on an empty stomach.
215 Demand fully clothed females undress before you.
218 Always know what your buying.
223 Beware the man who doesn't make time for oo-mox.
229 Latinum lasts longer than lust.
236 Humans have a price, but you can't buy fate.
239 Never be afraid to mislabel a product.
242 More is good... all is better.
254 Lies are good for business.
255 A wife is a luxury... a smart accountant is a necessity.
261 A wealthy man can afford anything except a conscience.
263 Never allow doubt to tarnish your lust for latinum.
266 When in doubt, lie.
284 Deep down everyones a Ferengi.
285 No good deed ever goes unpunished.

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Zek's Revised Rules of Acquisition.

1A If they want their money back, give it to them.
10A Greed is dead.
21A Never place profit before friendship.
22A Latinum tarnishes, but family is forever.
23A Money can never replace dignity.
285A A good deed is its own reward.

Live Long and Prosper Trekkers!

Friday, April 13, 2007

Milky Way Quadrants

Seeking out new life on new civilizations is a job for Captain Picard's super fast Galaxy Class Enterprise NCC 1701-D. In our galaxy, the Milkyway is home for earth's happy ball of beings, Vulcans, Cardassians, Vidians, Romulans, Warrior Klingons (tolerant towards weakling humans), and friendly intelligent lifeforms too, all scattered across the stars in the great expanse of space. Diverse Intergalactic aliens live in the Gamma Quadrant, Delta Quadrant, Alpha Quadrant and Beta Quadrant. But who cares, right?

The galaxy is full of intelligent races and murderers, fascinating creatures really except beware! Some races like the flesh diseased Vidians only want to meet you, so they can steal your precious organs. These alien lifeforms will leave you gasping for your last breath of fresh air as darkness descends and closes in on you! Other bloodthirsty villains like Khan Noonian Singh set their sights a little higher and go after bigger fish to fry. Captain James T. Kirk encountered Khan with designs to exact revenge on the starship USS Enterprise NCC 1701 just to settle old scores. Its very cold in the vacuum of space. So don't get mad just get even!

The four quadrants of the Milkyway stretch across 100,000 light years with a center swell or black hole extending 10,000 light years. The Milkyway black hole has been nicknamed "The Monster" by experts studying physical and chemical properties of celestial bodies in the sector. Each quadrant is extremely large.

According to Spock's logical computations and analytical equations, each quadrant is estimated to be eight billion cubic light years, containing hundreds of thousands of sectors. A sector is a primary unit of measurement in charted space, 20 light years across and encompassing 5- 10 star systems.

The close proximity of the stars at the core of the spiral galaxy is dangerous to navigate for any starship. Black holes, dark energy and dark matter exists in the vast expanses of the universe so imagine running into one of those in your intrepid starship. In the reality of Star Trek, such encounters don't pose a great risk for Federation starships. Spacecraft simply navigate around them! HAHA! What about when USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D was thrown across space to Galaxy M33, on the far side of Triangulum.? Yes I did use the word "thrown." An impressive 2.7 million lightyears away from earth but fortunately thanks to the "Travellers" input the Enterprise-D brought everyone back! How extremely fortunate for Picard's ship. The crew escaped the galaxies bountiful pitfalls that should at the very least have trapped or gobbed up the Flagship USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D.

The unknown inspires us to make new discoveries. Its the only way earthlings can truly unlock the supreme mystique surrounding the celestial treasures in space, which is why we must continue with our space programme, develop our technologies, educate ourselves and build a wicked starship!

Live Long and Prosper Trekkers! Enjoy Your Star Trekking!

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Which Science Fiction Character Are You?

Which Science Fiction Character Are you? Now is the time to find out!

An accomplished diplomat who can virtually do no wrong, you sometimes know it is best to rely on the council of others while holding the reins.


There are some words which I have known since I was a schoolboy. "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." These words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie -- as a wisdom, and warning. The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged.

Jean-Luc Picard is a character from the Star Trek United Federation of Planets. Captain Picard commands the Galaxy Class Starship Enterprise NCC 1701-E. Starfleet Academy have trained officers who trust their captain because he has good gut instincts and moral fibre.


Live Long and Prosper Trekkers. Enjoy Your Star Trekking!

Friday, March 09, 2007

Time Travellers.

Time travel is the concept of shifting through time to different locations into the past or the future. Indeed Star Trek's Enterprise starships have travelled to many alternate realities, with transporter malfunctions, intergalactic temporal rips, omnipotent beings and gravity slingshots taking viewers where none have gone before. In Star Trek First Contact, the U.S.S. Enterprise-E travelled back in time to an alternate Earth/Borg reality by entering the temporal vortex - a door into another time - created by a Borg Sphere.

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Humans were assimulated by the Borg in the past with Earth's defences at their weakest. Data's brilliant intellect surmised that the Temporal Wake protected the Enterprise and her crew from the Borg vortex. The Enterprise-E was the only remnant of a timeline not completely errased by the Borg. Captain Picard made the decision to go back and restore Earth's former timeline.

The concept of Time Travel was first introduced by Enrique Gaspar Y Rimbaus in his 1887 book "El Anacronopete" which was the featured time travel machine. In 1895, H.G. Wells wrote the "The Time Machine" story which promoted the time travel idea and gained popularity with an already interested public. Years before in 1888, H.G. Wells wrote the inspirational science fiction story called "The Chronic Argonauts" featuring a time machine theme. This far reaching story and enlightening resource has stimulated the minds of countless sci-fi writers engrossed with time travel.

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The most daring plan of all time to save planet earth required a Klingon Bird of Prey, tricky time travel computations and flying towards the most powerful gravity source available in earths solar system at maximum warp. In this case earth's sun. (or a black hole would do.)

Star Trek IV is a supreme space adventure concerning an extremely powerful and precise computer, Time travel, Captain Kirk's heroic crew of explorers, a Klingon ship, a singing space entity and all that saving earth humbug

Risky business heading back to Earth. Captain Kirks inherited bird of prey is a klingon deathtrap. Dr Mccoys irrational diagnoses of Spock not exactly working on all thrusters makes sense. It was weird hearing Spock using profane language and developing a sense of humour. Weird but cool.

The plan was to slingshot the Bounty around the sun to achieve speeds beyond maximum warp without burning up and exploding into a fireball. Achieving breakaway speed at the correct point in time was really down to Spocks logical computations and flaky memory. Heading into earths past. Admiral Kirk took the Klingon Bounty 200 years back in time from the year 2286 time travelling to 1980's earth. So far out!

Time travel capability for 21st century earthlings is totally theoretical. Do future humans exist with this time travel technology? Who knows. Heavily advertised events are organised by Perth's Destination Day and MIT's Time Traveller Convention inviting future time travellers to a time and location so they can demonstrate their time travel gizmo's to eager humans. Unfortunately futuristic time travellers have yet to reveal themselves to 21st century earthers. Sniff, I'm so choked up. Really I am.

Dr Who is a time traveller moving through time known for buzzing around in the universe. This sci-fi show encapsulates time travelling adventures and other wacky stuff. I have to admit to being a little green about the Doctors spaceship, whovians fondly refer to as the "Tardis." Its easy to under estimate this little ship so beware! Its kitted out with cool time travel technological gizmology, although tbh the ship itself is essentially a plain phone box "type 40" Tardis but of course there is a simple explanation. A malfunctioning chameleon circuit which is supposed to camouflage the ship is permanently stuck rendering the ship in the shape of a 1950's police box.

Dr Who's spacecraft has the technology to take it's crew anywhere in the universe and through time itself with the doctor at the helm. Its important to realise, the Tardis outer hull isn't a reflection on its inner dimensions which illogically are much larger. The Doctors simple explanation? Its got a "dimensionally transcendental" personality. The things alive,  right?



Tardis Long and Prosper Trekkers. (Cringe, yeah I know you love me) Enjoy your Star Trekking.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Commander Data of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-D

Commander Data of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-D in Star Trek TNG is a sentient android. This synthetic re-creation of an advanced human being was modelled on one of cybernetics greatest minds. Doctor Noonien Soong and built around 2336. The androids collection of sophisticated neural nets and heuristic algorithms elevated him beyond the mere status of a machine.
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Data was the fifth successful android devoid of emotions and cruelty exhibited by his "evil, emotional" brother Lore. Data has superior construction, is stronger, more intelligent and is designed to live an indefinite lifespan.

His extraordinary abilities include mental and physical tasks, governed by an ethical subroutine which has excelled him in Starfleet to Operations Manager aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-D. Data has a distinguished record of service in Starfleet. His impressive array of medals and awards include decorations for honor, commendations for gallantry, the Star Cross, Starfleet Medal of Honor (with Clusters) and the Legion of Honour.

Captain Picard of the Enterprise-D depended heavily on his immortal androids advice and help in starship operations, however its a hoot to hear Data's precise calculations annoying Picard, who more or less tells him to shut up. Dr Soong is Data's creator and father. Data has a pulse and a circulatory system that distributes biochemical lubricants and regulates microhydraulic power. His respiration system is responsible for thermal regulation.

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Data is brilliant and resembles a real, living, breathing, talking, humanoid, however in Star trek Nemisis he survived the vacuum of space in a successful attempt to rescue his captain Jean Luc Picard from the evil Shinzon.

He is also capable of operating in an environment hazardous to organic carbon life forms such as the one in the movie "First Contact" when a coolant leak snuffed out the Borg Queen and melted all organic life within main engineering. Luckily Captain Picard climbed to safety! Yay! Shame about the Queen.

Our immortal heroes life ended in 2379, when in a bid to save the Enterprise-E from thalaron radiation, the Operations Manager blew the Scimitar and himself to bits. Everyone was saddened by the loss. Our heroic android, Data is sensationally played by Brent Spiner and unequalled in the world of science fiction. Brent Spiner is popular, has a huge fanbase as confirmed by the BBC and is loved by the fans. (Please come back and do another Star Trek movie Brent!)

Data is constructed out of approximately 24.6kg of tripolymer composites and 11.8kg of molybdenum-cobalt alloys, with a polyalloy upper spine support and a skull of cortenide and duranium, all covered by 1.3kg of skin bioplast sheeting. Thats 37.7kg!

Our metal friend is one heavy dude and tough guy who can beat Klingons and Borgs hands-down in combat. He is far faster and stronger than any living being in history. Even Lt Commander Worf is no match for Starfleet's superior being. He is strong enough to lift Worf over his head. Believe it, nor does he require food or need sleep. Data never feels tired or gets angry with people.

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Rust doesnt affect Dr Soong's creation however people do. Starfleets exclusive android strives to be more than what he is, and human relationships are an emotional problem for him. The reason he gives to Geordi is logical.
"I will never exceed the sum of my programming, will you help me Geordi?"

Im 2371, Data has been equipped with an emotion chip which later malfunctions and becomes fused. He experiences a whole host of human emotions from happiness to sadness, remorse, anger, hate and fear. When fear is near data can turn off his emotion . Captain Picard has confessed
"Data, there are times when I envy you" - Picard.

Data can control his body so precisely and has mastered superior mental techniques such as surgery, dancing, sign language, the Vulcan Nerve Pinch, starship operations, isolinear chip replacement, poker, romantic multiple techniques, master painting, superb musical ability, k-lling and superior computational ability.

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Dr Noonien Soong's most impressive feat of engineering is the creation of a stable positronic brain which allows his ethical son the memory capacity of 800 quadrillion bits and a total linear computational speed rate of 60 trillion operations per second. Data has far exceeded his human friends with his superior abilities but he'd gladly give it up to be human.

Once information has been asimilated into the androids mind, he never forgets it. When he played the self important Sirna Kolrami, Master Strategist at his game Strategema, second time round, Data was able to rely on his fast recall and experiences from the first game and logically computed the best course of action to wipe that smug smile off Kolrami's face. Data wiped the floor with Kolrami. Yessss! Yee-ha! You won Data, Yay! everyone was delighted.

His ability to process a large number of thoughts at once is extremely valuable. Kolrami of course had never been defeated (even though it was a stalemate) and felt humiliated. The fact the Master Strategist could'nt beat Data meant he'd lost in his mind.
"You've made a mockery of me" he said and stormed off.

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Data's impressive positronic brain allows him to interface with other computer systems. He is able to connect directly to the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D and control ship systems from main engineering. The Enterprise's android has also interfaced with a partially mechanical Locutus of Borg and learnt how to defeat the Borg by communicating with Picard. He sends a signal telling the collective to go to sleep, saving the Enterprise-D from total destruction with the Borg.

Measure of a Man is a very special turning point for Data. His civil rights as a sentient being are called into question but thanks to Captain Picard's defense and the presiding officer Captain Phillipa Louvois' ruling that Data is a sentient being, a precedant is set for all artifical lifeforms entitling them to civil rights granted under the United Federation of Planets.

Live Long and Prosper! Enjoy Your Star Trekking!

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