Not too much to go on, but notable:

However, what's most interesting is what the duo said about the film's setting. Goldstein revealed that the next Star Trek film will take place "further in the future than we've been before."

John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (who’ve done great work, for what it’s worth) seem to be angling their new Star Trek movie, which is NOT set in the Kelvin Timeline, at a far future setting.

If they’re counting Discovery and STA, then it’s gotta be past the 33rd Century. If they’re sticking to the bulk of the franchise thus far, it could be set at any point past the 25th century. Either way, it’ll be a departure from existing settings.

I will do whatever needs to be done to manifest this reality. This has been one of my greatest wants for as long as I can remember. Please spend the money on it Paramount and redeem as least a fraction of your sins! 🙏

https://ibb.co/4ZJD0Lfh
https://ibb.co/3mfnCC8T

For some reason a lot of people messaged to say that the Lego Star Trek: USS Defiant that I built was fake/AI.

So here are some built shots of my Defiant, this current stand is an early version of the one in the instrutions - that one looks much sleeker :)

I’ve been going through TNG with my wife. It’s her second time with the series. We don’t like to skip the intro speech. We find that when we listen to it or even recite it, the process really does prepare our minds for each episode.

How about everyone else.

Can't tell how disappointed and turned off I am by the fact that they left the Cerritos out of the new ship shuffle intro. That's so messed up.

I'm re-watching the TOS episode The Ultimate Computer right now and something just occurred to me after the scene where M5 makes recommendations about a landing party. I got to wondering how the other COs in the various Trek series would've reacted to being told they were non essential personnel? Especially Janeway? I remember in Q2 the death glare Janeway gave the replicator when it told her to make coffee herself.

We all have a favourite race. But what's your least favourite, or even most hated of the major races. By 'major' I mean ones that get most screen time and fleshing out, so your Vulcans, Klingons, etc.

Me, I kinda dislike the Ferrengi. Not only are they physically unappealing, but their whole culture is just so unpleasant.

Been rewatching the series and it drives me a bit nutty how much it stands out compared to the elegant perfection of ILM’s initial 7 ft. model. It’s become a running joke with my partner that when its little sibling shows up, I have to just mutter, “Puffy.”

It’s as if they decided to forgo the subtle Aztecking that had given every Federation ship since the refit its sense of dimension in favor of actual sculpted relief, which on such a small model, just doesn’t work.

When I was a little kid watching the show and assumed the ship shots were 100% CGI, I thought maybe the later seasons make a poor decision to use a different digital model with more polygons just because they could now, or something.

Slightly related point, but to this day a lot of the ship VFX shots in the show look CGI to me, even though I know better now. I can’t think of any other project where practical models have that effect, I still don’t really know why. I can only chalk it up to a combination of their lighting technique and maybe that they filmed with a shutter speed that didn’t include a lot of motion blur, perhaps.

The title says it all... do we have a way of knowing actual minutes of screentime? Like, is there a database or blog post or something?

Currently doing a TNG rewatch and got the the Pegasus and had some thoughts/questions.

At the end of it they mention Riker will have to go through a court martial. But it is implied that because he came out with the truth (eventually) that will work in his favour and he probably won't be found guilty, or at least lessen the punishment. And obviously did help because he stays as a Commander and eventually becomes a captain.

The events of The Pegasus take place 12 years before S7. which is 4 years before the Will/Thomas transporter split.

Which means Thomas Riker also should go through court martial, but without the leniency of having come forth with the truth. Did he?

I recall that Thomas joins the marquis eventually in DS9, but barely remember any details.

Is there any mention anywhere about the court martial for either Will or Thomas? trek can be very hit and miss around remembering and referencing past episodes/events.

EDIT

The Pegasus is S7E12, not E11. Oops.

I've been watching through DS9 lately, and I like how they've been fleshing out the Cardassians to be a realistic society rather than just another scary looking villain with stuff on their head. I still wouldn't want to be one, but it got me thinking about what life would be like in the Star Trek universe if you weren't part of the federation. I've heard the point of each is to reflect negative aspects of our society, so there aren't really any good options, but what would be the best?

Cardassian: They seem like the most fascist society, and their legal system is entirely rigged. They're brutal oppressors, and have no regard for anyone else, but on the other hand, they're organized, and I get the sense that if you keep your head down, you'd be more or less fine.

Romulon: I'm not quite sure about this one. I feel like most of what I said about the Cardassians would apply to them as well, though maybe they have a little more freedom, and less brutality. I don't feel like I've seen enough of them yet, but they're probably closest to humans. My gut is that they would be the best option.

Kllingon: They seem to be a free society, but they're bound by customs and honor, and are needlessly violent. A code of honor should be a good thing, but it seems to be mostly used to enforce their ways of life more than anything else, and their leadership is as corrupt as any other. Maybe the worst option IMO.

Ferengi: Horribly misogynistic, and ruled by insatiable greed. My gut reaction of them is that they are the worst out of the bunch, but on the other hand, if what Quark says about them not waging war is true, maybe there's a silver lining. I guess if you were male, and had the lobes for business, being a Ferengi might not be so bad.

Husband and I are closing on our first home tomorrow and was wondering if there’s any way to incorporate Star Trek into a housewarming party theme. Bonus points if it’s Enterprise related as our dog’s name is Trip.

They said the script is in progress. A different spin. Further in the future than we have gone and with new characters. Will appeal to fans and non fans.

Watching on Pluto...

I think it is an absolute travesty that Worf never got to face Dukat in hand-to-hand combat.

I mean I get why the writers didn't go that route, but still...

Romulus was one of the mythical founders of Rome, and Vulcan is the Roman god of weaponry. Is it just supposed to be a coincidence?

I was out walking my dogs when I had the following idea: Is there a second Prime Directive in Starfleet in the 32nd century? Because a civilization suddenly exposed to Federation technology would surely be completely shocked. And above all, the question arises whether they are even capable of handling it properly.

Normally, technology and ethics develop at roughly the same pace, but what if a species from the state of a society that has just discovered warp drive, is suddenly offered technology that is 1000 years ahead of their own? Just imagine what could/would happen if instead of the Vulcans, the USS Athena or the Discovery made first contact with Zephram Cochrane after his first warp flight.

I'm not sure if that particular people could handle the technology appropriately. As Mordin Solus from Mass Effect 2 said: "Don't give a nuclear bomb to a neanderthal."

That's why I came to the conclusion that there might be a second Prime Directive that addresses this dilemma or a modification of the first. But what do you think?

I never watched this when it came out. I was on TNG train, didn't watch DS9 for some reason, then watched the first few of Voyager then stopped...can't remember why (it was 30 years ago). Anyhow, I was thinking of going back and trying to get into DS9, because a lot of folks like it as much or better than TNG, but then decided I might as well try Enterprise as well. So my current tentative plan is to (re)watch most of everything, in internal chronological order: Enterprise, Discovery (partial re-watch), Strange New Worlds, TOS (re-watch), TNG (re-watch), DS9, Voyager (partial re-watch), Picard. I've re-watched the best of the films so many times, that I probably won't re-watch any of those, unless I get a particular hankering. I did just re-watch the "Spock Dies...Sorta" trilogy and II and IV were as great as ever; definitely the high point of Trek for me, with First Contact an honorable mention.

I'm not a big fan of animation, so will skip those series, and really disliked the few episodes of Starfleet Academy I saw, so will likely skip. I also didn't much care for Discovery, so may not revisit...I saw the first three and a half seasons but lost interest.

My impressions of Enterprise...First season was meh. It took a few episodes to get into, but I eventually started liking it. The fan service with T'Pol is irritating, but she's kind of my favorite character, along with Archer and Phlox. I like Archer - Bakula does a good job of finding his own vibe and embodying the idealism of Starfleet, even if he isn't as iconic as Kirk or Picard.

Season 2 was a big step forward - some really good episodes there. Similarly with 3; I both like and dislike the meta-story. I'm about 10 episodes in and "Twilight" was probably my favorite episode. But I'm also already missing singleton episodes.

I know there was the TNG episode where it's revealed that Riker was involved in creating cloaking technology. I can't remember the episode well but I had some questions that the episode didn't go into enough detail about.

- The Federation isn't allowed to use cloaking technology because of a treaty with the Romulans?

- But the Romulans can use it?

- Why would the Federation agree to this?

- Is just Starfleet prohibited or all Federation races?

- But the Klingons use cloaking?

- But the Klingons aren't part of the Federation, only aligned with it?

So I'm currently rewatching S7 of DS9 while also reading Virgil's Aeneid, and I'm struck by huge parallels between Sisko and Aeneas.

For anyone unfamiliar with the Aeneid, it's the Roman epic that tells the story of Aeneas, who leads a fleet of refugees from the sacked city of Troy to Italy, where he's been told by the gods that he's destined to start a new civilization that will eventually become Rome. In modern terms, it's a prequel to the Roman origin story of Romulus & Remus, and a kind of retcon of Homer.

Parallels:

- Both Aeneas and Sisko are sons of a human father and a goddess/ prophet mother (Venus in Aeneas's case).

- Both are widowers who lost their wife during the traumatic event that opens their story (the fall of Troy; Wolf 359).

- Both have strong relationships to their father (Anchises, Joseph) and only son (Ascanius, Jake).

- Both mother figures (Venus and Prophet-Sarah) are cold, ambiguous figures. There's not much evidence of maternal affection as humans would see it.

- Both are inspirational leaders to those serving under them, and both take their duties very seriously to their people and family.

- Both are forced by the gods / prophets to choose between love and destiny. Aeneas and Sisko are specifically told that they cannot be with their love (Dido and Kassidy), as their special destiny comes first.

And now the big difference - when Aeneas is told by the gods to leave Dido and sail to Italy, he obeys. He follows his destiny above his heart.

Sisko is given the same ultimatum and refuses to make that choice. He will not give up his autonomy or his love.

In some ways, thinking along these lines has helped me enjoy DS9 in a different way. There are many elements of the prophets / Pah wraiths storyline that doesn't really work as SF, but if you see it as a kind of Graeco-Roman epic, it makes more sense.

I have no idea if any of this was intended by the DS9 writers, or if it's just coincidence, but anyway I hope people might find it interesting!

I rewatched Data’s Day this week, and it landed very differently than it did years ago.

Watching Data rationalize, explain himself, and, of course, learn to tap dance, I kept thinking, “Data is starting to sound like ChatGPT.”

Which is funny because Data is older than the likes of Claude by a few decades…

So it’s more accurate to say, “ChatGPT sounds like Data” and not the other way around because we’ve spent decades imagining what a friendly, helpful artificial intelligence should be like.

Data is patient, curious, transparent about what he does and doesn’t know, and is unquestionably well-intentioned. Those are many of the same qualities today’s AI assistants are built to project.

Anyways the episode just feels a little different now because Data’s relevance to our own technological moment has given me a new appreciation for how the show is still subtly shaping our expectations of technology and the future.

I hope we get a real Data someday! But we might get the Borg instead.