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Television Media

Techies and Trekkies Unite! 159

Posted by timothy from the avatar-nation dept.
emmetropia writes: "Startrek.com has announced that there is going going to be an Online Convention in early August. Every attendee will be able to make themselves look like any of your favorite ST species, Borg, Klingon, Vulcan, Terran, Ferengi, etc etc. The servers for the event are supposed to be able to handle up to 100,000 users, which would mean a rather large convention, let's just hope it doesn't suffer the same fate as Final Fantasy. With full 3D conventions here now, can a holodeck really be that far off?"
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Techies and Trekkies Unite! More

Techies and Trekkies Unite!

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  • First post! (Score:1, Funny)

    by rev_doc80 ( 578317 )
    I have a holodeck already! I did it with a beowolf cluster of dreamcasts...
  • Thank god!

    For years to approximate geeky conversations between Spock and Kirk, I've been using this web site! [aolwatch.org]

    ---
    Destiny-land.
    The happiest blog on earth [blogspot.com].

  • Sounds suspiciously like a chat room program with a clunky Flash interface. Woo.

  • VMRL! :) (Score:2, Funny)

    by mlk ( 18543 )
    Ohh they were fun back in err what 97 :)

    Wonder round a badly made 3D world, where people would try to talk to you, but you all really longed for a chain saw...

    Hmm.... shame it costs to play with, that would be fun.

  • No info on the site (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Triskaidekaphobia ( 580254 ) on Tuesday May 21, 2002 @08:22PM (#3562905)
    Are any of the "real" characters going to be there virtually? And, if so, how does one know whether one is chatting up the real Beverley or an imposter?

  • techies and trekkies together??? (Score:4, Funny)

    by joe_bruin ( 266648 ) on Tuesday May 21, 2002 @08:22PM (#3562908) Homepage Journal
    mysql> select * from human where (human.trekkie=1 and human.techie=0);
    Empty set (0.00 sec)
    • My mother (and doesn't this just tag me as a generational geek) has been a Trekkie since the original series originally aired. (She was also a ballerina and beatnik, two nontechie professions.)

      And yet, even to this very day, she has problems programming the VCR or understanding that wacky "folders" concept on computer GUIs.

      Star Trek was originally more about social commentary (a brightly coloured version of the Twilight Zone) than about science. I always got the impression that Star Trek was originally sci-fi almost by accident, just to be different for television.
    • mysql> select * from human where (human.trekkie=1 and human.techie=0);
      Empty set (0.00 sec)

      You want all the people that are trekkies and techies, right? I'm maybe a little rusty, but wouldn't you want something like this:

      mysql> select * from human where (human.trekkie=1 and human.techie=1);

      That is, you want all rows where the records indicate that the subject is both a trekkie and a techie? Or maybe it'd be more clear if you had two columns like this:

      CREATE TABLE human (
      id INT(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
      name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
      trekkie ENUM('YES','NO') DEFAULT 'NO',
      techie ENUM('YES','NO') DEFAULT 'NO'
      );

      Then you could say:

      mysql> select * from human where (human.trekkie='YES' and human.techie='YES');

      Which is the same thing, I guess. Maybe. I'm not sure. Anyway, this got much too geeky...

      -B

      • I'm pretty sure he meant "find all trekkies that are not techies" and implied that there aren't any. So his select statement is correct. Under your table structure, it would look like:
        mysql> select * from human where (human.trekkie='YES' and human.techie='NO');
        Mind you, I would like to see a non-human techie. I mean, really, a pet that prefers Star Trek to, say, Bengi or Ally McBeal.

        No, strike that. I really don't want to meet an animal Trekkie. I mean, it could do real damage demanding I call it a "Treker".

  • Oddly Enough (Score:5, Funny)

    by CathedralRulz ( 566696 ) on Tuesday May 21, 2002 @08:23PM (#3562910)
    Oddly enough, treckies chances of getting laid at this convention are identical to those of getting laid at a real convention.

    • Re:Oddly Enough (Score:4, Funny)

      by Triskaidekaphobia ( 580254 ) on Tuesday May 21, 2002 @08:25PM (#3562921)
      OpenSource the client and you'll soon change those odds.

      void DrawAvatar()
      {
      DrawBody();
      DrawFace();
      DrawHair();
      // DrawClothes();

      return;
      }
      • After those modifications, I'm afraid the previously-finite odds will be 2 to the power of Infinity minus one, an irrational number which only has application in Improbability Physics.

        Oops, wrong sci-fi series. We'll be restoring normalacy just as soon we are sure what is normal anyhow. Thank you!
        • >I'm afraid the previously-finite odds will be 2
          >to the power of Infinity minus one, an irrational number


          No. Aleph(0) is the infinity of the integers. Aleph(1) is the infinity of the continuum.


          Aleph(i)=2**Aleph(i-1)
          Aleph(i)+Aleph(j)=Aleph( Max(i,j))
          Aleph(i)*Aleph(j)=Aleph(Max(i,j))


          And so forth. So 2^infinity-1 = infinity, where "infinity" is whichever infinity you were talking about in the first place.


          This is basic transfinite arithmetic,


          hawk, who learned this directly from Halmos
          (yes, *that* Halmos)

          • You're right in the real world.

            My quote is from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". In it, one of the main sci-fi devices the author postulates is an "improbability field", which can make events of various improbabilities occur. This makes for a very, very wacky Universe, which was the main point of the book series. (It took me many years to realize that once you accept the Improbability Field, the wackiness of that universe inevitably follows, meaning that as humourous as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is, it's actually hard-core sci-fi.)

            To handle the Improbability fields, in particular the Infinite Improbability Field generated by one of the main ships featured in the novels, improbability mathematics exists. In that mathematics, "two to the power of infinity minus one" has some meaning, undefined because A: We probably wouldn't understand it and B: Who really cares? (Personally, I think Douglas Adams just got lucky in meeting the criterion for hard sci-fi; math and tech don't much figure into the stories.)

            So, having thoroughly explained and ruined the joke, that's where my post came from. You seem earnest and honest, so I'll give you a similar explanation. ;-)
      • I hate to break the news to you that making your computer draw pictures of naked women is not actually the same thing as getting laid.
    • I'm sure nobody will believe this, but...

      I had sex while watching Voyager once.

      there was a strange background noise the whole time though... sounded something like "turn that damn thing off" but i didn't pay any attention to it. must have been my imagination...
      • No, I don't belive it. The idea of someone watching Voyager is just a tad too far fetched for me. I liked the show, and I doubt I saw more than a couple episodes a season thanks to a really horrible upn station.
    • Oddly enough, treckies chances of getting laid at this convention are identical to those of getting laid at a real convention.

      But at a real convention, at least you can pay someone to.. ummmm... yes. So I've heard, anyway.

    • Re:Oddly Enough (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Oddly enough, I'd fucking kill myself before going to a Star Trek convention - virtual or real.

      Is there a more pathetic breed of fans than Star Trek? (Ok, ok, Open Source fans come close). Sad, fat, smelly wankers who think that Star Trek is, like, really high-brow... and that people who watch it are somehow more enlightened.

      Hey lamers: Star Trek is TV for thickos; it's soap opera on a starship with story lines that mangle theoretical physics almost beyond recognition (to make their wannabe nerd fans feel clever) and mix it with trite moral lessons (to make wannabe philosophers feel superior). In truth Star Trek is a bland mushy paste designed to be fed to shut-ins unable to cope with the complexities of the real world and real relationships, and who don't have the brains to really understand the scientific concepts so dreadfully abused by the writers.

      Oh yeah, and Gene Roddenberry... he was a hack ... and not a very good one.


      • Not all people who like Star Trek consider themselves 'trekkies', nor do all trekkies necessarily think Star Trek is 'high brow'.

        I watch (and enjoy) Star Trek because it is so campy and overdone. Shatner is hilarious with his 'dramatic' pauses, and McCoy is just horrible by any definition. Add to it the recent revelation that Spock was drunk as a skunk most of the time, and that makes it all the more pathetic (and funny). I watch Star Trek for the same reasons I watch MST3K - campy, silly, and funny to laugh at.

      • Agree...with most points

        I loved the original Trek though, can't stand to watch it now though

        I realized the next gen and all that weren't that clever when I started to play that buzzword bingo with my kids, and the word PLASMA was heard on almost every other episode

        And when they thought that including the Borg would make it an action series

      • Only a dedicated fan who has watched many episodes can come to that conclusion.

  • No Linux/Mac interface!!! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by strredwolf ( 532 ) on Tuesday May 21, 2002 @08:24PM (#3562917) Homepage Journal
    UGH! No Linux/Mac interface. Geesh, they should of just used the Quake 2 engine instead. You know that was portable.
    • This thing sounds like it's going to be something like EverQuest, however, that requires downloads, cd's etc. Do we have some games like EverQuest for Linux? That is a Sony product, and they are interested in Linux, a kit is soon to be out for the PS2 that converts it to a linux box. Thousands were sold in Japan. A star trek convention/game sounds like a good way to get folks started on a new permanent game, where the "convention" goes on forever. Also, there is Neverwinter Nights, very nice, but no real way to get players interested like a Star Trek Convention idea.
    • Exactly.... Funny that SciFi fans are often the "Early Adopters" of new technology - but organizations like Creation don't seem to grock anything but the Mass Market.

      Ah well. Another decent idea shot to hell by Greedy Bastids locked in the Wintendo world. I'll hold out for "The Real Thing" at World Con in San Jose...

    • 3D CONVENTION CENTER MINIMUM COMPUTER SPECIFICATIONS

      Operating System: Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, XP and 2000.

      Sorry. No Linux, no show

  • Comment removed (Score:3, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday May 21, 2002 @08:27PM (#3562928)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Hope for the best (Score:4, Funny)

      by Christopher Bibbs ( 14 ) on Tuesday May 21, 2002 @08:31PM (#3562952) Homepage Journal
      What's worse? Not getting cybersex or finding out you just did it with some guy pretending to be a Ferengi female. *shudder*
      • And via a computer you wouldn't be able to check her lobes. Then again there was that episode where Quark was fooled by a female wearing fake lobes.
      • Who'd want to have sex with a Ferengi female? Sick man, have you seen their teeth? Not to mention that the lobes alone are enough to put a guy off any kind of enjoyment.

        Give me a Vulcan any day. Superior strength, stamina and physiological control. The sexy pointed ears are just the creme^H^Ham on the pudding baby.

      • or finding out you just did it with some guy pretending to be a Ferengi female. *shudder*

        Or C:

        The thought of having sex with a Ferengi at all. . . .

        (EEEW!)
  • One of my favorite ways to have fun. I dress up in my Jedi robes with my lightsaber, and crash the real convetions. Had a friend who would dress up as Solo too. Damn the trekkies would go apeshit. But then we took it too far, and my friend started in on someone dressed up as Scotty about how the Falcon could outrun that ugly looking enterprise... The second largest ST convetion riot in North America.

    Ouch.
    • Well, yeah, and then you piss off _that_ guy by pointing out how the TARDIS can beat everything else. *shrug* What're ya gonna do? The grass is always greener...
      • > Well, yeah, and then you piss off _that_ guy by pointing out how the TARDIS can beat everything else.

        The Doctor's TARDIS had constant problems. Now if you're talking about a fully working Gallifreian TARDIS, yep - because anyone building anything that can compete is likely to find their planet timelooped before they start :-).
  • It's like an imaginary convention except you're not the only loser there.

  • My fondest dream (Score:3, Funny)

    by tbarrie ( 125473 ) on Tuesday May 21, 2002 @08:28PM (#3562941) Homepage
    Every attendee will be able to make themselves look like any of your favorite ST species, Borg, Klingon, Vulcan, Terran, Ferengi,

    Finally, I can look like a Terran!

  • Hey, can I go as Lone Star?

  • Woah. (Score:2, Funny)

    by Knoxvill3 ( 578169 )
    Was it just strange coincidence that I have caught this thread at 7 of 9 comments? I think not. =)

    And what about the the ability to handle 100,000 clients, is that really going to be enough? I mean, there are a lot of admitted trekkies in the world, but there are several more out there in the 'closet' which would see something this as a welcomed invite to attend a trekkie convention whereas they wouldn't have in RealLife(tm).

  • Ask a silly question (Score:5, Funny)

    by yoz ( 3735 ) on Tuesday May 21, 2002 @08:31PM (#3562954) Homepage
    With full 3D conventions here now, can a holodeck really be that far off?

    Yes.
    Next question?
  • That out of all the space going races in the star trek universe, the race the American government most resembles is the Ferengi [geocities.com]....

  • Holofuture (Score:3, Funny)

    by TechFaerie ( 568490 ) on Tuesday May 21, 2002 @08:32PM (#3562963) Homepage
    "Oh yes, I met my love at the HoloConference 2012. We both had the same avatar....it was love at first click. She gave me her IP address, and we got married the week later in VirtuVegas."

    Welcome to the future, ladies and gentlemen.

  • I'am a techy, a geek, a nerd, call it what you want. And, I hate Startrek ! I really do hate Startrek. I mean, that Startrek stuff is so, so, ...

    Arfff, there's no word for that boring sclerotic half-assed sit-com, full of wooden third rate actors, stupid plots, 3 hours long "meaningful glances", you know, all those crappy sitcom gimmicks. May be Startrek is not the worst of the sitcom lot, but it's still a damn bloody lousy sitcom. If you want SF, read Frank Herbert, Dan Simmons, etc. I don't know. Do something ! But not Startrek, please, not Startrek.

    Startrek is dumb and life is too short to do dumb things. So please, stop slapping Startrek and Geekdom together, please, please, please....
    • With you all the way on this one. We should overun the convention as Kirk (avatar in bad wig and corset to keep the fat gut in). ST is the worstdull colonialism is psace nonsense. If you develop a teleporter why not just teleport a bomb onto an enemy ship, or a spoon into their leader's head, or even the contents of the sewage tanks into their command deck.

      Joan Collins visited make-up and asked "Who's the little fat bald guy?" and was told, "Oh, that's Captain Kirk."

  • A holodeck is quite different from an online conference. Even if it is in 3D. I think we're a LONG way from having a holodeck like environment. We probably won't see such a thing in our lifetimes, or for that matter, our kids lifetimes.

    Brian

    --

    Search for a New Web Host [webhostingsearch.net]

    --

  • As much as I like the term terran, they always refer to earthlings as "humans" Star Trek.

    • Re:Terran? (Score:2, Funny)

      by catsidhe ( 454589 )
      Actually, the Klingon word for human is tera'ngan, or something similar.

      ...oh god, did I just say that? Did I really just admit to knowing some tlhIngan Hol?

      My life is so sad and empty.

  • Defcon & Star Trek Convention dates (Score:3, Funny)

    by sladelink ( 536962 ) on Tuesday May 21, 2002 @09:01PM (#3563075)
    Anyone else notice that this ST convention is going to be on the same three days (August 2nd - 4th) in Las Vegas as Defcon X is going to be? Drunk techies and trekies in Las Vegas = biggest, nerdiest party ever.

  • This crap turns me off (Score:5, Informative)

    by rerunn ( 181278 ) on Tuesday May 21, 2002 @09:12PM (#3563117)
    As an avid fan, I was interested and decided to sign up. I happened to mistakingly clicked on their privacy policy and I found this buried in the bottom:

    VCLLC may also sell, transfer or otherwise disclose user information, including PII, in connection with a corporate merger, consolidation, the sale of substantially all assets, or other fundamental corporate change.


    So, if they all of sudden become a porn spewing outfit, they have all those email addys and what they call "PII" (personally identifiable information -- like your address and phone number)at their disposal.

    Stupid internet.
  • C'mon, especially those who've attended a con Marriott Hunt Valley in Cockeysville, MD [marriotthotels.com], a Virtual Con can't supply a comfortable seat at the Paddock Bar and the soothing waters of a well-attended jacuzzi.

    And that's probably the best thing about a con -- the afterhours partying and socializing (and, ahem, other activities between/among consenting adults ;P).

  • I'd give anything... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Ziviyr ( 95582 ) on Tuesday May 21, 2002 @09:30PM (#3563188) Homepage
    ...to see a small groups of Vorlons crash the party and start talking cryptic trash to the trekkies. :-)

    "How do you think this Convention is going to end?"

    "In fire."

  • What the heck?!? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Moridineas ( 213502 ) on Tuesday May 21, 2002 @09:37PM (#3563209) Journal

    With full 3D conventions here now, can a holodeck really be that far off?

    Is it some unofficial rule that the last sentence in a story (either of the submitter or the posters making) has to be incredibly banal and idiotic?? This one about takes the cake...yeesh.



  • Sounds like a prime opportunity to test out those miniature tactical nukes our government is whispering about. Whoever it doesn't kill, it sterilizes -- Something that would allow us to forget the past [coteindustries.com] as well as preventing this sort of thing [cnn.com] from happening in the future.

    Sounds like a good deal to me.

    Cheers,
    • I enjoy Star Trek. I mean I really love it. One of the only shows on TV I've ever watched. I realize it's not exactly the pinacle of writing acting, etc, but still, I have fun with it.

      But stuff like that. The juror. It makes me want to cry. Or scream. Or both.

      I've been a fan of Star Trek since The Next Generation came out when I was very young. But still, I've never been to a convention. Never wanted to.

      People like that *realy bother me*.

      It's not just them either. I *have* been to ren fairs. Not in character or costume or anything. Just to see what it was like. I had a good time. And I know a lot of people that do those things regularly. But there seem to be three types of people that go. 1) Those that go casualy. Perhaps not even in any type of costume. These people don't make a big deal about it. 2) Those that get costumes, and become part of the festival. Entertaining people that go by adding themselves to the "play" that is the ren fair, while having a good time themselves. These people know when the fair ends and real life begins. 3) Those people that go to the fairs, get REALLY into it (often times going way too far) and then still pretend they're at a ren fair even when they're not.

      The woman in your links would appear to be the Star Trek equivelant of the third group. These are the ones to be very, very wary of.

      I might point out though that if you were to actually read the article, this is a VIRTUAL convention. Nobody will be in the same place. But I just had to reply because I so, so agree with your sentiment. Even as a Star Trek fan myself. There is a very... undesirable element that these sort of things attract (or perhaps they actually foster it?).
  • Gee, would anyone at this online convention believe CleverNickName when he says "Hi! I'm Wil Wheaton!" in all virtual Wesleyness?
  • That which is one cannot unite.
  • ... the requirements will scare away a good part of techies. Namely those not having a windos box lying around to play silly games:

    3D CONVENTION CENTER MINIMUM COMPUTER SPECIFICATIONS

    Operating System: Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, XP and 2000.

    Taken from www.vir-con.net [vir-con.net].

  • Interesting that they are hosting the convention with technology from Blaxxun Interactive, a company that went bust couple of months ago. Wonder how viable are their plans to get 100,000 people online based on a dead non-supported proprietary technolgy..

    This is from Blaxxun.com site : "blaxxun interactive AG began insolvency proceedings on 1 March 2002. All options for preserving some part of the company or for exploiting the blaxxun software are currently being considered."

    Blaxxun is based on the old VRML Java crap, no way I'm going to believe it could support 100,000 online users at the same time. To my understanding there are far better technologies to do that out there, www.taikatech.com, www.zona.net and www.rebelarts.com to name a few.

  • They're going to have to make the avatars quite a bit more chubby if they're going to make it seem like a real convention.
  • The pupose of conventions is to bring strange people together. Onine is no fun.
  • With full 3D conventions here now, can a holodeck really be that far off?

    I think not. 3D pictures on a screen is one thing. Having it surround you and convince you that it is reality is someting all together different.

  • Phew! (Score:1)

    by dmauer ( 71583 )
    I was getting rather worried that this site had degraded into just another News For Tech People site... honestly, there's something wrong with the world when i can open up the front page of /. and not see a single article that I'd be embarrassed to admit I was reading.

    I can feel my emotional pocket protector growing strong once again.

    -d
  • of thousands of geeks at a con won't they have to perfect Digiscents iSmell as well?

    Hmm, come to think of it, I might actually pay more to attend virtually than physically if they promised not to turn that on ;)

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