Link Thread

[Nate the Great]

Kate Mulgrew, Garrett Wang, and Robert Picardo show us around the Voyager set.


I find it odd that Wang refers to a transporter chief, "whoever that may be at the time." Of course there was never such a person on Voyager, but it occurs to me that such a person would've been useful as a side character. What with all the races in the Delta Quadrant who don't have transporter technology, you could've had an episode where the chief is kidnapped and tortured to tell the Kazon or whoever how to make their own transporters.


I also find it sad that Wang didn't recognize where the "no matter where you go, there you are" quote comes from. I've never seen Buckaroo Bonzai and even I can remember a detail like that. It's been a hidden joke of the set crew since the TNG days. Before that, actually, as it's on the Excelsior's dedication plaque!

[Nate the Great]

An attempt to pin a conversion rate between dollars and gold-pressed latinum.


The best balance is where a slip is a dollar and a bar is two thousand dollars. Of course (yet again) the creators really didn't care about this sort of thing when they were making the show, but I do wonder why they didn't write down a little note somewhere giving a simple conversion ratio for future writers.



A comment points out that while we know that a strip is a hundred slips and a bar is twenty strips, we never got the conversion between bars and bricks. When Quark is in Morn's storage unit full of bricks, how much is that (if Morn hadn't extracted the latinum, of course)?



Short Treks introduces a "big bar" equal to 100,000 Federation credits, but how many bricks to a big bar? And how many 23rd century credits to a dollar? In one of the comics Spock has back pay equal to 611,700 credits. Let's call this ten years of back pay, as he doesn't seem like the guy to go to Risa or anything expensive on leave. He probably just visits Vulcan (not necessarily his parents) or goes on a scientific expedition.



Today the executive officer of a US Navy ship makes about $136,000/yr. Let's bump it up to $150,000 for round numbers and Spock's double duty as science officer (plus the flagship status of Enterprise). 60,000 credits a year means 2.5 dollars/credit. A "big bar" is therefore $250,000. If a bar is $2000, that's 125 bars to a big bar.

[Nate the Great]

I forgot to convert 23rd century credits to 24th century credits. I have to do that before I can convert 23rd century big bars to 24th century bars.



Incidentally, the Federation offer for the Barzan Wormhole is 1,500,000 credits up front and 100,000 per year thereafter. (So much for TNG not using money, Gene!) For a lum sum call it a fifteen year pay period, or 3 million credits total. Let's call this the equivalent of buying Alaska. $7.2 million in 1867 is $125 million today. So a 24th century credit is 40 dollars and thus equal to 16 23rd century credits. A big bar is therefore 6,000 24th century credits or $24,000 or 12 bricks.



(Meaningless aside, ten credits for a tribble is $25. If tribbles are rare enough I don't suppose that's a problem.)

[Nate the Great]

Some Stack Exchange speculation on whether Carol Marcus was the "blond lab technician" that Gary Mitchell distracted Kirk with.


Just to prove that I'm not the only one who tries to Do The Math and fact-check to prove or disprove theories.


Personally I like the idea but don't see how it could work with the established chronology (although Kirk being a lieutenant and Academy instructor before he's really been in space is always going to be a square peg in a round hole).


The specifics about David's conception and Kirk's near-encounter with Ketteract's Omega disaster are in one of the novels, but I forget which one.

[Nate the Great]

It's Disney Music Box Day!


Beauty and the Beast Prologue (this song doesn't get the acclaim that it deserves)


Once Upon a Dream (I'd up the speed to 1.5 if I were you)


A Whole New World (1.25)


A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes (1.75)


When You Wish Upon A Star (1.25)


When Will My Life Begin (1.5)


Ducktales Theme (1.75)

[Nate the Great]

Explaining Errors in Star Trek Wiki: DS9 Edition!


(Part One, anyway)



An unexplored planet is only 6 light years from DS9. Explanation: it's "behind" the wormhole. So what? The ancient Bajorans made it to Cardassia!



Someone was actually confused about where Quark heard of Fizzbin. I would assume it's obvious: the Federation shepherded Sigma Iotia until they were able to apply for membership, and they spread the game throughout the known galaxy. Plus it would make sense for Ferengi to study all known gambling games, right?


Someone else brought up the question of why would you buy food at Quarks when you can just go to the Replimat. Off the top of my head, Quarks has higher-class replicators that use more specialized and expensive base material. Perhaps certain races have more refined palates that find "ordinary" replicated food unpalatable and are willing to spend money on the better stuff.


Someone else wondered why Keiko was able to start a school without a teaching certificate. Someone speculated that getting one wouldn't be unusual for a botanist in order to teach others, but I'll go with the simpler "nobody else seemed to want the job, so anyone is better than nobody." (Of course that does beg the question of why Bajor wouldn't send a teacher to DS9 at the end of the Occupation if children are going to be on board).


Why is Quark counting his profits in plain sight? Explanation: he's flaunting his wealth. Yeah, that doesn't work for me. The real reason is that there isn't an office/vault set to hold the scene in instead.


If Melora can't use an antigrav wheelchair because of Cardassian technology incompatibility, how come Bashir can use an antigrav stretcher in "Necessary Evil" two episodes from now? They really don't offer a valid explanation, but I'll offer one. The antigrav stretcher could use Cardassian tech, but not Melora's wheelchair because the Cardassians wouldn't have accounted for such technology. They sure seem like the kind of race to execute parapalegics in the name of efficiency and eugenics, don't they?


Why did Sisko leave the station undefended in "Meridian"? Explanation: DS9 has other ships near it to defend the station. No, the real explanation is that the show introduced the Defiant specifically to get away from the station every once in awhile. Furthermore, Starfleet has been slowly upgrading the station's weaponry this whole time. You don't need the Defiant there all the time when there's no immediate threat.


"Meridian" is the first DS9 episode after Voyager's disappearance, why isn't anyone talking about it? The proposed explanation doesn't gel, but I have a simpler one: this isn't really a DS9 problem. There would undoubtedly be other starships in the DMZ to handle Maquis problems without bothering DS9.



There's an interesting discussion on the "Meridian" page about why Starfleet ignored the Dominion's orders to stay out of the Gamma Quadrant.

[Nate the Great]

Explaining Errors in DS9, Part Two!


Why would the Cardassians let a Bajoran scientist work with the newly-discovered Odo?

Attempted explanation: This kept Dr. Mora busy so he couldn't help the resistance.
I'm confused as to how Dr. Mora could help the resistance. It's not like his skills extend to weaponry or similar.


If Mrs. Vaatrick can't pay for power to keep her lights on, why are her automatic doors still working?
Attempted explanation: The doors had a backup battery.
I have troubles across the board with this scenario. You'd think the Federation would pay enough to maintain a minimum standard of life for all Bajorans as an example of the good they could do if Bajor joined the Federation.


How come the computer tracks Bashir by his commbadge but can instantly track civilians like Jake who don't wear commbadges?
Attempted explanation: Children of officers have continual biosign locks on them so their parents can track them.
Yeah...that's silly. This is a plot hole that just can't be solved. I'd be more willing to say that DS9 is so old that it can't isolate individual lifesigns without a commbadge (or Cardassian equivalent wrist-mounted communicator). But that raises further questions...


In the page for "The Adversary" it's asked why Kira and Odo come along on purely Starfleet missions. The big problem is that if you're going to use logic for that sort of thing, the Defiant would have a dedicated crew that we would rarely see and the main cast would be stuck on DS9 except for extraordinary circumstances.



Along the same lines it's asked why the Changeling in "The Adversary" is willing to harm Odo. I'd argue that the Founders define "harm" as permanent damage and whatever that chest-punch thing the other Changeling did to Odo was their equivalent of a Vulcan neck pinch, designed to subdue Odo and not hurt him.


Wouldn't sticking Garak in a holding cell for six months be considered torture?
Attempted explanation: Nobody knew he was claustrophobic at this point. Besides, part of Garak's problem with small spaces is the whole experience-lack of air, darkness or irregular light, increasing temperatures, lack of stimulation, etc. They probably shipped Garak off to a penal colony where he would have his own room and could go outside every day. Not a resort, but not a small closet either!


There's a bit of discussion about the effectiveness of miniaturized photon torpedoes against Jem'Hadar in "One Little Ship", specifically vaporization. I argue that shrunk antimatter can only explode in conjunction with shrunk matter. The booms would affect Jem'Hadar like firecrackers, not grenades.


How come the transporter lost cohesion so fast in "Our Man Bashir"?

This time there's actually a reasonable explanation-Cardassian transporters aren't designed with redundancies to preserve patterns the same way that Starfleet ones can. Furthermore, we have to presume that Cardassian transporters aren't updated as often as Starfleet ones.


In "The Passenger" there is a question about how Kira can use a runabout's transporter to beam out four people when there are only two pads. So what? In "Up the Long Ladder" the transporter handled way more than six people at once, no doubt a transporter platform can combine pads for larger objects or more people (using much more energy than usual, I assume)


The question is asked about why the Changleling that's impersonating Bashir didn't save the dying Changeling infant. Memory Alpha confirms that it would've been the imposter due to the uniform transition (the real one was still wearing the older station design, not the TNG movie style). My reply is that the imposter figured out that there was no way of saving the infant even if he linked with it (no doubt he would've had to merge with it like Odo did, which would've qualified as "harm").


The question is asked why Ezri's spots aren't visible on her legs in 'Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang" when Jadzia proved that the spots go all the way down. All the commenters can offer is that she camouflaged them like Jadzia did in "Trials and Tribbleations." Complete nonsense. Except for Vic, everyone in the Las Vegas program was hardwired to see all occupants as humans (without racial prejudice, I might add). Ezri would have no reason to use the technobabble "makeup" from the earlier episode, it's easier to chalk it up to "they forgot."

[Nate the Great]

It's always fun to see two of my favorite YouTube channels crossover...


Adam Savage meets Matt Parker of Numberphile, etc.


Furthermore, Adam is a Patreon supporter of Numberphile and knows what a Parker Square is and can make Parker-something jokes (just as a Parker Square is a not-quite perfect magic square, a Parker-something is something you try that doesn't quite turn out right).

[Flying Gremlin]

I actually have a link to share.

Eminem's Without Me... in Klingon.

(If it's been posted before, well... this thread is long.)

[Nate the Great]

Explaining Errors In DS9, Part Three!


Why would Bashir be willing to change Quark's gender so easily?

Attempted explanation: Cosmetic surgery for a mission is hardly anything new. Plus having Brunt in charge would be bad for the Federation.


While I'm sure that the Federation is open enough that body modifications for lifestyle choices have become commonplace, I'm not sure how that would affect this situation. Bashir knows that it'll only be for a few days. Besides, from what we know of Bashir's ethics, the consequences of Brunt in charge wouldn't be a factor, only Quark's health and opinion. Would he do it anyway? I'm not sure.


The question is raised about whether Bashir would feel hesitant to accept the Karrington due to his genetic modification "cheating". I don't have a problem with this, there are no doubt numerous aliens with mental capacities equal to Bashir's and that isn't considered cheating. Plus, imagine having to come up with conversion factors for every known alien race to even the playing field (imagine the Vulcans being told that their scores have to be multiplied by 0.8 to have a fair comparison with humans!)


In "Call to Arms" several Galaxy-class vessels are seen without registry numbers.

Attempted explanation: They were assembled quickly to shore up the fleet and there might not have been time.


I call shenanigans. No matter what the screen might imply, it takes a long time to build a starship. More than enough time to paint on some numbers.



One idiot on IMDB complained that there were more Defiant-class ships in "Call to Arms" when THE Defiant was said to be a one of a kind prototype. Are you telling me that more Defiants (with design input from O'Brien) weren't on the assembly line the day after the Dominion first appeared?


Tosk got his ship fixed without paying anything.

Attempted explanation: O'Brien did it as a favor.


I think it's simpler. The Federation wants to establish relationships with the races of the Gamma Quadrant, so anybody coming through the wormhole gets free repairs until a formal agreement with their government is made.


Another idiot brings up the fact that we see Tosk's ship docked, why would a ship from the Gamma Quadrant be compatible with station airlocks? Even if you toss out the real-world reasons, there's an in-universe reason. The Progenitors/Preservers designed sentient life to have a bipedal construction within a certain size range. Of course all airlocks would be approximately the same size as well, and as long as a seal can be made, who cares what the individual doors look like?


In "Change of Heart" it's asked why Dax and Worf didn't use the cloaking suits from Insurrection.

Attempted explanation: The tech was still new, and the Dominion would be scanning for such things unlike the Ba'Ku.


Plus I imagine that cloaking suits would require regular maintenance and charging. They also looked pretty fragile, I'm not sure they could survive a jungle environment anyway.



It's asked why the Founder can't maintain her face, but can maintain her uniform. If she didn't Link with Odo, I could argue that she's (gasp!) wearing real clothes to minimize the strain, but since that isn't the case I got nothing.


In "Civil Defense" it's asked why Bashir couldn't heal Dax's burns. For once the Attempted Explanation was correct: the burns were too severe. In this instance it's not like the burns are from the outside in like phasers, it was inside and outside simultaneously: it's a forcefield! Plus Dax had to pull her hands OUT of the forcefield, inflicting more damage.

[Nate the Great]

Explaining Errors in DS9, Part Four!


There's discussion on the "Defiant" page about the ship being deserted and easily stealable. It's brought up that naval ships never have less than 25 percent of their crew on board. Another flimsy excuse is that the warp core isn't as volatile.



What? Sisko specifically said that the ship is overpowered! Furthermore, as long as there's antimatter existing outside of containment pods on Defiant, you need someone to keep their eyes on the gauges 24/7. This is just ridiculous.


Also from "The Defiant" it's brought up that the warp speed limit is ignored. I'll argue that a way around it happened within a few months and that's why we don't hear about it past a couple TNG mentions. Furthermore, the Defiant might be overpowered for its size, but it's overall warp effect would be much smaller than a Galaxy class (can someone explain why the Defiant is so small again?).


In "Destiny" a comment asks why the replicators had to be specifically set to make Cardassian food. One comment speculates that Cardassian and non-Cardassian food might cross-contaminate in the replicator. Um, what? I would certainly expect the replicator to do a full sterilization after each order as a simple matter of cleanliness.


Also from "Destiny", Bashir treats Morn for food poisoning, but doesn't notice all the latinum Morn keeps in his second stomach. A commenter suggests doctor-patient confidentiality.



It's also wondered why the Cardassian scientists would change from "Terok Nor" to "Deep Space Nine" instead of the Bajoran designation. My immediate reply is to ask why there would be a Bajoran designation in the first place. The government was in upheaval, Kira didn't think it would last more than a few weeks. I doubt the name of the station really mattered that much to them (no wormhole yet means it would be a proverbial truck stop only).


An idiot commenting on "The Die is Cast" seems to think that Odo is not a part of the Bajoran militia. Why wouldn't he be?

It's brought up that Bashir's dad got two years for eugenics but Kasidy only got six months for smuggling. I'm not sure I have an explanation for this one.


For "The Dogs of War" it's asked why the new Defiant would STILL have the NX designation. Of course we all know it's to reuse stock footage, but I have a problem with the Defiant using NX at all. Maybe for the first mission they took it out of mothballs without time to repaint, but by the second appearance it should've been NCC. Of course the second Defiant should've been Defiant-A, but I understand not wanting to alter the CG model so close to the end of the series.

[Nate the Great]

Mathologer tackles shoelace patterns.


Well, if the true purpose of aglets is sinister, then the true purpose of the whole arrangement must be sinister as well, right?

[Nate the Great]

Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It


An anime about two science majors attempting to quantify love. It's fun watching these people attempt to do normal relationship stuff while at the same time applying a scientific method that was never meant to tackle an issue like this.



Besides, XKCD answered this question years ago.

[Nate the Great]

Lindsey Stirling does a Beauty and the Beast violin medley.


Am I the only one who hears the first few notes of the DS9 theme at the very beginning?

[Nate the Great]

Tom Scott talks about variations to the "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" song.


Where I grew up it was always "the Batmobile lost a wheel."


Or in other words, what the Joker sings.

[Nate the Great]

Brock Peters as Soul Power in Static Shock.


You never know where Trek alumni will pop up, so it's Trek Actors in the DCAU Day!


Rene Auberjonois played many roles, probably most notably Kanjar Ro.
Michael Dorn of course was the first voice of Steel and Kalibak.
Kate Mulgrew (with a ridiculous Russian accent!) played Red Claw early in Batman TAS.
David Warner was Ra's Al Ghul

The biggest might be Michael Ansara as Mister Freeze.
Malcolm MacDowell as Metallo, of course.

[NAHTMMM]

https://www.mezzacotta.net/itoons/?comic=408

I made a cryptic crossword about the funnies!

[Nate the Great]

EC Henry says that Bajorans and Cardassians are the same species.


His claim is that this particular hybrid is the only cross-species child that we've ever seen that can reproduce without external medical intervention.



For the moment I'll accept that Sarek and Amanda needed external intervention to conceive Spock. Some novels even state that he was a test-tube baby that was later implanted. But let's look at all of the hybrids mentioned in Trek:


Talla the Andorian/Aenar. The Aenar are really a subspecies of Andorian, so this doesn't count and shouldn't really be on the list.


Various Betazoid/Human hybrids. There's no mention of medical intervention, but I suppose it's possible. Betazed sure seems like they've been members of the Federation long enough for any "intervention" to be minor and routine, probably just a hypospray for both parties.


Deanna and Worf's parallel Klingon/Betazoid/Human children. No mention of intervention, but probably likely. Dr. Crusher would have enough experience with both to keep it minimal, I'll bet.


Lwaxana's half-Tavnian son. This one is problematic, because if intervention was required by Tavnian doctors you'd think this whole "if it's a boy you'll have to give him up" thing would've come up sooner. Personally I hated that episode thoroughly.



Seska and Culluh's child. This is a linchpin. Would Seska PRETEND to be taking her shots to create a child with Culluh? Furthermore, would Culluh want a child with a non-Kazon in the first place, instead of simply a concubine who can give him good ideas? For that matter, would the Delta Quadrant races in or near Kazon territory believe in medical intervention to create hybrids? Only the Vidiians seemed to have sufficient medical knowledge to facilitate such hybrids, didn't they?


(Meaningless aside: Kes and Neelix certainly acted like they could create a child without external intervention. If Kes needed medical intervention, I doubt "The Phage" would've provided adequate time to do so. Furthermore, Kes would've done the necessary preparations as soon as Voyager's medical knowledge became available even if she wasn't planning on needing it for a few years.)


Nikolai Roshenko and Dobara's child. Seemingly no intervention. While I suppose Nikolai could've used the tech in his outpost, I doubt it would have full medical technology. Furthermore, slipping her a hypospray while she slept seems like unethical behavior.



Phlox and Cole's children. We don't have enough evidence one way or the other.


Naomi Wildman. It's mentioned that Samantha and Greskrendtregk had been trying for awhile, so intervention seems likely.



Klingon/Human. Intervention needed for full Klingons, none needed for half-Klingons.



Klingon/Romulan. Intervention possible, not enough evidence. Given the length of the Klingon/Romulan alliance in the 23rd century, I imagine the kinks have been worked out and it's just a hypo on both sides.


Klingon/Trill. Intervention needed.


Ocampa/Human. None mentioned, but I'm sure Doc could figure out what's needed.


Romulan/Human. This one's important. I doubt Sela's father (a novel gives his name as Volskiar, FYI)would want to go through the bother of intervention to have a child with a Human concubine, so this one seems natural.


Trill/Human. None mentioned, but I think it would be necessary.

[Flying Gremlin]

Romulan/Human - Aren't Romulans and Vulcans the same species with about five millenia of separation? So how come so much difference?

[Nate the Great]

I don't know. Perhaps by the 24th century less medical intervention between Vulcanoids and humans is necessary. For that matter, no doubt the notes from Spock's conception proved useful for future couples wishing to emulate Spock's success. It stands to reason that with more Vulcan/human couples out there (may I direct your attention to the novel "The Vulcan Academy Murders" where a human man marries a Vulcan woman) the needed intervention will get more efficient and less invasive.