CCHS hosts annual Star Trek tournament

There was no boys baseball during the annual County Central High School (CCHS) Star Trek tournament this weekend due to poor conditions, but the rugby squads and the girls softball team were able to play their games.

And play they did — all the home squads went undefeated in their matchups.

"They have to be undefeated to win the tournament," said rugby coach Angie Seaman.

The CCHS boys and girls rugby teams played two games on Friday and two games on Saturday. There were eight boys teams and eight girls teams competing in the tournament.

The girls played through the round robin with relative ease, but the final against Fort Macleod's F.P. Walshe was a tough game, said Seaman.

It was a similar experience for the boys, who also played against Walshe in the final. Although the Hawks lost

to that squad once this season, they were able to win this time.

"It's the first time they beat them this year," Seaman said about the Hawks victory over F.P. Walshe.

It had also been some time since the boys had won the home tournament, which was an exciting experience, she added.

Also enjoying success this weekend was the CCHS girls slo-pitch squad.

"We went undefeated," said coach Don Monts.

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Six teams were to play in the tournament, but a miscommunication regarding the cancellation of the boys games led to Brooks being left with the impression it had all been cancelled, and only five teams competed.

They each played four games in a round robin format, and the team with the best record won.

"The only game we were really pressed in was against Kate Andrews," Monts said.

But despite a slow start, the Hawks were able to "smother" their opponents on defence, he added.

"Our hitting can improve — and it will — but our defence keeps us in every game," Monts said. In their league, the Hawks' defence is second to none, he added.

It was the 16th annual Star Trek rugby tournament, and fifth annual Star Trek Classic Slo-Pitch tournament.

Without the help of volunteers and parent helpers, who ran the concession, the annual Star Trek tournament wouldn't go off without a hitch, said Seaman.

http://www.vulcanadvocate.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2573977

Star Trek Online Already Dying?

It’s no doubt that World Of Warcraft is the reigning king of MMOs. Even so, countless games have attempted to fight for their due in an attempt to make a name for themselves in the industry alongside Blizzard’s giant. Star Trek Online is one of those games. While there was a large amount of hype surrounding its release, claiming that the legions of dedicated Trekkies would allow for this game to stay afloat in such a competitive market, it seems as if the decline may have already begun.

Not only have Atari and Cryptic Studios launched a free demo for this new MMO, but they’re already beginning to implement a rewards program for players who continue to play the game, a referral program, and are inviting back players who have let their subscriptions run out.

While this would be normal for an MMO that has been on the market for a few years, it’s not a good sign to be seeing this three months into a game’s lifespan. While I doubt the lure of free items for returning to the game may seem like a novel idea later in a game’s life, this early, it just seems like a cry for help. If people are leaving so quickly, I have a feeling that a few in-game items won’t be enough to bring these subscribers back. They can only hope that maybe they’ll be able to draw in new customers with these promos, but at this rate, odds are, any new subscribers will just end up like the many subscribers who have given up on the game in the past few months.

Have you played Star Trek Online yet? Do you plan on giving it a chance, or is their dying plea for subscribers keeping you away?

http://gamerant.com/star-trek-online-dying-ryanb-20658/

Medical Tricorder 1.0: microbe detector scans for 2,000 viruses

When Dr. McCoy on Star Trek aims his medical tricorder at a patient, it tells him exactly what's wrong within seconds. Of course, that's in the 23rd century. In 2010, we have the Lawrence Livermore Microbial Detection Array (LLMDA), a $500 device that scans a sample on a glass slide and tells you which viruses and bacteria are present within 24 hours. Not bad, considering.

The array has 388,000 tiny probes in a checkered pattern on a 3 x 1-inch glass slide. The probes can detect any one of 2,000 viruses and 800 bacteria. That's super-useful for medical forensics and even biodefense, since current techniques identify only 50 or so pathogens at a time.

The lab is already working on a next-generation array with 2.1 million probes, enough to detect 5,700 viruses and "thousands" of bacteria. Now if we could only get at-a-distance scanning and instant analysis, then we'd have Starfleet's favorite medical tool.

http://dvice.com/archives/2010/05/medical-tricord.php

Star Trek Universal translator built

Microsoft has been showing off a Star Trek style universal translator.

The system uses voice recognition and text-to-speech software, in one tool that can be used to easily communicate with folks who don't speak the same language as you.

OK it is not a hundred percent yet because human speech, as opposed to that of badgers, is somewhat complicated and has different syntax and grammar.

It will be a long time before you'll be able to have a natural conversation with someone of a foreign language using any gear that might have come from Redmond, but you could at least use it to do some basic stuff such as "please don't kill me" and "put down that machete" which is always useful.

There are a large number of technological devices which can be identified as coming from ideas seen in Star Trek. The tablet which looks like a clip board, the mobile phone, and the tendency for people who wear red jackets to die in mysterious circumstances. We still have not worked out how to conduct operations with a torch, travel at warp speed, or meet any beautiful green alien women and have sex with them.

http://www.techeye.net/hardware/star-trek-universal-translator-built

Starfleet Academy Novels Set in New Star Trek Movie Timeline Have Titles and Dates

According to 8of5's Guide to the Trek Collective and the TrekBBS, the two upcoming Starfleet Academy hardcover novels set in the J.J. Abrams' new movie timeline have working titles and release dates. Here is what has been release about those books :

The Delta Anomaly is scheduled for November 2010 and it is written by Rick Barba.

The Competitive Edge is now listed for January 2011 and it is written by author Rudy Joseph.

Here is how Pocket Books describes these novels :

A new Starfleet Academy series for teens--filled with romance and adventure!

Stay tuned for more info on these new timeline books.

http://trekweb.com/articles/2010/05/11/Starfleet-Academy-Novels-Set-in-New-Star-Trek-Movie-Timeline-Have-Titles-and-Dates.shtml

Collins: On Romulans And Trek

Playing a Romulan had Clifton Collins Jr. looking into the deepest, darkest part of himself.

Although he was not a Trekkie, Collins was aware of Star Trek, especially Leonard Nimoy. “I’ve got to say to you that I am not a Trekkie,” he said. “I think we all grew up watching Star Trek, whether you are a Trekkie or not. Not to mention, just the sound of Leonard Nimoy’s voice; it is something just so familiar to us growing up, in those earlier years of your childhood. There is something very comforting about it.”

Collins had worked with J.J. Abrams before Star Trek XI and had a high opinion of Abrams as a director. “J.J. Abrams is a different kind of director,” he said. “I think if every director were like J.J., Hollywood would be like this really wonderful, just place. There wouldn’t be any strikes. There wouldn’t be any of that stuff. We were putting 18 hours a day and there wasn’t a single person on that set that wouldn’t do anything for J.J. He’s just that kind of a director.”

Seeing himself as a Romulan for the first time spooked Collins a bit. “I must confess that when I saw myself for the first time I thought: ‘Wow! If I were able to peel all the layers of skin off my past lives, this is what I would look like in my pure evilest form.’ Believe me, it scared me too. I looked and I thought: ‘Oh my God! Is this who I am deep down inside?’ It’s funny because you are in outer space so you think: ‘What do I pull from here? What do I research? Do I call NASA? What do I do?’”

Even though he was a Romulan and one of the villains, working on Star Trek XI was a thrill for Collins. “…there is something really heart-stopping when you get to set,” he said. “I remember a specific point when the grandeur of the whole endeavor just kind of hit me like a big bag of bricks. I tried to pinch myself desperately because I just wanted to wake up, and I realized that I wasn’t going to wake up because I was on set and we were, in fact, shooting Star Trek, and it is in fact going to be a whole revival that everybody all over the world was going to enjoy and embrace wholeheartedly.”

Collins’s most recent film, The Perfect Game, in which he plays the coach of an underdog team who wins the Little League World Series, opened last month.

http://www.trektoday.com/content/2010/05/collins-on-romulans-and-trek/

Things We Have Now that Star Trek Invented

Star Trek is one of the most famous television shows and media franchises in the world today, and while many love the storylines of the original show, along with its spinoffs and movies, we may not fully realize the impact the show has had on our lives. No, we are not talking about pop culture impacts, but what Star Trek envisioned for technology, which then inspired many scientists to make those visions a reality. In many ways, that little show from the 1960s has essentially invented the future as we know it.

So, what are some of the things we have now that Star Trek invented?

1. Personal Computing

When Star Trek debuted in 1966, computers were very large, very expensive and very slow compared with what we have today. That didn’t stop Gene Roddenberry from envisioning a future where small computers were in every meeting room and wherever people needed them. The computers in the original series were larger than what we have today, but they were personal computers nonetheless. Road Tickle has the story.

Roughly five years after Star Trek left the air waves, the Altair 8800 was built by Ed Roberts, who just happened to name the computer after a galaxy mentioned in Star Trek. This build-it-yourself personal computer was pretty basic, but it would inspire two guys named Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak to improve upon the model and usher in the age of the personal computer.

On that same note, the Tablet PC also appeared in the original Star Trek, with Captain Kirk using a tablet and stylus to sign off on important matters. Everyone who uses an iPad now can thank Star Trek for showing us what a tablet PC could do in the 1960s. Oh, and what was the name of the tablet PC used in Star Trek? The PADD….

2. Portable Computer Memory

From the old floppy disks, to the small hard disks, over to our memory sticks with their huge capacities, all this portable memory could be found in the 1960s, in Star Trek. Star Trek used square disks that were three inches by three inches and only a quarter of an inch thick. To use them, they were inserted in computers where they would display the information contained on them, sound familiar?

3. Wireless Ear-Piece

Drive down the road in the city and you will probably see quite a few people using Bluetooth headsets to talk to people without having to hold a cell phone to their ear. Well, roughly 30 years before cell phones became mainstream, Star Trek was already using wireless earpieces for communication. That is not too bad considering that Star Trek envisioned wireless earpieces 300 years from now.

http://beforeitsnews.com/news/41/339/Things_We_Have_Now_that_Star_Trek_Invented.html