Star Trek fans aim to finish where NBC left off

With all the polished spin-offs of the original show and the 10 feature films, it’s easy to forget the campy 60’s space adventure series that started it all. The original series, or TOS for you trekkies, still has a pretty loyal fan base. Two such fans, James Cawley and Jack Marshall decided to recreate the show they loved. However, they’re not just recreating it, they’re picking up where NBC left off when it cancelled Star Trek in it’s 3rd season. Their show, “Star Trek: New Voyages” is done in the same primary colors with the same outfits and a set that’s been meticulously recreated to look like the original. What’s different is that these are all new stories. The first 2 episodes are original works based primarily on TOS, but with influence from aspects of the other spin-offs and feature films. An interesting article in Wired magazine goes into great detail on how this interesting new project came to be. The episodes are freely available for download. They’re a bit cheesy, but then so was TOS. If you’re a fan of the original series, you’ll probably enjoy New Voyages.

JPL/NASA still roving Mars after 2 years

I have to admit, few of our missions in space have captured my attention the way the Mars missions have. When I was a kid, I remember reading about the Viking mission in National Geographic. The pictures of a desolate rust-colored planet with the possibility of microbial life sparked my imagination and captured my interest for years to come. It’s no surprise then my interest in the Mars Exploration Rover mission is so strong. Nasa, Lockheed Martin and Disney have put together a 40 minute IMAX documentary that was released this month in time for the 2nd (earth) year anniversary of the mission. Having just seen it today, I would recommend this film to anyone with an interest in space science. While searching for more information on the history of our exploration of Mars, I came across a great resource on WikiPedia with information on Mars missions from around the world.

iPod Linux, really…

iDoom on the iPodI almost couldn’t believe it when I saw this, but it’s true. A group of hackers has managed to put togther a special version of linux that actually runs on Apple’s iPod family of MP3 players. I know what you’re thinking: Linux on a iPod? What are you ever going to do with that? Well first off you can play other audio formats not supported by Apple like Ogg Vorbis, WAV/PCM, FLAC, MOD. Then there’s other cool stuff like playing DooM or Half Life on the iPod Nano. Yea.