I think I have a prototype of a browser extension somewhere on my computer whose only function is to hide the comments button on Phoronix.

Indeed, the bermagot does slap.

I’m a recent ex-Mormon, so that’s why I’ve never had it before.

It took a couple tries to get it right (I didn’t let it steep long enough the first time), but I sure like the sensation of what feels like drinking an orange or lemon peel.

If Wil Wheaton was never in TNG for the youth appeal, my mom might have never watched The Next Generation as a tween/teen, and by proxy, I may have never watched watched it. Also, he was really fun in Star Trek: Prodigy.

1. Both characters are in uniform rather than their own fashion choice in the picture.
2. Klingons are also the race that read love poetry (granted, while having stuff chucked at them by their mate), so I don’t think looking a little snazzy is exactly un-Klingon. I mean, heck, Worf got someone pregnant on the holodeck while in uniform.

Wow. That’s absolutely nuts considering that’s about the cost of an entire series Blu-Ray box set now!

Were you having to import them or something? I was almost tempted to do a similar thing and import Doctor Who Blu-Rays from Germany for post-Tenant stuff at $120 a doctor since BBC America had only done very small runs of the doctor box sets stateside, but now they’re reissuing them here for $35 a doctor, for which my wallet is thankful.

I always find it really funny when they guess someone has only watched newer stuff and can’t fathom that they’ve seen almost everything.

I basically just gave three (or at least 2, as the DISCO one maybe is a bit iffy) examples of modern Star Trek scrutinizing the means despite the obstensibly good ends.

Also, another example is S2 E2 “Ad Astra Per Aspera” borderline almost literally puts “the moral cost of the means” (keeping good genetically modified people like Una out of Starfleet) that is ostensibly done for the ends of preventing another Eugenics Wars. I wouldn’t hesitate to call this episode one of the best in the whole franchise, very much in the tradition of court case ethical discussion episodes like “Measure of a Man”.

I don’t think one can make a blanket statement about newer Star Trek quitting “believing something”; sure, it may be uneven in quality (maybe more than classic)*, but dismissing all of “NuTrek” out of hand is akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

: I mean, there’s whatever DIS season 2 was, Section 31, most of PIC, etc., but also, it’s not like good swathes of classic Trek aren’t also kind of crap - I mean, there’s the time Riker murdered his clone and nobody batted an eye, as well as TOS S3, TNG S1, and the inconsistency of VOY. Even in the good classic episodes, it’s not like every one is “do the ends justify the means” - in addition to other ethical themes, classic Trek still had room for simply "Cool sci-fi s** happened and we have to deal with it", not to mention episodes focused on interpersonal drama like “Data’s Day” or any of Deanna’s “Oh f*** my mother is on board” episodes.

I would say it depends.

I mean, the ends not justifying the means is kind of the entire point of DISCO S1 (whether or not the rest of DISCO embodied it is a different matter); Burnham has to let go of what Lorca summarizes as “Universal law is for lackeys. Context is for kings.” or in other words, the ends often justify the means.

Also, SNW is better about it, than say, PIC; for instance, SNW S3 E7 “What is Starfleet?” from 2025, for all its flaws (including in some ways being very similar to TNG “Tin Man”), basically has the crew going “WTF! The ends (saving an alien race from a war they didn’t start) do not justify the means (enslaving a sentient space whale)!” Also, SNW 1x06 is basically “ends don’t justify means”, although mostly because it basically copied “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”.

A long time ago, I tried to tune a Piper voice using Majel Barrett’s speech from her reading of the novel “Q In Law”, but I didn’t get very far - just a small amount of training data collected.

I agree; for reasons other people have discussed in detail here, I think Majel Barrett is probably one of the least ethically ambiguous actors you can do this with.

He’s using the magic he knows. He’s believing.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be mad if we got a The Magicks of Megas-tu prequel even if it breaks a bunch of canon and they use a convenient memory wipe to solve all the problems, mostly because it would involve TAS getting any canon recognition whatsoever.

Well then, you might enjoy “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals”…

I can get it being back by the 32nd century, but I still wonder why Nova Squadron (or any elite academy group beyond a simple honors society) came back in Prodigy relatively shortly after:

1. The Locarno incidents
2. That time Red Squad tried to take over THE ENTIRE FREAKIN’ FEDERATION.

It’s not saying to be a jerk to people.

“Masking” is when a person with autism hides associated mannerisms in order to blend in with neurotypical people (make themselves “more palatable”), such as avoiding hand stims or atypical (but still healthy) reactions of enthusiasm.

“Unmasking” doesn’t mean giving up anything you do to be considerate of others (such as not giving unsolicited 15 minute rants about my hyper fixations); it just means not trying to pretend to be a neurotypical person, consciously or subconsciously, and to just be your authentic self, autistic self.

“Alla maraine! Count to four! Alla maraine, then three more! Alla maraine, then you’ll see. Alla maraine, you’ll come with me!”

Ah, yes, Star Trek, the “dead serious” show.

I felt better once they got out the prisons; the ship aesthetics have some generic sci-fi aesthetic to them, but having the reds in them makes it feel overall much brighter and Trek-y. Honestly, even though it’s not as bright as TNG, just being able to actually see scenes was nice.

Late gen Z, generally modern indie centric tastes; there might be a deeper genre name than that, but that’s what I can think of off the top of my head. Also has some 70s-90s stuff, including picking up a few of my favorite They Might Be Giants songs, mostly Lincoln-era stuff.

I don’t know.

If anything, me and my younger sibling were actively annoyed by a lot of the show’s music choices, and modern show music in general. In both this show and recent Stranger Things seasons, they put music in every single moment, even moments that should be silent.

Based on what @ValueSubtracted mentioned, maybe the signing is something to do with when you’re Tan Elbrum-level powerful, telepathic communication isn’t a good idea?

Also, I felt like they did demonstrate some telepathic, not merely empathic, ability in the episode; I’ve only watched it once, so I can’t quite recall my evidence, but it seemed they could get surface-level thoughts beyond emotion, like “you’ve lost someone” instead of just “grief”. I wonder if it’s a consent/pushing too hard thing, somewhat like soothing and rioting in Mistborn; if the average Betazoid tries to get beyond the surface level of thought, the target will be able to tell, and their privacy will feel invaded.