Yes, I think That Speers is such a horrid person that I had to learn how to say so in Klingon from our intern Don. It just baffles me that Speers actually sounds genuinely proud of his personal pseudo-academic project:

I was interested in the question of whether my son, going through his first language acquisition process, would acquire it like any human language. He was definitely starting to learn it.”

It’s great that he wanted to see how languages are picked up, but did he not think that there’s potential that he hindered his son’s social development by keeping focus away from a real language? I’m all for teaching foreign languages early on, but lets make it ones that are spoken on this planet, please. [Citypages viaGeekologie]

Photo by Star Wars Blog, probably not d’Armond Speers.

Not only the image is crystal clear, but it has been confirmed to me by one of the movie’s sequence supervisors at ILM — the same guy who said this was just the shuttle.

This DIY Star Trek Bluetooth Communicator, instantly reminded me of a my Star Trek fantasy. Bluetooth is the ruin of Star Trek. But this is a fun quick-n-dirty project.

Basically you’re cramming a Bluetooth module and a micro-controller into a toy Communicator and then pairing everything with your phone. As long as you’ve got voice-dialling, you can leave your phone out of sight and be the snazziest Trekkie on the streets. Just don’t come crying to me if someone stuffs you into a locker, rubbish bin or wormhole. [Make]

Confirmed exclusively for the UK at the moment, the packages include an Xbox Elite, an extra controller and the related movie on USB (not DVD). You may also score some extra Microsoft points.

The offer is strange, not just because of the Hollywood branding or the lack of optical media. The offer is strange because Microsoft isn’t promoting the free download of either movie through Xbox Live. USB sticks? Really? [MCV and VideoGamer via Kotaku]

Needless to say, the drive is also loaded up with DRM — but you are allowed to run it on five registered devices and burn it to DVD, so it’s not unreasonable. And since it has been deemed as a “collectible”, fans will surely line up to fork over their $US29. [Play via OhGizmo]

Over the last year and a half, Patria Aviation Oy has worked on developing a flexible-yet-durable, functional-yet-adaptable antenna. The best part? Based on a successful call to the “Netherlands from their headquarters in Finland by using the prototype antenna,” they’ve succeeded.

How do they work? Apparently the flexible antennas connect “to Iridium satellites (whose low-altitude operations do not require large antennas)” for outgoing calls. As it stands, they can’t take incoming calls. This leaves me a bit baffled, since if I’d only want to call people with other patch communicators, if I had one. Also a bit confusing is exactly where the actual phone and GPS portion of this device is kept (the patch is only the antenna, after all).

Aside from those oddities, these flexible antennas sound fantastic: They’re supposedly able to “maintain a strong radio signal, even when the patch is bent vertically, horizontally or diagonally” and “send location information to a remote user” (great because a device in your pocket might have trouble sending a GPS signal). All that seems to be missing is the option to get beamed up.

And in case you’re wondering: no, I won’t share my number one Star Trek fantasy (though you’re free to guess). [Network World via Slashdot via PopSci]

Spaceship-like setups include a 135-inch viewscreen, huge multi-touchscreen desks and fancy equipment and screens being scattered all over the damned place. Essentially, it looks like the future.

All this stuff is designed to tackle things like network-enabled warfare and management and systems designs, somewhat boring stuff compared to laser guns and the like, but probably way more important in future conflicts. In any case, I look forward to the time when they put all this stuff on a spaceship.

[CNET via Fast Company]

Strangely enough, the eccentric urn does not seem to have been a request of the deceased, but an earnest and loving gesture by family. From brother/flickr user sam 3.14:

His friends and family were able to leave their final good-byes on post-notes. Anyone who wanted to keep their words private could just slip their note into the case through the floppy slot. All notes will be sealed in plastic and placed within the case. There has been one complication. His daughters like the look of it so much they aren’t now sure if they want to bury him.

Apparently “Beam Me Up Scotty. I’m done here” were among the departed’s final words.
And while years of browsing the internet has forced me to question the validity of this tale, that same experience has also convinced me that, yes, this probably actually happened. [flickr via Slashdot]

If your name were Gene Roddenberry, however, that would have been a piece of cake. Still, if you are a Star Trek fan, you may be interested in bidding for this original Macintosh 128 with serial number F4200NUM0001, owned by the sci-fi genius himself. According to that number, it was the 776th Mac 128, manufactured during the 20th week of 1984 in Fremont, California.

It’s exactly like the one I have—including the Macintosh team signatures etching inside—except mine was manufactured on the 28th week of 1984.

Profiles in History—who got all their facts wrong in their press release, hopefully not the bit about this being Roddenberry’s computer—is going to auction the computer and the extra floppy drive at the beginning of October. It has an estimated sale price of $US800 to $US1200, which seems quite cheap knowing who the owner was. [Dvice]