Personally, I think it’s the best season so far, however the bar was not very high to start with. I wish Discovery started like this season, instead of the way it actually did.

BBC series Merlin was a little like this. King Uther hated magic, Prince Arthur was kinda against it because he was told it was dangerous, but didn’t exactly hate it himself. Meanwhile Merlin took a job as a servant, doing magic-y things to protect him. Wasn’t a great series (writing), but it had enjoyable aspects.

This guy reviews all kinds of e-ink devices. https://www.youtube.com/c/MyDeepGuide/videos

I watched his videos before deciding to get a large format BOOX Max Lumi (13") for PDF reading and note taking. I wanted the large one to split screen a PDF textbook on the left and notebook on the right. That was a few years ago, though, and I suggest reviewing some more recent videos to get an idea of what the current devices are like.

You can download Signal APK directly from their website.

In some different countries, WhatsApp is how people conduct business. I am anti WhatsApp in my regular life, but I used it with a VOIP number when I was traveling abroad.

It’s one thing to tell your friends and family you use Signal, you can’t tell literally every business. Well, you can, they just won’t to do business with you.

I miss flip phones for similar reasons. I loved flicking them open and snapping them shut.

It’s basically the same idea. Terry Farrell is now part of the Delta Flyers podcast and (without going back to find the specific episode to directly quote) essentially said she tested with the prosthetic, and someone else said We hired a model, why are you covering her up?

I never thought of Sisko and Yates as unhealthy, but I never found their relationship interesting or compelling. I thought Bashir and Dax, as a character who did not return Julian’s interest, had more chemistry than Sisko and Yates.

Paying for content is one thing. Besides greedy studio execs, there are a lot of small potatoes people trying to make honest livings who work to produce the final products.

Ads, though, are supposed to defray COSTS. Marketers part studios to run ads. Cinnamon paying for ads is an oxymoronic situation.

It’s a slow burn introduction to Trek. The show starts off having not much to do with Trek, as the crew itself has nothing to do with the Federation or Starfleet, but they go through a process of learning what Starfleet is, and they try their best to aspire to its ideals so they might be accepted to the academy when they reach the Federation. Ideas (e.g., prime directive, augments, temporal directives) are introduced one at a time with explanations. It’s not meant to “just” be a kids’ show, it’s meant to be a kids’ introduction to Trek. And as a fan of Trek, I think also a good introduction for a non-fan who might feel lost by how vast the Trek universe is. It’s not about politics or diplomacy, but it carries the same spirit of unity, optimism, and the hope for the best of humanity that underlies Trek.

Dukat. I don’t like him a person, but he’s a great character. No other Trek character has ever been written as richly or layeredly as he.

At first you assume he’s your basic racist bent on hatred and power. Then you realize his obsession with Kira isn’t just about destroying an enemy, but his secret love-hate for Bajoran women. We meet Ziyal whom he mostly loves, but is ashamed of. He goes mad, starts a cult, makes himself appear Bajoran and starts a relationship with Kai Winn (ostensibly with other motives, but I think he reveled in it), and ultimately dies for and in his mad faith.

DS9 is lower on my list when I rank the various series, but some of the characters, and defininitely Dukat, top the list of characters.

I’ve been shipping them since Rutherford told Badgey, “I was just trying to impress Tendi. I mean, look at her, she’s so cute!” Earlier that same ep they’re in the holodeck in the EV suits and they accidentally embrace (due to mag boots) which mirrors the B’Elanna and Tom scene where B’Elanna told Tom she loved him.

But if you really think about it, they’ve been hinting at the crush since the beginning. He was willing to change his career to make the time to watch a pulsar with her (which was episode 2). When Tendi thought T’ana was transferring her off the ship, they tell each other how much they love the ship and hug. Later that ep he tells Billups he’s been triple backing up memories with her because he doesn’t want to forget her again. (Notably he doesn’t mention backing up memories with Mariner or Boimler.) They’ve always just a little closer than best friends, and damned if it isn’t adorable!

Also, did I hear right that the Ferengi Lower Decker was in communication with the mysterious vessel?

That’s what I got too. He was both expecting them, and also said they told him they’d make a lot of profit.

Also… Parliament :) Canadians see the word often 😄

I used to provide some user support at a previous job. (It wasn’t exactly my job, but people would ask for help.) And it’d be easy to get frustrated, thinking people were stupid or incompetent, but I’d remind myself that being good at computers isn’t part of their job, it’s part of my job. These people were hired for other areas of expertise. If I had to do take on parts of their jobs, I’d look stupid and incompetent too.

That said… sometimes the level of incomprehension people have really is incomprehensible to me. There’s a level where you’re reaching wilful ignorance. When I point at something on the screen and tell the person to click on that… and they can’t or won’t move the mouse there and click on it…

It’s nice that “new” Trek wants to portray things like equality for LGBT people as a given; hopefully we can reach that one day. And I think it’s good that LGBT people can “see themselves” on the screen without having their queerness be the focus of the drama. People just want to live their lives, and they want to see other queer people just living their lives.

On the other hand, showing the struggle and making it the focus of the drama, as Orville does, is the thing that helps people understand and confront the issues themselves. The whole story around Topa is very strong. Societal misogyny. Klyden’s entire journey (his own sex reassignment, hiding it from Bortus, their separation, his rejection of Topa when she transitioned back, the family’s eventual reunion). Bortus’ struggle to make the right choice as a loving husband and father. Bortus having the choice taken away from him. Topa lacking female role models.

These kinds of things are still very real issues that a lot of people don’t think about unless presented to them on this way. These kinds of stories help people imagine how they might need to support their own children, families, and friends.

It’s not really possible to compare Star Trek vs Orville because Trek is an entire franchise (even now there are 4.5 shows) and Orville is just one. But if I had to say of the current shows, which one does society need the most for social progress, I’d actually say Orville.

Mariner even gestured to the facial Scar and outlined the shape of the chair with her hands.