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”…

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.

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.

No VHS tape with not-quite-Gowron telling you to experience bIj?! That’s a deal-breaker.

Funny post, but “his/her” makes me think, “What about non-binary Klingons?”

That poses the interesting question: what is it like to be non-binary, or queer in general, as a Klingon? Sounds like a whole c/Daystrom Institute post I need to make.

Also, DuoLingo has lost its honor in general with its AI obsession and heavy layoffs; only a petaQ would use such a coward’s website.

The only way a true warrior can learn Klingon is the old ways - the Okrand books and tapes!

EDIT: Klingon Wiki is also helpful, as is KlingonSKA for searching words and Hol ‘ampaS for font-related stuff and digital versions of out-of-print Okrand tapes.

I wish there was a Lower Decks and VOY/DS9 version of this. However, I would cry a little having to design any PCB for that space, even if it’s as simple as registering a button or blinking an LED with a microcontroller.

Honestly, I’d be tempted to just do analog FM instead of Bluetooth and basically just make walkie-talkies. You could enable greater functionality, perhaps including Bluetooth support and being able to make voice commands, by having a “ship’s computer” that would just be a Raspberry Pi server or something with an FM receiver that could process the voice commands and route signals. You might have to hide it in a probe like a tricorder or a phaser while at cons, but if you’re just handing out Halloween candy or something like that, you shouldn’t have to worry.

Part of me wonders if you could cheat a bit and put the speaker in say, a tricorder prop.

Looking at the size of the iPhone 15’s speakers, I think it might actually be possible to fit it in. You might have to fudge the dimensions a little bit, but I think that could fit in a roughly combadge-sized space. The big question is getting the rest of the electronics to fit.

Sounds like a fun project for self-torture in KiCad.

EDIT: Another option to free up space would be to wear and conceal a throat mic. Heck, combined with the tricorder method, you could basically just make your combadge a glorified button.

I enjoyed the D & D movie, so maybe they can pull off something good. Maybe they could just do something set in, say, 2467.

However, I’m extremely sad that it probably won’t be Crisis Point 3.

I just want a Lower Decks Vol 1 vinyl reissue and a Vol 2.

Heck, if you want the stickers, you can easily print them on a good inkjet.

I think the biggest issue with ENT is probably the sexualization of T’Pol, the culmination of a nasty habit in Berman Trek.

I could tune out 7’s catsuit because she was otherwise well-written and the good plotlines outnumbered the bad, but it feels like at least 75% of all T’Pol stories were of the horny Berman type, to the detriment of her character.

While we’re at it, let’s just pull in Chris Pine (multiverse crap) and William Shatner (Nexus crap) and have one of those nutty SNW episodes that sounds like a horrible idea but is surprisingly one of the better episodes that season:

I don’t know why, but I feel cheated that we don’t get an Enterprise J model - what else am I going to use as my weirdly-shaped dinner plate?

Actually looking at it, my impression has softened a bit. I think I just was struggling with the perspective.

I like the proportions of the earlier concept better - I like big nacelles.