My office:

Hells yes Enterprise D schematic, courtesy of my friend Vic, who knows the nerd I am.

His video:

It is going to be so soft! I’ll have to see, but these squares have only used up one skein of yarn each. This is good, since I’ll have plenty left to make other things, like a baby sweater or a stuffed animal of some kind.

The other day I noticed a discoloration on my Knit Picks Options needles, though, and I think I may contact Knit Picks because although my knitting has not been affected, it just doesn’t look good.

I was raised with a healthy dose of Star Trek The Original Series. I hated Captain Kirk but loved Bones and Spock.

Then The Next Generation came out and I was to be a Trekkie forever.

I fantasized about being a crew member in the United Federation of Planets, flying around space at impluse warp drive and telling a panel computer, “Earl Grey tea, hot”, and having it materialize before my eyes. I would be transported all over the place in seconds and spend the bulk of my free time in the holodeck.

Never did I once ask for a phaser.

The US government has unveiled a “non-lethal” laser rifle designed to dazzle enemy personnel without causing them permanent harm. But the device will require close scrutiny to ensure compliance with a United Nations protocol on blinding laser weapons.

The Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response (PHASR) rifle was developed at the Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico, US, and two prototypes have been delivered to military bases in Texas and Virginia for further testing.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) believes the weapon could be used, for example, to temporarily blind suspects who drive through a roadblock. However, the DoD has yet to reveal details of how the laser works and has yet to respond to New Scientist’s requests for further information.
[Source: NewScientist.com via Slashdot]

I don’t like the idea of my government, or any government for that matter, developing a phaser weapon. You and I both know it will not just be used to deter folks who run roadblocks. Do you think this sort of technology will be available to the general public? You think they’ll allow citizens to run around town, setting their phasers to stun? I think not.

Who knows what sort of “testing” the government will do with these things. But if you’re casually walking around minding your own business and suddenly fall to the ground having lost control of your body, I would suspect you’ve just been shot with a PHASR rifle.

Where the fuck is my transporter?