Things From My Desk: Star Trek Phaser

Star Trek is, without a doubt, my all-time favorite science fiction television program. Especially, the original series.

When they started promoting the latest movie, you could get a free Star Trek uniform shirt from Kellogg for a certain number of box tops. I cannot remember exactly how many, but I purchased enough Corn Flakes to start a survival shelter. Enough to get four shirts for my family.

Sean wasn't interested, but I got him a gold command shirt anyway. I've always wanted to be an engineer, so mine is read. I think Stacey and Lydia wanted medical and science (blue).

Today at work we had a Halloween dress up day. I was out of the office at a Microsoft sponsored event this morning so the kilt was out. Instead, I just dressed in a t-shirt and black jeans and tossed my Star Trek shirt and cheap costume phaser into my bag. A simple shirt change back a the office was all that was necessary.

Someday I'll spend the money on some TOS props. A hand phaser, tricorder, and communicator. I also think I'll make a Wrath of Khan style uniform jacket to go along with my kilt. Scotty didn't wear one in the movie, but a fan must have put one together judging from the image below. He did wear one in an episode of the original series. Not the same tartan as below but I think the MacQueen colors complement the uniform jacket.

Best of both worlds :-)

+

=

Nerd Craft: Star Trek Tribble - Initial Plans

Trouble with Tribbles

Update
You can buy your own from ThinkGeek for less than $20!

One of my favorite Star Trek TOS episodes is The Trouble with Tribbles. A Tribble is a small, soft, furry and gentle asexual animal that produces a soothing purring sound. That is, unless you are a Klingon. Mortal enemies of all Klingons, a tribble screams when they encounter a Klingon. The Klingon acts like a frightened child.

Anyway, I've always wanted a replica tribble. But not just some furry stuffed animal. I want one that screams, purrs and otherwise sounds like a tribble. Technology has finally caught up with my wishes and my pocketbook!





Unfortunately, we cannot genetically engineer pets, at least not tribbles. Glowing fish aren't my thing. I'll have to make a tribble puppet of some sort.

Here are the behaviors I want my tribble to express:

• Purrs when petted or held
• Screams at Klingons

And the ones that I'll have to leave until I get my genetic engineering chemistry set:

• Consumes mass quantities of food
• Procreates
• Moves around

What I'll need:

• Shaggy faux fur cloth for the pelt
• Polyfill for stuffing
• A couple of recordable sound chips for gift cards
• A tilt switch
• A pressure/contact switch

The faux fur and polyfill shouldn't be too hard to get at either a craft store or somewhere online. A simple baseball style pattern (two strips of fabric in the shape of teardrops attached with a neck) but elongated. 

Sound chips are available online. One will record and playback the purr, the other the scream.

Klingon agents and Tribbles don't get along

What's the tilt switch for? A Klingon detector isn't available so I'll fake it. If you pick up the tribble and keep it level it will just purr. If you hold it a steep angle, the tilt switch will disable the purr and activate the scream chip.

A simple tilt switch can be made with a small circuit board, a couple of stiff wire contacts, a metallic ball bearing, and a short tube. 

Most definitely not a Klingon

The pressure switch might be a bit trickier. I'll need something that doesn't require a lot of pressure, but just enough that the tribble doesn't randomly purr and run down the battery.

Things From My Desk: Star Trek Pez

Stacey gave this to me several years ago. The original Star Trek series will always be me favorite, but I did enjoy Next Generation and the latest movie.

The NASA Apollo missions, Star Trek, Space 1999, and Star Wars motivated me to read science fiction. At first just to get my science fiction fix. Later for the simple pleasure of reading.

Things From My Desk: Gimli

Gimli son of Glóin is a member of the Fellowship of the Ring in  J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
I've had this since Peter Jackson's movie came out.

I think the movie exaggerated his characteristics making him appear rather comical. I don't think he carried around this many battle axes. The book only mentions one.