Star Trek + XPrize ~ Roddenberry's Worldview!

Thanks to my MIT Sloan colleague Anjali Sastry for spotting Gene Roddenberry's Worldview on the XPrize Foundation site!

Star Trek Memories ~ Shatner's Reminiscence...

William Shatner and other cast members of Star Trek reminisce about the series...

R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy ~ Live Long and Prosper...

Alas Leonard Nimoy has passed away at 83 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which he attributed to years of smoking cigs. Born and raised in Boston's West End by immigrant Jews from Soviet Ukraine, he's perhaps best remembered for his enduring portrayal of the mostly logical half-Vulcan Mr Spock on Star Trek, where his signature hand-gesture emerged and also the tagline which inspired me and so many others -- "Live Long and Prosper"

Speculative Futures ~ How SF Inspires Engineers

I'm fascinated by what inspires people to greatness. Among the most powerful sources for engineers are the various forms of Science Fiction -- especially books, movies, TV shows, games, and comics.

No Limits ~ Gene Roddenberry's Epic Star Trek

A salute to Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek!

Inspiring Uhura ~ Nichelle Nichols on Star Trek!

I've been thinking about inspiring media recently, especially how great stories with heroes and heroines resonate with an audience and provoke them onwards or in better directions. Few television shows have had greater impact in this regard than Star Trek: The Original Series and the SF crew of a future USS Enterprise. Whether Spock and his logic, or Bones with his bedside manner, or Scotty with his can-do engineering spirit, the characters -- and their ensemble of future-world, multi-ethnic collaboration and competency -- really struck a chord with many viewers. Of these all, one of the most remarkable was the presence and role of Uhura...

Here actress Nichelle Nichols describes how she and creator Gene Roddenberry came up with her character's name... ..."Uhura" -- the feminine spin on "uhuru" which is Swahili for "freedom" -- and also helped shape the backstory for her character who would come from a future United States of Africa! Nichols next reveals her decision to quit the show prematurely... Wow, talked out of it by her "biggest fan" -- no less than Martin Luther King! The show also cracked through the self-censorship of American television of that time by portraying the first inter-racial kiss... ...and pioneering all kinds of costumes and alternative-worlds!-)

Captain's Summit ~ Whoopi Hosts Trek Stars...

Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan) hosts a Captain's Summit with Star Trek stars William Shatner (Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), Patrick Stewart (Picard), and Jonathan Frakes (Riker). I picked this one of several segments as the most touching and funny...

Klingon Style ~ K-Pop Takes Galactic Meaning;-)

K-Pop goes intergalactic with Klingon Style;-)

From the Heart ~ Bill Warner on Startups @ TEDx

Check out Bill Warner at TEDxBoston speaking on How to Build a Startup Company from the Heart...

Trek Nation ~ On Roddenberry's Creative Genius

Trek Nation documentary on Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry is on Science Channel. Here's promo trailer...

3DP Tools ~ Printing Working Wrench w/ Gears...

Thanks to Kottke for spotting 3D printing of working tools, for example a wrench with proper gears and leverage ability... More progress towards Star Trek replicators!