Michael Ansara (Kang) 1922 - 2013

Earlier in the week actor Michael Ansara who was known for his role as Kang one of the very first klingons seen in star trek died at the honorable age of 91 (probably quite long for a klingon).

Michael Ansara played Kang in 3 episodes of star trek spanning 3 different trek series which is quite a feat. He first appeared in

Day of the Dove - Video Trailer, 
Blood Oath  - Full DS9 Season 2x19  (region permitting) 
Flashback - Full Voyager Season 3x2 (region permitting)

He also appeared as a totally different character playing Lwaxana Troi's husband in a deeps space nine episode from season 4.
The Muse DS9 Season 4x21 (region permitting)

Trailers - Day of the dove, Blood Oath, Flashback & The Muse

May he rest in stovokor 

The First Tricorder Makes An Appearance

Medical Tricorder one more step to being a fully fledged reality

Google doodles Douglas Adams of Hitchhiker Fame

So we love Star Trek here but when it comes to laughs in space look no further then the classic radio show "The Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy", which was turned into a book, computer game, film and any other merchandise the corporations could bleed out of it, but hey, who's complaining.

The story was about Arthur Dent, an ordinary man who was rescued from the destruction of the earth from a race called the Vogon's by his friend who he didn't know was an alien called ford prefect from the planet Betelgeuse. The kind of thing you obviously miss when meeting people at the pub.

The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy was in an electronic guide book to the known universe where you could request information about something and get a answer back in text, pictures and voice. Ford prefect was a contributor on that book and his entry for the earth was "Mostly Harmless", does this sound a bit like Wikipedia anyone?

Looking at it now, we literally already have this tech with mobile/cell phones, tablets and the internet and when it comes to searching for that kind of info, who better than Google.....what do you mean bing, seriously, you jest..... Shown here was a Sci-Fi vision which at the time seemed far far away, but appeared pretty much within 35 years.

To celebrate what would have been his 61st birthday (he died in 2001) google have dedicated today google search doodle to him, a much deserved accolade,

If you haven't read the books and there were five hitchhiker books written by him you should definitely go check them out.

Someone posted what seems to be the full hollywood movie on youtube, so check it out while its still up.

BBC TV version Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6

There are also radio recordings, original BBC Series and a Hollywood movie, which kinda miss the whole joke and strayed a little too far from the book, like down the street and around a corner wearing a disguise representation.

BBC TV Series (1981)                                                   Hollywood Movie version (2005) 

Anyone who's read the book would know that quotes from the series have become household terms. like "The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything" being 42, search for that one on a web engine as see what comes up :)

Also when every your going out, especially if its dangerous, know where your towel is.

Stick a babel fish in your ear to understand people who speak different languages, though swearing in English is pretty universal I find, certainly breaks the cultural barrier, though it does occasionally have the affect of you running for your life screaming, which is also universal and requires no translation.

And of course who can forget what was enscribe on the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, the words "Don't Panic". Because panic is so not built in our DNA, like wetting yourself at the sight of a lion chasing you.

Please go check out the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy books, they are a good and fun read, also check out the other media based on the story.

Douglas Adams, thanks for the memories and,

"So long and thanks for all the fish"

*All media copyright of respected owners and links assume have clear publication. Contact use for any further requests HERE

Phishing scams in Second Life - Beware!!!!

Seems the Phishing scams in Second Life are doing the rounds again the phoenix firestorm viewer website has reposted an article they wrote previously on how to protect yourself from any scams that could be used to get hold of your password and user account info which could be used to steal money, inventory, destroy items and possibily grief under your account.

Read important link HERE 

Getting Down Klingon Style (Psy - Gangnam Style Parody)

Trekkies all over the world are getting down to the parody of the brilliant Psy - Gangnam Style pop video which is a youtube sensation.

There's now many different parodies out there but Klingon Style is easily one of the best, Enjoy.

LeVar Burton - Geek & Sundry Interview

If your a fan of The Guild and Felicia Day you may know she has a newish youtube channel called Geek & Sundry. One of the many series they have on that channel is Sword & Laser which concentrates on reviewing books, their special guest this week was non other than LeVar Burton, TNG engineering chief and trek episode director.

Walter Koenig Finally Gets His Star On The Walk Of Fame

The last principle actor form the Orginal Star Trek series Walter Koenig has been  honored a star on Hollywood's walk of fame, finally laid down by the Hollywood Chambers of Commerce. We'd like to congratulate Walter and say "ABOUT TIME".

First Man On The Moon Dies

Neil Armstrong  1930 - 2012

Neil Armstrong the first man on the moon died yesterday we all here at the blog and I'm sure the GFC would like to remember him for helping us realize the dream of outerspace travel.

Skype rooms opened.

A few weeks ago we were experimenting with Google Hangout ( gh ) to look at creating an easy way of communicating with members. Gh's appeal meant joining a room could be done simply, its built into the system and GH extra includes the ability to add permanent names to rooms which made life easier. If anything though we found the system a little too open as the rooms were regarded as being totally public and a few more privacy  features we thought would have been helpful.

Richardjrn Weatherwax proposed we look at skype to achieve pretty much the same thing. Skype is already widely  used in the GFC which means transition would be easy. The way the system works is a new room is created with a name. The creator of the room is automatically made admin from there they have a handful of powers they can utilize to control aspects of how the room functions, including how to link to the room externally.

The link can be embedded in a webpage which sends you straight to the Skype room, this would help get rid of the procedure we have right now where people rush around looking in their contact lists for members to call on skype when attending events. With this system, the member has to do nothing more than simply clicking a link, A window will appear on your computer. Click on the launch button and you will be taken straight to the room if they have skype installed. A much quicker and efficient system. Unfortunately though it works well on webpages it doesn't from a prim in secondlife directly from a script.

In the long term this could be useful as members attending specific GFC events can if they want easily go into rooms linked to those event if they wanted to use that as a form of communication. Because there are abilities to password rooms, certain rooms can be controlled to be active when needed and offline when not,  giving more control over how individual rooms function.

It will be interesting to see how this concept progresses, but if you want to try contacting us click the skype link on the page sidebar of this site.

Info how to used skype commands can be found HERE
Below is a video how to join a room from a link.

TNG 25th Anniversary Reunion Calgary 2012

As you know its the 25th Anniversary of the first airing of Star Trek:The Next Generation, and throughout the year expect to see all sorts of events including those being planned at the GFC, but its not often you get a chance to see the whole TNG cast all on a stage at the same time. Fortunately now you can with these uncut videos which were shot during the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. The camerawork is a little shakey at times but hey, we'll forgive them this time.


There are  two videos, the first is the whole principle cast and the second a hilarious panel with 
Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn and Jonathan Frakes

Debbydo Gets Around Abit on SL Informative

The blog appeared this week on the SL Informative website. Its a place were you can discover what's happening in Secondlife by linking to sites across the web which have articles pertaining to activities in the metaverse.

The site is a great way to discover places, fashion, people, technology and some of the  activities which happen in secondlife. This gives the reader a nice balance of stories and information to link to.

So pop down to SL Informative and see what's happening out there beyond your draw distance.

More Picks HERE
Link SL Informative HERE

Our First Chrome theme

Google Chrome is used by many of us on the blog and we thought, hey, why not make a chrome theme for it. We used a chrome app called MY CHROME THEME from the chrome market and set about making a simple no flair theme.

When installed the app will appear on your apps browser screen and just a click will launch it.

Its a very straight forward and simple process of just loading your picture, changing the tabs and browser bar colours and that's pretty much it, you save it and it becomes publicly available to those who want to download it. A file will save to your computer (don't worry its small and not harmful so say yes to downloading), click the button which appears at the bottom right of your viewer when its finished downloading and it will install. We will be looking at something for other browsers and mobile phone wallpaper at a later date.

Expect more themes coming your way for the fun of its, maybe you can try doing one yourself or there could be official GFC themes made.

If your brave enough, you can make this the theme to your chrome browser by just clicking the link HERE

St. George and the ZX Spectrum Dragon

You can imaging my surprise when I noticed on the google search page a picture of St.George fighting the dragon using 8-bits graphics like we used on the old ZX Spectrum computer back in the day.

This was Goggle's way of remember these two events especially if you lived in the UK. One was celebrating  St. Georges day. For those who don't know, he is the patron saint of England. It all has to do with some story about a guy who slayed a dragon and then somehow became a patron saint, how that happened, I don't know. Didn't anyone say at the meeting of the patron saint society that the whole St. George thing sounded a bit iffy and at what point when the dragon appeared in the story warning signs didn't  ring out like a school bell or a wet fish to the face.

On the other end of the scale it was the 30th anniversary of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum which was one of the most popular early  home computers from the 80's and I use to have one. Wrote some of my first programs on it so have very fond memories. You could always get an emulator for it if you wanted to give it a try or even have a go at a  Java conversion of one of its most famous games Jetset Willy or read about some of the history.

You can then imaging my surprise when I noticed on the google search page a picture of St.George fighting the dragon using 8-bits graphics like we used on the old ZX Spectrum computer back in the day. Interesting facts about the colour limit the computer had HERE

Debbydo celebrated St.Georges day not by trying to slay our resident dragon Dustin Sunflower but by walking around the GFC in her England top for a day.

Hangout Weekend

As you know we always like to try new things and over the last few days we've been testing out using Google's Hangout as an interesting way of communicating, not just here on the blog but back in Secondlife. We use skype a lot, its very popular and is the preferred choice for voice communication for most of us at the GFC and in general as it works very well for the most part.

Hangout works more like a room, so once you have the link or the name of the room (feature of hangout extra) you can then just jump into that room and start chatting with the people there. Hangout has an open door everyone just come and jump in policy.

So this weekend to help test Hangout we've added a button on the sidebar of this blog, just click it and it will launch in your browser. you can select if you want to switch video on or not. From there you select joining the hangout room, if people are there you will see them on cam, showing a screen from their computer or showing no screen at all and just using audio. We are using the Hangout with extras for this as you can specify  a room name which isn't available on the standard hangout you'd find on your google+ page.

There are collaboration tools here as well, you can work on documents and even a sketchpad, so that should be fun. unlike the standard Google hangout you can't use the apps including a nifty youtube app were you can all watch youtube video's together.

Anyway, enough of the nattering click the Google hangout button and come join us in a hangout this weekend. If the room is empty, come join later as someone should be around for much of the weekend.

 To use hangout you'll need a google mail account if you haven't already got one. If you have any problems running it with errors regarding reinstalling plugins the try getting that from HERE.

More Trek Games to Enter The Universe

A new Star Trek game is on the horizon for early 2013. The story line for the game bridges the cap between the star trek movie of 2009 and in the production 2013 sequel. In the game you get to play as Kirk and Spock in co-op mode. This is more of a computer game experience and not a long term online game like Startrek online, think more Mass Effect than Eve Online in space. Games will be on Xbox, PC & PS3 Enjoy the videos below.

Trailer shown last summer at the E3 game trade show

The latest trailer released this week.

Star Trek Five Captains at Destination Star Trek London!

Open your diary and tap October 19-21 into your trek pad because  Destination Star Trek London will be warping  England's way with all five captains scheduled to make an appearance. Events include photo sessions, memorabilia, interactive events and much much more.

Links: Star Trek Five Captains at Destination Star Trek London!

Ticket Info: HERE

Free....Any cheaper and they'd be delivering it to your house

With all this talk of mesh and sculpts and how expensive it is to use some of the 3d programs needed to create higher quality builds, adoption has been helped by the fact software like Blender has been high quality, available and free.

But, for a limited time ( March 31st 2012, now extended to the end of April)  a company known for high quality 3d software that can create Secondlife content have announce they are giving away some of their most noted software for free, it may not be the companies latest versions, but the software is very capable of produce quality work. They aren't just giving away the main software but a large variety of useful utilities, character and object models, tutorials and materials.  So quickly get down to the Daz 3D website and nab those goodies before they come to their senses from the obvious concussion they are suffering from wears off.

Link http://www.daz3d.com/shop/

5000 Views - The Ways, The Wherefores and The What's Next.

May 21st 2011 is a red letter day for this blog as it was the day the first article was posted and yes some of you Sherlock's out there may have noticed we have earlier post but they are just there to store pages due to bloggers limit on static page numbers.

On May 21st we posted the Relay for life charity party article our first post and in that time have added over 150 original articles from 8 writers. We've come a long way in less than 3 months.

I would like to thank the talented writers who have been named in the previous articles as they are the ones who's original and creative styles have made this blog the fun read that it is.

Of course there are some who question the validity of a blog like this, whether its official or an unofficial fan blog as it was mistakenly quoted as being earlier this week. This is the thing though, the blog is hard to pigeon hole as to what it is, exactly the point they miss.  Just because something doesn't adhere to convention isn't to say it isn't relevant or more relevant to that what's already there, if there is even something there in the first place

We've found the first thing people want to do with something like this is instantly control and slap rules around it. These rules are usually unnecessary as common sense is the greatest regulator. Sitting around in a committee trying to work out in advance what articles should be about is likely to create a boring uninspiring read with few wanting to return to it, but it seems to be the exact mistake many want to make time and time again.

Our view was to free the experience up a little, let writers surprise us and so they have with fantastic articles. We don't know what they are going to post until they've posted it, so when we read it we have the same feeling as when anyone else does. The writers feel they are contributing more, are trusted and are open to experimenting with their writing styles, if  you've read articles from Jimmy, Robobby and Gokyu you would know what i mean.  Because every bodies style is so diverse your not sure what kind of article your going to read when you wake up in the morning or browse in the afternoon.

The blog was never intended to replace an official GFC website but to be a lighthearted look at what members get up to here. As a research project it also means we use it to test concepts and better ways of working.

We've added time-zoned calendars and academy class lists, a division lead list that can be updated within minutes of information being made available, this gives the reader an incredible  resource for getting information about the GFC quickly and efficiently, with access to group regulations, video history, joining forms and locations all no more than 2-3 clicks away. From a research point of view it show's clearly and easily how these things can be done, with little fuss and therefore proof of concept has been satisfied.

The assertion that everything has to stay in the viewer is a personal opinion of some people, but clearly its also an outmoded one as virtually every system your find usually has a web presence of sorts. There is nothing to suggest people have or would forgo their SL/GFC experience to just read about it, I'm sure its the reverse that's true.

The Future

I'd say the Future is about how information moves around and the best way to access it so our experiences in SL and the GFC are more focused an enjoyable.

 If there's an event then why not have a calendar on my computer or phone to remind me, why not have a twitter, facebook or google + feed to jog your memory or tell you that something which wasn't advertised is happening. Why not use every tool in your arsenal to bring people here from the outside or just to keep them informed when they aren't here.

So why not simply load the blog up, have a quick read and get on with your life with the hope for those few minutes we put a little smile on your face and encouraged you to come back into the GFC to experience some of what the articles have talked about.

The Run up to 5000 Views.

5000 PageViews!

The Run-Up

So, it's been what? about 3 months and we have already had "almost" 5000 Pageviews. I know that other members of the blogging team are going to be writing you stories about this massive achievement.

Is this how you remember the Blog?

How about this?

Or the new one?

When you turn off your computer it does not matter what you remember about the blog, or even the posts that have been written. What matters most is that you have shown an interest, you have read the posts and taken in the information kept there.

This is what I see when I log onto the Blog.

So, I get to see all this important information every time I click the link to Google Blogger. This always gives me great pleasure to be a part of a great team, a great project. 17 followers is a great achievement for everyone involved. 175 different stories, different writers (Mentioned again Later) and different viewpoints.

As you can see above there is the U.S.S Magellan Blog. This is just one of the things the Blog has inspired. RolePlays setting up Blogs so that everyone can keep up to date on the adventure! More are planned to be opened in the next few months.

I can remember taking this snapshot.

Now, why have we been able to get to this point?

I can tell you that the Blog started because Debbydo wanted to create a newsletter. Now, it was decided that it would be difficult to keep people interested in a Newsletter when you are limited to the publishing ability of SecondLife notecards, and therefore it would be better to take this outside of SecondLife.

What a great decision that was! A few months on and the Blogs publicity has sky-rocketed. Now I can tell you that GFC has tried to set up a Blog before, and has been unable to get enough publicity and enough support. Why is this Blog any different?

The following people are a MASSIVE influence on the number of PageViews.

     - Debbydo

     - snapper Desade

     - Robobby Mcmillan

     - Gokyu Ugajin

     - Phedre Aionfall

     - Kaori Juliesse

     - Richardjrn Weatherwax (Indirectly)

     - And of course: Jimmy Vehrous

These people above (Yes, Including me) have been influential in the growth of the Blog. They're great stories, great reports and great imagination have made the Blog an enjoyable and informative place to visit.


But of course we couldn't have done it without you guys! You the readers have been vital to our success, people from all over the world visit the Blog daily. Why do you guys keep coming back? Is is because we are so awesome that you can't stay away? Or is it something more than that?

I wanted to note the "Popular Posts" as they stand today.

MOST POPULAR - 1 (Top)

 http://debbydogfcnews.blogspot.com/2011/06/priority-one-message-from-ds19.html

Written By - Jimmy Vehrous

Pageviews - 69

 MOST POPULAR - 2

http://debbydogfcnews.blogspot.com/2011/07/debbydos-gfc-members-award-2011-just.html

Written By - snapper Desade

Pageviews - 56

 MOST POPULAR - 3

http://debbydogfcnews.blogspot.com/2011/05/division-lead-list.html

Written By - snapper Desade

Pageviews - 48

POPULAR POST - 4

 http://debbydogfcnews.blogspot.com/2011/06/poor-debbydo.html

Written By: Jimmy Vehrous

Pageviews - 47

 POPULAR POST - 5

http://debbydogfcnews.blogspot.com/2011/07/message-from-future.html

Written By - Jimmy Vehrous

Pageviews - 46

 MOST POPULAR - 6

http://debbydogfcnews.blogspot.com/2011/06/party-time.html

Written By - Gokyu Ugajin

Pageviews - 45

 MOST POPULAR - 7

http://debbydogfcnews.blogspot.com/2011/06/message-from-president.html

Written By - snapper Desade

Pageviews - 39

 MOST POPULAR - 8

http://debbydogfcnews.blogspot.com/2011/05/select-regulation-regulation-members.html

Written By - snapper Desade

Pageviews - 31

 MOST POPULAR - 9 (Joint)

http://debbydogfcnews.blogspot.com/2011/07/pokemon-trainer-spotted.html

Written By - Jimmy Vehrous

Pageviews - 30

MOST POPULAR - 9 (joint)

http://debbydogfcnews.blogspot.com/2011/05/one-of-best-way-to-get-feel-of-what-its.html

Written By - snapper Desade

Pageviews - 30

Please Note: The Pageviews here do not accurately depict post views.

They only work if people actively click on the post directly.

Due to the fact that you can read the posts right from the front screen,

you do not have to directly click on them.

An Extra Congratulations to those mentioned above.

The above chart shows you the change over the last few months about the amount of people going onto the Blog.

     - MAY - 480 Pageviews

     - JUNE - 1871 Pageviews

     - JULY - 1939 Pageviews

     - AUGUST (to date) - 682 Pageviews

This just shows how much people enjoy the Blog. This is the progression from 0 Pageviews to almost having 5000, I will mention again how much of an achievement this is!

I thought I'd throw in the above information just for those of you - like me - like this sort of stuff. This just shows you how international GFC is and indeed how international the Blog is.

Personal Note from Jimmy Vehrous

On the run up to the day we reach 5000 Pageviews I have had the chance to think back to my personal journey here. I asked snapper Desade if I would be able to contribute to the - at the time, a rather small - blog. I was honoured to become the third member of the team.

Over the past few months we have gained even more writers and unfortunately lost some as well, however we remain vigilant and continue with the good work and produce what many have admitted to be an "awesome" Blog.

I would consider myself a "main" member of the Blog Team, and though some of the time my posts are not always very informative or serious, I have always gained a positive response. 

I am honoured to still be able to write for you guys.

A Personal Thank You to all of those mentioned above and Thank you to you guys who read the posts here. A Congratulations for "almost" reaching 5000 Pageviews.

Finally a special Congratulations to Debbydo and snapper Desade. For her great idea and him brilliant work, together they make an awesome team!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Jimmy Vehrous for GFC News.

Blog Members Award Results

After days of waiting, probably for something else. The votes have been counted and the underpaid, under fed and overly pregnant tribbles have handed me the results of the "Debbydo GFC Blog Members Awards". So without further ado I present to you the winners, runners up and voted for. Its for fun but interesting all the same.