“Klingon Style” is a “Gangnam Style” Parody That’s Actually Entirely in Klingon
Aaaaaaand we’re out. *mic drop* Read More
Aaaaaaand we’re out. *mic drop* Read More
Sometimes when you can’t make the trip to Risa, you might feel the need to recreate the pleasure planet in a fully-immersive alternate reality. Who wouldn’t? Ars Technica reports that Microsoft filed a patent last year for a “Holodeck-style, full room immersive display.” Score one for the Star Trek nerds.
The patent, of course, goes hand-in-hand with the Xbox 360′s Kinect add-on, which allows for virtual reality-like game play where users can interact with elements on the TV by moving around in their own physical environment. Microsoft’s patent would allow users to do this, but in a literal 360-degree field, meaning that even the walls, floor and ceiling would become part of the game. Read More
Dear readers, have you heard the good news? The devilishly handsome Patrick Stewart–Shakespearean scholar and he of Star Trek: The Next Generation glory–has nestled himself between the hip young parents and NYU students in a new apartment in Park Slope.
Naturally, the neighborhood worked itself into a tizzy awaiting the arrival (via transporter, we assume) of the Captain Picard. And now that he’s there, one Park Sloper has chosen to immortalize his new residency the only way Brooklynites know how: with a single-serving Tumblr, of course. Read More
Last night, gangs of glammed-out New York techies and science enthusiasts trekked uptown to the Rose Center for Earth and Space to take in a stunningly optimistic program presented by Gizmodo and the American Museum of Natural History. The event was planned and hosted by Gawker Media founder Nick Denton (with the help of Brew PR), who appeared so eager about the “celebration of technology and discovery” that he tweeted about it numerous times prior to the event, published a grandiose blog post on Gizmodo reveling in the glorious achievements of science, and sent out an email to attendees: “This evening should be inspiring and fun,” he wrote.
“I’ve never seen Nick so excited for a social event,” one colleague remarked.
And who could begrudge Mr. Denton his excitement? The event was everything he claimed it would be–and perhaps more, depending on how many free cocktails you indulged in. Hosted by Ellen V. Futter, the president of the American Museum of Natural History, Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley and Mr. Denton himself, the gathering was as swank and inspiring as expected. Read More
Today, The Daily Dot published the story behind one of our favorite Twitter users, @tng_s8, a parody account that purports to publish plotlines from the unaired season 8 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. @tng_s8 is run by a 30-year-old Los Angeles-based aspiring comedy writer who asked that the Daily Dot not use his name, lest the pureness of this Twitter stream be tainted by his Hollywood dreams.
The account undoubtedly appeals to the more rabid TNG fans among us, but even if your knowledge of the show extends simply to “That one guy has a beard,” you’ll probably find some of the tweets pretty hilarious. Below, we’ve collected our favorites. Read More
What if you had such a staunch following on Facebook that posting a link resulted in so may clicks that the ISP thought you were staging a DDoS attack? That’s what happened to George Takei, who is best known for playing fan favorite Mr. Sulu in the Star Trek films and series.
Mr. Takei has over two million Facebook fans. An average post receives thousands of comments, likes and shares, numbers that would have most social marketers foaming at the mouth. He shares tons of memes, weird news articles and videos, and is apparently also fond of Sulu-themed LGBTQ merchandise, as that’s where he ran into trouble with one paranoid ISP. Read More
If you’re a Star Trek nerd like the majority of the Betabeat staff, you’ll probably read the following with more than a healthy dose of skepticism: Today, the Wall Street Journal reported on tech companies that are building simple and inexpensive games that harness mind control technology. Hmm… sound familiar? Read More
If you thought the buzzy Tupac hologram was awesome, wait until you hear what the Port Authority plans to spend its money on: Starting this summer, three holographic customer service reps will begin work at JFK, Laguardia and Newark, supplementing the flesh-and-blood reps that are often overwhelmed by the magnitude of travelers that visit New York during the summer. Read More
Wil Wheaton, the actor best known for playing sweater-loving Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, is really, really angry at Google. According to Mr. Wheaton, Google switched out YouTube’s thumbs up functionality for a big, honking “Google+ Like” button. Mr. Wheaton is so angry, in fact, that he has a message for the company: “Oh, go fuck yourself, Google. Just let me thumbs up something, without forcing me to ‘upgrade’ to G+, you dickheads,” he wrote on his Tumblr. Set your phasers to ouch, you guys. Read More
Social media startups only seem to get more trendy, and that’s sucking innovation away from other spaces–enterprise, for example. “As you know, most tech accelerators and organizations are almost entirely focused consumer-facing startups (e.g., 90-95 percent of startups at Y Combinator, TechStars, most hackathons, etc.),” the organizers of the new Enterprise Tech Innovation meetup wrote in an email. “However, recently, there’s been a trend to develop enterprise-focused accelerators which I believe have a hope of bringing the kind of innovation large corporations seek.”
Isn’t it funny how the fame and glory of social media has inspired entrepreneurs to build hordes of consumer-facing startups warring for user attention in a web-wide popularity contest, when a B2B service could make its founders rich by signing on just a few major clients? Read More
