Ultima

I continue to lurk around STSF just to benefit from A9's pearls of wisdom :P Oh how I miss them. I think the classroom portion of the Tuesday Academy is an excellent idea Jami, Sorehl! It seems to be working very well (despite A9's best efforts). Certainly would have helped me when I started simming way back when. :) Jami!

Heh, Lyon, I remember when you first joined us on the Exodus. You were raw like good sushi! Great sim that was - good times. I've always thought the Miranda class was pretty cool, probably cause Kahn nearly destroyed the Enterprise with one.

If anyone here bids on this eBay auction for a Star Trek Apartment, don't forget that I am your best friend in the world.

Congrats Precip! :)

Happy Birthday, Fred! :wub:

::fishes through Tovan's link:: Hey, there's Yoshi. ::clucks at Tovan:: See, I was on the Manticore before you. Grr, last time I upgraded my PC, all of my SFOL archives before '99 corrupted. I was pretty bummed out. Oh well, I suppose Teen Fleet will live on forever in my head.

Duke is without question the ACC's doormat football team. Wake, VA, and BC (in a couple years when they join up) will all be a clear step above Duke, but below the real contenders. So while Wake's chances of reaching another bowl game anytime soon are very, very low, playing at Groves Stadium won't exactly be the gimme that playing at Duke here. Wake hasn't been a freebie for any ACC team for several years, even FSU, according to the rest of the ACC's coaches. But I agree we'd probably have to employ some Last Boy Scout tactics to beat Miami. :(

::shakes head:: No no no, you can keep your good football teams where they are! We at Wake Forest prefer less skilled, perferably dramatically so, teams that we have a chance at beating. :(

Hard to be from North Carolina as I am and not be a huge college basketball fan. ACC is year in and year out one of the most competitive conferences in the nation. That competitiveness makes every game for all nine teams a battle; there are no freebees in ACC men's basketball (just last night the last place team beat the #2 team). Every game is important, and because of that you as a fan can easily stay interested and involved. Some of the best NBA players, past and present, came through the ACC; Michael Jordon, Sam Perkins, Grant Hill, Mogsey Bogues, Billy Cunningham, Horace Grant, Mark Price, and Tim Duncan are just a few of them. The collective talent of the 50th anniversary ACC men's team, announced last year, is mind boggling - for example, of the 50, 48 players were first round selections in either the annual NBA or ABA draft, including 9 players who were the first overall selection in that year's draft. This year is especially exciting because 7 of the 9 teams are playing exceptiobally well, and all 7 of them will almost certainly make the NCAA tournament. I'm a Demon Deacon to the core, so last night's home win over #3 in the nation Duke was very, very sweet. :) I'm not a big fan of any pro sports really. I have favorite teams in most of them, but we don't have a lot of choice in the Carolinas. Not that I will ever complain about being an Atlanta Braves fan or a Carolina Panthers fan (best Superbowl I've ever seen!). The focus on money really turns me off from the professional sports. Edit: Forgot to mention I went into such detail because our Canadian friends may not be know all of the ins and outs of the US college bball system. I live in Vancouver as well as NC, and everyone up there assumes "ACC" is a government agency of some sort :(

I voted for China. I love Roman history, it is my personal favorite. But the Chinese lasted far longer. Also, unlike the Romans, the Chinese were never successfully invaded *and* their empire dismantled. That qualification is important because China was invaded many times, but the invaders were always assimilated into Chinese culture. When the foreign Mongols invaded, for example, the structure of the empire remained intact. It was simply another dynasty in a long line of dynasties. The same was true for the Manchus from Korea. If China does not have the same military record as the Romans, I believe it was because they didn't need it. China claimed to be the center of the world, even into modern times. China knew, Japan knew, East Asia knew it. Challenging Chinese supremacy in Asia in ancient times would be like punching the Pope in the face today. It just didn't happen. Anyone who has played a game of Sid Meier's Civilization 3 knows that cultural assimilation is a much easier route to domination than military conquest (not that I base my ideas off of games). China's changed, but they remain strong. I believe that if the last century was the United States', this century will be China's. The potential for economic growth is mindboggling. Still, lots of different things can go wrong, so it will be interesting to live through.

Two quick opinionated comments about that communism statement: 1) I'll assume you meant Russian communism, as Cuba, the DPRK, and the PRC all still (claim to) exercise communism in one form or another. 2) Even with regards to communism in Russia, I believe it's more accurate to say that the Soviet Union was not defeated by the US but by itself. The collapse of the Soviet Union was directly caused by the way Stalin and the general secerataries that followed him applied their versions of communism to the country's political, economic, and social structures. While US efforts in the international arena certainly limited Soviet foreign endeavours, it is difficult given the data we have today to argue that the US directly - not to mention singlehandedly - defeated communism in the Soviet Union. Actually, a common misconception in the Western world, primarily caused by McCarthyist propaganda, is that the communist powers were all buddy-buddy and represented a united front. In East Asia at least, the opposite was true. I just finished a 50 page thesis on relations between the USSR and PRC before the Korean War, and I was often surprised at the distrust and dislike evident in documents from the time. Stalin number one concern was Soviet national security, not communist brotherhood. China was basically duped into fighting in Korea by Stalin, for example, and they never forgave the USSR for it. And Kim Il-sung didn't even want China's help in the first place. Sorry for the tangent, but I think it's really interesting stuff that goes against common Western perceptions of communism. Consider this: within 3 years of defeating the US in Vietnam (and yes, the US *was* defeated), communist Vietnam was again at war - with communist China. Food for thought.

"Tomb of the Unknown Friend" Sten nodded to Lieutenant Tovan, then stood and began walking toward the coastal batteries that had been designated as lodging for the night. Parker, who had been sitting nearby for the entirety of Tovan and Sten's discussion, rose to follow him. The two walked together in silence for a few minutes, one lost in thought, the other wondering what the first was thinking about. Parker broke the silence. "Was it true what you said to him, about never living on a planet?" she asked quietly. Most of the Manticore's crew had retired already for the night, and the lack of ambient noise usually produced by human settlements or other lifeforms was noticeably absent. Parker found it eerie, a grim reminder of how bleak their situation was. It was as if the planet itself knew that the crew did not belong here. Sten nodded as they continued walking. "Yes," he replied softly. "I was on Earth to attend the academy, of course, but I look at that as little more than temporary residence." Sten smiled, recalling the experience. "It's not as if we had time to explore the planet with the schedules we had to keep." Parker grinned as he continued. "I feel the same way about the two years at the academy prep school, as it was really just more of the same." "I didn't know that." Parker was silent for another few moments. "Huh, I just realized that you never really talk about yourself much." Parker looked at Sten in mock anger and punched him playfully on the shoulder. "How have you gotten away with that for four years!?" Sten turned to face her and grinned wryly. "What, Katie, like I could ever get a word in edgewise between you and Bee at the academy! And it's not like you've grown quieter once we were assigned here!" Sten chuckled as he easily dodged another punch, this one with more intent behind it. "Settle down, girl. You know throwing punches at me will only result in your being tickled mercilessly." Parker humphed dramatically. "We're officers now, you wouldn't dare disgrace our uniform in such a plebeian display." Parker took a step back and raised a finger accusingly as Sten made to close in. "That wasn't a challenge, mister!" she managed to command without breaking into giggles, barely. Sten grinned and winked at her, then changed his tone. "In all seriousness though, I never had much to talk about," he reflected. "My mother always said the most valuable lesson she had learned was to keep her mouth shut and let others assume what they will." Parker nodded and waved her hand excitedly. "See, that's what I mean!" She sighed as Sten raised an eyebrow. "You always say things like that, but never anything real. All I know about your mother is that she is in a security department!" "Was in, actually. She's back to being a counselor now that the war's been over," Sten said, smiling at Parker's exasperated grunt. He shrugged. "I don't have any secrets, it's just not something that came up, really." Parker's eyes narrowed as she pointed at him again. "Well, I'm on to you now, Ensign Castle. You cannot escape interrogation now that you've been exposed for what you are!" "And what am I, then, Detective Parker?" Sten asked playfully. Parker started to snap something, then stopped. She thought for a moment, then glared at him. "I can't think of a clever moniker at the moment, but have no doubt I will come up with something appropriate for your vile nature!" Laughing, Sten raised his hands in a placating manner. "I am powerless against your expert verbal skills." He laughed harder as her glare deepened. "Ok ok, we'll sit down and have a talk. You can grill me to the bone. But not tonight." Parker nodded, satisfied. "Agreed, I'm dead tired. But your day will come, Sten!" Sten sighed in dramatic resignation and resumed walking, hoping Lieutenant Holmes had included some duct tape in their supplies.

On the Manticore, however, we flash 5,000 years forward into the future, and it's Atragon that has decided that the rest of the crew is to become the slaves of the command staff. And yes, it looks as if all is lost there too :) The only anime I've ever watched is Naruto, about an energetic ninja boy. But then again I'm about 20 years younger then most of the people here ::coughBlucough:: Naruto's actually a current one, in its third year. It's only available on the internet in the States, but I'm pretty good with Japanese so I can read it before its subbed by fans. Fun stuff.

"Gunkan" translates as "warship" from Japanese, while "Kaitei" means "bottom of the ocean." So the original Japanese title meant "Undersea battleship." I've never seen the movie, but, from what I gather, there was something in the movie called the "Atoragon." It must be a proper name because it's nothing close to a Japanese word; could have been the ship name. "T" sounds can't stand alone in Japanese, but they can in English. My guess is that the US distributors, Sandy Frank Entertainment (yes I spent way too much time with this question), picked out Atoragon as a more interesting movie title for the US than Undersea Battleship. Atoragon doesn't have a very smooth sound in English (Ah-tow-rah-gone), so they dropped a syllable to even pronunciation out. Seems like a plausible explanation to me, even though most of it's conjecture. I love Japanese :)

Starfleet Biographical Database - Castle, Sten. Name--------------- Sten Castle Preferred Name--- Sten Sex------------------ Male Race---------------- Human Age----------------- 22 standard T-Years Height-------------- 1.88 m Weight------------- 86.6 kg Skin----------------- Black Hair----------------- Black Eyes---------------- Black Place of Birth----- USS Sterling Marital Status---- Single Father-------------- Unknown Mother------------- Lieutenant Commander Melissa Castle (USS Phoenix-C, Counselor) Rank---------------- Ensign Current Post----- Assistant Science Officer, USS Manticore Former Post(s)-- N/A Personal History Sten was born on the USS Sterling to Counselor Melissa Castle. His mother was artificially inseminated on Traycon III, according to a medical report submitted by Counselor Castle to Starfleet Medical. Counselor Castle declined to have her child’s DNA matched against Starfleet records. Sten lived aboard the Sterling until the age of six, when his mother transferred to the USS Venture. He began his schooling there. Sten lived on the Venture with his mother until the onset of the Dominion War, when the majority of civilians onboard Starfleet ships transferred planetside. Due to the personnel demands of the war and her prior experience in security, Sten’s mother was asked to remain with the Venture as their chief of security. Sten moved to Earth alone at age sixteen, enrolled in a Starfleet Academy preparatory program in San Francisco. Upon his satisfactory completion of the program, Sten was accepted into Starfleet Academy two years later. Science became Sten’s primary focus at the academy. He posted strong marks in astrophysics and stellar cartography. Sten served his third term onboard the USS Helios, under the command of Captain Marissa DeSoto. According to his mentors on the Helios, Sten performed his duties in a diligent and consistent manner. During his fourth term at the academy, Sten was named co-captain of the coup de vitesse martial arts team. Following his graduation, Sten was posted to the science department of USS Manticore. He is currently still serving there. Counselor's Report To be filed at a later date. Starfleet Bio End