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Tag: Star Trek: The Next Generation

November 19, 2023

How to Stop your iPhone from Buzzing All Night Long

Unless you want to be kept up by your iPhone with endless updates while you’re trying to sleep, you need to give it a bedtime. Here’s how.

I am the Borg. You are the Borg. We are the Borg. Yes, humanity has already been assimilated.

Remember, those evil “Star Trek” cybernetic bad guys who kept running into Captain Picard and wanted to take over the galaxy? The Borg were all wirelessly interconnected and acted in sync like a colony of bees. Their hive mind kept them instantly updated.

Okay. Well, no… we’re not completely moving throughout our day following the constant direction of a unified data stream. But I think the scary reality is only because it’s not unified. (Well, not yet.)

Time to Put your iPhone into Sleep Mode
Our smartphones are constantly bombarding us with various updates…. from family, friends and work to various companies and organizations we’ve touched and shared our personal data with.

These ongoing texts, emails and calls can become a persistent din. It’s like the world is screaming at you. If you wear an Apple Watch with haptic feedback on your wrist, there’s a constant visceral reminder that someone or something wants your attention.

All that noise, noise, noise!

Sure, you have instant access to so much more information, but it comes at a price. (What’s a Borg drone to do?)

And the last thing you need is to have that constant drumbeat interfere with your sleep.

There’s got to be a way to turn it off.

Well, of course there is…

How to Activate Sleep Focus
I realized recently that I really needed to take some action and effectively put my iPhone 15 Pro Max to sleep while I was sleeping. Yes, it was muted, but my iPhone would wake me up with all the buzzing and screen brightening to alert me of something new in the wee hours of the morning.

I needed my REM sleep!

I knew that I could simply move my iPhone to a different room, but I like to charge it up on my nightstand. Fortunately, I can set it and forget it…if it will let me. (I usually don’t wake up in the middle of the night with the need to grab it and see how my blog’s metrics are doing.)

Instead of turning my iPhone off (whoever does that?!), I activated the sleep setting in the Focus App.

Here’s how to do that.

  • Tap on Settings
  • Tap Focus
  • Tap Sleep
  • Set a Schedule

Then you assign a lock screen for this setting. (The trick I think is not to assign it to the screen lock photo that you use throughout your day.)

You can also program exceptions to let certain contacts make it through your Do Not Disturb barrier.

Done.

Now my iPhone goes totally dark at my bedtime and does not respond to any incoming anything throughout the night.

Happiness restored.

Silence in your Sleep Chamber
It’s ironic that we now need to tame our smartphones to prevent them from overwhelming us with too much of what was supposed to be a good thing.

The simple truth is everyone and everything should not have immediate access to your attention.

Even the Borg knew that. They had those cool standing sleep chambers throughout their Borg cube ships where their drones could catch up on their sleep… uninterrupted.

And as we all know, it’s never a good idea to wake up a sleeping Borg.

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February 19, 2023

Star Trek: Picard has Finally Made It So

It’s taken 3 seasons for this “Star Trek” series to fully embrace the heritage of “The Next Generation.” Here’s why I couldn’t be happier.

In the same way that the MCU and “Star Wars” have expanded their own universes on Disney+, “Star Trek” has been successfully extending itself on Paramount+ over these past few years. “Star Trek” has three active live-action (plus two animated) series going right now with “Star Trek: Picard” just premiering its third season.

While I should immediately point out my excitement with the freshman of the group, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” as a must watch, “Picard” has significantly benefited from its own legacy. Watching it has always felt like sitting down with a cozy cup of Earl Grey tea.

That said, “Picard” was not originally supposed to be an updated “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” It centers around the later life and new adventures of our famous Captain (Admiral) Jean-Luc Picard played by the great Sir Patrick Stewart. Picard is officially retired, but he’s still out there traveling the stars with a new set of supporting characters.

But who are we really kidding?

A Return to the Federation We Know and Love
Slowly, the writers have been bringing the band back together. And those episodes with classic Trek characters have clearly been the best moments of this new “Star Trek.”

And so now we’ve got the third season, which is clearly being constructed as “The Next Generation: 20 Years Later.”

Finally.

Why wouldn’t Trekkies want to see this? You’ve got so many famous characters from the starship Enterprise to revisit beyond Picard.

As my twelve-year-old son would say, “Let’s go!”

The Reunion Tour Begins
I’ve just watched the first episode of season 3, titled “The Next Generation,” and from the opening animated starship flourish (now with the starship Titan) to the final reveal of the villain’s massive ship, I found myself feeling like a giddy teenage geek again. (I streamed it on my iPhone while taking my Metro North train to work in New York City. No, I couldn’t wait to watch it ‘properly’ at home on a respectable TV.)

This season is clearly going to be a massively enjoyable road trip down memory lane.

We already have Picard, Riker, Beverly Crusher and Seven of Nine. And this was just the season premiere. I know Geordi, Worf and Deana aren’t far away. And though we can’t have Data, the promos tease that Brent Spiner will be showing up as Lore.

Easter eggs are everywhere.

All of my brain’s nerdy nostalgia centers have been fully activated.

Computer… Open Spacedock Doors
The story starts with a distress call to Picard from Beverly Crusher, played by Gates McFadden, who is hiding in an abandoned ship under attack at the edge of Federation space. “No Starfleet,” she warns.

Well, that’s all we really need to again bring Picard out of retirement. And of course, his first move is to recruit his old Number One, played by Jonathan Frakes. And they quickly run into a well-positioned Seven of Nine, played by Jeri Ryan. (Both actors have already reprised their roles in “Picard.”)

The remaining reunions will follow on this final adventure for Picard. I’m not especially focused on the story. For me, it’s all about my favorite Trek characters and the opportunity to see them again.

Enjoy the Journey
My only concern is how the writers stick the landing at the end of episode 10.

Wrapping up “Star Trek” series has always been something of a challenge. Sisko’s plunge at the end of “Deep Space Nine” was strange. The reunion at the end of “Voyager” was rushed. Of course the original “Star Trek” series ended abruptly, although 1991’s “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” did offer a proper goodbye for that crew.

I’ve got to say that The Next Generation’s “All Good Things” leads the way in best last Trek episode.

Can lightning strike twice?

Well, I don’t have to worry about that right now. I’ve got nine more episodes of “Picard” to first relish across these next couple of months.

The third and final season of “Star Trek: Picard” is a wonderful gift to life-long Trekkies like me.

Thank you!

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October 22, 2017

Star Trek: Discovery Has Dropped the F-Bomb

I’m sure Kirk and Spock would be a bit more than a tad surprised if they heard some of the bad language coming out of the latest “Trek” iteration.

“Star Trek” has always been about breaking down barriers.

Remember that ‘first’ interracial kiss between Kirk and Uhura in the 1968 “Star Trek” episode “Plato’s Stepchildren?” And the “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” kiss between two women (Dax and Lenara) from 1995’s “Rejoined” episode.

Now, “Star Trek: Discovery” has one of those barrier-breaking scenes that Trekkies will talk about for generations to come. It’s from the “Choose Your Pain” episode.

No, there’s no kiss in this fifth episode of the young series, but we see Lt. Stamets and Dr. Culber brushing their teeth together in their quarters and articulating some clearly intimate feelings. We have our first openly gay crew members. It’s a gentle and charming scene in a show that’s bombarded with harsh uncertainty. It’s well written and another important “Star Trek” moment that supports and builds on its universe of inclusion.

Bravo.

That, in itself distinguishes this episode as one to remember.
And it’s all I should be writing about.
(Other than we are introduced to a young Harry Mudd.)

But unfortunately, that’s not all that differentiates it.

Star Trek and the Four-Letter Word
In what actually felt pretty awkward to me, the writers also decided to throw some bad language into the script.

Variants of the four-letter ‘F’ and ‘S’ words, to be precise.

What???
(I had read this would be coming, but dropping the F-bomb still felt a little shocking.)

Look, I know that “Discovery” is a more gritty and edgy series, and there’s clearly a lot of violence.
So, what’s the problem with a few four-letter words?

We’ll, first off… it just seemed gratuitous. It didn’t feel any more significant except to inform viewers that the universal translator for this “Trek” doesn’t restrict *uck and *hit.

There are no CBS broadcast censors to worry about here.
(Hurray?)

So, I guess anything goes.
I feel it was clearly a message more than anything else.

Message received.

Daddy, What’s that Word Mean?
Suddenly, “Star Trek: Discovery” just became off limits to some younger viewers who aren’t allowed to consume R-rated content.

How inclusive is that?

Are the producers so desperate to distinguish their pay TV niche to attract only adults who enjoy their “Game of Thrones?”

I get the value proposition that if you’re going to pay for your “Star Trek,” the producers have got to give viewers more than what’s available on broadcast television.

But R-rated profanity? Really??

What’s interesting is the writers waited until the fifth episode to sprinkle in the three words at issue.

Hmmm… Actually, how bold is that?
If there’s going to be bad language here…. it should be present… front and center from the beginning of the series.

The Orville Surges Ahead
Speaking of trying to boldly go where no one has gone before, “Discovery” has another challenge to deal with. It continues to be scooped by the spoof over at Fox.

“The Orville” established its own onboard male couple (Bortus and Klyden) in its second episode. Sure, it’s a little different, because there are no females in their alien species.
(Well, not exactly)

And I’ve got to give some kudos to this “Star Trek” wannabe, which is rocking with some big-time guest stars – Liam Neeson and Charlize Theron.

I’m also really tickled how Seth MacFarlane is weaving in references (or boldly borrowing) story elements from some science fiction I grew up with… like “The Starlost” TV series from 1973 with Keir Dullea and 1989’s “Millennium” movie with Cheryl Ladd and Kris Kristofferson.

All of this is to say that “The Orville” in all of its silliness is showing lots of promise.

For Adults Only?
“Star Trek: Discovery” has promise too.

On a lark, I decided to take a look again at the first episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”
(CBS All Access gives you instant access to all “Trek” episodes.)

Whoa!!
Those first awkward minutes from “Encounter at Farpoint” have not aged well at all. We Trekkies really gave that series a lot of leeway until it found its footing.

But it was a series that everyone could watch.

All I’m saying here is I hope “Discovery” doesn’t continue too far down its path of targeting adult viewers only.

A Child of Star Trek
There has always been a younger generation of fans who were inspired by each version of “Star Trek.”

I was among the first wave, and honestly, I can’t imagine being told by my parents that I couldn’t watch “Star Trek,” because it wasn’t appropriate for kids.

Now, it’s true you can make the argument that “Discovery” is already too violent for children, but you wouldn’t find universal agreement on that point.

But you just can’t get around the F-bomb.

Right?

Retain the Universe of Inclusion
I just don’t think “Discovery” viewers need the naughty language.
(One Trekkie’s opinion)

That particular barrier doesn’t have to be broken.
It will just put up another one for younger viewers.

Message to “Discovery” writers:
Please clean up your potty mouth!

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