Google builds replica Star Trek bridge at convention

[zzyzzx]

http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/060818072453.fpujexjv.html

Google builds bridge at Star Trek cult convention

Google duplicated the bridge of the fictional Starship Enterprise and embarked on a mission in Las Vegas to recruit engineers, at a gathering of cultish Star Trek devotees.

More than 10,000 fans of the Star Trek franchise that began with a television series debut in September of 1966 were expected by organisers to make pilgrimages to the official annual convention at the Las Vegas Hilton.



Google Earth chief technologist Michael Jones, who quipped that his job was to make certain Google's mapping service was "the warp drive of computer graphics," commanded a booth modeled after the Enterprise bridge.

"You sit in the captain's chair and the main screen is Google Earth," Jones said in a telephone interview from the booth. "It is cool. People go to their house, China, Singapore, The Netherlands...it has been fun."

Google deemed the convention a prime place to search for talent because the fans tend to be tech-savvy, passionate, and in tune with the show's theme of expanding the boundaries of human accomplishment, according to Jones.

"It is the spirit of getting to a distant planet, solving a problem and coming home - making the universe a smaller place," Jones said.

"You don't have to teleport to the Eiffel Tower. You can type it into Google Earth and fly there in a few seconds and learn about it."

Jones, 46, spoke of watching Star Trek as a child and being inspired by the "tricorders" characters "beamed" onto strange planets would use to quickly learn its composition, atmosphere and life forms.

"It was the notion that you could be smart about something you couldn't quite see, but was around the corner," Jones said.

"Through Google Earth, when you land at your Paris hotel you can see the Champs de Lysee and things to do. You get a sense of the planet."

Attending the convention was also depicted by Google as an opportunity to let people meet some of the humans behind the globally renowned Internet search engine.

"It is good for us to get out and let people see that we are not insufferably arrogant or unapproachably brilliant," Jones said. "We are people with passion."

The Google clan felt a kindred spirit with Star Trek fans that unabashedly demonstrated devotion by dressing up as favorite characters, stocking up on mementos, and seeking autographs from actors.

In a lighthearted blog entry, Google technical writer Tom Galloway referred to the television show's Captain James T. Kirk as an early blogger due to the "captain's log" he narrated in episodes.

The crew's flip-open communicators could be seen as predecessors to popular mobile telephone models, according to Galloway.

"And the crew was constantly asking the ship's computer for information...sort of like Google," Galloway wrote.

"Scotty and Spock, the engineer and the scientist, certainly were childhood inspirations to many Googlers. Now we've (somewhat) grown up, and often work on things that seem right out of the show."

Original captain William Shatner and first officer Leonard Nimoy topped a roster of 70 Star Trek television and film celebrities slated to appear at the four-day convention.

Convention sponsor Arovotech planned to debut Computer Automated Smart Semantic Interface artificial intelligence software at the venue.

"Star Trek fans are at the forefront of acceptance of new technology and are certainly open to learning about and adopting advances made in computer interface and the Internet," said Gary Berman, head of Creation Entertainment, the Southern California company that organized the convention.

Appropriately, the Hilton venue had a permanent Star Trek-themed attraction complete with rides, museum, shipboard weddings, and faux "Borg" invaders.

"It has a homey feel," Jones said of the gathering. "No non-Vulcan or non-human candidates so far. But, we wouldn't discriminate against a Klingon or a Romulan (Star Trek villains). Absolutely not."

[teegee420]

Pretty sweet. I was hoping it was the original Enterprise bridge before the page loaded.

[yoda313]

Pretty sweet. I was hoping it was the original Enterprise bridge before the page loaded.

That is the KIRK original bridge.

Or do you mean the imposter ARCHER NX bridge?????

[Noahtuck]

Pretty sweet. I was hoping it was the original Enterprise bridge before the page loaded.

That is the KIRK original bridge.

Yeah, the original Enterprise bridge.....

Or do you mean the imposter ARCHER NX bridge?????

[teegee420]

Pretty sweet. I was hoping it was the original Enterprise bridge before the page loaded.

That is the KIRK original bridge.

Or do you mean the imposter ARCHER NX bridge?????

.
You shame yourself by uttering such a thing! Just kidding, I actually watched the last two seasons of Enterprise and really enjoyed it....which is why it was cancelled. :P

[AlecWest]

I actually watched the last two seasons of Enterprise and really enjoyed it....which is why it was cancelled. :P

I liked it, too. Oh well - since the TV Land Channel has picked up rights to the original series, maybe they'll start picking up rights to the spinoffs ... especially Enterprise since it doesn't have the same following as other spinoffs (and would probably be cheaper).

[teegee420]

I read that Sci-fi will begin airing the show this fall.

[scustalow]

Where is the ORIGINAL Enterprise Bridge and other ship props I wonder?

[Garibaldi]

What a great idea! I'll have to go see it sometime!

[Wile_E]

Where is the ORIGINAL Enterprise Bridge and other ship props I wonder?

Last I heard, Paramount had most of the props in storage. Last time I was in Vegas, I went to Star Trek The Experience at the Hilton. They have complete mock-ups of the next generation bridge. Looked pretty good, but there were some flaws. The chairs were not exactly the same. The monitors at the stations were still CRT monitors with curved screens, behind the flat plexiglass. LOL! They could've at least used LCD panels! Also a lot of the plastic on the COMM stations was broken a taped in place with scotch tape! This was disappointing. Some of the actors didn't stay in character either and actually was giggling throughout their performance. This ruined the experience for me.