Star Trek New Voyages

[yoda313]

I have come what may and in harms way. What is to serve all my days about??

[AlecWest]

Alec, all 3 DVD ISOs are here:
http://ftp.acc.umu.se/mirror/media/StarTrek-NewVoyages/

4x00-Pilot-ComeWhatMay/ 30-Jun-2006 13:52 -
4x01-InHarmsWay/ 30-Jun-2006 13:53 -
4x02-ToServeAllMyDays/ 30-Jun-2006 14:11 -

Well, not exactly. If you go into the 4.02 directory:

http://ftp.acc.umu.se/mirror/media/StarTrek-NewVoyages/4x02-ToServeAllMyDays/

you'll only see an AVI and WMV file for the "trailer."

[gadgetguy]

I have come what may and in harms way. What is to serve all my days about??

It's not real clear, but the story revolves around Chekov at various ages and they got Walter Koenig to reprise the role, as well as having DC Fontana write the script.

[AlecWest]

BTW, I noticed that the Internet Archive has acknowledged a "Creative Commons" license for Star Trek New Voyages. But, there have only been small snippets uploaded, all in MP4 format (and quite likely, small).

I think I'll remedy that next week (grin). I've already got episodes 4.00 and 4.01 in MPEG2 and DivX 6.25 formats (720x480) as well as in VCD-compatible MPEG1 and RM formats (352x240) - and WMV format as well (320x240).

BTW, on the MPEG2 files, I frameserved both episodes from VDub to TMPG so they'd both fit on one DVD - and they both look pretty darn good (6095 video bitrate, 384k AC3). They also have "nav packets" so people using DVDauthorGUI won't have to split them into M2V/AC3 components before authoring.

P.S. A little trivia. With Gene Roddenberry, Jr., being the consulting producer for the shows, I wondered if any member of the cast was somehow related to former cast members. The cast member who really peaked my interest was John Kelley who plays Dr. McCoy. Could he possibly be related to DeForest Kelley, the original McCoy?

Probably not ... but Kelley is his middle name. John Kelley Muenchrath is his full name. Or rather, Doctor John Kelley Muenchrath. He's a licensed M.D. practicing at the North Bend Medical Center Hospital near Coos Bay, Oregon. His specialty is urology. When he first contacted the New Voyages people, he was just an interested fan who offered to help "build sets" or "make coffee." But when they found out he was a doctor, well ... so much for making coffee.

Still, his middle name had to come from somewhere. I wonder if the Muenchrath and Kelley family trees have similar roots? Well, at least the show doesn't have to look far for a medical advisor (grin) ... or emergency care in case of an accident on the set.

P.P.S. Another point to ponder. Years ago, Shatner told a group of fans to "Get a life." Some fans were offended by this ... but probably not because they were die-hard Trekkers. They were probably offended because they all DID "have lives" - and like the good Dr. Muenchrath, their fandom was just an adjunct to their lives. I wonder if Shatner ever regretted saying that. Probably not.

BTW, the most surprising scene in Episode 4.01 was near the beginning. As the ship was fired on by the doomsday machine, and as the bridge area of the saucer section exploded, you could hear a brief scream followed by this split-second image:

[AlecWest]

As I said earlier, I decided to attempt to upload the two episodes to the Internet Archive (Archive.org). Well, I did make the attempt, hehe. Sheesh. Now I'm on an unconscious quest to see how long it takes before they "boot" me off the Archive. In their forums, a guy bemoaned his inability to upload a file to a server. This was my reply:

bigmike,

I'm not connected to the archive ... just someone who's been here a while. I suspect you've done everything correctly. What you may be wondering (and what I'm wondering right now) is if even BEING here is a good use of your time.

Since I've been an Archive member, I've seen my upload speeds throttled back to one-tenth the upload speeds I can achieve on other servers, an inability to upload on more than one thread, and a 24-hour cutoff scenario that has never been discussed by anyone in any substantive way.

On the cutoff, this is what I mean. Assume you're uploading a 4.35 GB file. At the throttled upload speed of 42-45k/s, it would take you roughly 28 hours to upload the file. Problem? At exactly the 24-hour mark, the server disconnects you ... and when you reconnect, it won't let you "resume" the upload. The trick to get around it? Upload as much as possible for, say, 23 hours. Then manually disconnect and reconnect ... restarting the "cutoff" clock ... allowing you to resume and complete the upload.

Right now at this moment, I'm encountering a problem similar to yours. I'm attempting to upload a 1.9 GB file to this server:

ia331310.us.archive.org

It allows me to upload at a 42-45k/s rate for a few seconds. Then it slows down into the 30k/s range ... then down into the 20k/s range ... then down into the 10k/s range ... then into the single-digit range until it just freezes up altogether. When I restart SmartFTP, sometimes the server connects, sometimes it doesn't. And if it does connect, I go back into the same slowdown/freezup mode. Also, I've been in and out of passive mode and it doesn't seem to make a difference.

In short, even though I'm otherwise uploading a file that would take less than 15 hours to upload at throttled speeds, there is a good chance I'll just have to delete the thing (assuming I can reconnect at all) and just say, "To heck with it," on this try ... hoping maybe a day, a week, a month, or a year from now, things *might* improve. Then again, maybe they won't.

Pardon me for being a curmudgeon here (hehe). I honestly try to be upbeat about things most of the time. But I've never encountered an entity that depends on and encourages donations of uploaded material from the public ... then turns around and treats the people who attempt to donate the material like somebody's "poor relation." If Archive.org was a private-sector business, the people responsible for making these servers "responsive" to clientele would be working in the fast-food industry by now (grin).

Oh well ... there's always hope. Good luck to you. And knock on wood for me as well.

I'll try again, though ... in a day, a week, a month, or a year from now (grin) ... unless they kick me off the site first.

[lordsmurf]

It seems 4.02 is not released, right?

[yoda313]

Thats the consensus now. Probably by the end of the year...

A trekkers christmas present

[AlecWest]

It seems 4.02 is not released, right?

Right. The film itself is in the can ... but the disc is still on the drawing board. I suspect they'll do some editing first ... even after a release. I've seen 2 versions of Episode 4.01, one an edited version of the other. Not sure whether the New Voyages people did the edit or if it was an after-the-fact edit done by another fan.

[AlecWest]

Update - Episode 4.03, "World Enough and Time" (the one with George Takei in it) just completed filming yesterday. Here's a link to non-spoiler photos taken during the shoot:

http://homepage.mac.com/jhayes6/PhotoAlbum88.html

With Episode 4.02 due out soon, and 4.03 just completing filming, I suspect that episodes will be released more frequently from here on out. Well, I can always hope.

P.S. A question for someone who knows. When the original series ended, Kirk was still Captain of the Enterprise. And in the first motion picture, he was already an Admiral. Is there a Star Trek novel that attempts to explain the circumstances surrounding his ascent from Captaincy to Admiralty? I'm assuming it's been dealt with ... that he must have done something dramatic to catch the eye of Star Fleet Command for promotion ... rather than just getting a sub-space communication telling him "Congrats, you're now an Admiral."