This holiday season, Microsoft will be offering the Kinect for Xbox 360. Not to be outdone, Sony also plans to debut Move for PlayStation 3. These peripherals will immerse gamers a little deeper into the game where every move and gesture of the hands and body will be the controller. The Kinect and Move will also bring augmented reality to the table as an entertainment experience. While these devices show a lot of promise and potential, somehow I don’t think this is where gaming should be for the 21^st century.

Video gaming has come a long way since the days of the Atari 2600 console. Graphics are now rendered in 3D with textures, effects, and environments that, at times, seem to blur the line between watching a live action movie and computer generated images (CGI). As we have entered the 21^st century, gaming has become more immersive and interactive: replacing the one-button wired joystick with wireless controllers that seemed to have more buttons than you could handle and motion-detecting wands and cameras.

In the early 1990’s, virtual reality (VR) was the hot topic in entertainment, education, research, technical training, and just about every other aspect of life. There was even a TV show about it called VR5 and starring Lori Singer.

VR was yesterday’s promise for today. TVs and computer monitors were on their death beds. It is now 2010, ten years into the 21^st century. So, where are my VR helmet, gloves, and vest? …and stuff?

In 1995, The VFX-1 hit the market and showed all the promise of the future. Every movement you made with your head was tracked by the helmet.  Flight simulators on the PC became amazing overnight. No longer did you have to hit a button on your keyboard to “turn your head”. You just turned your head, and the tracking in the helmet did the rest for you.  The VFX-1 immersed your ocular and auditory senses like never before.

The VFX-1 helmet didn’t come cheap; it premiered at roughly $900.00 (USD). If you looked at it as a replacement for your existing monitor, it wasn’t a bad trade-off. But it wasn’t supposed to replace it, and your average gamer could not swing that kind of cash for gaming in the mid-90’s. This is the likely reason that the VFX-1 ultimately failed.

Also, there were some undesirable side effects that resulted from using virtual reality equipment. After being immersed in this other reality and removing the equipment from your body, disorientation, dizziness, and nausea were common occurrences…and all of this after only 10 minutes of use.

After having numerous personal experiences with VR in the mid-90’s, I never experienced any ill effects from unplugging. I suspect users were unplugging too quickly by going about their normal duties before “readjusting”. To put it in perspective, one should keep in mind that NASA astronauts use VR to train for space walks for hours at a time. Alas, the side effects were something that seem to have gotten in the way of the virtual reality reaching its full potential, at the time.

(If you can’t tell by now, I’m lamenting the failure of the markets to embrace VR!)

Now it’s 2010, and Vuxiz has their own offering for virtual reality, the iWear VR920 (pictured in the first image, above). The device is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, and XP but isn’t quite as geek-chic as the VFX-1, nor quite as immersive. What the iWear VR920 does boast, though, is a long list of PC games and applications with which it promises to be compatible. Starting at $399.00 (USD), the iWear may actually stand a chance of keeping the VR dream alive.

The disappointing truth, though, is that limiting your product to only PC use is cuts out a large market share. Sony? Microsoft? Are you listening here? There are people in the world that would LOVE to skip past the Move and Kinect offerings. We’re ready to jump on the VR bandwagon. If the goal of console and gaming companies is to create an immersive environment and an unforgettable experience, flapping your arms in the air and waiving around wands in front of a proprietary camera is definitely not the answer.

So, for now, it looks like gamers will have to wait a little bit longer for that elusive, true VR experience. I’m sure it will come eventually. Let’s just hope it  happens before we all get to old to be able to move enough for it to actually work.

You may have heard of Stealth Guards. The company describes their product as “the latest in gadget and device protection.” They’re made of a “clear, thermoplastic urethane film” that applies easily to your cell phone or other portable device and allow many dings and scratches to disappear after a day. This weekend, @luckyone49, a friend on Twitter was kind enough to pass on a link to to the website to me and let me know that for a limited number of consumers can purchase one, for only the cost of shipping.

That’s right. They’re free. When I placed the order for a few this past Saturday, they were free for the first 1,000 consumers. This morning, the website has been updated to show that they’ve extended the offer to the first 2,000 consumers. Stealth Guards are available for, among others, the Apple iPhone 4 and 3GS, Droid X, BlackBerry Torch 9800 and Bold 9700, and HTC Evo and Hero. More than likely, your device is there, too. So what are you waiting for? For just a few dollars in shipping you can pick up that extra layer of protection that your device (and your wallet) deserve! Click on the image below to visit the site and order yours while the offer is still available.

Even if you don’t need one for yourself, help a friend out and pass the information on to them. After all, great deals don’t come along all the time, so everyone should have a chance to take advantage of one that protects their beloved gadgets.

Note: The above information is posted as a courtesy to GSL readers. GSL has no affiliation with Stealth Guards or its partners and has received no compensation for posting the information. Bottom Line: We just like passing on the information about free and discounted stuff!

Lately I’ve seen a few articles aimed at women regarding SDCC. Let me just say that the word condescending does not even begin to cover them. It’s more than a little sad that in the year 2010 many people still swing that wide brush which paints any girls at a comic/sci-fi convention as just tagging along with a guy. It reminds me of when I showed up to an employee’s desk to fix a computer issue one time. He said ‘Oh, er, um…Are you like the ‘unofficial’ IT person? All the guys are busy right now?’ I was so taken aback all I could say at first was ‘Are you serious?’ (which was 100% more profanity-free and less violent than what ran through my head) Oh yes, he was completely serious. People really are amazed when they discover I read comic books, wanted a Death Star cake at my wedding, and that I prefer technology to people. So when I was asked to do a write-up on my time at Comic Con, I thought that maybe, just maybe I can convince at least one person that the mythical geek girl does exist. And doesn’t always dwell in her parent’s basement.

This was my second year at SDCC. Due to traumatic events post-SDCC 2009 and other assorted factors, I only purchased a Friday pass this year. Which let me tell you, one day will exhaust you. I guarantee it! One thing I stress to anyone going to a con, regardless if it’s Comic Con in San Diego, Dragon*Con in Atlanta, or Starfest in Denver, is do some planning! Plan, plan, plan! I had poured over the schedule as soon as it was released, deciding which panels I absolutely had to see. I entered all of the pertinent information into my trusty Google Calendar and ensured it was sync’d with my trusty Blackberry so I would know where I was every step of the way. I also toyed with the idea of dressing up because my husband had helped me build a truly shiny Dark Helmet costume for Halloween last year (Slave Leia’s EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT!). Then I remembered how hot the costume was, how hot Comic Con was, and how hard it was to see in that helmet. So civvies it was.

Luckily enough for me, all of my ‘must see’ panels were being held in Ballroom 20, one of the largest rooms at the San Diego Convention Center. I knew from my experience in 2009 what to expect line-wise. Therefore I was not surprised after registration when I rushed to join a mob that was behind the mob that was waiting behind the line to get in line for Ballroom 20. Basically, there’s a large terrace/balcony where they set up snaky chains to maximize the line. (I have the worst skills in judging distance, but I’m pretty sure if you straightened out the snakies in that line it would be about 232 miles long.) So my mob and I are all waiting to get outside and get in Snakyline 2010, when rumors start flying about the fire marshal being on his way and how they were going to kick us all out of that area! At one point a dude who looked reasonably in charge said he was going to take our mob around to another line location where we’d be in a real line to get into snakyline. About half the mob and I followed the reasonably-in-charge-looking-man until he took us down the escalator. I asked myself, “The line to get in line is downstairs?” Since I was pretty sure he was full of Sith-spit, I bailed on the half-mob, taking a quick tour through the vendor floor and making my way back up to Ballroom 20, where….

…there is a new mob! And now the Fire Marshal really is there, and they’re all trying to figure out what to do. So I think someone had some sort of epiphany and just opened the doors to let us all go get into snakyline 2010. Weird! The moral of that story is….that you should probably just stay put, wait it out, and hope good things happen.

Many rows back, BOO!

The first panel that morning was for Stargate Universe. I’ve always loved the Stargate movie, but I must confess that I never really got into the shows. I knew a lot of Stargate SG-1 groups that made the con circuit in Denver. They’re nice people. Surprisingly, the panel did pique my interest, and SGU is now on my ‘to watch’ list. Ming Na, in particular, was very personable.

Moved up a few rows, WHOO!

Next up was Caprica. I loved-loved-loved-loved Battlestar Galactica in a completely unhealthy fashion, so I was a bit apprehensive when I heard plans for a prequel named Caprica. Luckily, Caprica delivers. It’s dramatic and gritty and intense and oh-so-different from BSG, being set 58 years in the past. The Caprica panel featured Alessandra Torresani (Zoe Graystone), Sasha Roiz (Sam Adama), Ronald D. Moore (co-creator/executive producer), David Eick (executive producer), Magda Apanowicz (Lacy Rand) and was moderated by Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times. The cast had a fairly good rapport with one another which is always nice to see. My favorite parts of this panel had to be listening to Ron Moore speak. He’s an infinitely fascinating man and he and David Eick seem to have a very comfortable relationship, which I think translates into a great show.

Moved up about 15 rows, WHOO!

The Big Bang Theory was next, and it seemed that most people had sat through the first two panels just for this. (No one was stabbed for it, luckily) Con workers were making some adjustments on stage as they do, when we noticed there were instruments being tuned on stage. Instruments? I’m pretty sure Johnny Galecki really does play some large stringed instrument (Shockingly I was not a music major) but there was a…accordion? So my row-mates and I started to extrapolate on what that could possibly mean! An accordion? That’s crazy! A few moments later some paper came down the rows and we found ourselves looking at lyrics to TBBT’s theme song! Yay, a sing-along! A short time later, Wil Wheaton comes onstage and informs us that we will be having a sing-along…with THE BARENAKED LADIES!!! The crowd goes totally nuts. That was a really nice treat to give the fans, and they sounded fantastic!! This panel had Chuck Lorre (Creator/producer) and Bill Prady (Creator/producer), as well as series stars Johnny Galecki (Leonard), Jim Parsons (Sheldon), Kaley Cuoco (Penny), Simon Helberg (Howard), and Kunal Nayyar (Raj). The best parts of this panel had to be Chuck Lorre busting Wil Wheaton’s…chops. Chuck is a funny, funny man. Another funny one is Simon Helberg who cracked joke after joke, proving that he’s completely hysterical. It is always a bit disappointing when you realize that the actors are not even close to being geeks themselves, but such is life.

Moved up a couple more rows, YAY!

After Big Bang was the Bones panel. I actually sat through that panel in 2009 while waiting for Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse panel. I remember being really surprised that Bones had a panel at SDCC. I watch it occasionally and enjoy it, but don’t really keep up with it. Hart Hanson (creator/producer), David Boreanaz (Seeley Booth), and Emily Deschanel (Temperance Brennan) were all on hand for this panel which was moderated by some TV Guide Bones fan guy who moderated last year. I found him annoyingly smiley. Kathy Reichs, the author of the Bones books was a surprise guest, and everyone who attended got a copy of her new book, 206 Bones. (Haven’t read it yet.) This panel was alright. I got the distinct feeling that David and Emily do not particularly like each other. They were smiling and ‘joking’ but it was almost as if they were trying to annoy each other, a bit like the way I imagine newscasters who hate each other act.

Moved up to the FRONT ROW!!!!

(But no yay, because I was on the complete right-hand side. Bad move on my part. *Sadface*)

So now, the panel I was waiting for had finally begun…The Joss Whedon Experience!! I love Joss. I love anything that man has his hands in. Astonishing X-Men is my favorite comic series. I read the Buffy, Runaway Kids, Angel and Fray comics. I love all of his shows, and it really is awesome to hear him talk. Unfortunately, people tend to *always* ask him the same questions, it seems. “Why do you like strong female characters?” etc, but I try not to let that bother me. About halfway through, I noticed some people walk out from behind stage (remember, I’m on the faaaaaaaaaar right, by the wall and the stage entrance). And with regard to one of the guys, I thought to myself, “Nice disguise, dude.” The guy was wearing a white (golf?) hat, a big black mustache and sunglasses. Well I forgot about him until someone went up to the mic and asked, “Who’s your favorite actor?” Joss didn’t even hesitate and said, “Nathan Fillion.” The crowd went nuts, and Joss says, “No, you don’t understand (*points at the guy on the mic*), it’s Nathan Fillion.” It was, indeed, Nathan out there which was both awesome and a lot of fun.

Hitting the vendor floor for some shopping action

I really very much wanted to stay for the Entertainment Weekly: Girls Who Kick Ass: A New Generation of Heroines because it was so up my alley. There’s nothing I absolutely love quite as much as when women are not portrayed as stereotypical ‘women’. However I knew I had shopping to do, and the vendor floor is entirely unforgiving and HUGE. Also I had been sitting in that Ballroom for about 6 hours, and some people at SDCC have questionable hygiene. And someone was…excuse the details…passing gas. You know who you are, and I’m here to inform you there is a special place in Hades for you, right alongside the people who talk in the theatre and bring babies to Comic Con. (Yes, there are people who seriously brought babies.)

So I decided to make my way down to the vendor floor to check out all the goodies. Now, it seemed that many booths were in the exact same place as last year. I know a few of them moved, but for the most part a lot of the displays were the same which was mildly disappointing. Hasbro seemed to have a larger presence and brought a real-pony-sized My Little Pony (it was huge awesomeness), as well as a gynormous statue of He-Man! Which I totally squealed at because I loved He-Man and She-Ra. I think that’s where most of my kick-assedness comes from. She-Ra kicked tons!! My little-girl memories show me a woman who carried a blade and beat people up. My hero. One exciting point on the floor was was when I saw Misha Collins (Castiel from Supernatural) being interviewed on the second floor of the WB booth. We made eye contact and totally had a moment. (Not really.) He’s totally adorable and a very tiny man, in real life.

I made my purchases of a Darth Vader belt (a belt with him on it, not like his belt with all the buttons. I already have that belt), a Rebel Alliance (actually it’s the Alliance to Restore the Republic) symbol buckle, an angry grizzly shirt from artist Ben Walker (highly recommend his stuff if you share my sense of humor. There may not be much that’s more awesome than a bear with guns.), a super soft Star Wars T from Her Universe (amazing shirt!), my 4-day Comic Con pass for next year, and finally a skull and crossbones from my favorite Goth booth there. After that I was feeling pretty exhausted and crowd-weary, so I made my way to Jolt’n’Joes for the GeekGirls Tweet-up.

The GeekGirls Tweet-up

The Tweet-Up was a lot of fun. I actually met (in person) a lot of Twitter friends there which was very cool. Grant and Kari from Mythbusters showed up and were both super nice people, who were very gracious to everyone. However, it was incredibly hard to get an adult beverage, which was less than thrilling.

All good Comic Cons must come to an end

Finally, loaded down with my loot, I made my way to the Santa Fe Train Depot where I apparently missed the train back to Cardiff, despite having arrived 10 minutes before its scheduled departure time. I had to call my non-geeky husband to come pick me up before I had to trade my Star Wars shirt to a hobo for sidewalk space.

I already can’t wait for next year’s SDCC, and in case you’re still wondering what it’s all about…

Most of us are not surrounded at all times by people who share our geeky passions. My husband good-naturedly tolerates mine and finds my obsession with most of it endearing, rather than frightening. I generally tend to scare people when they find out I have a Lord of the Rings tattoo or that I know Hermione’s birthday and read Star Wars books. Comic Con may be noisy. It may be crowded. And some people may be smelly. It is, though, a place where we’re not weird. It’s a place you may catch snatches of a conversation being held in Klingon, and it’s not considered out of the ordinary. It’s a place where I could wear my ‘Hentai Inside’ shirt, and people laugh and say, “Nice shirt,” instead of “huh?” Why? It’s because, at Comic Con, you are hanging out with 125,000 people who “get it”. And, as surprising as it may seem, a lot of those who “get it,” like me, are girls.

Oh, because I’m sure you’re all wondering, I did not win the battle to have a Death Star cake at my wedding, although my husband and I did compromise. I made a custom cake-topper with R2-D2’s (they lit up and had sound-effects!), Padme and Anakin.

Over the weekend, I let my curiosity get the better of me and I went to see the latest Leonardo DiCaprio epic: Inception. Normally, I’m not a big Leo fan. He’s just got one of those voices that’s hard to take seriously in a dramatic role. That and I will always see him as the snot-nosed Luke in “Growing Pains” or the mentally handicapped brother of Johnny Depp in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”. I just don’t see him as all that dramatic. I got so sick of see his awful New York accent in the trailers for “Shutter Island” that I decided against going to see a movie I would have probably enjoyed.

That said, I went into Inception with mixed hopes; I knew it had been well –received, and anyone I knew that had seen it had enjoyed it, but could I take Leo seriously in what was likely an action role? The players in action movies really require the right mix of comic book absurdity and real life believability. I mean would “Predator” have been as easy to swallow with Adrian Brody playing Dutch? OK, bad example. I suppose this topic related to a recent article in which Sylvester Stallone blamed Tim Burton’s “Batman” for the decline of the muscle-bound action hero of the 80’s. I’m not sure about all that (even if I am sure that casting Michael Keaton was the worst idea in the history of cinema… after, of course, anything to do with “Ishtar”), but he does have a point. The advent of the “muscle suit” meant that action stars could be more cerebral, while still giving the appearance of being muscular and sturdy, even if they weren’t. Toward the end of the 90’s and into the 00’s, we started seeing a pleasant combination of both, which allowed for Toby McGuire to pull of being Spider-Man AND Peter Parker, and for Ryan Reynolds to do… well… whatever he effin’ wants to do.

Back to the topic at hand. So I sit down with my $1 drink and my $1 popcorn (thank you AMC) to watch the first movie to focus on the dream world since 1984’s Dreamscape (one of my personal favorites), and I immediately realize that this isn’t a typical Sci-Fi Action movie. It has elements of a Thriller, too, since the movie started with the viewer asking, “OK, what the heck just happened?” In fact, the whole first 20 minutes of the movie had me asking one question after another. What made this a good movie, and really is a hallmark of any good story, is that all the questions I asked were SUPPOSED to be asked, and they all got answered… in good time. You see, they left just enough information out to make me start trying to guess what the answers were; which I like, by the way. The best part was that I couldn’t just guess how things were going to go. There was a real feeling that the heroes (or more accurately anti-heroes) were going to fail, and in fact, failure was an integral part of the plot. That’s good story telling.

As for the Sci-Fi aspect, they didn’t really delve much into what made the whole thing work. They dip your toes tantalizingly into the physics of the dream state (i.e. that time passes differently because the subconscious perceives events differently), but they never explain how the process works. Not even a little. All you see is the cast put a thing on their arm and “BAM!” they fall asleep. Another interesting aspect is the concept of the “Kick”, which is the action of forcing someone out of a dream by making them fall (which seems easy enough, but the movie uses this as a major plot device, so it’s not as easy as you might think). There is a lot of potential here, and I felt it wasn’t explored enough. Additionally, and I’m speaking only for myself here, but my dreams are utterly effing bizarre. I’m talking anthropomorphic animals and talking cars bizarre. There was none of that, though. I imagine that the subject matter was serious enough to warrant realistic dreams, but these dreams were more along the lines of what I expect James Bond or Jason Bourne dream about.

Without getting too deep into the plot of the movie, which I feel would spoil it for you, I did want to talk about the concept of being able to share dreams, or, as the movie suggests being able to trick someone into subconsciously giving away a secret. The next step further is the act of planting an idea in someone’s head, which is where the movie gets its name. I will say that most of the coolest imagery you see in the trailer is in the first half of the movie, but all in all, I enjoyed the picture immensely. There was an excellent story, decent acting, lots of questions, almost as many answers, and a feeling when I left the theater that I had things to talk about. Imagine a world where people actually paid “Extractors” to train them how to defend against dream theft; a world where sharing dreams became so desirable that people abandoned their own reality to live in their shared dreams. It sounds nice until the scene where you see what can only be described as a “Dream Den”, a place where people connect together to share dreams for significant portions (like 18 hours or more) of their days. That’s when you find out that one of the side effects is that you can no longer dream without using the device (which is why I’m perturbed about not being told how it really works). You also learn about the totems the main characters use to help identify when they are dreaming and when they aren’t, since the dreams become so real it becomes impossible to distinguish dream from reality.

All in all, I enjoyed Inception a great deal, and I am recommending it to anyone who enjoys Action movies or Thrillers. For us Sci-Fi geeks, there’s just enough to draw us in, but in real Science Fiction, those aspects of the plot that MAKE it Sci-Fi are just as important as the characters and the plot. In this movie, the whole concept of the dream state, and the device that they use, is secondary to what actually happens in the dreams themselves. I felt like they could have used any number of different plot devices to get where they were going in the story, and that the “dream machine” just happened to be the one they chose. That’s not to say that some of the more intricate sub-plots weren’t dependent on the technology, but the overall story wasn’t. At least not from where I sat.

Go see the movie and let me know what you think. Or maybe you can just dream about it. Maybe you already have. Maybe this is a dream…

As true geeks, we here at Geek Shui Living constantly keep our eyes open for anything that looks, smells, or tastes like geekiness. Back in June, I had the privilege to come across a geeky startup, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The brainchild of Natali, a person whom I have the unique pleasure of following on Twitter. A self-confessed (and monikered) dork, Natali is one of those people that others tend to flock toward, based on her positive attitude, keen wit, and demonstrated intelligence. In this case, I came across a Kickstarter project started by Natali.

What is her goal? Well, she has a dream. That dream is to start a business, called the UberDork Cafe. Of course, to start a business one needs either their own capital or funds from investors. Living in the real world, we know that now isn’t necessarily the best time to run to the bank and ask for a business loan. In Natali’s case, she is appealing to the geek masses. What is her humble request? She is asking for geeks to unite and donate anywhere from $1 to $1,000 to help her get things started. At this point, you might be asking what this really has to do with technology and geekery in general. That’s where it gets really interesting. Trust me. You want to be a part of this.

A culinary, tech startup where the needs of the many truly outweigh the needs of the few.

The fact is that Natali’s dream isn’t just to start a business from which she can derive a steady income with which to support her family. The business plan is to operate a cafe with a delicious menu, but, ultimately, the dream is bigger than that. Yes, it will be her business, but one of her core concepts is to spread the geek love to others in her community. According to Natali, the cafe will provide a safe, family-oriented environment that serves not only good food, but knowledge as well. As Natali puts it on the project’s homepage:

“The goal is to use as many local vendors as possible. To showcase local artists and talent as well. Whether it’s someone guest-teaching a class, hosting a local knitting group, a comic artist lecture or meet and greet or allowing local artists to exhibit and sell their works, there will be much opportunity to support the great vendors and artists that my community (both in location and in spirit) has to offer.“

To this end, the idea is to have both adult and child seating areas. Additionally, there will be a game room, complete with video gaming consoles and educational games. There will also be a classroom area where local artists, teachers and other community-minded individuals can give back something to members of the community, in the form of classes, expositions, and other educational forums.

In a recent profile of the project on Game Couch, Natali was asked why people outside of the greater Milwaukee area and around the country should want to donate to this worthy startup. Natali explained:

“What if there was some place to go do all of that while surrounded by people that got you? What if there was a place where geeky kids could go hang and meet other kids instead of avatars? Where people that believed in them so much that they might have a chance at a scholarship to go build the best video game ever or gadget that would save lives? ….that all needs to start somewhere. Why not here?“

Her remark on scholarships touches on another unique and admirable aspect of the project. Natali’s goal is to be able to eventually provide annual scholarships to budding art and science geeks, in the local area. For her, it’s just as important to help other children, as it is to help others. Does all of this capture the complete idea and essence of the UberDork Cafe. A visit to the project’s homepage educates visitors on the complete dream, her concept of operations, and the many details associated with achieving it. Of course, the reality is that dreams like this generally aren’t cheap. Natali’s initial goal was to raise $5,000 to allow her to secure, furnish, and stock the locale. There are also significant costs relating to licensing and permits. The date for her to secure the minimum pledges necessary to get things moving is August 13, 2010. Fortunately, she was able to reach her minimum goal well ahead of schedule. The important thing to remember, though, is that $5,000 is the minimum. In order to maximize the chances of success, the UberDork Cafe will need a significantly higher pledge total. This is where you, the reader, come in. The minimum pledge amount is $1.00. Let’s assume that you donate $10.00 and put things into their proper perspective. In today’s world, $10.00 will buy you:

• Two lattes from Starbucks (before tax).
• One iTunes album
• Two Happy Meals from McDonalds
• One movie ticket (depending upon geographic location)

What if you could trade one or more of these things, for just one day of your life, to help someone make their dreams and the dreams of others come true? In perspective, it seems like a worthy cause to me. If Natali is able to achieve the success to which she aspires, you will be able to count yourself among the benevolent people who helped. Of course, you may not be able to pledge $100 or even $1,000, and no one is asking you to go hungry. To a degree, you’ll be grouped in the same category of “tech angel investors,” that includes names like Kevin Rose, Jason Calcanis, Mike Arrington, and Matt Coffin. In the end, will it be the dollar amount that you pledged that really matters or the fact that you did it at all? I think we all know the answer to that one.

Ready to help make the UberDork Cafe dream a reality? Visit the project homepage to learn more and make your pledge. Would you like to help but can’t afford it? You can help by simply taking the time to share this post via Facebook, Twitter, or email, so that others can pledge their support.

If you’ve been conscious anytime in the last month, you’re certain to have heard about the drama surrounding the iPhone 4’s antenna problems. The complaints began to surface back in June. It wasn’t until tech circles began calling it Antennagate that Apple really began to take notice. What was their response? Well, initially the solution was rumored to be a software update that would fix a flawed formula in the way the “bars of reception” was calculated and displayed. This was followed up by an official Apple press release on July 2, 2010. When that explanation didn’t quell the angry masses, Apple went a step further and, on July 16, 2010, held a press conference wherein the solution identified was to distribute free cases to those who had already purchased the iPhone 4. If that logic hurt your brain, don’t fell bad. It hurt ours, too.

So what is the solution? The logical step might be reevaluating and reengineering something. It could be software or hardware fix, or, as Steve Jobs suggested, just holding it the “correct” way might work. Let’s pause and think for a minute. Are iPhone 4 cases the answer, either? What about those who don’t like cases on gadgets. Some don’t want to bulk it up with armor. Some like to carry it in their pockets. Adding even a quarter of an inch of width, length, or depth is unacceptable for many size-conscious users. Should we complain about Apple’s solution, though?  The question brings to mind the old addage, “It’s better to be part of the solution, not the problem.” We choose this route. As a result, some Geek Shui geeks (okay, one Geek Shui geek…okay, me) sat down and decided to come up with some alternative solutions to holding the phone correctly or using a case. Take your pick. Ultimately, they can’t make the situation any worse….well, probably not, anyway.

So what are the alternatives? We’ve given you the idea, a basic description and the estimated price range to achieve it. Here they are in no particular order of effectiveness:

The iPhone Stereo Headset - This is the most obvious choice. If the problem is that the iPhone 4 doesn’t like to be touched “there”, then the best solution is not to touch it at all. Using the official headset that came with the iPhone 4 (or any previous generation iPhone for that matter) will allow you to set the phone down while talking. Putting it in your pocket or in a holster might not help, since the material might accidentally touch the wrong place and drop your call. Thusly, placing the iPhone 4 face-up on a flat surface is recommendable. (Price Range: Free with the iPhone 4 or $29.00 for a replacement set of the official Apple product)

The Bluetooth Headset - For those who like the headset idea but can’t bear the thought of a dangling cord, the Bluetooth headset is the way to go. In addition to helping you not touch the phone when making calls, it will also project an air of importance because…let’s face it…people who walk around with Bluetooth headsets on all day long look really cool. Prices are pretty moderate for basic Bluetooth headsets. Athletic types and audio-aficionados might appreciate spending a little more for models like the Jaybird Freedom Bluetooth headphones which stream and allow for the control of music, as well. (Price Range: From $25 for low-end models to $159 for Jaybird-type products)

The aforementioned are some fairly routine alternatives. Next, we’ll move on to some more avant-garde approaches. These are decidedly much more low-tech in their application. Also, be forewarned that these solutions are for the daring types who don’t mind strange looks from others.

The Duct Tape solution – If you’re from the midwest, you might have heard the phrase, “There’s nothing that can’t be fixed with duct tape and baling wire.” Luckily for iPhone 4 users, no baling wire is needed to achieve this solution. It’s true. This is similar to the iPhone Antenn-aid, but is ultimately more cost-effective. Many iPhone 4 owners probably already have duct tape at home. If not, it can be picked up at Home Depot or pretty much any store with a hardware or tape section. Simply cut the duct tape to the width of the devices stainless steel sides and stick it on. If you don’t get the fit right or put it on smoothly the first time, take it off and cut another piece. An added bonus is that the standard silver duct tape will blend right in with the iPhone 4 body. For the truly bold iPhone 4 owner who wants to be practical and make a statement, bright red duct tape might be the perfect choice. (Price Range: From “You already have it in the tool box” to $20 if you’re going for the high-end stuff)

The Velcro Solution – For us, this is the most dynamic approach to an alternative solution to one’s iPhone 4 antenna problems. Velcro has long been the solution for sticking stuff securely, yet temporarily. In this case, the concept is no different. The concept is a simple one. Buy the size closest to the width of the iPhone 4. Remove the adhesive from the soft side of the velcro. Stick it on the back of the iPhone 4. The same process can be used to stick the rough side of the velcro to the palm of one’s hand. When placing or receiving a call, simply stick the iPhone 4 to the palm of the hand. Face it. This solution is also the closest we’ll probably ever come to achieving the dream of surgically attaching a mobile device to our bodies. So, seize the opportunity and go for velcro. (Price Range: From $3 for small pads to $30 for rolls of the heavy duty stuff)

This technique has several added benefits if one invests in a whole roll of velcro:

• • Additional rough sides can be placed on other commonly used surfaces, such as a car’s console or sun visor, the inside of a purse or bag, or on the wall next to the charger.
  • In the unfortunate event the iPhone 4 is dropped, the soft backing may provide protection against the glass-shattering impact we’ve all read about.

Now, it should be clear that there are alternatives to holding the iPhone 4 correctly or confining it to the jail that is a bulky case. Will they work? We have no idea. No actual testing was done. Therefore, one should proceed at his or her own risk. Alternatively, one can pursue the route we did. Make up your own solution. The important thing is that it works for you.

Well, it should be clear that Antennagate is no longer an issue. Problem identified. Solutions found. Now we can move on to more important stuff like speculating further on when the iPhone 4 will finally be sold by Verizon or Sprint.

Over the past fifteen or so weeks, we’ve covered a myriad of topics on “How Science Fiction Failed Us”, but we still have so much ground to cover. As I was pondering what Brain was pondering (Pinky was way off… I think he was pondering how lederhosen makes his butt look big), I began to wonder what it would be like to be able to experience these worlds without ever leaving Earth, or maybe even the comfort of your own home. It was obvious that I needed to talk about… Virtual Reality.

The ability to separate one’s self from the drama, rigors and mundane nature of everyday life would be desirable to say the least, though if it were to happen now, it would likely be something only the extremely wealthy could afford to do regularly. Eventually, though, technology like this could replace entertainment venues as we know them today. But before we start speculating on the possibilities in the real world, let’s take a look at how Science Fiction has treated the subject.

The first delving into this massive topic was in the 1935 book Pygmalion’s Spectacles by Stanley G. Weinbaum. In it a professor has created “a movie that gives one sight and sound… taste, smell and touch.” He adds, “You are in the story, you speak to the shadows and they reply, and instead of being on a screen, the story is all about you and you are in it…” The device in the book resembled a gas mask; down to the goggles and rubber mouthpiece. It even described the nature of “displacement” which is the sensation a VR user has when they can feel the chair they are sitting in while simultaneously feeling the items in the environment in which they are experiencing.

A more recent take on VR, and one that is more familiar in terms of showing the mind-blowing aspects of existing in more than one world at a time, the 1964 book Simulacrum-3 shows the madness than can ensue when a person who’s been living in VR for an extended time, faces the reality that their world isn’t real (my brain already hurts). The 1999 adaptation, The Thirteenth Floor takes the idea to a whole new level when the main character realizes that his own world, the one he thought was real, and which also contained its own virtual reality, was itself a simulation (if that blows your mind, you should try watching the movie… it makes The Matrix look like a holodeck accident).

There have been multiple excursions into this outlook into VR, probably most famously in The Matrix and its two sequels. As you may recall, all of humanity is stuck reliving the late 20^th century (presumably over and over again) as they are used as an energy source by machines they themselves created (which is why we talked about The Matrix in my articles about Robots and Artificial Intelligence). Like in The Thirteenth Floor, at some point someone in the Matrix became aware that his world wasn’t real, broke free, and then freed others, creating the resistance group of humans around which the story is based. They had the ability, though, to hack into the network and interface with that reality still, albeit on their own terms (meaning Neo could fly, etc., etc.).

Arguably one of the first movie treatments on the subject was the 1982 Disney movie, Tron. While the interface is different, but the result is very similar. In the movie, Kevin Hughes, the protagonist played by Jeff Bridges, is “digitized” into the computer program rather than interfacing it through some sort of peripheral device. The viewer follows Hughes into the virtual world of a computer operating system, with programs resembling their creators and the entire show being run by an out of control AI called the Master Control Program, or MCP. The programs either had to join the MCP, or play through a series of challenging games that would invariably lead to their deletion.

The recent movie Surrogates presented another interesting possibility that also combines the idea of robots and virtual reality. In that story, people isolate themselves, but live vicariously through robotic avatars called “surrogates”. They interface with these machines by means of a virtual interface. The plot involves someone figuring out how to kill a person by killing their surrogate, which forces the main character to dump his virtual persona and head out into the real world as himself.

Similarly, the James Cameron epic Avatar had humans piloting the large and lanky Na’vi on the gorgeous yet toxic planet, Pandora. In this case, one of the pilots was a paraplegic and the freedom his avatar allowed made him volunteer to spend longer amounts of time hooked into the system. In the end, he was even allowed to live the dream fully as his spirit was transferred into the soulless body of his Avatar in order to save his life and allow him to be with the people he had grown to love.

One of my favorite takes on Virtual Reality was presented in the Arnold Schwarzenegger hit, Total Recall, which was based on the on the Philip K. Dick story, We Can Remember it for You Wholesale. In those stories, you don’t actually experience the virtual world, but memories of false events are implanted into your mind. In this case, the protagonist Douglas Quaid (Douglas Quail in the book) goes to a memory implant company called Rekall to have memories of a trip to Mars implanted in his mind for a fraction of the cost of traveling there for real. He even opts to have Secret Agent memories added (you know… he kills the bad guys, gets the girl and saves the planet), which leads to the climax of the plot.  In the end, the viewer is left wondering if any of what happened was real, or if it was all part of the memory implant from Rekall.

Animated shows have also taken RPG’s and made virtual worlds out of them. Code Lyoko and .hack both come to mind. In the latter, the characters are all players in a virtual world called… well… “The World” (you’d think the Japanese could have come up with something better, I mean James Cameron came up with Pandora… and he’s not even Japanese), but their interactions seems to have farther reaching impact, even into the real world.

Of course, probably the most well-known treatment of the idea of virtual reality is the holodeck from Star Trek. There, instead of wearing an apparatus to experience the virtual world, you walk through it. The room is a giant holographic projector with a twist… the twist being that it uses the teleporter technology to make the energy into matter (the replicator works on the same premise). You can experience anything from a favorite real-world place, to the virtual world of a favorite book or serial. You can even turn off the safety protocols (or have them turned off for you in nefarious fashion), making the holodeck as dangerous as real life.

I suppose the real danger of virtual reality, aside from the obvious nature of losing touch with reality, I think, would be opening up your brain to the input of a machine you don’t necessarily control. The temptation to abuse this type of technology would have to be immense. Situations similar to those presented in Tron and Total Recall show what can happen when you give someone else control of your experience, or, in some cases, your mind.

In fact, it’s inferred in Total Recall that the price of a procedure failing is a lobotomy…  Yeah, I like my frontal lobe intact, thank you. Of course there are practical uses for VR, such as flight simulators for training, and even virtual piloting of remote aircraft, like the MQ-1 Predator (which I was involved in the first deployment of, thank you very much). However, the impractical applications are bound to be more fun, yes?

Until they lobotomize you…

I’ll stick with the real reality… for now.

As I was writing last week’s article and the one before it, I started thinking about all those future space men (and women) who would invariably end up injured in these epic battles. Most of the time, we only see the odd flying body and seemingly dead Stormtrooper or Borg Drone, but that many people don’t even die in modern combat.

In fact, even with today’s warfare, a combatant is far more likely to get injured than killed outright (although, sadly, injuries are often grave enough to cause death if not treated properly and immediately – something I know from experience). So what happens when you only get grazed, or if you get a case of the Interstellar Sniffles? We’ll explore that, and more, as we talk about – Medicine.

Most of us are familiar with the scene in Star Wars where Luke is floating in the Bacta Tank after his run in with the very hungry and ill-tempered Wampa. What is Bacta, you ask? Well… it’s the stuff that was in the tank in which Luke was floating in Empire. OK, poor answer I know, so I took the liberty of looking it up for you.

Apparently, Bacta is a combination of benevolent bacteria and a gel-like clear compound that tastes sickly-sweet. It promotes rapid cell regeneration without scarring, but can’t grow back limbs (unless it is part of your physiology to do so) and presumably can’t replace dead tissue (which is why Darth Vader was made into a machine and not dropped in a bacta tank… I guess). Forget Bayer, bacta is really the wonder drug that works wonders, to the point that the science and art of conventional medicine was practically lost to them. There are no doctors to speak of in the Star Wars Universe, with most medical needs being tended to by droids. It’s possible (and I would say likely), that Padme would have survived childbirth had she gone to Cincinnati Good Samaritan Hospital and not… well… wherever she was.

Star Trek takes things to the opposite level (again…) by taking our existing technologies and making some logical assumptions about what we can expect in the future (given their Utopia actually gets around to being made). The perfect example (for comparison to our medical technology) is the scene in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home when Chekov is in the Operating Room because he is suffering an epidural hematoma caused by a torn Meningeal Artery. The 1986 solution for this is to drill a hole in the patient’s head to relieve the pressure, and then examine the brain afterward. Needless to say, Bones thought this was barbaric and used a gadget from the 23^rd century to repair the damage and rescue Chekov.

The advancements in medicine seem to make sense, in Trek, in so far as the treatment methods are identifiable to us. Hypospray is clearly a step up from syringe injections (and as anybody who’s been through basic training can tell you, we already have similar technology in place today). And their real-time virtual monitoring of vital signs (meaning they don’t have to connect anything to you) isn’t far-fetched considering how far MRI and CT Scan technology has come in recent years.

So you’re probably wondering how I think Science Fiction failed us in regards to medicine. That’s a question best suited to my closest friend on this planet: @cmaaarr. As a doctor specializing in Infectious Diseases at one of the nation’s best teaching hospitals, he has for more information and access to information on the current state of medical technology. However, since he is busy and currently unavailable for comment, you’ll have to settle for my opinion.

If Sci-Fi has failed us it’s in that it only presents the extremes. As much as I love Star Trek I’ve never viewed it as being realistic, so it makes me a bit sad when it approached medicine in a far more realistic way than other franchises. In fact, most of the time, Sci-Fi chooses to make medicine, or more accurately, the medical profession, the cause of some horrific accident involving a super virus, or worse, the genetic manipulation of something or someone (which we’ve already covered previously). Medicine, or rather who has access to it, is a major point of contention for many people around the world, particularly those of us in the States. I won’t use this article as a platform for any party’s ideals, or even my own, but suffice it to say that I think money is holding us back.

If you look at some of the more popular Sci-Fi delvings into the world of medicine, we’ll find stories like the film adaptation of I am Legend in which the measles virus is mutated to cure cancer, but then further mutates into a people killing machine. A similar story is told in 28 Days Later where a man-made virus, called “Rage”, was accidentally spread to people after a botched attempt to free laboratory animals.

Even in our favorite future, the one populated by gunslinging Browncoats and the morally-challenged Alliance, there was medical manipulation. Joss Whedon once commented about his vision of the future, stating that nothing was different, the technology was more advanced, but the people suffered the same moral and ethical dilemas that we face today. So it’s easy to see why the only existing superpower would want passive colonists, and why they would cover up their failure (which resulted in the Reavers, the cannibalistic scourge of the outlying colonies). At least in Whedon’s ‘verse, there were doctors practicing legitimate medicine with limited tools and a failure rate likely similar to modern medicine (in Trek most maladies had a cure, even if it was difficult to get – and if a cure wasn’t available, a workaround usually was, like in the case of Picard’s Shalaft’s Syndrome).

I suppose what I want from my Science Fiction is less moral application and more development. What I mean is that invariably, any science that manipulates genes or viruses is presented as inherently wrong in most Sci-Fi, while the medical profession itself is often cast in a negative light, with a few notable exceptions who, conversely, are nearly legendary in their abilities or morals. There is nothing about Leonard McCoy that describes him as being anything but average (aside from his assignment to the Enterprise), but we will always view him in the same light we cast all our Trek heroes; one of heroic infallibility. In fact, the only chink we ever saw in that armor was presented in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Sybock, the rogue Vulcan, made Bones face his pain, which seemed to revolve around the death of Bones’ father. It seems the elder McCoy suffered from a malady that was, at the time, uncurable and caused great pain. Bones allowed his father to die only to learn that a cure was discovered a very short time later. The same could be applied to Beverly Crusher and Julian Bashir, as well. The fact is that most of the medical advancements made in Sci-Fi couldn’t have been achieved without mapping the genome and manipulating it, and I would wager that stem cells were involved at some point.

I suppose in the end the real question is this: If they could turn a banana clip into sight-giving apparatus for the blind, why the heck couldn’t they cure baldness? Seriously…

This week, there has been no shortage of big news in both the technological and sporting arenas. Between the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the Apple iPhone 4 pre-ordering drama, it seems there has been little attention devoted to anything else. Or has there? Yes, with the the World Cup drama, we’ve all become familiar with the Vuvuzela, that insanely loud instrument which seems to be given out to everyone in South Africa.

Of course the iPhone 4 news was exciting, too. This made us wonder. Is there anything that could make the iPhone 4 any more exciting? We believed so and proceeded to improve upon the iPhone 4 introductory video. For your viewing and auditory pleasure, we’ve melded two worlds together to bring you “iPhone 4 – This Vuvuzelas Everything”.

Disclaimer: The above video is obviously a spoof (and a really bad one at that). It is not intended to represent Apple Inc. or its view of the Vuvuzela. It wouldn’t surprise us, though, if Steve Jobs had one in his office.

Well, friends, I apparently got some people fired up with last week’s article on Space Battles. Apparently, I broke an unwritten rule that says that you can’t pit one universe’s technology against another’s without committing the worst faux pas since Princess Leia unwittingly kissed her brother after calling her future husband a “scruffy-looking Nerf herder”. But I’ve never been one to follow the rules, really, particularly ones that no one has ever bothered to write down. So that said, it’s time we settled this age-old dispute once and for all.

OK before we continue, I wanted to explain the rules of engagement (who knew I would find a use for the Law of Armed Conflict outside the military… and yes, there is such a thing… and yes, they enforce it… back on topic now). There are a few sites that have already gone into great detail about how the Empire would trounce the Federation (and anyone else in the Trek universe), but much of it is based on scientific data and guessing. The technology in Lucas’ universe is very different than that in the Trek franchise because Lucas’ story takes place “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” so he can pretty much just make things up. Star Trek takes place in the future, sure, so there are liberties, but it’s OUR future, so it had to have a foundation in real science, or it would have been unbelievable. With that in mind, I discovered something odd about the “science” of the two universes, and thusly, the arguments in favor of an Empire squash. Here’s what I discovered:

Star Wars does things on an epic scale, which alone makes it the favorite to win. But there are some major inconsistencies that mainly deal with the power of the weapons being used and the power output of the items. This is the main problem with trying to compare the two sciences. In Star Wars power output is measured in Watts, which is something we are very familiar with. A watt is a measurement of the amount of work it takes to move an object one meter in one second against a force of one Newton (sorry for the science talk, but I had to show you why some people are just too serious about this stuff). Trek measures its power output in a unit called “dynes” which makes more sense since we are talking about a propulsion system. A dyne is the measure of how much force it takes to accelerate a mass of one gram over one centimeter per second every second.  Brain hurt yet?

How do watts compare to dynes? Well a single Watt would be equal to a force of 100,000 dynes over one meter ever second. Now that I’ve fried your brains a little, consider this: a single Imperial-I class Star Destroyer can produce about 7.75 x 10²⁴ W (just for reference, a gigawatt would be 10⁹ watts… the Flux Capacitor in Back to the Future only needed 1.21 gigawatts of power to TRAVEL THROUGH TIME… really?!… and our SUN puts out about 4 x 10²⁶ watts of power, a mere 100 times more than the ISD… yeah… overkill, I think). Meanwhile, a standard Federation starship (in this case Voyager) can produce roughly 4,000 Teradynes, or 10¹⁰ watts, of power. Since the Star Wars ships are on the order of 10 to 20 times more massive, but produce 100 TRILLIONS TIMES more power… I think the Star Wars folks are overestimating a little bit.

Wow, for the first time since starting this article back in March, I had to stop and take a break from it.  The science was starting to be too much (and if it’s too much for me, I KNOW it’s too much for you). I think I’ve discovered the fundamental flaw in any comparison of these two genre’s though (and apologies to the person who seems to have devoted many hours to the systematic tearing down of the Star Trek universe for the glory of the Galactic Empire). Star Trek is quite honestly too different from other Science Fiction universes in how it portrays Space Travel, ships, crews, and space combat in general. It has no fighters, and no large capital style ships. The best analogy I can come up with is that the Star Trek ships are more akin to submarines while other universes, including Star Wars use surface ships.

Think about it for a moment. The battles in Trek are slower, more calculated and usually involve torpedoes. The ships maneuver to try to get out of optimal firing lines. Other universes usually have large capital ships duking it out while their fighters work to get close enough to fire powerful missiles or torpedoes of their own. That’s more like how surface naval vessels fight today. Since it’s our only point of reference, that makes sense. Of course, space battles would probably be nothing like what’s presented in either universe, but it’s all we’ve been given to work with.

So what we’re left with is this: Star Wars overestimates and uses impossible physics while Star Trek just makes up units and particles, like “isotons” and “rapid nadions”. Comparing these two is like comparing Al Gore to George Bush; they’re both full of crap, but different kinds of crap. With that in mind, I present the following scenario. Please take it in with the appropriate grain of salt.

Imagine a scenario where a fleet of Imperial ships drops out of hyperspace and into our galaxy. They land on the nearest planet and claim it, subjugating the residents. Those residents happen to be Romulan. See, that’s what’s never considered. It’s always Federation vs. Empire, but that’s not how it would go down. The residents of this galaxy have shown more than once that they are willing to put petty differences aside to fight for a common goal.  They did it against the Borg and again against the Dominion. Now they will do it against the Empire.

Seeing the strength of the Imperial Fleet (let’s say 30-40 ships, including a Super Star Destroyer and assorted support ships), the Romulans contact the Federation and their Klingon allies and ask for assistance against the massive ships. The Romulan fleet would be about 40 ships, with the D’deridex and Mogai classes at the front, the Klingons would commit 20-30 of their own ships, with at least 4 Negh’Var battleships, and the Federation would send a numbered fleet, which would number anywhere from 50 to 150 ships, so let’s make it an even 100 (the 12^th fleet was 112 ships).

When the combined fleet warped in, they would be greeted by patrolling Tie Fighters, would be easily dispatched, but not before they communicated to the larger ships. The battle would begin the way all Imperial battles begin, with an onslaught of fighters. It would take the destruction of several smaller vessels at the hands of Ion Cannons and Proton Torpedoes to get the Trek Fleet to begin rotating shield and power frequencies, to lessen the impact of the Ion Cannons.

Eventually, the Federation flagship identifies the patterns and send orders to set phasers to wide area dispersal, which destroys the fighters in large groups, all while keeping outside the capital ships effective range. Several Stormtrooper carriers actually make it and attach to the hulls of the larger vessels, but find that the Klingons are more than a match for them in ground combat. The Romulan and Federation vessels are equipped with sensors that allow them to track the invaders, and they are easily cordoned off into cargo bays.

As the combined fleet moves to engage the Imperial Fleet, the Super Star Destroyer hits the Klingon flagship with its primary guns and destroys it in a few shots. The Trek group scatters and begins engaging the ships in groups of 4 or 5 at a time. The Imperials are scoring plenty of hits and find that the shielding of the smaller ships is no match for the power of their lasers, but also that the smaller more agile ships are more difficult to hit, even with computer guidance. The Klingons focus on the Super Star Destroyer, and two of the Battleships, badly damaged, ram into the large capital ship, disabling it. It goes badly for both sides.

In the end, I see the Empire losing 10 ships totally, with another 15 badly damaged or completely disabled with the fighters being a total loss. The Federation loses 75 ships, the Klingons all of theirs, and the Romulans managed to escape with a loss of only 15 (because gravity well generators don’t prevent warp travel, only hyperspace travel).  But this is only a single battle and the Imperials are cut off from reinforcements. The Federation eventually develops technology that allows them to transport torpedoes directly to critical components if the Imperial shields are down, or beaming warp cores directly into the path of moving ships, causing massive damage.

In the end, the Imperials lose, but the Federation, Romulan and Klingon fleets are decimated and will take years to recover fully. Keep in mind the Imperials only lose because they are cut off from resupply and reinforcement. In a balanced scenario where resupply is not an issue, or in a single engagement, I have to say Empire wins every time. Size and numbers matter.

Of course, they could always just find a Doomsday machine or two…