the dumb questions you were afraid to ask thread

[Vanyel]

Timo said:

2. Why can't the view screen give an automatic showing of damage and other important information for the captain and XO to get right away.

Because the tactical importance of a pretty starfield is paramount in a combat situation, apparently...

LOL

Timo said:

4. If the ship has inertial dampeners, why don't they execute 180's when being chased to bring the forward weapons on the enemy ship?

Because the aft weapons in all known ship types save Defiant are at least as potent as the forward ones.

Also, a chase usually means a warp chase. It's unknown whether a ship can pivot at warp without massively losing speed or stability or something; the closest we get is Kirk's orders to pivot at warp 2 in "Elaan of Troyius", which is not a chase situation.

Would have worked great in Yesterday's Enterprise.

Timo said:

5. When the holodecks malfunction, why don't they just cut the power? Wouldn't that leave all the matter replicated without anyway of moving and end most of the danger. I understand that if you're in a forest simulations the trees would probably fall over since they don't have roots.

One big problem might be that a player in such a situation could be left hanging in midair. Say, if she were on the upper end of a holographic staircase, three meters above her fellow players. Also, it may well be that a holodeck needs to stack its players two or three high in order to provide sufficient playing volume. So thirty people on a baseball diamond might in fact be ten plus ten plus ten people standing atop each other...

The other problem might be "termination anomalies": spikes in temperature, pressure, or forcefield activity.

It's not all that often that pulling the plug would be an option during a holographic plot device, really. Usually, there is a plot reason why the program has to keep on running. Just two occasions to the contrary come to mind now: "The Big Goodbye" (where total shutdown would have seemed like a prudent measure, and no technobabble was given to contradict this) and "Identity Crisis" (where the search for LaForge would have been much easier had the simulation been discontinued - although perhaps Worf wanted to surprise LaForge and not alert him by a shutdown?).

It would also have worked in Elementery, Dear Data, cut the power no more Moriarty, if Data or Geordi had done so right away.

Timo said:

7. Why are the Captain, XO and Second Officer all usually on the bridge at the same time?

Because the "usual" situation seen on screen is a full alert, when all the important personnel are supposed to be at their posts. Starfleet starships just have a wider range of alerts than mere combat situations; a naval vessel of today would seldom be in a situation where all personnel prepare to explore a strange new world, for example.

Feels a bit far fetched, but OK I can accept it.

Timo said:

10. Why didn't Doctor Soong put a fail safe in Data and Lore. Like a bit of programming that prevents them from harming him either through action or inaction, or lying to him?

How could he? The androids are probably far too clever to fall for that. He could have built in a panic button that shuts them down - and he did, as we saw in "Datalore". But how could he tell his creations how to think, when they are capable of thinking by themselves? If he told them "do not lie", they would simply think of a way to defy those orders when convenient.

Data apparently was given a "formality order" wherein he speaks in a stilted fashion (full forms rather than contractions), so as to be less humanlike than Lore - but Data only follows this order when this suits him. He can go on full Ebonics mode whenever he likes, or swear in French, or imitate the speech patterns of any random person. He is too much his own master to be controlled by simplistic "subroutines".

Still, if he had made a programming error that caused his androids to go beserk, more so than Lore, having them unable to harm him through action or inaction, or shut down on command would be an ounce of pervention.

Timo said:

12. Why didn't Uxbridge just send the Husnock ship out back into Husnock space and make the entire species not interested in exploring near Federation space?

Because he was angry at the Husnock having killed his wife. He wanted instant revenge, and made it happen.

And obviously he couldn't "undo" anything - not the death of Rishon, nor the extermination of the Husnock. So it didn't help that he wasn't so angry any more after a few minutes. The deed was already done.

My bad, I didn't fully explain my question.

Uxbridge first tried to drive the Husnock away like he did the Enterprise, it just made them madder. When they returned after being fooled he could have sent the ship back to their own space and made them uninterested in exploring near Federation space.

 

[Lilith]

Vanyel said:

Timo said:

12. Why didn't Uxbridge just send the Husnock ship out back into Husnock space and make the entire species not interested in exploring near Federation space?

Because he was angry at the Husnock having killed his wife. He wanted instant revenge, and made it happen.

And obviously he couldn't "undo" anything - not the death of Rishon, nor the extermination of the Husnock. So it didn't help that he wasn't so angry any more after a few minutes. The deed was already done.

My bad, I didn't fully explain my question.

Uxbridge first tried to drive the Husnock away like he did the Enterprise, it just made them madder. When they returned after being fooled he could have sent the ship back to their own space and made them uninterested in exploring near Federation space.

If he'd've been able to do that, he would also have simply made Picard & co uninterested. My guess is that he couldn't. Everything Uxbridge did affected beings in a physical way, not a psychological one. I'd say it's pretty logical to assume that he simply didn't have the power to affect motives and emotions. At least that's the only explanation I can come up with

 

[Vanyel]

Lilith said:

Vanyel said:

Timo said:

12. Why didn't Uxbridge just send the Husnock ship out back into Husnock space and make the entire species not interested in exploring near Federation space?

Because he was angry at the Husnock having killed his wife. He wanted instant revenge, and made it happen.

And obviously he couldn't "undo" anything - not the death of Rishon, nor the extermination of the Husnock. So it didn't help that he wasn't so angry any more after a few minutes. The deed was already done.

My bad, I didn't fully explain my question.

Uxbridge first tried to drive the Husnock away like he did the Enterprise, it just made them madder. When they returned after being fooled he could have sent the ship back to their own space and made them uninterested in exploring near Federation space.

If he'd've been able to do that, he would also have simply made Picard & co uninterested. My guess is that he couldn't. Everything Uxbridge did affected beings in a physical way, not a psychological one. I'd say it's pretty logical to assume that he simply didn't have the power to affect motives and emotions. At least that's the only explanation I can come up with

Then just send them back home and make it impossible for them to leave their planetary sysytem(s).

 

[Timo]

That would depend on reaction time, I guess. He sent them away once. They came back, and killed Rishon before Kevin could react. He then lashed out in anger.

Kevin Uxbridge was far from omniscient; our heroes managed to surprise him several times. He probably wouldn't see a starship coming unless he specifically looked for it (or otherwise he would have camouflaged the planet against the scans of the heroes to begin with, making it seem as if everything were all right, or alternately that everybody was already dead).

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Apogeal Alpha01]

Yet he could identify and eliminate every individual of an entire species throughout a galaxy. Seems like plot devices, or holes to suggest such great ability on the one hand and limitations on the other.

 

[Lilith]

Apogeal Alpha01 said:
Yet he could identify and eliminate every individual of an entire species throughout a galaxy. Seems like plot devices, or holes to suggest such great ability on the one hand and limitations on the other.

Well, he wasn't omnipotent. It's a little like us I think. You can be a genius, but still suck at math. Limitations, no matter what your abilities are, are natural. Also, eliminating an entire species is done quicker than what you suggest, if you assume he made it happen by wishing it. "I wish all the hushnik dead for killing my wife", is a tad easier than "I don't want them dead, just send them back to their own space, which is here and here and there, and then stop them from venturing out again".

If you stub your toe you yell "shit" or "f*ck" or the first cussword that comes to mind, you don't think "damn, I wish that table would've been somewhere else so I wouldn't have stubbed my toe against it while walking around barefooted". After the cusswords, sure, but it's not the first thing you think/say. I always took the Douwd's reaction to be similar. Lashing out in anger, followed by actual thought and remorse.

I actually think Uxbridge is one of the more interesting guestcharacters of TNG. He has an amazing amount of power and abilities, yet they're obviously limited and he has a conscious. Maybe he's sort of the evolutionairy step between Q and humans?

 

[Hofner]

Here's my dumb question. On the bridge, assuming a shift is eight hours, do the bridge crew just look at starfields on the viewscreen the entire time? They've got basically a nice big TV screen and all they do most of the time is look at the spellbinding vista of stars for hours and hours.

Of course they rarely showed the bridge when nothing was happening so possibly during those times they watch movies and stuff. Like all 36 episodes of the Star Wars saga or maybe the 16th Remastering of TOS with Captain Jane T. Kirk as the hero captain.

Which brings me to another question: What's the aspect ratio of the various viewscreens? If they watch a widescreen movie on the Enterprise-D's viewscreen would there be (shudder) black bars?

Robert

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

- How is the game 'Parrises Squares' played?

- What happened to the Holo Communicator as seen on DS9? (It's used in maybe two episodes and then never seen again)

- In ST:FC, the Enterprise-E's main viewscreen only comes on when Picard orders it. But in subsequent films, it's on all the time. Why?

- Why does it take any visible (to us, the viewer) amount of time for a phaser beam to travel? It's made of, well, light, so it should be instantaneous.

- How do those guys from the Department of Temporal Investigations (i.e. Dulmer and Lucsly) *find out* if somebody has traveled in time?

- Speaking of timetravel: In "Relativity", how is Lieutenant Ducane allowed to arrest his Captain for crimes he hasn't committed yet?

 

[Brutal Strudel]

Babaganoosh said:
- In ST:FC, the Enterprise-E's main viewscreen only comes on when Picard orders it. But in subsequent films, it's on all the time. Why?

- How do those guys from the Department of Temporal Investigations (i.e. Dulmer and Lucsly) *find out* if somebody has traveled in time?

- The holographic virtual viewscreen was replaced by an old style holographic viewscreen. Casual viewers were presumably confused.

- In the case of T&T, they were alerted by Sisko's log entries.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Brutal Strudel said:
- In the case of T&T, they were alerted by Sisko's log entries.

Sisko said that the last thing he wanted was a visit from Temporal Investigations. So why would he even make logs of the incident if it would bring them down on him?

 

[captcalhoun]

- How is the game 'Parrises Squares' played?

very well, thanks

- What happened to the Holo Communicator as seen on DS9? (It's used in maybe two episodes and then never seen again)

real world answer: it was decided it was too confusing for viewers and abandoned. in-universe answer: it's got bugs in and was taken out of use.

- In ST:FC, the Enterprise-E's main viewscreen only comes on when Picard orders it. But in subsequent films, it's on all the time. Why?

upgrades don't always work out. they replaced it with an old one.

- Why does it take any visible (to us, the viewer) amount of time for a phaser beam to travel? It's made of, well, light, so it should be instantaneous.

since phasers can be fired at warp, they're obviously not made of light. they're phased energy.

- How do those guys from the Department of Temporal Investigations (i.e. Dulmer and Lucsly) *find out* if somebody has traveled in time?

they can sense disturbances in the Force. wait. wrong franchise.

- Speaking of timetravel: In "Relativity", how is Lieutenant Ducane allowed to arrest his Captain for crimes he hasn't committed yet?

because the laws changed.

 

[Timo]

- Why does it take any visible (to us, the viewer) amount of time for a phaser beam to travel? It's made of, well, light, so it should be instantaneous.

Why should we think it is made of light? Indeed, if it were, it should be invisible in vacuum, because (perhaps somewhat counterintuitively) light does not glow - that is, it is not a glowing substance that can be seen from any arbitrary direction.

Far more probably, the phaser beam is some sort of a particle beam that emits light on its own in all directions. Or then something new altogether.

- How do those guys from the Department of Temporal Investigations (i.e. Dulmer and Lucsly) *find out* if somebody has traveled in time?

Some book or another (I think it was that fancy coffee table book about various locales in the Trek universe, with descriptions written by Friedman) described a setup where certain memory storage devices, essentially special padds, are held in protective fields where timeshifts don't affect them.

So the procedure would go much like this:

Padd: Beep!
Dulmur: Ah, an alert. Something has disappeared from the universe. What the hey...? Lucsly, what are "toothpicks"?
Lucsly: Beats me. (Checks padd) Ewww! Gross. Oh, well, seems somebody messed with, lessee, Earth's medieval period. Let's go restore these things. But seriously, who would want to stick spikes between his teeth?
Dulmur: You would, after we're done with this.
Lucsly: Sometimes I wonder if this all is really worth it.

- Speaking of timetravel: In "Relativity", how is Lieutenant Ducane allowed to arrest his Captain for crimes he hasn't committed yet?

How not? People from the past would be appalled that we can arrest and sentence people by quoting fingerprints, let alone saliva stains, as "witnesses". Wars have been fought for lesser violations of previously upheld "human rights".

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Brutal Strudel]

Babaganoosh said:

Brutal Strudel said:
- In the case of T&T, they were alerted by Sisko's log entries.

Sisko said that the last thing he wanted was a visit from Temporal Investigations. So why would he even make logs of the incident if it would bring them down on him?

I doubt Sisko willy-nilly omits or falsifies log entries--ITPM was a special case. No doubt, he hoped his description of their behavior in the past would be satisfactory for TI to consider the matter closed before it was opened. No such luck.

 

[Odon]

Frodo Lives said:
The reason Tom was such an asshole to O'Brien is that he was impersonating Will at the time and knew the chief could give the game away if he got into chatting with him. So, to get rid of him quickly, he acted all miffed and pissy towards O'Brien, which obviously worked since he hightails it outta there pretty quick, but with a very expression on his face.

No, the reason Tom Riker was pissed at O'Brien was because he marooned Tom on that planet with his transporter procedure that created two Rikers.

 

[captcalhoun]

huh? O'Brien wasn't on the Potemkin!

 

[Sisu]

^ Maybe he hates all transporter operators.

 

[greenmystik]

No, the reason Tom Riker was pissed at O'Brien was because he marooned Tom on that planet with his transporter procedure that created two Rikers.

W. T. F.

Where did that bit o' trek lore come from?!?!

 

[Alyssa]

If vulcans supress their emotion becouse they used to be really violent and paranoid why do they supress all emotion like love and happiness instead of just the bad ones? I mean with therepy ( or in the case of vulcans meditation ) humans can supress their violent emotions or at least channel them ito possitive aspects like dedication, I would just think that with their superior minds they could aclompish the same!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

greenmystik said:

No, the reason Tom Riker was pissed at O'Brien was because he marooned Tom on that planet with his transporter procedure that created two Rikers.

W. T. F.

Where did that bit o' trek lore come from?!?!

Nowhere, because it's not true.

 

[greenmystik]

greenmystik said:

Quote:
No, the reason Tom Riker was pissed at O'Brien was because he marooned Tom on that planet with his transporter procedure that created two Rikers.



W. T. F.

Where did that bit o' trek lore come from?!?!

Nowhere, because it's not true.

Tell that to Odon.