Star Trek vs. Star Wars Links
Star Trek vs. Star Wars LinksThe Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Quick Reference:
Basic
Science Data,
ST Info,
SW Info,
Vs.
Sites,
Vs. Forums,
Useful Tools,
Off-Topic
Stuff,
and Banners
(See also Cosmic Thoughts)
An Atlas Of The Universe
(old link)
Definitely one of the coolest sites out there.
In much of astronomy, stars are simply referenced by their position in the sky,
from the view of one on the ground. Naturally, this works perfectly well for mere Earthbound mortals . .
. but the Atlas of the Universe puts everything in its three-dimensional
place.
C.R.
Nave's Hyperphysics
An excellent site. No idea what the hell I was talking about on some
particular page? Not a problem. You can go here and brush up on
virtually any physics topic.
Eric
Weisstein's World Of Physics
An excellent complement to the Hyperphysics site, offering definitions which
might work better for some people.
Rough
Values of Energy and Power
Another excellent site. From the Big Bang to the hop of a flea, the above
site gives the rough energy of just about everything. It also delves
into the power of various processes, the energy content of fuels . . . just
about everything anyone could ever want to know a value for.
Ex Astris
Scientia
A definite winner. This site has *way* more than anyone could ever want
to know. The focus is more on the history, aesthetics, and such, as
compared to being strictly technical or technology-based, but there is a great
effort put forth toward all aspects, and the site is fantastic. The exhaustive links
page can route you to anything you need, if -- by some slim chance -- it
isn't already on the main site.
Also, just for an absolutely
fascinating look at an alternate
history of Star Trek, look in the Special Sections for the Starfleet
Museum. Written long before the Enterprise series, this work fits
more properly into the timeline while maintaining dazzling graphic quality, a
rich and vibrant history (with a distinct World War II flair), and quality
writing with internal consistency.
The Daystrom Institute
Technical Library by Graham Kennedy
Overall, a wonderful website, without a doubt. The site design is quite good,
and there is an exhaustive amount of information. (I go play there all the time,
and I still haven't gotten through everything.) Information is broken down
by canon from the shows, official and/or backstage material, and conjecture,
meaning that you're bound to get what you came for.
Phasers
Lee Kelly's excellent site on the weapons of Starfleet, from 2151 to
the 24th Century, and beyond.
The
Starships and Technology Section of the Flare Sci-Fi Forums
If you care to delve into and discuss the deepest minutiae of Star Trek,
this is a good place to go.
Clash
of the Titans: Warp Strafing
A pretty good look at the warp strafing issue, which I also tackle here.
Part of the background of the "Clash of the
Titans" fanfic.
TrekCore.com
Much like its progenitor TrekPulse, this site will have just about everything
you could want as far as screenshots.
Memory
Alpha
The Star Trek wiki, and a constant hit when I'm Googling for some esoteric Trek
fact.
Janet's
Star Trek Voyager Site
A vaguely disturbing site which nevertheless contains an extraordinary wealth of
material on Star Trek: Voyager, including approximately 1.2 billion screenshots
and numerous, highly detailed episode summaries.
Star
Trek Sickbay's TOS Transcripts
A very good resource if you want to check something without watching an entire
episode or episodes. Part of the Star
Trek Sickbay, what appears to be an exquisite Czech Star Trek site . . . if
only I could read any of it. ;-)
Chakoteya's Transcripts
Even better than the site above is this one . . . it features transcripts of
Voyager and Enterprise, and as of this writing most of the Original Series.
USS
Kyushu DS9 Episode Guide
This site contains detailed transcripts of the last two seasons of Deep Space
Nine (and hopefully they'll bring their beautiful screenshots back sometime).
Most of the site text is in Japanese, as its part of the USS Kyushu Japanese fan
site (here's a link to the
abbreviated English page). To use the site, just scroll down to the table
full of episodes . . . the "C"
gets you transcripts.
(For kicks, check out what the episode titles were translated to under the
"Japanese Title List" section on the English page.)
Bob Brown's Star Wars Discussions . . . gone but not
forgotten.
A very good site, filled with lots of material, including a remarkably detailed
examination of everything known about the Millennium Falcon. As with
Saxton's site, there is EU present, though in this case usually not at the
expense of canon. (No updates should be expected anytime soon, since the
author is no longer a hardcore Star Wars fan for a variety of quite
understandable reasons (he got tired of the EU).)
Wayback Machine Version
- There are four clickable areas on the blank screen corresponding to the old
menu system used on the site, arranged in a vertical column just a handful of
centimeters from the left of your screen. Clicking them will open up
a list of pages under the old heading. It's a hassle, but worth it.
Star Wars Technical
Commentaries
Physics PhD Curtis Saxton's Star Wars site is part of how he came to write the
Episode II ICS. A huge portion of his data comes from the Expanded
Universe, which is outside the realm of 'Star Wars fact'. Worse, some of
his information is explicitly based on an effort
to make Star Wars out to be superior to Star Trek, meaning that his claims ought
to be taken with a great deal of salt.
Star Wars
Technology FAQ v.3.0
This was begun circa 1995 by Usenet posters as a Star Wars version of the Star
Trek: TNG Technical Manual, based largely on EU sources. This work
makes for an interesting time capsule of sources and opinions on Star Wars EU
tech of that era, including references to one-kiloton proton torpedoes.
Modern Saxtonian reimaginations of Star Wars tech to teraton levels were, of
course, nowhere to be seen back then. (See also v. 4.0
from September 1997,
Part One and
Part Two)
Beyond the works above, there just isn't much online dedicated to Star Wars technology, and nothing I can find that employs strictly canon resources.
Jeff
Russell's Starship Dimensions
Wow. This isn't a Vs. site per se, but it is an incredibly-well-built site showing the size data for starships from Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5,
and almost anything else you can think of, including Godzilla, King Kong, the
Stay-Puft Marshmallow man, and various real-world buildings and objects.
Internet Exploder users can even move the ships and objects around the screen to
get side-by-side comparisons . . . which can make for some hysterical
scenes.
TrekWars: The Furry Conflict - "Star Trek
vs. Star Wars With a Furry Twist"
A fun-oriented Vs. site based on the "furry" concept of
anthropomorphized animals . . . think Fox McCloud or the Merrie Melodies
gang. It's weird, but makes for an
entertaining romp through the topic. And, perhaps due to that unique
approach, the site and its forum is quite possibly the last best hope for peace in a debate
that can so easily turns into a flame-fest elsewhere.
StarfleetJedi.Net
A fascinating site with some excellent observations and unique theories on Star
Wars and Star Trek technology. The navigation structure takes a
little getting used to, but it's well worth it.
"The
Ultimate Star Trek vs. Star Wars Database"
The site of Wayne Poe. This site, along with
the participation of Poe and friends at Alt.StarTrek.vs.StarWars, helped set the
negative tone so often found in Vs. Debates. The site is predominately
just a collection of what are claimed to be early ASVS postings from debaters on
both sides. The site is really only significant historically, since although
mediocre it seems to have been the first long-lasting website on the topic.
It was the inspiration for Mike Wong, and was also the first site I came across
when I became involved in the debate . . . it thus served as the inspiration
(negatively speaking) for my original site. UVD disappeared for a long
while, but was partially
reposted elsewhere by Poe.
StarDestroyer.Net
(Click at Your Own Risk. Most links from ST-v-SW.Net
are childishly redirected to porno.com by SDN's webmaster.)
Mike Wong's pro-Wars propaganda site, source of the term
"Federation Cultist" and other far more colorful metaphors to refer to anyone
who disagrees with his views. However, the site is useful as a reference source of many of the pro-Wars
and anti-Trek myths you'll likely hear, even
after they have been debunked time and again.
There's also a discussion board on the site. Undesirables (i.e. pro-Trek debaters) get posts edited or deleted, personal information exposed, and/or get their posts moved into the hidden "Hall of Shame". The site has been used as a basecamp to foment personal harassement against undesirables and even Star Wars novel authors. They also perform "invasions" of other boards with the intent of spreading their vitriol elsewhere.
(An example was the board invasion they perpetrated against TrekBBS, which somehow led to conflict with a place called "TrollKingdom.com". The "hate triangle" they formed eventually got someone angry, the SD.Net BBS was hacked (evidently by the TK group, though Wong insists that they united with TrekBBS and were all out to get him), and the moderator's forum was made public. It's an interesting read . . . page 5 of the forum copy shows how the SD.Net moderators created their pro-Trek trolls themselves. So much for integrity.)
For a much more creative take on StarDestroyer.Net, take a look at this masterful piece.
Alt.StarTrek.Vs.StarWars,
aka ASVS, as provided by Google Groups.
What was probably once one of the better forums for such debates devolved into a sort of Rabid Warsie support
group, and is now primarily a spam receptacle. The support group is now
located at bbs.stardestroyer.net.
The history of the place is interesting. Once it had an open forum atmosphere, until the Star Wars side voted themselves into authority with their numerical advantage. Soon the rules were systematically changed in favor of Star Wars . . . the SW non-canon was allowed, rabidly pro-Wars arguments were codified into the Rules, and so on. Indeed, denizens of this group spearheaded the attacks on the previously-understood "official" status of the Technical Manuals.
Originally a flame-free place (at least compared to the modern era), the Star Wars side eventually realized that beyond voting themselves into power, their numerical advantage had other uses. Thus swarming tactics, insults, and even offline harrassment and death threats were employed against new pro-Trek debaters (who were invariably labelled "trolls"), whereas pro-Wars debaters were welcomed with open arms.
In any case, as the original internet home for Vs. Debating, ASVS set the tone. Most of the background rationale for this site (e.g. treating the episodes and films as documentary-style footage, etc.) is based on the ASVS methods.
The
Spacebattles.com Forums
Take a look at the "Vs. Debates" for some interesting debates. The forum
covers a wide range of topics, including Babylon 5 and various forms of
japanimation/anime. Be warned . . . though less focused than ASVS or
SD.Net's BBS, there is still a pro-Wars majority here, including a moderator who
will quash any dissent from the party line.
Virtual
Coin Toss
Wanting to have a more formal debate, but you can't even agree who goes
first? With the virtual coin toss, the two of you can select a
future toss on the site and check the results independently.
VirtualDub
The supreme video editing tool, great for making screen captures from almost
anything. An excellent player for close analysis.
Master
Converter
Tired of converting attoparsecs per microfortnight into meaningful speed
values? No problem . . . just grab this time-saving ubertool,
and you're good to go.
WinAmp
The player of
all sound files.
STOcentral.com
A clearing-house of information for the upcoming Star Trek Online game, which
promises to be the biggest thing for Trek games since FASA.
Proxima
Centauri
I used to say this was "An excellent site for quality pictures from Trek and other movies,
including Attack of the Clones."
That was a long time ago. Now I'm just linking to it because I still think the
banner is so damn cool.
The
Ubiquitous Mr. Leslie
As Lt. Leslie, Eddie Paskey was the hope for redshirt security guys and
engineers everywhere, surviving multiple away missions at Kirk's side and never,
ever eating an exploding console.
Autumn
Listen.
Dresden
Dolls
Listen.
The
Netbook of Modern Firearms
Modern Firearms and Ammunition
Some pretty good links for general info on modern-day weapons.
The
Game of Life
This is just fun, if you get into it . . . the amount of variation and
complexity made possible in by the tiny little rules of Life are truly
extraordinary.
More to Come . . .
Linking to me? Feel free to use one of the following, or request something different:
