Today marks the birthdays of Gene Roddenberry, Diana Muldaur and Jonathan Frakes.

Gene Roddenberry, the 'father' of all things Star Trek would be celebrating his 90th birthday. The fictional Star Trek universe Roddenberry created has spanned over four decades, producing six television series, 715 episodes and eleven films, with a twelfth film currently in development and scheduled for a 2012 release.

Diana Muldaur is celebrating her 73rd birthday.  Muldaur starred in the Original Star Trek as Science Officer, Ann Mulhall in "Return to Tomorrow" and as Dr. Miranda Jones in "Is There In Truth No Beauty". She joined the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation during the 2nd Season as Dr. Katherine Pulaski (temporarily replacing Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher).

Jonathan Frakes is celebrating his 59th birthday. Frakes is well known for his role as the 1st Officer of the Enterprise, Commander William T. Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Moving on to directing in recent years, Frakes directed and also starred in Star Trek: First Contact as well as Star Trek: Insurrection.

Bruce Greenwood celebrates his 55th birthday today!

Bruce Greenwood (born August 12, 1956) is a Canadian actor. He is generally known for his roles as U.S. presidents in Thirteen Days and National Treasure: Book of Secrets and for his role as Captain Christopher Pike in the 2009 Star Trek film.
(Source: wikipedia.org)

Eric Bana celebrates his 43rd birthday today!

Eric Bana (born 9 August 1968) is an Australian film and television actor. He began his career as a comedian in the sketch comedy series Full Frontal before gaining critical recognition in the biopic Chopper (2000). After a decade of roles in Australian TV shows and films, Bana gained Hollywood's attention by playing the role of American Delta Force Sergeant Norm "Hoot" Hooten in Black Hawk Down (2001), the lead role as Bruce Banner in the Ang Lee directed film Hulk (2003), Hector in the movie Troy (2004), the lead in Steven Spielberg's Munich (2005), and the villain Nero in the science-fiction film Star Trek (2009).
(source: wikipedia.org)

Cirroc Lofton celebrates his 33rd birthday today!

Cirroc Lofton (born August 7, 1978 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor who started his career at nine years of age with many minor roles. He is best known for playing Jake Sisko on the successful 1993 to 1999 TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which was his first major role on a TV series. During the series, as he aged from 14 to 20, Lofton reached his full adult height of 6' 3" (1.91 m).
(source: wikipedia.org)

DEAR CONGRESS, Last year I mismanaged my funds, and this year my family and I cannot decide on a budget. Until we have come to a unified decision that fits all our needs and interests, we will have to shut down our checkbook and will no longer be able to pay our taxes. I'm sure you will understand. Thank you very much for setting an example we can all follow!

I've been a long time customer while I don't expect much when it comes to rewards, Netflix continues to gives their customer the big kick in the arse.  I just recently received an e-mail stating that there will be another price change and new plans incorporated into the Netflix membership policy and that they will be splitting their DVD and Unlimited Streaming into TWO (2) services, each with it's own separate pricing.

Dear John,

We are separating unlimited DVDs by mail and unlimited streaming into two separate plans to better reflect the costs of each.  Now our members have a choice: a streaming plan only, a DVD only plan, or both.

Your current $23.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs (including Blu-ray access) will be split into 2 distinct plans:

Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month
Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs (including Blu-ray), 3 out at-a-time (no streaming) for $19.99 a month.

Your price for getting both of these plans will be $27.98 a month ($7.99 + $19.99). You don't need to do anything to continue your memberships for both unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs.

These prices will start for charges on or after September 1, 2011

You can easily change or cancel your unlimited streaming plan, unlimited DVD plan, or both, by going to the "Plan Change" page in Your Account.

We realize you have many choices for home entertainment, and we thank you for your business. As always, if you have questions, please feel free to call us at 1-888-357-1516.

- The Netflix Team

You thank me for my business by forcing me to pay more to stay with you as a member.  Well, let me thank you in kind by saying that I will be definitely be going to my "Plan Change" page in "Your Account" and change my membership plan so that you'll be getting LESS from me.

- Your Customer.

Anyways, I popped in the PS3 Disc into my console and was immediately informed up a patch-update that was available. So I downloaded the update and it went ahead installing the game onto the harddisk. The installation took about 15-20 minutes before it actually completed, the game box said it would require 4.8GB of diskspace.

You would think that with its installation that took 20-some minutes, the game would race and for the most part, it did, but the gaming sessions were too short and the loading TOO long. You would complete a section of the game and you would then wait for about 3-4 minutes while it loaded the next stage of the game.  This definitely took the fun out of the game itself, to sit there watching the load screen.

It's the PS3, it's the next gen gaming console and you sat there waiting for it to load. The game graphics were good and the gaming was fluid, with all the blood and gore that you're expecting from a Duke Nukem title. I played for about an hour before I couldn't take the wait from the loading screen and called it quits (not quits for the entire game, just for the session). I'll definitely go back to playing another hour or two.

But I guess you might have to be a Duke Nukem die-hard player to have the patience to allow yourself to sit through the long loading periods.

I haven't tried the network-gaming portion just yet. Don't know if I'll try.

*Daily deal codes expire at 11:59 PM on June 1, 2011 and are available while supplies last. Limit 1 code per day. 1 time use only. Valid for between a $.10 and $1.50 discount off the daily rental fee for the item rented at a participating kiosk for the first night of rental. Any discount left over from the first item rented may be applied to another item rented during the same transaction or it is lost. Code not valid for items reserved online or for prior rentals. Your payment card (necessary for any rental) will be charged for any amount not covered by your discount plus tax, and will be charged the applicable daily rental fee (without any discount) for all items plus applicable tax for each day you do not return your rental by 9:00 pm local time (at the kiosk) every subsequent night after the first rental night. Void where prohibited by law. Codes must not be copied, sold or otherwise offered. Any other use constitutes fraud. Cannot be combined with other offers. Cash value 1/100¢. Must be age 18+. Only available on participating carriers. Depends on device compatibility. Msg & data rates may apply. Charges will appear on your wireless bill or be deducted from your prepaid balance. Text STOP to quit. Text HELP for help.

chromeos-notebook.pdf Download this file

A very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very serious documentation as evident in the language used in this owner's manual.  Users should DEFINITELY read through the documentation thoroughly to avoid any problems.

Redbox is the best - you can rent DVDs for $1 a night with no membership fees! You should try it out. If you click on my link and it's your first time renting online, they'll give you a free one-night online rental credit. And I'll get a free rental each time you rent via my link through 3/17/11.

http://redbox.tellapal.com/a/clk/tFQsP

It's become apparent that more and more Maryland drivers are oblivious of the rule when making turns.  Have you notice that people make left turns are no longer staying in his/her lane closest to the turn?  For example: one driver is on a left turn only lane and onto a traffic that has 3 lanes, what does the driver do, he/she turns into the lane furthest away.  This blocks any driver in the opposite flow of traffic that wants to make a right turn, unable to do so because that driver making the left turn would have hit the car making the right turn.

Based on the Maryland Driver's Handbook:

Left Turn: Four-Lane, Two-Way to Four-Lane, Two-Way

• Get into the left lane on your side of the highway well ahead of the turn.
• Signal your intention to turn for at least 100 feet.
• Yield to oncoming traffic including bicycles.
• Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.
• Turn into the left lane going your way.
• Don’t cut the corner or turn so wide that you get into the right lane going your way.

Of course, the same can be said about drivers making a right turn, but making it so wide that he/she gets into the left lane going your way.

Again, based on the Maryland Driver's Handbook:

Right Turns

• Get into the lane furthermost to the right well ahead of the turn.
• Signal your intention to turn for at least 100 feet.
• Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.
• Be alert for vehicles ahead that are also turning right.
• Yield to bicyclists traveling between you and the side of the road

I was going through my music library and found this little download and hearing it brought back great memories of the show, especially the time when I witness the last week when live audience was allowed during the show taping.  I got to meet great people like Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, Dan "Fu-Fu" Huard and the lovely Sarah Lane.  I didn't get to me Leo Laporte on that day because Leo had already gone to do other projects, but I did meet Leo earlier at the Maryland State Fair.

Anyways, hope you enjoy the clip.

  
Download now or listen on posterous

The_New_Screen_Savers_Theme_Song.mp3 (1781 KB)

Jackson DeForest Kelley (January 20, 1920 – June 11, 1999) was an American actor known for his iconic roles in Westerns and as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy of the USS Enterprise in the television and film series Star Trek.

Today would mark Kelley's 91st Birthday.

In 1956, years before being cast as Dr. McCoy, Kelley played a small supporting role as a medic in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit in which he utters the diagnosis "This man's dead, Captain" and "That man is dead" to Gregory Peck.^[4] Kelley appeared as Lieutenant Commander James Dempsey in two episodes of the syndicated military drama, The Silent Service, based on actual stories of the submarine section of the United States Navy. In 1962, he appeared in the Bonanza episode entitled "The Decision", as a doctor sentenced to hang for the murder of a journalist. The judge in this episode was portrayed by John Hoyt, who later portrayed Dr. Phillip John Boyce, one of Leonard McCoy's predecessors, on the Star Trek pilot "The Cage". In 1963, he appeared in The Virginian episode " Man of Violence" as a "drinking" cavalry doctor with Leonard Nimoy as his patient (Nimoy's character did not survive). Just before Star Trek began filming, Kelley appeared as a doctor again, in the Laredo episode "The Sound of Terror."^[5] It is not clear whether these portrayals factored into his casting in Star Trek. Kelley played Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy from 1966 to 1969 in Roddenberry's Star Trek, went on to reprise McCoy's character in a voice-over role in Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–1974), and the first six Star Trek motion pictures (1979 to 1991).

Excerpt from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeForest_Kelley