#57 STARFLEET CORPS OF ENGINEERS Centuries ago, the S.S. Mariposa transported two sets of colonists -- one a "back-to-nature" group called the Bringloidi, the other a collection of scientists -- to new worlds. Over a decade ago, the Starship Enterprise™ brought the colonies back together as a solution to two problems -- the Bringloidi had lost their home to solar flares, and the Mariposans faced a breeding crisis brought about by their use of cloning. However, the union has not been as fruitful as Captain Picard had hoped, and now the S.C.E. team of the U.S.S. da Vinci has been called in to solve the Mariposans problem -- but will the solution be even worse than the problem? OUT OF THE COCOON

When something in the galaxy needs to be fixed, tweaked, investigated, or repaired, the Federation sends in the best: the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. Traveling throughout the quadrant on the Sabre-class U.S.S. da Vinci, Captain David Gold, former Starship Enterprise™ engineer Commander Sonya Gomez, and the crack S.C.E. team solve the problems of the galaxy, one disaster at a time. Whether dealing with the legacy of Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s decision regarding the Mariposa colony, stopping an alien predator from destroying a pre-warp culture, fixing a planet-wide power outage, or repairing the damage done by the Dominion to a former ally, the Corps of Engineers is on the case! But not all problems are technical: Dr. Elizabeth Lense deals with the consequences of her unexpected pregnancy, Security Chief Domenica Corsi encounters a Prime Directive crisis, Dr. Bart Faulwell faces a personal crossroads, and Chief Vance Hawkins must try to lay the ghosts of the Dominion War to rest.

Chronicles the early adventures of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers throughout the galaxy.

Few films have been so keenly awaited or the subject of so much internet debate as the twelfth Star Trek movie -- the first since 2002 -- which is scheduled to be released in May 2009. Directed by J.J. Abrams, creator of cutting-edge cult television shows Lostand Alias, the film is expected to launch the Star Trekfranchise into a new stellar era. Going back to the very beginnings of the classic Star Trek, the film tells how James T. Kirk, the half-Vulcan Spock, Dr McCoy, engineer Montgomery Scott and crew members Chekov, Sulu and Uhura first came together as rookie Starfleet recruits, and how they embraced the destiny that would later send them out across the galaxy accompanied by the immortal words: 'These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise…' A largely brand new cast including Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto (Heroes) as Spock, Simon Pegg as Scotty, Karl Urban as McCoy alongside Eric Bana, Winona Ryder and Leonard Nimoy will bring Star Trekto a whole new audience, while at the same time Alan Dean Foster's novelization will enthrall both existing fans and a new generation of readers.

A new six-part epic covering the first year of service of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E, leading up to the events of the hit movie Star Trek: First Contact. A major turning point in the lives of two of the Enterprise crew! Newly promoted Admiral Hayes gives La Forge a shocking ultimatum: his VISOR is a security risk, and he must either have it replaced with ocular implants or be transferred to a less-sensitive post. Meanwhile, Troi has some issues of her own. Though she knows that her mother, Lwaxana, recently remarried to the Tavnian named Jeyal, she was unaware of the subsequent pregnancy -- and now Lwaxana's about to give birth. To make matters worse, the Tevnian government has decided that, even though Lwaxana and Jeyal have since divorced, the child still belongs to them.

Continuing the events detailed in Star Trek: Destiny: With the displacement and devastation wrought by the Borg, can the Federation survive? Fortune has smiled on Lieutenant Jasminder Choudhury, chief of security on the U.S.S Enterprise.™ She has survived. But her homeworld, Deneva, one of the planets targeted in the massive Borg invasion, has not. The entire surface has been wiped clean of everything, killing anyone who did not evacuate and rendering the planet uninhabitable. Choudhury is left to wonder whether her family was one of the displaced. Or are they all gone forever? The Enterprise is just one ship, and Jasminder Choudhury is just one officer, yet her story is being repeated over and over across the galaxy. Hundreds of thousands of displaced persons haunt the space ways, seeking comfort, looking for someplace safe, somewhere, anywhere to find solace. Captain Jean-Luc Picard is ordered to do everything he can to rescue and if need be to recover the lost souls from the Borg invasion. For the first time in generations, citizens of the Federation know want, uncertainty, and fear. Bloodied yet unbowed, the Federation now stands on the edge of a precipice. The captain of the Enterprise finds himself in the unenviable position of wondering whether it is true that those who can win a war well can rarely make a good peace.

The thrilling Star Trek short story collection featuring Starfleet’s Corps of Engineers! Corps of Engineers These are the voyages of the U.S.S. da Vinci. Their mission: to solve the problems of the galaxy, one disaster at a time. Starfleet veteran Captain David Gold, along with his crack Starfleet Corps of Engineers team lead by former Starship Enterprise ™ engineer Commander Sonya Gomez, travel throughout the Federation and beyond to fix the unfixable, repair the irreparable, and solve the unsolvable. Whether it's an artificial planetary ring that was damaged during the Dominion War, an out-of-control generation ship, a weapons inspection gone horribly wrong, shutting down a crashed probe, solving a centuries-old medical mystery, or clearing a sargasso sea of derelict ships, the S.C.E. is on the case! But the problems they face aren't just technical; Tev must confront the demons of his past, Lense must confront the demons of her present, Gold faces a crisis of leadership on his own ship, and Gomez must lead an away team into the middle of a brutal ground war. Plus the da Vinci crew must find a way to work with their Klingon counterparts in a deadly rescue mission.

Does the self - a unified, separate, persisting thinker/owner/agent - exist? Drawing on Western philosophy, neurology and Theravadin Buddhism, this book argues that the self is an illusion created by a tier of non-illusory consciousness and a tier of desire-driven thought and emotion, and that separateness underpins the self's illusory status.

Phil Factor is a legend in his own runtime. Scurrilous, absurd, confessional and scathing by turns, Confessions of an IT Manager targets the idiocy, incompetence and overreach of the IT management industry from vantage point all the way up and down the greasy pole. Phil Factor (real name witheld to protest the guilty) has over 20 years experience in the IT industry, specializing in database-intensive applications. For withering insight into the human weaknesses and farcical levels of ineptitude that bring IT projects to their knees, plus occasional escapes into burnished pastiche and cock-a-leg doggerel there is no funnier, more illuminating commentary on the IT crowd.

An end to greenhouse gas emissions, a global framework to control nuclear proliferation, a preemptive remedy to looming water wars, and unlimited energy worldwide are just a few of the concrete solutions offered up in Tom Blees's brilliant and timely Prescription for the Planet. Everyone is worried about global warming, energy wars, resource depletion, and air pollution. But nobody has yet come up with a real plan to resolve these problems that can actually work-until now. Prescription for the Planet proposes a workable blueprint to virtually eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of this century and solve a host of other seemingly intractable global problems. Solving our planet's most pressing dilemmas requires more than simply setting goals. We need a roadmap to reach them. Technologies that work fine on a small scale cannot necessarily be ramped up to global size. Worldwide environmental and social problems require a bold vision for the future that includes feasible planet-wide solutions with all the details. Prescription for the Planet explains how a trio of little-known yet profoundly revolutionary technologies, coupled with their judicious use in an atmosphere of global cooperation, can be the springboard that carries humanity to an era beyond scarcity. And with competition for previously scarce resources no longer an issue, the main incentives for warfare will be eliminated. Explaining not only the means to solve our most pressing problems but how those solutions can painlessly lead to improving the standard of living of everyone on the planet, Blees's lucid and provocatively written Prescription for the Planet has arrived not a moment too soon. There is something here for everyone, be they a policymaker, environmental activist, or any concerned citizen hoping for a better future.