Atari and Del Taco Spice Up Star Trek Online Adventure

Space, the final froniter, these are the continuing voyages of the Star Trek universe. Set in 2409, which takes place roughly thirty years after the events that happened in the final Next Generation Star Trek movie Nemesis. This is also twenty years after the events detailed in the new Star Trek movie, which were the triggers for Spock’s journey back in time. The planet of Romulus has been destroyed, the Borg are again invading other worlds for assimilation, the Cardassian Union has splintered, and the Federation and the Klingon Empire are on the brink of war. This brings us to a time with more advanced technology, new ships, and a tumultuous universe, which provides a rich backdrop for an interesting and engaging MMO universe.

More about the game in a minute, but we all love collecting Star Trek stuff.

For a limited time offer with Del Taco! Customers who purchase a Macho-sized drink at Del Taco will receive a free limited edition Star Trek collector’s cup and a free trial of the Star Trek Online while supplies last. Each collector’s cup will have an individual peel code that can be redeemed for a 48-hour free trial of Star Trek Online at http://www.startrekonline.com/deltaco. Customers can redeem up to four codes and receive 48-hours of gameplay with each code. As an added bonus, customers that redeem the maximum four codes will receive an extra 48-hours of access to the game for a total of 10 full days.

Additionally, if consumers choose to purchase the game after their free trial, they will receive a free Type-8 Shuttle “pet” add-on for their Starship, available exclusively from Del Taco.

There is a main storyline that players can follow, but aren’t forced to complete. The two different in-game factions each have their own side of the story, and if players choose to explore this far-reaching plot they will see a series of “episodes”. These episodes are interactive adventures that are very similar to episodes of the television series. These tasks can be anything from repelling a Borg invasion to shuttling ambassadors across the galaxy. Some tasks are even rumored to include mirror universes, worm holes, and time travel, so the possibilities for quests and episodes are endless and interesting.

In December, it was announced that both Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy had signed on to do voice over work for the video game. These two actors have both played the Vulcan Spock on the big screen – Nimoy in the Original Series and Quinto in the new series reboot. Very little casting information other than this has been released, so certain characters aren’t known, but it seems they are making a huge effort to make their episodes interesting and well made.

More specific details haven’t been released either officially by Cryptic, so keep an eye out for more news.

Have a Bic Mac & free Wi-Fi at Mickey D’s

Not much in life is free these days, but under the golden arches it is. McDonalds wants us to expanding out food choices across the nation, now they have also expanded their free Wi-Fi to 11,500 new locations.

What’s into for us?

Free Wi-Fi for Big Mac fans!

It used to cost $2.95 for two hours. Find out where WiFi access will be available at McDonald’s Wireless Connectivity or on McDonald’s site here.

So now you can tweet or facebook as you eat. Just don’t drip the ketcup on your iphone or google phone.

Google DROID No Match for Winter Blast

On a recent family trip to see snow, I thought it would be great to see if my Droid phone from Verizon Wireless would have any problems at 3500 ft and in the bitter cold of the mountains of Blowing Rock, N.C. over New Year’s Eve.

Well the temp ranged from 23-8 degrees and a wind chill factor of -5 to -18. Yes -18 wind chill! For us you can keep the winter, I will stay with my Miami, sunny hot weather any day.

So during my stay the famous “Can you hear me know,” failed so many times that it got frustrating. First I averaged one lousy bar if I was lucky. I asked others that had an iPhone 3G from AT&T, and they had the same signal problem. So much for the 3G map both companies use in commercials showing signal coverage.

Later I went sliding down a hill with my kids and filmed myself going down the same hill. The video quality by the way was clear. But the phone was so cold to the touch that far too many applications slowed down to a crawl.

The worst part is that trying to answer a phone call using the screen thumb slide, it took 3 times to work. Even today, Sunday Jan. 3rd it still takes that long. Luckily for me, the phone never got wet, I made sure that the phone was dry, but nothing could be done for the bitter air temps.

But to be fair the only two applications – Phone Cam & Google Maps GPS worked almost as they should in the cold. The GPS made the road trip less stressful. Only one thing I ask, please Google upgrade the maps feature that allows you to drag your route to an alternate route, similar to Google Maps on your PC.

Not sure if Motorola tested the Droid in the cold weather but mine acted like an old 386 PC. Meaning that here are a few factors that you should take into consideration if you go to cold weather with any phone.

Do’s:

1. Keep your phone in a warm pocket or in a zipped pouch.
2. Make sure your phone battery is fully charged, the cold drains the battery faster.
3. If you use gloves make sure they are not wet.
4. Have another person takes your picture so you can fun in the snow.
5. Transfer your pictures from your phone cam or camera as soon as you can. Like to a laptop or upload them to facebook, flicker or any other photo library. That way if your camera breaks, freezes mor get lost you can save your memories.

Don’ts:

1. Do not ever use your Droid as a snow ball mold.
2. Never use a wet glove after a snow ball fight to call home.
3. Don’t expect a good signal in a mountain range.

Final verdict: The Droid works flawlessly in warm weather, but Jack Frost blows the Droids circuits into a frozen wasteland.

NOTE: All pictures taken with the Google Droid by Motorola, Dec. 31, 2009-Jan. 2, 2010, by Roy Bassave.