Star Trek Online Executive Producer Dan Stahl has thrown in the proverbial towel over at Cryptic. In a long letter to the players and fans, Dan left by saying "This was a difficult decision but ultimately one that will start a new chapter for me and my family." With a little over a year under his belt Dan has overseen several changes in STO since replacing Craig Zinkievich in July 2010. The biggest news of late being the purchase of Cryptic by Perfect World as well as the new free-to-play model. On the former, Dan mentions that he's "confident that the future of Star Trek Online is secure with Perfect World."

Here’s a mini Next Gen reunion for ya. Gates McFadden is directing a new play, in Los Angeles, called “House of Gold” whose cast includes fellow Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Denise Crosby. Let’s hope that Denise’s current character doesn’t go on any away missions this time.

Gates talks about her impetus for this particular subject matter and its relevance to today’s society.

"House of Gold is a hilarious, yet scathing critique of our culture, revealing dark truths about our values, and, ultimately, about ourselves," explains EST/LA artistic director Gates McFadden, who also directs. "Reading this play returned me to my own childhood. Like the character in the play, I was the ‘pleaser' child-performer. As an adult, my role on Star Trek was my parents' dream come true, but for me, it brought back a lot of childhood ambivalence."

She continues, "In American culture, reality TV is more real than real life. Parents think it's normal to exploit and humiliate their children on camera, if only to give their own dreary lives more meaning-‘my video got over a million hits on You Tube!' Children either receive too much parental attention or not enough. Something horrible in the news? Goodie! Let's get the details."

From now until September 25th, you can catch Robert Picardo (the non-holographic version) in the musical Cabaret. Robert plays fruit-salesman Herr Schult in this slightly tamed version of the classic. Also starring O'Hare as Sally Bowles, Jeff McLean as Cliff Bradshaw, Mary Gordon Murray as Fräulein Schneider, and Bryce Ryness as the Master of Ceremonies. You can catch Cabaret at the Freud Playhouse at UCLA.

About Cabaret:
Willkommen to Germany in the 1930s, a time of excess for those who seek out such pleasures, and a time of fears as the Nazi Party begins to take political power. Cliff Bradshaw is an American writer in search of meaning in his life, and he seeks them out in the dancehalls and clubs that make up Berlin’s seedy underground nightlife. Along his journey, he encounters the enigmatic, 19-year-old Sally Bowles who introduces him to the desperate, gaudy and haunting world of the Cabaret. Featuring some of musical theatre’s most famous songs, including Willkommen, Don't Tell Mama,Tomorrow Belongs To Me and Cabaret, this show is an enduring classic.

In an attempt to start flaming troll wars on the interwebs and making geeks' heads explode, William Shatner (aka Sir Billiam. Yes were still shooting for that internet meme) posted another one of his tongue-in-cheek videos to youtube. This time? The age old battle: Star Trek vs. Star Wars. Not only did The Shat say that Star Wars is derivative of Star Trek, he went on to point out that Star Trek had better looking women and stories. He did mention though, that Captain Kirk and Princess Leia would be "the perfect union" between Trek & Wars.

"Star Trek had relationships and conflict among the relationships... and stories that involved humanity and philosophical questions... Star Wars was special effects." The Shat continues "Not only was the television show more humane and dealt with more human principles than Star Wars, but now Star Trek has even more special effects than Star Wars."

Will the iPhone put Hoshi out of a job? Probably not, but it may be a good fallback in case you don’t have your own linguistics expert with you on your next international trip. A company called Vocre has come up with a new iPhone app that will translate your spoken word and your conversational partner’s, audibly, and allow you to have a two way conversation with someone who speaks a different language.

So far they say it works with any language in any country, and while that description technically doesn’t exclude alien life forms, we’re guessing that it will be a while before you can have a translated conversation with a Tamarian.

The idea is very simple—you select your gender and the gender of the person you're speaking with, along with your native language and theirs. Then your turn your iPhone upside down, say what you want to say, and Vocre will recognize it almost instantly. If the text looks right to you, just flip the phone on its side and it will actually speak what you said to the person you're talking to in their language. For example, if I spoke something in English the app could then repeat it in Spanish, French, Chinese, and more. While the translations aren't instant and you do have to flip your phone around a lot (which is admittedly a little annoying), it performs phenomenally well and would be remarkably useful as a translator in a variety of situations.

We would like to wish a very happy birthday to our favorite navigator, Walter Koenig! As many of you know, Walter recently made the news with his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and honestly it couldn't have happened sooner. The well deserved honor has got to make this day even more special. We had the chance to talk to Walter last year at Austin Comic-con and he mentioned a few projects that should be releasing soon. You can learn more info about his two graphic novels "Raver" & "Things to Come" by clicking their respective links. You can also check out his official website here.

Walter Marvin Koenig was born September 14, 1936 in Chicago, IL. Before landing the role of Ensign Pavel Chekov, Walter worked on many series in the early days of TV including: Combat!, The Untouchables, Ben Casey, plus many others. The most notable being the short lived series The Lieutenant created by none other than Gene Roddenberry. Walter credits his work on The Lieutenant for playing a small role in landing Star Trek, but he also credits the series Mr. Novak.

We've reported on William Shatner's documentary The Captains since Vegas Khhaaan! 2010. Sir Billiam has been extolling it's virtues at every convention we've been to from Vegas to Dallas and everywhere in-between. Since it's premiere on EPIX, the documentary has been a hit with Trek fans and non-fans alike. Now, you can buy your own copy of The Captains on DVD. Coming October 4th, and available for pre-order here, the documentary features all five Trek captains including: Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, Sir Patrick Stewart, & Star Trek XI's Chris Pine. The Shat interviews each in an informal setting and uses his Kirk like charm on each. Read more about the captains below.

Dallas Comic Con is at it again. Their newest convention is coming up on October 8th & 9th. This particular "Fan Days" convention, is Star Wars themed, but we thought Trek fans would want to know because George Takei will be appearing over the weekend. If you haven't been to any of the conventions Dallas Comic Con puts on, you're really missing out. They run a great show. They are big enough and well known enough to get a ton of the great guests, but small enough to allow fans greater access to those guests. If you are anywhere near Dallas, TX on October 8th & 9th we totally think you should stop by and check it out. It's shaping up to be a great show.

We reported last month that Star Trek: The Next Generation is heading to Blu-ray & HD sooner rather than later. It turns out that the four test episodes that are being worked on include "Encounter At Farpoint 1 & 2", "The Inner Light", & "Sins of the Father". While we were hoping for "Yesterday's Enterprise" those choices will definitely work for us. Trekcore & The Digital Bits are both reporting that the four test episodes could be released this fall and may show up on both Netflix & Epix.