The Star Trek OmnipediaThe Star Trek Omnipedia
Simply put, The Star Trek Omnipedia is a complete anthology of everything Trek. It is simple to install, and far from simplistic.
The Omnipedia includes a description for every episode and citations for every character, prop, planet, star-system, or event. Basically, if a noun was uttered on any Trek show, you can find it in the Omnipedia.
The Omnipedia can be searched in various modes: Encyclopedia, Episode, Chronology, Resource, or Topics. The "encyclopedia mode" is subdivided by letter, and the "episode mode" can be subdivided by series-The Original Series (TOS), The Next Generation (TNG), or Deep Space Nine (DS9)-Voyager references and more DS9 information will be available on the next update, shipped free to registered users.
The Omnipedia is amazingly complete, and incorporates hypertext links throughout. Most entries also feature one or two images as well as video clips and reference resources. The Resources Mode is superbly designed, featuring audiovisual presentations by Mark Lenard (Sarek) and multimedia presentations on such topics as the Picard Maneuver (with computer animation, guide text, and multiple perspectives).
But the Star Trek Omnipedia isn't just a showcase for Gene Roddenberry's vision of the 24th-century future; it's a showcase of his future vision now. The Star Trek Omnipedia can be voice navigated. For those of you with System 7.5 on your Mac or speech recognition software on your PC, you will find the Omnipedia unbelievable. Just think, Kirk had to wait until 2267 for a voice recognition interface.
It feels a bit foolish giving voice commands to your computer as if you were on the Enterprise-D, but it's downright eerie when it responds (it fulfills your request, and responds with beeps to the voice of Majel Barrett). You can browse virtually the entire Omnipedia without using the keyboard. The program recognizes all direction commands like "episode mode," or "next" or "back," but it also responds to commands like "display photo one," or "hyperlink to Leah Brahms." In fact, any item in the visible index, or any hypertext word in the entry can be spoken and opened.
Once you've become accustomed to talking to your computer, be sure to ask for the Captain's favorite beverage. You won't be disappointed.
