darkness

For most of us, gone are the days of middle school -- that forgettable time of transition when we blossom from innocence into awkward young adults. Students who were confident enough at that age might have participated in student musical productions. But few impress like "Star Trek: The Middle School Musical" created by comedic duo Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal.

If you're a "Trek" fan, you'll likely enjoy the mock musical; it's awash with amusing lyrics, cuteness, and references to various aspects of the canon, ranging from the Kobayashi Maru Starfleet test, Gorn, and the poison flower that turned Spock into a lover.… Read more

As one of the longest-running and most successful Web comics of all time, Penny Arcade has garnered an enormous and devoted fanbase who lives for the topical, no-holds-barred commentary of gamer characters John "Gabe" Gabriel and Tycho Brahe. The Web comic has also spawned the annual gaming convention PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) and multiple video games.

In a recent e-mail interview with Download.com, Penny Arcade's co-creator and writer Jerry Holkins, the man behind Tycho, discussed, among other things, his experiences developing games, current gaming trends, and his top five mobile game apps.

When is On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness … Read more

NICASIO, Calif. -- Growing up in the 1960s, Ben Burtt was such a big "Star Trek" fan that when he went off to college at a school where he had no TV, he had his father record the audio from each week's episode and mail it to him.

Sitting in his dorm room, Burtt would listen to the shows with headphones on, taking in each new episode with no pictures. But he didn't need the video to understand what was going on. "It was so vividly portrayed with excellent sound effects," Burtt said, "… Read more

I like my Khan clad in real Corinthian leather, so I'm not warping over to the closest theater to catch "Star Trek Into Darkness." And while many fanboys and fangirls are, Trek enthusiasts can also try Bing for some animation that's as fun as a locker full of tribbles.

The search engine will respond to "beam me up" with a series of interactive scenes promoting the latest installment in the J.J. Abrams reboot series.

Clicking on the floating Enterprise brings you to the bridge (littered with furry friends), where you can explore the science behind concepts from the show like the tractor beam and the tricorder. … Read more

From the USS Voyager to the many versions of the USS Enterprise, "Star Trek" featured an assortment of ships as the primary backdrop for each installment of the sci-fi series. Now you can view all of the main ships in one convenient gallery.

As the follow-up flick "Star Trek: Into Darkness" arrives in theaters this week, moviegoers young and old will once again follow the adventures of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and the rest of the Enterprise crew. It's a new spin on an old story, a tale that will surely captivate the senses.… Read more

Beam -- er, stream -- me up, Scotty. And do it via Facebook.

The social network is powering up its Facebook Live site Friday evening to give Trekkies, Trekkers, and Trekyamacallits of all stripes the chance to transport the original Mr. Sulu into their living room -- along with J.J. Abrams, director of the soon-to-be-released Trek flick, "Star Trek: Into Darkness."… Read more

Free digital comics! That always gets comic book fans revved up, and the latest batch can be had courtesy of Dark Horse Comics.

The comic book house, which was founded in 1986, is celebrating the two-year anniversary of Dark Horse Digital by offering free digital editions of the first issues of 50 different comics. The freebies include a variety of titles such as Joss Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 No. 1" and "Serenity: Those Left Behind No. 1," Felicia Day's "The Guild No. 1," Mike Mignola's "Hellboy: Seed … Read more

Encryption used in Apple's iMessage chat service has stymied attempts by federal drug enforcement agents to eavesdrop on suspects' conversations, an internal government document reveals.

An internal Drug Enforcement Administration document seen by CNET discusses a February 2013 criminal investigation and warns that because of the use of encryption, "it is impossible to intercept iMessages between two Apple devices" even with a court order approved by a federal judge.

The DEA's warning, marked "law enforcement sensitive," is the most detailed example to date of the technological obstacles -- FBI director Robert Mueller has called it … Read more

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On this week's Crave, we take a first look a gadget that truly blows, an optical game controller that looks like a kazoo. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield gives us some more cooking tips from space. And Hotello is a hotel room in a box. Sounds uncomfortable, no? All that and more on this week's episode. … Read more