Star Trek Picard Season 3 episode 9, “Vox,” does not disappoint in this penultimate episode. If you are a Next Generation fan and to be honest most people watching this show is from the older generation trying to experience some nostalgia. And nostalgia does this episode bring, with the return of the sinister Borg as the monster behind the red door and their ultimate plans to assimilate humanity during Frontier day.

I enjoyed the explanation of Jack Crusher’s power as well as tying it back with the Irumodic syndrome that Jean Luc Picard was supposedly diagnosed with and mentioned in season 1. As it turns out this is part of long reaching sinister plan all along and we can still see Jean Luc still wrestling with his mental struggle and anguish of having been assimilated. Worse yet, is the toll it takes on his “family” and specifically his son, even if Beverly is more in the background this episode. The biological DNA insertion explanation is a fun scientific explanation as part of the grand plan to assimilate mankind as a whole through whoever happens to be using the transporter. The age limit, dependent on when the brain stops developing around age 25, adds a little twist to create a boomer vs gen-z vibe where the target audience (the boomers) is essentially fighting the gen-z crowd. It it probably unclear if this is the intended interpretation from the authors, but it is a nice little twist.

The show wraps up with a cliff hanger as the borg is set to invade and overthrow Earth.

What am I playing these days?

Some friends and I are playing Path of Exile Crucible league after a long hiatus, at least 3 leagues. We are playing ice spear/freezing pulse, toxic rain ballista and ballista witch. On day 3 we made it into maps, but work beckons and hence we are not going as hard as some of the more intense players. It was a smooth game launch and the only kinks I've noticed so far are some "Bad Gateway 503" errors when trying to access the trade page. The Crucible mechanic itself seems vastly overtuned and I'm expecting it to be nerfed at some point.

The crucible mechanic itself adds a tree to an item of affixes which can branch randomly. Criticisms so far is that this is mostly a league for crafters as the strategy currently seems to run the crucible on base items which can later by enchanced through crafting (or sold to crafters) if the random branching is fruitful. Either way, there will be some interesting items this league, for sure.

Warning! Spoilers!

Picard season 3 episode 8 “Surrender” has aired and it does not disappoint. Now, admittedly, I’ve enjoyed all three seasons of Picard despite others having some negative views. Perhaps it is the nostalgia that I enjoy, or perhaps I just like older style sci-fi. Regardless, I’m grateful and glad this show was made as I’ve felt there has been a dearth of good new sci-fi shows since the pandemic. Let’s get to the episode...

Vadic, now fully in control of the USS Titan-A spends most of the episode showcasing her skills as a sadistic menace terrorizing the captive crew while taking away any working ship systems. She even takes it to a new level with crew executions, all for the purpose of obtaining Jack Crusher which has been the target since the beginning of the season.

Riker and Deanna make an escape from Captain Vadic’s ship, the Shrike, to make it back onto the USS Titan-A for a very heartfelt reunion. The crew reunited, easily overcome Captain Vadic and they strategize their next moves just hours before the reunion where all of star fleet and their ships will assemble. The show ends on a cliff hanger as Troi and Jack prepare to open the door that has been haunting his dreams the whole season.

Reminescent of the good old days...

There are few words in the English language I enjoy more than the word "Free." However, "all you can eat" comes close, which puts Brazilian steakhouses into a favored category of their own. With the recent population growth of Homstead it is only natural that there would also be a hunger for more dining options. Flama Brazilian Steakhouse does not disappoint, off of US1 just north of Shivers BBQ. Walking into the foyer area you are presented with an elegant view of the bar area and wine refrigerator wall.

Walking past this area you are sat in an elegant and cozy dining area. The salid bar has a fair number of selections including black beans, rice, mashed potatoes and beef stew.

What am I playing these days?
Endless Space 2 from Amplitude Studios is a 4x turned based strategy game that has been consuming my time in the past two months.. Originally released in 2017, it's had a number of expansion packs and mini releases since. The game is reminescent of Masters of Orion 2 even down to having troop invasions of planets. It has a similar feel to civ6 and there have been a few nights I've stayed up for just one more turn.

It is a typical "explore, expand, exploit and exterminate" game. Space combat has a cool battle video sequence, however, I found myself skipping these after the first battle. After destroying a fleet that orbits a system, you then do a ground invasion. The twist from earlier games is this has improvements in gear for your ground assault including better use of technology, tanks and airplanes. This actually does make it more fun.

The game has several victory conditions including science, economy, conquest, wonders and total score,  Generally, I just play until the game ends on its own. It does a good job of ending earlier rather than having tedium once it's obvious that you've won.

AI seems better on alliances and teams than Civ6
The game has a political system. I remember joining with a computer player on my alliance in Civ6 and my own computer ally had declared peace right as I was about to make major gains. This AI seems smarter in letting you obtain your gains and will send ships to your aid as well. The computer opponents seem to have their own personalities from the condescending Horatio to my favorites being the Sophons.