An early copy of the script for the original pilot of Star Trek, which presumably belonged to Dorothy "D.C." Fontana and notes the evolution of the Enterprise captain's name from "James Winter" to "Robert April" to "Christopher Pike," is going on the auction block today at eBay.

The script, written by Gene Roddenberry, is titled "Voyage One: The Menagerie," which would later be changed to "The Cage." It's dated November 20, 1964 (with handwritten notes dated 11-22-64), and it's signed by Fontana, Leonard Nimoy and Majel Barrett. It contains revision inserts and a cover featuring an early incarnation of the Star Trek logo.

The script is being offered by action house Profiles in History with a starting bid of $2,000. You can see images from the item and join the bidding at this eBay page.

Candidate with Klingon-Language Website Gets Re-elected

Apparently the Klingon voting bloc can have an impact on this planet. Last month a Finnish politician who gained international attention by posting a Klingon-language version of his website did indeed get re-elected to his country's parliament.

Jyurki J.J. Kasvi ("J.J.", huh?), a member of the Green League party in Finland, is an ardent Trekkie, and his campaign website had translations in Swedish, English and Klingon. "Some have thought it is blasphemy to mix politics and Klingon," Kasvi said. "Others say it is good if politicians can laugh at themselves."

Appearing in "Weird News" and similar sections of various sites, reports said that Kasvi's politics posed some translations difficulties since Klingon has no word for "tolerance" or even for "green," which is the name of his party.

But the stunt paid off, as he got almost twice as many votes in the March 18 ballot as he did when he first got elected four years ago. "Even if I originally did not intend this page to be an integral part of my re-election campaign, it became one. In spite of international attention, most of the traffic generated by the publicity was from Finland," he wrote in English on the Klingon-language page. "Having thousands of voters from my constituency visiting my web page just a week before election day must have had an impact ... Thank you!"

Take a look at www.kasvi.org/index.php?kli.

Brit Models Home after Voyager

A Star Trek fan living north of London has made his dream of living on a starship come true. Tony Alleyne of Hinckley, Leicestershire, UK, has transformed his entire apartment into a detailed replication of the U.S.S. Voyager, complete with LCARS screens and voice-activated lighting.

"My motto has always been: Bliss is a room without wires," Alleyne said.

He's been working on the re-fit for nearly three years, handcrafting everything himself. He decided he wanted to apply a luxury interior to his 500-square-foot apartment, and, he said, "I have always considered that of all the Starfleet ships, Voyager is, in terms of interior, the luxury liner of the galaxy."

It's garnered a lot of attention and prompted him to start his own design business, 24th Century Design, to help others achieve the same dream. You can take a virtual tour of Alleyne's apartment at his website, www.24thcid.com. His efforts have been featured in a "Cool Homes" article at ElectronicHouse.com.

Yes, You Really Can Knock Someone Out With a Karate Chop

Something that always brings a sardonic grin to our faces when we watch the original Star Trek is the ease with which almost anyone, regardless of their athletic prowess (i.e., Dr. McCoy), can render someone unconscious with a swift karate chop to the neck. It's one of those amusing remnants of '60s television that's not at all realistic. Or is it?

A video we found at Glumbert.com apparently proves that a well-placed whack on the neck indeed can drop a person into clinical unconsciousness. A reporter in Holloway, London, decided to put the "knockout karate chop" to the test by approaching karate master Terry Wingrove, who claims to have spent 21 years in Japan studying "secret" martial arts techniques. He claims he executes the "knockout chop" by striking the carotid artery in the neck, which suddenly starving the brain of oxygen while also sending a shockwave through the neck and spinal cord. The skeptical reporter brought in an anesthetist to scientifically validate the claim. Take a look at this Glumbert.com link.

It also lends some credence to the Vulcan neck pinch, eh what? One other thing: Please do not try this at home!