Space... The Final Frontier.

You don’t have to be a Star Trek fan to recognize those four words and where they are from.

Star Trek was and is a phenomenon that is known by nearly every chronological, economical, political, and social group on the planet. There have been five TV shows based on the universe Gene Roddenberry created, ten movies so far with another one in production, and countless books, articles, websites, and fan fiction.

In fact it is the books and fan fiction that seems to keep the franchise alive despite the current lull in popularity. Casual and hard core fans eat up every new novel and fans flood websites with fiction based on the characters in each of the "generations" of Trek shows. But not just written fiction; fans are now writing and producing quality audio, and more interesting, video episodes.

Star Trek: The New Voyages is a new series of web-based shows and it is making quite a splash these days due to its high production standards. In fact, the quality of the show is high enough to lure the original Star Trek’s George Takei back to the bridge in at least one episode, and enough to win TV Guide’s 2007 Online Video Award for Best SciFi Webisodes.

Unfortunately, The New Voyages episode are not available through the iTunes Store as podcasts or movies, though I see no reason why they shouldn’t be. You can get them just the same, however, by going to the Star Trek: The New Voyages website. There are medium and HD resolution versions that are playable on your Mac or PC and can be converted to play on AppleTV, iPhone, or iPod.

I’ve watched a few episode and these are at least as good as the original series, and that’s not bad.

If you’ve been hankering for Star Trek and reruns of Enterprise just ain’t doing it for you then I strongly suggest you check out Star Trek: The New Voyages.

May it live long and prosper.

OK, now on to some stuff you can find at the iTunes Store.

I’ve got a question for you: How do you know if you spend too much time playing online games on your computer?

Here’s three hints:

• If you’re on first name basis with every pizza delivery person within 5 miles of your home then you may have a gaming problem.
• If at least one third of the people you think of as friends you know only by their online names, and most of those names have numbers in them, like "Billyg22" and "CyberGurl19", then you may have a gaming problem.
• If you’re willing to pay real money for imaginary items then you may have a gaming problem.

If you are still unsure if your game playing is a bit obsessive then the next time you get a lull in the action check out The Guild, a high-larious video podcast found at the iTunes Store, and see if you share traits with any of the characters.

Cyd tells all in The Guild

In The Guild, gamer, Cyd Sherman, is part of a group who plays online role playing games (RPGs). Her life, relationships, her everything revolves around her computer and her five friends, most of whom she’s never seen physically before.

I’m telling you, this podcast is well worth your time, I’m still snickering after watching episode two.

Each of the three available episodes are about three minutes long. Definitely put this one on your list.

Next up, we have The IT Room which does for Information Technology what The Office does for... offices.

Watch IT workers Mike, Ryan, Sang, and sexy (in a geeky way) Simone� go through� the trials and tribulations of providing technical support for a small company while trying to maintain some semblance of sanity.

The Boss conference calls his IT staff in The IT Room

But what’s up with the monkey?

The IT Room is another quirky, high quality podcasts that’s already one of my favorites. There are only two webisodes so far, but there’s a bunch of other IT Room snippets to keep you happy until the next webisode appears. (My favorite is Conference Call)

Go grab The IT Room at the iTunes Store.

As you may or may not be aware, this is the Christmas Holiday Season and everywhere you turn you’ll see reminders of just how commercialize the holiday has become. It’s a shame, really, because regardless of your religious affiliation (or lack of it), this time of year can offer immense beauty that can lift your spirit and make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

One of the best ways to get that fuzzy feeling is by listening to traditional Christmas music, and there are few songs more traditional, or awe inspiring, than The Hallelujah Chorus from George Friedrich Handel’s Messiah.

The Hallelujah Chorus is easily my favorite Holiday music and when it’s well produced and orchestrated it can bring a tear to my eye.

I must be getting misty because the iTunes Store is offering a free download of the Hallelujah Chorus as performed by The London Symphony Orchestra.

I’m telling ya, this is some kinda good, and free makes it better. Just the thing get you in the seasonal mood.

If you grab anything this week make sure you get The Hallelujah Chorus.

OK, that’s a wrap for this week. I join the rest of the staff here at TMO Towers in wishing you and yours a very healthy and happy Holiday season.

Catch you next week.

More free stuff at the iTunes Store:

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.