Less a PNQ and more a general request for technical advice.

A long time ago, I had a radio-based set of wireless headphones. The power brick broke, and I'd have to spend twenty bucks online for a replacement. I'd kinda like to avoid online purchases if possible, so I've been looking for brick-and-mortar alternatives. Advice most desired.

A nearby electronics store sells a Bluetooth headset for $30, but I'd also have to get a $15 USB Bluetooth dongle for my PC. How hard is it to change the headset between receiving from the PC dongle or receiving from my iPad or Android tablet instead?

Not hard at all, though I always found PC Bluetooth sync to be problematic at best.

I just read a Star Trek novel passage where the Romulans are attempting to board the ship and someone makes the Enterprise change course suddenly in the middle of transport (only the glow of the incoming beam is visible) such that the Romulans end up beaming into space.

PNQ: Comments? Issues?

Reference materials state that a Federation transporter cycle takes about five seconds, and we can assume that the transporter computer can deal with known speeds and courses at both ends ("we have matched velocity for transport") so the factors are known. But what would happen in this case?

In theory, yeah. Or they could just adjust course a hair and all of a sudden they're in the middle of a bulkhead. Would a navigator be able to receive an order and react in time in an approximate 5 second cycle to move the ship enough in order for it to be a viable tactic is a good question.

Then again, if you think of it, there's a really obvious solution to this: computer compensation. Unless we're talking 8472 ship, usually ships are pretty consistent in size throughout; a cursory scan could allow the computer to use the dimensions of the target ship as their reference, and any sudden movements would be instantly adjusted by the ship's computer. This would also make sense within context of the show, as the transporter becomes more and more sophisticated as time marches on and can do more things.

Yeah, let's just say that someone from Ship A is trying to beam onto Ship B. The transporter operator on A has access to the latest scans of B to know where it will be at every instant during the transport cycle. Technically, even during a five-second cycle any two origin and destination points will move relative to each other unless it's two ships that have specifically matched velocity. Therefore the computer can "smear" the beam during the cycle, moving it as the person goes. But the "smearing" is based on the assumption that Ship B will be going at a specific course relative to Ship A during the entire cycle. But a sudden course change should trigger the sensors, setting off an automated recall in the transporter, right?

In theory. Also could explain Spock's mom in the reboot movie.

...yes, I went there.

Since I only read the script for that movie once years ago, whatever subtle meaning you intend is lost on me. I don't want to know, either.

So Alan Rickman died today...

PNQ: What Alan Rickman role will you remember the most?

I realize that for a lot of older folks it'll be Die Hard and for the younger folks it'll be Harry Potter, but for me it's Sense and Sensibility all the way. As a Trekkie it should be Galaxy Quest, but I confess to not being very fond of that film.

Dogma, GalaxyQuest, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Die Hard, his one guest spot on King of the Hill, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves...

Take your pick. Great actor.

Oddly enough, I think for me it'll be Marvin. Rickman was born to voice that guy. Second would probably be Galaxy Quest (which I love, unlike MST3K or Sev Trek... weird how this forum and I seem to consistently disagree on which Trek parodies are good). Another one I'll remember fondly is the HBO movie <i>Something the Lord Made</i>, where he plays Dr. Alfred Blalock, the doctor who basically invented modern heart surgery. It's a classic Rickman role: a man who's brilliant but flawed, somewhat withdrawn, and doesn't suffer fools.

Don't get me wrong, he was great as Snape -- but he didn't really match my mental image of the character, and that makes the role less memorable for me. I'm only a moderate Die Hard fan and haven't seen Robin Hood or Dogma yet.

He did a good job as Marvin but there wasn't enough of him in the film and I'm just too fond of the original Stephen Moore from radio and TV that anybody else would always come in second place.

No question, Moore is the true Marvin -- but Rickman was still a great fit. One of the highlights of that odd take on Hitchhiker's Guide.

Here's one for you:

Why is everyone dying so early in 2016?!?

As long as Marvin is still a recent memory, here are some songs!

Marvin
Metal Man
Reasons To Be Miserable
Marvin I Love You

The Harry Potter movies are what made him memorable for me, the reason I know his name. I've seen Something the Lord Made but it was long time ago and I didn't remember him being in it. He's good in Hitchhiker's and Galaxy Quest but I didn't say "oh it's Alan Rickman" when I watched them until after I'd seen the Harry Potter movies. I think those are the only one's I've seen.

Regarding the Groundhog Day tradition...

PNQ: What is the definition of "early spring" or "more winter"?

I mean, on a scientific, can't-be-disputed level. I suppose you'd have to choose a representative plant species, plant a seed in a representative location, and see how long it takes to sprout. Before Date X means "early spring" and so forth.

I think it's intended to work on more of a "Can I plant crops yet or go outside without a heavy coat" level.

If we're only talking about one city, it'd be easy enough to define "spring" as "the temperature hasn't dropped below X degrees in Y days, so it probably won't get colder than that anymore until next winter", but people seem to act like a single groundhog predicts the end of winter for the entire country, if not the entire continent.

That's the game. People read horoscopes for fun too.

PNQ: What are we going to do for the big fiftieth anniversary?