By Chris Booton on Thursday, November 5, 1998 - 11:02 pm:

They remove the virus by shutting down everything and re-booting. But what about the files that were infected, wouldent they need to fix them?

I dont see how they could get a virus from logs, I thought virii only came from programs. now this virus is alien and incredibly powerful which could explain it.

Anyone else notice how they show Toronto city hall in that portal that scrolls through various desxtinations?
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By Norman on Friday, November 13, 1998 - 05:13 pm:

When Troi asks Picard that since they have just concluded that the Romulan ship did not destroy the Yamato that they should leave, Picard responds they must remain and conclude that the cause is not a design flaw otherwise the Enterprise may have the same malfunctions. Uh . . . either this is a weak plot device or Troi failed to read Picard's curiosity of Iconia (if that is his real reason). Or Troi decided not to raise the issue for whatever reason when she sensed it.

I mean, come on. It would make a lot more sense to bring the Enterprise to a star base to have it checked for a design flaw than to check it now in the middle of a neutral zone where a war between the Romulans and the Federations can result just for this reason!

Picard likely was curious about Iconia, but if that's the case, shouldn't Troi have brought about that issue (I mean it would be her job to point out this fact, I would think, to make the captain aware of his decision making).
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By Callie Sullivan on Monday, February 22, 1999 - 07:32 am:

Hasn't the Enterprise got any stairs? And if not, why not?! Pulaski is so concerned about the dodgy turbolifts that she sends her staff through the "access tunnels" which I assume means the Jefferies tubes. But what happens if someone is so badly injured that they need to be got to Sickbay? The transporters are probably erratic as well and so can't be risked, so the patient has to be got to Sickbay manually. How??!! Drag 'em through the Jefferies tubes on a stretcher? Those anti-grav beds we've seen on a couple of occasions look too big to fit through the tubes, and anyway how would they go up and down the ladders without tipping the patient out feet first?! Surely all these problems would be solved by a few flights of stairs?
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By Keith Alan Morgan on Friday, April 23, 1999 - 07:19 am:

Picard is worried about the Romulans picking up their presence in the Neutral Zone, but doesn't the Federation also monitor the border of the Neutral Zone? If it is a treaty violation to enter the Neutral Zone, then why don't the Federation border guards try to stop the Yamato and the Enterprise from entering? (Or hasn't Starfleet rebuilt the outposts scooped up by the Borg yet?)

After the Yamato exploded, the saucer section flies away from the blast and the hull of the ship seemed to 'burn' away. What in the explosion would cause this form of destruction?

In Captain Varley's logs, he mentions that he played "Hide and Seek' with a Romulan ship, through "several solar systems." Just how big is this Neutral Zone anyway? Or were the Yamato and the Romulan ship crossing back and forth into Federation and Romulan space?

In the first NextGen Guide, Phil commented on the Stardates in Varley's logs jumping back and forth in time. Perhaps this was caused by the alien program rewriting the computer records?

Why are there M Class planets in the Neutral Zone? I would think that when borders are created between two warring groups one would try to avoid putting valuable land in there, but several episodes have featured planets in the Neutral Zone. How exactly are the boundaries of the Neutral Zone determined anyway? Stars are constantly moving through space at different speeds and directions. To use stars as reference points, you would have to pick stars that are moving the same direction and speed and are not encroaching on either territories. (For instance, our sun is moving in the direction of the star Vega and will probably come closest to it in about 450,000 years.) So perhaps that might explain how these M Class planets got into the Neutral Zone? They just happened to be between the stellar reference points or they moved into the zone after it was established? How big is the Neutral Zone anyway?

They state that there is no life on the planet, presumably caused by the attack from ships in orbit, but life can be incredibly tiny and a lot of it is underground. So we are supposed to believe that this substation and its power supply survived intact, but all life perished?

If the station can open a gateway onto the ships in orbit, then why would it need to launch a probe to examine the ships? Couldn't the gateway act as a form of probe?

Frustrated over the systems failures Riker asks if the crewmember could find some rocks to throw at the Romulans. Well, if he really wanted some rocks to throw at them why not go into Picard's ready room. Picard usually has several polished stones on or behind his desk.

When Worf picks up Data to carry him through the gateway his left hand is outside of Data's legs, but just before he enters the doorway, his left hand is suddenly between Data's legs. (Was Worf going to ask Data to cough?)

Those Iconians had some wonderful technical sophistication. Apparently all they needed was three colored buttons to program everything.

If the whole colored section was just one big button, then why was it filled with Iconian letters? Was this Iconian for "Stop! Be Very Careful! This is a Very Dangerous button to push, so Don't Do It unless you are Very, Very Certain that you want this place Blown Up!"

Picard is beamed onto the Enterprise, tells them that the Romulan ship is about to self-destruct and Riker just taps his badge and speaks directly to the Romulan ship. Why would Riker's badge be connected to the Romulan ship's communications system? (Did Riker's mother have pointed ears, perhaps?)

The Iconian computer program is infesting the Romulan ship and the Enterprise accepts a transmission from them. Isn't there a chance that the Iconian program might get retransmitted to the Enterprise?

How exactly did this computer program rewrite the Enterprise's computer? I know they said it functioned like a computer virus, but don't computer viruses have to be written to specifically function that way? I believe that viruses written for IBM style machines do not work on Macintoshs and vice versa, but this alien program written for alien computers with an alien programming language somehow affected the Enterprise computer. I've only tried writing a few computer programs, but I do know that if they are not written just right, they will not work. Also, one must consider the thinking process behind the design of computers. I believe that Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine and the computer that was being worked on in Nazi Germany were designed to function on a base 10 system, the numbers 0 to 9 each having a 'switch.' The computers we use are based on a binary system with just two 'switches,' on and off. The existence of the Bynaurs, whose language and thinking are close to Binary, and who are expert computer fixers would seem to indicate that the Enterprise computer is also based on binary. It's possible that the Iconian program was written in Binary, although the design of the Iconian console seemed to feature threes, triangular buttons and Amber, Blue and Red buttons. LaForge said the program was incredibly sophisticated, apparently it was also remarkably similar to a Federation program.

The Enterprise does have stairs (the 1701-D blueprints and cutaway show them). In my opinion, Pulaski just wanted to make things difficult. Beverly Crusher rules!!

Riker seems to get a little bit stuck with the Romulan Sub-Commander's name. It is obviously spelled "TARIS" in canon that I've seen, and she pronounces it as such when introducing herself, but throughout the crazy scene (Shields are back down/shields are back up etc.) Riker sounds like he's pronouncing it "Torres"...

Personally if I had been the Captain of the Yamato I would have started sending over my civilians just as soon as the Enterprise was in transporter range! If an average Galaxy class ship hass 200 dependent civilians aboard and 4 of the 22 person evacuation transporters they could have sent them all over in about 3 minutes time!

Other than that launching his shuttles, Captain's gig and doing a saucer seperation would have all been wise precautions knowing how warp cores tend to expolode when they fail.

What's a warp core breach?

Speaking of warp core breaches and ships called Yamato, once in Klingon Academy I was fighting one (I was in an excelcior (rememer this is TOS timeline) and I really messed up his warp engines, so he decides to go chasing after my friends ship, and 2 second later BOOM. He had a warp core breech.

When the Enterprise first encounters the Romulan warbird Worf twice says that the Romulans don't respond to their hails. Then Picard starts adressing the warbird without ordering hailing frequencies to open, or tapping his combadge, and the warbird responds. Did Worf create an open channel when he tried to contact the warbird, in that case Tarris heard all the conversation between the bridgecrew about arming phasers etc.

How DO you play hide-and-seek with a cloaked Romulan warbird?

Shouldn't Tarris be very insulted when Picard cuts off their conversation to confere with his bridgecrew about her right in front of her.

Why does Picard have such an hurry to activate the probes when Worf goes through the gateway? Why not wait 3 minutes and 45 seconds quickly tap in the combinations and then go through the gateway to the Enterprise?

Anyone else notice how they show Toronto city hall in that portal that scrolls through various desxtinations?

Yup, my dad used to work there, in fact.

Phil noticed it too in his NextGen Guide.

GREAT SFX: The Yamato explosion. WOW!

Anyone else notice how they show Toronto city hall in that portal that scrolls through various desxtinations?

Yup. Even before I bought the NextGen Guide I remember watching this ep and thinking "Hey! That wasn't...was it?"

For anybody who cares, the odd shape of the buildings is - when combined with a central ball-like structure not visible in the picture here - supposed to resemble an eye when seen from above.
Or at least that's what the architect kept insisting. Some Torontonians have other, less exotic opinions.

Speaking of explosions, did anyone notice in the final shot of the episode, as the two ships part company, the tiny tiny explosions on the surface of the planet? Very nice attention to detail there, showing the implied amount of damage on the planet if we were only seeing the explosion a hundred thousand miles from ground zero (for want of a better phrase).

But then again, this creates a possible nit! Can fire and debris travel so fast that it creates an instantaneous fireball that big to be seen as a small ball of light from about 100,000 miles away? The explosions would have to be of several tens of megatons' worth in order to be seen so brightly and clearly from orbit, and the blast itself might have to travel a few times faster than the speed of sound.

Sure. That's less than one light-second. Given the power needed to run a gateway like that, I assume that it would be nastier than a nuke.

The clear globe over the Iconian control console has silver tape on it in a zig-zagging pattern. After Picard activates the probe launcher, you can see a member of the film crew reflected in this tape, walking back and forth, in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

Speaking of explosions, did anyone notice in the final shot of the episode, as the two ships part company, the tiny tiny explosions on the surface of the planet?

Yeah, but I'm also pretty sure Worf said that the little control center thingy was on a small SOUTHERN continent, didn't he? I'm not positive, I didn't tape it so I can't go back and check but I thought that's what I heard. The little explosions were definately more north than south. I guess with all the Enterprise systems being finnicky the ship could have spun 180 degrees along the z-axis and then the south Worf was talking about would appear in the north in that shot ... I guess ...

But how do they determine the poles on an alien planet? Do they use its magnetic field?

Maybe it is whichever end of the planet is closest to galactic north. Since the milky way galaxy has both a north and south direction.

Just watched this on DVD and I noticed when Geordi closed Data's eyes and moved his (Geordi's) hand away Data's left eyelid was moving. Just a little bit but it's noticable.

NANJAO: This episode has 2 very cool moments...TWO autodestruct sequences in TWO different languages! Of course, there are more cool moments, but that'd fill up the board!

Taris said her ship was called the Harkonnen - a Dune reference?

It's called the Haakona, actually.

Yes, so I noticed. Silly me... I interpret everything as a Dune reference.

Well, they have doctors for that sort of thing now, Josh.

I don't understand why Varley and Picard would take such a massive risk to satisfy their curiosity. Is that reasonable? Would Starfleet officers really risk a war to find Iconia? Considering that such a war might result in both sides wrecking planets that might contain Iconian artifacts, by accident (starships could crash into Iconian buldings) or design (if we can't have it, neither can they), is that at all reasonable? A more sensible but less fun soluton would be to submit Varley's theory to the scientific community, and let them dig up Iconia. I doubt the treaty prevents scientific exploration by non-governmental groups, just sending military vessels and claiming planets in the Neutral Zone. If the worst that happens is that the Romulans get hold of some Iconian technology, it was going to happen anyway (the scientists would share their info, since science transcends politics). No way would the Romulans sit and watch the Federation monopolize Iconian technology.

Chris, if there is the possibility of the Iconian teleportation technology falling into Romulan hands Starfleet cannot let that happen.

Chris Diehl: I doubt the treaty prevents scientific exploration by non-governmental groups, just sending military vessels and claiming planets in the Neutral Zone.
Luigi Novi: And why would you doubt this? Ships on both sides are forbidden from even entering the Neutral Zone.

Chris Diehl: If the worst that happens is that the Romulans get hold of some Iconian technology, it was going to happen anyway (the scientists would share their info, since science transcends politics).
Luigi Novi: Which scientists? Share their info with who? Are you saying that Romulan scientists would share their info with Federation scientists? Sorry, Chris, but science only transcends politics in a free society. That doesn't mean it does so in oppressive totalitarian dictatorships. The Soviet government forbade science that didn't conform to its political ideology. There is no way the Romulan government would allow its scientists to share Iconian technology with the Federation, and if Starfleet found the Iconian technology, it too would probably become a classified technology, much as nuclear weapons were at first, and wouldn't even allow Federation citizens access to it, let alone Romulan ones.

Chris Diehl: No way would the Romulans sit and watch the Federation monopolize Iconian technology.
Luigi Novi: They'd have little choice if Starfleet absconded with its secrets and destroyed any traces of it before getting back to Earth.

Why do you imagine that no ships at all can ever enter the Neutral Zone? I have never seen either side stop a civilian ship from going in or out. Star Trek II indicates that some trade does occur across that border and is not prevented (maybe just trade in Romulan ale).

What scientists? Federation scientists, affiliated with private universities could mount an expedition to Iconia. With whom would they share any discoveries? Romulans, Klingons, Cardassians, and many other groups. I should have said that I was trying to put myself in the head of a Federation scientist, who I picture taking the attitude that scientific discovery is more important than politics.

Even if Starfleet did acquire examples of Iconian technology for study and trashed the rest (and I doubt it would be Picard pulling the trigger), do you think the Romulans would shrug their shoulders and say Oh Well? Heck no. They'd do everything they could to get a copy of an Iconian gateway built first and see to it the Federation never does, even if it leads to a war. To stop the Federation from eclipsing them technologically, they'd do anything and I bet the Klingons and Cardies would do likewise.

The discovery of Iconia should have thrown the Alpha Quadrant into chaos. The Neutral Zone would be rendered a joke in a flash, with every stellar nation in the quadrant ransacking the zone and nearby worlds for artifacts, claiming and counterclaiming every system in the hope of getting the prize. Too bad they never do anything with all these ancient super-powerful cultures whose stuff is lying around waiting to be found, studied, copied or used.

Chris Diehl: Why do you imagine that no ships at all can ever enter the Neutral Zone? I have never seen either side stop a civilian ship from going in or out.
Luigi Novi: You’ve never seen a civilian ship trying to go in or out, because they’ve never showed it. The Treaty of Algeron forbids ANY ship from either side from entering it, not just military ones. It is ridiculous to imagine that the Treaty would have any effectiveness if it permitted such a loophole, a loophole that could be so easily abused by the military, who could use civilian ships and civilian clothing to send its scientists there. Besides, in times of peace, the Enterprise isn’t a military vessel in the first place. It is a scientific exploratory vessel.

Chris Diehl: Star Trek II indicates that some trade does occur across that border and is not prevented (maybe just trade in Romulan ale).
Luigi Novi: How did it indicate this? First of all, that was the Klingon Neutral Zone, not the Romulan Neutral Zone, which was established after the Earth/Romulan War.

Second, nothing in that movie that I can recall (remind if I’m forgetting something) indicated that trade occurs through the Klingon Neutral Zone either. The only mention of the Klingon Neutral Zone was that the Kobayashi Maru strayed into it—in violation of the Treaty—and that any ship that entered the Zone to rescue it would also be in violation. I recall no indication that this had anything to do with “trade.”

Chris Diehl: What scientists? Federation scientists, affiliated with private universities could mount an expedition to Iconia. With whom would they share any discoveries? Romulans, Klingons, Cardassians, and many other groups.
Luigi Novi: If a Federation scientist gave such powerful technology to either the Cardassians or the Romulans, he should be investigated for aiding an enemy superpower.

Chris Diehl: I should have said that I was trying to put myself in the head of a Federation scientist, who I picture taking the attitude that scientific discovery is more important than politics.
Luigi Novi: What does the importance of scientific discovery over politics have to do with anything? Because scientific discovery is more important than politics means the technology would not be appropriated by the Romulan government, who could use it against its enemies, such as the Federation and the Klingons? You make it sound like you’re talking about some innocuous pure knowledge, like mapping star charts or stellar phenomena, when we’re talking about something that can be used as a powerful weapon that can shift the balance of power in the Quadrant.

Chris Diehl: Even if Starfleet did acquire examples of Iconian technology for study and trashed the rest (and I doubt it would be Picard pulling the trigger)…
Luigi Novi: Why, didn’t he pull the trigger in the episode that destroyed all the technology?

Chris Diehl: …do you think the Romulans would shrug their shoulders and say Oh Well? Heck no. They'd do everything they could to get a copy of an Iconian gateway built first and see to it the Federation never does, even if it leads to a war.
Luigi Novi: So what? That doesn’t mean they’d succeed in doing so. The point is, if Picard manages to procure information on their construction, and can destroy the rest and get back to Federation space, he should, and he would. Even if he can’t find a way to record its secrets for his people, he’s still going to destroy it, as he did. The fact that the Romulans may later search for another opportunity doesn’t mean that Picard won’t destroy the one that happens presents itself to him. The fact that the Romulans may search for another is a matter for another day. Picard’s not going to say, “Well, destroying this gateway won’t matter, because they might find another one.”

Chris Diehl: The discovery of Iconia should have thrown the Alpha Quadrant into chaos.
Luigi Novi: It would have if Picard didn’t destroy it. That’s why he did so.

Chris Diehl: Too bad they never do anything with all these ancient super-powerful cultures whose stuff is lying around waiting to be found, studied, copied or used.
Luigi Novi: What do you mean “all these ancient super-powerful cultures”? How many are there? There’s others besides Iconia? Which ones? Presumably, if more such artifacts are found, they will be dealt with. The creators visited the Iconian gateway premise again in To the Death(DS9) when another gateway was found.

Luigi Novi: What do you mean "all these ancient super-powerful cultures"? How many are there? There’s others besides Iconia? Which ones?

Well, there's the T'Kon Empire (The Last Outpost(TNG) for one...

The reference I made to Star Trek II had nothing to do with the Kobayashi Maru scene. I was referring to was the one where McCoy gives Kirk a bottle of Romulan ale, commenting that he has a friend on a vessel that crosses the border, which border I must assume is the Romulan one (for this to be the Klingon one would take too much tortured reasoning). Neither of them seemed amazed by the idea of ships going across the line, even if it is officially banned.

Also, Data described the Neutral Zone as a buffer between the Federation and the Romulan Empire. Being a buffer, it seems designed to keep both sides' military forces apart and to ban either side from colonizing worlds within a certain distance from each other, which should in theory prevent a war between those two governments. Nothing about that idea would prevent private citizens of either side from travelling across it. Sure, neither government would like it when people from the other side come across, but they couldn't stop it. Also, the Treaty of Algeron was the one that banned the Federation from using cloaking devices (for some reason). The Treaty of Cheron was the one that established the Neutral Zone with the Romulans.

While I would not consider the political and military ramifications of the discovery of Iconia insignificant, I do believe there would be an element in the Federation's scientific community that would think so, and would go so far as to convey what the Federation has learned about Iconian technology to at least Romulan scientists, if not those from several other stellar nations. Those Federation scientists might justify their actions in court by arguing that the scientific significance of the find and the necessity of sharing it outweighs political differences, arguing the Klingon example as a precedent, and arguing that sharing what they have learned is pragmatic because it keeps any one power from gaining an advantage and either dominating the others, or prompting the others to attack them out of fear. Those arguments may be hogwash, but it doesn't mean an idealist wouldn't make them.

Just because Picard took out the one gateway doesn't mean there are not others (obviously). After this episode, the Romulans know about the existence of this technology, if they didn't before. Would they make every effort to find another one, or a blueprint for one, so they could make some gateways of their own, or would they sit on their hands while the Federation developed this technology, and use it against them or someone else? Also, To The Death ended with the Dominion in control of one of these gateways, which was built of neutronium and effectively indestructible, and they never used it once, even though it could send Jem'Hadar to DS9 at least. Why does nobody want this technology, which is almost power incarnate? It just drives me crazy that they establish super-technology, and never establish governments or even private groups desperately seeking to use it. Nobody even wants to defend against the gateways.

Finally, Starfleet is very clearly a military organization. Their personnel are organized and trained like a navy. They arm their ships heavily. In addition to exploration, they defend Federation colonies, fight off invaders and pirates, and bodyguard Federation leaders. Though Starfleet's vessels all have official duties other than combat, they are capable of engaging in combat against ships built mainly for the purpose of combat. In times of war, they can and are called away from other duties to fight. Would a purely scientific organization do these things? Besides exploraion and scientific research, almost everything Starfleet does are things with which one associates a military force. Officially, they would call themselves a scientific organization employed by the Federation, but in practice, they are the Federation's military forces, which also engage in scientific and exploratory activities.

ScottN: Well, there's the T'Kon Empire (The Last Outpost(TNG) for one...
Luigi Novi: And what indication was there that they had some type of super-powerful whose stuff that was “lying around waiting to be found, studied, copied or used?”

Chris Diehl: The reference I made to Star Trek II had nothing to do with the Kobayashi Maru scene. I was referring to was the one where McCoy gives Kirk a bottle of Romulan ale, commenting that he has a friend on a vessel that crosses the border, which border I must assume is the Romulan one (for this to be the Klingon one would take too much tortured reasoning).
Luigi Novi: So why mention it, then? We’re talking about the Klingon Neutral Zone, not the Romulan one.

Chris Diehl: Also, Data described the Neutral Zone as a buffer between the Federation and the Romulan Empire. Being a buffer, it seems designed to keep both sides' military forces apart…
Luigi Novi: Why does the word “buffer” necessarily mean “military”? A buffer is something that separates antagonistic enemies. This does not need specify the military. The Berlin Wall (for which the Neutral Zones are intended a metaphor), separated East and West Germany. This did not mean that people could cross it so long as they were “civilians.” To have this rule would make the wall pointless, because citizens could cross at will, defeating the entire purpose of the wall, which for the totalitarian side, is to control its own citizens. Moreover, if civilians were allowed to cross, the military could simply disguise its forces and colonies as civilians ones, and the purpose of the barrier would become a joke. By all appearances and logic, therefore, no one is allowed to cross the Neutral Zone. Not just the military.

Chris Diehl: and to ban either side from colonizing worlds within a certain distance from each other, which should in theory prevent a war between those two governments.
Luigi Novi: And if this only applies to the military, and not civilians, then what’s to stop civilians from doing the colonizing?

Chris Diehl: Also, the Treaty of Algeron was the one that banned the Federation from using cloaking devices (for some reason). The Treaty of Cheron was the one that established the Neutral Zone with the Romulans.
Luigi Novi: There is no “Treaty of Cheron.” You’re thinking of the Battle of Cheron, which ended the Earth-Romulan War. The Treaty of Algeron, which followed the Tomed Incident in 2311, did not create the Romulan Neutral Zone (because the Neutral Zone was created following the end of the Earth-Romulan War in 2160), but it did reaffirm it, as well as prohibited the Federation from developing or using cloaking technology.

Chris Diehl: While I would not consider the political and military ramifications of the discovery of Iconia insignificant, I do believe there would be an element in the Federation's scientific community that would think so, and would go so far as to convey what the Federation has learned about Iconian technology to at least Romulan scientists, if not those from several other stellar nations.
Luigi Novi: I don’t understand how you can possibly come to this conclusion. First of all, it is highly unlikely that if Starfleet found Iconian technology, that they would release to the general public, given how dangerous it would be if it fell into enemy hands. It would probably be highly classified, just as the bomb was at first before our enemies’ spies procured it. Second, even if some Federation civilian scientist did procure it, how could he give it to the Romulans, knowing that it would fall into the hands of the Romulan government, who would use it as a weapon against the Klingons and the Federation? Any scientist who did this would be guilty of treason.

Why would you think that Starfleet would release such dangerous information to its citizens? Why would you think that a Federation citizen give such a dangerous weapon to our enemy?

Chris Diehl: Those Federation scientists might justify their actions in court by arguing that the scientific significance of the find and the necessity of sharing it outweighs political differences…
Luigi Novi: And those naïve scientists would be laughed right off to prison. The relationship between the Federation and the Romulans is not one of “political differences.” It is one of enmity.

The manner in which science should outweigh political differences only means civilians can share information with another country if:

A. The information does not pertain to something that can be used as a weapon against the citizen’s country, and
B. The other country in question isn’t an enemy.

Thus, if American scientists wanted to share a newly discovered more accurate carbon dating method with archaeologists studying the Giza Pyramids in Egypt, that would be fine.

But if an American citizen tried to share knowledge of how to build the switches for nuclear bombs with an Iraqi scientist, he’d be guilty of treason.

Similarly, the other government in question has to allow our guy through. If an archaeologist wanted to study the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan two years ago, our government probably wouldn’t mind, but the Taliban likely would have.

No principle is absolute, and that includes the scientific transcendence of politics. Aruging, therefore, that it extends to things like nuclear bombs or Iconian gateways, totally ignores this point.

Chris Diehl: …arguing the Klingon example as a precedent…
Luigi Novi: What Klingon precedent?

Chris Diehl:…and arguing that sharing what they have learned is pragmatic because it keeps any one power from gaining an advantage and either dominating the others…
Luigi Novi: What are you talking about? Countries/planets WANT to gain an advantage. Where in the world, did you ever get the idea that someone would not want to have the advantage? Governments don’t want the enemy to have the advantage, but if they themselves gain one, they’re sure as hell going to be happy about it, and they’re going to do everything they can to keep it. Where did you get the idea that giving out information about a potentially deadly weapon is “pragmatic?” A balance of power if desirable, Chris, but an advantage would be desired more. Do you honestly think that American wanted Russia’s spies to get their hands on our nuclear secrets? Do you think our government is happy now that after the fall of the Soviet Union, there are God knows how many nukes laying about in the hands of rogue states or terrorists? If the Federation got hold of a gateway, they’re going to do everything to make sure no one gets their hands on it.

Chris Diehl:…or prompting the others to attack them out of fear.
Luigi Novi: Chris, I really don’t know where you’re getting this stuff from. It certainly doesn’t seem to be coming from historical precedent, or anything resembling logic or common sense. If one government achieves working nuclear bombs/Iconian gateways, they’re just going to give them to an enemy because they’re afraid that that enemy might attack them out of fear. This just doesn’t make sense. The fact that you now have a huge advantage is precisely why your enemy can’t attack you. You’re saying that things between us and the Soviet Union became better when they stole our nuclear secrets, got nukes of their own, and we began the arms race? No. Things were safer BEFORE that.

Chris Diehl:…Those arguments may be hogwash, but it doesn't mean an idealist wouldn't make them.
Luigi Novi: They are most certainly hogwash, Chris, but you said earlier that letting the scientific community find Iconia—something that you conceded would result in its secrets falling into Romulan hands—was the sensible thing to do. Now you’re admitting it’s hogwash? Perhaps I’m misunderstanding you here.

Chris Diehl:…Also, To The Death ended with the Dominion in control of one of these gateways…
Luigi Novi: To the Death ended with the gateway destroyed.

Chris Diehl:…Why does nobody want this technology, which is almost power incarnate? It just drives me crazy that they establish super-technology, and never establish governments or even private groups desperately seeking to use it. Nobody even wants to defend against the gateways.
Luigi Novi: I agree that if I were Picard, I would’ve tried to have Data download specs on those gateways, and make it back to Federation space so that Starfleet could build their own, but Picard is just one person. I don’t know where you get “nobody” from. We’ve seen exactly TWO Iconian gateways pop up, and in the case of Sisko, it makes sense that he had to destroy that gateway so that it didn’t fall into the hands of the Dominion. In that case, he and the Jem’Hadar were working together. If one of them tried to scan its specs, the other might turn on them. Mutually agreeing to destroy it kept that balance. Picard, on the other hand, had the opportunity to abscond with it.

Chris Diehl:…Finally, Starfleet is very clearly a military organization. Their personnel are organized and trained like a navy. They arm their ships heavily. In addition to exploration, they defend Federation colonies, fight off invaders and pirates, and bodyguard Federation leaders. Though Starfleet's vessels all have official duties other than combat, they are capable of engaging in combat against ships built mainly for the purpose of combat. In times of war, they can and are called away from other duties to fight. Would a purely scientific organization do these things?
Luigi Novi: No one said they were a purely scientific organization. Starfleet cannot be easily categorized by the classifications we use today. It is a combined service, as Kirk told Captain Christopher in Tomorrow is Yesterday(TOS). They are partially a military organization, and emphasize this duty in times of war, but in times of peace, their duties are a combination of defensive and scientific.

ScottN: Well, there's the T'Kon Empire (The Last Outpost(TNG) for one...
Luigi Novi: And what indication was there that they had some type of super-powerful whose stuff that was “lying around waiting to be found, studied, copied or used?

How about that awesome energy damping field?

Again, what indication was there that energy dampening field was “lying around waiting to be found, studied, copied or used?"

Uhm... it was there, wasn't it??? Why in the world would they NOT study, copy, or use it??? Studied, at the very least!

At one point, one of Pulaski's cronies says that making a splint was "impractical medicine". Really? Since when?
You'd think that using old fashioned first aid methods would be Standard Operating Procedure if the bio-beds & bone knitters went off-line. Thankfully, by the time "Disaster" rolls around, the medical staff does their job using old fashioned first aid methods without the gripes.

Maybe he was just one of those smartalecky newer is better kind of people.

The late Thalmus Rasulala (Captain Varley) played Kunta Kinte's father in the miniseries "Roots," but I remember him more for that one SNL parody of the "Exorcist" as the serious priest in charge of Richard Pryor. "Wait, father!...Let me help you!"

Dana Sparks (Tactical Officer) was Faith Standish/Grace Bennett on the very silly NBC soap "Passions."

Any one notice how there are like black pieces of paper on the consoles in the background on the bridge in this episode? What the heck were those things on there for?

Now that I have noticed this I have seen it in the following 3 or 4 episodes as well. It looks like an early attempt to prevent the lights from reflecting off of the panels in the background. It sure does look pretty tacky in the close up shots.

When Worf is carrying Data to the turbolift (after they have "magically" appeared on the bridge) Riker follows them in. He does it without specifying who's in charge of the bridge while he's away.

Well since the ship was falling apart around them, I guess he figured it didn't matter who was in charge. Plus he had bigger worries, like, where did Worf and Data come from, and where was Picard.

It occurs to me that the solution to the Iconian computer virus is essentially a plain old Windows System Restore along with some selective deletion.

Indeed. You would think that some sort of backup program would be in that massive computer on the Enterprise-D...remember the Binars used every bit of dataspace on the Enterprise-D to save their planet.

It did have a backup program, thats what saved the ship at the end.

Having watched many episodes of the TV serries, "Life After People", which demonstrates how nature would gradually erase all signs of civilization given time, with no people around, I find the fact that the Enterprise can find destroyed cities some 200,000 years after their destruction, to now be impractical.
Experts on the show have shown that in as little as 50 years a city or town can be overrun by vegetation, and even metal and glass skyscrapers will collapse from non-use and maintenance, given time, in the region of 500 years or so.
A lack of atmosphere and rain and volcanic activity could preserve the surface, but the planet definitely possessed an atmosphere-- you can see clouds from space and the Away Team could breath the air.
Therefore, this planet should offer virtually no sign it had ever been inhabitated with a number as big as 200,000 years.

The same nit Steve stated just above could be applied to the TOS episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" as well. I don't think the people of Cheron had been dead for 200,000 years, though. But, the Cheronians had exterminated themselves long enough ago that the same rules of nature he stated would still hold.

Perhaps the orbital bombardment wiped out the plant life as well.