Michael Hinman's thoughts on this year's Portal Awards:

Among Best Actress nominees:

"Speaking of recasting, no one had it more difficult than Zoe Saldana who had to step into the role of Uhura in "Star Trek." For more than four decades, fans closely associated the 1960s groundbreaking role with the wonderful Nichelle Nichols, so putting in a new face? That's hard.

Saldana is not even a Star Trek fan, even though she played one in the Tom Hanks film "The Terminal" a few years back. But she was able to bring a little spunk (and Vulcan love) to the character, a bit of a departure from the more subdued style Nichols played Uhura. Saldana was not going to be a background player, and she shines in 'Star Trek.'"

Gene Roddenberry Lifetime Achievement Award

"The Gene Roddenberry Lifetime Achievement Award is being very honoring of its namesake this year as it recognizes some of the great names from Star Trek.

The award can only be won once, and it's open to anyone -- living or dead -- who has made significant contributions to science-fiction.

Among those nominees this year is the late Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the widow of Gene Roddenberry, whose work spans every single incarnation of Star Trek, including the recent J.J. Abrams movie where she voiced the computer just before her death last December.

She was by far the top vote-getter among members of the committee, and her work as Nurse Chapel in the original "Star Trek," Lwaxana Troi in the spinoffs, and for bringing us "Earth: Final Conflict" and "Andromeda" based on her husband's notes will never be forgotten.

The committee does seem to have an agenda, however: Bring back people from obscurity that don't belong there. For the past few years, that has included Gene L. Coon, an executive producer with the original "Star Trek" known as the person who created the Klingons, created the triad relationship between Bones, Kirk and Spock, and many other contributions to the franchise.

Coon died a few years after the original series went off the air, and never had a chance to see Star Trek blossom into the multi-billion dollar behemoth it is today."

Also:

"If you've heard of a Jefferies Tube, then you should learn about the man it was named after, Matt Jefferies. The late designer created the look of the Enterprise in "Star Trek" as well as the bridge and many other of the iconic sets.

He always felt the original Enterprise bridge was functional and sleek, and publicly denounced the later redesigns, comparing them to a hotel lobby. But his work is now some of the most recognized designs in the world."

For the complete article, visit AirlockAlpha.com.

Michael Hinman is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha and the entire BlipNetwork. He owns Quantum Global Media Inc., the parent corporation of the BlipNetwork. He's a print journalist by day, and lives in Tampa, Fla.