Inspired by this post on how TIC resembles the video game Subnautica, here’s a quick rundown on the similarities between TIC and one of the greatest TV shows of all time — Star Trek: The Next Generation. Keen readers may have already noticed that “TIC” and “TNG” are three-letter acronyms that rhyme, but what else do the two have in common? (This is not entirely spoiler-free, but I don’t think it will ruin TNG — or TIC, for that matter — for you in any way). In no particular order…
- Fearlessly led by well-intentioned, charismatic, if follically-challenged men.
I’ll get the obvious one out of the way first. Neither Captain Jean-Luc Picard (the captain of the Enterprise-D) nor Dev (your fearless instructor and leader) have much in the way of hair. Nevermind that — in the words of Gene Roddenberry, “by the 24th century, no one will care” much about baldness anyway. Instead, focus on what the two share: a commitment to helping the people they lead in any way they can, whether that’s by spending additional one-on-one time with you to help you improve your HTML/CSS skills or by volunteering to serve as your cha’DIch to back you up during a tough trial at the Klingon High Council (I’ll let you guess which one Dev — and his army of TAs — usually does).
- Appreciation for good design
TIC is, after all, a web design course, and its focus on creating good-looking websites is never left too far behind, even when you’re in the weeds with the more technical aspects of the course. Making your page look great (or even decent) is one of the easiest routes to a good grade in TIC (assuming, of course, that your page validates). TNG also is rooted in good design, specifically Michael Okuda’s LCARS system that simultaneously looks great, is functional, and was one of the first predictions of touchscreen technology in fiction.
- Card games on breaks
On breaks, when they’re not playing Ultimate Frisbee, TIC students and TAs have been known to break out Bang!, The Resistance, and Love Letter, card games all. During downtime on the Enterprise-D, both the senior officers and the lower-ranking crew members also play card games — poker is a favorite. Unlike on TNG, however, you’re likely to see our fearless leader joining in on the fun. Dev’s accessible like that — he must have already had his epiphany that students, like crew, are people too, and there’s nothing wrong with steamrolling them at cards once in a while.
- Its spinoff is pretty great too, and goes places the original never did
TIC, however great it is, can’t teach you everything about building websites. In combination with its little brother AIC, though, it can get you really, really close to ready to create a fully functional, robust site (and give you the tools to explore further on your own). AIC is smaller, faster-paced, and pretty different in tone — but it’s still recognizable TIC in a whole bunch of ways. TNG also has its own little brother — Deep Space Nine. In many ways, DS9 is the AIC to TNG’s TIC — more fully developed, more concerned with cobbling together solutions to challenging problems, and even features some of your old friends from TIC (like DS9 did with O’Brien and Worf).
- Explore the possibilities of your creativity — make anything you want
At its heart, TNG is a show about exploring the possibilities of humanity. Sometimes this meant setting the show in a Sherlock Holmes novel, or a 50’s noir detective agency, or the Wild West (for reasons I’d rather forget). To do this, Roddenberry and friends came up with the holodeck, a room that could turn into anything, but started as a blank slate. Sound familiar? In TIC, you’re given the freedom to build just about any website you want. Go crazy. After all, expressing your creativity will get you one step closer to understanding the human condition. Just make sure the safeties are on before you start.
- Great views of the Bay
The views from certain parts of Cal campus (where TIC is held) to San Francisco Bay are not to be missed. Hey, that reminds me, you know what other place you could go to learn computer science (not to mention Elementary Temporal Mechanics, Fractal Calculus, and Xenolinguistics) that’s pretty nearby? Starfleet Academy, in charming Marin County. Graduates (like Jean-Luc Picard) say the academics are challenging, and the friendships you form are long-lasting. TIC won’t let you fly starships or meet alien species as part of your education (something about liability issues), but the basic atmosphere is the same — it attracts the best and brightest around and has difficult but rewarding coursework.
tl;dr: Tf you like either TIC or TNG, you’ll probably find a lot of the same to love in the other one.