Ah, fandom!

DIY Dharma Initiative food package labels.

Really, not so different from the "Twin Peaks" viewing parties where cherry pie and "Damn fine coffee" were consumed while watching the show.

And once, where a fan had to settle for a typewriter, the photocopy machine at work and the US Postal Service to share their media-inspired creations, today, we have fan written, acted and produced full length video episodes of Star Trek, Original and Next Generation, available for the downloading.

And it's not just Star Trek fans, making their own episodes.

For example. Penny Dreadful's Shilling Shockers. A locally produced "Chiller Theater"-type program. Cheesy, corny, loads of fun. It's shown on local cable public access channels in several states.

It seems that there are a lot of people making their own Chiller Theater interpretations. The above site links to quite a few fan produced programs.

And it's not just video. Podcasting. Radio without all that troublesome business with getting FCC licenses, and actually having a radio transmitter.

Lulu.com. Book publishing on demand. Upload a PDF file and they make it into a book. Vanity publishing without the huge upfront costs and a garage full of unsold books.

CafePress. Instant pop culture references on a t-shirt or sticker or poster. Search on their site for "ATHF" and see all the images inspired by the recent LED freakout here in Boston.

I've got to say, all this is probably not what Sir Tim Berners-Lee expected would happen when he invented the World Wide Web.