Richard Hatch, who is best known for his starring role in the original Battlestar Galactica television series, died today while under hospice care in Los Angeles after a battle with pancreatic cancer, according to TMZ, who received confirmation from the actor’s family. He was 71.

Since the last official Star Trek series launched (2001’s Star Trek: Enterprise), at least a dozen independent fan-made projects have cropped up online. The democratization of video production –and in particular, DIY visual effects– has been responsible for allowing the homebrew Trekker to continue the ongoing missions of the Enterprise in live-action web series, podcasts, machinima, animation, and with productions spanning the globe from the US to England, Scotland, Belgium and The Netherlands.

The latest project on the horizon is Star Trek: Axanar, the brainchild of writer/producer Alec Peters (with help from VFX wizard Christian Gossett). It takes place in the year 2245, 21 years before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series. The story involves Starfleet Captain Kelvar Garth of Izar, one of Captain Kirk’s personal heroes, who would later betray Kirk in the TOS episode “Whom Gods Destroy.” Axanar tells the tale of Captain Garth’s victory at the Battle of Axanar, a decisive battle in the Four Years War against the Klingons.

Amongst the stars of Axanar are Battlestar Galactica‘s Richard Hatch, Alien Nation‘s Gary Graham, and JG Hertzler, who has previously played Klingon Martok on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Continue below to for more info and to see some VFX shots.

A new video from Break.com is making it’s way around the web, and it’s…interesting, to say the very least.

The video is a spoof on the Enrique Inglesias song “Tonight I’m Loving You” dubbed “Tonight I’m Frakking You,” which replaces all the rhythmic sex of an Inglesias video with about as much geek content as humanly possible. No lie, friends, this is an all-geek wildfire, featuring cosplay fun from comic book superheros, Star Wars, Super Mario Brothers, Ghostbusters, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, and more.

You’ll even find a few familiar faces involved like Kunal Nayaar from Big Bang Theory, a brief cameo from BSG alum Richard Hatch, Amy Okuda from The Guild, and the absolute highest of high points of this video: Caprica star Alessandra Torresani as Princess Leia. Yes, that. You should go see. You can hug me later.

Be sure to click on over to the other side now to check out the video for “Tonight I’m Frakking You.”

If Richard Hatch (Battlestar Galactica) has his way, the future of great science fiction programming will be user generated, not studio produced.

In an interview with Geeks of Doom, the actor/writer/director says he plans to launch an online network (first reported last year) comprised of original web based series that would not only unleash the creativity and talent in the sci-fi/fantasy community, but also cultivate it.

“So often sci-fi shows are run by people who, I don’t really think, understand Science Fiction. Too many great shows go down way too soon,” says Hatch, who listed Firefly, Babylon 5, and others involving spaceships as just some of the casualties. “They’ve all gone off the air because those networks aren’t set up to serve the sci-fi community.”

Geeks, as the stereotype holds, are said to be socially awkward, freakishly knowledgeable about the obscure and frequently viewed as obsessive — or obsessed with sci fi, fantasy, horror and *gasp* anime. They play card games for hours with no poker chips or money involved. They construct shockingly accurate, intricately detailed costumes from scratch for any fan-related event. They view the same lackluster films multiple times for entertainment and take pride in the stacks of slender white long boxes and unopened action figures lining all four walls of their guest room.

While most might view this behavior as annoying, undeniably weird, and sometimes just #@%!$ strange [who’s pumped about Furry*Con 2009!?] geeks find it infinitely interesting. Apply that logic to a geek’s love life and it’s no wonder the conventions get bigger every year. Where else can you possibly find large concentrated groups of fanboys & girls in which to feel normal enough to pursue a romantic relationship?

The folks who run SoulGeek, a dating network specifically for (yes that’s right…) geeks, have taken notice of the increased attention given to the large conventions and started organizing dating meetups at all the big events (i.e. San Diego Comic Con and Dragon*Con). Yet, rather than wait for conventions, SoulGeek decided to do a monthly meetup for people near the Hollywood, Calif. area, which has it’s fair share of actors and creators willing make appearances. And, in the spirit of convention season, they’ll also be signing autographs, taking pictures, answering questions, critiquing costumes and giving away exclusive prizes.