[Slashdot] Stories for 2011-01-01

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Slashdot Daily Newsletter

In this issue:
* PC Gamers Crush Console Brethren
* World's Plant Life Far Less Diverse Than Thought
* Beware of Using Google Or Open DNS For iTunes
* Most Android Tablets Fail At GPL Compliance
* Seller of Counterfeit Video Games Gets 30 Months
* Solar Cells Integrated In Microchips
* FBI Raids Texas ISP For Anonymous DDoS Info
* One Tip Enough To Put Name On Terrorist Watch List
* 'Zombie' Satellite Returns To Life
* China Censors 60,000 Porn Sites, 5,000 Arrested
* Google Patenting 'Exponential' Friend Spamming
* Cheap GSM Eavesdropping a Reality
* 'Colonizing the Red Planet,' a How-To Guide
* Windows Phone 7 Marketplace Hack Demonstrated
* Tech History Behind New York's New Year's Eve Ball
* Our Lazy Solar Dynamo — Hello Dalton Minimum?
* YouTube Legally Considered a TV Station In Italy
* R2-D2 Creator Grant McCune Dead At 67

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| PC Gamers Crush Console Brethren
| from the not-very-sportsmanlike dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday December 30, @19:36 (PC Games (Games))
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/10/12/30/233249/PC-Gamers-Crush-Console-Brethren?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]l_bratch writes "Since December 22nd DICE have been running a
competition between each target platform of their latest Battlefield
expansion — Bad Company 2: Vietnam. Players were required to complete a
large number of 'team actions' in game, in order to unlock a hidden,
remastered version of the Operation Hastings map from the original
Battlefield: Vietnam. [1]PC gamers have completed the task, whereas
gamers on both console platforms are only about halfway there."

Discuss this story at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/10/12/30/233249/PC-Gamers-Crush-Console-Brethren?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:l_bratch@yahoo.co.uk
1. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106526-PC-Gamers-Beat-Console-Crowd-to-Bad-Company-2-Vietnam-Map-Unlock

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| World's Plant Life Far Less Diverse Than Thought
| from the consolidating-knowledge dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday December 30, @20:31 (Earth)
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/0012217/Worlds-Plant-Life-Far-Less-Diverse-Than-Thought?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meshach writes "A report out of FOX News (I know, I know) says that
[0]there are far fewer unique species of plants than previously thought.
The report states that only about a third of named species are actually
unique. The rest have been 'discovered' multiple times, often by separate
scientists."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/0012217/Worlds-Plant-Life-Far-Less-Diverse-Than-Thought?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/30/worlds-plant-life-far-diverse-previously-thought/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Beware of Using Google Or Open DNS For iTunes
| from the speak-friend-and-enter-slowly dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday December 30, @23:20 (Google)
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/0110226/Beware-of-Using-Google-Or-Open-DNS-For-iTunes?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Relayman writes "Joe Mailer wanted to download an iTunes movie recently
and his Apple TV told him it would take two hours. When he switched his
DNS resolver settings, the [0]download time dropped to less than 20
seconds. Apparently, iTunes content is served by Akamai which uses
geolocation based on the IP address of the DNS request to determine which
server should provide his content. When you use Google or Open DNS to
resolve the Apple domain name, all the requests to Akamai appear to be
coming from the same location and they're all directed to the same server
pool, overloading that pool and causing the slow downloads. The solution:
Be wary of using Google or Open DNS when downloading iTunes files or
similar large files. Use your own ISP's DNS servers instead or run your
own resolving DNS server."

Discuss this story at:
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/0110226/Beware-of-Using-Google-Or-Open-DNS-For-iTunes?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://joemaller.com/2577/itunes-slowdowns-with-google-dns/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Most Android Tablets Fail At GPL Compliance
| from the hey-man-those-are-just-like-rules dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday December 31, @02:17 (GNU is Not Unix)
| https://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/0116250/Most-Android-Tablets-Fail-At-GPL-Compliance?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

polar_bear` writes "Red Hat's Matthew Garrett has been checking to see
who's [0]naughty and nice. Most Android tablet vendors? Naughty, naughty,
[1]naughty, when it comes to GPL compliance. The current crop of Android
tablets fails miserably when it comes to GPL compliance, with most of the
vendors flouting the GPL and failing to ship source."

Discuss this story at:
https://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/0116250/Most-Android-Tablets-Fail-At-GPL-Compliance?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.codon.org.uk/~mjg59/android_tablets/
1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/most-androids-fail-gpl-compliance

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Seller of Counterfeit Video Games Gets 30 Months
| from the more-than-he-could-chew dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 31, @03:25 (Piracy)
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/0528237/Seller-of-Counterfeit-Video-Games-Gets-30-Months?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wiredmikey writes "The FBI reported this week that Qiang 'Michael' Bi, of
Powell, Ohio was [0]sentenced to 30 months in prison for selling more
than 35,000 illegally copied computer games over the Internet between
2005 and 2009. According to a statement of facts read during Bi's plea
hearing, agents executed a search warrant at Bi's house and found
multiple CD duplicators and more than 1,000 printed counterfeit CDs. Some
of the CDs were still in the duplicator. During their investigation,
agents learned that Bi would buy a single copy of a game, illegally
duplicate it and sell the copies on eBay.com and Amazon.com. He also set
up a website for customers to download the games they bought. Bi accepted
payment through eBay and PayPal accounts in his name and in others'
names."

Discuss this story at:
https://games.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/0528237/Seller-of-Counterfeit-Video-Games-Gets-30-Months?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.securityweek.com/seller-counterfeit-videogames-gets-30-months-prison

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Solar Cells Integrated In Microchips
| from the new-breed-of-calculator-watches dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday December 31, @05:08 (Power)
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/0446241/Solar-Cells-Integrated-In-Microchips?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

cylonlover writes "In a new, more efficient approach to solar powered
microelectronics, researchers have produced a [0]microchip which directly
integrates photovoltaic cells. While harnessing sunlight to power
microelectronics isn't new, conventional set-ups use a separate solar
cell and battery. What sets this device apart is that high-efficiency
solar cells are placed straight onto the electronics, producing
self-sufficient, low-power devices which are highly suitable for
industrial serial production and can even operate indoors."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/0446241/Solar-Cells-Integrated-In-Microchips?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.gizmag.com/microelectronics-built-in-solar-cells/17407/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| FBI Raids Texas ISP For Anonymous DDoS Info
| from the now-turn-around-reeeeal-slow dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday December 31, @08:03 (Crime)
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/0453259/FBI-Raids-Texas-ISP-For-Anonymous-DDoS-Info?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

jcombel writes with this link to The Smoking Gun, which says "As part of
an international criminal probe into computer attacks launched this month
against perceived corporate enemies of WikiLeaks, the FBI has [0]raided a
Texas business and seized a computer server that investigators believe
was used to launch a massive electronic attack on PayPal."
[1]Computerworld has a story, as well.

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/0453259/FBI-Raids-Texas-ISP-For-Anonymous-DDoS-Info?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/internet/affidavit-details-fbi-operation-payback-probe
1. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9202838/FBI_raids_ISP_in_Anonymous_DDoS_investigation?taxonomyId=86

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| One Tip Enough To Put Name On Terrorist Watch List
| from the brb-gotta-make-a-phone-call-or-two dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 31, @08:55 (Government)
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/1254208/One-Tip-Enough-To-Put-Name-On-Terrorist-Watch-List?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Frosty P writes "As a result of the US Government's complete failure to
investigate credible warnings about 'Underwear Bomber' [0]Umar Farouk
Abdulmutallab from none other than Abdulmutallab's father, senior
American counterterrorism officials say they have altered their criteria
so that [1]a single-source tip can lead to a name being placed on the
watch list. Civil liberties groups warn that it is now even more likely
that individuals who pose no threat will be swept up in America's
security apparatus, leading to potential violations of their privacy and
making it difficult for them to travel. 'They are secret lists with no
way for people to petition to get off or even to know if they're on,'
said Chris Calabrese, legislative counsel for the American Civil
Liberties Union."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/1254208/One-Tip-Enough-To-Put-Name-On-Terrorist-Watch-List?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umar_Farouk_Abdulmutallab
1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/29/AR2010122904172.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 'Zombie' Satellite Returns To Life
| from the it's-a-trick,-run dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 31, @09:46 (Communications)
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/140215/Zombie-Satellite-Returns-To-Life?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

realperseus writes "The American telecommunications satellite [0]Galaxy
15 has [1]been brought under control after spending most of the year
traversing the sky and [2]wreaking [3]havoc upon its neighbors. The
satellite is currently at 98.5 degrees west longitude (from 133 west). An
emergency patch was successfully uploaded, ensuring that the conditions
which caused it to 'go rogue' will not occur again. Once diagnosis and
testing have been completed, Intelsat [4]plans to move the satellite back
to 133 west."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/140215/Zombie-Satellite-Returns-To-Life?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_15
1. http://www.space.com/news/galaxy15-zombie-satellite-comes-back-to-life-101229.html
2. http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/05/09/2256256/Geostationary-GPS-Satellite-Galaxy-15-Out-of-Control
3. http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/zombie-satellite-forces-evasive-maneuvers-100517.html
4. http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/105946

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| China Censors 60,000 Porn Sites, 5,000 Arrested
| from the neverending-battle dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 31, @10:39 (Censorship)
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/1516220/China-Censors-60000-Porn-Sites-5000-Arrested?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

lothos writes with news that China has [0]arrested thousands more people
and shuttered 60,000 websites in an ongoing anti-pornography crackdown.
"Wang Chen, director of the Information Office of the State Council, said
at a news conference that some 350 million pieces of pornographic and
indecent internet content were eliminated, according to the Xinhua
report. The government launched a special campaign a year ago to rid the
internet of pornographic and vulgar content, Xinhua reported. Overall,
the campaign included 2,197 criminal cases involving 4,965 people who
violated Chinese law by disseminating pornography via the internet or
mobile phones, the news agency said. Of those, 58 people received prison
sentences exceeding five years."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/1516220/China-Censors-60000-Porn-Sites-5000-Arrested?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/12/30/china.pornography/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Google Patenting 'Exponential' Friend Spamming
| from the zuckerberg-beat-you-to-the-punch dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 31, @11:34 (Google)
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/161251/Google-Patenting-Exponential-Friend-Spamming?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

theodp writes "'The web is better when it's social,' [0]declared Google
as it unveiled its [1]OpenSocial initiative. Sounds great, right? Well,
maybe not so much, unless you're keen on giving companies the capability
to 'exponentially' bombard you with advertising across all of your social
networking sites. On Thursday, the USPTO published Google's patent
application for [2]Propagating Promotional Information on a Social
Network, which the search giant explains 'generally relates to creating
and providing promotional information (e.g., advertising, public service
announcements, etc.) to users of a social network (e.g., FACEBOOK,
MYSPACE, ORKUT, LINKEDIN, TWITTER, etc.).' By doing so 'across multiple
social networks,' Google adds, 'the impact of the other promotional
information may exponentially expand to other users of a social network."

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/161251/Google-Patenting-Exponential-Friend-Spamming?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://blog.opensocial.org/2007/11/web-is-better-when-its-social.html
1. http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial/
2. http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220100332330%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20100332330&RS=DN/20100332330

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Cheap GSM Eavesdropping a Reality
| from the poking-holes-in-the-ether dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 31, @12:26 (Cellphones)
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/1634251/Cheap-GSM-Eavesdropping-a-Reality?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Techmeology writes "GSM eavesdropping has been demonstrated at the Chaos
Computer Club Congress in Berlin [0]using a €10 Motorola phone and open
source GSM firmware. Karsten Nohl and Sylvain Munaut replaced the
firmware on the phone, enabling them to process all the data it received.
They used already available rainbow tables to decrypt data being sent to
and from other mobile phones. They have no plans to release the hack
publicly, however they expect others to successfully attempt the hack.
Mr. Nohl said the objective was to raise awareness of GSM's insecurity."

Discuss this story at:
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/1634251/Cheap-GSM-Eavesdropping-a-Reality?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12094227

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 'Colonizing the Red Planet,' a How-To Guide
| from the add-water-and-stir dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 31, @13:33 (Mars)
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/1747218/Colonizing-the-Red-Planet-a-How-To-Guide?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Velcroman1 writes "A manned mission to Mars would be the greatest
adventure in the history of the human race. And one man knows how to make
it a reality. In fact, he just wrote the book on it — literally. Joel
Levine, senior research scientist with NASA's Langley Research Center and
co-chair of NASA's Human Exploration of Mars Science Analysis Group, just
published '[0]The Human Mission to Mars: Colonizing the Red Planet.' The
book [1]reads like a who's who of Mars mission science, featuring
senators, astronauts, astrophysicists, geologists and more on getting to
Mars, studying its atmosphere and climate, the psychological and medical
effects on the crew and other details. The most interesting bit: Levine
presents a solution for funding the trip, something unprecedented for
NASA: advertising. 'The suggestion is marketing to different corporations
and professional sports leagues for advertising, which is something NASA
never does.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/1747218/Colonizing-the-Red-Planet-a-How-To-Guide?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://journalofcosmology.com/Contents12.html
1. http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/30/nasa-scientist-publishes-colonizing-red-planet-guide/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Windows Phone 7 Marketplace Hack Demonstrated
| from the matter-of-time dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 31, @14:24 (Cellphones)
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/188222/Windows-Phone-7-Marketplace-Hack-Demonstrated?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]broggyr writes "Seems it didn't take long to [1]hack the Windows Phone
7 marketplace. Quoting WPCentral: 'For developers, the weakness in
Microsoft's DRM for Windows Phone 7 applications has been well known for
quite some time, and there have been calls for Microsoft to address these
concerns ... Since then, a "white hat" developer has provided WPCentral
with a proof-of-concept program that can successfully pull any
application from the Marketplace, remove the security and deploy to an
unlocked Windows Phone with literally a push of a button. Alternatively,
you could just save the cracked XAP file to your hard drive. Neither the
app nor the methodology is public, and it will NOT be released ... It is
important to note that this was all done within six hours by one
developer.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/188222/Windows-Phone-7-Marketplace-Hack-Demonstrated?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:broggyr@@@gmail...com
1. http://www.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-marketplace-app-security-cracked-proof-of-concept-video

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Tech History Behind New York's New Year's Eve Ball
| from the powered-by-dick-clark's-mojo dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 31, @15:20 (Technology)
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/1939226/Tech-History-Behind-New-Yorks-New-Years-Eve-Ball?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Toe, The writes "A perennial icon of New Year's Eve is [1]the geodesic
ball which first dropped in Times Square in 1907. Over the past century,
there have been seven iterations of this ball. The first one, made out of
iron and wood, weighed 400 pounds and sported one hundred 25-watt bulbs.
The current ball weighs almost six tons and uses 32,256 Philips Luxeon
Rebel LEDs. The designers expect there to be [2]more tech improvements to
the ball soon. What do you think of the ball and the bizarre status it
holds in our culture? How would you change it for years to come?"

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/1939226/Tech-History-Behind-New-Yorks-New-Years-Eve-Ball?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://slashdot.org/~Toe%2C+The
1. http://www.timessquarenyc.org/nye/nye_ball.html
2. http://techland.time.com/2010/12/31/the-technological-history-behind-the-nye-ball/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Our Lazy Solar Dynamo — Hello Dalton Minimum?
| from the ra-on-probation dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 31, @16:13 (Earth)
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/2057218/Our-Lazy-Solar-Dynamo-mdash-Hello-Dalton-Minimum?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

tetrahedrassface writes "Solar maximum is supposed to be occurring, and
everything from satellite communications to your toaster or radio
[0]could be affected. The only problem is that this just isn't happening,
and NASA continues to revise downward the original prediction. In fact,
the new forecast for Solar Cycle 24 is a lot smaller, and is now pegged
at [1]almost 40% of what was previously predicted. Recently, two
scientists at the [2]National Solar Observatory have followed the lead of
a prominent [3]Russian scientist, who almost five years ago forecast a
dearth of sunspots and the subsequent cooling of Earth for the next
several cycles. With Britain currently experiencing [4]the coldest winter
in over 300 years, and no new sunspots for the last week, are we heading
for a [5]Dalton Minimum, or worse still, yet another [6]Maunder?"

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/2057218/Our-Lazy-Solar-Dynamo-mdash-Hello-Dalton-Minimum?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i-Y3XSQbKCahKzfYTs5zQTnx89gw?docId=CNG.bdf9ddce1297325e1b97e06696026e73.111
1. http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/12/27/nasas-sunspot-prediction-roller-coaster/
2. http://wildwildweather.com/forecastblog/2010/09/are-sunspots-dissapearing-new-paper-rocks-solar-physics-world/
3. http://www.physorg.com/news75818795.html
4. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8230318/Britain-could-be-heading-for-coldest-winter-in-300-years.html
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalton_Minimum
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunder_Minimum

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| YouTube Legally Considered a TV Station In Italy
| from the legislation-to-facilitate-prosecution dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 31, @17:10 (Google)
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/2127230/YouTube-Legally-Considered-a-TV-Station-In-Italy?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

orzetto writes "Italian newspaper La Repubblica reports that [0]YouTube
and similar websites based on user-generated content will be considered
TV stations (Google translation of [1]Italian original) in Italian law,
and will be subject to the same obligations. Among these, a small tax
(500 €), the obligation to publish corrections within 48 hours upon
request of people who consider themselves slandered by published content,
and the obligation not to broadcast content inappropriate for children in
certain time slots. The main change, though, is that YouTube and similar
sites will be legally responsible of all published content as long as
they have any form (even if automated) of editorial control. The main
reason for this is probably that it will force YouTube to assume
editorial responsibility for all published content, which facilitates the
[2]ongoing € 500M lawsuit of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi
against YouTube because of content copyrighted by Berlusconi's TV
networks that some users uploaded on YouTube. Berlusconi's Spanish TV
station, TeleCinco, was [3]previously defeated in court on the grounds
that YouTube is not a content provider."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/2127230/YouTube-Legally-Considered-a-TV-Station-In-Italy?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=it&tl=en&u=http://www.repubblica.it/tecnologia/2010/12/31/news/agcom_equipara_youtube_alle_tv-10738254/&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&usg=ALkJrhj5our1vpJ0O9JZXiBafoE-xPLybg
1. http://www.repubblica.it/tecnologia/2010/12/31/news/agcom_equipara_youtube_alle_tv-10738254/
2. http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200807301025DOWJONESDJONLINE000654_FORTUNE5.htm
3. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/09/23/1341257/YouTube-Wins-vs-Telecinco-In-Spain

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| R2-D2 Creator Grant McCune Dead At 67
| from the deedle-boop-tweet dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Friday December 31, @18:06 (Movies)
| https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/2135227/R2-D2-Creator-Grant-McCune-Dead-At-67?from=newsletter
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CBC reports on sad news for Star Wars fans: "Grant McCune, a special
effects artist who earned an Oscar for his work on the 1977 film Star
Wars, has died. He was 67. [0]McCune died Monday at his home in Hidden
Hills, Calif., of pancreatic cancer. McCune created scenes with
miniatures, models and special effects for dozens of movies, including
Spaceballs, Ghostbusters II and 2008's Rambo. He began in special effects
in 1975 when he and friend Bill Shourt were hired to make a giant white
shark model for Steven Spielberg's Jaws. They got no credit for the film,
but McCune caught the eye of the film community and he became chief model
maker for Star Wars, where he created R2-D2 and many of the creatures
that populate the film."

Discuss this story at:
https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/2135227/R2-D2-Creator-Grant-McCune-Dead-At-67?from=newsletter#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.cbc.ca/arts/film/story/2010/12/30/grant-mccune-obit.html


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