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HQ Trivia and Vine co-founder Colin Kroll dies of apparent overdose
One of the mobile app world's more influential and controversial executives has passed away. TMZ has learned that Colin Kroll, the co-founder of both HQ Trivia and Vine, has died of an apparent drug overdose in Manhattan at the age of 34. Kroll had been the CEO of the company for just three months following a change in role for fellow founder Rus Yusupov, and it's not clear what will happen next for the startup. HQ Trivia isn't commenting at this stage.
Marvel legend Stan Lee dies at 95
Pop culture is in a state of mourning today. Stan Lee, the famous Marvel publisher, editor and writer, has died at the age of 95 after a spate of illnesses over the past year. To say that he had a significant impact on the media world would be an understatement -- the franchises he created (and helped create) are virtually ubiquitous in modern society, including in the digital realm.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen dies from cancer at 65
It's a sad day for the technology world, as Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has died at the age of 65 due to complications from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The tech pioneer had been grappling with the cancer for years after being first diagnosed in 1982 and receiving treatment for it in 2009, but announced that it had returned on October 1st. He leaves behind his sister and had no children. His influence, however, will likely be felt for a long time to come.
Sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison dies at 84
Sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison has died at 84. Ellison, who was an author of novellas and short stories, wrote for shows including Star Trek, Babylon 5, The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. He passed away in his sleep early Thursday.
Stephen Hawking passes away at age 76
Late Tuesday night the family of Stephen Hawking announced that the physicist has passed away at the age of 76. Awarded more than a dozen honorary degrees, Hawking theorized that black holes emitted a form of thermal radiation, and contributed to work trying to unify Einstein's theory of relativity with quantum physics. In 1988 he wrote "A Brief History of Time," serving as an overview of astronomy and modern physics, which went on to sell more than 10 million copies, spurring a biographical documentary directed by Errol Morris and produced by Steven Spielberg. In 2014, Eddie Redmayne won a best actor Oscar for his portrayal of Hawking in The Theory of Everything, based on accounts of his early life by his first wife Jane Hawking.
Activist and EFF co-founder John Perry Barlow has died
John Perry Barlow, a founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, died in his sleep this morning at the age of 71. EFF executive director Cindy Cohn shared the news in a blog post.
Kinect's value to artists overshadowed its gaming roots
The Kinect is officially dead. But the reality is that Microsoft signed the do-all sensor's fate years ago. Faced with slumping hardware sales in 2014, then-new Xbox chief Phil Spencer had a decision to make. Microsoft could either drop the price of the Xbox One, or continue letting Sony and the $400 PlayStation 4 eat its lunch. So it stopped bundling the Kinect with the console and cut $100 off the asking price. It worked. Microsoft doubled sales the next month, and this move has set the tone for Spencer's tenure: reversing the string of bad decisions Microsoft made leading up to Xbox One's debut. To illustrate the sensor's waning importance to Microsoft, the Xbox One S didn't have a dedicated Kinect port on the back when it was released in 2016. It's the same with the upcoming Xbox One X, except Microsoft isn't offering a free USB adapter anymore. The writing has been on the wall for a while now. If this week's news was surprising, you probably haven't been paying attention. The truth is that Kinect's greatest successes had nothing to do with gaming. Hackers adopted the sensor with open arms, using it for everything from interactive art installations to motion capture and even trippy stage shows for massive bands like Nine Inch Nails. Why? Because for the tech that's on board, Kinect was relatively inexpensive and easy to use.
Former Xbox Live policy VP Stephen 'StepTo' Toulouse passed away
Stephen "StepTo" Toulouse, a tech vet, humorist and author well known for his role in managing Xbox Live over the years has passed away. His brother Jeff Toulouse tweeted that "It is with heavy hearts that we announce the loss of our brother, Stephen Toulouse, @Stepto, this morning." A Microsoft employee for nearly 18 years, Stephen served as director of Xbox Live policy and enforcement until early 2012 and helped shape the company's response to issues online communities are still struggling to deal with.
Sci-fi author and tech advocate Jerry Pournelle dies
The science fiction and technology worlds are poorer off this weekend, as author Jerry Pournelle has died at 84 after a sudden illness. He was best-known for collaborating with Larry Niven on classic novels like The Mote in God's Eye, but he's equally known as a strong advocate for technology and spaceflight. Significantly, he's widely credited as the first major author to write a published novel entirely on a computer. He bought an extremely expensive ($12,000 in 1977 dollars) machine anticipating that it would let him edit and correct mistakes far more quickly than with a typewriter. While it's virtually a given that authors will write with computers these days, Pournelle spurred many of his peers to buy PCs and ultimately usher in an era of digital writing.
NASA astronaut Gene Cernan passes away at age 82
NASA has continued its exploration of the moon since Apollo 17, but it has been over 40 years since one of its astronauts stepped on the surface. Gene Cernan was the second American to walk in space and the last set foot on the moon during that mission. Today, the retired US Navy captain died at age 82. During his time as an astronaut, Cernan logged over 500 hours in space and he spent more than 73 of those on the surface of the moon.
Dark matter scientist Vera Rubin dies at 88
It's a sad time for the astrophysics world. Vera Rubin, who was instrumental to confirming the existence of dark matter, has died of dementia at the age of 88. While the concept of dark matter had been proposed by Fritz Zwicky back in 1933, it was Rubin and her colleague Kent Ford who provided firm evidence in the 1960s and 1970s. They noticed that the stars at the outside of spiral galaxies spin just as quickly as those on the inside -- according to the understanding of gravity at the time, these enormous star formations should tear themselves apart. The only viable explanation was an invisible mass, roughly 10 times larger than what we can see, that was holding everything together.
John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, dies at 95
John Glenn, the legendary war veteran, astronaut and United States Senator, died this afternoon at the age of 95 after being hospitalized in his home state of Ohio. After serving as a combat pilot in World War II and the Korean War, Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. This feat came in the middle of the Cold War -- Russia had just achieved orbit itself and Glenn's trip evened out the space race between the two countries.
Laptop pioneer John Ellenby dies
The PC industry has lost one of its quieter but more influential leaders: John Ellenby, the CEO of Grid Systems, died earlier this month at the age of 75 of yet to be determined causes. His company (particularly late designer William Moggridge) is widely credited with making the first commercially successful clamshell laptop, the Compass. The 1982-era machine was thick, had a tiny screen and was wildly expensive for the time at $8,150. However, it was a hit among companies and governments -- it was a relatively slick way of bringing computing (and even basic digital communication) with you at a time when the alternatives were barely-luggable desktops like the Kaypro or Osborne 1.
Lode Runner creator Douglas E. Smith passes away
Douglas E. Smith, creator of 1983 puzzler Lode Runner, has passed away. Tozai Games, the current holder of the Lode Runner license, tweeted its condolences yesterday and asked for fans to reflect on their personal highlights with Smith's iconic classic. According to Tozai's timeline for the series, Smith's development of Lode Runner began during his time at the University of Washington, where he created a prototype called "Kong." The interest and support of his peers pushed Smith to work full time and submit a finished version called "Miner" to publishers, with Broderbund distributing it as Lode Runner for the Apple 2, Atari 8-bit, MSX and Commodore 64 in 1983. Lode Runner's legacy of ports and successors includes a 2012 release of Lode Runner Classic, which added features to the original version that Broderbund Software distributed. [Image: TozaiGames]
Colin Pillinger, Britain's Mars-rover chief, dies aged 70
Colin Pillinger, one of Britain's most famous space scientists, has died at the age of 70 from a brain hemorrhage. Professor Pillinger was the very definition of a plucky Brit, whose force of personality and optimism enabled him to oversee construction of the Beagle-2 Mars probe. Despite overwhelming odds, the academic convinced the European Space Agency to convey the device on the back of one of its rockets. Unfortunately, contact was never made with the probe, and it is believed to have crashed trying to land on the Red planet. Despite this, Pillinger was able to raise the profile of the British space program and bring together the nation's various industrial and technical communities.
Joust, Pin*Bot artist Python Anghelo passes away
Python Anghelo, the artist behind many iconic illustrations from the golden age of arcade gaming, passed away at his home yesterday after an extended battle with cancer. Born in 1954, Anghelo created marquee and cabinet artwork for Williams' landmark 1982 arcade game Joust. Anghelo had a prolific career in the pinball industry afterward, working as an artist and designer for tables like Pin*Bot, Taxi, Fish Tales and High Speed. Friend Paul Kiefert confirmed Anghelo's passing yesterday. Kiefert established a GoFundMe project to pay for Anghelo's cancer treatment last month, earning nearly $20,000 in donations from friends, family and devoted fans. "I can say with 100 percent certainty that with the help of this great Pinball Community we were able to deliver great joy and happiness during his final time on this earth and that the legend most people knew will continue to be honored for generations to come," Kiefert wrote. [Image: Williams / Arcade Crusade]
Night Trap, Sewer Shark developer Ken Melville passes away
If you've ever played Sewer Shark or other beloved full-motion video games of the '80s and '90s, then you're likely familiar with Ken Melville's work. Today we regret to report the famed FMV developer and Digital Pictures founder has passed away at the age of 65. Melville not only produced Sewer Shark, but he also created numerous other FMV games such as Make My Video: INXS and Make My Video: Kriss Kross. Melville also helped create the controversial Sega CD game, Night Trap. By the late '90s, FMV games fell out of prominence. During the genre's heyday, Melville worked on over a dozen FMV games overall. Our sympathies go out to Melville's family and friends. [Image: Digital Pictures]
Justin 'JewWario' Carmical passes away at 42
Justin Carmical, a games writer and entertainer known for his You Can Play This series and "JewWario" persona, has passed away. Carmical's wife, Jenny Valentine, posted on Facebook that she was with Carmical when he took his own life on January 23. "He knew I loved him, he knew all of you loved him," Valentine wrote. "You all made him so happy, every time he was recognized from his videos, it made him giddy with joy." Carmical was 42 at the time of his passing - far too young for someone of his talent. We share our condolences to his friends and family.
Nvidia marketing manager killed trying to rescue man from train
Nvidia marketing manager Philip Scholz, 35, was killed on January 20 when a commuter train struck both him and an unidentified man whom Scholz was trying to help off the tracks. Mercury News reports that Scholz saw the man, who is currently in critical condition, down on the tracks and laid down to help him up. It is not known why the man was on the tracks, but Scholz's wife, Emily Scholz, told Mercury News that it "didn't matter" to her at this point, and she wanted people to know her husband aimed to do well. "I just want people to know that he wasn't doing something stupid, or that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He wasn't in some kind of argument. He was doing the right thing when it happened." Philip Scholz's memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on February 10, at the Veterans Memorial Building in Pleasanton.
Sonic the Hedgehog box art illustrator Greg Martin passes away
Prolific video game cover artist Greg Martin has passed away, a personal friend announced at the NintendoAge forum this week. Martin illustrated many iconic video game covers throughout the 1990s, establishing distinctive looks for Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series characters and Namco's Pac-Man, in particular. Many Sonic the Hedgehog games released stateside during the Sega Genesis and Game Gear era bear Martin's cover art, including Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD, and Sonic Spinball, among others. Martin created cover illustrations for several Hanna-Barbera and Looney Tunes-licensed games during his long-running industry stint, and his art also adorned the covers of acclaimed classics like Landstalker, Shining in the Darkness, and Little Nemo: The Dream Master. Several examples of Martin's work can be seen at NintendoAge.
