__ Monster Maker __
The old Godzilla was charming, but it lacked sex appeal," quips Patrick Tatopoulos in a rich French accent. "I created a sexier, thinner, more realistic animal." Tatopoulos, who cemented his position as the hottest monster maker in Hollywood with his update of the larger-than-life lizard, now faces downsizing as he begins envisaging a miniature mouse for Columbia Pictures's adaptation of Stuart Little. Oddly, Tatopoulos resists the label of killer creature crafter, claiming that his work fashioning sets for the brooding Dark City and Walter Hill's forthcoming sci-fi fest Supernova displays a broader versatility. "I'm the gypsy of visual effects," he says.
__ Adult Prodigy __
Everything I predicted at Prodigy has arrived," boasts Ed Bennett, the former CEO who was known for his portents about full-service online communities and for his party-boy antics. So where did the life of Prodigy samba off to after his gig ended in 1996? Bennett, once the president of VH1, returned to his musical roots. As president of My-CD and with board positions at TheDJ.com and cable service provider SoftNet Systems, he plans to bring music to the masses. "I learned from cable that you need the pipes and the content," he says. "I'm building a mini Viacom online."
__ Mars Bard __
Science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson, author of Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars, is in high orbit now that James Cameron has optioned the series. The trilogy tells "the physical story of terraforming the planet, giving it a biosphere, and psychologically building a new society that's truly an international world order," says Robinson. He spent nearly 10 years researching the project - including vacationing at the South Pole, where conditions approximate those of the fourth planet. Unsurprisingly, Robinson's latest book, due out in July, is an eco-thriller titled Antarctica.
__ Cracker Tracker __
There is potential for cyberwar on a large scale," says 19-year-old John Vranesevich. "We have seen 14-year-olds shutting off communications at airports." Vranesevich, founder of the computer security Web site AntiOnline, is emerging as the point person for breaking news about network intrusions - including the first interviews with Israel's Analyzer and the Masters of Downloading. Some DOD denizens clearly envy Vranesevich's connections; in April, a contract systems administrator threatened him with legal action for publicizing the break-ins and "encouraging further criminal activities." Vranesevich remains unrepentant.
__ Beltway Censor __
America's most telegenic cyber censor has gone off the air, but she's still in the spotlight. At the Family Research Counsel, Cathy Cleaver awed lawmakers with her media-savvy CDA shtick. Now, as counsel to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Cleaver could help draft a CDA II. That has some Netizens cringing. "From Cathy's perspective, you support child pornography if you oppose government regulation," says EPIC's David Sobel. "That kind of rigid attitude doesn't lend itself to the give-and-take legislative process."
