March 2012 Newsbytes archive
So this is the last Newsbyte archive I’m doing. It’s just more work than I want to do right now, so if someone else wants to do it, have at it.
[Ed: The submitter was later apprehended heading for FNN headquarters. Don't get your hopes up for April, though; I've always wanted one of those fur zombies . . .]
Fred: More dolphin language is translated.
GreenReaper: On a related note, some scientists think dolphins should be given rights as ‘non-human people’.
GreenReaper: A correction to our story about Doc McStuffins: Sparky Animation provided animation, but were not co-producers, and Chris Nee was a writer of The Wonder Pets, not a creator as implied.
dronon: An anthropomorphic ad for MiO’s energy drink.
GreenReaper: Animal art exhibition “examines how artists, writers and composers used animals to think and create” (slideshow). [EarthFurst]
GreenReaper: Chinese bear “bile farmers stir ire.
GreenReaper: A Florida man shot by his dog is “happy to return to work”. [Tanookiman]
GreenReaper: 4’9” fox shot in Britain.
Rakuen Growlithe: Furry magazine Anthroview has been cancelled after just two issues.
Fred: Australia’s changing attitude toward the dingo.
Fred: Alaskan brown bear caught using tools.
GreenReaper: Google+'s video hangouts now let you sumperimpose animal face-prints [gadgetbox]. Pity they alienated so many furries in their real-name wars.
GreenReaper: Panthers sell jewelry, apparently. [diadexxus]
dronon: Ice Age: Continental Drift trailer; due out in Mid-July.
GreenReaper: One week left to submit art to the Morphicon 2012 t-shirt contest.
GreenReaper: If you ever wanted to hear me lisp for 45 minutes, now’s your chance. [interview starts 73:16; Q&A list]
GreenReaper: How To Train Your Dragon arena show premieres March 16.
Higgs Raccoon: Correction: The How To Train Your Dragon arena show premiered in Melbourne on March 2, but is moving to Sydney on the 16th.
Higgs Raccoon: Furry float in the recent Sydney Mardi Gras.
GreenReaper: The author contact link in the article footer now actually works. [Banrai]
Fred: Scientists discover that different bees in a hive may have different personalities.
Rakuen Growlithe: Ten fascinating facts about cats.
Fred: NYTimes editorial posits that humanity’s centuries-old keeping of animals in zoos is a subconscious longing to identify with animals -- just like furries?
Fred: Nocturnal feral pigs plague upstate New York.
Higgs Raccoon: Grave-robbing badgers in Southern England.
GreenReaper: Could genetically engineering humans help us deal with climate change?
Higgs Raccoon: Britain's Guardian newspaper takes a modern look at the tale of The Three Little Pigs.
Fred: New frog species discovered – in the middle of NYC.
Rakuen Growlithe: Mutant German bunny killed by cameraman before it could become famous.
dronon: Maryland furries PonyBird (husband of SillySerpentine) and Loki Blackfang (wife of Kazanori) have died in a car crash.
dronon: Keeping with Furnal Equinox 2012's theme of love overcoming the barriers between good and evil, they made a music video set to Coldplay's Paradise.
Fred: ”Ugliest dog in the world” is dead.
dronon: If you want to try a fun anthro indie point-and-click adventure game, Jolly Rover (review) is part of the Indie Royale Bundle, but the sale ends after the morning of March 20. If you miss the sale, it's still inexpensive on PC and Steam!
GreenReaper: Encyclopedia Dramatica is down again, with what looks like a domain issue. Nothing of value was lost.
Higgs Raccoon: Blizzard reveals Mist of Pandaria’s Lady Pandaren.
Rakuen Growlithe: Latest Cyanide & Happiness cartoon includes a furry.
Fred: Do tarantulas taste with their feet? Researcher argues that they don’t shoot out wall-crawling silk from their feet.
GreenReaper: ED’s back up. Alas. [Equivamp]
GreenReaper: Apparently they forgot to renew their (virtual) office in Sweden.
GreenReaper: Donors (including furries) have stepped up to help the ToonSeum, seriously damaged in recent rain (video).
GreenReaper: Animal Pikchurs offers interesting take on 1970s society from Jim Himes (no, not that one). [DailyFurBlog]
GreenReaper: Will we ever talk to animals – and what does that mean, anyway?
GreenReaper: Protection area raises NZ dolphin survival rate 5.4%.
crossaffliction: A guy on PoE-News once noted my story contributions their consisted entirely of animal attacks and serial killers. Cracked.com is looking to fill that the void that site left behind.
GreenReaper: This is an extension of their popular “5 terrifying …” series.
Fred: Wenlock and Mandeville, the what-are-they? surrealistic mascots of the 2012 London Olympics, are widely parodied.
Fred: Astronomers estimate that there are 10 billion Earth-sized [or larger] planets in our galaxy (never mind the rest of the universe) that may contain life. What price Avatar?
Fred: Kaiju is a sport in which the players dress as movie monsters and trample miniature cities.
crossaffliction: @Green Reaper: You took that one personally, huh? That article's author has a new book out, called This Book Is Full of Spiders. Seriously, Dude, Don’t Touch It, the sequel to John Dies At the End, which is not furry but highly recommended by this reviewer.
dronon: The Sonic the Hedgehog 2 HD fangame demo has been released. (view trailer)
Rakuen Growlithe: Interview with primate researcher Frans De Waal on whether chimpanzees should have moral standing.
Fred: Puberty in the first grade? American girls are maturing earlier.
crossaffliction: Looks like a a sequel to Epic Mickey, Power of Illusion is due sometime this fall for the 3DS.
GreenReaper: Anthrocon has sold out its 82,000 sq.ft. dealer’s den, with 225 dealers attending. (In 2000, it took up ~7,500 sq.ft.)
GreenReaper: Dead wolf photos with celebratory comments stir tensions in Rocky Mountains.
About the author
crossaffliction (Brendan Kachel) — read stories — contact (login required)a reporter and Red Fox from Hooker, Oklahoma, interested in movies, horror, stand up comedy
Formerly Wichita's only furry comic.
Comments
Thanks for the work you put into it!
I'm sure newsbytes could be set up to post a monthly article like this.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
Or an automatic archive page, which would be even better.
If you think about it, the entire site is an automatic archive page for old Newsbytes; lots of the oldest articles (that aren't press releases) are of the "link with a quick comment" type.
Okay, that's not what you meant, and I don't think Green Reaper would have much problem with doing what you're saying, but the advantage a monthly archive submitted as a story gives is that it allows the Newsbytes to be put into context with the stories submitted around the same time when viewed historically.
Remember, I used to be a reporter for a dead tree newspaper; one of the things you have to realize is that after news ceases to be news, it becomes history. Any dead tree newspaper worth the paper its printed on should have both a physical archive, and, if feasible, an online archive (and even micro-fiche, if you remember that stuff) because they are writing the history of their town; when you realize that most small towns have newspapers with over a century of back issues, you begin to realize how important these documents actually are; if you want to know how people were reacting to, say, World War II while it was happening you can easily find out.
Likewise, while Flayrah's archives only stretch back a decade, these archives are oftentimes the only source available to historians, both inside and outside the fandom, to find out what real furries really cared about at those times. Heck, there was an opinion piece last year about the history of the fandom that didn't really make any point other than to illustrate how much of our history we already have lost.
It may sound a bit strange to think of these as articles (or Bumfuck, USA's weekly rag, for that matter) as priceless historical artifacts, but I assure you, they really are.
Also, I got to rambling there, didn't I?
I'm glad somebody got in on the Mio energy drinks--I thought to do it, but wasn't able to.
In case anyone was still wondering, the entire before the actual Newsbytes blurb was an April Fool's joke, up to and including the "I won't be doing the Newsbyte archives anymore part." Thankfully, no one else actually volunteered, so don't worry, the monthly story you don't actually read will still be submitted by me, and I can have double digit stories in the "Recent Articles" sidebar without, you know, actually doing as much work as Fred or Green Reaper, which is my super secret agenda for doing this anyway.
Note, though, my rabies are, in fact, African rabies, and like ten thousand bonus points if you got that joke.
World War Z! Gimme my points!
(lolwut? My brain put "dawn of the dead" first time.)
Yeah, I saw that, and was confused for a second; I was all like "okay, if the World War Z thing was a reference to Dawn of the Dead I missed, I am going to be so embarassed."
Anyway, please enjoy your ten thousand bonus points. They can be used to purchase a wide variety of fictional prizes. Please note, Duke Nukem Forever is no longer purchasable using bonus points.
Great work, though some of the articles are a little bizarre.
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