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Author: GreenReaper

Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University have combined non-contact motion detection with animatronics to build a fursuit head which reacts to a performer’s facial movements.

The technology, exhibited at the 19th International Collegiate Virtual Reality Contest, allows the wearer to control the eyes and mouth; ear and eyebrow control is planned. [scottbob3]

Find the full article here: flayrah – furry food for thought

Creative Commons: Full post may be available under a free license.

submitted by JoeAconite
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PETA attacks Nintendo over fur-wearing Mario

They think the tanuki costumes that magically appear for him to wear are made from real animals.

Author: E-Mail Hidden (..::XANA::.. Creations)

A slow intro to a fantastic episode. In fact, it’s perfect to leave you all with, since next week we’re in Chicago for Midwest FurFest 2011! After that we’ll be back for more shows. Hopefully Paradox and Fayroe will get some quality pair-bonding time while they’re there! ;3

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News:

• UK scientists want human-animal tests monitored

• Zoo Plans To Separate Gay Penguins

• Why Spiders Will Always Find You

• New Rules for Making Hybrid Animal-Humans

• How She-Male Birds Win the Girl

• New Bat Has Extraordinary Nostrils

 

Emails:

• Furry Raver – “Furry but not furry…anecdote”
• Crimson X – “Facebook Furs and Bday”
• Alan – “thank you + question ( with zero run on sentences )”
• Arleon – “Mental shift weirdness”
• Viktor – “Inspiration and art”
• The NonFurry – “Fur Questions from a Non-Furry”

 

Notes:

• Mario is Furry

 

Find the full article here: FurCast

The contents of this Podcast may have adult language and adult themes. The content is not produced by Furry News Network, but is posted for your convenience.

FurCast Episode 60 – Odd Sexual Dice - Author: E-Mail Hidden (..::XANA::.. Creations) A slow intro to a fantastic episode. In fact, it’s perfect to leave you all with, since next week we’re in Chicago for Midwest FurFest 2011! After that we’ll be back for more shows. Hopefully Paradox [...]

Author: Earl M.

Flood Waters Rising

In terms of something new, some stand alone, a novel of significant interest, I’ve waited for a long time.  Something reminiscent of books in the time of early fiction/fantasy where nearly any character had that aura about them that they could be up on the chopping block with each new chapter, no one was safe.  That while protagonist and antagonists were defined within their own spheres of plot importance, the supporting cast was outside this protective barrier that so many books keep them in, afraid to injure or destroy the equivalent of so much time and effort to bolster their story.  This book is brave and gave everything it had to its tale of characters with no concessions to pity or impulses and it became a powerful story of fiction, standing on its own two feet because of it.  Even if the story is, for the most part, surviving by characters alone.

I should talk about the flaws to start however and the cover is a good place to start, a conflicting set of ideas that just don’t mesh.  The background is a simplistic styling of a floating city that is an excellent render of a looming cityscape that’s simple, but ominous with nice touches to an overly minimalistic composition which, unfortunately, only further separates the foreground elements which are done in an entirely different manner. The foreground element is much more textured and colorful compared to the drab colors used in the background, the foreground subjects seem very out of place and feel almost placed on top of the landscape section.   The piece has the feel of a concept that was decided upon early in the process of the book and kept even when ideas evolved over time, which might have been purely a finance decision.  I’ll just leave this at saying I’d wish the two points had been more effectively blended.

Also the technology of the story just seems…weird.  It’s all very unorthodox and in most of the story that works in its favor to flesh out the world and make it feel more original, but especially when it comes to the weaponry the ideas just fall flat.  They just sound so impractical to actually use for all the ingenuity in their creation; Balls of energy that burn fur and skin and odd bio-organic pods that explode on impact definitely added a flair of gruesome and threat to these weapons, but when all the rest of the story’s technology follow more practical guidelines these ideas of fancy just seem to feel even more out of place because of that.  There are some elements that echo these ideas in the story as well, but not enough to really justify the outlandish nature that seems to pop up almost at random.  I’ve always sided with the realism when it comes to tech use and is easily jaded on more unconventional weaponry, so you’ll just have to decide this yourself.

As to why you should read Flood Waters the answer is simply characters.  The overarching story takes a backseat multiple times to the personal story of Sithion and his struggles to live a normal life.  Fraught with conflicting family issues as well as outside influences sending both him and the intertwining cast of secondary characters into danger, I became quite attached to them over time and it is here the book truly shines.  Sithion is a tortured soul that is quite depressive more times than not, avoiding Cloud-like levels of emo only by the characterization of both him and the surrounding family members involved in the book as well as knowing not to draw such emotional moments out beyond they’re time.  The reasoning gives us grounding to sympathize with him with the turmoil that comes from an abusive family and the connection to his family’s past.  This line of plot follows throughout the book, building to a climax of significant proportion, something that’ll strike a heart string with anyone who has had an equal sort of family history.  Always humble, he is a shy character built with care and skill to alleviate the depression without the dramatization becoming shallow.  And he is good, unabashedly so, beyond his own goals he rises to help those who pull great lengths to coerce him.  But not some white knight foil crafted entirely of wholesome morals or an arbitrary paragon straining under the weight of supporting pillars of virtue, unwilling to fight against the forces pushing against him.  Instead you see him realize and accept the outside influences blocking him and does what needs to free himself from them. The most surprising turn of events was the immense push to always have a dialogue from the many supporting characters open between them ad Sithion.  I found myself caring more about these secondary characters that would be one-sided archetypes or cannon fodder in another story, giving a vital amount of substance to a story that would lack without it

The antagonist is worthwhile only in his approach and dedication; beyond his innovative ideas, he’s there purely to be a motivator and concrete symbol of the evil to be vanquished like a traditional myth framework.  His clear and purposeful drive towards evil plans is an interesting contrast to the complex and conflicting views the sides of good hold; while he dictates his plans in a direct, bold approach, the good befuddle simplistic ideas of revenge and salvation with prejudice and iability to let go of the past.  Much the opposite than the allies of Sithion who are a almost rotating set of folk with their own agendas using both him and his name’s legacy more for their own needs than any care towards him.  He does show through as more cardboard than I’d have liked, but he holds his own enough with personality and some interesting ideas of his own that it becomes a forgettable flaw.

The story and characters intermingle themselves as this story holds itself close to the characters and their own personal struggles far more than any other aspect.  There is a plot of war that is in the background at all times, but it serves more to drive the characters constantly forward as well as to complement the mental turmoil with a strong share of physical danger and injury than any story of its own to tell.  It’s a story of good vs. bad, classic in the idea but complex with its approach, adding multiple sides of different views when it comes to “the good” side, muddying the supposedly bias and short-sighted views from various parties as they vie for power or revenge or something else.  This book is a strong, core example of a reluctant hero.  Not from a half-hearted set of reasons, paper thin and flimsy excuses that can’t hold their own but an entire story of reasons that you can’t help but agree with by the book’s end.  Its good then that the characters are memorable and well-crafted as they carry the weight of the story upon their shoulders at all times.  The actual tangible plot exists purely, as I’ve already stated, it seems to drive the characters ever forward rather than a life of its own.  All is written competently; you won’t be wondering what happened to this mini-arc or that plot hole that was dropped, but the golden glory of the story comes from Sithion’s journey for the simplistic and realistic goal of a normal life.   And while the idea of someone coming into a position of either power or influence and striving immediately back to their normal life might come off on concept as clichéd, it’s done with such care to both the reader’s view of things and the reality of the story that it becomes believable and a worthwhile sounding goal.

The final question as always; do I recommend it?  It may not be obvious at this point sure, but yes, definitely.  Even if you don’t like the desert or fantasy but love character driven stories then I’d say definitely give the e-book a read at least.  The characters are so riveting and full of grief and sympathy and hope and the goals are given such depth and heart behind them that you want to see where their actions will bring them next, hoping their goals are achieved.  It does throw itself to the lion’s den by driving the story forward solely on character growth.  If you find yourself unable to relate to the characters, you’ll find yourself alienated from the story entirely and hate the whole journey. But my opinion is that it’s a gambit worth the risk.

Flood Waters Rising is the newest novel from E.M.A. Hirst  and centers on Sithion Flood as we follow him on a journey to rebel back against the may forces conspiring to use him and destroy him.  Available as a e-book for sale on Smashwords for 4.99, (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/73397) or as a paperback for 17.00 here https://www.createspace.com/3658807 .  A sequel is planed though a date has been set tentatively at sometime next year.

submitted by scottbob3
[link] [16 comments]

The second week of NaNoWriMo for TK, and his news isn't good. In this episode Xavier talks a lot about Skyrim instead of doing the gaming news, much to Eeve3's annoyance, and we try not to spoil Merlin for those who haven't yet seen it. For Done and Dusted TK reviews Night Trap on the SegaCD/32x. Xavier gives us his views on One Life Left which is a gaming podcast that (apparently) has lower production values than us here at TigerTails Radio, and also talks abuot the film Second Hand Lion before updating us on his Arkham City progress. Eeve3 reviews Graduis 3 on the SNES and the Arcade. Felis gives us his review of Ratchet and Clank Going Mobile, and Werewolfe reviews Rango. Starring TK, Xavier, and Eeve3. TigerTails Radio - Season 6 - Episode 12 - Sick of Skyrim

Hi everyone!

I managed to get the first two issues of the Albedo's Refractions
anthology. Since I'm a fan of the Albedo universe, I have some
questions about some of the side-stories published there:

- How much "canonical" are all those stories published there?
(Especially "Exogenesis", "In the Beginning" and "Why?", since they

This episode the cast talks about attributes that might help you pick out furries from the rest of the crowd and stumble through a "you might be furry" joke routine from the Utah Furries.  Hope you like the episode and don't forget to subscribe and share amongst your friends. Our next few episodes will be based on conventions.  Email your questions about con-prep, questions about what to do or things that might need to be asked while at the con, and post-con including post-con depression to use at cast@furwhatitsworth.com. You can email Elias at elias@furwhatitsworth.com, Thay at thay@furwhatitsworth.com, and Roo at roo@furwhatitsworth.com Previous Episode Wrap-up: For the the pirate costume idea for Thay, Clarissa will be getting a badge!  For the Rainbow Dash costume idea for Elias, April will be getting a badge!  For the cookie costume idea for Roo, YuurYuu will be getting a badge!  For submitting a story, Spacedog will be getting a badge!  Congratulations everyone!  Make sure to send in your character reference sheets/descriptions in at thay@furwhatitsworth.com. This episode we have a musical break from Kitsune ^2, Entertain Us, from the album I Kind of Really Want to Make Love to You put out by Lapfox Trax.  Today's intro is Lifemover Arms (Mayhem Remix) by Mayhem, and the outro is One Life by The Queenstons. Thanks to all of our contributors... YuurYuu, Dolphy, Kristian, Kitty, Matt, Spacedog, Wahotts, Covious, Kamden, Midnite, Burton, Mika, Evan, Nova, & Ryan. Media Trafalga Meet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9HAIcf472I Banana Song:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH5ay10RTGY&ob=av3e Now Listen Episode 4 – You Might Be Furry If… - This episode the cast talks about attributes that might help you pick out furries from the rest of the crowd and stumble through a "you might be furry" joke routine from the Utah Furries.  Hope you like the episode and don't forget to subscribe and sha...

submitted by nuttychooky
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I thought for those of us who are readers, it might be nice to have some book suggestions that have some relevance to furry fandom.

I really like Walter Moers' books, they're like a mix of Tolkien, Douglas Adams, and Shel Silverstein.

13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear - Moers' first novel in the fictional world of Zamonia about an anthro bear.

City of Dreaming Books - About an anthro dinosaur and the love of books.

Rumo and his Miraculous Adventures - About characters that are basically anthro dogs, and one of my favorites of Moers.

You can read Moers' books in any order, and I highly recommend them. Any other suggestions?

submitted by MarlovianDiscosophia
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submitted by bearetic
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There’s simply no way we could top the publisher’s description of Mush! Sled Dogs with Issues, a new hardcover graphic novel, so we’ll not try. “Venus wants Buddy to quit asking her to ‘make puppies’. Buddy wants Winston’s help wooing Venus. Winston wants Guy’s respect. Guy wants Dolly’s job. Dolly wants to know the meaning of it all. Nobody knows what Fiddler really wants, not even Fiddler. But mostly . . . these sled dogs just want to run. Sounds simple? It should be, but even dogs have their office politics. Office politics with sharp, sharp teeth. From Colbert Report writer Glenn Eichler and dog-channeling artist Joe ‘Fur’ Infurnari comes a postmodern tale of heroism on the tundra, epic romance, and yellow snow. (Hint: don’t eat it.) Mush! is Arrested Development meets Call of the Wild — two great tastes that taste pretty funny together.” There’s more about this silliness on Amazon, of course, and it’s mushing our way this December in full color from First Second.

image c. 2011 First Second

submitted by RavynArcadia
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submitted by hippie-wolfboy
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submitted by No3Mole
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Hey guys i am a exceptionable writer and i really wanna make a furry web comic but my delima is i am no artist so i decided to come to you Reddit. i need a graphic artist to help me out and discuss the story with Without thinking im a freak or insane.

What can i bring to the table?

I have taken creative writing class's and i know how to make a wonderful website.

So, who would like to join aboard?

submitted by JokerC4t
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submitted by Jakooboo
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This week on Knotcast, Fuzz, Shiva, and Savrin discuss maximum do not want, find out theres a con in idaho, get a couple followups from previous episodes, and discuss some vidya games. This weeks song is Dovakiin, an OCRemix by Brandon Strader http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02323/ Saints Row Dildo Bat http://www.destructoid.com/review-saints-row-the-third-dildo-baseball-bat-215241.phtml Use our coupon code 'knot' at AdamEve.com for a great deal. Episode 159 - Do Not Want

submitted by draguu
[link] [3 comments]