Feed aggregator

The new big thing in Furry Fandom is contests! Yes, now you can enter into a contest to win a paid commission. All you have to do is submit a piece of art, of the finest quality you can make, to specification and for free to the person running the contest… see the flaw yet?

To those of you who've not worked it out: yes, this is what we call a "scam".

Updated with some probability theory showing the scammy nature of these contests.

The guy running the contest gets a whole load of "to specification" artwork, and only has to pay for one, but keeps all of them. The clever ones even put in the small print that all rights to submissions are transferred to them. The really abusive ones never pay out at all, with their winner being a friend or a sock-puppet. Sometimes they're run by people who just don't get that it's not okay to trick people into giving you stuff for free.

This is nothing new, and has been going on in other fandoms for as long as people thought they could take advantage of others, or felt they deserved things for free. Other variants include "Your submission could be included in a High Quality Full Colour Art-Book, retailing for $18.99." where every submission wins, and the books are then sold to the "Lucky" winners.

Some people do try to defend these contests, with the following arguments…

"These contests provide exposure for the people who enter."

They're probably the least effective way to gain exposure. What exposure is gained will be that from people who look at the other entries – which may not be possible in closed submissions – and from whatever use the winning entry sees, which may be very limited indeed.

"People should be allowed to give their work away for free if they want."

Sure, I'm not going to make the Pixel-Stained Technopeasant argument. If you want to willingly give away your work, that's fine. But that's different to using the promise of a "win" to get people to do work for free, particularly if you give exact specifications for what you want. People have the right to distribute their work how they want, but taking advantage by subtly coercing them into handing over stuff for free is unethical.

"No one gets hurt, it's just for fun."

People can spend hours, even days of hard work on their submission – and can then be crushed when they realise they've been taken for a sucker. That sounds like harm to me.

Sadly, it's hard to prevent these abusive "contests". But it is possible to get the message out to creators to beware of being scammed into providing their work for free.

There’s something that I notice at anime conventions and it’s that there is a silent disrespect and hatred for the furry fandom. It seems some “otaku” place themselves on a pedestal over furs. I understand that at an anime convention it is conventional for people to cosplay as anime characters. So furs that dress up as pokemon or digimon or any other creatures related to an anime series are generally left alone. But there’s a silent double standard in the anime fandom and it’s that you can costume as any character, anime related or otherwise, but god forbid you fursuit as your personal character! Or god forbid you sell “furry”/anthropomorphic art in artist alley. People will talk about them behind their backs as if somehow they are greater than the other person. And this isn’t just limited to the furry fandom. Anime fans get their fair share of hatred. Anime in America is thought of as a fad that will disappear in time. People who like anime are thought of as immature or “wannabe Japanese” people. God forbid a person shows a genuine interest in the language or culture as well as likes anime. They will be thought of as a “weaboo”. And what about sci-fi and comic book fans? Their like of cosplaying as their favorite characters at conventions is always fodder for late night comedians to poke fun at. They’re thought of as the 40 year old, overweight virgins who will never get a girl because of his “insane” interest in Star Wars or Superman. Yet there still seems to be a ranking system of fandoms within fandoms.

I get kind of tired of people laughing at some of my characters because they think that they're "furries" in the bad sense of the word. I'd like to start by saying that these characters were characters BEFORE I gave them their powers. I didn't say "Okay I want a tiger chick...what is her story?" I said "Okay here's this girl with this story, I should figure out what super powers she has." to which I decided on super strength, agility, etc. But I wanted to go further then that by making her appearance something that would constantly be a haunting thing per say. Mutated enough that it causes her stress. I didn't do it because I have a fetish for furries. I didn't do it because I just like tigers. I did it for the character's sake.

If I'm considered a furry then I guess Batman is too. Sam is stuck with her appearance. Batman just plain CHOOSES to put on a bat themed costume and run around Gotham! To inspire fear? Surrrreee right right...Admit it Bruce! You just have a fetish! What's that? Fans disagree? Then STOP CALLING ME A FURRY DAMN IT!

Police officers in China practice how to trap a tiger in case one escapes from the zoo. Obviously they won't practice with real tigers so they get people to dress up in Tigger suits.

We are persecuted so much

Author: crossaffliction

Surprising no one, Nintendo announced at this year’s E3 that it will release a new Super Smash Bros. for its forthcoming Wii U console. The fighting series includes furry Nintendo characters such as Fox McCloud and Lucario, plus guest character Sonic the Hedgehog.

Series creator Masahiro Sakurai has not ruled out the possibility of a release on the 3DS, which would be the first installment of the series on a handheld video game system.

The game or games, though definitely coming to at least the Wii U, are not yet in production. Sakurai’s studio, Sora, is currently working on the 3DS game Kid Icarus: Uprising, and may defer Super Smash Bros. until its completion, giving furry gamers plenty of time to petition for inclusion of their favorite characters.

story_3569_nintendo_announces_super_smash_bros._4_____and_5_.mp3

read more

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

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

06/11/2011
By: Rainstar

The teddy bear is a soft and cuddly toy that many, if not all, of us have owned at one point or another in our lives. This icon of childhood has been around as long as anyone can remember. 80 years ago in Telford of Shropshire county United Kingdom, a teddy bear manufacturing factory opened its doors and released its first catalog of their fuzzy friends. The factory, known as Merrythought ltd., is still alive and thriving; pumping out new designs and different bears each year. Not only is it a factory, but Merrythought contains a gift shop and museum dedicated to the history of the teddy bear and the company itself. Besides staying in business since 1931, what makes this factory so interesting is the fact that Merrythought is the last surviving teddy bear factory in the U.K.

I visited Merrythought last January when I was touring the United Kingdom with my family. Located a mere ½ mile upstream from the infamous Iron Bridge, the factory sports tall iron gates topped with festive teddy bear heads. A life-size (or rather, a very large) teddy bear statue wearing classic London Beefeater attire stands sentry just outside the museum; greeting passerby’s with a dignified air. Upon entering the museum, (if memory serves me correctly) a large chest housing several different bear designs from over the years beams down at you. A friendly clerk greets you at the door and will gladly answer your questions.

Gordon Holmes founded the Merrythought business in 1930. Like any business, Merrythought has experienced its share of ups and downs. In 1935, despite the Great Depression, the factory became the largest soft toy factory in Great Britain. During World War II, the Iron Bridge site was requisitioned by the U.K. armed forces and the factory began producing war materials. The organization was released from its military duties in 1946. In November 2006, the company voluntarily dissolved in response to, “…the ongoing effects of external economics.” More specifically, cheaply produced goods from foreign countries – against which Merrythought could not compete. The company remained closed until January 2007 when a media and social outcry rescued the company.

Oliver Holmes, grandson of founder Gordon Holmes, joined the company in 1972. Eventually, Oliver inherited the company from his father, Trayton Holmes, and became the head of Merrythought. He remained as such until his recent death in April. His daughter, Sarah Holmes, has since succeeded him.

Despite the loss of Oliver Holmes, the future could not be brighter for the Merrythought teddy bear factory. Most of the factory space (namely the large buildings outside the museum) has been rented to other corporations. Due to this, the factory has been unofficially renamed, “Merrythought Village.” Also, the London Olympic Games organizers have selected Merrythought to produce the official teddy bears for the London 2012 Olympics.

 

AIDES is a French organization devoted to supporting those affected by HIV/AIDS, and increasing public awareness about the disease. They've had some very creative public service announcements over the years, like Smutley (NSFW), the sluttiest cat ever.

I recently noticed that the furry fandom seems to be referred to in one of AIDES' other safe-sex campaigns. "The World of Sex" (NSFW) is a detailed drawing of a fictional sex-themed amusement park. One area seems to depict people in fursuits engaging in sex, and is labelled the "Enchanted Furry Forest". (So, yes, stereotyping all furries as fursuiters, and all fursuiters as using their costumes for sex.)

As it happens, the French-language version of the illustration instead labels the area "La Foret Frivole" ("The Frivolous Forest").

????? ????????????
[link]
?????????????
??????????

Via CNN
A bizarre auto accident involving two vehicles and a bear has left two people and the bear dead, Canadian authorities said.

Police in Quebec said a 300-pound male black bear wandered onto a road and was struck by an eastbound Pontiac Sunfire. The impact sent the animal hurtling through the air, where it smashed the windshield of a westbound Nissan Pathfinder sport utility vehicle and went out through the back window, regional police spokesman Officer Martin Fournel said.

Find the full article here: furryne.ws | Published News

Each day, out-of-work computer programmer Luke Allen self-medicates by watching animated ponies have magical adventures.

The 32-year-old, who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, loves his daily fix of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, and he’s not alone. He’s part of a growing group of “bronies” (“bro ponies”) — men who are fans of a TV show largely intended for a much younger audience.

“First we can’t believe this show is so good, then we can’t believe we’ve become fans for life, then we can’t believe we’re walking down the pink aisle at Toys R Us or asking for the girl’s toy in our Happy Meal,” Allen said in an e-mail to Wired.com. “Then we can’t believe our friends haven’t seen it yet, then we can’t believe they’re becoming bronies too.”

Every nerd has a favorite TV show they watch religiously and know inside and out. But My Little Pony seems like an unlikely object of fanboy love. Since the show debuted last fall on cable channel Hub TV, it’s attracted a growing number of male fanatics. Their love of the show is internet neo-sincerity at its best: In addition to watching the show, these teenage, twenty- and thirtysomething guys are creating pony art, posting fan videos on YouTube and feeding threads on 4chan (and their own chan, Ponychan).

They also risk life, limb and being trolled to death on the /co/ board to fawn over a small gaggle of ponies with names like Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

Dogs are so in tune with us that they can read our minds, according to a new Learning & Behavior study that also determined canines are probably born with the ability.

Practice makes perfect, however, so the more a dog hangs around humans, the better he or she becomes at "canine telepathy," which actually relies upon hyperawareness of the senses.

Those of us who have owned or been around dogs for any period of time know how well they often "get" us, sensing tiredness, depression, headaches or other maladies before we consciously exhibit any major outward signs of distress. Dogs can even detect when a person has cancer. They also seem to sense our joy and good health.

Monique Udell and her team from the University of Florida wondered why dogs are so clever at reading us, and how they accomplish this feat. Are dogs born with the ability to sense our mental states, or do canines learn from experience?

To explore these questions and more, Udell and her team carried out two experiments involving both wolves and dogs. In the experiments, the two sets of animals were given the opportunity to beg for food, either from an attentive person or from a person unable to see the potential begger.

The researchers showed for the first time that wolves, like domestic dogs, are capable of begging successfully for food by approaching the attentive human. This demonstrates that both species - domesticated and non-domesticated - have the capacity to behave in accordance with a human's attentional state. They are therefore likely born with the ability, since wolves would not have had much practice, which the typical pet dog gains by begging for treats during dinner and at other times.

Some dogs were better at reading people than others were, however. Shelter dogs were not nearly as good as pampered house pooches, demonstrating that exposure to humans allows dogs to hone their natural people-reading skills more.

According to the researchers, "These results suggest that dogs' ability to follow human actions stems from a willingness to accept humans as social companions, combined with conditioning to follow the limbs and actions of humans to acquire reinforcement. The type of attentional cues, the context in which the command is presented, and previous experience are all important."

A bizarre auto accident involving two vehicles and a bear has left two people and the bear dead, Canadian authorities said.

Police in Quebec said a 300-pound male black bear wandered onto a road and was struck by an eastbound Pontiac Sunfire. The impact sent the animal hurtling through the air, where it smashed the windshield of a westbound Nissan Pathfinder sport utility vehicle and went out through the back window, regional police spokesman Officer Martin Fournel said.

2 Gryphon Furry Commedian

Kell Bengal and Kraden band together for ‘Eye of the Tiger’, a new sideline segment run by Kell asking the in-depth questions on various topics.

This episode we interview 2 Gryphon, a high-line furry personality, professional comedian with a knack for making a point/firey indifference, and general interesting fellow. In this interview we ask 2 not about his works so far, but about his means behind them. He reveals a deeper and more engaging mind at work behind his on-stage and on-show character. What was planned to be a 20 minute Q&A turned into an hour of in-depth tantalising conversation from ‘the Aristocrats’ to Malcom X.

 

His home-page, vod-cast, archive and rants can be found at www.Ranting-gryphon.com

A little bit about 2… (source: Wikifur)

Born in August 1972, 2 has been a performer for most of his life. He began as a rock guitarist in the 1980?s. He then ventured into the sci-fi and fantasy fields, doing comedy events at conventions during the 1990?s.

The weekly 2sense show and his insightful rants gave him a sudden rise in popularity in the fandom as someone willing to say what many were thinking, even if they were merely his own opinions.

As a member of the furry fandom, he has a gryphon fursona. His name allegedly came to him in a dream about the creature. He regularly attends furry conventions and often performs stand up there. He has been the guest of honor at Califur 0, Oklacon 2004, Rocket City FurMeet 2005, Feral! 2006 and RBW 2007. He is also currently on staff at Furry Weekend Atlanta, Rocket City Furmeet and was a founding member of Furry Connection North.

2 formerly resided in Arkansas, USA, in a social collective of fellow furry fans/artists (“furs”), known as the North Arkansas Regional Furry Association (NARFA), and also formerly lived in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He now currently resides in Los Angeles, California

 

Via RogerEbert.com

“Kung Fu Panda 2″ is exactly as you’d expect, and more. The animation is elegant, the story is much more involving than in the original, and there’s boundless energy. I enjoyed it as fully as I possibly could, given the horror of its 3-D. The original film, in 2-D wide-screen, was just fine. But never mind. Hollywood has brainwashed us (or itself) that 3-D is an improvement and not an annoyance.

What’s best about this sequel is that it’s not a dutiful retread of the original, but an ambitious extension. Of the many new elements, not least is the solution of the mystery of how Mr. Ping, a goose, could be the biological father of Po, a panda. In the original film, as nearly as I can recall, every character represented a different species, so I thought perhaps inscrutable reproductive processes were being employed. But no, Po’s parenthood is explained here, and it has a great deal to do with new developments in the kingdom.

Finish reading at RogerEbert.com:Kung Fu Panda 2

Editor’s note: The best part about this is the last paragraph:

Speaking of “Panda 3,” I wonder if the relationship between Po and Tigress will advance from its current status as what might be called a warm friendship. Tigress seems to occupy a favored position in Po’s heart, reopening the possibility of cross-species pollination.

Find the full article here: furryne.ws | Published News

Via Discovery
Dogs are so in tune with us that they can read our minds, according to a new Learning & Behavior study that also determined canines are probably born with the ability.

Practice makes perfect, however, so the more a dog hangs around humans, the better he or she becomes at “canine telepathy,” which actually relies upon hyperawareness of the senses.

Those of us who have owned or been around dogs for any period of time know how well they often “get” us, sensing tiredness, depression, headaches or other maladies before we consciously exhibit any major outward signs of distress. Dogs can even detect when a person has cancer. They also seem to sense our joy and good health.

Monique Udell and her team from the University of Florida wondered why dogs are so clever at reading us, and how they accomplish this feat. Are dogs born with the ability to sense our mental states, or do canines learn from experience?

To explore these questions and more, Udell and her team carried out two experiments involving both wolves and dogs. In the experiments, the two sets of animals were given the opportunity to beg for food, either from an attentive person or from a person unable to see the potential begger.

The researchers showed for the first time that wolves, like domestic dogs, are capable of begging successfully for food by approaching the attentive human. This demonstrates that both species – domesticated and non-domesticated – have the capacity to behave in accordance with a human’s attentional state. They are therefore likely born with the ability, since wolves would not have had much practice, which the typical pet dog gains by begging for treats during dinner and at other times.

Some dogs were better at reading people than others were, however. Shelter dogs were not nearly as good as pampered house pooches, demonstrating that exposure to humans allows dogs to hone their natural people-reading skills more.

According to the researchers, “These results suggest that dogs’ ability to follow human actions stems from a willingness to accept humans as social companions, combined with conditioning to follow the limbs and actions of humans to acquire reinforcement. The type of attentional cues, the context in which the command is presented, and previous experience are all important.”

Vote for the article here: furryne.ws | Published News

Author: Fred

H. Beam Piper’s “Little Fuzzy” (1962) was about the discovery of a small, cute, furry mammal on the planet Zarathustra, and the battle against the Charatered Zarathustra Company to have the Fuzzies recognized as intelligent natives.

Now John Scalzi has rewritten the same story, but with plenty of big differences. Fans of Piper’s Hugo-nominated novel can debate whether the original needed a revision, but none can deny that Scalzi’s version is enjoyable in its own right.

read more

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

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

submitted by PepperCoyote
[link] [16 comments]

After six years of loyal service, Graham Waspe was devastated when his guide dog Edward was left blind after developing cataracts.

But his devastation turned to joy when his replacement Opal turned out to be a real gem.

Mr Waspe’s new dog is not just aiding his owner to carry out everyday tasks, but also helping Edward to get around.

Find the full article here: furryne.ws | Published News

• By Angela Watercutter

Each day, out-of-work computer programmer Luke Allen self-medicates by watching animated ponies have magical adventures.

Luke Allen, one of a growing number My Little Pony fanboys known as “bronies,” poses with two action figures from McDonald's Happy Meals. Photo courtesy Luke Allen

The 32-year-old, who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, loves his daily fix of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, and he’s not alone. He’s part of a growing group of “bronies” (“bro ponies”) — men who are fans of a TV show largely intended for a much younger audience.

“First we can’t believe this show is so good, then we can’t believe we’ve become fans for life, then we can’t believe we’re walking down the pink aisle at Toys R Us or asking for the girl’s toy in our Happy Meal,” Allen said in an e-mail to Wired.com. “Then we can’t believe our friends haven’t seen it yet, then we can’t believe they’re becoming bronies too.”

Every nerd has a favorite TV show they watch religiously and know inside and out. But My Little Pony seems like an unlikely object of fanboy love. Since the show debuted last fall on cable channel Hub TV, it’s attracted a growing number of male fanatics. Their love of the show is internet neo-sincerity at its best: In addition to watching the show, these teenage, twenty- and thirtysomething guys are creating pony art, posting fan videos on YouTube and feeding threads on 4chan (and their own chan, Ponychan).

They also risk life, limb and being trolled to death on the /co/ board to fawn over a small gaggle of ponies with names like Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

Find the full article here: furryne.ws | Published News