January 2010
Swedish wolves face cull before mating season
Posted by GreenReaper on Sat 2 Jan 2010 - 07:15Scandinavian hunters are looking forward to the chance to bag a wolf, as Sweden prepares to open hunting season on the animals.
The species was encouraged to grow along the border with Norway after numbers fell to a low of 60 in 1999. Since then, their number have increased, and new births are expected to bring the species above the limit of 210 set by parliament.
The increased population risk damage to local dog-owners and reindeer and sheep farmers. But a local conservation society believes the population has yet to recover to a safe level, and has complained to the EU. Supporters originally hoped wolf numbers might reach 500.
The cull will run for over a month, or until the quota of 27 - updated hourly - is met. The creatures are most vulnerable when recent snow allows them to be tracked.
See also: Norway Set To Kill Most Of Its Wolves (January 22, 2001)
Would-be murderers sentenced
Posted by Alexander Grey on Wed 6 Jan 2010 - 19:00
Shaun Skarnes and Christopher Monks, who last July were found guilty of conspiracy to murder, have today been sentenced.
Fur sentenced in parent murder plot
Posted by GreenReaper on Sat 9 Jan 2010 - 11:21A man who attempted to murder his friend's parents has been incarcerated indefinitely, for a minimum of three-and-a-half-years; his friend has been placed under medical supervision.
Christopher Monks (Rox-Yin) and Shaun Skarnes (Kira) reportedly met through social networking website Furry 4 Life. The pair were found guilty of conspiracy to murder in July, but Monks - who promised to let Skarnes bite off his penis in return for the deed - was shown to have Asperger Syndrome.
UK law allows for indefinite imprisonment for public protection, subject to future parole.
What do you think of the new Flayrah?
Posted by GreenReaper on Sat 9 Jan 2010 - 13:55Flayrah relaunches with new software, editor-in-chief
Posted by GreenReaper on Mon 11 Jan 2010 - 13:34
Welcome to a new year, with a new editor! Aureth and Frysco have given me the chance to lead Flayrah into the next decade. With your help, I hope to make it the best furry news site ever . . . again!
We're now running on Drupal - an altogether more modern framework - with hosting graciously provided by Timduru.
Your previous posts and comments are secure, though you might want to update your account with an avatar and fandom links.
I've also brought in some free content from WikiFur News - it makes great reading if you missed it the first time around. (Don't forget to click through where it says "Read more")
Furcadia adds "Hyooman", Rodent races
Posted by GreenReaper on Wed 13 Jan 2010 - 22:27
Furry-themed online social MMO game Furcadia has settled a perennial topic of debate by adding "Noble Hyoomans" to its set of purchasable avatars in an attempt to boost revenue. Rodent avatars were also added.
Human-style avatars have been advocated by Furcadia CEO Felorin (Dr. Cat) and programmer sanctimonious, but opposed by game designer Talzhemir. An earlier poll of players found that 61.5% favored the addition of an official human avatar, while 38.5% were opposed to their presence - some citing their absence in Furcadia's canon roleplaying continuity, The Dragonlands.
Those disappointed in Digo Market prices are unlikely to be pleased by the new additions, which sell for $19.99 for one year of use. Dragon's Eye Productions have indicated that further free avatars are unlikely, at least until a future upgrade to 32-bit colour.
Furly Edition Zero - The digital edition (pre-con newsletter)
Posted by Frysco on Fri 15 Jan 2010 - 14:43This newsletter contains information for attendees of Further Confusion 2010, including:
- a theme-appropriate gift for lucky attendees
- discounts available for the hotel restaurant, and the nearby Ster Trek exhibit at TheTech
- the announcement of a new website, myFurCon (my.furcon.org)
- information on Internet access
- the location and schedule of key events, as well as cheap parking
- a list of events requiring signup
- a caution against door signs, and warnings for debit card users and laptop owners
- details of announcements occuring during Furry Night Live.
Driver changes plea to guilty in Furp case
Posted by GreenReaper on Sat 16 Jan 2010 - 00:35The marine charged with killing furry community member Furp in February 2009 has changed his plea to guilty, according to documents filed Thursday in San Bernardino Superior Court.
Jason Robert Reyna initially plead not guilty to charges of causing injury while driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood alcohol level higher than 0.08%. Both are felony charges due to Furp's death. The defendant appears to have no prior record, and was spared the charges of vehicular manslaughter or second-degree murder. However, he may be subject to military justice following his sentence.
Furp's death was widely reported and resulted in the creation of a LiveJournal community dedicated to his memory. His collection of furry artwork and personal effects were auctioned off at Midwest FurFest 2009, raising over a thousand dollars for the convention charity.
Fur Affinity grows in 2009 despite downtime
Posted by GreenReaper on Sat 16 Jan 2010 - 16:30Despite recent downtime, furry community site Fur Affinity grew significantly in 2009, according to figures released by The Dragoneer this month.
Over 120,000 users joined the site; almost double that were active during the year, making over a million submissions. Users also made over 400,000 posts on their personal journals, garnering 3.5 million comments.
Fur Affinity's success has come at a cost for other sites, who have found traffic stagnating. The VCL in particular has lost ground, while Yiffstar recently relaunched itself as SoFurry in an attempt to attract new users. Fur Affinity also plans to move to a new layout.
For a site as large as FA, reported annual operating costs are relatively small at $14,231.76; donations and advertisements raised $13,943.79.
New book from Anthro Press: ANTHROlogy THREE
Posted by Cubist on Sat 16 Jan 2010 - 17:54Anthro Press, the publishing arm of noted furzine Anthro, has just released ANTHROlogy THREE, a 724-page book which contains virtually everything which appeared in ANTHRO issues 13-18. It is available from Anthro Press for US$23.49.
FurNation relaunched as Ning site
Posted by GreenReaper on Sat 16 Jan 2010 - 22:40
FurNation has been reborn as a Ning-based community, following the course set by social networking site Furry 4 Life.
The 14-year-old site has a long but oft-troubled history. Over the past two years, its community has faced repeated requests for server hosting funds.
The new owner, Reyedog, intends to revive FurNation's hosting on a separate server, as Ning's terms of service limit images to "tasteful nudes."
2009 charity donations down; $490,000 raised this decade
Posted by GreenReaper on Sun 17 Jan 2010 - 22:25
Furry philanthropy took a step back in 2009, as donations fell 15% in a tough economic climate. However, the fandom still has something to be proud of: $490,000 raised for charity at furry conventions in the past decade.
Over $112,000 was donated by Further Confusion, with Midwest FurFest ($92,000), Anthrocon ($87,000) and Mephit FurMeet ($71,000) not far behind — not counting MFM's donations to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
At first, the top three events covered the majority of annual donations, but now others give more than half of it. And while most money still comes from North America, international furs are joining in, including cons in the UK, Germany, Australia, Poland and the Czech Republic.
Read on for a chart detailing the decade's charitable donations.
Update (24 May): Includes figures for RCFM 2007-9, WPAFW 2009, ConFuzzled 2008-9 and Conifur '01, '03, '04.
Read more: Furs raise $243,000 for charity in 2012; $1 mil. this century