When the original SoFurry launched at the end of 2009 there was a certain amount of displeasure with the new site. Despite this, the user count more than doubled, and by June 2011 SoFurry had over 150 000 users. Staff then launched the SoFurry 2.0 beta, an attempt to completely redo SoFurry, improving the code and addressing user complaints.

During the seven-month beta period, there were regular bug fixes (and a public list of upcoming features). This wasn't limited to submitted bugs; SoFurry owner Toumal also responded to criticisms about the site, for example on Chipotle's review of furry story sites. The project was not without problems, however, and the site at one point seemed to face copyright challenges concerning part of it's code, namely for the chat feature.

The team worked hard and on 23 January, after about three days of down time, SoFurry was reborn. I took the time to ask Toumal a few questions regarding its development and future.

Nominations are open for the 2011 Ursa Major Awards, intended to recognize the best works published in the field of anthropomorphics last year. Nominations close on February 29; voting starts March 15 and closes May 4 (to allow last-minute voting from Morphicon).

Furry fans may nominate up to five works in each category. The 2011 Awards will be announced and presented in a ceremony at CaliFur VIII in Irvine, CA, June 1–3, 2012.

Available awards include Best Motion Picture, Dramatic Short Work or Series, Novel, Short Fiction, Other Literary Work, Graphic Story, Comic Strip, Magazine, Website, Published Illustration, and Game.

If you cannot think of five worthwhile nominees in each category, see the 2011 Recommended Anthropomorphics List on the Ursa Major Awards website for suggestions.

Alan Berlin, better known in the furry fandom as Alan T. Panda, has withdrawn his guilty pleas in relation to charges that he sexually propositioned a 15-year-old boy online.

Berlin came to the attention of the media in May 2009, when he was first arrested for unlawful contact with a minor. According to investigators, Berlin, a resident of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, had been in communication with the teen for several weeks and had proposed travelling to the boy's home to have sex in the backyard, and in a shed on his parents' property.

In the furry fandom, Berlin was a fursuiter, babyfur, and "daddyfur/caretaker with a cub side". The media noted Berlin's connection to the fandom, as investigators believed that he and the boy had met on a furry internet site. When Berlin's home was searched, wolf and cat-like costumes were found, and it was alleged that Berlin had discussed dressing up in animal costumes as part of having sex with the boy.

If you thought $1600 for an inflatable husky was excessive, consider this pre-owned MixedCandy German Shepherd, auctioned last week for $7000. [tip: sardognsca/fursuitlounge]

The suit was the subject of a five-way bidding war throughout Saturday before the winner swept in with their last-minute bid.

MixedCandy is well-known for expensive wolves and canines, but this price is more commonly associated with a new custom suit — or rather, two of them.