August 2002
Skunkworks Reflections is now available
Posted by Aureth on Thu 1 Aug 2002 - 07:28From Radio Comics' website: "As some of you may or may not know, longtime Radio creator Jim Hardiman has been having health problems. Specifically, his diabetes has caused blood clots to form in his eyes. Thankfully, with some management and laser eye surgery, permanent blindness was averted. However, the surgery was very expensive, and like most comic artists, he doesn't have medical insurance. So we at Radio decided to sponsor a benefit book to help Jim with his bills! We asked our best and brightest artists to submit their take on Jim's popular Skunkworks characters and the response was overwhelming! Skunkworks: Reflections was born!"
Dogs Smarter Than We Thought
Posted by Atara on Thu 1 Aug 2002 - 09:12Or, if you're a dog person, you've known this all along.
A recent study has shown that dogs are able to do rudimentary math. In an experiement similar to one performed on monkeys, a dog was shown a pile of treats. Then a screen was lowered, obscuring the treats, and the treats were either left along, or a few were taken away. Then the screen was raised.
When a few treats were missing, the dogs stared at the treats for a few seconds longer than they did when the number of treats stayed the same, suggesting that they knew there were fewer treats.
There's still time to register for Feral! 2002
Posted by Miami on Thu 1 Aug 2002 - 09:15Feral! 2002 is going to be damn cool. How cool -is- 'damn cool'? Oh, that's easy..
Guest of honour: Ginger (Jessica Willard), creator of Falstaff (intolerably cute).
Special guest: Uncle Kage (Dr Sam Kage v2.0 with Mohawk option)
Workshops: art techniques, writing, fursuit construction, sculpting + more.
Activities: Kayaking, wall climbing, swimming, high ropes, nature hikes, campfire sing-alongs, and ritual Teletubby sacrifices. Rargh.
on Saturday Night.. the Feral! Woodland Rave!: DJ Snowwolf, DJ Genki, Slay3r and Chris Pardus.
This isn't just a con.. this is Feral!
Furry Sociology Study Updated
Posted by Anon on Thu 1 Aug 2002 - 18:58In an effort to feel like I've actually accomplishing something with my life, I pushed ahead and finished my work from the last few months on updating and finalizing my sociological survey of Furry Fandom. Researched in 1997, 1998 and 1999, Written in 2000 and originally published to the web in 2001, I have finally compiled all my notes, edited my thoughts and put together the essay. It is now open for general viewing at:
CACE: Final News Update
Posted by Jeff_Novotny on Fri 2 Aug 2002 - 09:25Hi, everyone;
Although the big news right now is our programming schedule, we do have a few other news items to pass along as well.
Inventor of clumping cat litter, William Mallow, dead at 72.
Posted by STrRedWolf on Sat 3 Aug 2002 - 23:11Polymer chemist William Mallow, inventor of clumping cat litter and co-developer of Liquid Paper, artificially aged Scotch whiskey, and Disney robot dinosaur skin, died Thurdsay at the age 72 in San Antonio. More info via Reuters/Excite
ConiFur Has a New Hotel!
Posted by Anon on Mon 5 Aug 2002 - 22:34Good news! Great news, in fact! ConiFur is moving, but only just a few miles down the road to a new hotel. We are very pleased to announce that we will be in the Sheraton Tacoma (www.sheratontacoma.com), located in Tacoma, Washington. The dates are still October 4th-6th, so come on out and visit the great Pacific Northwest!
Conifur Northwest at-the-door prices going up
Posted by Tibo on Wed 7 Aug 2002 - 10:26Conifur Northwest regrets to announce that we are increasing some membership prices. Preregistration (must be postmarked by eptember 20th) will remain at $30. However, at the door memberships will rise to $40, and onattending to attending upgrades will be $25. One-day memberships will be $20 for Friday, $25 for Saturday, and $20 for Sunday.
Just playing cat and mouse
Posted by MelSkunk on Wed 7 Aug 2002 - 10:48Cats might love mice, but they usually don't love the cats back, for good reason.Auan, a seven year old female cat in Thailand, adopted Jeena, a mouse, when he was a baby. Now she keeps him clean and protects him from threats. Awww!
FC2003 Newsletter August 2002
Posted by Frysco on Thu 8 Aug 2002 - 16:371. Info From the Head MadHatters
Summer is in full swing and we couldn't have had a better turn out at our
annual picnic! Over a hundred attendees! FC hosts an annual picnic in the
San Francisco Bay Area each year to give fans that extra bit of fun and
community. From canoeing to horseback riding, our new location had it
all. In addition we tried something new for us, a Furry Campout.
Revolving around the picnic, one day on each side, campers enjoyed the
local outback as well as we could rough it only 30 minutes from Silicon
Valley. Nearly 40 furs enjoyed stories by the campfire and sleeping under
the stars. It was a hit! Many thanks to those who attended, and those
who couldn't make it ... there is always next year!
FC busted out their wares at AC again. Many thanks to everyone who
stopped by our table. And many thanks to Uncle Kage for putting on a
wonderful show. It was nice to meet all those new faces, both as first
timers as well as old guard. Many furs dont get the chance to cross the
country for a convention, so it's extra special to make their
acquaintance.
Please take a moment to glance over our Newsletter. We plan on many new
things for 2003 and dont want you to be left in the cold.
Hare's to seeing ya at FC2003, Furries in Wonderland.
Chairo (Lee Strom) - Chairman
Aetobatus (Michael Sawyer) - Vice Chairman
Behold the power of... birds
Posted by MelSkunk on Thu 8 Aug 2002 - 16:37Being a bird brain has all but lost its sting in light of the most recient discovery in avian intellegence.
Previously, scientist had seen birds using problem solving to get food, and even tools (ravens, woodpeckers, and vultures all have done it) but now they've seen crows not merely using a ready made tool from the environment, but CREATING hooks to get food. This is not merely in the lab. In the wild, New Caledonia crows have been seen to make two different sorts of hooks to snare food, even with no previous exposure to someone bending a wire into a hook. Avians have shown again and again a propensity for calculating spacial relationships, understanding symbols and even, in the case of parrots, constructing and communicating in a verbal language that humans can understand.
Chimpanzees and other non-human primates, on the other hand, have never shown any indication of spontanious modification of an item to create a specialized tool.
Conifur Northwest 2002 shirt preorder open!
Posted by Tibo on Fri 9 Aug 2002 - 09:18Now that we know that we're going to have a con this year, we can move forward with other things, such as the shirt preorder. You can take a look at Marci's unusual design here and follow the
link from there to the preorder form. We will be doing a Special Edition violet shirt again this year, which will be available via preorder only, so if you want one, now is the time! We must RECEIVE your preorder, with payment, by the end of this month, August 31st.