Kakurady's stories

The votes are in! Porcupine 'Pachi' revealed as Pan Am 2015 mascot
Wed 17 Jul 2013 - 22:36

Pachi the PorcupineEarlier today, Pachi the Porcupine was revealed as the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games mascot, in front of thousands of children at the annual Kids CBC Day in Toronto. CBC featured the mascot in action on their Toronto evening news.

Of the six finalists, Pachi was also most-liked by the public, in the online voting contest that gathered over 33,000 votes, according to the official press release. The voting contest results contributed 10% to the final score, along with other criteria including "embodies the spirit and values of the competition" and "has 'strong kid appeal'".

Organizers received 4130 submissions for the mascot, which was narrowed down to 108 in review before selecting the six finalists.

The "Pachi Pals" – Grade 8 students Paige, Fiona, Michelle, and Jenny, from Markham, Ontario, part of the Greater Toronto Area – designed the porcupine as a class project.

Correction (July 20): 33,000 was the number of votes received for all six finalist designs, not just for the winning entry as I initially reported.

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Where do furries come from?
Fri 21 Jan 2011 - 21:39

Tateru Nino, a Second Life writer, puts forward an often overlooked force in the creation of furries, namely: mainstream culture.

See also WikiFur's article on the history of the fandom, and contributor Cannon Fodder's writeup about the fandom that happened before the fandom.

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Eastern U.S. bats on verge of extinction
Fri 6 Aug 2010 - 00:08

Bats in eastern parts of the United States and Canada are dying out from a new disease.

White-nose syndrome, named for the white fungi on muzzles and wings, makes bats restless, depleting their reserves of body fat during hibernation. The fungi – first found in February 2006 in a New York cave – are considered the likely cause of the disease.

According to a Wired article, biologist Winifred Frick said: "Yes, we had the empirical observations that cave floors were littered with dead bats. [...] But nobody had quantified the impact to the populations. We didn’t know what those die-offs meant to population viability as a species."

Frick and her colleagues analyzed the last 30 years of population data for the most common and most-studied species of bat in North America, the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus). If recent trends continue, the researchers predict a "99 percent chance of regional extinction of little brown myotis within the next 16 years."

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Sonic turns hotel room into Green Hill Zone, also bans squirrel
Mon 22 Feb 2010 - 21:19

On February 13, Alton Towers, working with Sega Europe, unveiled a Sonic the Hedgehog-themed roller coaster ride, and a hotel room to match. Which might just be the closest thing to being inside a Sonic game.

The room features a colorful wallpaper that resemble opening stages of Sonic games — a tropical forest on a backdrop of blue sky and sea, complete with checkerboard platforms. The lamps are modeled after Emeralds and plushies of characters can be found in the bathroom. It also has a PS3, XBox 360 and Wii, complete with several Sonic games.

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