Many people have gotten into hi-tech work, seeing it as the perfect job. But the workplace of the future, with "flexable hours, no supervisors and no cubicles" is a different place in reality. The 'white collar factory' is a place of long, tireless hours, high pressure with low returns and low security. Isolation and insecurity rule the day, a fact too many people reading this will know already.

Ever look at a game and think "I could design better characters than that!"? Well, prove it, fanboy. You have until December 31st to send off your drawings and bios to win a trip to Seattle to get your favorite furry critter into a Sly Cooper game.

Non-Americans will have to suck it in, though, the contest isn't open to them.

The ConFurence Group is proud to announce The Furry West Homestead Act of CF2003.

In keeping with ConFurence 2003's "The Furry West" theme, people who stake their land claim early (ie: reserve a hotel room for ConFurence by February 15, 2003) can get free memberships to the convention for themselves and up to 3 of their roomates.

The fancies of monarchs often lead to a frenzy of interest by their subjects. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, ruler of Thailand, first introduced his favorite dog, Khun Thongdaeng, as part of his annual birthday speech, counciling his people to be kind to strays. The streets-to-palace pooch was a stray nursed to health by a palace doctor, then given to the king as a gift.
After the king's prostrate surgery, he was seen wearing a polo shirt with a photo of his dog and her puppies, which quickly became the thing to have. A dessert book was written by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to give the recipies for the traditional dished the puppies were named after. And now a book, "The Story of Thongdaeng," is flying off the shelves. Written by the king himself to tell the tale of his favorite friend, it's not only a history, but also written as a moral lessons. Proceeds, as with the earlier works, go to a palace founded charity to aid stray dogs.

Like something out of an early "Toy Story," the kittens cluster rigidly around a table laden with tea and cakes, while nearby two rakish squirrels smoke their pipes — watched by a two-headed lamb and conjoined twin piglets.

Read the full article here.

People want to know everything you do on your computer, and want you to view what they want you to see. Sound paranoid? Adware and spyware are becoming more and more prevalent. If you're using Kazaa to download files, Comet Cursor to view websites or Gator to help keep track of your passwords and user info, you've got Spyware. Even the highly popular DivX media viewer uninstalls anti-adware software. Spyware and adware can slow down or crash your machine, and can leave you vulnerable to virii.
Of course, this applies mostly to IE or AOL users. Opera and Mozilla users, for example, don't have to panic... yet.

Jerry Beck has posted a review of Disney's upcoming Treasure Planet to his excellent Cartoon Research site. He notes, "Furry fans will have a field day with the romance of the Captain (a cat creature) and the Doctor (a dog - from the same family as Goofy it seems to me). "

The Fundação Parque Zoológico de São Paulo also known as the Sao Paulo Zoo, is auctioning off 143 animals from 10 different species to pay for their renovations, and endangered species research. Though most zoos just auction off pictures or 'adoptions' of the animals, this is the real thing. You can get a pair of peacocks for $1000 or a trio of porcupines for $1500, along with a care booklet.
Animal welfare groups are concerned, but the zoo says all animals will be microchiped to track their ownership. Wilson Almeida Lima, from Brazil's institute for the environment and natural resources said: "If there is an accusation of bad treatment of those animals we are going to punish the responsible. We hope whoever buys an animal takes good care of it." The zoo hopes to raise at least $100,000 though the sales.

With some help from Dogbert, Dilbert is turned into a sheep while inventing a machine for the marketing department. Start with the Monday strip (http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20021118.html) and follow along as he finds out what it's like to be an engineer in sheep's clothing.

Dogs have long been man's best friend, but no one has really been sure how long man and canine have been in association with each other.Scientists now think dogs are from Asia, and have been with us shorter than some people thought. Three teams, working separately on the problem of the origin of dogs, studied Old World dogs, New World dogs and doggy social cognition.

While at the movie theatre the other night I caught a glimpse of a trailer for "Kangaroo Jack". While I don't expect this to be a masterpiece of cinematography, the presence of the film's main character will most likely compensate... take a look at http://kangaroojack.warnerbros.com/

Well, after a minor server glitch (hardware related) we have re-installed the new system at the new ISP.

We now have up to 100MB/s data transfer from our new location. We are connected to a 1GB/s UUNET fiber channel with a 1GB/s AT&T backup line.

The server has redundant everything so there should be no more outages. We are pre-paid up on the new location for 5 months.

Now, I have to re-install the front end modules on the entry page and re-activate the FTP server (should be finished tomorrow).

For now everyone can go to FurNation and the system works, abit with a few pages which may still not be activated yet.

Enjoy!

Webmaster@FurNation.com
http://www.FurNation.com

Malta Mouse? A 700 year old fresco being uncovered at a small church revealed a cartoon animal among the devotees to St. Christopher that is so much like Mickey Mouse, some art historians think it could be used to challange the copyright. Most notable in the big, round set of circle ears on the head, the Mickey-like mouse could apparently be another animal, such as a weasel or beaver.
Disney should just be glad the bird beside the mouse doesn't look like Donald.

Index
1. Fursuiter Area at the Doubletree Hotel
2. Masquerade Rules and Call for Acts
3. FVS Announcement and Call for Acts

When you think of urban wildlife, most North Americans think raccoons or skunks. Most UKers think more along the lines of foxes and squirrels. But The Wildlife Trusts, a British conservation authority, say cleaner waters mean otters in urban centers.
Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, Bristol, Canterbury and Cardiff are just some of the thirteen urban centers that are now home to resident otters, thanks to better water management and more access to picine food. Coming from virtual extinction in the 60's, this is very, very good news.
Director general of The Wildlife Trusts Dr. Simon Lyster said the recovery of the otter was "the most exciting success story of the last decade". Rural numbers are also on the rise, but large roadkill numbers for otters and other species are still a cause for concern.