I received email today from Furbid Administration that their proxy bidding system is now in production. Quoted: "In order to hasten along the shake-down testing of FurBid's proxy-bidding code, I'm taking the code out of beta and putting it into production status. All bidding contracts on the FurBid Proxy-bidding script will be binding, from here
on. Please report any status (problem/success/etc.) to aatheus@transfur.com, so we can get the proxy-bidding code into the main auction system this month." Check out FurBid for more info.

In a particularly Heartwarming story, (Again, from MSNBC (I really do read other news sources, really!)) Author Susan Cheever gives us a personal story of her and her daughter, and a small brown bear. I remember my collection of stuffed animals, and my favorite one, "Scruffy". This'll leave a smile on our face when you're finished.

(As a biased side note, I wonder if we may eventually welcome her into the ranks of the fandom? I hope so. =-} )

ABCnews reports that space scientists the world over are a little worried that the 50-year-old Deep Space Network, may be overloaded by all the traffic from over 25 space probes currently in-flight to various locations. Peak traffic is expected to happen in 2003-2004. 6-14 Update from Aureth: Additional information from Shockwave, who works for a NASA contractor, is in the comments. Very interesting...to me at least, since I'm a minor space buff.

The NEFUR list is hosting a pre Anthrocon picnic at Purgatory Chasm State Park in central, MA on Saturday, July 7th. The purpose is for locals to get to know each other before the convention.


The NEFUR list consists of a generally normal and socially able group of people. This is a great opportunity for those folks who have been hesitant to get out and meet other furs before or would like to bring friends who aren't quite furry yet.

Visit http://labrat.critter.net/purgatory.html for directions and information. Since the picnic will be potluck RSVP's are required to coordinate food. To RSVP, email Lonnie DiNello at Dalia@BeerHorse.com by June 30th.

From our favorite convention chair cockroach, Kagemushi on alt.fan.furry: "I have had a number of reports this evening that the Adams Mark has sold out. THESE ARE RUMORS which at the moment I can neither confirm nor deny. There are one of three explanations." Read on for more. I will endeavor to post updates when more information is available. Update: 6-12 5:30 pm According to Rigel, the Adams Mark has indeed completely sold out. Information on an overflow hotel will be availble at Anthrocon's website shortly.

From Nexxus on alt.fan.furry: "We have one line up and running now. I will be spending the day hooking up
everything and testing. Hopefully we will be online this afternoon or this
evening." So. Is Furnation up yet? I can't get to it, but that's not unusual, as DNS changes take some time to propogate.

On MSNBC, they reported on an Experiment that combined Human and Cow DNA.


While this story is a bit old, I hadn't seen it anywhere else. An interesting read, if only to gauge the ethics debate that will undoubtedly spawn if/when it becomes viable to create actual Furs at a Genetic Level.

From Scifi News Wire:

In the wake of the success of the Harry Potter series of children's novels, the estate of author C.S. Lewis is gearing up for a new effort to market his classic Chronicles of Narnia books, the New York Times reported. The seven Narnia books tell the story of Aslan, a lion who rules a fantasy kingdom, and the English schoolchildren who visit his world.

Liger, Furnation's Tech fur, posted on fur.announce and a few other places. It all boils down to the telecom folk taking avantage of an existing fiber optic line, but not testing out the line to see if it could carry DSL info. Hopefully, it'll be Monday at the least. Full details below:

No, I'm not making it up. A computer game company has decided that pets are an undertargeted niche market and has written a game for housecats to play. I suppose I should buy stock in online catnip sales as the web will be next...

In union negotiations, Disney mascots are going to be allowed to, among other things, receive clean underwear to use with their costumes. Here are some details on the unglamorous side of being a fursuiter for pay.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that the Sci Fi Channel is proceeding with the development of a four-hour miniseries based on The Left Hand of Darkness, a Hugo- and Nebula-award wining novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. This deal follows an earlier announcement to develop Le Guin's Earthsea Trilogy into a six-hour miniseries for Sci Fi. (Scalie fans can look forward to cool dragons in Earthsea!)

Locus Online reported nominees have been announced for the Theordore Sturgeon Memorial Award. The same organization chooses inductees for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. This year's inductees are: Alfred Bester, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, and Ursula K. Le Guin.

Click "Read more..." for more details.

According to SF Wire, Douglas Adams's publisher is piecing together the remains of his last novel from his computer for publication. The novel, The Salmon of Doubt, will also include some extras like a screenplay and some email essays. Personally, I'm not sure how I feel about a publisher trying to patch up an unfinished manuscript by a dead author for publication posthumously. What do you guys think?

Taken from The Suburban Jungle's front page:

LIVE chat with Drezzer Wolf! 9 PM eastern time, this Friday (June 8th), our ever-lovin', blue-eyed wuff will be online to chat about the long, strange trip that has been his life, from UK to the runway. See the info below about chatting with Dover for the technical details ... the setup will be entirely the same except that this will be a moderated chat. (Apparently, Drezzer doesn't type as fast as Dover does.)


See you there!