Some of you may have notices subtle changes around the website; we're now running the latest version of PHPNuke. In the process, I've also updated the FAQ. Next on my list of things to do is to implement the reviews manager portion of the code, and update the Cornwuff Press website.

I'm still rescuing some content intended for Fuzzy Logic #10. The following is an article by Allen Kitchen on the future of publishing--specifically the advent of print-on-demand publishers, and e-books. Read on...

For those of you considering attending the annual Worldcon this year, MilPhilCon, note that the membership rates have been raised to $170. Another hike will go into effect May 31st. Hotel information is also now available.

Anyone planning on going to the con? Drop notes in the comments if so!

A brand new arts association has been created, dedicated to public education about the anthropomorphic arts. The Academy of Anthropomorphic Arts and Sciences homepage at www.furshrine.org broke ground last month and a call for charter members was announced by the Academys creator Eric Stout. "We need charter members with experence in the anthropomorphic arts community to help us get off on the right foot".

It is hoped that this body will serve as both a educational forum for the public and a resource to the artists themselves. Come check out the website as they get off the ground.

From Ted Blasingame on alt.fan.furry: "I have registered a new domain specifically for various fur projects to free
up space on my Blasingame.net domain for other non-fur related interests. The BLUE HORIZON website has been moved to FurStuff.com and is already
active.

The new URL for Blue Horizon is: http://www.furstuff.com/users/horizon/. Our mirror site is located at http://www.blasingame.drewscriver.net/

One of our members helps maintain the web page for the Kalahari Raptor Center, which is how I found out about this sanctuary. There are plenty of splendid photographs of the birds of prey and small mammals that make their home at the Center, so even if it's unlikely you'll visit anytime soon, you can still check out the animals.

This just off Jennifer Roberson's webpage: the eight books of the Cheysuli series will be available soon in four omnibus editions. Good news for those of us tired of loose books. For those who haven't read them, the Cheysuli books are about a magical shapechanging race whose members can become animals by bonding with a special animal companion. I did a review of the first book in the series for Fuzzy Logic a while back.

Robert A Heinlein is a well-known and popular author. But what even the hardcore fans often don't know is that he graduated from the US Naval Academy (class of 29.) Now the Academy has created an Endowed Chair in Aerospace Engineering to honor him and to provide "vision and direction for the USNA's astronautical engineering curriculum, our small satellite program, and our satellite ground station."

An earthquake estimated between 6.2 and 7.0 centered approximately 30 miles southwest of Seattle shook the pacific northwest at 10:55am. Four serious injuries had been reported by about 1 pm local time. A large number of buildings in the state capital of Olympia were damaged. Tacoma and Seattle experienced less damage.

The language is pretty inflammatory, but it's worth going to Friends of the Tahr to read about the plight of the mountain goats at the Cape Peninsula National Park.

There's a yearly lecture at the Eastern New Mexico University named in honor of Jack Williamson which takes place March 1st. This year's topic is "New Science for a New Century" and features editor Scott Edelman and authors Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith as well as Dr. Williamson. More info at the university web page, for you New Mexico fans.

From Karl F. Meyers on alt.fan.furry: "Hiya, folks! We're mere days away from Furry Spring Break, and it's
shaping up to be a good con...just a couple of things to bring up
before the big show."

As you may have noticed, we have a new news catagory: Commentaries. Fairly self-explanatory. I'm interested in recieving contributions for this catagory. Suggested topics include fandom (SF and furry) issues, rebuttals to previous commentaries, conventions reviews, and other feature-length articles. Take a look at some of the previous Fuzzy Logic issues for examples.

According to a Wired Article, scientists are attempting to develope a common language for humans to use in communicating with dolphins. This sound-based language will likely be examined as closely as the sign-language that are used with our simian cousins... although, from the statements in the article researches don't expect it to ever reach that level of sophistication.

I spent the better part of the weekend surfing around some of the best known artist archives on the World Wide Web. My trip ended with the Yerf archive, which is considered by some to be the premiere archive on the Internet due to its selective nature and supposedly rigid quality control standards. But after spending some time examining the Recent Uploads section on Yerf, I found myself wondering:
What makes Yerf so great? It's like a refrigerator for developing furry artists.

Just to make sure I wasn't having a knee-jerk reaction to a slow weekend of uploads I took the time to go back several weeks. The more I perused this archive the more my sense of dismay and disappointment grew. This didn't seem like an elite archive where the "best of the best" came to show us what hard work and dedication can do. This seems like a place that is very loosely administered and often used for bragging rights. I found frequent, flagrant violations of the much-touted Uploading Guidelines and a general atmosphere of "we're better than you." Not to mention artwork that, to me, falls far below the caliber the site purports to host.