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Pro Infirmis conducts an experiment: there are only a few people who don`t have empathy with disabled people. Nevertheless, the passenger seat in the public bus next to Fabian often stays empty. Handicapped people are a regular part of our society. So, get closer. --- YouTube

Author: GreenReaper

A torrent of Homestuck fans has taken flash hosting site Newgrounds offline. [tip: Sgeo]

Temporarily hosted off-site.   Mirror crashed. Will try something else later.

The popular comic adventure had as of today reached the 13-minute long finale of Act 5, which had been temporarily hosted on Newgrounds.

Upon hearing the news, creator Andrew Hussie‘s first comment was “well, that didn’t work”. He later explained the hosting situation and posted the flash file; it was soon torrented.

The comic is known among furs for therianthropic feline troll, Nepeta, furry fan Jade Harley, and for the inspiration of furry-heavy spin-off, Prequel.

"A friend gave me the Little Mermaid trilogy. That’s what sparked the
show."
"For those who are not well-versed in the Disney STDVDs [straight-to-
DVDs], you should know that there are fifty-four (54). The first was
Return of Jafar, a sequel to Aladdin that was part of my collection
growing up when I was not enough of a film aficionado to evaluate it

Author: E-Mail Hidden (..::XANA::.. Creations)

A great show with a grea- oh wait, Paradox forgot to record the first half of the show. No worries though! Patched and spliced back together from pieces, this complete (we promise) episode has some great laughs and a great interview from the awesome Keto! Wewt!

Download MP3 (Right-click, Save)

News:

• Athus Nadorian, designer for Bad Dragon, reported dead

• Findra, SpinDizzy admin and FC organizer, reported dead

• 48 Animals Escape After Ohio Sanctuary Owner Found Dead

• FurAffinity Enters Temporary “Read-Only” Mode

• Reality TV – Casting Again “Animal Obsession”

• A Little Game Called AnthRO

 

E-mail:

• Tidbits – “The future of information”
• Verlis – “Risky Question”

 

Interviewee:

• Keto & dBear

www.furaffinity.net/user/keto
www.furaffinity.net/user/dbear

 

Topic of the Week:

• Military Uniforms & Furry
• Controversy over images related - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6681765

 

Notes:

• Own your very own Paper Pet Zombie Today! http://f-u-r-r.com/papertoys/
• Zombie Dog: http://www.f-u-r-r.com/before_after_dog.jpg
• Zombie Bear: http://www.f-u-r-r.com/before_after_bear.jpg
• Not convinced yet? Check out this lovely video to tantalize your brain craving needs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIghtKmU9Rk

Find the full article here: FurCast

The contents of this Podcast may have adult language and adult themes. The content is not produced by Furry News Network, but is posted for your convenience.

submitted by thelightforest
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It’s been a long time since its release but it’s still alive and being controversial from times to times, in here you’ll have the opportunity to read a more detailed view of this sleeping giant.

Shall we go?

About Second Life

In the year of 2003, a Project from the Californian company, Linden Labs, has opened the doors for the internet public, the Idea was pretty innovating and vague in the same time; create a real life Simulator…

Due the amount of online crimes and addictions, the Second Life generated a lot of discussions and admiration in the same time by the small companies, which saw Second Life as a good opportunity to make their business grow.

Becoming worldwide known, the “game” counted with  4,5 millions of users. Brazil counted with the company Kaizen Games co-working with the Linden Labs, it brought advantages for all Brazilians; a national grid made the game’s performance far better than before, as the possibilities of buying Lindens with Reais instead of American Dollars; The HQ had a copy of Copacabana and other famous references, such as Copacabana Palace Hotel and the Great Sidewalk ( Calçadão ).

The time passed and Second Life’s biggest strength became it’s own curse… The liberty of doing anything brought the lack of perspective for many people, who couldn’t entertain themselves with the many available options… The boredom mood made lots of users to consider abandoning the game, Brazilians among them… The 600 thousand active users, went down to only 50,000. Due this huge loss, the Kaizen Games decided to finish its actions in-game. Not only in Brazil, but in many other countries, Second Life was losing its bright…

Grown up and changed, Second Life is no longer part of the mainstream, even though due the amount of players that refused to leave the game, Second Life reaches a peak of 75,000 of logged players every weekend.

Between the success and ostracism, the game still survives and promises re-invention, such as opportunities for 3D artists for the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012.

What can be done?

Second Life is a huge “online sandbox” that has lots of entertaining and business possibilities;

When you sign in, you have neither duties nor objectives. Your only duty is to follow the basic rules, and perhaps other rules inside Private SIMs.

To Build and create

Basically the whole 3D world is created by the users, combining sculpted shapes and textures, which combined, are able to create beautiful results that bring everyone’s attention from anyone passing by. A great exercise for the creativity and a good way to spend your time…

Everything is pretty simple, you Just need to visit a land where you can drop your own objects, then select the option “Build” with the right click on your mouse.

The result is a geometric shape of your choice, also called “primary object”, or prim for short, you can Edit this and link with other prims, creating your desired structures. Some others though, are rather using modeling programs for better results, but that’s up to you.

Combined with scripts, those constructions can be mixed and used for avatar’s accessories, vehicles and building structures.

A small, but very important item for every action to make prims move or change trusts the famous scripts. Requiring a base knowledge of programming, it’s possible to create things like a simple automatic door or an orbital nuke bomb.

Animations and gestures can be created using movement HUDs (systems), giving to the character a different and very particular movement.

All those items might give many users shivers, but there’s no reason why to get worried, everything is pretty basic and it’s not necessary to know how to use all those in order to enjoy the simulation. For people interested in learning about those activities, there are free  in-world school offering the opportunity.

Customize

Customization of your avatar is the main factor in-game, you can use multiple combinations, using those as it pleases.  There are modeling options especially for facial or physical features, such as height, shape, skin tones, clothes and even gestures, generating a very unique avatar.

However, those things are not always given for free or offered directly to the player, you should to search for these, high quality stuff isn’t always so cheap.

Yes, as much as in the real world, the capitalism is also applied on Second Life, having its own currency, the Linden (quoted as L$ 240.62 for each US$ 1, 00 nowadays) necessary for buying your goods.

There’s an alternative to acquire Linden, which is starting your own business…

Role-play & Combat

You don’t have to build or sell for having a good time; some users got many thematic islands proper for role-playing and combat action.

Bloodlines is one of the biggest role-play groups in-world, having a huge amount of 53,000 players. The main genre is horror, a war between vampires and lycans took place on Earth. It’s based on “Vampire: The Masquerade” franchise.

There are many other genres, some including fantasy and action, such as Final Fantasy and Resident Evil role-playing groups.

For those who don’t feel like reading or spending time with emotes and HUD, you can focus on action. Second Life also has warfare zones; One of those is Remnant State Militia, inspired by post-apocalyptical urban guerilla and Call of Duty.

A mix of HUD and weapons give you the chance to enjoy a very simple first person shooter, where all you have to do is load, shoot and play hide & seek.

Have your own job or run your own business:

If Second Life fails to entertain some, they can also reach to work in-game. Not only Linden can be bought, but also sold and transformed into real world money, turning the game into an alternative income. If you don’t feel like buying Linden, you can also make them…

Earning Lindens aren’t that hard, it can be done through a lot of methods. Your character can be a model, photographer, dancer, DJ, host, builder and CEO, there are many available options, and wage/working hours rely on the place you work at, or merchandising if you’re a freelancer.

Many careers are linked to others; Clubs for example got their own DJ working with hosts during the schedule.

Nothing

Ironically, this is one of the ways to have  fun… Many lost users are found in huge numbers around mainland, Hubs or sandboxes. They’re generally sitting and watching people passing or working by, exploring and chatting. Using the interface as a IRC or voice chat is their passion.

What about the Furries?

A topic whose can’t be ignored is the massive furry presence on Second Life’s servers. After Furcadia, the game was shown as a good opportunity to migration for a fandom who was craving for spontaneous interaction.

Thematic clubs were increasing until 2009, when some furries migrated to MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft and Perfect World, seeking new opportunities.

Yet, fandom prevailed and stayed strong, slighty increasing during this year of 2011.

Places such as Furnation, Rainbow Tiger and Hydrolysis Club are known for their amount of furry costumers, who’re looking for a way to socialize.  It’s also important to highlight the Brazil Furry Island also known as “BFI” and currently administrated by Rogerio “SkunkSky”, We were pleased to talk to him about the in-world features.

-“Brazilian Furry Island is on Second Life since 2006; Felix was it’s founder;  During 2008, the name was changed to Vila dos Encantos (Charmedville) after Allirane was in charge” he told us.

Between moving from island to island due to the lack of financial resources, as well substitutions in the staff, SkunkSky says the island was prosper and grown to the point, they would eventually need extra hands, that’s how he joined the team

“She picked me up because I was the most serene guy around *laughs*” he jokes.

However, Allirane, the alias for Danny Fieron had to leave the team; that’s when SkunkSky was promoted and joined the administration team with Azirel, Ceno and others.

As an administrator, he reveals that the group was also on highlights because of na upgrade, bringing more space and entertainment options; He adds that a very patient and friendly team conquered furries during this expansion process.

Despite of being a bit isolated, he claims that the island wasn’t spared by griefers; However he kept his serenity in remarking that those attacks were random, and not promoted by hate; “It’s common for lands being attacked, but in here they’ll always have somebody to ask for help”

Nowadays, the island is being re-projected, however the due date is set to the ending of November, 2011. The plans include game platforms and a dancing club; About a big inauguration, Skunksky expresses his ambitions and makes an invitation for the readers

“I wish I can promote BFI and count with the presence of all brazilian in the fandom, they’re very much welcome and we would be pleased to see some new faces around” He friendly adds, showing to be disposable for helping interested people.

If you’re interested, send an IM to Rogerio Collins.

The prejudice

Furries and humans, as well other creatures can share the same place. However, it wasn’t easy from the start, in the middle of many controversies, furry haters were also found…

Despite of being very tolerant, the international fandom had issues around all Second Life. Prejudice against anthro avatars was pretty much common, as well accusations of zoophilia. Some terrifying rumors were spread, it was said Linden Lab was pondering about banning all furries from the grid. Those events contributed to the abandonment, previously explained and isolation. Not satisfied, hatred and spamming was spread by griefers in those land very often.

Soon enough, Second Life would become the stage of a series of curious events; In mid-2009, some furries attempted to show resistance and created their own militia, counter-griefing and protecting themselves from haters through the use of weapon scripts plus sustaining more rigid rules; Some of the islands wouldn’t even tolerate human presence. Those who avoided combat, would search protection through SLP (Second Life Police), a non-official group who aided reporting and supported peace.

Simultaneously, some open-minded groups such as Furmanity would preach a respectful and peaceful in-game lifestyle among furries and humans ; thematic events and ads took place, some of them lasting until today.

Then the breaking news; Linden Lab’s decision was not to banish furries, but to accept and protect them against violence like any other  user.

How to obtain a furry avatar?

This topic is very simple. There are many  furry stores both in-game and on marketplace (something like LL’s Amazon, allowing users to order items on a website and having it delivered after a couple of minutes)

Those avatars are generally prim-made, especially for some parts like head, paws and tail; However they do have a human torso with a modified skin. Animations and expressions scripts are also part of it.

Those who don’t feel like spending money, might get a freebie avatar. They’re high quality and can be acquired on marketplace or some furry islands.

Mesh

Mesh is the new Second Life’s most prospering tool, it’s catching the attention of many builders and artists; Mesh-made products are already filling Marketplace’s shelves and innovation is expected. They can substitute the old prim combination for a more soft and efficient, as well realistic production of avatars.

While a primary object is too much complex and demands time, they can also cause lag when exceeding limits. A mesh-made product can be modeled directly on Maya 3D software and whatever its size and complexity is; it will be counted as a single prim.

However, IceWolf ( the owner of the famous 1st Act Store, IceWolf’s Gym and  Final Fantasy’s role-play based SIM, “Jenova Crisis”) claims Mesh might not be all it seems; He told us a little about it:

Nielsen:  So, would you mind telling us, how was your first contact with the furry fandom?

IceWolf: Oh, jeez, it was weird… It was way back in 2000 – 2001, pretty much exclusively through Yahoo Groups and occasional IM’s. I was one of the first folks who started drawing my style of art. So I got pretty popular from that…  And then you know how most folks treat furry artists…

Nielsen:  What do you mean by that?

IceWolf: Most folks, to my knowledge, put furry artists on a pedestal and cringe them up like crazy fans.

Nielsen: Have you ever had any issues about being a furry or was it easy breezy?

IceWolf: No, I’ve never had troubles about being a furry-ish thing. I’m about 1/50th as bad as most are.

Nielsen: Can you tell about your first contact with Second Life? Did the Furry Fandom bring you there?

IceWolf: I always wanted to help folks enjoy my style in art and stuff. Second Life was great because I could MAKE bodies for people to wear… So, for like 1/5th the price of a commission, they could get something much more interactive than a picture. It has a lot more value to me…

Nielsen: And is that how 1st Act started?

IceWolf: : I didn’t decide that actually; See , 1st Act came around when I met one of my now best buds, Murgatroyd “Murgie”  Zauberflote… “Murgie” and I collaborated on some builds, and then… We just had so much fun doing stuff together. So, we kept on building and texturing, doing more and more and more together… We kinda had the joke that any time we got the flu, we got better; So we’d joke back and forth that our level of skill was directly related to our immune system.

Nielsen: And is he sick at the moment? *laughs*

IceWolf: Actually, I AM the sick one… *laughs*

Nielsen: Despite of that… Do you believe that Second Life brings good opportunities for artists like you? Does it helps to improve or brings any useful experience at least?

IceWolf: I REALLY believe it can do some amazing things. I’ve been called a professional texture artist by professionals in the Texture Industry… For a guy that could only do line work that’s a pretty damn huge step up…

Nielsen: Do you believe working with mesh will make you improve way much more?

IceWolf: No, not without the ability to create new bones; Avatar Meshing is highly limited and since the whole goal of 1st Act is to create MODULAR products it’s not going to be much helpful, because … well … Mesh isn’t exactly very Mod friendly… At all!

Nielsen: That’s a very interesting point. Does it mean that Mesh is actually reducing personal freedom of modifying your own avatar?

IceWolf: Depends on how you approach it. But let me put it to you this way… Mesh is … odd right now, not many clients support it. Worst yet, many of them, that do have horrible UI’s sometimes just don’t get along with graphics cards or PCs for some reason…

Nielsen: Would you like to say something to the readers, and/or artists in general?

IceWolf: Keep a level head. The internet is full of people that have an incredible sense of self entitlement… Make sure you’re one of the humble few that realize they’re just a bunch of normal people, no matter where you go in life.

After reading this article, maybe you’ll feel like questioning yourself about trying or not; Because all those issues, such as prejudice, overrated consumerism and social hierarchy present in some places will tend to the negative aspect of the game; On the other hand, there’s a possibility where “Each person is free to do as it will”. Everyone may well create their own atmosphere and watch it collide with others.

Learning about different cultures or specific knowledge, from post-edition to English language can make the attempt much more worth it and rich. It’s early to bet on innovation’s success, but Linden Lab will keep up on activity with their loyal users.

Useful it or not, the conclusion is that a simple simulator who started very simple in the hands of a small corporation, came up to be a monstrous big and complex thing when it comes to Second Life users. “A good play for players”, those who will decide the kind of experience and destiny they’re about to get…

Do you feel like trying?

submitted by Benjadumb
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submitted by pandez
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Hi /r/furry!

I've been a lurker in the furry community for a long time, mostly out of fear of making a fool of myself or saying the 'wrong thing', but today I'm deciding to say "fuck it" and I finally made an account on FA (different username than this). I'm tired of just being a passive observer to the fandom, and I'm gonna do my best to post my stuff from now on and not let my anxieties stifle possible creative outlets, or keep me from getting valuable feedback and making connections with like-minded people. Yes, there are haters and always will be, but as long as I'm respectful to others and true to myself, I have nothing to fear.

Right?

submitted by SnarkyFur
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submitted by JamesyBelfast
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submitted by MeepleMeerkat
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After forgetting to turn on the LiveStream at the start, TK turns it on and aims it at Xavier - Xavier-O-Vision!! In this episode the cast argues about the merits(?) of on-disc DLC in games as well as plug a local gig for the band The Clarity - including a playing of the song The Chariot. For Done and Dusted TK moans about the film Finding Nemo, and celebrates the demo on the PSN of Sonic Generations, Xavier waffles on about a podcast called The Totally Rad Show, a demo on the PSN called Rocket Birds: HardBoiled Chicken, Demon Souls on the PS3, and The Green Lantern on Blu-Ray. Eeve3 reviews Kill Bill (Volume 1 and Volume 2). Felis gives us his review of Shadow Hearts: From the New World on the PS2 and Werewolfe talks about 1985 film LadyHawke. Starring TK, Xavier, and Eeve3. TigerTails Radio - Season 6 - Episode 09 - Xavier-O-Vision

submitted by unlucky_cat
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submitted by evilsibe
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I've been drawing different poses through sites that randomly generate a new pose every X seconds/minutes. ArtsyPoses is a good example.

Doing this, I wondered if there was a database like this for anthro art. Basic/Advanced poses, no real background flair, and perhaps some clothes/accessories/etc. all put together to make some decent poses. The interesting thought of this was that, with the large variety of characters, 'sonas, and designs people have imagined over periods of time, it would be very peculiar to try and resketch. Perhaps even challenging! Most of the poses I've seen on these sites are pretty basic, and while it is fundamental to sketch basic human bodies, it does ultimately get kind of boring drawing the same-looking body types over and over. There are some chubby people in the world, some skinny, some tall, and some short. This is the same for anthros.

Going with my google-fu on my journey, I couldn't find anything. So, I wonder. Is this an interesting idea to anyone else? Are there any cons to this? I know it seems pointless to draw a drawing when you could go to FA and look through random artwork, but do we usually get just a pose, and nothing more?

Just a thought I would share.

submitted by waycheck
[link] [6 comments]

Tonight's short story gives us a vignette with an uplifted dog and his human friend Paul finding their way in the world together.

“Diamond Dog” by Felix Sagittarius

Read by Chris Hvidsten of the Outcast Novel podcast

Music cues by Infinity Squared

AD Flash 018 – Diamond Dog - Tonight's short story gives us a vignette with an uplifted dog and his human friend Paul finding their way in the world together. “Diamond Dog” by Felix Sagittarius Read by of the Music cues by

Hopefully this has not been asked before, I couldn't find it if it has.

But for those who have primary, hybrid, or multiple identities, what is the psychology behind the choice? I'm just curious to hear how other's have found theirs.

submitted by throwaway_away_away
[link] [67 comments]

Because RogMinotaur's art is SO much like Avatar, right. . .

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2009/10/avatars-unexpected-influences-psychedelic-cover-art-disney-and-furries


"Vanity Fair used to be a respectable publication, and now they're posting furry art online (and making weak comparisons in useless articles).

How the mighty have fallen. This place needs new management."

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