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Want to talk a bit about furries and help science at the same time?

You are invited to participate in an anonymous online survey about furries and the furry fandom being conducted by social scientists at the University of Waterloo (Waterloo, ON, Canada) and Niagara County Community College (Sanborn, NY, USA)!

There are two parts to the survey. Part one asks a few questions to determine eligibility for the survey including  information such as  age and country of residence. This portion of the study will take no more than two minutes. If it is determined that you are not eligible your responses will be destroyed.

If you are eligible, you will be asked to continue with part two of the survey which asks questions about a variety of different aspects of furry culture, sexual orientation, and your attitudes about furries and the furry community.  To keep the length of the survey manageable, 4 different versions have been created which, while mostly identical, do contain several sets of different questions. You will be randomly assigned to complete 1 of the 4 versions of the survey.

Part two of the survey will take about 30-45 minutes of your time.  In appreciation, you will be invited take part in a draw for a $50 Amazon.ca gift certificate.  If it is determined you are not eligible for the second part of the survey, you will be invited to take part in a draw for a $10 Amazon.ca gift certificate.

The survey uses Survey Monkey(TM) whose computer servers are located in the USA. Consequently, USA authorities under provisions of the Patriot Act may access this survey data. All responses will be downloaded from SurveyMonkey and saved on a password protected computer located on the University of Waterloo campus, to which only a few authorized investigators will have access. If you prefer not to submit your data through Survey Monkey(TM), please contact one of the researchers so you can participate using an alternative method (such as through an email or paper-based questionnaire). The alternate method may decrease anonymity but confidentiality will be maintained. Information and the anonymous data provided by participants will remain confidential and will be stored indefinitely on a secure, password protected computer in a secure area at the University of Waterloo and at the Niagara County Community College, to which only authorized researchers have access.  This anonymous data may be shared with other researchers interested in this research.

This study has been reviewed by and received ethics clearance through the Office of Research Ethics at the University of Waterloo, Canada.  However, the final decision about participation is yours.

If you have any questions about the study details please contact the researchers using the email addresses listed below:

Courtney Plante, B.Sc (Honors), Graduate Student, University of Waterloo: cpla...@uwaterloo.ca

Dr. Kathy Gerbasi, Professor, Niagara County Community College:  kger...@niagaracc.suny.edu

Dr. Steven Mock, Assistant Professor, University of Waterloo: smo...@uwaterloo.ca

Link to the Survey https://artsweb.uwaterloo.ca/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/cplante/2ndIARP

Furries AND non-furries can take this survey, and it is a new one, different from the last one we did back in February / March (though, if people did the one at Anthrocon this year, they are discouraged from doing this one, since it’s the same one).

Finally, below is the website where all of our past research findings are available, as well as the researchers’ contact information.  It’s a great place for furries to find out what we’ve learned about the community so far and what we hope to learn in the future (it’s also where these findings will be posted in the future!)

Winter Survey Results: https://sites.google.com/site/anthropomorphicresearch/

submitted by QtPlatypus
[link] [8 comments]

...and here's a nice follow-up video to the article of humans training dogs to bark.

It’s a question that tends to arise when a neighborhood mutt sees a cat at 3 a.m., or if you live in an apartment above someone who leaves their small, yapping dog alone all day: Why do dogs bark so much?

Perhaps because humans designed them that way.

submitted by SamuraiSmurfette
[link] [1 comment]

An adult male fox is a 'Reynard', a female is a 'Vixen', and a group of foxes is called a 'skulk', an 'Earth', or a 'troop' of foxes. All this just goes to show that people who make up labels are idiots, since none of these words even come close to the truth. A fox is awesome. A male fox is awesome, a female fox is awesome, and a group of foxes is just about the most awesome thing that could ever happen. No, foxes are so cute, I need a new label just to describe them. From now on, foxes are Awesomegreateriffic.

Nightmarish images from a French campaign to stop the spread of AIDS.
(Nightmarish unless you're an arachnophile, I guess.)
NSFW.
[link]

submitted by Rad2
[link] [comment]

From the FurAffinity Twitter: We are currently investigating an issue with site access. Please hold.

It is unknown at this time if they are under a DDoS attack or if there has been a problem with the database.  The site currently reads:

System Error
Database responded: Too many connections!

Update from Dragoneer:

Dragoneer wrote:

We’re working on resolving it. It was a problem with MySQL. We’re going to be restarting the services and running checks on the system, just be sure.

1:00am EDT:

http://twitter.com/#!/furaffinity/status/85935654235680768

@furaffinityFur Affinity The site’s back. Services will be slow while the database re-caches (usually takes 10-15m).

 

Author: toonces
Okay everybody, we had a good time talking about dongers and hoohahs and what have you, but now it’s time to remember that we’re all going to die and there’s not a damn thing any of us is going to do about it, and if you can’t deal with it, just go ahead and go crazy. Why not? It went well enough for Newberg, the aging taxidermist at the heart of this week’s story from Not Tube. Inside his head, the chattering of stuffed animals fleshes out the various subsets of a broken man’s mind.

We hope you enjoy the podcast! Sure hope it’s better than swallowing yourself into the black and endless!… Read more..

Find the full article here: The Bad Dog Book Club » Podcast

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.

Stolen from RazorWulff:
http://www.961kiss.com/cc-common/gallery/photos.html?album_id=186111&p=17189504#/0/17189504


342 pictures with the radio personalities featuring AC attendees... I'm sure a lot of you will see yourselves in this gallery!!


I wasn't there, but maybe you were?
-J

Author: crossaffliction

Though it led the race at the box office this weekend, Cars 2 has become Pixar’s first critical failure after over a decade of critically acclaimed films.

This dismal showing with critics, plus new rules for the Academy Award for Best Picture, may have opened up the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for furry movies, with Rango and Kung Fu Panda 2 both currently top (if early) contenders for the title.

Cars 2 currently has a aggregate score of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes – considerably lower than previous Pixar pictures, most of which are above 90%. Critics lambasted the mediocre storyline, kid-unfriendly violence and dependence on a character (Larry the Cable Guy as Tow Mater) who many found annoying. Most reviews begin with a variation of the line “it had to happen sometime,” and agree that the animation itself is top notch.

Academy rules

According to the Academy, a year must contain at least eight animated movies released to theatres for the award to be presented; there are currently 18 listed on the Animated Movie Guide for 2011. In a year where 16 or more movies are released, the shortlist grows from three to five. However, not all movies listed may qualify, and there have only been two years in which five features were nominated.

New rules affecting movies released in 2011 require that at least five titles be nominated, and up to five more if the Academy feels they deserve it. Cars 2 would have been less likely to make the cut even if it had been a critical darling.

Past victories

Pixar has won Best Animated Feature five times since the award’s inauguration in 2002, and has never failed to gain a nomination. For the last two years, a Pixar feature has also been nominated for Best Picture. However, the shortlist contained ten pictures in those years. Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is the only animated movie to be nominated to a shortlist of five titles.

Though animated movies are unlikely to win Best Picture for the foreseeable future, nomination virtually assures a victory in the Best Animated Feature category. Up and Toy Story 3’snominations gave them a distinct edge over distinguished (and furrier) challengers such asFantastic Mr. Fox and How To Train Your Dragon.

This year it seems to be a moot point, as Cars 2 will probably be lucky to get a nomination for Best Animated Feature, with multiple titles from multiple studios making decent runs for the title.

Stiff competition

Rango currently holds the year’s best wide-release animated movie score on Rotten Tomatoes, with Kung Fu Panda 2 right behind. The original Kung Fu Panda was nominated for the award. Rio, another furry contender, is also ”certified fresh,” and has a decent studio pedigree.

Other upcoming movies with furry themes and decent chances of nomination include Winnie the Pooh (with its traditional animation and Disney heritage giving it an edge), A Cat in Paris (the Academy likes to round out the Best Animated Feature shortlist with a smaller-release animated film) and Happy Feet 2 (the original Happy Feet beat out Cars for the award). Less likely furry contenders include Puss in Boots – probably too commercial for the Academy – and the smaller release The Lion of Judah, with a current rating of 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The biggest challenge to a furry victory may come from none other than Steven Spielberg, who is directing his first animated movie this year, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Just being a Spielberg directed movie could get it on the ballot.

Though 2011 is shaping up to be a good year for furry films at the Academy Awards, it’s possible that none of these films may win the fandom’sUrsa Majors, with the homegrown Bitter Lake throwing a twist into possible nominations. Cars was nominated for an Ursa Major in 2006 as an example of anthropomorphism, despite receiving the poorest ever reviews for a Pixar movie; its sequel is unlikely to manage that in such a furry-rich year.

 

submitted by Jezon
[link] [14 comments]

submitted by HappyWulf
[link] [10 comments]

Howard Stern reports about AC this year.

http://www.shabooty.com/2011/06/28/howard-stern-show-interviews-attendees-at-furry-convention-anthrocon-2011-audio-pause.php

submitted by Rad2
[link] [21 comments]

For some time now, more and more furry fans have been learning about an annual art project: The Rare Anthros Calendar. Each year, a group of artists get together, each one creating a painting of a ‘rare’ animal, anthropomorphized. Now the definition of “rare” has changed each year.  In 2011, the theme was extinct animals. For 2012, the theme is mythical creatures, and recently the roster of artists for the 2012 calendar was announced. It includes the artists known as: Ashalind, CentraDragon, Tiina Purin,  Donna Quinn, Mike Love, BubbleWolf , AlectorFencer, Katmomma,  Qzurr, Nimrais, Heather Bruton, Bloodhound Omega, Windfalcon, and Kaji. Yes, that’s 13 in all: It’s a baker’s dozen of mythical creatures! Including such legendary beasts as the unicorn, the dragon, the gryphon, and the jackalope, as well as more obscure (rare?) mythicals such as the tanuki and the peryton. You can visit the official Rare Anthro Calendars Deviant Art Page to find out more about ordering next year’s calendar. There you’ll also find links to the pages for the previous years’ calendars, some of which are still in print as portfolios.

By Nikolai

Simple observations on the Furry Fandom and the media over the last decade.

The Furry Fandom is an ever-growing beast. Anyone who has been paying attention to convention numbers and website statistics could tell you that. Back in the 90’s, and even the early 2000’s, Furry was still very new. For a lot of people in the world, it still sort of is. As it grew, it began to draw attention to itself.

Then, pop media began to take notice, and, you guessed it, they focused on sex! While a facet of pretty much any way of life, unless you’re a priest, monk, or otherwise unable, sex is still a big target for most shock stories. Why? Because, let’s face it, sex sells, and everyone’s buying.

That’s when “The Big Three” hit. MTV, CBS, and Vanity Fair striking a three-blow wound to the fandom that still holds purchase in discussions about the media and the fandom as a whole to this day. For those not in the savvy, here’s a reminder: They were all about Furries and sex. That’s pretty much it. Now, it is important to note that the infamous Vanity Fair article, the CSI episode “Fur and Loathing”, and MTV’s Sex 2k “Plushies and Furries”, despite the fact that they were all commercial pseudo-journalism, all touched on something real. That’s why it stings so much to talk about it.  Even MTV’s special was, in a way, frighteningly accurate, but the show was about sex, so they weren’t about to report fairly on every aspect of the fandom, much like if they had chosen people with uniform fetishes instead. CSI and Vanity Fair were more damaging because they tried to utilize a blanket definition, and they failed, instead finding the sexual shock behind the curtain. Thing is, they still found it.

Like it or not, Furry is very permissive and open. This is a good thing, to a fault. It allows people to be themselves, and really is, in a sense, about complete and utter, nigh anarchic freedom. If someone wants a pocket society to live in that will most likely be less likely to judge you harshly, Furry, for so many, is that place.

There are drawbacks to this, of course, especially in a society where propriety often takes precedent over all else. This is changing, but the world really isn’t ready for the relatively radical freedom that exists within the fandom. Mom and Dad probably still won’t get it for a lot of us, and some of them will outright reject it and revile it. For many others, it is almost impossible to understand. For furries, however, it has become our home, our crazy, loud, insane home, and we love it… most of the time.

When The Big Three came out between 2001 and 2003 people flipped out, and understandably so. The fandom had gone from relative obscurity, and it had been, three times, shoved out into a poorly maintained spotlight with its proverbial panties around its ankles. And so, the harsh relationship with the media began where before, if there had been one, it was not nearly so tense. These tensions are still very apparent today in the regulations of multiple conventions across the country, some outright banning any and all media coverage.

Thankfully, for a time, it seemed that the fandom had escaped the bad media. There were sporadic articles and mentions of the fandom for a number of years, but nothing huge really hit. Furries had sort of decided to keep their heads down after being nearly crucified as nothing but a bunch of perverts. Mostly, this was due to lots of media regulation at conventions.

Anthrocon, being the largest of the conventions, began to get real media attention. In 2007, a fairly short, simple, innocuous interview was done at the convention by WTAE channel 4 news. It was, in a way, the beginning of a number of fair and unbiased releases. Later that same year, a rather daring reporter from the Hartford Advocate went undercover at FurFright, though the report still seemed fairly positive. It was the beginning of a new era of media coverage where the right people were giving Furry a fair description.

Since then, there most certainly have been ups and downs. Furry conventions have been covered coast to coast in the United States, and multiple articles and shows have cropped up overseas, most of which have portrayed an overall good view of the fandom. Even G4’s recent report wasn’t bad, though of course it was made to entertain, not so much to inform. Considering the possibilities of cable TV’s “pick and choose” tendency, it came out quite well.

Tyra’s episode featuring some furries didn’t help, for sure, and TLC’s “My Strange Addiction” didn’t either, though in a way, those things are simply being overshadowed by media coverage from real reporting outlets including international news giant Reuters.

This year, Anthrocon, which just ended, was covered by many different sources. This of course came with the good and the bad. Mostly, though, it appeared to be good, honest, unbiased news coverage with a few people on the side from other sources. This unfortunately included someone who managed to infiltrate from Howard Stern’s crew, achieving perhaps one of the more damaging “reports”, if not the most damaging for content out of sheer misunderstanding and choosy information gathering.

Still, even the worst report was from a crappy, backwater show that few people listen to. Howard Stern isn’t Vanity Fair, CSI, nor MTV. So don’t worry, it’s a bump in the road and nothing more.

As time goes on, however, and conventions get bigger, they will inevitably draw more and more attention. Furry is growing, plain and simple. The media is going to notice us eventually all across the world. The thing is, we are a very different group of people looking to be, essentially, very human in that we chase what we desire regardless of what other people might think. For some people, that will simply be too much to handle. We won’t be accepted universally. No group ever is. The thing is, real media will tell a good story. We’re friendly, happy people, just looking for an outlet to express ourselves very outwardly. There are many different people from all walks of life; from all sexual backgrounds, celibate to sluts; and from conservative to liberal. It’s crazy how different we all are, and yet it all comes together around the expressive, zany, and genuinely open world of the Furry Fandom. However people want to view us is up to them. We’re here. We’re awesome. Get used to it.

[EDITORS NOTE:  We are unable to verify the exact number of subscribers who currently listen to the Howard Stern Show.  Before moving to SeriusXM, Stern had an active audience of 10 million listeners, mainly in the 18-45 male demographic.  Since moving to SiriusXM, Stern has repeatedly claimed that he has an audience of 20 million listeners.  Current estimates have his listener base between 3 and 4 million casual listeners.]

All very positive coverage this year:

• Return of the furries: Anthrocon in Pittsburgh for sixth year: They may be cute, but they also spend a lot of dough
  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 24, 2011
• Furries Flood Pittsburgh
  Beaver County Times, June 26, 2011
• Pittsburgh inundated by furries -- fans of animated animals
  Reuters, June 24, 2011