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February 2010

Anthrocon 2010 hotels open tomorrow; fees to rise on 15th

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Anthrocon 2010 hotel booking opens tomorrow at 9AM EST (UTC-5). This year, four hotels have an arranged rate for attendees.

Those with plans to attend may also wish to register by February 15th, when fees for members, sponsors, and super sponsors increase by $5.

Update 2: 24 hours in, the Westin and Courtyard had almost sold out (graph of science).

Each hotel has its own advantages and disadvantages . . .

Furtastic furmeet for Denmark in 2011

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Danish furs have a new event to look forward to in July next year - Furtastic, described by an organizer as a "really big furmeet" and "akin to [Canadian camp-out] Feral!"

The three-day event is to take place in a scouting lodge on the outskirts of Aalborg, in the north of Denmark. Storytelling, card games and outdoor activities are already on the agenda.

A separately-organized, hotel-based Danish convention - Eufuria - is to take place June 4-6 this year in Copenhagen.

Wallace and Gromit win their sixth Oscar nomination

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British claymation characters Wallace and Gromit have been nominated for this year's Academy Awards - the sixth time in their history.

Their 2008 short A Matter of Loaf and Death has been nominated for the award for "Short Film (Animated)". The film was first broadcast on Christmas Day, and was watched by over half of the British viewing public at the time with 14.25 million people seeing it on BBC One.

However, because it was broadcast so late in the year it missed the deadline to be entered in the 2009 Oscars. Despite this, creator, director and co-writer Nick Park said to the BBC at the time: "We have never made films for awards, though. We do them for the fun of it."

Wallace and Gromit are among the most successful animated characters in terms of Oscars. Every single film featuring them has been nominated for an award, with only their first appearance in A Grand Day Out failing to win, losing out to Creature Comforts, also created by Nick Park.

The other nominees are French Roast, Granny O’Grimm's Sleeping Beauty, The Lady and the Reaper and Logorama.

Hyena clans make for good research, photos

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Jennifer Smith and Dr. Kay Holekamp of Michigan State bring us cute photos of hyena cubs.

Their research (click names) on the social behavior of the Spotted Hyena is worth reading.

Cat predicts death

Your rating: None Average: 4.2 (5 votes)

"When doctors and staff realized that a cat living in a U.S. nursing home could sense when someone was going to die, the feline, Oscar, was portrayed as a furry grim reaper or four-legged angel of death.

But Dr. David Dosa, who broke the news of Oscar's abilities in a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2007, said he never intended to make Oscar sound creepy or his arrival at a bedside to be viewed negatively."

I am . . .

not an animal
8% (3 votes)
that is
18% (7 votes)
the Walrus
18% (7 votes)
a Cat
10% (4 votes)
Sam
3% (1 vote)
that I am
8% (3 votes)
all of me
3% (1 vote)
a mole (and I live in a hole)
0% (0 votes)
Chipmunk
0% (0 votes)
America
8% (3 votes)
busy - the fox and weasel are coming!
8% (3 votes)
not appearing in this poll
20% (8 votes)
Votes: 40

All Fur Fun plans one-day event in 2010

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All Fur Fun

Spokane convention All Fur Fun may hold a one-day event this year, according to event organizers Tora Kiyoshi and Moorcat.

The con served almost 200 attendees last year, but fell into debt after several setbacks, including a chandelier accident.

To make matters worse, the US Olympic figure skating tryouts were held in Spokane this year, disrupting hotel bookings.

Current plans are for a one-day event on 15 May, including an art show, after which attendees can participate in the Spokane Lilac Festival Torchlight Parade before returning to the hotel for a party. A full weekend event is expected for 2011.

In related news, proposed Arizonan convention Phoenix Furness looks to be no more, as inquiries on its journal go without official answer.

FurNation hosting back online, for some

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The relaunched FurNation has restored its hosting, though their archive may be incomplete.

The index page displays 814 sites, but some seem to be just a few files or forwarding pages.

FurNation used to be a major furry hosting site. However, intermittent uptime forced many elsewhere — often to the now-defunct GeoCities.

New users looking for hosting by FurNation are currently asked to contact an administrator.

Russian furs release beta remix of Ubuntu

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Ubuntu Furry Remix

A team led by Russian WikiFur administrator Shnatsel have released the first beta of a furry-themed version of Linux distribution Ubuntu.

The collaboration includes a boot skin, several wallpapers by Kosh (Alexander Faolchu), icons, a Metacity themes, a GIMP splash screen, and eight sets of smilies. A full GTK+ theme and logon screen are scheduled for future builds.

A prior effort to create such a distribution — Furbuntu — appears to have stalled in 2008.

ONN's Today Now! gives cat relationship tips

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Onion News Network breakfast show Today Now! gives advice from author Melissa Donnelly on sparking up the relationship with your cat.

Hint: Watch for additional tips from her book displayed in the footer.

Pig lung transplants one step closer

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The Melbourne Herald Sun reports development of pig lungs compatible with human blood. Such organs could fill a real need; 200 died last year on waiting lists in Australia alone.

The genetically-modified pigs do not express a certain antigen that causes the blood to clot. Research on such "knock-out" pigs has been going on for over two decades.

There is an ongoing debate about the ethics of creating such "chimeras." Still, replacement of human heart valves with pig valves or cow cardiac tissue is already widespread.

Katan by Tirrel — a fluffy masterpiece

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Flash animator Tirrel (Cerberus) has created an Aztec-themed work that's worth watching. Check out the rest of his gallery while you're at it.