Will I see you at AC next week?! If you want to come see me, I'll be at table E05 in the dealer's den. Thursday and Saturday I'll be attending  semjay's panels called "Whose Lion Is It Anyway?". They are absolutely amazing. If you like LAUGHING, you will LOVE Whose Lion.

So, right- hats. I have a handful of pre-made designs, including a new prototype. Prices on those will be around $20-$30. I'll also be taking commissions: $25-$50 depending on complexity. On average I do about 20 hats per con, at the con.

Also, did you know my birthday is Friday the 25th? You should order commissions for my birthday and make me work at the zoo all night. And it's my golden birthday, too. I'll turn 25 on the 25th... at a furry con. Oh boy. If we were going to Buca that night maybe we wouldn't have to FAKE a birthday to get free cake!

Yeah, I've had about a dozen people ask when FA Rank will be updated, so here's the skinny. I've been having technical difficulties with the system for the last month or so, which is why the 4/27 update (you may still see remnants of) was butchered.

I'm working on a new, distributed version of it. It will run as a web-based Java applet, so no installation or downloading required, other than Java. Just open up a window and let it run whenever you have CPU cycles to burn, and you'll be helping drive new releases! This new system will be called the Fur Affinity Rank Future Release Terminal, or "FARankFuRTer". It will probably be released in a month.

Remember, always practice safe daggering.

Hmm... last time I put up an ad on FA, I got lots of inquiries. I think? What changed? I'm getting 150 unique visitors a day but only one or two 'nibbles'.

Question 1: whadafawatha??! Select an option below...
[] Are my prices too high?
[] Is having to provide your own hat concept art a turn-off to potential customers?
[] Is the fursuit section of our site luring people away from buying hats?
[] Is the wrathful economy hitting furries especially hard?
[] Are hats not en vogue anymore?
[] Are people holding out for SHAMWOW HATS?
[] Other:_________________

Question 2: If I started selling SHAMWOW HATS through FA (you must type it in caps) would you buy one?
[] YES
[] Yes
[] yes
[] Other: _______________

I will be selling at AC, and I *am* willing to deliver at AC if needed. So I guess that would count as 'pre-orders'.

Aaaaanyway, let me know. I'm just kinda confused, that's all. If this hats sale falls through, I got backup plans. YOU WON'T SEE IT COMIN'.

Yep, it's that time again!

http://furducers.com/hats.php

See website for details. Custom hats run $25-$50 depending on complexity. Shipping is included for US customers. Worldwide shipping is about $5 extra.

Currently no commissions in the queue = no extra waiting!

Interested? Email: furducers[at]gmail.com

I think I'm gonna start posting here more. Might get noticed more. Dunno. I certainly have more followers here than on LJ.

~~~

First, in trying to find a sofa for our future living room, we found a special deal on a kickass room-set that included a new 50" plasma TV. Guess we don't need to look for a TV for that room now, either! Looks like that room is complete!

We also just purchased a netbook with part of the tax refund, and found it came with the exact wall-to-brick power cord that her other laptop was missing. Hooray!

We'll be needing a second one eventually, though. Does anyone have a spare cable lying around they'd be willing to sell? It looks just the cable on the left- two-prong, round on both ends (not like a PS2 cord).

So now we haaaave... seven computers in this house. Good thing there's no law against technophilia! ataq (my desktop), pickles (my linux), madrugada (my laptop), vaio (decommissioned), semtop (out of order), acer (sj's desktop), netbook (it's new!). Hotnesssssss

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3623710/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3623710/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3623710/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3623710/

Read for details. Help out  semjay, my favorite person in the world.

Having some problems with some PHP scripts. Any nerds care to pull a House and figure out what the eff is wrong with my "theoretically impeccable" code?

http://users.livejournal.com/taren_/563642.html

http://superwailingbonus.com/stuff/.....onhead_all.jpg

http://www.furbuy.com/auctions/1015214.html

Haaaats!

This guy has been sitting around the closet for a while. And now he's been replaced and needs a good home! Unused, in great shape. Make me an offer!

Here are some pictures from Sema's epic 24-hour birthday party today!

http://bit.ly/cH4Div
Follow me on twitter at tarennauxen!

http://superwailingbonus.com/passio.....sion_25046.jpg

Photographed: Narse, Athus, Me, Sema, Yuri, Streak, Raith, Zin, Kat, Kamo... and some random people that jumped in for no reason, including a guy on a power scooter with a plush horse (read: insta-win JUST ADD WATER)

Also, this.
Bye.

http://superwailingbonus.com/passio.....sion_24970.jpg

I currently owe 1 hat commission and 3 post-FC orders. If you're one of the 4 that's expecting something from me, this is just to let you know I haven't forgotten. I've just been very busy with work, and organizing the house... same old excuse I've been using for a month, I know...

In other news, some of you may have noticed I added a donation button on the FA Rank page. I have put a lot of time into getting that page to where it is, and I plan to continue to expand it. If you feel my effort is worth a couple of bucks, I won't stop ya. Don't worry, the page isn't in danger of disappearing or anything. I don't expect anything from it- if anything, it'll offset the extra electricity I use crunching the numbers and cooling down the house!

Big thanks and much love to the following people for confirming that the button works:
J.Z.: $10
A.V.: $5

<3

I'll have to go through my hit logs and filter out the googlebot crawls, because there's no way I have anywhere near 450000 page views on that site, haha.

You're all awesome :rainbow:

Just for shits and grins

http://www.formspring.me/tarennauxen

At FC, I got a chance to hang out with the creators of Furoticon, the adult novelty furry trading card game. Some of you may have heard of it. It sounds pretty popular and interesting...

When I was younger, I used to come up with all sorts of ideas for games, especially card games, so naturally I was curious as to the underlying structure of the rules/cards.

I spent a little while reading up on the game this evening, and I had a few questions for experienced players:

1. Is there a competitive side to the game, or are most players just playing for fun?
2. Would you say the game is mostly skill-based or luck-based?
3. Can a player become unbeatable with an extremely strong deck?

Just random thoughts... talk to me, people!

http://superwailingbonus.com/farank/?page=1

It looks like my new feature was very effective.

Enjoy!

I was fortunate (?) enough to be born as far away from Christmas as possible: the afternoon of June 25th. On regular, 365-day years, the halfway mark (182.5 days) falls on 12/25 at 1 AM, and on leap years, the halfway mark (183.0 days) STILL falls on 12/25 at 1 PM.

I get presents every six months! YAY. WHAT DID YOU ALL GET FOR MY HALF-BIRTHDAY?

According to my calculations

...the 123000+ user accounts of FA have amassed nearly 10,000,000 watches! It's real close, or just over. Either way, GOOD JOB GUYS

I have presents for everyone but it's gonna be a couple days late.

http://superwailingbonus.com/farank/source/

Requested by  richardwolfvi
The algorithm (PageRank) is public domain anyway, so there's no sense in hiding my code. If you can understand creative bastardizations of Java, go nuts with it.

Here's the "core" code that generates the numbers behind FARank. Read the Usage Notes too! There is nothing in here that explains how I retrieve the watch/user information, or how I store this information in my database, because that's irrelevant, plus I didn't want to have to filter out sensitive passwords and such.

I'm planning on another update to the data in a couple weeks.

I'm back from MFF, and I have lots of nice pictures to post, stories to tell, and art to submit. Unfortunately, now my home desktop won't power on.

Details: http://users.livejournal.com/taren_/555654.html

Hopefully it's just a power supply issue. In the mean time, I'm on my laptop.

I have lots of nice art to post. Somehow my art skill leveled-up over the week, and now I have the ability to do realistic still-lifes in pencil. No scanner until I get my machine back online, though.

A lot of my friends are doing art trades and I think I want in on the deal.

Would anyone like to do a trade with me? And how does that sort of thing work?

What if all of the stereotypical furry behaviors (i.e. reasons why we can't have nice things) could be summed up in a 'bill of rights' type document?

I came up with a few, and then thought- hey, let's turn this into a totally tongue-in-cheek parody of the US Bill of Rights. I got some good stuff and not so good stuff. At worst, it's been a good study of the US Bill of Rights. At best, it'll make you groan because you recognize all of these behaviors.

Submitted for your approval, etc.:

AMENDMENT I.
The fandom shall make no norms respecting an establishment of gender, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of species, or of one's dress; or the right of the furries to assemble at local restaurants, and to petition the Internet for a redress of grievances.

IN ENGLISH:
Furries are free to choose whatever species they want to be (no matter how obscure/cliche/fictional/batshit insane). They are also free to decide the gender(s) of themselves and their characters, and to utilize said genders. "And there's nothing you can do about it."

Also, this Amendment grants furries the right to dress as they please regardless of the occasion. Fursuit around college campus? You're the mascot, right? Tail at Wal-Mart? Hope you like being made fun of on the internet. Bondage gear at a funeral? Always in good taste. And if anyone has a problem with it, tell them it's okay because you're a furry.

Finally, this Amendment grants furries the right to convene upon local diners and be treated with courtesy and respect by the wait staff. Being a total douchebag in the restaurant is totally permissible since you're granted the right to be there by this Amendment. Don't bother tipping, because they're required to keep serving you as long as you're with a reasonably sized group of furries.

And if you're a furry and feel you have been wronged in some way, it is your right as a member of the fandom to write a scathing email-list post, LJ entry, FA journal, series of Tweets, etc. regarding the incident. You may also demand something be done about it, no matter how unreasonable. Whether it actually gets done or not is another matter.

Nine to go. Did you chuckle: y/n?
Any comments?

How many fursuits do you own?
3½
-Tsuda Ichiro (fennec)
-Rococo Tek (draccoon)
-Snuggles Rotterdobe (rottweiler/doberman)
-TAREN! (dergin!)

This list doesn't include ones I've sold off or done as commissions.

Toony or realistic?
Definitely toony. Realistic is overrated.

Favorite Fursuit Builder?
ME

How long have you been fursuiting for?
September 2005

Favorite fursuit species?
Dragon!

10 out of 10, how much do you love fursuits?
They're pretty cool

Partial or full fursuit?
Full! It just completes the character.

What was the best fursuiting moment?
Boo at the Zoo 2008, getting bombarded by little children.

How long can you last in a fursuit?
Long enough! It's not any more strenuous than DDR.

Have you ever got too hot in fursuit that you fainted?
Nah. I just get really nasty headaches the next day.

Are you getting any other fursuit commissions?
I make my own. No need to commission!

Do you watch fursuit TV?
lolwut

Pawpets?
No, too creepy. Nothing says "free candy" like an overweight, balding, middle-aged man in a Michele Light shirt talking in falsetto.

Got any fanboys or fangirls?
I think so...?

If there where no fursuits in the furry fandom.. Would you still be in the furry fandom?
Of course! When I first joined I wasn't particularly fond of fursuits. I thought it cheapened the true meaning of... I don't know. Needless to say my understanding of the fandom has grown considerably since then.

Would you let anyone hug you in fursuit?
As long as it's not Huggies. Or somebody stinky.

Would you want to get buried in fursuit at a funeral when you pass away?
What a waste! The wings wouldn't fit!
DUFF MAN NEVER DIES, ONLY THE ACTORS WHO PLAY HIM.

Would you get married in fursuit?
Maybe at a reception.

Have you done charity work in fursuit before?
Boo at the Zoo 2007-2008!

If someone started fursuiting for the first time and wanted advice.. What advice would you give?
Always mind your body language- keep it appropriate for the character. It's kinda disappointing to see people moping around in suit the same as they do out of suit.

What is the most impressive fursuit that you ever seen in the whole fandom?
Mine! It's the best.

Is fursuiting your favorite hobby?
Nah. I don't think it ever was. It is fun and interesting but I like lots of other things too.

What are your alternative hobbies apart from fursuiting?
Programming, Bemani, Statistics...

Do fursuits and fursuiting rule your life?
Nah. I do fursuiting stuff on the side. My main focus has always been school, and now it's work and PAYIN' MAH BILLZ.

I'm in the process of updating FARank again. Funny story about that.

I don't know if the algorithm I wrote was super-inefficient, or it just takes that darn long on my machine, but the last time it ran successfully, it took 75 hours to process all 89095 users.

The latest update contains something like 104000 users, so it's naturally going to take a little bit longer.

I started the program up on the afternoon of August 7th, and left it to run for however long. Doesn't matter to me, it's on my spare machine. Not my CPU cycles.

I came home for lunch to let the dogs out for lunch and noticed my alarm clock was blinking. The power had gone out at exactly 9:41 this morning, and by the power of arithmetic- the current time minus whatever the clock said- I deduced that it came back on around 10:50. (It's possible there were multiple outages, though.)

First of all, GOD DAMMIT the program hadn't finished yet, so now I have to start it all over again. For those that care, it had been processing for 66.3 hours and was 80-90% done.

Second, jesus christ the power was out and it's about 100 degrees outside. I'm sure it was fine inside for the dogs, though. This has happened at least four times in the 14 months we've lived at this address, and it's always for only a few minutes. I think it happened a bunch at the old place too. Not sure why.

But here's the really scary part: the last time FARank successfully updated, we had a similar power outage within a few hours.

Anyway, I'm going to predict that FARank will be complete around Friday morning-midday. You'll just have to wait until then!

*crosses fingers for no more brownouts*

Rules:

1) Post these rules
2) Post 8 true things about yourself
3) At the end you must tag 8 people and post their icons
4) Go to their page and send them a message saying you tagged them
5) NO TAG-BACKS

---

1) I consider myself a dragon in spirit (see also: otherkin, FYIAD)

2) When I was younger, I used to sneak outside at night and try to transform into a dragon. I lived in my parents' basement ™ which was exposed in the back, so I just used the door. Obviously I was unsuccessful, but it was still a lot of fun to avoid triggering the lights or making noise. It was very peaceful when it was just you, the trees, the wind, and the moon.

3) I think I've had mild anorexia my whole life. I worry about becoming a normal weight (too late lawl) only when I get on the scale. Other than that I don't really care. Never binged or fasted, just kinda worried. At this point I figure whatever, I can always diet/starve/exercise when we buy a DDR machine.

4) I was featured in a Bad Dragon banner ad on FA right before FC. Most people were like ":O omg" but some people were like ">:("

5) I have been playing DDR for 7 years now. I have just one Heavy AAA. I focus more on clearing difficult stuff rather than OCD perfectionism. It's more rewarding to pass that nasty boss song than to shave off that last Great on some annoying 7-footer. Hence why I can destroy Max300 in fursuit.

6) My first programming language was QBasic back in '93 or '94. Sometimes I'd write random code to generate psychedelic animations. If you know what "SCREEN 13" means you should seek help immediately. I have gone on to learn C++, TI-Basic, Java, IBM S/370 Assembly, and now LabVIEW.

7) I have no ex's. I have lots of .exe's, though.

8) Grammatical errors irritate me very much when they're printed on professional documents or signs. I notice mostly things like it's/its, less/fewer, putting apostrophes on plurals where they don't belong, and missing semicolons.

tag list:
 mohr  khranok  sushicougar  kamo  sophiecabra  wanikami  zenoc  raithdw

Well, the update finished after 75 hours of processing...
...only to reveal that I had been running the incorrect data file.

There was also a dumb mistake in my script file that broke the uploading. Some of you might have seen the page with 0 users listed.

But after I fixed that, the page reported that EVERYONE had stayed exactly the same over the last three months! And that I had 50 fewer watchers than I do now!

Oh well. I'm going to look into this problem, and hopefully get the "real" updated data soon.

Looks like you're all gonna have to wait a little longer for your ego boost, sorry!

taren@pickles:~$ date
Thu Jul 16 21:14:00 MST 2009
taren@pickles:~$ /home/taren/Desktop/farank/RUNME [enter]
HERE WE GO

I've been busy with school, AC, and now omgrealjob, but I took a few minutes and fixed up the FARank program so it *might* run automagically in the next few months. SO STOP BUGGING ME ABOUT IT FOR A WHILE OKAY?

Keep an eye on http://superwailingbonus.com/farank and in about 24-48 hours, the updated list should go live.

I'm running it through cron instead of manually, so hopefully it won't die in the mean time. If you didn't understand that sentence, don't worry.

FUNFACT:
I just found out that in order for cron not to choke and die, not only do I have to supply absolute paths to ANY files cron touches, but I ALSO have to supply absolute paths to Java binaries! LAME.

Here are some QUICK STAT FUN FACTS about our table at AC this year:

25 custom hat commissions
-- 22 completed at the con
-- 3 completed this morning
34 pre-made hats sold
1 hat made from a ShamWow
0 alien-themed hats sold :<
7519863 comments given on the Slap Chop box sitting at our table

Being a dealer was once again extremely fun. We got a table between Bad Dragon and Jim Groat to form the Awesome Anthrocon Alliance (I just made that name up).

I think my biggest accomplishment was on Saturday, when I made 13 custom hats. I did 5 at the table during dealer hours, and then camped out at the zoo until I got 8 more done between 8pm and 3am.

My back hurt so much after that but it's a good hurt! All of my friends basically forced me to go to bed, otherwise I would have stayed up to do the other three, haha. NO PAIN NO GAIN!

I didn't get to suit as much as I would have liked, but that's okay. Sunday night I got to 'tard out with "Jesus" in the zoo and that was good enough.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TarenNauxen
Go look at some videos!

vote for me
or else

http://community.livejournal.com/fu.....ney/54431.html