http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57.....t-enforcement/

So, this is apparently a thing now. The EU is set to vote on a blanket ban against porn. As you can imagine, this would affect millions of people and tens of thousands of sites (including some of our fellow furry art communities). Whether you personally like or dislike porn, millions enjoy their legal right to view it (underscored, bolded and italicized for emphasis). And some people, for whatever reason, want to take that away.

This isn't about just about censoring porn. This is about censoring what people choose to do that is PERFECTLY LEGAL. Censoring citizens, their private activities, art and more.

I personally believe this has about as much chance of passing as Barack Obama thanking me in a speech for drawing shitty Digimon art, but... well, the sheer fact this is going up for vote is mind numbingly stupid. Don't go into a panic thinking this is GOING to pass, but it's worth knowing what the EU is trying to push and how it may affect you.

If you're in the EU, make your voice heard. Stand up against this shit. This is flat out censorship under the guise of "equality".

EDIT: Updated link.

A word of thanks. A lot of you have come together to support the site, donate hardware and giftcards to improve the community. It's really humbling to see the amount of help you've put forward in less than 24 hours. Seriously, I'm floored.

To those who have helped out and contributed I can not thank you enough. You've all gone above and beyond to help the site, and... well, thank you.

<3

Just thank you.

Imminent fatty.

As some have pointed out in my previous journal, FA does from occasion use off site comments to take action. This is generally the exception, not the rule. As I outright stated in my last journal, "If they bring that behavior to FA, we'll take action on it because now we've established a clear link between what happened on FA and Site X".

I'm posting this to help clarify where those exceptions stand.

Again, we will consider using off site content to take action when there is a direct link between FA and that content. Drag outside issues onto FA, start causing problems and we can confirm what is happening, we will take the evidence into consideration when making a judgment. You brought it to our site, and your external issues have now become our problem.

If you violated another site's rules, but haven't violated FA's rules (or we haven't found sufficient proof yet), we will give you the benefit of the doubt. We may make a note of it on your profile, but we otherwise don't want to get involved.

Some examples of when we will take action:
* User posts a journal stating X, then (through a confirmed account on another site) states that X is not true and they did solely for drama, to rile up users/admins or stating they didn't have any knowledge of an issue when they clearly did. In this case, we are judging your by your actions on FA and using the proof elsewhere to verify the validity of your statement.

You posted the journal/comments on FA, and if we find proof of misconduct, that is now fair game. You brought it to our domain. Don't be this person.
* You lied about your date of birth to look at mature art, and we've found proof on your linked pages/profiles that this is not true.
* You are directly threatening the site or our users, or encouraging said threats. If we can confirm you are trying to cause disruption for the site or our users, we reserve the right to close your account. We may wait until you take action on the site, or if you have a known history of harassment, take immediate action.

When we will NOT take action:
* When your off site comments do not affect FA or our services.
* You don't drag off site issues on to the site.

So, here we are.

By now, a lot of you have heard what happened. I've been debating how to address this properly, as this has been nothing short of massive. I recognize some users will go into reading this with a biased frame of mind, be it angered, curious or neutral. My aim is to clarify what we did, why we did it and what we could have done better.

Some of you may be wondering why there was such a delay in getting a response to this. The answer: I've been in the process of moving to a new state and getting caught up with a new job.

A summary of what happened:
1) Feb 6 -- Tarangryph contacted us via TT regarding a potential stalker issue.
2) Feb 13 -- In the meantime, Tarangryph created a journal warning users to beware the stalker, and listed some evidence. We deleted this journal, as we felt it was a call out journal, and we had no way to verify the given evidence (see below). The admin suggested the user block the stalker and that, if the stalker evaded that block, we'd take action.
3) Feb 14 - We responded, asking, "Do you have links to any harassing notes or comments this individual has sent you?" Tarangryph responded to the TT.
4) Feb 15 -- Qarrezel's journal is posted. All hell breaks loose. The admin handling the ticket did not yet have a chance to follow up on the ticket response.

* What We Could Have Done Better -- I will start the journal with this, as I recognize that we could have taken steps to better clarify our position to Taran. We should have clarified what information we need from users in these circumstances (comments, notes or other FA specific information) and what steps users can take to protect themselves in the meantime. Had we done that, I feel we could have reassured Taran we were there to help.

* Our Code of Conduct WILL BE UPDATED to better direct users on what actions they should take if being harassed or stalked, as well as what they can do to protect themselves, as well as what admins need from them to effectively investigate their claims.

We WANT to help, and we want to help users feel safe from harassers and stalkers. To that end, sometimes we need more information from users, and they may need more information from us. We should have been clearer in that message to Taran. At no point did we NOT want to assist her. We were more than willing to help, and were in the process of doing so when this broke out.

* In regards to Qarrezel's now infamous journal, Qarrezel NEVER ONCE contacted the admin team for clarification or to ask what's going on. Much of the journal was speculation in regards to FA's stance. AT NO TIME did I ever endorse stalking harassment as suggested by the journal. Ever.

A quote of mine regarding the admin's actions were taken grossly out of context. I was asked if I supported the admin's actions. From what I could see at the time, and from what I knew of the issue, a callout journal was removed and the admin involved suggested that the user block the stalker so we could attempt to get more evidence against them. The admin told Taran that, if the stalker did anything to avoid the block, we would take action (read: ban). The user was never blocked.

We were under the assumption at the time that, if Taran had any further issues with the user, she would contact us so we could take action against the stalker. She did, but the admin handling her ticket did not have a chance to see her response before Qarrezel posted her journal. In the ticket, Tarangryph states that Qarrezel had also filed a trouble ticket against Fredriksam for harassment. There were NO TICKETS open on this by Qarrezel, nor was there ever contact with the admins on the site regarding the issue.

* The Issue With Evidence -- The evidence of stalking was primarily pointing at actions that occurred on Deviantart.com and Flashback.org. When we are presented with information off-site we /very rarely/ take action on it, and here's why: we have NO WAY to verify the users' identities. We have to give users the benefit of the doubt. Did somebody make an account on Site X to harass the user, and implicate them in the issue? Is it legit, or just an impostor?

We have NO WAY of verifying what's going on behind the scenes.

When presented with off-site evidence, we usually make a note of it. "The user in question has shown really questionable behavior. If they bring that behavior to FA, we'll take action on it because now we've established a clear link between what happened on FA and Site X." So, until someone takes action directly linking their on-site behavior with off-site behavior, we will NOT take action on it. But once they break FA's rules and policies and we can trace that back to what they did off-site, we'll use /all/ of that information and make an appropriate judgment (up to and including perma-ban, even on first offense).

The evidence we had on FA against Fredriksam as a stalker was questionable. We could see behavior on FA that raised eyebrows, but was not enough to say "Yes, this is a stalker, no question." Hence the reason we suggested Taran block the user and to contact us if he tried anything (anything at all) to get around it.

That said, in the end, we did find evidence to support the claims against Fredriksam (and his alt account). If we had found evidence of the alt account up front, we would have banned the user immediately. The alt account was not brought to our attention until a user notified us. Had we had this information up front, we would have banned them on the spot.

We understand many of you are frustrated and upset, but we were ALWAYS willing to help from the get-go. We were always there to help. If we had been given an opportunity to respond to Tarangryph's ticket, this entire issue could have been resolved like any other issue. Instead, Qarrezel got involved and we were not able to resolve this directly with Tarangryph.

The entire site and team has spent countless hours trying to better the site the community. I, along with the rest of the team, regret that this happened the way it did. This could have gone a number of ways, but if we were allowed to resolve this directly with Tarangryph, we could have had a completely different outcome.

On a side note, admins are users of the site as well. We are all volunteers, and none of us are being paid to run the site. We're all here to help, and while you may disagree with our actions or personally dislike us, we ask that you refrain from going out of your way from attacking admins, because they are also fellow users. Verbally insulting the staff does nothing to help the situation and is still harassment.

We encourage users to ALWAYS seek out both sides of a situation before passing judgement. Seek out the facts, hear both sides and make a decision then. Putting this into a visible timeline was revealing in and of itself.

This is the Internet (SURPRISE!). On said Internet, one thing people are going to deal is steal, repost or redistribute your artwork. It doesn't matter if it's a picture, story, audio, chances are that somewhere along the line somebody is going to come along, download your file, and repost it somewhere else or share it with a friend. And there's nothing you can do about it*. Or is there?

This isn't meant to scare you. It's the truth. It needs to be said. Point blank. People will take your stuff, and they don't give a rat's ass about your opinion. Just ask the RIAA or MPAA! *cough* People will take your work and repost it. Most don't do it maliciously, or event stop to think about it**. They just want to share something they liked. Don't take offense to it or get angry, because in the end, you can't stop people from resubmitting your work.

You can, however, take a few basic steps to make it work for you.

#1 - Your Signature - Sign your work. Be it by pen or with a logo, have a clear signature on your image that identifies who you are. For music, edit the ID3. Put your name at the start and end of your stories.
#2 - Watermark - Put a subtle watermark on the image, preferably in one of the corners. Something where people can barely see it, but it's visible. DO NOT put a giant watermark over the center of your image. All you're doing is ruining the image and pissing off your fans. Subtle, but noticeable. Repeat after me. Subtle, but noticeable. It works.
#3 - Link Back - Like #1, if you can, put a link back to your site, gallery or webpage on the work somewhere. Again, be subtle about it, but you want people who get a hold of your work to know where it came from. Make that happen.

You deserve the recognition, the views, the +favs or the +likes, what have you. But you should always assume that your work will get into the hands of people who have never heard of you. Make sure they have a way of finding their way back to your slice of the 'net. =3

Also, if you repost art... for the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, LINK BACK TO THE DAMN ARTIST! It takes two seconds to do. TWO SECONDS. It's not much to ask.

* You can DMCA the site, but this is not always going to produce results if the site is in a country where the DMCA does not apply.

** Seriously, they don't stop to think about it. I once had somebody repost my own art to FA, sharing "something they found". *facepalm*

If you're going to hang with us at the Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing, PA today today at 1, just a reminder - we'll be chilling out in the food court for a bit, then probably meandering around the mall for a while, then going out to see Warm Bodies.

How to spot us? We'll be towards the middle of the court wearing Mass Effect jackets, the same jackets we wore in this horrible picture: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9101399/

Amazon has Wacom Intuos 4 Smalls almost 50% off today! If you've been looking for a tablet, here's a really great freakin' deal. Intuos tablets almost never get marked down anywhere near this level.

http://www.amazon.com/Wacom-Intuos4.....ativeASIN%3DB001TUYTZM?tag=gizmodoamzn-20

Most people probably won't need one, but if you've been saving up and need a great first-time tablet, today's your day.

Sciggles and I have been pondering doing a mall meet this Saturday at 1PM at the Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing, PA. We figured we could meet up in the food court, hang out draw, maybe go see a movie later. Who knows. We just want a chance to get out of the house, meet new people in the area.

Only requests:
No ears, tails or fursuits! Given this is a first time meet, we want it to be tame. Badges are fine. =3

Anybody interested?

---

UPDATE!
If you're going to the meet, as a reminder, we'll be up in the food court chilling out. Look for the Mass Effect jackets.

It's true! I have proof.

https://twitter.com/Dragoneer/statu.....36832645001217

Do you have any favorite how to draw books? Books that helped you in the past, or currently? If so, post up your favorite ones to this journal. I want to make a list of good "how to draw" books for resources for new artists, or artists looking for some advice, help or are just looking to improve.

Be sure to also say why you like the book. I'm genuinely curious.

My favorite books are by Civardi.

Giovanni Civardi's Complete Guide to Drawing
http://www.amazon.com/Giovanni-Civa.....ywords=civardi

Neondragon's Dragonart Books
http://www.amazon.com/Dragonart-Fan.....ords=dragonart
http://www.amazon.com/Dragonart-Evo.....nart+evolution
http://www.amazon.com/DragonArt-Ult.....ords=dragonart
http://www.amazon.com/DragonArt-Col.....ords=dragonart

And, interesting fact, but NeonDragon (the author of the books) is also on FA!

 neondragon

Art costs money. Fact. It's not a skill that comes free. It takes years of practice, discipline, improvement, investment, resources, training and more. And you never stop learning or improving. Art is a constant battle of "how can I make myself better". Anybody can learn to draw with enough time, and it's a rewarding and fun skill.

Art supplies are by no means cheap, and producing art (and tangible goods) is not light on the wallet. I'm not even kidding. "Art" is like the word "wedding". The moment it's applied to something the price magically goes up by 50% (at least!). When you break it down on an hourly basis, most commissioning artists rarely make minimum wage for the amount of time it takes to produce a picture. Some are lucky to be profitable. Most aren't. Then you have to factor in time. Time is money, and art can take a lot of time to produce, especially more detailed pieces.

On the individual level, the cost of art itself is subjective, to the point the inherit value of art varies wildly from person to person. To some, the value of art is meaningless. It's just a pretty picture to look at, +fav or file into a folder. For others, its something unique and genuine, it's more than just a story, picture or piece of music... but a piece of that artist saved within the canvas, print or file. And there's a thousand variations in between.

Of late, I often see people complaining about YCHs (Your Character Here), adoptables or design sales. "Artists are trying to make money off of their skills! How dare they! They don't deserve that" Well... so what? Why is it any of your business? Does Artist X offering a commission at $100 really ruin your day? The artist produced something, an amalgamation of years of training and time, and is offering it out to those who would find it valuable or of personal worth to them. They're offering it our for you to have a chance to take a part of it. The money helps pay rent, bills or maybe buy something nice.

Art is not free. Time is not free. Time is a valuable resource, and art requires time, effort and devotion. Some people do it purely out of love for the art, others just to produce, share and maybe make a profit. What does it matter? If someone chooses to share their art with you, or even offers a commission, be thankful. Because that artist is offering you more than just art, but also their time. And time is one of the most valuable resources we have.

If anything, don't view it as buying art, or an artist even selling art but rather, the artists selling you a small chunk of their life. Hours, maybe even days of their life to complete something unique... just for you. And how much is THAT worth to you? Few people would give hours/days out of their life working for others for free. Artists are no exception.

In light of the last journal, a few people have brought questions up to me. I figured I would answer publicly.

If somebody leaves a disruptive comment on a submission or a journal that the simplest fix is to hide it. Take a deep breath, shake your hands towards the sky and call down the raw power of Valhalla to smite the comment into oblivion*. For the most part, unless the comment flat out crosses the line, a single comment is generally not worth getting worked up about. Hide it, move on, and leave the smoldering rubble of the offending text in your wake. More importantly, don't let one person's comment ruin your day. It's not worth it. Smite their text, then move on.

That doesn't apply to every situation. If the person persists, hide their comments, then add them to your block list.

If you legitimately feel the severity of their comment is worth reporting, then report it. Send 'em our way, and we'll take a look into it. We may not always agree, but we'll investigate the claims. If we verify that their comment was way out of line, we'll also take the time to do a comment search on users to see if they've left other offending statements. And if a user has a history of harassment, from my experience, that usually turns up pretty quickly in their comment feeds.

When should you ALWAYS report harassment? When users are making threats, being disruptive or insulting towards any race, religion, gender or sex... send 'em our way. Don't respond to them. Read that last sentence again. Do NOT respond to them. Report the comment to us, then hide it. Other times, you need to make a judgement call. Sometimes it's worth reporting, sometimes it's worth hiding/blocking and moving on.

For that matter, we generally suggest people NOT report harassment unless it's directly against them (or is something that really, REALLY crosses the line). Sometimes what is harassing to us may not be to other people, or may flat out be a term of endearment to them. Not always, but sometimes. It's worth keeping that in mind.

When NOT to report it? When it's simply a differing opinion. "Bob doesn't like grapes? WELL FUCK BOB! Then perhaps it's best if we agree to disagree, good sir." If the person is being civil in their opinion, then sometimes it's just best to shrug, and walk away. Differing opinions alone are NOT harassment (so long as they're kept polite and civil).

TL;DR - Hide comments and block users when it's convenient. When people are being disruptive, bigoted, insulting or flat out crude, hide, block and report 'em to an admin.

* Props if you own a Viking helmet, and wear it while doing this.

Internet,

It's come to this. I wish it hadn't, but I've been seeing more and more comments that I feel the need to get on my little soap box. Some of you seem to be having an exceptionally hard time grasping the differences between men and women.

So, here it is, in all it's stunning textular glory: Men have a penis. Girls have a vagina. And some identify as other sexes, as with the transgender community.

That's it. Simple, eh? All sexes deserve to be treated equally, gay, straight, bi or asexual. And when you don't treat all sexes (transgender included) as equals, that's bad. And I have no problem telling my admins to bap you upside the head when you forget that.

Love,
Neer

PS: This applies to all races, too. Treat people with respect. On FA, we're all 10pt Verdana.

Video by  coopertom

Nokia phones have a reputation. A reputation of durability, strength and construction that can outlast the apocalypse. The Nokia 3310 is one such legendary device, so much so its very existence has become meme.

When the Lumia 920 came out (yes, that's right, I have a Windows Phone) I was first in line to get one. Day one. Got it. Been in love with the phone since, and never looked back. The one thing I didn't do, however, is get a screen protector or case for the phone.

About three weeks ago I dropped my phone on the street.

Most of us will drop our phones at one point or another. iPhones tend to have their screens break mid-air due to the panic attacks the phones have before they even hit the ground*. They're just that fragile. Androids do anything from tell the ground to go fuck itself and bounce away harmlessly to shattering into a thousand pieces. Such is the way of the Great Google™. The screen on a Lumia 920s? They're slippy. Real slippery. So slippery, in fact, that if I were to describe them as any scene from a movie I'd have to choose Christmas Vacation be where Clark Griswold applies the experimental wax to the bottom of the sled. NOT an exaggeration. Google "lumia 920 moving on its own" and there's quite a few results. Put it down face, and the damn phone has the potential to move on its own due to the sheer brilliance of its LCD coating.

That established, you now know why my phone shot out of my hand like a greased banana in a hurricane. When my phone hit the street, then proceeded to slide damn near ten feet away, I bit my lip. THE HORROR! The hooorroorrr...

I hesitantly picked up my phone, fearing the worst..and there they were. Black marks on the side of the once-shiny red plastic, micro-scratches dotted the screen. MY BABY! SOMEBODY HURT MY BABY!

Years ago, my parents were murdered in a tragic accident involving a failed magician and a magic trick gone horribly, HORRIBLY wrong. Long story short, they got better. Last night, when I picked up my phone, the black scratches and scuff marks on the phone... fell off. That's right. The black marks the phone picked up when it smashed into the street just fell off. My only assumption is that the phone itself rejected the sheer concept of being damaged. And the screen? The scratches are damn near gone. POOF! No longer visible. They've somehow healed themselves.

Not sure how, not sure why, I didn't think it was even possible, but at this point, I'm pretty sure that Nokia's phones are protected by Ukko, the Finnish lord of thunder. Whatever the case may be, Nokia phones obviously continue their legendary status even today.

* I used to repair iPhones as part of my job. We generally had to repair 2 or 3 a week due screens shattering. Apple even stopped replacing iPhones in their DC stores, sending them to depot instead (a fun 1 to 2 week adventure). Given how regularly iPhones broke, I started to thing they just broke themselves when they got bored. You're not paying enough attention to me!? CRrrRrrRrK!

Just wanted to post a note -- I apologize that I'm a bit behind on commissions/art. I'm working ASAP to get things done, and will be back to doing art "full time" as of tomorrow. Apologies on the delays. Given the wedding, Thanksgiving, Christmas and everything in between my entire timeline has been shot.

Again, apologies on the delays, but I am working on things and will have sketches/finished pieces sent out soon!

This is the single greatest Christmas song ever created. EVER.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl.....m=150967780049

I'd bought a Wii U to have for Christmas, but I've unfortunately overspent on a few other things. Given I bought it on release day, I can't take it back to the store, so I'm selling it on eBay currently.

=3

Just saw this commercial on Cartoon Network. Sciggles and I both stared at the screen like, "Wait... what? That's... that's... what?"

EDIT: Fixed video. Youtube's https doesn't like to be embedded.

To observe a moment of silence for the victims of the Connecticut shooting I will not tweet, post or comment online for the remainder of the day out of respect.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/1.....ool/?hpt=hp_t1

I encourage others to do the same, and to show their support. Violence and the death of innocent people, especially children, is deplorable and an act of cowardice. If you wish to join me, please repost this journal (retweet my comment here).

Today's her birthday. =3 Go spam her with all the birthday wishes you can muster up*!.

https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4122237/

* Birthday wishes must be totally awesome or we'll come to your house and leave a flaming bag of poop. Then we'll ban you. Then we'll take a shovel, pick up the flaming bag of poop, and throw it into your house. Then we'll ban the flaming bag of poop. And your house. And your neighbors.

NO WITNESSES!

WANT TO SEE THIS! Giant monsters? Explosions? Robots? ERMAGEEERD! GERNT MERNSTERS! Fuck. YES! Guillermo del Toro is one of my favorite directors. <oprah>This is definitely one of my favorite things. It's going to be AMAAAZIIING!</oprah>

Speaking of, don't forget to help bring other giant monsters to life and help the Kaiju Kickstarter! Even if it's just $5, it goes a long way!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects.....fighting-onlin

Help donate and save a rabbit rescue in New Jersey! Spreading the word for those who may have a few dollars to spare. =3

https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4119799/

[img]https://kaijucombat.wiki.zoho.com/_.....mall.jpg[/img]

Do you like giant, towering monsters battling it out? Tearing one another apart as cities crumble before their sheer awesomeness? Ever play Rampage: Total Destruction, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters... and WANT to be in a game like that? You can!

Check out, and help support their Kickstarter here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects.....fighting-onlin

Some familiar faces in the game:
https://kaijucombat.wiki.zoho.com/Duncan.html
https://kaijucombat.wiki.zoho.com/Macrosaurus.html

Help support this awesome macro combat game. Give $5, $10... $10,000... whatever pocket change you happen to have laying around!

If they hit their $100,000 mark I'll release the [img] tag early on FA so you can use it in journals on the site. =3 Otherwise, you'll have to wait for about a month when we push some new updates live.

INCENTIVE, GOOOOOO!

Help spread news of the Kickstarter, and help 'em out!