From: fizzit@milton.u.washington.edu (Fred Sloniker)
Subject: Coming Real Soon Now...
Summary: Furry picture guide
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 01:45:12 GMT

(A small group of furries in the corner of the Net earnestly discusses such
topics as the fate of Lesbian Foxes in Hovertanks, the details of some con
or other, and whether or not REFRACTIONS will be coming out Real Soon Now.
Suddenly, a quiet squirrel morph, one of the FurryMUCK crowd, steps out from
the corner where he's been lurking and calls for attention.  When the noise
has mostly subsided, he clears his throat and speaks.)

Ahem.  As those of you who keep up with the Tezuka picture site know, the
management has recently made a major update of the directories, making the
Updates directory practically empty compared to its former state, elimin-
ating some pictures and renaming others.  With this in mind, I would like to
announce that, as a public service, I am in the process of compiling version
0.5 of the one, the only (on account of no one's gone and done it before me)

****************************************************************************
                             Fred M. Sloniker's
                       *Ultimate* Furry Picture Guide
****************************************************************************

(The squirrel waits a moment for some response, then shrugs and moves on.)

It has occured to me, as I hope it has to many of you, that there isn't
really any way to decide which of the thousands of graphics files available
at Tezuka you might be interested in, other than by loading them all onto a
graphic-capable system and having a look.  This is especially a problem for
those of you who have to pay for access, or whose systems can't display
pictures beyond a certain size or number of colors, or find themselves
having to explain why an orgy just popped up on their screen when they were
just looking for some nice graphics wallpaper.  What makes me stand out (I
hope: I don't have any special credentials here, and would hate to be dup-
licating the work of someone more qualified) is that I decided to do some-
thing about it; specifically, go through all the pictures myself and compile
all the vital statistics on each picture, so you don't have to.

(The squirrel pauses for breath, then holds up a diagram.)

At present, I plan to organize each entry in the Guide like this:

Filename              File Sz  Picture Size   Uploaded  Artist      Rating
birthday.gif           144058   704x 561x256  09/11/91  Ken_Cougar       S
/A vixentaur and cat-morph on the beach.  The vixentaur is getting her
/birthday spanking in an... untraditional fashion.  Greyscale.

The first line of each entry has all the basic information: filename, file
size, picture size (measured in horizontal pixels by vertical pixels by
number of colors), date it appeared on Tezuka, the artist (or, in some cases,
photographer), and the rating.  Ratings that I plan to use are U, for
universal; S, for suggestive; R, for R-rated; and X, for X-rated.  U and X
are pretty straight-forward; S and R are trickier, and will of course be my
judgements.

(On that note, the squirrel checks the temperature control on his bio-
support shield, then continues, folding the diagram away.)

The reason I'm telling you this, besides to get you backing me on the
project (there are few better motivators than peers), is to ask for your
input on the project.  Specifically, I want anyone who's uploaded a file
to Tezuka, or drawn one there, or knows who holds copyright on, say, a
FurryMUCK character, to send me mail and share what information they can.
On the other hand, feel free to comment on, say, whether I should try to
implement a rating system on the quality of the drawings, or on someone who
has already done some of the work, or whether or not you even want to see
it.  I'm doing this for you, folks, and if you don't want it, I'll go back
to... um... whatever I'm doing with my life right now.

(The squirrel grins self-deprecatingly.)

My e-mail address will be displayed shortly.  I hope to hear from you soon!

(With that, the squirrel returns to his quiet corner, sips his Fizzy Orange
Soda, and waits to see if anyone cares.  A badge on his vest reads:)

                                        ---Fred M. Sloniker
                                           L. Lazuli R'kamos (:3
                                           fizzit@u.washington.edu

"Hysterical screaming.  That was inwented in Russia, by Ivan the Terrible."
                                        ---Pavel Chekov, sorta
"You gotta love Star Wars tech: hyperspace-capable fighters, and not a