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Posts with tag cat

Pet Adoption Web Site Created by 6th-Grader

by Will Safer, posted Feb 25th 2008 at 3:05PM

Pet adoption Web site.

A Maryland sixth grader has combined her interest in animals with a healthy dollop of Web-page-building skills to build a site that matches cats, dogs and other animals that need homes with people who are looking to adopt the furry friends.

Eleven-year-old Jennie Lupkin of Ijamsville, Md., went from matching pets at a local animal shelter with people placing requests on Craigslist but soon went well beyond, creating the site "Helping Animals One At A Time" (www.freewebs.com/frederickanimalcontrol/).

Lupkin -- who has a bichon frise dog, a hermit crab, two birds and fish -- posts pictures of cats, dogs and other animals that are waiting for adoption at the local animal shelter. The site includes highlights of pets in need of homes and encourages people to volunteer at local animal shelters. It also features a page where site visitors can leave comments. So far, response has been on the positive side.

Besides Lupkin getting lots of attention for her age, the site stakes a claim to perhaps a new type of matchmaking Web site, in the spirit of dating sites like Match.com or Jdate.com.

Everyone is looking for companionship. Maybe a little furry friend is in your future?

From Examiner.com.

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Computer Interprets Dogs' Barks

by Will Safer, posted Jan 16th 2008 at 1:38PM


A Hungarian scientist has developed computer software that interprets the barks of a certain breed of Hungarian dog. This is exciting news, especially for so many dog owners who are convinced their pets are saying intricate and purposeful things whenever they bark. Turns out, they may be right.

The software analyzes distinct barks that indicate the emotional state of the Hungarian Mudi herding breed (pictured above) in six situations: when the dog is alone, when it sees a ball, when it fights, when it plays, when it encounters a stranger or when it goes for a walk.

Not quite a full range vocabulary but it's a start. Down the road, he and colleagues expect the software to be applicable in consumer products to allow easy human-dog dialog.

For now, though, the software was only three percent better than humans at correctly determining which of the six scenarios was in play while one of the dogs barked, so it may be a while before you can find out specifically what your canine pal really thinks of the new chew toy you got him.

But wait. We seem to remember a little toy from a few years ago called the Bow-lingual. A little digging confirms this device from Japan's Takara company, which was clearly marketed as a toy, claimed to interpret dog barks and relay statements like, "I'm feeling great!" or "Come on, play with me!" Interestingly enough, the toy maker also determined there were six distinct vocal patterns do be identified within dogs' barks and took into account the differences between the barks of 50 breeds. Impressive. To our disappointment, the official Bow-lingual Web site is no longer active. (But back in 2003, the folks at ExtremeTech took a close look at the toy.) And cat lovers, don't feel left out -- there was also a Meow-lingual.

As for the Hungarian scientist, he says there is work to be done and improvements to be made to his software. The first thing we want him to do is develop a program that automatically helps us understand his Hungarian accent so we can figure out what else he's been saying.

From Reuters.

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Scientists Clone Fluorescent Cats

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Dec 13th 2007 at 11:37AM

Scientists Clone Fluorescent Cats

They claim there is a scientific purpose for their experiments, but to be honest with you, we can't quite figure out what that purpose may be. The South Korean scientists who created this pair of fluorescent felines claim that this breakthrough will help them study diseases and stem cells. We might not be biologists, but we're not really sure what the connection between AIDS and a cat that looks like a jack-o-lantern is.

This is far from the first time scientists have cloned animals and genetically altered them to glow unearthly colors. Mice, rabbits, pigs -- nothing is safe. A company even bred genetically altered fluorescent fish to sell as pets, called GloFish. Check out our gallery of other flourescent animals below.

Gallery: Fluorescent Animals

  • Alba
  • Red Fluorescent Mice
  • Glow in the Dark Pigs
  • Red Fluorescent Frog
  • GloFish


From The Daily Mail

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