[UC] Pet News from All Over

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Wisconsin has just voted to legalize cat hunting. That's right, in Milwaukee it is finally safe to go out and blow away feral cats.   http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3130475   Also, MIT has devised a wearable computer system so you can track your dog's social life:     Collar Cultivates Canine Cliques    By Lakshmi Sandhana   02:00 AM Apr. 11, 2005 PT   If you've ever longed for a way to monitor your dog's social life, map out its buddy network and sense who its true friends really are, you might have been waiting for SNIF.   The Social Networking in Fur, or SNIF, project is a wearable computer system for dogs that allows their owners to monitor the animals' behavior and capture their social networks.   The technology, designed by a group of researchers at MIT's Physical Language Workshop, also gives dog owners the chance to "petwork," or network through their pets.   The system consists of a technologically enhanced collar, leash and wall-mounted leash-docking station. In prototype now, the system will be linked to a web-based community containing information about pets in the program and their owners.   The collar and leash have an LED display and a variety of sensors for recording climatic conditions, the pet's activity levels and the presence of other dogs equipped with SNIF collars.   When out for a walk, the canine's collar flashes a unique "collar tone" that provides its social network ID to other doggies' SNIF collars. Then a secure ID transfer takes place.   Owners can record their dog's reactions to each other by pressing "negative" or "positive" buttons on the leash. When released to play with a group, the dog's collar records the IDs of pets that it has spent the most time with, along with the corresponding activity level. The collar relays the data to the leash when reattached.   The leash then uploads the information to a SNIF server. On the website, pet owners can learn about their dogs' new friends through profiles created by their owners.   Unlike human social-networking sites, where users typically confirm they have met, the system automatically verifies whether the mutts have actually sniffed each other. It also reports on the status of a relationship and how often they see each other.   Besides giving pet lovers a keener insight into their dog's favorite friends, it allows owners to play a stronger role in directing their pet's social networking.   Owners can avoid mutts previously classified as unfriendly, or detect their pet's pals when they are within range. They could set up dog walks based on mutual compatibility.   "It would be helpful to know in advance if another dog is aggressive and if Bogart (my white shepherd) has had any problems with them in the past," says Marilyn Heywood Paige, a dog owner from Philadelphia. "I can see people setting up play dates for their dogs based on compatibility. If I know that Bogart has the most positive, active interaction with a particular dog, I would e-mail that owner and ask when they usually walk their dog and if we could arrange to meet at the park. That would be quite good, actually."   http://wired-vig.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,67160,00.html/wn_ascii         Ross Bender http://rossbender.org/mqrtoc.html