Animal Planet adopts "Petfinder" series
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Animal Planet has begun  production on a weekly primetime series based on pet-adoption  Web site Petfinder.com, which the network acquired last year.
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In the Darwinian evolution of electronic  companions, first came the speaking doll, then the Tamagotchi  virtual pet, then Sony's short-lived AIBO dog.
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By Abigail Goldman  Ben Huh launched his Web site in February with the modest goal of helping Seattle-area residents find dog parks and pet stores. In the first month, Itchmo.com  --  named in honor of his dog's constant demands to be scratched  --  registered just 350 hits.
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Dogster Inc. is the latest social networking site where users can post photos, write in online diaries or use forums to discuss dog issues.
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In the coming weeks and months you'll probably see me writing about issues of podcatchers here, because I'm working on one. It's the third one I've written, so this time maybe I'll get it right.  A lot of things have changed since I wrote my first podcatcher back in 2001. 1. Back then there were no podcasts, so it was a proof of concept, a chicken without an egg (or an egg with no chicken), a step in a bootstrap. Today there are lots of podcasts. An embarassment of riches. 2. Back then implementing a podcatcher was simple, there was exactly one format to support, RSS 2.0 with enclosures. Today, luckily, it's still fairly simple, as far as the format goes. The only variability is the iTunes namespace, which complicates things, just a little.  3. Today there are enough users to make it possible to support lists of podcasts published by fans, and instead of just subscribing to the podcast feeds, you can subscribe to lists of feeds. I will publish one of these lists, in OPML 2.0 format, as a proof of concept.  4. The first version of this new podcatcher will run in the OPML Editor because that's where all my software runs at first. But the goal is to port it to run in other environments, some with millions of users. I want to provide a popular alternative to the one that Apple publishes which currently dominates the market. (Note: I'm generally pleased with the way Apple dominates, they've been very fair about allowing users to export their subscription lists. But if we want to create the opportunity for others to innovate in the area of podcast players, there has to be choice at the podcatcher level. That's my main motive for revisiting this area.) There probably are some other changes, and I'll write about them as the project moves forward. Now.... To people who say that Apple has the market sewn up, I say Bah! I think iPods are great, but they're designed to play music, not podcasts. Every bit of music is something you want to keep forever, a podcast loses almost all its value after you've listened to it once. You have to pay for music (in theory at least) but podcasts are free.  Podcasts beg to have a player that can download them without synching with a desktop computer. Okay that's something podcasts have in common with music.  I buy Apple products all the time. I've gone from resenting Apple so much that I wouldn't buy their products, as recently as 2005, to today when not only do I only use Macs, but I'm constantly telling people why they'd be better off using Macs. I can't help but evangelize the products, I think they're that much better than Windows PCs.  But as much as I love Apple (can't believe I actually said that) I still don't trust them with a whole medium. We need them to have competition. The rest of the tech industry seems to think they're immune to it, that creates a huge opportunity with someone with enough chutzpah to think they can do it. Yours truly, Dave Winer
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The pooch at the center of the dog-adoption drama between Ellen DeGeneres and an animal rescue agency has found a new home. Iggy was placed with a new family earlier this week, a spokesman for the agency's owners said Friday.
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Life & style: Animal rights campaigners are turning their attention to aquariums. Harry Pearson investigates.
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When Matt Boswell began selling franchises of Pet Butler, a service that collects dog waste and disposes it for a fee, there was no shortage of office workers willing to trade briefcases for pooper scoopers.
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Do you want a dog who's a "couch potato" or a "free spirit"? A growing number of animal shelters are using tests to match prospective owners with just the right pet
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Fish and wildlife departments around the country are on the hunt &#151; for more wardens.
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To: FEATURES EDITORS  Contact: Erika Viltz of the World Wildlife Fund, +1-202-778- 9542, erika.viltz@wwfus.org   WASHINGTON, Feb.
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Blog: New $19.95 annual subscriptions will mean ad-free use of Zooomr and some new features.
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The quest to understand dog genetics will help scientists track down the causes of disease in canines and people.
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Google Earth now has a searchable index of data files, a feature to make it easier for users to find and adopt third-party overlays.
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Animal Planet, long regarded as a gentle wildlife channel, is shedding its cute and cuddly image.
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MySpace is getting into the book business. The online social network, an increasingly popular venue for authors, booksellers and publishers, is collaborating with a children's imprint of HarperCollins on an environmental handbook coming out April 22, Earth Day.
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Missing marmosets, abducted alligators, purloined penguins: Thieves are targeting Europe's zoos and safari parks to supply animal collectors who want to own ever more exotic species.