From the archivist
It started with a game that needed a few authentic AIM icons. Then I had 1,000. Then 10,000. At some point, I had a buddy icon problem.
Read how this happenedYou made it this far
You have scrolled past 1,024 buddy icons, so I have some suspicions. My blog is where the other shiny digressions end up.
Subscribe to Shedletsky.comA language of tiny pictures
A picture barely 50 pixels wide, sitting beside an AIM screen name, could announce a mood, a fandom, an inside joke, or who someone wanted to be that day.
Read the short historyRecovered from the early web
Buddy icons survive in old directories, fan sites, downloadable packs, and web archives. The archive preserves the original files, groups known copies, and records where each one was found.
How the archive worksPets, wildlife, birds, and insects in photographs, drawings, and animation. Pick an animal to explore a smaller collection of faces, poses, and characters.
Choose a species first when you remember the subject clearly. If you remember a general shape or movement, compare photographs, silhouettes, and cartoon treatments across the wider collection. Cats, dogs, birds, butterflies, and penguins each have a more focused collection below.
