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 worksYellow Boards buddy icons are hockey-themed scenes where the board rails are rendered in yellow and act as a strong setting marker. Skaters in team colors plus game-text snippets make the competitive rink environment obvious even at a glance.
![Pixelated hockey scene with players on ice, yellow boards visible; red background with blue text reading 'Girls can play... TOO!!! CT Stars #3! luv ya girls!! <3 :]'](/image/cebc7249f8e5bde2673db062c8f61a4e6b5690a9adc03c4c75b1400da1172c66){kind=small}
![Animated icon shows hockey player in blue jersey skating on ice rink with crowd background, text changes from "Sexy" to ":]" and "Sexy:]" across frames.](/image/f41595cf262bce804e9b7be383275ae752ea70c50a4954410e44d4a549ec2985)
