New Skin, New Project

03/06/10 09:34:25 pm

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Just one new skin posted today, and I shall explain the [partial] reason that updates have been somewhat sparse lately.

I used to make skins entirely "by hand" with Photoshop and no intermediary programs.  This entails a number of tedious tasks in setting up the individual files needed for a functional skin.  At some point I started using SkinAmp to handle these tasks, but in doing so I was essentially turning off everything else that SkinAmp does; I don't want any of its customization, because it produces aesthetically unpleasing results.

My inclination from this was to make a basic utility program that only does what I need.  So I made that and now I'm having fun with it, such that my goals for it have expanded.  Now I'm aiming to create something like SkinAmp... but better.  The challenge is that I am a web developer, and have not actually made any desktop applications before. :)  So I'm learning as I go, and the going is slow at times, but I'm steadily building it up.  When I've produced a version with substantial features, I'll likely make it available for download, so stay tuned for further developments.

I also have a couple more skins in progress of Yudzuruha and Kongiku from Muramasa.

Our New Friend PS3

12/17/09 07:29:30 pm

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Since I last made an appearance, I have watched the first 3 seasons of Heroes, cooked a Thanksgiving turkey (breast), penned a healthy stack of wedding thank you cards, and played several games on our shiny new slim PS3. I'm currently on inFAMOUS, in which half my time seems to be spent happily running around town collecting items and doing side missions (what? there's a story?). Before that came Batman: Arkham Asylum, a truly great game in so many respects, and Ratchett and Clank: Tools of Destruction, of which I'm looking forward to playing the sequel as well.

Got one new Kingdom Hearts skin posted; it really has been awhile - had to check my work a couple of times to be sure I wasn't forgetting anything. And there are a couple of requested skins I'm working on as well.

Modern Skin Errors

10/25/09 12:34:33 pm

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It has been brought to my attention that several of my Modern skins are prompting XML errors in the newest version of Winamp.  I didn't see these errors before, so maybe this version is stricter with parsing...  In any case, I have corrected and re-uploaded all of the affected skins, so if you're seeing errors, please delete the skin file you have and re-download it.

The Summer Progress

09/12/09 10:02:21 am

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As is becoming a summer tradition since coming to San Diego, the fiance and I went out to Comic Con in July.  Not as many panels of interest to us this year, so most of our time was spent in the expo, exploring the sights, getting free stuff, playing games on display, havin' a good time. We got to check out Scribblenauts, the release of which we're looking forward to next week, and Behemoth's Game 3. We caught a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy, and there's this one exhibit that I always enjoy...

I assume they give artists a blank sculpture of a popular character (one year it was Darth Vader heads), and have them design it however they want. This year's guinea pig is Stitch!  It's fun seeing what they come up with, whether it be cute, silly, impressively detailed or downright creepy.

Sooo, what about the site? Well today I've added 8 skins by a new contributor, katoh! :) You'll find them under Megaman, Hetalia: Axis Powers and Volcaloid. As for myself, there are a few skins I'd like to make, but I'm still kind of busy with some little things... like moving, and a wedding. :] Some time after those, then maybe I'll get back to being productive.

Engagement & Wedding Planning

04/11/09 03:07:35 pm

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I don't often talk about my personal life on the site (it simply wouldn't be of interest to many of you), except where it relates to either the general themes of the site (like games I've played, anime I've watched, technologies I want to rant or rave about, etc.), or the lack of my presence here. This time it's about the latter: I got engaged about two months ago. :) Needless to say I've been putting some energies into wedding planning ever since, and we're also looking for a new abode, possibly one to own, if affordable.

Also we got Rock Band.

So, lots to do, lots to do, and might not get a lot of creative work done in the meantime. So, while you wait, just download your favorite skin again. :P