A Few Things

06/14/08 09:19:38 pm

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First we'll talk skins, since that's probably what most of you here are interested in. The skin seen below is in progress... and the balance slider has it in for me. I can't seem to find any functionality in Winamp's MAKI language that'll let me control the pan value... so I can't have it mimic the volume slider and update the animated layer frame as it goes... If anyone knows better, let me know. Otherwise I'll probably have to redo that area (put something different there, or change the slider design).

Second, most of my day at work yesterday was wasted when we had to clean up the database after an SQL injection attack inserted a few thousand lines linking to a malicious Javascript file. Apparently hundreds of sites running MSSQL were hit around the same time. Ugh.

Finally, a bit of anime. I haven't been watching much lately for two key reasons. One is that I have simply chosen to spend my limited free time on other activities (most prominently, more gaming), but the other is that there hasn't been much to trumpet in recent series, it seems. But lately we've been starved for some short, enjoyable video content to watch with meals or while relaxing. So we picked out two to try: Soul Eater and Baccano.

Soul Eater, with 51 supposed episodes, may be pushing the envelope on my tolerance for long series (I know I've watched hundreds of One Piece, Inuyasha and Naruto episodes, but if anything they prove my point: 50 episodes is the approximate maximum for consistently decent quality, I think), but it has been enjoyable thus far. The characters and plot are kinda cookie-cutter: students at shinigami academy - including the archetypical bookworm, headstrong boy, loudmouth, pushover, and perfectionist - must fight together as partners against various evil things and collect souls to become the big cheese. *shrug* Nothing really to complain about, just nothing stellar about it either, I guess.

Baccano, however, I am crazy for. The gore level was a bit higher than my usual taste, but the show's about mafia guys, assassins and otherwise shady characters... so it's not out of place. The story is told non-chronologically, mostly jumping around between a few years in the 1930s, and focusing on suspenseful incidents that intertwine its characters. This manner of presentation allows for numerous cliff-hangers - once you start watching, it's hard to turn it off. The characters are the main driving force of the story though, and I found myself endeared to and interested in all of them (even if they seriously creeped me out at times as well). The music is also catchy - try the opening for a taste.

And that's all for now. Hopefully the aforementioned skin will be done within a day or so...

Lazy Summer?

06/27/07 10:32:42 pm

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Yeah, I know it's kinda slow on updates here lately. I don't really have any explanation, either. In any case, added a scrapped pic to the gallery - MirageGaogamon Burst Mode. There might be some actual, finished fan art coming sometime in the near future. And here are two in progress skins - FFXII Revenant Wings and more D. Gray-man.

Coming Soon: Real Updates

06/02/07 06:19:44 pm

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So, yeah, I've been on a bit of a hiatus primarily due to school. But by Monday, whether I like it or not, the majority of my remaining schoolwork will be done. In the meantime I've taken some time out to spontaneously craft the skin seen on the right. It might look done, it's not. But look for it to be the next one uploaded.

Non-Committal

02/10/07 02:53:23 pm

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Lately I can't seem to get any one skin done because I keep finding new, more alluring images halfway through. Take for instance the two KHII skins shown below - they were going along swell... And then I stumbled into this .hack//GU wallpaper thread (a must-see for GU fans!), and got sidetracked. So now we have two mock ups from there as well. And the four from the previous preview are still where I've left them. Frankly I doubt any of them will be done this weekend [Edit: that I prove myself wrong, is not a good thing].

GU 3 was beaten awhile ago, but that Itami no Mori dungeon is only half done (and will likely remain that way until Spring Break). I started to write something of my thoughts on the series, but it remains unfinished like so many things. Suffice to say, vol 2 and the first part of vol 3 were the low points, but I was quite satisfied by the end. Aina (or "Ina" - I don't care for the way they romanize some of the names: "Youkou" as "Yowkow"?) seemed like something of a throw-away character, but there had to be something driving Ovan. And I'm glad they tied the story more firmly back in to the overall .hack mythos, with Net Slum, Aura and Cubia [and wow did he look cool XD] making appearances.

Filler

01/24/07 01:15:44 am

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Like I mentioned off-handedly in an earlier post, six seems to be the magic number for me when working on Classics.

Click the thumbnail for bigger shot; those on the left are farther along than those on the right. I've probably made more .hack-related skins than all of the other Classic skinners on the internet combined... And we welcome the return of Bleach skins, as the series apparently isn't dreadful anymore. Hip hip omedetou.

Edit: the Hitsugaya and Haseo ones are done. Haseo's Xth form, though cool in appearance, is rather disappointing in battle... Will it get better if I level up the weapon?...

Merry [Post] Christmas

12/27/06 12:51:05 am

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With the busier part of Winter break over (the part where you run around buying gifts and decorating, that is), it's time to get back to my recreational activities. As usual, I have a number of half or semi-done skins lying around. Here're the ones I'm letting you see.

The top two are based on Asian Kung-Fu Generation CD case art (I like Ajikan and the art's neat, that's why... and seriously, what's cooler than a chimp with a telescope?), bottom left is a requested Takuto, bottom right is Twilight Princess [which is super early in development here; wanted to use the image, but it just wasn't working out on a classic... so it ended up Modern].

And now, a short and pointless rant about flash drives and similar portable USB devices. I got one such device for Christmas, and it's the second one I own now that has its strap loop on the USB cap rather than on the device itself. I find this rather foolish - if I'm going to attach this thing to a strap and carry it around, if by chance it comes apart, I'm not gonna be too thrilled that, although I've lost my flash drive, thank goodness I still have its cap.

Yeah, pointless rant like I said, but I'm a designer - I notice these things. :P

In other news, the site is running out of available disc space on its host's server. But I was already looking to migrate hosts anyway. It's just a matter of when I'll be able to get it done... But, updates should continue regularly; if I run out of space, I'll compensate.

Senioritus

10/11/06 02:31:59 am

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Skins in progress - Okami, Shana, Host Club, Yuki. Will probably all be done by or on the weekend.

Readjustment

08/28/06 01:11:45 am

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Back in America, but not quite back to my usual life yet. I'm in the process of moving into a new apartment, and still have to straighten things out at my previous residence, so things are a bit hectic. But all of that should, nay, must be resolved by the end of the month. And then it's Labor Day weekend :D So, expect a real update sometime next weekend.

I have, literally, six skins that are halfway done. In fact, here's a screenshot of 'em. As you can see, I often get sidetracked after creating the player area... and start making other skins. I think I'm going to put a moratorium on new ones though, until I finish up all of these. Incidentally, the subtitle for the Haruhi skin is, "the skin that's always louder than your music." Don't worry, I'll make some more Haruhi skins that aren't so garish... Loved that series.

Btw, I believe the skin in the bottom left-hand corner is Tsukuyomi, but I'm not certain (haven't seen the series, but the image was too cute to pass up). If anyone would like to confirm or deny my assumption, send an email please.