There are plenty of avatar/character generators online, but the one at Yahoo! Avatars (via Little Yellow Different) doesn't seem too ridiculous or cheesy. Besides, I find it more apt (and amusing) for a cartoon to represent my virtual self rather than a real life photo. There's a different image on my about page.
Spam approaches 95 per cent of all email. Getting angry at the deluge of junk and trying to erect barriers obviously isn't working. What we need to do is to figure out a clever way to make spammers realize that spamming is not worth their while.
What Exactly Is Under the Sea? "Why, with sonar and satellite scanning, is so little known about the topography of the seabed?"
What Websites Do to Turn On Teens. "If you're designing a website aimed at teenagers, you'd better not make the text too small. That's not because teens have bad eyes, but because teenagers tend to lean back in their chairs when they're at their computers." Then why do teenagers make their own sites with teeny-tiny fonts?
The Telly of the Beast. An interview with Father Gabriele Amorth, honorary president of the International Association of Exorcists and the most senior exorcist for the Vatican in Harper's Magazine.
Elephant Voices. " A main goal is to give easy access to years of field studies related to elephant communication - to elephant voices."
Wayne's Word. An online textbook of natural history.
Zoological Museum Amsterdam. They have put up 3D images of part of their extensive stuffed bird collection online. As I had indicated over at Monkeyfilter, it's like taxidermy on rotisserie.
Literature for Children. "Literature for Children is a collection of the treasures of children's literature published largely in the United States and Great Britain from before 1850 to beyond 1950." All of these books are scanned and online for your viewing pleasure.
Tree-living ants glide to safety. "Canopy-dwelling ants in the tropical forests of the Americas have adopted a neat way of averting disaster should they fall from their perch. They glide to safety, steering towards their home trunk rather than plummeting to the ground, where they might never see their nest-mates again."
At the moment, morning. If I wanted to, I could probably adjust my schedule for night owl phase, but what's the point since everyone does stuff in the morning?
2. What song lifts your mood when you're feeling blue?
Songs usually don't lift my mood.
3. Have you ever had any teeth pulled?
No.
4. Would you rather a)work for Martha Stewart, b) swim the English Channel, or c) eat a serving of Rocky Mountain Oysters?
C. Because the experience would be over the quickest.
5. Who is your best friend?
I don't have a best friend. To be honest, sometimes I think I don't have the personality to have a best friend.
1. Only link to what we've already read and only say what we've already heard.
Oh, I link to other bloggers' stuff on occasion (this list, for instance) but I would say I mostly do it more for the amusement factor. Weblogs that rehash stuff all the time belong to a whole genre of their own--I'm sure they have an audience--so I wouldn't say that it's wrong per se. But it's definitely something I wouldn't read.
2. False modesty.
I agree that this is annoying. If you find me doing this, feel free to virtually slap me up the side of my head.
3. Clearing the archives.
This is somewhat idiotic. Doesn't everyone know that once you put stuff up on the internet, it never really goes away? Deleting everything seems on par with activities like shutting down a site or putting everything behind passwords. Childish and ultimately ineffective.
4. Become overly concerning yourself [sic] with blogging "rules."
Uh, is there really anyone who blogs by "rules"? I had the impression that webloggers on the whole put whatever they want on their sites with little to stop them from doing so. This list of what bloggers do wrong implies that there are rules--making this point paradoxical. This list should have been called: The Ten Most Annoying Things About Bloggers.
5. Fail to follow basic punctuation rules.
I do this all the time. Cut me some slack.
6. Substitute slang for ideas.
I see nothing wrong with this if it's used to make a point (even if it's a stupid, redundant point). File this under writing style. Everyone is entitled to their own style--that's not wrong or right.
7. Fail to take advantage of 95% of the blogosphere.
I'm assuming the basic premise about this is that one shouldn't link to the same sources all the time. I would agree with this except for the case of #1. If the purpose of a weblog is to only link to a couple sources or if the author doesn't particularly care about getting a diversity of sources then they can do whatever they want.
8. Become a one-note charlie.
I suppose if you continually harp about one thing that could turn off readers. But if you specialize in a particular area, I don't see why you couldn't make a subject specific blog.
9. Decline to put up an "about the author" link.
If people want to be anonymous, they have the right to do so. Wanting everyone to put up a profile is nosy.
10. Decline to participate in their own comments section.
I don't see anything wrong with this either. Sure, this will make the blogger seem aloof (at best). Maybe other people aren't accustomed to being ignored but it also seems silly to expect that everything you send off into the ether of the internet will have a reply.
Bonus: Take themselves too seriously.
I take myself seriously although I'm not sure about the too part. And personally, I'd rather have too many serious sites on the internet rather than too many frivolous ones.
There are plenty of avatar/character generators online, but the one at 
