The Avatar Quest

I would really like to have a cool avatar that subtly hints at my super-hero alter ego but still is recognizable as me. I can't seem to find the right utility, though (not that I've knocked myself out trying). I tried Gaia, which was just not the right set of looks for me -- too "teen hipster." Meez was another attempt, which I wanted to try for the animation. However, it's been loading for 30 minutes with no result, so I'm giving it up as a bad job. Tektek, which is very basic, worked well enough for me. The search wasn't working, which made it a bit tedious to find items, but otherwise it was easy. Here are my "3 seasons" results:

Loosely named "Brrrr", "Just right", and "Warmish."

I'm thinking I need to break out the art supplies and do my own. Of course, that would require a time investment of more than 5 minutes...

Update: I finally did get Meez to work. Couldn't really find the right options to make it look like me. But it does blink. That's something.

My last attempt, although there is no animation, was at BeFunky. I like the way these turned out, although I did some editing in my own image program.

Technorati tags: avatars

The Further Behind I Get...

Okay, I have totally abandoned the 23 Things for the present. The 4th quarter of the calendar year is just too busy for me. I'm behind on the 1023 Things I HAVE to do for work, so there's no time for 23 Things I merely WANT to do for my own professional development right now. Maybe I'll resume in January.

Anyhow, I did take a little while this morning to catch up on a few recent posts on LibraryBytes, the blog of the mastermind behind Learning 2.0 and The 23 Things, Helene Blowers. Of course, I had to analyze my blog after reading one of the posts.

Turns out that my blog type according to Typealyzer is ISTP - The Mechanics:

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts. The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk.

Interesting that I approach my writing as an ISTP (which sounds right to me) when my personal MBTI type is INTJ (which is me all over).

GenderAnalyzer guesses that my blog is written by a woman (59%), but "is quite gender neutral."

Here is my readability level from The Blog Readability Test:

Not very inclusive, eh?

Finally, my blog has no commercial value whatsoever, according to How Much is Your Blog Worth

My blog is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?

Bummer, eh?

Also, for a real hoot (thanks again to Helene Blowers), try Hairmixer. My favorite look was my face with Donald Trump's hair:



although I look pretty darn good with Reese Witherspoon's short, wispy blond cut:

but just can't pull off the Gwen Stefani stylized do:

Next time I see my hairdresser, I'm bringing her a copy of me with Reese's hair. Or, maybe, The Donald's.

Technorati tags: learning 2.0, 23 things