I don't think anyone is in favor of garish, animated emoticons, but I could be wrong. Like I said, I am perfectly happy with the emoticons we have, but am also open to other people's ideas.

Would it bother you, alanw, if there were a permanent country flag that you could pick out yourself, permanently attached to your profile?

How about personal head shot photos attached to your profile?

Obviously, whether it be an avatars or images attached to profiles, participation would be optional, and it would be optimal to have an on/off switch for any feature.