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Each to his own, but I like the avatars. Some are too garish and headache inducing it's true, but it's fun to see what people choose, and how they think it represents them.
Signatures can be distracting if they are too long, but a short quote, or a link to a website, is another thing I enjoy.

Now my avatar is of a short fat white duck with a camera round it's neck. That pretty much describes me. Except the camera will soon be on a sling not a neck strap. I wonder if I can get Aaron Johnson to update WTD .

I don't mind avatars, they tell us a little bit about thw writer, either what they look like, or what they like to project as an image of themselves. We could analyse that I suppose, so learning a tiny bit about a writer.

I'm not so keen on moving, garish avatars because they just annoy after a while, which if it affects you that way just might predispose your feelings about what is being written.

As for long signatures, apart from their use actually being contrary to the Terms of Use, they are allowed in unless totally ludicrous. However, they simply detract from what is being written, so dilute whatever statement is being made.

Mine is me... Taken by my friend Jitesh Mistry (who's a stunning photographer) at an Exposure Leeds event a couple years ago...

I didn't realise you could choose to not have an avatar until this thread, I would have probably done that initially but after spending many hours in paint enhancing the default one I will probably leave it for the moment.

There are a couple of the 'very animated' avatars which I find distracting, but on the whole I like to see how people see themselves even if there is no physical resemblance.

It also means you can more quickly recognise who people are. I find it far easier to remember someone's avatar rather than their name.

You must be getting old Gareth .

I`m an active member of the Historical Aircraft restoration Society in Australia and I`m part of the Catalina crew. The avatar is a sticker that we had made to sell to supporters. Luckily my favourite hobby is photographing old aeroplanes.

I believe the spell checker is in your browser, not the forum (especially as this is a UK based forum so shouldn't have US spelling!). You can usually download different dictionaries.
I use Firefox with UK English and Dutch dictionaries. I believe they have an Oz dictionary too .

Edit: Ah you edited your post while I was composing my reply .

Which is exactly why I removed my animated crawling spider, it was freaking people out

Thanks Gwyn, I edited the post because I realised that the spellchecker was in the browser as you say. However I`ve had no luck in changing it.
Oh well I might have another try.
Cheers Simmo

Ah got it sorted. Firefox does have an English Oz dictionary, but they seem to think that we have funny American spelling too. Had to download English UK version to get it right.
Simmo

Mine is (currently) a photo of me taken by my son whilst at the Bulldog Rally last spring. We wre messing around waiting for the race to start and he got that shot of me photographing him!
I really liked it so I asked him if I could use it. He may only be 11, but I still think it's good to ask permission to use an image first

"Hey Son, do you mind if I use that image you hold copyright on, I would realy like to use it for my Avatar, and as an added bonus I won't have to stop your pocket money"

mine is a refelection of me taking a snap of a water feature in Alnwick Gardens.

Avatars? That's a crop from a rather nice shot I took in a previous life...

...and as has been said, it's easier to recognize images than names when a long discussion is going on.