I received an email with one of those talking avatars – Site Pals. They are made using a service from oddcast.com. They are a pretty cool idea an animated figure [person, animal or alien] welcomes visitors to your site in your voice or someone else’s.
But the lowest cost is $10/month. That is pretty steep for a little flash animation you could host on your own site. I wish they would do a one-time fee with where you host it and there is no more cost to you. I would probably make a few of them, but not at $10/month or more no way.