Adam Covati over on MarketingProfs posts a very good article about the Email Standards Project .

Email marketers are stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. On the one hand, a marketer wants the message to be attractive, snazzy, brand-appropriate and all that good stuff. On the other hand, the html message has to render properly whether it’s being displayed in AOL, Outlook, Gmail or what have you.

In attempting to strike a balance between the two, the result often tends to be messages that look like Web pages circa 1999 (minus the spinning .gifs, thank goodness!) and marketers who feel they’ve had to compromise on their brand look and feel.

So establishing a set of html email standards across all clients makes great sense. As the home page of the Project states: "Our goal is to help designers understand why web standards are so important for email, while working with email client developers to ensure that emails render consistently. This is a community effort to improve the email experience for both designers and readers alike."

Of course, performance and aesthetic excellence are not always directly proportional. It’s not unusual for ugly html or wretched-looking landing pages to deliver the best performance. Still, if the email breaks, the message — ugly or otherwise — isn’t even getting out there in the first place. I wish the Standards Project every bit of expedient success possible.

Takeaway for marketers: Looking good is good. Performing well is better. Test. Measure. Rinse and repeat.

Techdirt alerts us to a Slashdot posting about an NPR story (how’s that for convolution?) that suggests one’s Second Life avatar can have an effect on one’s first life body.

For example, Techdirt writes, "if someone has a ‘more attractive’ avatar within a virtual world, once they leave that virtual world, they’re more likely to have higher self-esteem and believe that they’re better looking in real life as well."

Okay, fine … but what about those freaky and odd avatars?

There’s certainly some sort of a link between one’s personality or world view and one’s avatar, but I have a hunch it’s a lot more subtle and complicated than the notion that having a thin avatar drives you to exercise more.

Looks like that Miley Cyrus memoir may be a little juicier than everyone expected, if the June issue of Vanity Fair is any indication.

"Okay, Miley, we want you to be naked under the sheet — don’t worry, it’ll be artistic, okay? Hold the bedsheet, I mean the, well, you know what I mean, hold it over your front and just look over your shoulder as if you’re waiting for — wait a sec, Miley. Makeup! Can we get a redder lipstick on Miley?"

Oh, Brand Miley … let’s be careful out there, okay?

Digital Media Wire reports on MediaMetrix data that AOL traffic is up over a year ago in terms of both page views (35 percent) and unique visitors (11 percent) … meanwhile, AOL is laying off 100 ad sales staffers.

This is a pretty cool time-waster, especially if you’re into comics in any way. Enjoy!