The judges ummed and ahhed about taking this late entry but ultimately it was the icon based chest hair that won them over.

In this photo the Schnackle has thought carefully about picture composition. The size of the head has been calculated with reference to the size of a Windows icon so that the icon resembles, as closely as possible, an actual group of whiskers. This has permitted the Schnack-attack to fully iconise the mouth area without covering it, adding an air of overall naturalism. He has also twisted his body in a dramatic diagonal permitting the icon based chest hair to spring forth with flourish from an open neck shirt, oh so lazily left unbuttoned.

Judges called this "cheeky, almost erotic... reminiscent of young Hemmingway, when he was doing interesting things like hanging around in Spain during the 1930s, not sitting around ruminating, like he did later."

The final entry in the 2006 geckospake icon beard competition. A highly spirited entry from a staff member of a magazine who publishes articles of particularly high quality indeed.

Bath, England. We went there recently. It was wet.

The wooden sculpture at the front from a bit closer up

An interesting looking canal barge - Bath.

Mr Cameron may not have got his gas to wicker ratio right it seems. From our recent trip to Bath.

When we telephone for taxis from work the driver puts your name on a board, surname first. This is how mine ended up on one occasion (captured on my newly acquired picture phone, indispensable for capturing miscellany wherever it occurs).

Layers of meaning within meaning - it is always this way with the Austrian; everything is a game, everything is a riddle. Here the Germanic one reaches deep into Western Iconography with the first icon-icon beard entry. A strong contender.

This one is the work of scientific mind. The brilliance of it is two fold. First, through the use of sun glasses and an ironic racoon hat, the candidate keeps his real identity well hidden. Second, the use of the same style of icon (not totally uncoordinated with the hat, I should comment) creates something as close to naturalism as you can achieve with windows desktop icons. Attentive viewers will be studying the reflections in his sunglasses and background images for clues.

Judges referred to this as "sensuous and exotic, and yet oddly spartan." Here, Miss Lilly uses a mere eight desktop icons, with two cunningly positioned standard windows folders at the corners of her mouth to pull off a work of Da Vinci like grandeur (the artist, not the novel).

The 2006 geckospake "icon-beard" competition

It's easier than it looks. Follow these simples steps to participate:

1. Take a photograph of yourself
2. Make that your desktop background
3. Arrange the desk top icons around the lower half of your face, in the shape of a beard.
3. Press "Print Screen", somewhere near the top right of your keyboard
4. Open Microsoft Paint, press "paste" and save the picture
5. Send me the picture.

All entries will be published.

All the best

Gecko

Introducing: Mr Holmes, never a stranger to facial hair:

Our first "involuntary" entry, in the sense that the model has not given his permission. Here, we see Mr Ks with the first attempt at a "full rounder" with icons forming a gentle crest over his top lip, snapping back into a crisp sideburn.

Raj take a more multi-cultural approach. He has chosen to group the icons very intensely around the chin, and then in a burst of energy spread them up the left side of his face to create a dynamic diagonal line from jaw to ear.

Our inaugral entry. Here, Matt uses the "cluster" technique, arranging the icons around his lower chin to devastating effect.