diff --git a/openerp/addons/base/base_update.xml b/openerp/addons/base/base_update.xml
index 0eef0a0f4cb..5d6f214c0a9 100644
--- a/openerp/addons/base/base_update.xml
+++ b/openerp/addons/base/base_update.xml
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@
                                 <group colspan="7" col="7">
                                     <group col="2" colspan="1">
                                         <separator string="Avatar" colspan="2"/>
-                                        <field name="avatar_mini" widget='image' nolabel="1" colspan="2"/>
+                                        <field name="avatar_mini" widget='image' nolabel="1" colspan="2" on_change="onchange_avatar_mini(avatar_mini)"/>
                                     </group>
                                     <group col="3" colspan="2">
                                         <separator string="Preferences" colspan="3"/>
diff --git a/openerp/addons/base/images/photo.png b/openerp/addons/base/images/photo.png
deleted file mode 100644
index 1d124127b2b..00000000000
Binary files a/openerp/addons/base/images/photo.png and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/openerp/addons/base/res/res_users.py b/openerp/addons/base/res/res_users.py
index 25d7ce9d9f9..f5fba485b02 100644
--- a/openerp/addons/base/res/res_users.py
+++ b/openerp/addons/base/res/res_users.py
@@ -35,8 +35,11 @@ from tools.translate import _
 import openerp
 import openerp.exceptions
 
+# for avatar resizing
 import io, StringIO
 from PIL import Image
+# for default avatar choice
+import random
 
 _logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -214,22 +217,27 @@ class users(osv.osv):
         extended_users = group_obj.read(cr, uid, extended_group_id, ['users'], context=context)['users']
         return dict(zip(ids, ['extended' if user in extended_users else 'simple' for user in ids]))
 
+    def onchange_avatar_mini(self, cr, uid, ids, value, context=None):
+        return {'value': {'avatar': value } }
+    
     def _set_avatar_mini(self, cr, uid, id, name, value, args, context=None):
         return self.write(cr, uid, [id], {'avatar': value}, context=context)
     
+    def _avatar_resize(self, cr, uid, avatar, context=None):
+        image_stream = io.BytesIO(avatar.decode('base64'))
+        img = Image.open(image_stream)
+        img.thumbnail((180, 150), Image.ANTIALIAS)
+        img_stream = StringIO.StringIO()
+        img.save(img_stream, "JPEG")
+        return img_stream.getvalue().encode('base64')
+    
     def _get_avatar_mini(self, cr, uid, ids, name, args, context=None):
         result = {}
         for user in self.browse(cr, uid, ids, context=context):
             if not user.avatar:
                 result[user.id] = False
-                continue
-
-            image_stream = io.BytesIO(user.avatar.decode('base64'))
-            img = Image.open(image_stream)
-            img.thumbnail((180, 150), Image.ANTIALIAS)
-            img_stream = StringIO.StringIO()
-            img.save(img_stream, "JPEG")
-            result[user.id] = img_stream.getvalue().encode('base64')
+            else:
+                result[user.id] = self._avatar_resize(cr, uid, user.avatar)
         return result
 
     def _set_new_password(self, cr, uid, id, name, value, args, context=None):
@@ -378,13 +386,15 @@ class users(osv.osv):
         return result
 
     def _get_avatar(self, cr, uid, context=None):
-        avatar_path = openerp.modules.get_module_resource('base','images','photo.png')
-        return open(avatar_path, 'rb').read().encode('base64')
-
+        # default avatar file name: avatar0 -> avatar6, choose randomly
+        random.seed()
+        avatar_path = openerp.modules.get_module_resource('base', 'images', 'avatar%d.jpg' % random.randint(0, 6))
+        return self._avatar_resize(cr, uid, open(avatar_path, 'rb').read().encode('base64'))
+    
     _defaults = {
         'password' : '',
         'context_lang': 'en_US',
-        'avatar': _get_avatar,
+        'avatar_mini': _get_avatar,
         'active' : True,
         'menu_id': _get_menu,
         'company_id': _get_company,