Insane Difficulty: Doc Lithius - Viewing Profile - Insane Difficulty

Maybe I'm not looking in the right spot, but uh... is there a button that clears all new posts since my last visit as "read"? It's generally labeled as "Mark as Read" or "Mark All as Read" on the usual forum software, but I can't seem to find anything even remotely like that here, whether it be on the forum front page or in a sub-section.

And if not... then I'd like to suggest such a function.

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I absolutely, positively did not see this listed anywhere in any of the parts of the forums that I'd visited. Doesn't mean it isn't there -- just means I didn't see it.
That said... what are the requirements to earn a user pic/forum avatar? X amount of posts? Y amount of time on the forum? X amount of posts in Y amount of time? Or is it as simple as politely asking the right people/person?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: Wow, I feel dumb. Didn't know you could click on that...