update: I now use the excellent 'Duplicator' plugin that is completely gratis courtesy of
Life In The Grid - find it in the WordPress plugin directory:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/duplicator/
---------------------
If you are creating a lot of blogs that are identical in their configuration (plugins, theme, settings) you can save a lot of time by creating a master blog that can be replicated with ease if you have cpanel hosting.
...