Saint Charles Order of DeMolay Installation

Recently St. Charles Order of DeMolay held its Installation of Officers for the new term. A set of photographs from this fun event have been posted on the Troy DeMolay weblog located here.

As you look through these photographs and see how much fun these young people are having in such a positive organization I encourage you to think about making a donation to support their activities. Maybe you are a Freemason but don't have a DeMolay Chapter in your own lodge? Or, maybe you just have a PayPal account and are feeling generous.

All you have to do is click on an empty spot in the picture of the square and compasses on our donations page to make a small donation. With each donation received you will be acknowledged on this website as well as have an image and hyper link embedded in the image to demonstrate your generosity. You can donate anywhere from $4 to $100 depending on how large of a spot you select. All you need is a PayPal account and it is as simple as a mouse click.

Thanks, we appreciate the support you have brought us to date.

Once again, the donations page is located HERE.

Secret Codes and Cryptograms by Elonka Dunin

Special thanks to Elonka Dunin who today made a generous donation in support of Troy DeMolay chapter at the 'A Million Pixels US' website.

Don't worry, there are still lots of good spots left!


Elonka is the world famous author of 'Secret Codes and Cryptograms'. Be sure and check it out!

Troy DeMolay Chapter : March Newsletter

We have an awful lot of things going on within our area youth groups over the next couple of months' so the March issue of our newsletter is cram packed with lots of information. It is also loaded with photographs documenting the many fun events and activities we held in the past few weeks. As always, only the first names of the youth have been included in this public version of the newsletter.

Here is a link to the newsletter in PDF format.

I would like to include links to all of our previous newsletters so you can get a sense of what kind of activities these youth groups are involved in.

Issue #1 : From Sepetember, 2006
Issue #2 : From October, 2006
Issue #3: From January, 2007
Issue #4: From March 2007

Troy DeMolay could really use your help. If you read our newsletters and approve the kinds of activities we are sponsoring please make a small contribution. If you are a member of a Freemason lodge that already hosts your own DeMolay chapter, than please focus on your own group. However, if you are a Master Mason and your lodge does not currently sponsor a DeMolay chapter, please think about making a modest contribution to help our efforts.

Each donation will be accompanied by a link from the main fundraising website as well as acknowledgement on this weblog.

Even if you are not a member of the Masonic family but have a paypal account and feel generous, please go over to 'A Million Pixels US' and click on an empty space to make a small donation.

Troy DeMolay Chapter is currently working on two fundraiser projects; a Pancake and Sausage Breakfast on May 12th, and a talent contest that will be held at a date yet to be decided. Our service project is to spend time with the patients at the Shriners Hospital and the Chapter has dedicated itself to performing our own Initiatory and DeMolay degree in April and May!

Our big event is State Conclave over Memorial Day weekend and we hope to make a good showing for our chapter at this big event.

The support of Internet brethren of our small chapter is always welcome.

Make a small donation at: www.amillionpixels.us

Thanks Andy for getting things going again!

Troy DeMolay's fundraising site hasn't received any donations in quite a while (other than the ones Dad Ratcliff drops in just to keep the operation running) so it was with great surprise and pleasure when Andy Finkenstadt made a generous donation to our worthy cause.

You can find Andy's personal web log can be found at this link. Andy has a Wiki wich is located here.

Andy is a brilliant software engineer as well as a superb musician. We are most proud of the fact that Andy is a kind and generous man who brings pleasure to everyone who has a chance to meet him.

Thanks again to Andy for getting the ball rolling again. It's about time that some our Internet brethren follow his example and make a donation simply by clicking on a portion of the image located at www.amillionpixels.us

Gerlinde Nattler makes a generous donation

A special thanks goes out to Gerlinde Nattler (who guys by the online handle of 'Limana') for her generous support of our worthy cause.

Limana is German living as a resident alien here in the United States. She has never married and is the single mother of a lovely daughter. Limana is a physicist, European patent attorney, US patent agent. She was born in 1962 but feels eternally young as a 21 year old.

Limana used her pixel purchase to promote the Haven in Oakland a crisis support charity.

Thanks to Phil (aka Declin the Supreme Mugwump)

Today 'A Million Pixels US' received an incredible $25 donation from Declin. Declin likes to be described as a 'Supreme Mugwump' and we are pleased to have found the above photograph of an actual Mugwump. We are expecting a photograph and biography from Phil soon and will revise this posting at that time.

Phil is now the new moderator of the 'Computer Games and Stuff' forum. Congratulations Declin!!

Here is a short bio from Phil.

Declin (formerly known as "Aldaron")Real name is Phil. I'm 40 years old this November, and have spent the last five years teaching Diploma of Information Technology students a variety of subjects, including applications, operating systems, programming and website development.

Prior to going back to school to get my computer science degree, I spent my working life as a nurse, primarily in operating theatres, though I dabbled a little in brain injury rehabilitation and general surgical wards, as well. I've been happily married for thirteen years this November, and my wife and I have a wonderful 9 year old son.

My interests lie in the realms of politics, social issues, roleplaying games, science-fiction and fantasy, along with (naturally) computers and computer programming. I'm currently in the process of setting my own business, working from home, developing websites for users in my area who cannot afford large, big-budget sites.

Thanks to an Anonymous Brother

'A Million Pixels US' is blown away by the generosity of an Anonymous Brother who made an incredible $100 donation to our cause.

Thanks to Eternl Knight

Thanks to Eternl Knight for his generation donation in support of both 'A Million Pixels US' and John Ratcliff's 'Code Suppository'.

Thanks to Roman

Roman is the strong man of the swimming pool.


Roman interacts with Americans

Last summer Roman and Xander flew all of the way from Switzerland to spend a couple of months in the Saint Louis area. These excellent young men wrote about their experiences on the following web log. It is with great pleasure that 'A Million Pixels US' extends a hearty thank you for the generous donation from these young men.

Thanks to Xander Shomo

Xander Shomo the disco king


Xander enjoying a cardinals baseball game with Brother John W. Ratcliff

Last summer Xander and Roman came to Saint Louis for a couple of months. They wrote about their experiences on the following weblog. 'A Million Pixels US' would like to Xander for his generous donation to our charity!

Eddie and Kevin Tinker make generous donation!

Last evening Brother Eddie Tinker, already a Master Mason with Troy Lodge #34, was obligated into Troy DeMolay chapter. His brother, Kevin, was obligated as well. This morning the two newest members of Troy DeMolay made a generous $25 donation to 'A Million Pixels US' to show their support for the chapter. Kevin and Eddie's father, Guy Tinker, is also a Master Mason and their grandfather, Right Worshipful Brother Russ Tinker is a 33rd degree Scottish Rite Mason.

Troy DeMolay chapter and Troy Lodge #34 are very fortunate to receive so much support from the Tinker family.

Thanks!

Eddie & Kevin Tinker support Saint Peters BMX

Brother Guy Tinker makes a generous donation to 'A Million Pixels US' and promotes Saint Peters BMX.

Today we received a generous donation to support Missouri Masonic Youth activities from Brother Guy Tinker. He asked for his link to contain the following message of support for 'Saint Peters BMX' from Eddie and Kevin Tinker. We are thrilled we continue to receive such generous contribututions from the Masonic community. Thanks!!

The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Florida

We are excited to announce our latest sponsor for 'A Million Pixels US', the Grand Lodge of Florida Website! A Florida Brother was kind enough to make a $4 donation to our fundraising website. This came at an excellent time because Troy DeMolay just wrote a check for $2,500 to send the chapter to State conclave this year.

Five hundred of the $511 dollars raised for far was donated to Troy DeMolay for this purpose and it was great help in defraying the costs for the trip. Thanks to everyone who has donated to this worthy cause!

Be sure and check out the website of the Grand Lodge of Florida, our newest sponsor!

Troy DeMolay Sweetheart Coronation

Troy DeMolay members honoring the Day of Devotion by attending the First Baptist Church in Troy. From left to right is Dad Lamping, Kevin Johnston, Eric Schroeter, Dad McNeil, Donny Schroeter, Sean McNeil, Alex Ratcliff and Kyle McNeil.




Newly elected Troy DeMolay Sweetheart Destiny Hall crowing Associate Sweetheart Jessica Fox.

This past Thursday Troy DeMolay chapter held their annual Sweetheart interviews and coronation. Nine young ladies applied to represent the chapter. There were over 35 people in attendence for this fun evening. The new Sweetheart is Destiny Hall and she will represent Troy DeMolay at State Conclave this year.

Thanks to your generous donations we were able to disburse funds raised by 'A Million Pixels US' to help defer expenses for the evening.

$100 was donated to pay for flowers and gifts for the candidates. An additional $400 was submitted to Troy DeMolay to help defer the costs for Conclave this year. The total Conclave fees for the chapter will be around $2,200.00.

Doug 'Wolfman' Keenan makes generous donation!

Here is a photograph of a clean shaven Doug Keenan before he was bitten by a werewolf. Today Mr. Keenan appears to be slowly turning into a mature version of the 'Teen Wolf' made so popular in the movies. His rugged appearance turns heads, sometimes all of the way around.

We here at 'A Million Pixels US' are thrilled and excited to accept a generous donation of $16 from Mr. Keenan on this fine day. In fact, we are so pleased we have decided to give him not just one, but two "Willy Wonka" bars!

Thanks Doug!

Erwin Coumans of the Continous Physics website makes incredible donatation!

Erwin Coumans, from the Continous Physics website and message forum makes a massive donation to support the 'A Million Pixels US' fundraising website!

This evening we were both shocked and awed to receive an incredible $50 donation from Erwin Coumans to support our worthy cause! Erwin runs the wildly popular physics programming website 'Continuous Physics' and message forums. He was the first ever to purchase one of the few available rectangular blocks of real-estate.

He is now the proud owner of pixel plot #22 with a massive 5,000 pixels of surface area to spread his giant logo on. We hope that he draws lots of traffic to his website from this massive amount of advertising space.

You can be rest assured that he will be receiving a large quantity of 'Willy Wonka' bars to show our appreciation for his generous spirit. Don't forget to try to find his many 'micro-links' embedded in our Masonic logo.

Don't forget, go to the 'Continous Physics' website for all of your continous physics needs; and I'm sure you have many.

We are now only a few dollars away from reaching a total of $500 raised to support Missouri Masonic Youth groups and Troy DeMolay in particular. Hurry to be the one who pushes us over the top to reach that lofty goal!

Denise Wunderlich

Denise Wunderlich has just made a generous donation to 'A Million Pixels US'. Denise is always ready with a witty comment and friendly smile.

Thanks Denise!

Cindy Revelle

"A Million Pixels US" is pleased to announce that Cindy Revelle (pictured above with her husband) made a generous donation on Friday.

When Chapter Dad Ratcliff showed up at the office with a large box of 'Willy Wonka' bars, Cindy was quick to make her donation.

Thanks Cindy!

A Free Willy Wonka Chocolate Bar with every donation!

A FREE WILLY WONKA CHOCOLATE BAR WITH EVERY DONATION!!

It has recently been brought to our attention that some people actually *would* like to have a candy bar when they donate to support our youth group. So, to continue to show our appreciation, "A Million Pixels US" is now giving away a free giant sized Willy Wonka bar to every person that donates money to our worthy cause. If you previously donated then expect your candy bar sometime soon. If you donated and live in a far away country, oh, we don't know, like Switzerland or Sweden, we will hold onto your candy bar until you next visit the United States.

Once again, thanks for your generous donations to date and, for those of you who have not donated yet, you have an additional reason to now!

William Bean, practicing Peace through Brotherhood and Charity

Featured in the center is today's big contributor Bill Bean. On Bill's left is Steve Borho and on Bill's right is Doug Keenen. This photograph was taken at a company Cardinals baseball game last year.

Bill Bean recently petitioned Naphtali Lodge #25 to become initiated into Freemasonry at the New Masonic Temple on Thursday, March 30th. Even though Bill is not yet officially a 'brother' his enormous generosity shows he is duly and truly prepared to become one!

We here at "A Million Pixels US" congratulate Bill on being elected to become a member by initiation into Freemasonry and thank him for his generous donation to support Missouri Masonic Youth.

Bill donated $36 for a large 60x60 pixel property at lot #63 in the Notheast corner of the image. Just as a newly initiated candidate is placed at the north east of the lodge so we find Bill's own ad space on our site.

Bill's advertisment links to the site of the journal of his wife, Stefanie. Stefanie is a prolific writer of fan fiction with a devoted following. Be sure and check out her site as soon as you can!

The New Masonic Temple and Naphtali #25

Dad Ratcliff purchases first $100 pixel lot for The New Masonic Temple and Naphtali Lodge #25!

Last night Dad Ratcliff was so inspired by the success of the "A Million Pixels US" fundraising site that he decided to become the first to purchase one of the thirteen 100x100 pixel lots available. Now there remain only 12 left!

Tonight Troy DeMolay will hold its regular meeting and the chapter will be thrilled to hear that this site has now raised over $400 in our efforts to attend State Conclave this Memorial Day Weekend!

Billy Zelsnack becomes Contributing Sponsor!

Vegetarian, Programmer, Father, and he of Multi-Hued Hair, Billy Zelsnack, made a generous donation this evening to support Troy DeMolay's effort to attend State Conclave this year by purchasing pixel lot #148 with a detached garage on lot #144. I know a lot of you may have been looking at plot #148, in its tony upscale neighborhood, but it is no longer available. In fact, 10% of the total available site links on 'A Million Pixels US' have already been sold!!!

Billy Zelsnack is a free-spirit and compromises for no man. As a father he is both devoted and doting. As a software engineer he is both brilliant and generous. As a vegan he is a friend to the animals of the forest and able to connect with a spirit which is truly universal in nature.

We here at the Million Pixel blog are staggered by his generosity and honored to have such a great, such a famous, and such a humble man become a sponosring member of this worthy cause.

Thanks Brother Billy!

"A Brilliant Mind" Dennis Gustafsson Donates!

Dennis Gustafsson, a man of staggering intelligence (possessing an intellect that rivals the greatest minds on the planet), donated a generous sum of money to the "A Million Pixels US" fundraising site. Mr. Gustafsson traveled all of the way from Sweden (a country in the northern part of Europe) to Saint Louis Missouri just to deliver his donation in person (and in US currency).

In addition to being a brilliant mathematician and expert in physics Mr. Gustafsson has a keen eye for the aesthetic, always finding a unique perspective when viewing everyday life. You can see the quality of his character by viewing his online portfolio of photographs. His current portfolio can be found on his personal website Glubrrana.

Here at “A Million Pixels US” we feel honored and privileged that a man of such discerning taste and breathtaking brilliance would donate to our worthy cause. You need only ask yourself, if it is good enough for Dennis Gustafsson isn't it good enough for me?

With this additional donation of $20 the site has now raised a staggering $289 for Troy DeMolay's efforts to attend State Conclave this year. You can find the complete contributor list here.

Poker Champion Danielle Donates!

On Saturday night Dad Ratcliff held a poker-party at his house in honor of Adam Moravanszky and Dennis Gustafsson who were visiting from Europe. Pictured above are Adam and party guest Julie. The winner of the poker tournament was a young lady named Danielle. "A Million Pixels US" does not have her last name or website. However, she was generous enough to donate $20 to the cause and has reserved pixel plot #87 and #165. Thanks Danielle!

Simon Schirm Donates More!

Generosity Times Two!

Our good friend Simon Schirm (pictured on the left) sent an additional $16 donation to 'A Million Pixels US' this weekend! The photograph above is taken from a Party held at John Ratcliff's house last summer in honor of Simon as he visited the United States. Simon lives in Zurich Switzerland with his lovely girlfriend Margrit. Pictured above is a guest at the party named Christa who was kind enough to pose in a vision of summer fun.

Simon previously donated $4 when the site opened but sent an additional $16 to lay claim to pixel plot #85 located in the north west corner of the square and compasses.

So, we give thanks times two for Simon's overwhelming abundance of a generous giving spirit.

Internationally Reknowned Artist Andrew Risch Becomes a Donating Member!

Internationally reknowned graphics artist Andrew Risch became a proud sponsor of "A Million Pixels US" today! It's been a banner day for us this St. Particks!

Andrew Risch was an artist on "Planetside" creating many of the incredible game levels for that exciting product. He is also credited on "Star Wars Galaxies"

Drew, as he is known to his friends, is the owner of the wildly popular website "Polycount".

Thanks Drew and happy Saint Patricks day!

World Famous Game Developer (and prom king) Scott Musler donates!

"A Million Pixels US" is proud to announce that World Famous Game Developer Scott (Prom King) Musler has generously donated $9 to support Missouri Masonic Youth groups!

Scott worked on the game 'Planetside' and now works for 'Ageia Technologies'. In high school Scott was honored to be elected prom king. In college he was such an excellent althete that he could have possibly pursued a career as a major league pitcher before he blew his arm out.

Once again, thanks to Scott for his generous donation to this worthy cause!

Freemason Information website Makes Generous Donation!

We are delighted this morning to receive a generous donation from Brother Greg Stewart for $25!

Brother Stewart runs several popular Internet sites, including "Freemason Information" and the "Masonic Traveler" web log. Not only did Brother Stewart donate to support our cause but he even promoted our site on his Web Log with a feature posting.

Once again Brother Stewart, thanks so much for your support for our Missouri Masonic Youth Groups. We hope you receive a great deal of site traffic in the coming months from our ad-link. You can view the latest copy of the donations website here. We included quite a few free bonus 'micro-links' to both sites.

Finally, I will close with this. There are some new photographs posted on the website for the "New Masonic Temple" that you can find here.

World Famous Game Developer Brian Sharp Donates!!

World famous game developer Brian Sharp donated $16 to purchase pixel lot #84 today. Brian is extremely famous, very handsome, and has great spiritual powers due to his frequent use of Yoga techniques. "A Million Pixels US" is proud and delighted to have Brian as our latest sponsor.

Once again, thanks so much for donating to the fund so that Troy DeMolay can attend State Conclave this year. The fund has now rocketed up to $183 in only a few days!!!

You can find Brian's blog 'Blue and Orange' here.
A Wikipedia entry about Brian is here.
And here are the 620 hits on the internet so you can learn more about this great man!

Rob Mocca purchases lot #103 right next to Adam Moravanszky!

My friend Rob Mocca donated $9 today to the good cause. Rob is a fellow 16mm film collector and always tries to make it to my movie showings. Thanks Rob!

Dilip Sequeira makes generous donation!

Here is a photograph of my friends on a trip to Zurich Switzerland last year. Dilip is the guy wearing glasses two to the right of Billy Zelsnack. Today Dilip was most generous and purchased pixel plot #80 which was a grand 40x40 pixels of roomy size. He hasn't sent me a link yet, but I did crop in his picture.

Also seated at the table (left-to-right) are Matthias Mueller, Adam Moravanszsky, Simon Schirm, Pierre Terdiman, Dilip Sequeria, Tim Little, and Billy Zelsnack.

We have already received donations now from Adam, Simon and Dilip. I'm hoping to hear from the rest soon. I'm sure by now word is getting out into the software development community as to what a status symbol it is to be hyperlinked from the Square and Compasses located at http://www.amillionpixels.us

Once again, thanks Dilip!

Jeremy Stieglitz clicks a Pix

Jeremy Stieglitz of Artificial Studios clicked his mouse on a a PayPal link and fired off a $4 donation late this afternoon. Thanks Jeremy!!

James Dolan Makes A Generous Donation!

My friend and colleague James Dolan made a generous donation to "A Million Pixels US" today! James purchased pixel lot #107, located at the intersection of 479th street and 517th. He is the proud owner of a 30x30 pixel plot where he placed his house.



James even pitched in an extra buck to make it a cool $10 for my son's DeMolay youth group!

HardyHeaven donates $25 and Dad Ratcliff buys some links!

Well, after Day #1 the "One Million Dollar US" website, dedicated to raising money for Masonic Youth groups in our area, raised $129! That's better than selling candy bars any day in my book.

Thanks to my friends who donated money to this worthy cause. Here is the current Pixel List after the first day:

List of 511,600 pixels available for sale, 488,400 reserved for image space and borders.

Sold to date 12,900 pixels for $129.

498,700 pixels remain.

(1) March 6, 2006 : AD062_657X359_060X060.jpg sold to John Oberschelp and Family for $36. Congratulations John on being the first ad sold on ‘A Million Pixels US’ and much thanks too!

(2) March 6, 2006: AD083_266X000_40_40.jpg sold to Adam Moravanszsky for $16. Thanks Adam for supporting this worthy cause!

(3) March 6, 2006: AD160_489X482_20_20.jpg sold to Simon Schirm for $4. Thanks Simon!

(4) March 6, 2006: AD073_795X760_050X050.jpg sold to Hardy Heaven for $25. Thanks!

(5) March 6, 2006: AD064_828X226_060X060.jpg sold to Dad Ratcliff with a link to his home lodge Wentzville #46 for $36.

(6) March 6, 2006: AD201_977X632_020X020.jpg sold to Dad Ratcliff for $4 with a link to The Burning Taper Blog.

(7) March 6, 2006: AD200_975X342_020X020.jpg sold to Dad Ratcliff for $4 with a link to The Masonic Traveler Blog

(8) March 6, 2006: AD199_930X360_020X020.jpg sold to Dad Ratcliff for $4 with a link to The Freemason.com Message Forum

Web host moving

I am in the process of moving my web-hosting service so the domain 'www.amillionpixels.com' may be offline for a few hours. However, when it is back up again I expect to be able to provide a much nicer dedicated host going forward.

Thanks for understanding the brief down-time.

Ok, the website is moved to the new hosting service, but the re-direct hasn't kicked in yet.

Here is the current link: http://jratcliff.web.aplus.net/

Simon Schirm buys third ad!

My friend Simon Schirm purchased the third ad sold for $4. This tiny 20x20 pixel ad is located dead center in the image. Simon didn't have a website to promote so he said to just link to my personal weblog which can be found here.

Thanks Simon for your generous donation!

Second Ad sold to Adam Moravanszky

My friend Adam Moravanszky just purchased the second ad for $16. He paid me directly so there were no PayPal fees!

So, in a matter of hours, the website has already raised about $50, which is as good or better than any of the other fundraisers we have tried!

I haven't received any specific Freemason themed links yet but I just decided that I will seed the site with my own favorite links first.

John Oberschelp buys first Ad on 'A Million Pixels US' site!

Thanks to John Oberschelp and Family for being the first to donate an Ad to 'A Million Pixels US'!

This morning I checked my email and had a PayPal payment from John Oberschelp for $36. He purchased Ad lot #62 at pixel location 657,359 with a size of 60x60 pixels for a total of 360 pixels!

This marks our first sale and the account now contains $34.66 ($36 less $1.34 in PayPal fees).

I have revised the website to contain our first Ad, please check it out!

http://www.amillionpixels.us

A Million Pixels

This is my first Weblog entry about my new fund raising site, "A Million Pixels US" to raise money for Masonic Youth groups in my area. Even if you don't have a site to advertise, you can still donate and be recognized!!

I’m sure you have heard by now about the guy who sold a million pixels on the Internet for a dollar a pixel and, yep, he made a million bucks. Good for him. And, perhaps, you have heard about the guy who sold a million pixels on the internet for a penny a pixel and made a cool ten-grand. Good for him too.

This got me thinking, could I use this same approach as a fundraising opportunity for my son’s youth group? I checked out these other sites and the first thing I noticed is that they are really ugly. It is also clear that fairly random people bought advertising on the sites just because it was part of a fad.

However, there can only be so many ‘million pixel’ sites before the idea loses its appeal. In fact, when I investigated getting a URL reserved for a site it was obvious I wasn’t the only one who had this idea. In fact, there are now thousands of ‘million pixel’ websites out there competing for your pixel dollars. It has even created a whole new class of internet advertising called ‘pixel ads’.

One advantage of pixel ads is that it is a neat way to browse a lot of sites from a single portal. That said, I think it would help if the links were all related by some theme instead of this random mish-mash of marketing mania found on these other sites.

I concluded there should be some basic requirements set for a new pixel-ad site that would have any chance of success in this crowded market. Here is what I came up with:

· All money goes to charity. I’m not trying to line my own pockets. Every link purchased is a donation to a worthy cause.

· Each time someone donates to 'A Million Pixels US' they not only get acknowledged for their generous contribution but they will also know exactly where their money goes. Every single penny raised will be reported and every penny spent documented on this public website. For example, currently my son’s youth group is trying to raise money so they can attend the annual State convention in May. We need at least $2,000 to send the entire chapter. If we are lucky enough to raise more money than we need for State Conclave then we will donate it to the other Masonic Youth groups in our area, including Rainbow for Girls and Jobs Daughters; as well as supporting own charities.

· We will not accept links that are inappropriate or do not match the general theme of the site. This means there will be no ads for weight-loss, internet gambling, or any other inappropriate material. We will accept links to the following kinds of Masonic themed sites:

o Personal weblogs of Master Masons
o Links to Masonic themed message forums.
o Masonic Blue Lodge sites
o Shrine sites
o Eastern Star Sites
o Rainbow Sites
o DeMolay sites
o Masonic magazines or books
o Scottish Rite
o York Rite
o Jobs Daughters
o Amaranth
o White Shrine
o Shrine Circus
o Masonic Buildings / Facilities
o Masonic themed photographs or histories
o Grand Lodge sites
o Commercial sites selling Masonic supplies.
o Anything else that we deem appropriate.
§ Links to non-Masonic themed weblogs
§ Appropriate discussion forums.
§ Vanity links to photo-albums.

· To make the site visually appealing, the graphics real-estate being sold will be negative space on an attractive image that helps sell the theme of the charity. Since my charity is Masonic Youth groups I used a classic image of the “Square and Compass” as the background theme.

· Image space is pre-divided. Effectively turning it into a ‘subdivision’ where you buy a specific piece of image real-estate. Allmost all space that is being sold is in square blocks (except for a few rectangular plots) that are an even multiple of 10 pixels on a side.

· The million pixels (of which we are selling about 500,000) is subdivided into 201 plots; ranging from $4 for a 20x20 pixel square to $100 for a 100x100 pixel spot. For every $10 you donate you will receive an additional free ‘micro-link’ that will be hidden somewhere in the image. Here are the plots available for sale.

o $100 : (100x100) 13 plots offered, 10 bonus micro links with each.
o $81 : (90x90) 5 plots, 9 micro-links.
o $64 : (80x80) 5 plots, 6 micro-links.
o $50 : (100x50) 32 plots available, 5 micro-links.
o $49: (70x70) 1 plot, 5 micro-links.
o $36: (60x60) 10 plots, 4 micro-links.
o $25: (50x50) 7 plots, 3 micro-links.
o $16 : (40x40) 20 plots, 2 micro-links.
o $9: (30x30) 32 plots, 1 micro-link.
o $4: (20x20) 77 plots, no micro-link offered.

· All plots sold include, for free, a one pixel border all of the way around the edge to help distinguish your ad from its neighbors. We are not selling all ‘one million pixels’. We are, in fact, only selling about half of that, at a penny a pixel. The rest is reserved for the original background artwork or for free bonus micro-links.

· Since my charity is Masonic Youth Groups (DeMolay, Job’s Daughters, and Rainbow for Girls), I want to engage the very active online Masonic community. Freemasons are, by nature, generous. We give frequently to many charities within our own lodges and area. However, there is another Freemason community out there which is bound, not by individual lodge, but by Weblogs and discussion forums. Here, with the click of a mouse button, a brother Master Mason can donate a few dollars to a worthy charity and receive a link to their blog, forum, or lodge website.

It still may be another week or two until the site is in place. However, I am excited about engaging the online Masonic community in this charitable fundraising event.

Brother John W. Ratcliff
Email: jratcliff@infiniplex.net
http://www.amillionpixels.us/
Wentzville Lodge #46 A.F. & A.M.
Naphtali Lodge #25 A.F. & A.M.
Moolah Shrine