Student flogs pixels to fund education

Wants to raise $1m

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 8th September 2005 07:58 GMT

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A UK student is flogging pixels on a web page to help raise $1m to fund his way through university.

Alex Tew, 21, who will be reading Business Management, says people can buy the pixels to display an ad or a logo on his Million Dollar Homepage which in turn can create a link to their website.

The pixels are sold in squares of 100 to create a tiddly icon. Larger groupings can also be bought to make logos stand out.

Tew told El Reg that the scheme was all "legit and completely above board".

"I think this will mostly appeal to businesses and perhaps larger companies will buy up lots of pixels to have a more prominent position on the site," he said.

Faced with the spiralling cost of tuition fees and beer, Tew said he would rather "not to be riddled with debt when I graduate, so I decided to think of a way to make money before I start".

And if he ends up with any extra cash left after his studies he plans to plough that money into a business.

So far Tew has sold more than a 1,000 pixels, including 100 to a dating network, 100 to a marketing firm and 400 to his brother's go-karting business.

Sheesh - what some people will do to raise a bit of cash. Last year Bristol University student Rosie Reid raised £8,400 by auctioning her virginity online to help fund her education. And there are plenty of people prepared to have logos tattooed on their bodies for some dosh, mostly from GoldenPalace.com. ®

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