Q:  A box says to type what I see but it is all warped!

A:  In most cases when you are completing a form or some other input on this website you will encounter an interesting security method.

A graphic will show twisted and warped letters and numbers, and you will be asked to type what you see in a box below or near the funky letters picture.

This security method is called 'Captcha' and this site uses several versions. The function is to provide real characters but using a method that cannot be scanned by automated programs.

Captcha is regrettably necessary because of the behavior of persons of quality far below that expected of a Mason.

This human debris write programs to crawl every web site and find weakly secured pages and forms and insert spam and other filth.

The webmaster regrets the necessity of this device, but it is ubiquitous to web design in the same way most windows have a lock.

If you encounter a graphic that you simply cannot read you may be forced to refresh the page (your browser Refresh button or the F5 key) and you may lose data you have populated in the form and have to start again.

As a rule of thumb, wait for the form to load and see what the Captcha is.  If you can read it, press on; else refresh.  Some of the Captcha formats are not funky pictures, but are math problems, or logic questions.

Finally, the best version, called Re-Captcha, allows you to change the picture without a full page refresh, and even has an audio option.

Good hunting.

S&F

Brother Webmaster