Category: Website

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Little connection to the internet 15th – 29th of April, also broke

Since I’m moving back to Denmark I’m going to be without any internet connection in the days between 15th to 29th of April. I might have some limited internet connection during that time, but nothing that I can use to write articles or continue to monitor earthquakes activity.

Any activity in that period can be posted in comments to this article. I’ll try to make a new short article before the comments close automatically after 14 days.

Donations

Please remember to support my work (I’m broke). It is also expensive to move like this and I don’t know at the moment when I’m going to get a job in Denmark. It might take few weeks until I get a job. Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Moving to Denmark, also broke

I’m currently in the process of moving to Denmark. My plan is mostly going as I thought it would do. With one minor exception, I’m having less money then I expected due to the computer failure I had about 1 month ago. That did cost me around 50.000 ISK (355,69€, 405,68$, 2.649,15 DKK). That is a problem for me and continues to leave me bit broke. Any support is welcomed, or the rest of April is going to be rather difficult for me. This was not my original plan, since I had saved up for all the transport cost and some extra on top of that. But then the computer had to fail and since I can’t be without computer I had to buy a new one the cheapest way possible. I did that, but I still have a shortage of money when it comes to transport cost due to this.

This month, donations are needed if people can afford them. I know that not everyone that reads my website can afford supporting me with donations, but that is not a problem for me. [Added] If I don’t get a lot of donations I’m going to have a problem buying food all of April. Due to how things did go when it comes to the money problem that showed up (and I didn’t like it).

Advertisement changes

Few months ago Amazon allowed me to start in Amazon CPM advertisements. The difference from the normal Amazon advertisements is that I get paid per view of this website, rather than just sales as the old Amazon advertisements have had. For this reason I’ve moved most of my advertisements to Amazon CPM. This should bring more targeted advertisements to people that are looking for stuff to buy, even if that is not what people come on this website for. I won’t get any huge amount of payment from those advertisements at the moment. I also get payments if people buy something from those advertisement, under normal commission from Amazon U.S. Amazon CPM advertisements is not an option for the UK, DE, FR and Canada advertisements at the moment. I don’t know when they are going to start there. Until that happens. I’m also going to run normal advertisement that just pay when people buy something trough them.

The reason why I don’t have Google Adsense advertisement is simple. They have video advertisements with audio and video. They also have advertisements with audio only and that is just not acceptable in my view. For that reason I won’t have Google Adsense on my websites. There is also all the Google Adsense red tape that follows it. I am however going to have them on my YouTube channel, once I’ve set that up again.

Article schedule

I am going to have rather good internet connection or at least some internet connection until 14-April. Until that time I can post articles here. Once I’m in Denmark I won’t have internet connection until 29-April. I might be able to write some short articles in that time, since there is a library in the town that I’m moving to. But access to it might be limited (I’m not sure). If anything happens I’ll try and cover it, but I might not be able write about it right away, depending on the situation I’m at the time.

Please note that I won’t be on Twitter while I’m moving to Denmark. Just on Facebook.

Article updated on 02-April-2016 at 22:50 UTC. Fixed missing text.

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Dealing with a computer failure

It appears that my main computer that I use to write articles has a motherboard and cpu that are failing. This started few days ago and is only getting worse as the time passes. There is nothing I can do to stop this failure. I have ordered new motherboard, cpu and memory in a package deal (33.950 ISK / 237,78€). I had to use little of my savings in order to get new hardware, so that I can continue to write here. If anyone want to support me in covering the cost of this they can do so with donations.

The failure that is now happening is due to the fact the computer is almost five years old and it’s most likely that capacitors on the motherboard are failing due to old age. If the failure becomes a permanent one I won’t be properly update this website until I get new hardware. I hope to get new hardware by Friday, but it might get delayed until Monday at latest.

Thanks for understanding.

Update

Turns out the video card might be the reason for this issue. Due to some type of voltage problems in it that is creating this freezing problem. This issue seems to have damaged the motherboard. It works, but just barley.

Update 2

New motherboard (computer) is now up and running. Update is going to be written soon I hope.

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Please remember to support my work with donations

I put a lot of work in this website. While it’s not the most visual stunning website on the Internet, I try to keep it informative and to the point. This is a lot of work and like so many other websites on the Internet I have to get paid for that work somehow. While I do have social welfare from Iceland it’s currently not enough to cover my costs, don’t worry, my budget status is getting better by the month but this is also a slow progress. I won’t be debt free until July-2019 at current rate. Until that month, things are going to be a little difficult for me to keep decent budget while in Iceland, its going to be a slightly better in Denmark (cheaper).

My finances are going to clear up in about three years time. After that I’m implementing a total ban (for my self, I don’t care what other people do) on all bank loans in Iceland (but not in Denmark or Germany [details below on Germany and Denmark(1)]). Ban on other types of loans might also be implemented at the same time (buying phones and such, unless in a emergency). The goal is to clear up payments so I stop being broke all the time, since being broke is no fun and never has been. I’ve learned my lesson in this, but its going to be a difficult time until the clean up is finished and every loan I currently have is paid back.

The reason why my website has simple graphics and not heavy image based articles is simple. I don’t like doing so. This also increases the load time of this website if I would go all graphic as some websites have done in past few years. Such changes would also increase the workload on the sever side and I don’t want to do that, since when a eruption or something happens in Iceland the traffic increases to this website tenfold and sometimes more. It would also increase bandwidth usage by a log and I don’t want to do that either.

It is my view that I want quality over quantity. For that reason I only write about activity in Iceland when something is going on. When it is quiet in Iceland I don’t write a lot on this website and that’s good too, since it allows me to do other writing work that I’m doing, be that stories or writing on some of my other websites (like Spacewatch). Things have been busy in Iceland since 2014 and I don’t think its going to quiet down a lot until sometimes after 2024. But Iceland is now entering period of high volcano activity that might last for up to 80 – 120 years (more details here). This means I’m going to busy for many years writing about Iceland volcanoes and the activity connected to them.

If people are wondering what I get from the Amazon Advertisements it has not been a lot, but the new Amazon CPM advertisements are slightly increasing my income. At the moment I do not get more than $42 a month from Amazon (at the current rate I have my CPM at the moment). For sales I rarely get more then 25 – 40€ paid out every other month (or equal in pounds for Amazon UK). For Amazon U.S I have payment set at 200USD (for the moment), at current rate I should get payment every 2 – 3 months from Amazon CPM advertisements (it is going to take longer for the sale part to get up to 200USD). Amazon also pays out 60 days after the month I reach the minimal payment threshold. I don’t plan on adding Google Adsense back to this website, the rules Google (Alphabet) are difficult, it also pays worse than Amazon (based on what I’m seeing at the moment).

I hope this article didn’t bother too many people. Thanks for reading.

Footnote 1

The reason why I don’t ban loans in Denmark or Germany is that loans in Denmark and Germany have decent policy on payments and interest rates (this is not the case in Iceland). There is also a wider option then just expensive overdraft loan from the bank, as is the case in Iceland. Besides overdraft loans in Iceland, there are just credit card loans available in Iceland and they are not much better then overdraft loans when it comes to interest rates and such details. I’ve also come to the conclusion that loans, in general are a drain on once finances. Besides a loan to buy a house sometimes in the future, I plan on staying away from them view few minor exceptions. One of those exception is the fact I need to get a loan so I can pay the insurance for an apartment in Denmark, but the interest rate is decent and first five years don’t have to pay any interest at all (the total time for the loan is 10 years, half of that time has 4,5% interest rate). The loan is with the multiplicity, not a bank.

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10 years of recording earthquakes

In 2006 I started recording earthquakes in Iceland for the first time. At the time I was living in Hvammstangi, Iceland (currently I am doing so now, but that won’t be for much longer). The first hardware that I got was a short period seismometer with amplifier and digitizer (turns analog signals into digital signals). That hardware continues to be in used today at HeklubyggĂ° geophone station. The second hardware that I got also included three long period channels for seismometers like Lehman seismometer. I don’t know if I ever get any of this type of seismometers since I’ve been developing my standard over the last 10 years. I do plan on buying Volksmeter II seismometer when I’m back in Denmark and have the money to buy them. One for N-S direction and a second one for E-W direction. Vertical is not a option for this type of seismometer. Unlike the geophone I currently use, this are long period devices and they go down to 0.1Hz, giving me a excellent option in monitoring earthquakes at long range and down to magnitude 4,0 at the distance of 400 km (at the most).

I don’t know for sure how many earthquakes I’ve recorded over the past 10 years, but the numbers are somewhere over 10.000 – 20.000 earthquakes. In this time I’ve recorded earthquakes from two eruptions (Eyjafjallajökull (2010) and BárĂ°arbunga volcanoes (2014 – 2015). I did not record many earthquakes from GrĂ­msfjall volcano eruption in 2011 or the minor eruption in Katla volcano in 2011 (that was an eruption in my view, even if the official word is that no such event happened).

The largest earthquake I’ve recorded since 2006 was the magnitude 9,0 earthquake in Japan in 2012. The second largest earthquake was a magnitude 8,3 close to Alaska, I don’t recall exact location. I’ve seen all types of earthquakes, all types of earthquake swarms over the past 10 years on my instruments.

Next 10 years

While I’m going to continue to record earthquakes. I don’t know how long I can continue to record earthquakes in Iceland. Since doing so is a difficult task and effort when it comes keeping everything up and running. Having 3G connection also costs me a little big of money each month. Changes also happen and with time it is going to be impossible for me to keep the two remaining geophones going in Iceland. At the peak of my network I had four active geophones, now I’m down to two geophones in Iceland. I’m going to turn on one geophone in Denmark once I move back there. In few years time I hope to add the Volksmeter II seismometers to my measuring tools in Denmark.

I’m going to continue to record earthquakes, even if I stop recording earthquakes in Iceland due to changes that I have no control over. Changes happens and I don’t know what next 10 years are going to have in store.

Current status

Currently my main earthquake computer is off-line and it’s going to remain off-line until I move back to Denmark. It has been off-line since I haven’t been able to get an apartment for the 1 year + 2 months I’ve been living in Iceland at the moment.

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Happy new year 2016

I wish my readers a happy new year 2016. I hope that the coming year is better then 2015.

It is possible to watch the fireworks in ReykjavĂ­k on RĂşv 2 channel here (on-line). If it does not work there are always MĂ­la web-cameras that can be viewed here.

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Incorrect configuration in regular donation Paypal button

I did notice that older code that I had been using for regular donations into my Danish Paypal account was not correctly set-up. It was suppose to expire after 12 months, due to my mistake it was set to never. I’ve updated the code into correct settings, there are only two persons using the wrong settings to support my work with regular donations. They can cancel at any time if they want to, however I’m going to cancel their automatic donations after 12 months as it was supposed to work. All Paypal donations buttons are now set to my Danish Paypal account. I am sorry for this mistake, it was not suppose to happen, it just did.

Denmark

Since I can’t get Denmark (Official website here) out of my system along with living in Padborg. I have simply invalidated my older decision. I am currently not sure when I’m going to move back to Denmark and Padborg, it is going to happen one day, sooner rather than later.

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Changes to my geophone network next year

I have made the following decision on the future of my geophone network that I am currently running in Iceland. Next year (2016) I am going to do the following changes to it.

  • BöðvarshĂłlar geophone station is going to be closed down in 2016 (late that year). It has been on-line since 2012 (3 years). There are also changes coming to the place where the geophone is hosted, so I don’t think that I can have it anyway longer then until 2017 or 2018 because of that. There already have changes happened creating problems for me, but since I am at the location I have managed to fix it temporary.
  • HeklubyggĂ° geophone station is going to remain on-line for the time being. How long that is going to last I do not know. Since it depends on the owner where the geophone is hosted. I hope it is going to be on-line for few more years. It has been on-line since 2008 (7 years).
  • I have cancelled the setting up of new geophone station in Hvammstangi. I was unable to find good location and the cost of starting it would be high and it would only be on-line for a short period of time.
  • There is going to be a geophone in Hvammstangi for the time I am going to be living there (until 2017 or 2018, maybe shorter time period if I am lucky). That geophone is the one I have at home.

Cost of running a 3G internet connection has also been going up in the past few years in Iceland and I am expecting that to continue. Along with the difficulty that I have to deal with problems if a geophone station fails for any reasons, that being a software or hardware. It was also clear from the start when I started this project that I would not be able to continue it forever. I simply do not have the resources to do so or the time. The direction of my live has also been changing in past few years and I found my place in Denmark (this is Padborg) and I plan on living there for good once I move to Denmark in the year 2017 or 2018 (hopefully sooner). I made the decision on moving to Denmark in the year 2007. I was not sure in the beginning where to stay for good, that issue has now been resolved.

I won’t stop recording earthquakes even if I move to Denmark. It is just going to be different since Denmark doesn’t have a lot of earthquakes (1 – 3 earthquakes a year during a busy year). I plan on focusing on detecting distant earthquakes around the world in Denmark. I plan on buying Volksmeter one day (two channel costs $2000 / 1.841,83€) to record distant earthquakes in Denmark.

Permanently closed down websites

Please note that I have closed down the following websites permanently.

Europe geology

Canary Island geology

Falkland Island geology

The websites are going to stay up for some time until I delete them. I don’t plan on bringing them back since there was never high traffic on this websites even if something was going on in the areas they covered (Europe, Canary Islands and Falkland Islands).

Possibility of a new website

I am currently considering opening up a new website covering large earthquakes around world. I haven’t made up my mind yet. If I open up that website it is going to be on its own domain and not a sub-website of jonfr.com as this website currently is. I don’t know what the interest level is for a such website is yet. There are many websites that cover large earthquakes already on the internet. This website would be English only if I start it.

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All quiet in Iceland at the moment

At the moment everything is quiet in Iceland. This happens and is the normal state in Iceland, even if Iceland is on top of hot spot and a rift zone. No earthquakes swarms are taking place, at least no major activity and Bárðarbunga volcano is quiet at the moment.

Future of my geophone network

I’ve figured out what I am going to do with my geophone network once I move back to Denmark in the year 2017 or 2018 (moving year is going to depending on my saving, it might happen sooner if I’m lucky). It is extremely difficult to maintain and keep my geophone network running when I move back to Denmark. So I am going to close it down for good. Running a remote network also makes it difficult for me to maintain it if a hardware failure takes place (and that is going to happen). The only geophone station that I can keep running after the year 2017 or 2018 is going to be the geophone in HeklubyggĂ° and I am not sure for how many more years that station is going to last. What is important here is that I am running this geophone network on goodwill of people only, for things like housing and electricity. When people life change I often can’t keep my hardware (the geophone) up and running where they are. Doing so from Denmark complicates matter even more, since guidance over the telephone to fix a problem is difficult and often impossible to do from Denmark. Since I need to be around to replace the hardware that failed.

I am not going to stop recording earthquakes. I am just going to do so from Denmark. While I am won’t record as many earthquakes as in Iceland I am going to record any larger earthquakes (magnitude 6,0+) in Greece and other parts of south Europe. I would also record any earthquake in Denmark that goes above the noise threshold (it is high due to road traffic and trains).

My current backlog of earthquake data is now around 5 or 6 years, since past few years have been busy. Both for me and Iceland in terms of earthquake activity. Since I started recording earthquakes in the year 2006 I have recorded around 20.000 earthquakes and that number continues to go up with every year. Just in BárĂ°arbunga volcano activity in 2014 – 2015 I added around one year worth of earthquake data in less then six months. In any given earthquake swarm in Iceland I add from 100 and up to 1.000 earthquakes if the activity is close to my geophone or strong enough to be seen clearly on them, that is not always the case if the earthquake swarm that is taking place is a micro-earthquake swarm with earthquakes with magnitudes 0,0 – 2,0.

My geophones can be viewed here.

Donations: Even if it is quiet I am always in the need for donations to keep this website running and being able to do something. People can donate with the PayPal button or by buying stuff from Amazon (if needed). Thanks for the support. 🙂