Category: Donations

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Support to buy two geophones stations for Eyrarbakki and Katla volcano

I am asking for donations so that I can buy two geophone stations for Eyrarbakki town for SISZ and Reykjanes monitoring. The second geophone goes close to Katla volcano so I can monitor what happens there. The total cost is like this just for the basic geophone hardware. Not counting computers and other costs that I have too cover.

2 – PSN-ADC-USB Version III (USB version) = $175.00 each, total = $350.00
2 – PSN-ADC-EQAMP with 3 channels = $145.00 each, total = $290.00
2 – Mounting Kits @ $10.00 each, total = $20.00
2 – Garmin GPS 18x LVC OEM Timing System @ $80.00 each, total = $160.00
2 – Metal Enclosure @ $50.00 each, total = $100.00
2 – L15B Used Geophone with wires @ $110.00 each, total = $220.00
Shipping = $88.00
Total = $1228.00USD (904.600EUR, 6,731.18 DKK)

Amount at the moment (13:35 UTC, 1 October, 2011): 3,926.44 DKK

The hardware that I want to buy can be looked at here (pictures).

This donation button allows people to donate in USD. Use the donation button on the sidebar to donate in Euro.

So far I got 1,045.81 DKK in donations. But I also need some for the custom and VAT when I import this to Iceland. But I am sure think that the custom is going to 10% on some of this and the VAT rate is 25,5% of the price (plus customs). I am no good in math, so I am not sure how much amount this is going to be. I also want to buy backup power if I can, but that costs 101,69USD, 553,04DKK, 74,33EUR, 11950ISK.

I also need two computers. But those I need to get from somebody that lives in Iceland. They need to be able to run Windows XP and that needs to be legal too. Other versions of Windows are good too. But they have to support IPv6, as I plan to move my whole geophone network to IPv6 soon as it is supported by the software that I use. I plan to set-up this two new geophones soon as I can.

Update 1: About the PC issue that has been discussed in comments. If anyone has a suggestion about a embedded hardware that is cheap and might even run Windows XP (a minimal if I am too use that). Please let me know in the comments. I am also willing to run embedded linux software on the remote stations if it works with the software that I am using. That software is WinSDR.


Donations in other currencies (by request)

Danish Krona, DKK.

British Pound, GBP.

Swedish Krona, SEK.

Blog post updated at 20:23 UTC on 28 September, 2011.
Blog post update at 20:29 UTC on 28 September, 2011.
Blog post updated at 22:12 UTC on 28 September, 2011.
Blog post updated at 23:29 UTC on 28 September, 2011.
Blog post updated at 11:42 UTC on 29 September, 2011.
Blog post updated at 20:11 UTC on 29 September, 2011.
Blog post updated at 20:13 UTC on 29 September, 2011.
Blog post updated at 13:35 UTC on 1 October, 2011.

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Back to Denmark in the summer of the year 2012 (off-topic blog post)

This is a off-topic post. So feel free with off-topics thing in the comments.

One of the aspect about writing about volcanoes is that it depends on how you feel in the place that you write in. But for me as a writer that is a important aspect of my writing. I love writing about volcanoes and earthquakes, the monitoring data among other other things all related to volcanoes and earthquakes. But that is also important for me to live in the correct place so I can make my best work. This is not just about writing about volcanoes, but this is also important for my other book work that I am planning to write in the future.

The thing is however that place for me is not Iceland and never has been. It is a collection of many social factors I am not going to go into here in details, but the biggest reason is that in Icelandic culture writer are not appreciated as they should be on the public scene (and some types of work are not even put forward unless you got right connection). But I find that living in Iceland affects my work and even starts a writing block with me. For that reason it is important for me to do my work elsewhere then in Iceland. From what I gather my writing appears to work well in Denmark. It might also do so in other Europe countries. But so far my feeling for Denmark is good and for the moment I am going to stick with it.

For that reason I am moving back to Denmark in the year 2012. The exact date is not yet clear. But I have decided that I am hopefully going to move in June. At the moment that might change. But I find this to be a good target, as then I have been one year from Denmark since I did move first time around to Denmark in February in the year 2011 and back to Iceland in June.

I am plan moving to a town named Ringsted in Denmark. It is closer to Copenhagen then Sønderborg where I used to live. But trip with a train is about 35 min, rather then 3 hours and around 30 mins from Sønderborg. Around the time that I move. I plan to have for all the costs that I need to pay. Thanks to a computer work that I got. I should already have been covered the transport cost already (I have not yet been paid, so this is in the remains to be seen stage). The only thing that remains is the deposit for the apartment plus one expensive month without rental benefits in Denmark (since I am low income).

Status update to my blogs

In light of all this. I have decided that I am going to upgrade the status of my blogs to work, rather then just plain hobby. It is going into to effect from this blog post here in part. But it is going to full effect from 1. January 2012. How this is going to develop is a process that I am going work on all the time that I am going to write. But the average work on a blog post that I write here is about 1 hour and 35 min. But longer blog post can take up to 8 hours to write from start to finish.

This change suggests that I am going to have some income from this. That would be welcomed. But for the moment I do not have a lot of income from this work. Most of the income is from donations and advertisements on this web site. For the moment, that is not enough for the whole month. But with the social welfare it helps. But that also has its drawbacks for the long term. As income lowers my social welfare if it goes above certain amount. Now, that is all good with me if that income would be constant. For the moment, that is not the case. So how this is going to turn out is a good question. But I hope for the best when the time comes. For the moment however, my income from this is low and I expect it is going to remain so for the months ahead.

As for my plan on paying back my debt with the bank. It is going rather good. But it is going to go better next month, as I am only going to school this autumn. So I am hoping to be debt free before the new year comes. But if that happens remains to be seen.

On-topic snapshot

It is all quiet in Iceland. While that remains. I am writing this blog post to use the quiet time for something useful.

Thanks everyone for the support! 🙂

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Donations and Google Adsense

This is a off-topic post:

I once more have to ask for donations. As I have been doing for past few months. The reasons are simple and have remained unchanged as before (check older blog post for details). But the cost of school this winter is something I can handle on my own, but with debt payments it does not leave anything leftover for me to spend on other stuff and food during weekends. But in the dormitory where I live there is only food during the week, not on the weekend.

I also want to try and keep a balance in my finances until I move back to Denmark. My debt payments are going well to and almost on target so far.

Google Adsense

I am quitting with Google Adsense. The reason is quite simple. They have not paid me and they don’t answer my emails on what the problem might be. As my account is on invisible hold with them. My rule is simple. I don’t do business with companies that behaves like this. All Google Adsense ads are going to vanish in the next three days or so. But I remove them when I have the time to do so. That is going to take around three days in my estimate. Now if Google Adsense fixes this issue in timely manner I am not going to quit using them, for now anyway. But given the current track record on this type of issues, I do not think that is going to happen.

I am going to replace the Google Adsense ads with Amazon Ads. But I have had no problem what so ever with Amazon when it comes to ads and payments. So I am going to keep using them.

Google Adsense has removed the hold on my account, so I am going to get paid from the on 1. October and onwards. So this issue should now be fixed forever I hope. I have started to add Google Adsense ads back to my blog and web pages.

Thanks for the support and understanding.

Blog post updated at 20:06 UTC on 1. September 2011.

Blog post updated at 03:03 UTC on 3 October 2011.

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How donations help me II

This is a off-topic blog post.

The earlier background information can be found here.

The saving project for the next 14 or so months

After what I call a rather expensive (more then expected and more what I liked) August. I am going to freeze my spending for the next 14 or so months. That means I am going to limit my spending as much that I can do during this time. But that is until I move back to Denmark in February 2013. I have to spend some money on food, maintenance on my computer and all necessary stuff. But I am going to limit that as I can possible do. I just hope that nothing dies or fails computer wise during this period.

My debt paying down plan is running good at current time. I do not expect any problems with it, at least nothing that I cannot balance out in the budget during the paying down period. At least that is what I hope actually happens. But I have to wait and see what happens actually.

How the donation button works

This might be obvious. But I am going to write it down anyway.

The “Donation” button is a single donation. It is what you want to donate. It is a free range of what people want to donate. The “Subscribe” donation button is fixed at €10, but that is $14.17, 8.7GBP, 74.51 DKK, 93.29 SEK (current exchange rate, this is a estimate). It runs for 6 months and then has to be renewed. I did not want to last for 12 months or longer. I did not find it to be fair to the people how donate, as things change change a lot in 6 months. This option was for people how might want to donate regularly. But not a large amount each time they donate.

People how want to donate in other currencies the Euro can do so. I support SEK, DKK, USD, GBP. If requested I can add more currencies that I can support. But it has to be a currency that might be used every once in a while. I do not want to support a currency that is never used for a donations.

The income problem

As I have told people before. I just have my income from social welfare. Something that I am to get my self off with income from e-book sales when the time comes. But at the moment this blog and a new blog that I am going to create are my work and provide a little bit of income during the month. This extra income helps in that sense it allows me to pay down my debt faster. But I would not go as far saying it allows me to collect some money in the long run. But I am going to do my best with saving money during this winter, as I need to do if if I want to move back to Denmark.

It is also a problem in Iceland in regards to income how prices are going up in regards to food and other stuff. I do however not expect this to be too big of a problem during the next 14 months or so while I am living in Iceland. I just hope that I make it out in time before the economic mess starts in Iceland. If people want to talk about it, they can do so here on my main Icelandic blog where I write about this in English or Icelandic if they fancy Google Translate errors.

I hope that my income problems gets less annoying when I start to publish my e-books. But I plan to release few short stories in few weeks time. Those are not long stories and won’t be expensive. At least I hope for the best when it comes to e-book sales.

As always I thank you for the support that I get with donations. 🙂

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How donations help me

This is a off-topic post.

Here is a little background information on how donations help me in the long run and the short run.

First some background information

First when I did start the donation route. I was unsure about it. As it is not custom to ask for money in Iceland and in Icelandic culture it is short of shame. I do not know why that is. That is why it did feel uncomfortable doing this for the first time around. At current time my main stable income is social welfare that is around 150500 ISK, 910€, 1293$, 794 GBP, 6785 DKK at current exchange rate. It has moved up a little since I moved back to Iceland as it was due to some extra that I get on top of the basic social welfare when I am living in Iceland.

As can be seen this is not to live on. It is even less when I am paying down my debt as fast that I possible can. But I am going to try and pay down my debt in around 7 months. If I can do that, I can move back to Denmark in early in the year 2013. Then I can move without much problems.

Now the main story

But in order for all this to work up. I need slightly more income then I get from social welfare. As it turns out that I need to buy food (we human apparently need to eat to survive). But I also need to pay my bills. Both in Iceland and Denmark (mobile phone) but also what I need to buy to eat. Now, because I am going to school and I am going to be living in a dormitory (with a lot of 16 to 17 year old kids) I won’t have to buy food from Monday to Friday. Except snack and something of that nature. But I also plan to buy subscription to DR 1 to maintain my Danish while in Iceland.

Donations help me to pay the bills and buy food. But they also help me pay down my debt faster then I otherwise would have done.

What you get in return for donating

Endless supply for blog posts on what is going on in Iceland. I also give in details when I can what is going on in Iceland, and if I can why. People how donate also get a free e-book (only pdf format) if they want. But that is just e-books about past eruptions in Iceland. I also maintain this blog and do all the service parts that need to be done (that I can anyway) myself. I also answers all the emails that I get when I have the time to do so. I also provide live information from my geophone (started years earlier, but have now been integrated into this now).

The work behind each blog post

I do not know if people release this. But I put a great work into each and every blog post I make. I try to do my best when a eruption suddenly starts to get information on what is going on. This is also what people get when they donate. My work on each blog post about Icelandic volcano that is making it self heard in Iceland. But you also get blog post about earthquakes, harmonic tremors, glacier flood and everything else if it is related to Iceland geological activity. Sometimes if I have time I try to write about the history of Iceland past eruptions. But it takes me from 1 hour and up to 8 hours to write one blog post, depending on size and details of the blog post in question.

What about the advertisement ?

While advertisements is a attempt to increase my income with something else then donations. It is has not been going to so good, as the income is somewhat irregular and I might only get paid 1 to 4 month or not even that often. They do help, no doubt about that. But they depend on traffic and I only get high traffic when something interesting is happening.

What is planned for the future ?

This blog is going to be free as it has always been. I am considering opening up a forum with Invasion Power Board. But that also costs money, so I might not know when I get around to buy it. As it expensive and I am trying to save money to move back to Denmark. So it has made it into my todo list for now. When it might become a reality is a question. But no later then 2013 if everything goes according to plan.

I want to make a living of writing. This is just a step in that direction.

I also want to thank everything for the support so far. It helps more then you know! 🙂

P.S: I am going to publish my first short story soon as a e-book. When it might happen I am not sure yet. But it is just going to a really short story that I am about to publish.

Blog post updated at 18:13 UTC on 2.08.2011.

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Last update on Hekla volcano (for now). Correction on mobile emergency SMS. Earthquake swarm at Reykjanes Ridge. The media hype. Help needed!

Here is an short update on few things.

Hekla volcano: Everything is quiet at Hekla volcano. Movements of magma deep down in the crust have not changed that fact. Nobody knows when it is going to stop begin quiet. Until it does. There is no need to worry about it. Update 2: The movement on the GPS instruments was most likely an deep dike intrusion in Hekla volcano. It was not followed by any earthquakes for some reason.

Correction: I did say that in my earlier post that if there was an emergency in regards to Hekla volcano due to an eruption. The Public Emergency Authority in Iceland would send out an SMS to everyone in the local area. This is half wrong and half correct. They are going to send an SMS, but apparently only to registered locals in the area. Few years ago there was talk of setting up an system to send SMS to everyone around Hekla volcano if an eruption would start. But that system appears not to have gone past the idea stage. I do not watch the changes in this field, so I did miss that. For that I am sorry.

Earthquake swarm at Reykjanes Ridge: Few days ago there was an minor earthquake swarm at Geirfulgasker on the Reykjanes Ridge. This was normal tectonic activity for this area. But it has been having earthquake swarm every few months now for an long time. This earthquake swarm was an small one compared to many other earthquake swarms that have been taking place there.

The media hype: To Daily Mail in the UK. I am not an volcano expert. I also don’t claim to be one. You can’t find that claim on this blog. Because I am not an volcano expert. You also got an wrong volcano in your news and you spelled the name wrong on Hekla volcano. You should correct your news if you want to call your self an newspaper. Also, nobody sad anything about possible size of an ash cloud from Hekla volcano. You just made that up. The media should also relax, drink less coffee. There is nothing going on at the moment. You can hype all you want when something interesting is going on. If the media doesn’t get what I am saying, this here (Youtube, Newswipe) should help you get the clue. I at least remain hopeful, or something.

Help needed!: I need help. I am broke again (demit!). I might be having an low paying job. But my pay goes mostly up to my debts and July was an bit harder then I expected (I try to leave something for food, but this time around it did not work out as I planned it). But that was due to the last VISA payment that I am ever going to make. I am going to get paid on the 1 of next month at least. I am now only left with 2500 ISK (€15) and €24 (182 DKK) to buy food (total 39€) for the rest of the month or until I get paid from my job. My social welfare (that I working toward getting off one day) is always paid on the 1st of every month. My rule about asking for donations is that it is the only option that I have left. Besides not eating anything. But I don’t really regard that as an good option. My status is that the worst is most likely over now, since no more surprise VISA bills (I closed it and I am glad!) and now it is just steady payments of the overdraft until it is finished. But that going to take about 6 to 11 months to finish. Depending on the work income that I have until the end of October this year. If anyone wants proof of how broke I am, I can provide it.

So I once more ask again for donations so I can eat something this month. I am living cheap, but at the moment it did not work out as I planned. Thanks for the help in advance! 🙂

Other: I cancelled going to school this autumn. I am going to work more to pay down my debts faster. Then I plan moving to Denmark in the year 2012, when I have the money to move again. But from end of October I am going to provide regular and good updates in regards to volcanoes and earthquakes, since I won’t be working from that time in companies. But I am going to be working on a book that I am going to publish early 2012 (I hope).

Update 1: For everyone how donates there is going to be an e-book (pdf format only from me) about Icelandic volcano eruption for anyone how wants a copy. But I plan on writing book about volcano eruptions in Iceland soon after they happened. I finally made up my mind on how to write that type of book. It won’t take me an long time write those books, since it is just facts and details about the eruption. I am also going to sell those books on Amazon Kindle and web page named Smashwords. I hope to release the book about Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption 2010 in December 2010 or January 2011.

Blog post updated at 00:27 UTC on 8. July 2011.
Blog post updated at 07:19 UTC on 8. July 2011.