Okay, okay everyone: I’ve finally caved in and put up that ‘donate’ button.
I will confess that I feel somewhat ambivalent about it. I don’t know if it’s a cultural thing … I was talking to an American friend yesterday and he said, “Why haven’t you put up a donate button?” and I said, “Because it feels like begging,” and he was all, “You’re providing a service, it’s like a tip,” and I said, “Yeah, well, people don’t tip in Iceland,” and then I thought, “Okay, don’t get me started on Icelandic service.”
See, to my mind, providing something in return, such as a subscription-based news service, feels so much more natural, but since so many of you have decisively voted it down then the donate button it is.
So it is now up there in my left sidebar and I humbly accept any spare herring you choose to throw my way.
Peace and love.
Oh, and the weather is the same as it was earlier today.
[PS we'd rather not have Doddssons.]
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Er það ekki hægra megin?
Vona að það virki betur en áskrift
Actually, I’d rather have the typical European service, knowing the wait staff are paid a decent wage without relying on my subjective opinion. US wait staff are paid less than the minimum wage by their employers, forcing them to rely on tips, and so it is no longer “acceptable” to leave a low tip/without tipping if you aren’t satisfied. And honestly, I haven’t been that satisfied in the US. Good service really depends on the restaurant, not the country.
But could you please change the layout on your donate button? Red lettering on a busy B&W background is a bad combination. And the button links to this post. Shouldn’t it link to PayPal or something?
The donate button is a great idea. I just donated! And yes tipping is the right way to think about it. Get a better button (easier to read and right up front). People who like what you do will be happy to pay.
Indeed it does go to PayPal. (Other web sites use a standard blue PayPal button that says PayPal.) When I opened the link in a new browser, it opened this page, hence my comment.
I have donated a small portion of herring, enough for a snack if not a whole meal…
It’s worth it for one of my favourite websites. And if asking for donations is good enough for Wikipedia and countless other websites, it’s good enough for you! 
Thank you everyone!
And yes, I take your point about the button. I’ll have a better one designed – hopefully soon.
Hi Alda, I will donate or tip for sure as soon as I register with PayPal,
I mean pretty soon, open-mindedness and creativity should be rewarded! You are such a good example for me
Begging is underrated. Cheers, you!
FINALLY! i thought you’d never put that button up! now, i just have to wait for the next paycheck so i can keep you in cod and coriander!
I thought it was a fish donation request. I imagined that was one thing you had enough of
Did my duty – modest amount, but tough times n’all that. The BoE 150 point cut in interest rates today is a blind panic measure. They know just how bad it’s going to get.
Hope everyone who said they’d contribute keeps their word.
Penn here again. It looks like the Imf loan is going to happen without agreement with the British. Fuck. Iceland needs even more now to eject the government and start anew. I hear that the food situation is becoming scarier, that prices on medicine are shooting up, and that alcohol is a little scarce. True?
Kate – example, moi? thank you!
Bossy – ta for the support!
doug – well, coriander, at least.
trev – it’s the gesture that counts. Thankxverymuch.
Penn – false.
An admirer of this site – new to me but I’m about to explore, not least because I’m in the desert and you’re not and I like contrast – urges me to follow your example. Still not sure. Another friend harrumphed about Petite Anglaise doing something of the sort at a time when I was quite a big champion of PA (still am really, though we’ve lost touch a bit).
As for begging, though, the comment above is right. There’s a lovely little British Isles folk song which eulogises begging; if I can remember it right, it goes something on these lines:
Of all the trades in fair England
The begging is the best
for when a beggar’s weary,
He lays himself down to rest
Maybe we need a second verse about beggar bloggers. I may succumb – can hardly earn less than Google ads!
If Geir H. Haarde is serious when he says we will not be bullied through the IMF – several points down on the banana-republicometer.
colin – honestly, I never thought I’d have a donate button on my site, but new times call for new ways of thinking! That said, I never harumphed over anyone else having one.
Zoe – good work! What’s our score, then?
Just been under the shower before catching up on the posts again…and been thinking of the banana-republicometer :p … Should be really nice to implement. Give each entry a grading +- banana points (or neutral) and it could easily be tallied. Only thing to do would be to lower a point automatically every once in a while…
Haarde is digging the hole so much deeper by saying the IMF is being used as tool for extortion. Oh dear, why is Iceland so keen on making things more difficult for itself…
——————-
“Well, in our country,” said Alice, still panting a little, “you’d generally get to somewhere else – if you run very fast for a long time, as we’ve been doing.”
“A slow sort of country!” said the Queen. “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”
Forgot to mention the fact that I believe most great things are being invited in showers, while taking a bath or sitting under an apple tree (maybe it was even raining) :p
In that same line I believe my work should have some showers…for when we need to think some more (meetings would turn out quite weird though)
Belgium (where I’m from) is often called a ‘monkey country’ overhere… maybe you could export some of your bananas to us then :p
James – please note the IF word. He was saying he didn’t believe it – and that it would be unbelievable IF this was the case.
Grif – sure, how many would you like?
I really couldn’t find the donate button at first. As others mentioned you need to re-design it or take the default PayPal-button that people are used to.
I hope to visit Iceland again next year – until then your blog will keep me informed and my memories of Iceland alive. So please keep on blogging! As a thank you for all the hard work you put into this blog I sent you a small donation via the new button. I wish you all the best during these hard times for Iceland!
The “Donate Now” button is a good idea. In the United States, lots of poor souls beg by hanging out at (sloooow) red lights with signs saying “Will work for food” (which in your case would be “Will write for food”). This way you can fundraise without inhaling all those carbon monoxide fumes!
How about another new feature, a box on the side for the Bad Icelander of the Day? Today it would be Bjarni Ármannsson, long-distance runner and GlitnirBank leader/thief (you don’t need to be a genius to run a bank, or rather, to run it into the ground). He ran in the Amsterdam Marathon without a flag and claimed to be a Norwegian. Oh dear, when my Norwegian relatives visit London and dine out, the English might suspect them of being Icelandic hide-outs and spit on their food in the kitchen, that would be dreadful.
I’ve looked at the conditions the IMF has imposed previously when extending loans to countries. The story is more or less the same: they require the government effectively to rob the money back from the citizens. The way they package it is as follows: you need to cut down on government staff, you need to cut down in services and social insurance, pensions must come down etc. Another way of robbing the people is by a forced devaluation of the currency , which would be especially cruel to Iceland since a lot of people have foreign currency loans. The totally simplistic reasoning they follow is that if you fail to pay your debts you have been living too generously and need to cut back. One country that smart-asssed the IMF was Argentina. After being granted a loan they defaulted on their debts, while offering their creditors a payback of 25 cents on the dollar. This was only possible because other S-A countries (Venezuela) bailed them out. The consequence at this point in time is that no one wants to buy Argentinian bonds.
How likeable are your best negotiators, and your most important politicians? I think that could make a difference if you’re trying to find a country that will bail you out.
On another topic: joining the EU and all will be fine. Don’t kid yourself. Joining the EU is a very lengthy process that will require Iceland to abdicate a lot of its independence to a non democratically elected executive (the European Comission) where its influence will resemble that of… Lithuania or something. There are arguments for adopting the euro as a currency (but you could also argue against it), but joining the EU is not a precondition for that . Bosnia has the Euro as currency. A lot of countries use the US dollar as currency.
It’s not that I wouldn’t want Iceland in the EU, it’s just that I wouldn’t want them in the EU for the wrong reasons, with stupid expectations etc.
There is no miracle solution for the situation Iceland is in right now and the consequences are being downplayed still. (10% unemployment HAH! If only).
Again: Iceland is small enough to be bailed out, so try to find a good friend SOON!
Muriel – HE DID WHAT???? He’s such a smug fucker and such a leech … god, words fail me. They should strip him of his nationality. I’m serious!!
Bjarni is not only fast, he’s also slippery. He quit Glitnir in May and got 100 m. kroners in severance pay, in addition to 380 m. kr. in stock options. Then he moved to Norway with his family and refused the Icelandic authorities’ request to come back and “participate” in their investigation of financial irregularities. Bjarni can run and he can hide too! Well done Bjarni, you have richly deserved your “Bad Icelander” award!
Marc – re. the IMF, we know, we know. Also re. the EU. They won’t let us adopt the Euro though without joining … but we’re all concerned about our fishing grounds, and everything else. I know – I’m not convinced. Ambivalent, if you must know.
Muriel – LIFETIME bad Icelander award!!
Alda,
I have used the new “button” as well, and it works rather nicely.
Just keep doing what you have been doing all along, keeping friends of Iceland who are restricted to English, abrest of what is really going on. DNFI and Ice News are fine, but they just don’t tell the whole story as you do.
I wish I could read Icelandic, as I’d love to see what the op-ed page on mbl.is says. I have tried several times, and all I can say is that Icelandic is a language that you either have to be born into, or forced to use by living there; you just don’t pick it up as a side language.
I know times there are difficult, but they will, eventually, get better.
Thanks for all you do,
Don
I wanted to include this in my above post, but forgot. Perhaps I’m starting to have “senior moments”; do you think perhaps others within the government of Iceland have had them as well?
Alda, I certainly understand your feelings about a subscription service. It makes sense in a way, as you get what you pay for.
You provide a very unique service – an English interpretation of the events, culture, and society within Iceland, but I would hate to see your information restricted from the widest dissemination possible, due to a subscription.
You really provide a necessary service, in a manner that no one else does. I would hate to see your fine interpretation of events be restricted to others, due to financial concerns on their part. Some people just would not be able to afford a subscription based service, yet would love to help out in a level they can manage.
I think you have done the right thing , with the donate button.
Regards,
Don
Any chance of adding Google Checkout as a payment method?
@MikeT: Google Checkout is only for US and UK residents[1]. I wish they supported more countries – it might make PayPal lower their rates, fix bugs, and create a checkout process that doesn’t confuse people.
[1] http://checkout.google.com/support/sell/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=42871