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Click on the picture to watch an audio slideshow of a hike to Hraunsvatn lake in Öxnadalur valley in north Iceland, which lies at a height of 490 meters, interlocked between two steep mountains and a small glacier with a view of the majestic Hraundrangar peaks.
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Fjallabyggd (“Mountain Settlement”) is a skier’s dream. Its slopes are perfect for slaloming and there are also tracks for telemark skiing. Winter sporting enthusiasts can also go ice skating or rent snowmobiles. In summer, Fjallabyggd turns into a paradise for hikers. Read this special promotion about one of Iceland’s best hidden gems.
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Next fall all debit cards in Iceland will be multi-functional and serve as electronic identification cards for online administration. The cards were presented at the Tech-Know North 2007 exposition last weekend.
“This is without a doubt a revolution in online communications,” Rúnar Karlsson told icelandreview.com. He is a consultant at Audkenni, the company that developed the cards in cooperation with the Finance Ministry and the Icelandic Financial Services Association.
“With the identification cards communication on the internet will be simpler and safer. […] You can be sure the person you’re communicating with is the person he or she claims to be,” Karlsson added.
The electronic identification cards will be used for online administration in a “Public Key Infrastructure” (PKI) system. The debit cards are equipped with a microchip which contains information about the card holder.
With special card readers, card holders can have their home computers read the information on their identification cards and use them for online banking, electronic tax returns and signing agreements online. In the future, people may also use the cards for booking flights.
“The best thing about the cards is that people will get rid off all those passwords and usernames. And people won’t have to run back and forth to sign agreements, they can sign electronically,” Karlsson explained.
Hugrún Ösp Reynisdóttir, an expert at the Finance Ministry, told icelandreview.com the electronic identification cards could also be used for increasing safety in online chat rooms for children or teenagers.
“Users would have to register using their identification cards. The chat room would be limited to a certain age and if the users are outside that age frame, they would not be granted access,” Reynisdóttir explained.
“Iceland is good location for adapting the Public Key Infrastructure because 90 percent of homes in Iceland have internet access,” Reynisdóttir said. She said she also believed the older generations would learn how to use the electronic identification cards.
Click here to read more about the Tech-Know North 2007 exposition.
The average temperature of the three summer months, June, July and August, in Reykjavík this year was 12.2°C (54°F), which makes this the warmest summer in the capital since temperatures were first recorded in 1871, according to meteorologist Trausti Jónsson.
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The comedy sketch show Spaugstofan, which has been shown more or less continuously for 21 years on the Icelandic national broadcaster RÚV, has now been relocated to the private television channel Stöd 2.
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The crew of the sailboat Santa Maria from Hamburg, Germany, called for assistance when they ran out of fuel 140 nautical miles west of Reykjavík last week. The guard post of the Icelandic Maritime Administration contacted ships that were nearby and as it turned out the whaling ship Hvalur 9 was located closest to Santa Maria.
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The theater festival Lókal begins in Reykjavík today and will run until September 5. The program includes the show “The Great Group of Eight” held by the Kviss búmm bang trio where spectators have the opportunity to be national leaders for three to four hours.
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The second issue of the print edition of Iceland Review 2010 has just been published. Entitled “Under the Volcano” the magazine dedicates 20 pages, words and pictures, to the volcanic eruption in Eyjafjallajökull glacier which made headlines all over the word. New subscribers will receive the book 2010 Eruptions as a gift and all subscribers are part of a draw to win a trip to Iceland. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
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REVIEWS
Dadi Gudbjörnsson's art with its smiley faces, Aladdin's lamps, gleaming hearts, blue mountains and psychedelic flora of unearthly origin reminds me of the cheesy R.E.M. song “Shiny Happy People”. The sugar-sweet naivety fails to amuse me but I must admit it infects my mood with delirious joy.
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Former President of Iceland Vigdís Finnbogadóttir turned 80 on 15 April this year and Mayor Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir—in making her an Honorary Citizen of Reykjavík to mark the occasion—observed that Finnbogadóttir’s life was interwoven with that of Reykjavík. In June 1980 Finnbogadóttir made history when she became the world’s first democratically elected female head of state.
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Today, August 30, and tomorrow is your last chance to visit the exhibition “Eau De Parfum” by Andrea Maack at the Spark Design Space in Reykjavík. In the exhibition space, Maack introduces three perfumes that are the result of her collaboration with French perfumery apf aromes & parfums.
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