Latest update: 2012/08/21
Because it's a Truly Wise Thing to Do and I crave pizza and focaccia, that's why.
Everything you find on Attivissimo.net and in my blog is available freely to anyone, with a few simple restrictions.
Appearances notwithstanding, maintaning this website and my blogs takes time and commitment. Apart from readers' donations, nobody pays me to manage them and keep them up-to-date (although I wouldn't mind being paid by a sponsor, as long as it didn't entail prostituting my ideas).
Donations help to support my online work: my hoax busting service, my freely downloadable books (L'Acchiappavirus and others, in Italian), my IT articles and my virus and scam warnings.
I don't expect to make a living from this site and blog, although that would be nice. This is a labor of passion, not a money-making effort. I'd be happy to earn enough to cover my expenses (e.g., domain name registration fees, bandwidth usage, online service subscriptions, server maintenance, and trips for research and interviews). Mind you, I'd be even happier if it gave me some extra income to spend on beer and Italian focaccia to, er, lubricate the brain cells.
Accordingly, I won't be offended if what you read gives you an irresistible urge to show me your tangible gratitude. There are two ways to satisfy this healthy urge:
Details are below.
Thanks to the PayPal secure service, one of the Internet's most widely used payment services, you can send me a tangible sign of your appreciation. For example, you can offer me a slice of genuine Italian pizza by sending a donation: a couple of euros will do fine, every little helps.
All you need is a Paypal account or a credit card (Visa or Mastercard, or the Italian PostePay card). Just click on the button below to start a secure transaction (DO NOT enter decimals even if Paypal asks you):
This is not a hoax or a scam. I've been using PayPal for years, and I have to admit it's worked fine so far, although there are some Websites that criticize it.
If you're interested, I've prepared a guide (in Italian) that explains how PayPal works and how to use it for donations.
If you prefer, you can use a less hi-tech but equally effective method: a Euro banknote (any value) in an envelope addressed to:
Paolo Attivissimo
via Prati Botta 16b
CH-6917 Barbengo
Switzerland
Yes, I now live in the Ticino Canton of Switzerland after spending several years in the UK.
When you post the envelope, please e-mail me in advance to let me know, and put at least your e-mail address in the letter, so I can confirm that the envelope arrived safely and eat a slice of Italian focaccia to your health.
Many Italians believe that it's illegal to send a banknote by post. Actually, things are not as simple as that. The Italian Post Office wrote to me on 15/11/2003 on this matter, saying that "You can send money only by "Posta Assicurata" [a sort of insured registered letter], since this "assicurata" is mandatory for all post that contains money, valuable items, securities, and other valuables."
In other words, it's perfectly legal in Italy to send cash by post if you use a "Posta Assicurata".This would also seem to be confirmed by the only copy of the Italian Post Office regulations I've managed to find online, which is dated 9 April 2001 and says (translated from Italian):
"Article 6. - Compulsory insurance - To send cash and valuables in general, the sender is required to use "assicurata" mail as specified in Article 15, declaring the corresponding value."
Another confirmation comes from an official source, the Italian Post Office's Website, whose Quality Charter says specifically that (again, this is my translation from Italian):
"cash, valuable items and securities can be mailed only by "Posta Assicurata", declaring the corresponding value".
However, it is unclear what penalty (if any) there is if one disregards the regulations and sends a banknote in an envelope without using the Assicurata.
In case you're wondering, all donations are declared to the Swiss tax authorities and taxed accordingly, like all my other sources of income.
Besides, taxation is reasonably low in Switzerland, and public services more or less do their job, so why should I bother with tax dodging?
A donation will not give you any special rights or privileges (I try to answer all e-mails, regardless of whether they come from donors or not), but you'll have my heartfelt gratitude and the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from doing a good deed, helping to keep independent information alive, and devastating my statuesque physique by overloading it with focaccia.
Whatever you decide to do, thank you in advance!
Ciao from