Mangaļsala Pier

26 January, 2019 | Tourism objects | 25 seen

The Mangalsala Dam or the Eastern Mole has been built between 1850 and 1861 and rumor has the Russian Empire's Tsar actively followed the developments (back in those days there were two tsars ruling the Empire, Nicholas I and Alexander II). Mangalsala is the first part of the Riga city which is crossed by all ships entering the Daugava river.

The length of the mole is 2240 meters. The sea part of the eastern mole was formed by pile constructions, which were later laid out and covered with stones. The base of the dam is made of heavy fascines and stones. The dam of Mangaļsala serves as a strengthening of the right bank of the Daugava river.

For me, the Mangaļsala pier has always been a very interesting place to visit, either to catch a lovely sunset or make a romantic walk on the pier. 

Mangaļsala pier

Top 10 Luxury Hotels in Borjomi

25 January, 2019 | Hotel reviews | 72 seen

Borjomi is a popular resort town in Georgia. The most popular recreation season probably here is during the Summer. Local tourists from Georgia and international tourists from Russia, Poland, Israel and lately from the Arab countries make the largest amount of tourists here.

In this article have listed top luxury hotels in Borjomi and nearby Likani, Don't worry - the price won't sky-rocket. Although there are not many 5-star hotels (yet) in Borjomi for the ones they have you won't pay more than Eur 80 per night.  The best - for such money you can actually get a celebrity treatment 

Alternatively, see 6 Best Value Hotels in Borjomi, Georgia or  Bakuriani Hotels - Enjoy Your Winter Holidays in Georgian Ski Resort

Disclosure: this article contains links to Booking.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a reservation on Booking.com site, I might earn an affiliate income, at no cost to you

Read my review here: Borjomi Likani Hotel, SPA and Health Centre

Located 350 m from the Kura River, Borjomi…

Mintos.com Review After 24 Month of Investing in Peer to Peer Lending

24 January, 2019 | Peer to Peer Lending | 46 seen

I've been investing in Mintos.com peer to peer lending marketplace since the beginning of 2017, or it has been already 24 months or two years since I've been exposing my funds to this Latvian fintech platform. 

In the past 24 months I've made a nice revenue of EUR 902.57 (before tax) and in today's article, I decided to share a quick overview for the past two years and also make a quick glimpse for my plans for 2019

Both individuals and entities can invest through Mintos. Individual investors must be at least 18 years old, have a bank account in the European Union or third countries currently considered to have AML/CFT systems equivalent to the EU, and have their identity successfully verified by Mintos. At the moment, US citizens or taxpayers cannot register as investors at Mintos.

Affiliate link here: Sign up to Mintos.com here. By using this affiliate link for registration both you and I will receive — 1% of your average daily balance which should be paid in 3 installments for the first 90 days.

Remember - investments are risky, never invest more you can afford to lose.

Background…

HP ProBook 450 G5 (2RS04EA) Laptop Review

23 January, 2019 | Gadget Reviews | 68 seen

At the end of 2018 I got a new laptop - HP ProBook 450 G5 - in today's gadget review article series I will write down my humble observations. In short - gosh it feels so good owning a ProBook from HP.

I bought this laptop at local ALTA OK store in Tbilisi, Georgia, just shortly before Christmas shopping craze in December 2018. Paid about USD 750 for this model. The sales price for Intel Core i5 8GB HP ProBook 450 G5 on Amazon is about $770. 

This laptop will retire my older Asus X552M Laptop. That said, after about a 3-year pause, while using ASUS manufactured laptop, I'm returning back to HP laptops. For about 8 years I was using the HP Compaq 6510b model, I loved that model so much that even replaced broken hinges. The fun thing, despite that the older HP Compaq 6510b is now more than 12 years old, it still works. Amazing. That's why I really love HP laptops.  They just last like forever.

17 Best HP Laptops You Can Buy Online - Amazon.com

Please note this article contains links to Amazon by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on…

2018 Blog Income & Traffic Review - Goals For 2019

22 January, 2019 | Blogging | 9 seen

2018  has just passed, and now it is the right time to take a look back on the previous year of blogging, and of course doubts -  take a quick glimpse of 2019.

In today's article, I will reveal data behind the blog scenes - both traffic and income for the whole year of 2018. But before we dig into the numbers, here is the brief background - blog now is more than five years old, and for the last five years it has gone a very long way,

Make sure to check out my previous yearly blogging reviews:

• 2017 - 2017 Blog Income & Traffic Review - Goals For 2018 / $24,920.47
• 2016 - Blog Traffic and Income Report 2016 - 635,048 Users / $18,586.41
• 2015 - Blog Traffic and Income Report for 2015 - 347,035 users / $9,819.71
• 2014 - Blog Income Report 2014  / $3,334.20

• In total blog have reached 1,212,588 (that's more than a million) users in 2018
• On average it is 101,049 monthly users or
• 3,322 daily visitors

Blog traffic report 2018 (monthly…

Top 20 Gaming Laptops with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Graphics card

21 January, 2019 | Laptop Reviews | 556 seen

Gaming laptops with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB graphics card are one of the most optimal gaming laptops user choice - here budget meets performance. In contrast to PC's where you can extend your computer with a GPU, when choosing a laptop your options are more limited. See: Mining Ethereum With EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 (Single Fan), 6GB GDDR5 Review

Most of the best selling Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 laptops are powered with the latest 8th generation Intel Core i7 8750H processors, though there are a few Intel Core i5 models available as well. 

In today's article, I've listed top 20 gaming laptops with NVIDIA GeForce GTRX 1060 6 GB graphics card available for sale on Amazon.com

Update: Top 17 Gaming laptops with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU

A quick note: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on Amazon site, I will earn an affiliate income at no cost to you. Prices for laptops listed on this page are retrieved using Amazon Product Advertising API and is updated daily.…

Mosque in Kvemo Bolnisi

20 January, 2019 | Churches and Monasteries | 15 seen

There is not much information available online about Kvemo Bolnisi mosque in Georgia, except that the construction of the Mosque in Kvemo Bolnisi village started in 2005 and ended in 2007. The Mosque started functioning the same year. 

It was in the mid-December 2018, we were on a day trip to the Bolnisi (and surrounding area), after making stops at Bolnisi Sioni and Tsughrughasheni Church we discovered a green roof mosque. Unfortunately this time we didn't visit the mosque, instead, I took just a very long distance photo. 

Mosque in Kvemo Bolnisi, Georgia

About 60% of the population in Bolnisi are Muslims 

There are two major Muslim groups in Georgia. The ethnic Georgian Muslims are Sunni Hanafi and are concentrated in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara of Georgia bordering Turkey. The ethnic Azerbaijani Muslims are predominantly Shia Ithna Ashariyah and are concentrated along the border with Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Islam in Georgia was introduced in 654 when an army sent by the…

Borjomi Likani Hotel, SPA and Health Centre

18 January, 2019 | Hotel reviews | 38 seen

Luxury 5 star Hotel Borjomi Likani is located 177 km away from Tbilisi (the capital of Georgia) in the middle of the coniferous park in Borjomi city, famous of its naturally carbonated mineral water from springs in the Borjomi Gorge of central Georgia.

Hotel Borjomi Likani is located on the former territory of once popular Sanatorium of 4th department in Likani.

Guests from all over the USSR used to gather here to spend time with family and friends and receive the benefits of the Health procedures offered, due to the curative effect of the Borjomi water.

We stated at Hotel Borjomi Likani during the Christmas 2018 and paid EUR 112 /GEL 341 for one night stay at this hotel

6 Best Value Hotels in Borjomi, Georgia

Disclosure: this article contains links to Booking.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a reservation on Booking.com site, I might earn an affiliate income, at no cost to you

Room at hotel Borjomi Likani

The rooms offer air conditioning and a flat-screen TV. The bathrooms provide a hairdryer, bathrobes and slippers.

Small gym at Hotel Borjomi Likani

…

How to block visitors from country NGINX + GeoIP Module

16 January, 2019 | Servers | 112 seen

There are a couple of reasons why website administrators consider blocking visitors from particular countries or regions accessing websites, the most common reason probably is hacking/hacking attempts. 

One really nasty way how website hackers act are, they inject malicious code into vulnerable websites and redirect legit audience to shady affiliate or black SEO websites. This method is also known as cloaking. 

By investigating NGINX access.log file we can determine 404 pages (hacking attempts) and with a simple manipulations filter our bad/spammy IP's

See this great guide from EasyEngine about Parsing access.log and error.logs using linux commands to learn more.

Now how to block country IP range with NGINX. Much of the written below is taken from this article: How to block visitors from a country on NGINX [ with GeoIP Module ]

open Nginx configuration file-

and place the following code at the start of http block

"The Necessary War" - Documentary About WWI

15 January, 2019 | Documentaries | 12 seen

The Necessary War is a documentary about WWI, produced by BBC

In this documentary author answers on the question - what was the role of United Kingdom during WWI, and why did Britain enter on conflict with Germany over Belgium?

This year (2014) turns 100 years since WWI or how it was referred in the interwar period - The Great War escalated from the minor conflict in Balkans and took over all Europe for 4 years. 

Watch on YouTube

2019 Old New Year's Firework From Tbilisi

14 January, 2019 | | 8 seen

Here at Piece of Life and ReinisFischer.com we just love fireworks photography. It's one of the photo techniques I wanted to master first when learned secrets of successful photography.

My first experience with fireworks photography was a couple of years ago when I had a chance to visit St. Marks square in Venice during New Year's night. The result?  It was a very crowded event, but still, I managed to get at least something. After we returned from Venice back to Tbilisi I made a kind of lovely Old New Year's firework photography from our balcony. You can see the result here: Old New Year's fireworks in Tbilisi

I made one of my best fireworks photography a year ago from Tamar Mephe bridge in Tbilisi, see Happy New Year! Fireworks Photography from Tbilisi 2018

In 2019 we had another great reason to memorize these fireworks, our baby daughter turned 6-month old and we thought fireworks should be a good ending for such a great event. Here is the result:

Old New Year's fireworks 2019

One of the benefits of having an apt with a view.

• Tbilisi by day (New Apartment Version)
• Tbilisi by night (…

Tsughrughasheni Church

13 January, 2019 | Churches and Monasteries | 13 seen

Tsughrughasheni is a Georgian Orthodox church in the Bolnisi District, Georgia. It is situated approximately 2 kilometers from Bolnisi Sioni basilica, on the right bank of the Bolnisistsqali River.

The church was built in 1212–1222 supposedly by King George IV Lasha of the Bagrationi Dynasty.

Tsughrughasheni church in Georgia

I first discovered and visited Tsughrughasheni church and monastery in mid-December during a day trip to Bolnisi. It was a bit hard actually to get here physically, as there was some road construction works still going on (there is a newly paved road build straight to the monastery complex). Luckily we got here after all, and as we were the only visitors at the site, the father Seraphim greeted us at the gate and gave us a key to the church. 

Father Seraphim is a really great priest, friendly, knowledgeable and humble. Father was accompanied with two German shepherd dogs. During our short conversation father Seraphim confirmed that now, once the new road is built (which took them about 5 years to be done) - he…

December 2018 Dividend Income Report - $160.57

12 January, 2019 | Investments | 20 seen

Welcome to the twentieth (#20) dividend income report, covering earnings I've made from dividend-paying stocks, peer to peer lending (both fiat and cryptocurrencies) in December 2018. 

In case you are wondering why I'm sharing online my earnings - the answer is pretty simple -  back in January 2017, I set a goal to reach one million dollars in my bank account by the time I will turn 60  26 years still to go). I believe in transparency and sharing dividend income reports every month helps me to observe my personal progress or bounces. Hopefully, those reports can give some inspiration to you as well. (If so, please leave a short comment below).

In short, last December turned out much better as I thought before. Despite last December was the first month when YOY growth was negative, I still really love this December. More on that bellow. 

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to mintos.com peer to peer lending website, by clicking on links on this page and by making an investment on mintos.com, I…

Hotel Baltvilla in Baltezers

11 January, 2019 | Hotel reviews | 11 seen

Baltvilla is a 4-star hotel located some 15 km from the city center of Riga, on the shore of a lake with a private beach area and on the Via Baltica highway (E67).

Baltvilla is located 4 km from Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum. Free WiFi is provided throughout the hotel and wide private parking is available for guests free of charge.

We opted for Baltvilla hotel during our latest trip to Latvia at the end of 2018 (pre-New Year) - surprisingly but we paid less than EUR 40 for a stay here. I believe this has been the cheapest 4-star hotel I have stayed so far, thus the service was excellent. Breakfast was just amazing. Salmon in the breakfast, sure come to Latvia.

Top Hotels in Baltezers, Latvia

Hotel room at Baltvilla

Baltvilla hosts a restaurant on the ground floor. It specializes in European and Italian cuisines and here guests can enjoy meals throughout the day. A summer terrace with a lake view is open during the season. The hotel features a Disco bar on the third floor.

Buffet breakfast at Baltvilla hotel

There are spacious standard rooms, as well…

How To Upgrade Drupal 7 to 8 (With Multilingual Support)

9 January, 2019 | Drupal Development | 54 seen

Here comes another article, which has been in the blog's draft section since the start of 2017. In this article, I will share my notes on performing a major Drupal upgrade from 7 to 8 with multilingual support.

As a Drupal developer, I've been pretty conservative and don't rush for upgrades just because of upgrades, but here I was working with a website which was almost 8 years old (built from scratch on Drupal 7 in 2011)

What I don't like when upgrading from Drupal 7 to 8, is that the upgrade requires a fresh install of Drupal 8 site. Unfortunately, there are no still the magical one-click upgrade button (It's 2019 and not 2007, right)

In this Drupal tutorial, I will use the real example with actual content, modules and some custom fields - the site is not over customized, but it has some customization.

Let's start with a fresh Drupal 8 installation, follow this guide to learn more: How to Install & Config Drupal 8 on Ubuntu 14.04 + Ngnix

I own several Linode VPS's and deployment of new Drupal site took me about 5 minutes, depending on your hosting provider and your…