Blog Archive: November 2017

Could Bitcoin Price Reach $30,000 By The End Of 2018?

29 November, 2017 | Crypto | 32 seen

With Bitcoin price reaching for the first time $10,000 on November 28, 2017 - I keep wondering - could we see Bitcoin double or even triple in value in 2018?

According to Coinmarketcap the price for bitcoin has gone up tenfold since the begging of 2017, trading high $1,003.08 on January 2017 and reaching $10,075.90 on November 28, 2017

Why Bitcoin Price at $7,174.50 ain't no fun, But I'm still buying it?

Bitcoin Year to date chart - January 1st - November 2017 (data source: Coinmarketcap.com)

Now, there is one approach we could try to apply and try to predict the future price of Bitcoin -  using the total market capitalization of Bitcoin.

As of writing this article, the total market cap of Bitcoin is $168,861,518,975, while in January it was $15,491,200,000. That's the same tenfold increase

In order for Bitcoin to reach $30,000 value, the total market cap should increase three times:

That's about a 500 billions…

DIY Open Wooden Compost Bin

26 November, 2017 | DIY | 24 seen

A compost bin is a must-have garden construction at our rural property - fallen leaves and trimmed grass mostly go here. It was on early May 1st, 2017 evening I decided to build an open wooden compost bin from materials we left over from roof works. 

It was agreed to install a compost bin on the other side of the house, as when planning a place for a compost bin, it should be chosen carefully, so as not to be an obstacle in the future.

Choosing a place for a compost bin

As there is already an old foundation here, and we are not planning to do with them anything for the next couple of years, it was agreed this is a good place for a compost bin. Now it was a matter of taking down the laths from the loft, an electric saw, some measurement tape, a pencil, and a level. 

Wooden boards for compost bin

A little experiment here, adjusting height and weight.

Leveling boards

Definitely much easier than leveling bearing beams for the roof construction.

The result

Day trip to David Gareji monastery complex and Sighnaghi

25 November, 2017 | Travel guides | 21 seen

At the end of November, my mother visited me again in Georgia. We decided to make a few easy day trips during her stay in Tbilisi.

Our first day trip was to David Gareji Monastery complex and Sighnaghi.

Although I've been to these places for a dozen of times, I never get bored of them.

This time we took a road to David Gareji monastery complex via Rustavi town (which actually is a place I would love to return to take some urban photography), made a short stop at Gardabani to buy a freshly baked Azerbaijani bread, and followed a rocky road to David Gareji monastery complex.

Road to David Gareji 

Seems this is some military road, used by Georgian army located somewhere close. During the Soviet times, its said there has been a huge tank polygon somewhere in this area.

Sheep

Oh, I always love scenes like this. Lovely.

At Bodbe monastery near Sighnaghi

One of the rare HDR's I've taken this year.

We continued to the nearby town of Sighnaghi and spent about 10 minutes there taking a walk at Sighnaghi city wall which features beautiful views of Alazani valley. 

Best Hotels & Guest houses in Sighnaghi, Georgia

24 November, 2017 | Hotel reviews | 16 seen

If there is a reason to visit Sighnaghi, then here you go - museums, history, and gourmet food.

Sighnaghi has been on my travel list for years, and I keep returning year after year. Great views of the Alazani valley, interesting architecture and city wall are the reasons I keep returning.

When looking for 5-star hotels in Sighnahi, seems there is just one (in 2017) Kabadoni Boutique Hotel. You should be willing to pay around GEL 30 (guesthouses) - GEL 220 (hotel) for a stay in a Sighnaghi.

Please note: hotels listed below may contain 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.

Located in Sighnaghi’s historic centre, Nana's Guest House is a restored 18th-century house, a 2-minute walk from Sighnaghi’s Ethnographic Park. It offers simple rooms with country-style furnishings and free Wi-Fi.

Featuring a balcony, all rooms come with a satellite TV with DVD player and a seating area. The private bathroom includes a bath tub or shower and a hairdryer.

A breakfast, consisting of…

11 Katkha Tbilisi Restaurant on Nikoloz Baratashvili street

23 November, 2017 | Restaurant reviews | 23 seen

11 Katkha has been my favorite Georgian cuisine Tbilisi restaurant for years, for a long time I loved to visit 11 Katkha restaurant near Dinamo stadium, sadly one-day I learned that Dinamo stadium branch is closed.

From my understanding 11 Katkha is a restaurant chain, as soon I found another branch in Saburtalo. I've been heading to Saburtalo for about a year, just to enjoy the best katmis mcvadi in town.

Now, huge was my surprise discovering 11 Katha restaurant opened in the city center (close to the Freedom square) on Baratishilli street.

Interior at 11 Katkha on Baratishvilli street in Tbilisi

When speaking about 11 Katkha - it's all about katmis mcvadi, kitris pomidori salati, turkuli kava, imeruli hachapuri and sometimes, just sometimes, badrijani.

Georgian cuisine 

I love Katkha for one another reason - prices - they keep it low and affordable. Average bill for two persons 40 GEL, for 3 persons 60 GEL (of course it depends)

Chicken barbecue with pomegranate dressing

How to Enable OneSignal Web Push Notifications SendTag For Drupal (User Segmentation by Interests)

21 November, 2017 | Servers | 24 seen

I spent a good amount of time, trying to learn how to implement a better user segmentation on OneSignal. The best I could get so far was the default OneSiganal's out of the box segmentation based on user country.

As my blog covers many mutually unrelated topics, I was not utilizing the power of push notifications at 100%. In fact, after getting more than 26,000 subscribers (over a year) I felt afraid every-time I sent out a web push notification, as user targeting was very poor.

At OneSignal official documentation, I learned about using Data Tags, especially SendTag and SendTags

Once you've integrated OneSignal in your app or website, implementing tags is very straightforward - simply use the sendTag or sendTags methods to tag your users with a key-value pair at any time. You may also get and delete tags with other methods. To learn more and to check out code examples, dive into the SDK reference for your particular app or website.

Here is the code example, you should call

Top Cryptocurrencies I'm Looking to Acquire (Buy&Hold) in 2018

19 November, 2017 | Crypto | 8 seen

As the new year of 2018 is fast approaching, I decided it's the right time to review my current investment strategies and goals. Planning ahead is a great strategy and investments in crypto-investments are no exceptions.

Now if you have been following my blog for a while, you might already know - I started to invest in cryptocurrencies in July 2017, after experienced my first FOMO. Also, it should be noted that crypto investments take just a part of my broader investment portfolio, which, right now, consists of stocks, mutual funds, cash and peer to peer lending.

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

I would call my investments in crypto as experimental. Despite I was looking to keep just 5% of the total portfolio in crypto assets, by now, writing these lines, crypto takes already about 10% of the total portfolio. And it seems it could rise to about 20-25% in 2018.  I keep investing on a monthly basis using dollar cost averaging. 

Investment Portfolio

By now (November 2017), this experiment has turned into a lovely…

Top Dividend Paying Stocks In Nasdaq Baltic I'm Planning to Acquire in 2018

18 November, 2017 | Investments | 27 seen

I've been investing in Baltic equity market since April 2017, currently (2017) my capital has been exposed to 14 great companies listed on the Nasdaq Baltic stock exchange giving a combined dividend yield on cost 4.04%

For detailed reports see Nasdaq Baltics Review After One Month Investment in Dividend Paying Stocks and Dividend Paying Stocks - Review After 3 Months of Investing in Nasdaq Baltics. Also, make sure to read monthly dividend income reports as well.

For tracking stock portfolio I've built a simple Google Spreadsheet, you can learn more and download in this article: Simple Google Spreadsheet to Track Stock Portfolio Changes Using GOOGLEFINANCE

As I have been a strong monthly dividend growth investor, I keep investing in stocks throughout the year in several batches. When Investing in Nasdaq Baltic, the great help to learn more about upcoming dividends is Dividend Calendar.

Some readers have asked me - do I just invest based on dates or I do my homework and research companies before investing. Of course, I do my homework and do at least fundamental analysis…

Top 5 star and Luxury hotels in Heraklion

17 November, 2017 | Hotel reviews | 60 seen

Heraklion is probably the most popular tourist destination on the island of Crete, also it turns out Heraklion is the fourth largest city in Greece.

Our travels took us to the Heraklion in June 2017, after we had discovered Western part of Island, we decided it's the time to turn to the Eastern side of the island.(For a complete list of my travels in Crete, see map) 

While still being somewhere in Rethymno, we booked a 5-star Galaxy Iraklio Hotel, which turned out a pleasant experience. Top 5-star or 4-star hotel in Heraklion are quite an affordable, on average you should be ready to spend about EUR 100 per night. For a 5-star hotel that's a very good price.

In this article I've listed some of the top 5-star and 4-star hotels in Heraklion, to consider.

Please note: hotels listed below may contain 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.

Housed in a listed 1920’s building overlooking the Old Harbour of Heraklion, the prestigious 5-star hotel GDM Megaron…

Minimum Wages in Central Asian Countries 2017

16 November, 2017 | Macroeconomics | 5 seen

When speaking about Central Asian countries, I'm referring to the five former Soviet Union member states - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The total population of these countries is about 70 million.

Recommended reading: Population changes in the former Soviet Union, also see: Minimum wages in Central Asia 2013

As it has been already 4 years since my latest article about minimum wages in Central Asian countries, I decided to take a fresh look and compare. 4 years is a decent amount of time. 

Currency exchange rates as of November 14, 2017

Wow - is the first word I would like to express. There are some nations (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and…

Simple FB connect Drupal 8 Mapping custom fields from Facebook

12 November, 2017 | Drupal Development | 24 seen

Simple FB Connect Drupal module  allows users to register and login to your Drupal site with their Facebook account.

Indeed, as the modules name suggests, its one of the easiest ways how to connect Facebook to Drupal. And as I had already worked with this module a few years ago (see: Drupal Simple FB connect + User Form Theming ) now, when working on idea about possible Drupal Dating portal,  I decided to implement Simple FB Connect. In this article I'll write down my notes on how to map custom Facebook fields to Drupal 8 using this module.

I should note that I was working on Drupal 8.4.2 minimal profile installed. 

Before proceeding to the technical part, make sure you have created:

• Facebook app for your Drupal login - For creating a Facebook app, please follow this tutorial: Installation instructions
• You have installed and configured Simple FB connect module

For the sake of ease for this tutorial I will cover details on how to map fields from Facebook's person's public profile only (for enabling additional fields you will need to make Facebook review for your app)

…

How To Hide Tabs On Drupal 8 Content and User Pages

11 November, 2017 | Drupal Development | 28 seen

In Drupal 8 there is a quite easy way to to hide tabs view both on content and user pages. The best there are no hook, modules or complicated theme rewrites involved.

In today's short Drupal tutorial series I will provide a simple workaround out of the box on how to hide tabs both on content and user pages in Drupal 8.

Also see: Theming Drupal 8: How to Hide Site Name

What at start seems like a simple issue, might turn out to be a imminent problem. The truth is - it's super simple, but still a little bit complicated if you come with a Drupal 7 background. 

For hiding tabs in Drupal 8, we will need to go to the block layout page:

Search for a block Tabs , click on Configure button and from the bottom click on Remove block.

That simple. Hope it helps!

Top Hotels and Apartments in Triopetra, Crete

10 November, 2017 | Hotel reviews | 6 seen

Triopetra in Crete, is among the most abandoned places I've traveled lately, if they wouldn't have a sea and a lovely beach, I would compare this place to the remote and almost abandoned desert village in Georgia, Udabno.

During our about one month road trip around the island of Crete, we stayed at Triopetra Notos hotel for one night on June 11, 2017. According to Booking.com website there are not many hotels located in Triopetra, but during our short visit here, I did found a few new construction sites in the area, which might mean - Triopetra could gain some popularity in the future.

Right now, there is nothing much to do or see in Triopetra, except get remote abandoned feeling and take some amazing sunset pictures.

Please note: hotels listed below may contain 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.

This property is 1 minute walk from the beach. Offering accommodations with air conditioning, Triopetra Notos Hotel is located in Triopetra, just 38.6 km from Balíon. Rethymno Town is…

Hurma Cafe Shop in Tbilisi

8 November, 2017 | Restaurant reviews | 25 seen

Hurma cafe shop is a recently opened hipster style coffee house serving not only great coffee lattes, but also smoothies, delicious brunch and all day breakfast for a very affordable prices.

Located close to the Tbilisi Philharmony on Petre Melikishvili street 21 on the opposite side to the Tbilisi Hard Rock Cafe. This place is run by Russian/Ukrainian girls (at least that's what I understood). Despite being opened just recently, I noticed mostly foreign visitors here. Yeah, who I'm to complain, right?

That said, welcome to another great Tbilisi restaurant - Hurma cafe shop!

Menu at Hurma Cafe shop in Tbilisi

One of the rare places in Tbilisi offering Breakfast all day. Although I should mention that in recent years there have been a lot of improvement with brunch offer in Tbilisi. Prices for a brunch menu here are really low compared to other brunch places in Tbilisi. The prices will probably grow in the future, but for right now - enjoy!

Hipster style interior at Hurma Cafe shop

Looking for a rustic, industrial, kitschy place in Tbilisi? Come to Hurma Cafe shop.…

About Getting Residence Permit and Residence Card in Georgia

7 November, 2017 | Living in Georgia | 44 seen

Recently I was contacted by a blog reader asking about how to get a permanent residence status in Georgia, after buying an apartment in Tbilisi.

I decided to come up with a longer answer in a blog format, as I believe I will hear this question more and more, as Georgia is becoming a hub for expats from all around the World. For other readers questions please see: Questions and Answers section

The good starting point for getting more information about residence permit in Georgia is the official website of The State Commission on Migration Issues. See: Residence permit and residence card

Residence permit authorizes the right of a foreign citizen to enter and stay in Georgia or transit the territory of Georgia during the term of validity of residence permit. It also authorizes a holder to invite another foreigner to Georgia.

To obtain a residence permit, a foreign citizen must either personally or via authorized representative apply to any territorial office of the Public Service development agency, branch of the Public Service Hall or Community Centre, or apply online via the distance service of the Public Service…