Tbilisi Central Railway Station

26 July, 2015 | Railway / Bus / Ferry | 70 seen

Tbilisi Central Railway Station is a major transport hub in Georgia, serving many domestic and two international routes: Yerevan (Armenia) and Baku (Azerbaijan)

Originally built in 1872, Tbilisi Railway station has undergone various architectural transformations, and currently serves as a combined railway station and shopping mall. The current station building looks like some grand Chinese pagoda made in concrete.

Tbilisi Central Railway station

Major rail lines from Tbilisi central station: Batumi ( with stops at Gori, Khashuri, Kutaisi, Zestaponi), Borjomi, Sadakhlo (Marneuli), Gardabani, Tbilisi airport, Nikozi (Gori), Zugdidi and Poti. For complete map network check out this Georgian railway map (very detailled) made by local expat enthusiast or see official Georgian Railways website (not very detailed).

Electronic timetables at Tbilisi railway station

Traveling in Georgia by railway is fun, and if you have some spare time - definitely try Georgian Railway.

Train from Batumi approaching in Tbilisi railway station

The first central station in Tbilisi was built in 1872, with trains to the black sea port of Poti. In the 1940 the building was demolished and replaced with a building in the style of the Stalinist architecture. In the early 1980s the 1940s building was demolished and replaced by a building in the style of the Brutalist architecture. The architects Bairamashvili, Kavlashvili, G. Shavdia and Jibladze won a State Prize for their work in 1992. In 2010 the station was rehabilitated and transformed into a combined railway station and shopping mall. The transformation was designed by Zwarts & Jansma architects.

Riga International Coach Terminal

25 July, 2015 | Railway / Bus / Ferry | 27 seen

Riga international coach terminal or bus station is a major traffic hub in Latvia and Baltics. I last time visited this place and used Riga - Vilnius coach transfer and then departed from Vilnius to Kutaisi. This coach terminal is situated in the heart of city, close to the Old Riga and Riga Central Market. In fact I was surprsided to learn that here you can make really interesting landscapes. 

Riga International Coach Terminal

View to St. Peters Church in Old Riga

Iron Bridge, National Library of Latvia and coach terminal

Very interesting perspective

View to the Riga Central Market

About Riga International Coach Terminal

The coach terminal has been built and put into the service in 1964. The initial project of the coach terminal complex has been developed in the former design institute “Latgiprogo-stroj” (“Латгипрогострой”) from 1960 to 1962.

Since Latvian independence it was necessary to make activities of the Riga coach terminal more appropriate to the capital city status, providing services not only for local and regional but also for international bus lines.

By 1997 the building belonged to the national bus company “Nordeka”. On September 11, 1997 the Latvian Privatization Agency (LPA) made a decision to restructure Riga coach terminal and its buildings into a privatized public joint-stock company “Riga International Coach terminal”.

On 2000 coach terminal privatization was completed transforming it to a public limited company. The location of coach terminal is in the historic and economic center next to the Central Market near the railway embankment.

At present Riga International Coach Terminal is one of the most important transportation hubs in the country. It was registered in the Coach terminal register of Ministry of Transport and its core business is the provision of services to passengers and overland passenger transportation companies. Coach terminal relationship with passenger carriers is governed by mutual agreements based on the laws of Republic of Latvia, terms of the Cabinet of Ministers and other state institution legislation.

The Board of the Riga International Coach terminal operates in accordance with statutes and decisions of the shareholders. According to the concept of the development of coach terminal, the Board’s mission is to create Riga International Coach Terminal as a modern passenger transfer and complex services point in the European passenger transport network.

Dali Cafe & Art in Riga

24 July, 2015 | Restaurant reviews | 35 seen

Dali Cafe & Art is located in Spikeri quarter in Riga, I visited this place at night before leaving Riga (right next on the corner from this place is Riga bus station) and headed to Tbilisi (a long way, via Vilnius and Kutaisi). The night I visited Dali Cafe was the Eurovision song festival night, and folks gathered here of watching it.

Dali Cafe in Riga

Located in one of the brick houses of Spikeri quarter

Interior at Dali Cafe

Menu at Dali Cafe

We order some coffee and a beer and in total paid some EUR 10.00 - a little bit above average to Riga prices, but pretty ok

Paintings at Dali Cafe & Art

You wont find here as much from Salvador Dali, as you could find in Figueres, Spain, but at least some reproductions of great authors works were represented here.

About Dali Cafe & Art

Café Dali is an arthouse Coffeeshop, situated in the heart of the creative district Spikeri, Riga.

Coffee is more than just a drink. We believe it will only take one cup to completely change your perception of coffee. Specialty coffees are high quality beans grown in ideal climates, and are distinctive for their full cup taste and little to no defects. Each coffee’s unique scent and flavor is as a result of the special characteristics and composition of the soils in which they are grown.

At Café Dali, we are giving you a place where you will discover the most important person – yourself. And we will do everything possible for your meeting to become a life changing experience.

Spikeri Quarter and Promenade in Riga

23 July, 2015 | Tourism objects | 31 seen

Spikeri quarter and promenade is recently renovated neighborhood in Riga and it has all chances to become a very popular tourist spot in Riga. This place is closely located to Riga Central market (I will write about in anytime soon), Riga International Bus station, Railway station and of course Old Riga.

I visited this place for a very short time prior to waiting a bus to Vilnius (Lithuania) and then heading to Kutaisi (Georgia) at the end of May, 2015

Spikeri Quarter in Riga

This quarter is one of the city’s epicentres of events and cultural festivals like White Nights, Staro Riga, Riga City Festival. 

Spikeri Quarter in Riga

Promenade at Spikeri quarter

A very lovely view to that Soviet time skyscraper.

Georgian Restaurant in Riga, Spikeri quarter

It was easy for me to recognize this Pirosmani painting. Unfortunately I didn't tried this restaurant, but no regrets about that - best Georgian cuisine is available in Georgia. Read: Tbilisi restaurant reviews

Spikeri Quarter promenade

View to Riga Central Market

Sikeri concert hall

​Turns out - there is a concert hall in Spikeri quarter as well, at least that's written on this brick wall

The Iron Bridge and National Library of Latvia

...and of course river Daugava - a lovely view from Spikeri quarter to Riga

About Spikeri Quarter

Spikeri Quarter is a complex of buildings between Maskavas, Turgeņeva and  Krasta streets.Renovated Spikeri promenade extends between the old Railway bridge to the Island bridge support.

Mayor of Riga Nil Ushakov and Urban development dommittee dhairman Vadim Jerošenko launched in 2012 Spīķeru Quarter and Daugava embankment reconstruction.

Works were carried out within the project “Maskavas, Krasta and Turgeņeva street block of brownfield redevelopment”. Its purpose was to provide a brownfield block between Maskavas, Krasta and Turgeņeva street, as well as a 1.3 km long waterfront revitalization stage, turning it into the population and tourists publicly accessible cultural, educational and recreational space.

By April 2013, the realized works: temporary building and site degrading fences demolition, plot of land, paved sidewalks and bicycle lanes, built fences, benches, litter bins and lighting installed, renovated pedestrian tunnel and the tunnel stairs, equipped with elevation, a safe and convenient access to the Daugava waterfront. In addition to the pedestrian promenade and bike lanes established active skaters sitting area etc.

Dzintari Concert Hall

22 July, 2015 | Entertainment | 17 seen

Dzintari concert hall is popular throughout Latvia as a place where concerts and other events are held, where outstanding artists have been performing for almost for 70 summers now.

I discovered this place by accident during my cycling Jūrmala ride. I stopped my vehicle in front of this place just to rest and decided to photograph this venue site as well.

Here is what I got:

Water fountain in front of Dzintari Concert Hall

Entrance gates at Dzintari Concert Hall

Dzintari concert hall

I really enjoy its wooden architecture

Cultural monument - Dzintari concert hall

According to the inscription on the plate - in this building back in 1986 happened a USSR - USA delegate meeting - Chautauqua at Jurmala: Since I had no clue what that actually means I found following. An excerpt from When Stars and Stripes Met Hammer and Sickle: The Chautauqua Conferences on US-Soviet Relations, 1985–1989

​..The second meeting, in Jurmala near Riga, Latvia, was put in jeopardy twice: first when the Soviet State Security Committee (KGB) arrested a U.S. journalist, Nicholas Daniloff, and later when the American Latvian Association protested the meeting out of concern that official U.S. participation would imply acceptance of the illegal Soviet incorporation of Latvia into the USSR during World War II. But as it turned out, the Latvian nationalist cause was helped rather than harmed by the meeting. Local Latvians, bolstered by the support of their kin in the U.S. delegation, turned the event to their advantage. The Americans criticized the restrictive attendance policy of the Soviet hosts and convinced them to open up the events to ordinary Latvian citizens. Latvian-speaking Americans passed out lapel pins with U.S. and Latvian flags, the latter of which had been banned by the Soviet authorities since 1940. The 1987 conference at Chautauqua received wide media coverage in the United States and helped expose Americans to the changes under way in the Soviet Union...

Poster at Dzintari Concert Hall

Promoting famous Latvian composer Raimonds Pauls and vocal group FRAMEST

About Dzintari Concert Hall

The concert hall was built in 1936. Famous Latvian artists and international stars such as José Carreras, M. Caballe, Y. Obraztsova, F. Chaliapin, L. Sobinov, F. Stravinsky, I. Glazunov, piano players G. Ginzburg, H. Neuhaus, S. Richter, violinists I. Bezrodny, L.Kogan, D.Oistrakh, as well as R. Pauls, I. Galante, P. Kaas C. Dulpher, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Bremen Symphony Orchestra, Kremerata Baltika have also performed here.

In 2004 – 2006 the Dzintari concert hall was reconstructed, at this time the park surrounding Dzintari concert hall was enlarged and landscaped, the stage and the auditorium were reconstructed and the amenities of the territory were improved.

Annual festivals of jazz and classical music, the international humor festival “Jūrmala 2009”, the show of the club for merry and witty ones"Singing KiViNs", the magnificent festival of ballet stars “Ballet Stars in Jūrmala”, the young performers’ contest “The New Wave” and the international festival of classical music “Summertime” have become traditional.

Every season the audience can enjoy approximately 100 concerts! The concert program is created to suit all tastes and all age groups, representing all genres – from folklore and classical music to rock and pop.

Cycling in Jūrmala (Bicycle Tourism)

21 July, 2015 | Outdoor Activities | 11 seen

Welcome to another cycling series post - this time about cycling in Latvian beach resort city Jūrmala. Actually it has been a while when I last time sat on my bicycle back in Tbilisi, Georgia.

We headed to Jūrmala city just shortly after the 3rd Eastern Partnership Business forum which was held in Riga. We stayed overnight at the lovely hotel Dzintars in Jūrmala and got a free bike rental at our hotel. 

Bicycles we used back there in Jūrmala were more some hipster style (not professional) but it was a fun. I didn't used any tracking devices to track my route, but instead I made some great pictures of Joma street, white sand beaches and a stage of beach volleyball.

Sculpture "Rose of Turaida": Sculptor : Valtis Barkans

A very interesting sculpture in Jūrmala

Jomas street in Jūrmala

Jomas street in Jūrmala

Cycling in Jūrmala - a hipster bicycle 

Tried my best to capture this photo

White sand beach in Jūrmala

Beach Volleyball stage in Jūrmala

Beach Volleyball

Jūrmala beach, a safety  boat

This was a short (max 1.5H) leisure ride in Jūrmala, beautiful views, a lot of sand. Definitely try a ride once in Jūrmala!

About Jūrmala

Jūrmala  is a city in Latvia, about 25 kilometres (16 miles) west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching 32 km (20 miles) and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a 33 km (21 miles) stretch of white-sand beach, and a population of 55,580, making it the fifth largest city in Latvia.

Visitors can access Jūrmala from Riga by suburban rail (30 min) or along the highway by car (20 min). Since 2008 Jūrmala and Riga airport have been connected by a bus service. Visitors with private vehicles must pay 2 euro for each day spent in Jūrmala.

Average Salary In European Union 2015

20 July, 2015 | Macroeconomics | 298 seen

My previous post about average salary in European Union for 2014 generated some buzz on social networks (Facebook, Reddit, Twitter) and on other websites, in total it has generated more than 15,000 page views.

I decided to compare how does average salary have changed a year later.

Update: Average Salary in European Union 2018

And I found following; Average median salary has decreased for about -1.3% in European Union in 2015, resulting in EUR 1470 / USD 1631 down from EUR 1489 / USD 1861 in 2014.

The average salary in European Union 2015

Data source: List of European countries by average wage

This is a list of countries containing monthly (annual divided by 12 months) net income (after taxes) average wages in Europe in USD currency and in Euro. Currency exchange rates for 2014 are set to 1 EUR = 1.25 USD, while for the 2015 1 EUR = 1.11 USD (as of July 2, 2015). The table above reflects the average (mean) wage as reported by various data providers. In less developed markets, actual incomes may exceed those listed in the table due to the existence of grey economies.

About average salaries in European Union member countries

While the median average wage in EU is about EUR 1470 / USD 1631 all countries are not equal, so, for example, the largest average salary has been registered in Luxembourg (EUR 3,149) while the lowest in Bulgaria (EUR 356).

According to the table above the largest growth for average salaries have been in Hungary (+21.77%), Greece (18.52%) and Czech Republic (8.36%) - speaking of Hungary and Czech Republic I believe the growth is affected by their national currency exchange rates to Euro, while speaking for Greece - either there is some update on how average salaries are calculated in Greece (probably in my table for 2014 - average wage for Greece was calculated for 14 months instead of 12, either... either ... well taking into account last events on troubled Greece's economy... leave me your suggestion in comments.

There were countries experiencing a huge dip for their average salaries: Denmark (-35.32%), Cyprus (-16.45%) and United Kingdom (-15.26%) - again speaking about Denmark and United Kingdom I can explain this drop with their national currency exchange rates to EUR. Speaking of Cyprus:

The 2012–13 Cypriot financial crisis, part of the wider European debt crisis, has dominated the country's economic affairs in recent times.

Map

The average salary in European Union

Blog Monthly Online Income Report - June 2015 - $602.96

19 July, 2015 | Blogging | 7 seen

Welcome to the 18th online income report. In this post I will speak about earnings I have made in month of June solely with my blog (www.reinisfischer.com). I like to call this phenomena - a smart passive online income. 

In case you are wondering why should someone publish online his/her earnings - the answer is pretty simple - I like transparency and these reports help me to observe my progress or bounces. Hopefully they can inspire you as well.

Total numbers:

In June I earned in total $662.96 what is an increase for 52.90% if compared to previous month (May) when I earned in total $433.59. I really enjoy to compare my earnings to average and minimum wages across the globe. And so in June my earnings qualifies for a pretty solid minimum wage in Portugal, and gives me pretty average salary in Lithuania. 

My daily earnings last month: $22.10

When looking on these numbers I'm always thinking of a great documentary film - Overpopulated - In this documentary is shown a beautiful story about African family living with less than $1 day and dreaming to buy a bicycle. And how bicycle literally drives them out of extreme poverty.

About blog traffic:

June did setup a new traffic record, and in total my precious blog attracted 22,569 users. I'm really looking to break a 1,000 user milestone per day in next upcoming months.

Blog Traffic Report June 2015 Source: Google Analytics

Read more about June statistics: Blog Traffic Report - June 2015 - 22,569 Users

Income streams

In June in total I had 5 income streams that generated some income and one income stream (Linode) reported pending earnings.

I prefer to divide my income streams into a Display Ads and Affiliate programs:

Display Ads:

• Google Adsense: $31.43
• Amazon CPM: $4.76
• Sovrn: $0.64

Now June was the absolute best in terms for earnings from Google Adsense, earnings here for the first time in my blogger carrier cracked $30.00 milestone. Actually it's funny, but I still haven't reached my first Google Adsense goal to earn $40.00 per month to cover my hosting expenses, i did setup such goal more than a year ago. Read more: Setting my first Google Adsense goal.

Sovrn is a newcomer to my income streams - though $0.64 earned here seems a little bit pathetic result, I will leave Sovrn ads on my blog for some next months, to see can things improve here as well.

Affiliate programs:

• Amazon associates: $603.38
• Booking.com: $21.20

Amazon associates for many months in row is my best performing channel. Speaking of Booking.com, although it might seem as a newcomer to my earnings list, in fact it's not. I have been tried to promote Booking.com for some 3 years already (about for a year on this blog) and just now I can see first results. I do admit booking.com is a damned hard affiliate program for blogers (at least for me) - but I'm glad I managed to earn finally some money out of it this month.

Expenses:

• Linode VPS: $62.50

I'm proudly hosting my blog with Linode VPS and yes I'm spending more than $60.00 per month just to power my blog. Well actually I do some Drupal development on those Linodes as well.

June 2015 vs June 2014

This is the part I like the most in online income reports - comparisons how did it go a year ago. A year ago I earned $10.25 per month, I was so proud of myself back then. Now if compared June 2015 vs June 2014, last month I earned almost 65 times more. It's an awesome year on year growth.

Plans, Goals and Forecast for July

As usual I will end my report with goal and forecast sections. I'm looking to reach $500 milestone this month. Simple, it's a summer season and I believe I won't reach more. Anything above $500 next month will be a great achievement.

I do have some plans for this month also - recently I became an affiliate partner for Bluehost hosting and I have already started to do some Bluehost promotion, I don't have yet any goals or forecasts for earnings there, but I have a plan to create 4 articles reviewing Bluehost hosting this month.

Please find first two completed reviews of Bluehost services:

• Bluehost VS Linode - Which VPS Hosting To Choose
• Cheap Drupal Hosting - Starting $3.95/mo - Bluehost

How To Setup CKEDITOR For Drupal Website

18 July, 2015 | Drupal Development | 35 seen

In this tutorial you will learn how to setup a CKEditor for your Drupal website + how to enable a few very neat modules - like IMCE for Image upload, Spell checker and Word count.

Since the beginning (almost since) I created my blog (www.reinisfischer.com) I have been using TinyMCE text editor for creating and editing blog posts. But lately I have found that CKEditor might be somehow a bit better text editor for my blog. I'm not against TinyMCE, just CKEDITOR seems a bit better text editor.

What is CKEditor?

CKEditor is the far superior successor of FCKeditor. The editor has been rebranded and completely rewritten. It is now much faster (the code has been optimized), loads faster (the number of files has been reduced, so the browser will perform less HTTP requests) and developers friendly.

Why I like CKEditor?

I like it for it's many out of box features, you don't need to install a single additional library, just download CKEditor module, enable it, and fine tune it a little bit. All libraries are loaded from CDN.

The simplest way to have the editor running is to use CDN, to use it set: //cdn.ckeditor.com/4.4.3/full-all

How to install CKEditor for Drupal website

• Download and install CKEditor to Drupal sites/all/modules folder and enable it from module page
• Create a new text format (admin/config/content/formats/add) for example: CKEDITOR, assign it to authenticated user roles

Visit admin/config/content/ckeditor and under Profiles choose either Advanced or Full tab and enable CKEditor for text format you just created:

CKEDITOR PROFILES

Expand Basic Setup tab and check your text format

Ckeditor basic setup

Congratulations you have just enabled CKEditor text format for your Drupal website, next create new post, and change display to CKEDITOR text format

Switch to CKEDITOR text format

CKEditor WYSIWYG text editor

Optional - Enable IMCE to insert images into CKEditor text editor

If you are planing to insert images in your posts  - you should install IMCE module and under File Browser settings tab (admin/config/content/ckeditor/edit/Full) change File Browser type for Image Dialog Window to IMCE

CKEditor IMCE

Optional - Enable Spell checker for CKEditor text editor

Another neat feature you might want to enable is spell checker. Under Advanced Options tab (admin/config/content/ckeditor/edit/Full) check Yes under Spell checker

CKEditor spell checker 

Optional  - Display Word Count for CKEditor text editor

This is the feature I really enjoy - since I believe that the length of the post affects how Google ranks the post (the longer the better) - I'm always trying to write at least 500 word long posts (Read more: Writing minimum 500 words per day)

Under Editor Appearance tab (admin/config/content/ckeditor/edit/Full) scroll down to the Plugins section and enable Plugin to count symbols, symbols without blanks and words 

CKEditor count plugin

The Bottom Line

CKEditor text editor is a fantastic Drupal extension for your website. 

P.S. If you are considering a hosting for your Drupal website check out Bluehost, their shared hosting starts as low as $3.95/mo or read more about cheap Drupal hosting.

Georgia Expat Photography Club

17 July, 2015 | Living in Georgia | 15 seen

Recently Johann contacted me with his idea to create a photography travel club in Georgia. Since I have been into a photography for the first day I got my first personal digital camera (it's some 6 years probably) - and for the last 4 years I have been living in amazing, very rich of spectacular views, country of Georgia which I have traveled around a lot (See my Georgia travels map) - I was just eager to promote his idea, to make a fun and entertaining community, fuelled with beautiful pictures of Georgia.

The Bridge of Peace in Tbilisi, photo by Johann Kritzinger

I quickly come up with the idea to create a community on Facebook and made my offer for naming such organization - Georgia Expat Photography Club. We invited a few of our friends (both expats and photographers) and ... first step accomplished.

What's next for Georgia's Expats Photographer Club?

Johann has some wonderful ideas to do next - like to make some city (Tbilisi) photographing tours - everyone is welcome to join. We are planing to do some longer trips (perhaps with overnight stay)  - one of the closest destinations we are looking to head is Tusheti. Personally I have never been there and would love both to visit and photograph that place. Speaking of me - I would love to make a Svaneti photograph trip to happen. One of our next goals is to buy a drone for making rich aerial photos of Georgia.

Georgia Expat's Photographer Club is noncommercial community aimed for expats living in Georgia and sharing their love for photography, thus everyone is welcome to join.

What should I do now?

If you are interested in photography, live in Georgia -  you can start following Georgia Expat Photographer Club Facebook page, to stay connected, you are kindly asked to leave your recommendations and suggestions for this community.

I will keep you updated

Blog Traffic Report - June 2015 - 22,569 Users

17 July, 2015 | Blogging | 10 seen

Welcome to the 21st blog traffic and statistics report. Since the very first month of my blogging career I have created a monthly blog statistics and starting January 2014 a blog income reports.

June was the absolute best in traffic numbers yet. For the third time I managed to crack the 20,000 user milestone and did set a new personal record (yet) - 22,569 monthly users. I first cracked 20K milestone back in March and May (2015). Technically speaking my traffic numbers have been around 20K since the start of 2015.

Blog Traffic Report June 2015 Source: Google Analytics

• June comes with a 8.29% traffic gain if compared to month of May. Average daily user count: 752.33.

Now - at the end of my May traffic report I expressed hopes to reach modest - 5% growth in June. Well, I reached more than 8% growth last month. Great!

An medium traffic spike to my blog happened at the start of June, when my post about average salaries in European Union got posted on Reddit. That day traffic to my blog accounted to 2,071 users. 

This was a third major traffic spike to my blog in it's short 21 month existence period. Read more: First Traffic Spike, Second traffic spike. 

I'm looking to crack 30,000 user per month milestone in coming months (It would be nice to reach that milestone at the end of September)

In June I posted 31 articles, mainly photo stories and best selling lists .

June 2015 VS June 2014

This is another interesting trend I like to measure. My blog now is 21 months old and since I have been doing monthly traffic reports from the very first blogging month, it's easy to compare where I was year ago.

Blog Traffic Report: June 2015 vs June 2014 (Data source: Google Analytics)

Right, having a 1,413.68% growth over a year is an awesome growth. If I would manage to keep such growth rates in a long term, then in June 2016 I should have 341,622.43 users. Well I doubt I will reach a one fifth (68,000) of that number a year latter, but I would love to see some 55,000 users after one year.

Road to 100,000 Users in a month

Starting last July, I have been measuring my success (or failures) to reach 100,000 unique visitors in a month.

Since there is nothing much I can analyse (just actual traffic results) - at end of the June 2015 - I stand at 22,56% level of eventual 100,000 unique visitors. That's almost  1/4 of my goal. I doubt I will reach 100 K any time soon, but I believe it might happen in next 2 years (Last summer I was concerned that it should take at least 5 years)

Any forecast for next month? Maybe next year?

Sure buddy, sure. As usual I will end my traffic report post with a forecast/goal for the next month. And for the second time I will try to forecast my traffic report for the next year.

Speaking of the monthly forecast - I will keep it a humble and will aim for a 10% growth. 25,000 (or close to that) unique users at the end of July will be absolutely brilliant result.

Now, regarding a forecast for the next year. That's a tough one actually! I will say I would love to see 55,000 unique users for the month of June 2016. 

Any comments?

Responsive Learning Web App - sales.wilsonlearning.lv

16 July, 2015 | Drupal Development | 9 seen

Recently I was contacted by a long-term customer (Wilson Learning Baltics) with a request to build a responsive web learning application for their business needs. This was quite an easy task for me, in fact I have been built a similar web app for this customer some time ago already. I was provided with an example site on global learning portal, see it here CSP Mobile APP and asked to localize this app into Latvian. In fact all the localization task was already done and I was provided with one large .docx and .pdf file (.pdf just a mirror version) with all texts translated, so it was my turn to build this app from scratch and add content on it.

In short this web app teaches 4 very important steps in customer relationships - how to establish trust, how to identify needs, how to present your solution, and how to assure satisfaction, in case a user don't know were to start he/she is provided with a simple questionnaire form, answering on a few questions user can start exploring is there some ways he/she could improve his/her sales process.

To perform this task I took Drupal as content management system (Drupal is great for building web apps), created a custom Bootstrap responsive sub theme and after a couple of hours finished this task. The fun fact I built this app in my new rural country house.

Meet sales.wilsonlearning.lv - Responsive Web app to learn how to prepare for your next sales call

sales.wilsonlearning.lv desktop version

The recipe for this site was simple - Drupal 7 as content management system, Custom Responsive Bootstrap sub theme and a few Drupal modules. Most hard work on this web app is done by Drupal views and node reference modules.

What I like about web apps - it's a questionnaire function, and this web app is no expectation it features a very neat questionnaire form, just in case user don't know where to start. 

Quiz form on sales.wilsonlearning.lv

Answering on a few simple questions, trainee can see his/her existing progress on work with his/her existing customer

Result form on sales.wilsonlearning.lv

This questionnaire was built by using custom JavaScript code (no Drupal modules involved here)

Responsive design

Responsive version sales.wilsonlearning.lv

By using Drupal and Bootstrap theme it took just a few additional CSS selectors to make this web app fully responsive

Reference from the client

I asked to the client, could he provide a simple reference on tasks I have performed and here is what I got:

We have been working with Reinis already from 2010, when he have built the first version of our webpage. The best advantages for us to work with Reinis are his responsibility, responsiveness, short terms and fair investments for the job well done. We are regularly receiving the advice and new ideas how to develop and improve our web presence. Recently we have developed the mobile versions of useful applications and have good ideas for further development, thanks to Reinis.

Jānis Straumēns

Partner

Wilson Learning Baltics Ltd.

Please feel free to contact me for your next learning application development! 

Hotel Dzintars Review in Jūrmala, Latvia

15 July, 2015 | Hotel reviews | 23 seen

Dzintars hotel is located in Latvian beach resort city Jūrmala - very close to the nations capital city Riga (some 30 minutes drive).

The reason I chose this hotel is plain simple - my brother works as a concierge here (family ties) and this hotel is among cheapest available in Jūrmala (and by saying cheapest I mean - it's a value deal)

I first visited Dzintars hotel back in 2014 or 2015 and since then have stayed here several more times.

Hotel Dzintars in Jūrmala

Guest can enjoy a free parking on site

Meal at Hotel Dzintars restaurant

A really tasty and affordable meal here 

Bike rental at hotel Dzintars

I don't know about rental prices, we got a free ride (thanks to my bro) - but I believe you can enjoy a free ride in Jurmala city as well

Breakfast menu at Hotel Dzintars

Pine forest near hotel Dzintars

Outdoor patio at hotel Dzintars

We enjoyed our breakfast here

Mansard room at hotel Dzintars

Flat screen TV at hotel Dzintars

Mansard room at hotel Dzintars

Now - we got a lovely mansard room with breakfasts included for 35 EUR - can I recommend this hotel - definitely, worth of every penny (Euro cent)

About Dzintars Hotel

The newly renovated Dzintars Hotel is located only a 10-minute walk from the beach and offers elegant rooms with free Wi-Fi and private bathroom facilities. The property was built in 1912 and includes free parking. Each room at Dzintars offers satellite TV and elegant interiors. The floors are heated and some rooms include air-conditioning. Breakfast can be enjoyed in Dzintars Restaurant, serving a wide variety of dishes throughout the day. There is also a bar. The reception provides a 24/7 service and guest can rent bicycles and scooters. Dzintars Hotel is situated 100 metres from the Dzintari Train Station. The airport is within a 15-minute drive and the hotel can arrange a shuttle service. Jūrmala is a great choice for travelers interested in beach, nature and clean air.

Book hotel Dzintars now!

What's Aperture And How To Control It

14 July, 2015 | Digital Photography School | 6 seen

With this post I'm starting a new and hopefully very interesting blog category - Digital Photography School on my blog (www.reinisfischer.com). The reason that made me to create such new category is simple - some time ago I bought my first DSRL camera - Canon 1200 D (in US it's marketed under Canon Rebel T5 brand), read my first impression of this camera: First Impressions Of Canon EOS 1200D Camera With 18-55mm Lens

[amazon:B00IB1BTWI:full]

Prior to that for many year I have been using a bridge camera Sony DSC-H7 and I was pretty pleased with result what I got. Although that bridge camera offers some control over picture you take, for 99% of time I have been using program A (auto). Before I bought a new DSLR camera I thought - the only difference between bridge camera and DSLR camera are that with DSLR camera I can take better quality pictures, it has more megapixels and yes, there is some lens attached. 

[amazon:B000M4J2PI:full]

After making a few shots with my brand new DSLR camera I realized that with program A I can make photos look worst than taken with bridge camera and I decided to investigate what's wrong with that. I was lucky enough I have a friend who is a photo geek and he give me a few very useful lessons for photography beginners, like what does aperture actually means, what is an exposure, what is ISO, he told me that DSLR beginners finds program P (program) best for learning their new equipment. Thanks to his advices by now I feel a bit educated on how to take decent photos in P mode with my Canon 1200D camera. Thank you Johann for these great tips!

Continue reading and you will learn what is an aperture, what is f-stop and how to shot in Aperture Priority mode

Disclaimer: This post 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 from that. Prices for any items on this post is retrieved by using Amazon Product Advertising API and is updated daily.

What is aperture?

Ok, I believe to understand what actually is aperture is pretty easy - this article on Wikipedia is pretty self-explanatory: 

In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are, which is of great importance for the appearance at the image plane. If an aperture is narrow, then highly collimated rays are admitted, resulting in a sharp focus at the image plane. If an aperture is wide, then uncollimated rays are admitted, resulting in a sharp focus only for rays with a certain focal length. This means that a wide aperture results in an image that is sharp around what the lens is focusing on. The aperture also determines how many of the incoming rays are actually admitted and thus how much light reaches the image plane (the narrower the aperture, the darker the image for a given exposure time). In the human eye, the pupil is the aperture.

Now, what you should really pay attention to is: If an aperture is narrow, then highly collimated rays are admitted, resulting in a sharp focus at the image plane. If an aperture is wide, then uncollimated rays are admitted, resulting in a sharp focus only for rays with a certain focal length. This means that a wide aperture results in an image that is sharp around what the lens is focusing on. 

How to control aperture?

F steps

Ok, it's another interesting term you should learn - F steps:

In optics, the f-number (sometimes called focal ratio, f-ratio, f-stop, or relative aperture) of an optical system is the ratio of the lens's focal length to the diameter of the entrance pupil. It is a dimensionless number that is a quantitative measure of lens speed, and an important concept in photography. The number is commonly notated using a hooked f, i.e. f/N, where N is the f-number.

In illustration above I have used my kitchen table, pepper mixture and the basket, to demonstrate how most common f-stops differs and actually looks. I believe if you are into a food photography, like you are running food blog you will find smaller f-stops works best for you.

Depending on your camera model, further written may vary, but for most DSLR cameras it will be common - just the naming will differ, so for example, Nikon uses P for Program,  A for Aperture Priority, S for Shutter Priority, and M for Manual Mode.  Canon instead uses P for Program, Av for Aperture Priority, Tv for Shutter Priority and M for Manual mode. 

Switch your camera to Aperture Priority, turn on LCD display (or you can use viewfinder) and roll the trigger button on front of your camera to change aperture and ... make a few tests.

For the last 3 months I have been using both P and Av modes in combination to make some better photography. Visit photos to see my work.

Further reading:

Bellow I have listed a few most popular beginner photography books you could by on Amazon to master your DSLR skills:

[amazon:1118722965:full]

[amazon:0988263408:full]

[amazon:081740502X:full]

Thank you for reading, leave a comment, like my page on Facebook and let's meet next Tuesday on another Digital Photography school lesson

St. John's Church in Saldus

14 July, 2015 | Churches and Monasteries | 13 seen

Some time ago I visited a lovely town Saldus (located some 100km from capital Riga), one of the main sights here is a church - St. John's Church of Saldus. As usual I took my camera and made a few shots here.

The altarpiece at Saldus St. John's church

Author of this altar painting is made by J. Dering (19th century). Read more: Churches in Saldus 

Saldus St. John church

This church building is the oldest building of the town and the first stone made church in Saldus built in 1615, but re-designed by Wilhelm Neumann and rebuilt at the end of 19th century.

Marketplace near church

During my short visit here  - Saldus city festival were held

About Saldus St. John's Church

Saldus St.John's church, in Latvia, was officially dedicated on August 27, 1900, after a long history of use and centuries of reconstruction. The first wooden church was built in 1461. The second, also made of wood, was built in 1530 and then renovated in 1567. The masonry church was built between 1614-1615 and financed by Wilhelm Duke. The fifth church in Saldus was built in 1737 on the hill where the present church stands. It was reconstructed in 1825. In 1898 the old church was torn down. Architect Wilhelm Neumann designed the church. Construction took place from 1898 to 1899 and cost 19,700 rubles.The completed church was named in honor of St. John. (Wilhelm Neumann also designed the Latvian National Museum of Art and the Jaunsvente Manor.)

The church was reconstructed in 1938 for a sum of 15,000 lats. The artist Ansis Bērziņš led the renovation of the interior and furnishings. The retreating German army bombed the church tower in 1944. The roof was also damaged. A temporary wooden tower was built in 1945-1946. Demolition of the temporary tower began on June 13, 1981, and the construction of the new tower began ten days later. Saldus architect Edgars Krūmiņš designed the tower and V. Krivans made the rooster at the top of the spire. The renovated church was dedicated on August 1, 1982. The underground tombs were opened and researched during a renovation in 1995, when heated flooring was installed. The church facade was renovated in 2006.