The University of Georgia (Tbilisi)

23 September, 2014 | Professional services | 73 seen

The other day I accompanied a person visiting The University of Georgia. And for a surprise for me - I found this educational institution as pretty good. No I have no thoughts of studying in Georgia, but you never say never.

The University of Georgia

Students have free Internet access

The University of Georgia offers studies for international students

Coffee machine for students

After lectures students can rest on cozy coach

Georgian Flag at the main entrance of The University of Georgia

Another interesting thing I noticed in those short 15 minutes I was in The University of Georgia, while joining my mocachino from coffee machine - students, pretty much are dressed in American college student style - I mean jackets and accessories. Well, maybe they were American students? :)

For me this was an interesting experience to visit University of Georgia, though I have no idea what they are teaching here, what is the tuition fee and how well a degree from The University of Georgia helps latter in life, I got a pretty good first impression of this University.

About The University of Georgia

The history of the “University of Georgia” starts from 2002, when at the end of the year, two professors from Tbilisi State University and Georgian Technical University, Mrs. Giuli Alasania and Mrs. Manana Sanadze, decided to set up a Centre for American Studies that would offer the MA degree. 

On July 21, 2004, the “School of Social Sciences.” Ltd. was established based on the Centre, which has enrolled the first 36 students on master’s programs for American and European Studies. 
The same year, 2004, the partners decided to establish a higher educational institution, the “University”, on the base of the“School of Social Sciences”. The institution was named as“Georgian University of Social Sciences”. The founders of the University developed the University Statute, the structure, and its supreme governance body - the “Board of Trustees”. 

The first meeting of the Board of Trustees was held on March 24, 2005. Dr. Giuli Alasania was elected as the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees and Dr. Manana Sanadze was elected as the Rector of the University. 

In 2005 – 2007, the University grew considerably. The University has purchased and refurbished a number of educational buildings, sport halls and stadiums. Bachelor's level programs have been added on Master's programs. The University enrolled its first undergraduate program students (117 students) in September, 2005. In the fall 2006, the university started its first PhD programs. 

Later on, University of Georgia established international contacts and international programs with well-known and world leading universities such as: “University of Scranton”, “Central University of Florida”, “Lakeland Collage” (USA), 
“University of Lille” (France), “University of Munster” (Germany) and “University of La Sapienza” (Italy).). 

In 2010 the University of Georgia started functioning in Batumi too. The same year the University of Georgia became the first high educational institution in the Post Soviet Union space that got the 8-million investment from “OPIC” (“Foreign Private Investment Corporation of United States”) for the development of the University infrastructure bringing it in compliance with western standards. The OPIC loan was used to repair the newly purchased building and to equip it fully with computers, laboratories, media centers, simulation classrooms and to create comfortable environment typical of modern universities. . 

In 2012 the University of Georgia launched English programs and enrolled international students. Currently approximately 3,500 students are studying here. 

Visit official website

Lenovo's Top Gaming Laptops: Which One is Right for You?

22 September, 2014 | Laptop Reviews | 7 seen

Lenovo is a well-known brand when it comes to laptops, and their gaming laptops are no exception. Lenovo offers a range of gaming laptops that are equipped with powerful hardware, great graphics, and unique features that cater to the needs of gamers.

In this article, we will take a closer look at Lenovo gaming laptops and what makes them a great choice for gamers.

Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means that if you click on a product link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

Lenovo Legion Y540 

The Lenovo Legion Y540 is a great gaming laptop for budget-conscious gamers. It features an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card, 9th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, and 15.6-inch Full HD display. It has 16GB of DDR4 memory and a 512GB solid-state drive, making it a fast and reliable machine for gaming.

Lenovo Legion Y740

The Lenovo Legion Y740 is a high-end gaming laptop designed for serious gamers. It features an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card, 9th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, and 15.6-inch Full HD display. It has 16GB of DDR4 memory and a 1TB solid-state drive, making it a powerful machine that can handle demanding games.

Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 

The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is a budget gaming laptop that offers great performance for the price. It features an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card, 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, and 15.6-inch Full HD display. It has 8GB of DDR4 memory and a 256GB solid-state drive, making it a great option for gamers who don't want to spend a lot of money.

Lenovo Legion 5i 

The Lenovo Legion 5i is a mid-range gaming laptop that offers great performance and features. It features an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti graphics card, 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, and 15.6-inch Full HD display. It has 16GB of DDR4 memory and a 512GB solid-state drive, making it a fast and reliable machine for gaming.

Lenovo Legion 7i

The Lenovo Legion 7i is the flagship gaming laptop from Lenovo. It features an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 graphics card, 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, and 15.6-inch Full HD display. It has 16GB of DDR4 memory and a 1TB solid-state drive, making it a powerful machine that can handle the most demanding games.

In conclusion, Lenovo gaming laptops offer great value for the price, with a range of options for gamers of all levels. Whether you're a casual gamer on a budget or a serious gamer who needs the best hardware, Lenovo has a laptop that can meet your needs.

Visit of Tbilisi Theater Reminds me Drive in Marshrutka (2014)

21 September, 2014 | Living in Georgia | 3 seen

This autumn season we wanted to start with something beautiful.

At the end of every September, the Tbilisi International theatre festival is held. Actually, it might come as a surprise for some, but Tbilisi is a city that loves theatres. At least there are dozens of them in the city, there are some smaller ones and then there are some larger ones, the ones which receive state funding.

So, on September 20th we went on one play which was held in the frame of the Tbilisi International Theater festival

We decided to buy some tickets, by using Georgian biletebi.ge (we have used this system before, for buying tickets for other events in Tbilisi, for example, concert of Boris Grebenshchikov and Aquarium @ Tbilisi Concert Hall)

We bought tickets for 25GEL in the high first flow (balcony) on the play of Songs of the Wanderers, took our taxi, and went to Shota Rustaveli State Drama Theater.

As usual, it happens in Georgia, organizers don't care about queues:

Queue at Rustaveli theater

It turned out everyone is waiting for the State president:

I had an opportunity to take one Instagram with Georgian president leaving his SUV car, unfortunately not the best quality photo:

President of Georgia leaving SUV

After a couple of minutes, we are following and entered the Theater building. We found our seats on the balcony, and start to wait for start of the spectacle

Rustaveli theater

You can see president and Mayor of Tbilisi hall sitting in one row in the middle of the hall

President of Georgia (in middle)

Now comes the funny or sad part - our balcony. Well, we had a nice view of the President, but we hadn't any view of the main stage. 

Rustaveli theatre's main stage from the balcony

We had a second row on the balcony. And people sitting in the front row blocked any view of to stage. Actually, normally on the balcony, there would be a place for 2 rows, and for people in each cabin, we had 3 rows and 6 people. People from the last (3d) row did stand up to get a better view. Since I didn't see much from the balcony, I called this a ride in marshrutka.

After 15 minutes we left, and I doubt I will come back to this theater for a very long long time.

New Asia - Tbilisi Restaurant Review

18 September, 2014 | Restaurant reviews | 36 seen

New Asia is a Chinese restaurant located in Tbilisi on Griboedov street (just next to Rustaveli Avenue). The idea to visit this Chinese restaurant came spontaneous... you see - khinkali, khachapuri or barbecue... there are times you get sick and tired of them in Georgia.

So one of the alternatives is to visit some other type cuisine - and this time our choice was Chinese cuisine.

New Asia Restaurant in Tbilisi

Entrance at New Asia Restaurant in Tbilisi

For a surprise, the restaurant was full of people even on this Wednesday's evening. 

I decided to stick with something casual and ordered corn soup with egg for a starter:

Corn Soup at New Asia Restaurant

The soup come with some chips (I guess made from dough?)

And for a main course I chose shredded beef with vegetables in sweet and hot sauce:

Shredded beef with vegetables in sweet and hot sauce

We ordered chicken as well

Chicken in sweet sauce

I didn't made much photos of interior here, but overall it's pretty good

Interior at New Asia

In conclusion:

New Asia was one of the best finding this season and I will definitely come back here.

The overall cheque here was around GEL 60

Open Atrium - Love it or Hate it

17 September, 2014 | Drupal Development | 20 seen

<p>Some potential customer of mine would like to build an intranet site after several meetings we have negotiated we could use Open Atrium for building a companies intranet site.</p><p>Honestly speaking I'm not very familiar with Open Atrium, and I have ambivalent feelings regarding this.</p><p>I can only agree that OA probably is one of the best open source solutions for your companies intranet, on the other hand it involves a huge learning curve, even for me. It took me several hours to find where the default overrides come from, documentation kinda suck or is to technical even for me.&nbsp;</p><p>At few stages I even considered to screw Open Atrium and build it from scratch, but then again I come back realizing that I would need to build all those features from scratch. For now it seems OA intranet will be a project I will work for next couple of months, learning it and mastering it, meanwhile providing end product to customer.</p><h2 class="component-title ng-binding">What is Open Atrium?</h2><div class="content ng-binding"><p>Open Atrium is open source collaboration software that enables organizations to securely connect their teams, projects, and knowledge. A powerful solution, Open Atrium’s framework allows your organization to easily integrate your existing software, while remaining flexible enough to change as your organization grows. With Open Atrium, you can better communicate, educate, and inform your organization by creating solutions such as an intranet, social collaboration platform, web portal, or learning management system.</p><div id="component-150" class="text-component component text-component odd"><div class="component-container"><h2 class="component-title ng-binding">Why Open Atrium?</h2><div class="content ng-binding"><p>Powerful enough to accomplish more for your organization.&nbsp;Flexible enough to work with systems you're already using. Open enough to take your organization forward.</p></div></div></div><div id="component-151" class="layout-block-component component ng-isolate-scope ng-scope first-layout-block"><div class="component-wrapper"><div class="row-fluid row-middle"><div class="middle-region layout-region region-a span4"><div class="component-container"><div id="component-134" class="text-component component text-component"><div class="component-container"><h2 class="component-title ng-binding">Powerful Data Security</h2><div class="content ng-binding"><p>A collaboration platform is only as good as its security. Control exactly who has access to what content, and clearly see content privacy settings on every single page.</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="middle-region layout-region region-b span4"><div class="component-container"><div id="component-131" class="text-component component text-component"><div class="component-container"><h2 class="component-title ng-binding">Extensible Architecture</h2><div class="content ng-binding"><p>Integrate, don’t reinvent. Open Atrium’s platform provides the flexibility to integrate with modules, custom code, or established software you work with now.</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="middle-region layout-region region-c span4"><div class="component-container"><div id="component-128" class="text-component component text-component"><div class="component-container"><h2 class="component-title ng-binding">No Licensing Fees</h2><div class="content ng-binding"><p>As with all open source, Open Atrium is free software. New features will never send you into a new “pricing tier,” and recurring licensing fees are a thing of the past.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div id="component-152" class="layout-block-component component ng-isolate-scope ng-scope layout-block-list-item odd"><div class="component-wrapper"><div class="row-fluid row-middle"><div class="middle-region layout-region region-a span4"><div class="component-container"><div id="component-153" class="text-component component text-component"><div class="component-container"><h2 class="component-title ng-binding">Robust Asset Management</h2><div class="content ng-binding"><p>Documents, images, and video are a part of the work you do. Open Atrium allows you to seamlessly access, store, attach, embed, and collaborate around these assets.</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="middle-region layout-region region-b span4"><div class="component-container"><div id="component-154" class="text-component component text-component"><div class="component-container"><h2 class="component-title ng-binding">Built to Scale</h2><div class="content ng-binding"><p>Build a small departmental intranet or a multi-site portal. The choice is yours, and it can change as your company grows. Open Atrium's flexible framework is built to scale.</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="middle-region layout-region region-c span4"><div class="component-container"><div id="component-155" class="text-component component text-component"><div class="component-container"><h2 class="component-title ng-binding">No Vendor Lock-In</h2><div class="content ng-binding"><p>Because it is open source, no one vendor controls the growth and development of the software, which means you are in control of who’s working on your project.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div id="component-156" class="layout-block-component component ng-isolate-scope ng-scope last-layout-block"><div class="component-wrapper"><div class="row-fluid row-middle"><div class="middle-region layout-region region-a span4"><div class="component-container"><div id="component-157" class="text-component component text-component"><div class="component-container"><h2 class="component-title ng-binding">Cohesive, Unified Platform</h2><div class="content ng-binding"><p>Open Atrium can be the one-stop-shop that replaces -- or integrates -- the disparate systems you’ve been using.&nbsp;</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="middle-region layout-region region-b span4"><div class="component-container"><div id="component-158" class="text-component component text-component"><div class="component-container"><h2 class="component-title ng-binding">Customizable Look &amp; Feel</h2><div class="content ng-binding"><p>Pre-loaded responsive templates, drag-and-drop widgets, a configurable header for each space, and unlimited color choices means customizing your site’s look and feel doesn’t require code changes.</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="middle-region layout-region region-c span4"><div class="component-container"><div id="component-159" class="text-component component text-component"><div class="component-container"><h2 class="component-title ng-binding">Community Innovation</h2><div class="content ng-binding"><p>The force multiplier of an open source community working together to create, improve, and extend functionality allows you to respond to emerging web trends, without having to rely on any single vendor.</p><p>&nbsp;</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>

Abother mobile blog post

14 September, 2014 | | 3 seen

<p>My blogging motivation is down due to my longer travel abroad. So again I'm making post just not to miss a day.</p><p>Tomorrow I'll be back home and I hope will get back to everyday routine.&nbsp;</p><p>Yes I'm naking this post from my mobile device. This is a neat feature I created for my Drupal powered blog.</p><p>Actually I m thinking of creating an Android app for better mobile expierience.&nbsp;</p><p>Time will show.</p><p>At end of this October a I m off for week long trip to Barcelona; &nbsp;so I must get prepare better.</p>

Today I will miss minimum 500 word count per article

13 September, 2014 | Blogging | 5 seen

<p>I must admit again - it's hard to stay focused when you are on your travel. And so did happens today and probably will happen tomorrow as well.</p><p>But I still will make this blog post, to get me better focused next time on my travels.</p>

How To Enable Google Analytics Display Features

12 September, 2014 | Blogging | 57 seen

Some time ago playing around with my Google Analytics reports, I noticed a tab called Demographics. In fact I have  noticed this tab already in past though this time I decided to enable it (or to find a way to enable) and learn more about it - how it could help me in my blogging adventures.

This is the default screen on Demographics tab, in order to see real data, we must add a minor changes to our Google Analytics tracking code.

Here is what Google says about that:

Demographics and Interest Reports

The Demographics and Interest sections include Overview reports, along with new Age, Gender, and Interest Categories reports.

• They allow you to better understand who your users are.
• You can segment the rest of your Analytics data by these same characteristics so you can understand how converting and non-converting users differ (and many other such comparisons).
• These are the same demographics & interest categories used to target ads on the Google Display Network. Use these insights about your users to refine your ad campaign strategies.
• Not all of your users may have demographics associated with them, so these reports may only represent a subset of your users and may not be representative of your overall site composition.
• Learn more about how Google determines user demographics.
• Learn more about how Google determines user interest categories.
• Before enabling Demographics and Interest Reports you may need to update your privacy policy according to this policy.

• Should be able to add this to the Configuration page: /admin/config/system/googleanalytics
• under 'Advanced Settings', 'Custom Javascript Code' section
• add it to the text box for 'Code snippet (before)'

Drupal Custom Google Analytics Code

This is what I got after collecting display data for several weeks for my blog:

Turns out majority of my blog visitors are male (73.8%) age 25-34 (more than 38%). I must admit those are pretty interesting data for me to analyse more

Now - I'm more educated who actually visits my blog, I can segment them by gender and age. I would call this as one of the best Google Analyics features.

What are your thougts regarding to Google Analytics Display features, are you using them? Have them helped increase your online revenue? I'm eager to learn more, please feel free to drop a comment.

If you are using Google Analytics Dispay Features on your Drupal website, are they working correct?

As well; do you have any idea, why Google Analytics did counted just 44.72% of my visitors? Where is the rest?

Your comments are more than welcome!

Baltic States vs. South Caucasus GDP Comparison: 2012-2013

10 September, 2014 | Macroeconomics | 11 seen

A while ago, I compared the GDP of Baltic nations with Caucasian nations using data from 2012. As we are now in the second half of 2014, it's time to revisit this comparison using the most recent data available from the World Bank for 2013.

Some might argue, "Why compare these regions?" Well, why not?

Country

2012 ($bln)

2013 ($bln)

Growth ($bln)

Azerbaijan

68.73

73.56

4.83

Lithuania

42.34

43.82

1.48

Latvia

28.37

29.61

1.24

Estonia

22.37

24.47

2.10

Georgia

15.84

16.12

0.28

Armenia

9.95

10.43

0.48

Total

187.6

198.01

10.41

The largest economy among these six former Soviet Union countries in 2013 was Azerbaijan, with a GDP of $73.56 billion. The smallest economy was Armenia, with a GDP of $10.43 billion. Given the ongoing military conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia faces significant economic challenges. Armenia's economy is approximately seven times smaller than Azerbaijan's.

Following Azerbaijan are the Baltic states: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Georgia has a slightly larger economy than Armenia.

Overall, these two political and economic regions had a combined GDP of just under $200 billion in 2013. Previously, I wondered which region would first reach the $100 billion mark.

Country

2012 ($bln)

2013 ($bln)

Growth ($bln)

% of Total

Azerbaijan

68.73

73.56

4.84

73.4%

Georgia

15.84

16.12

0.28

16.1%

Armenia

9.95

10.43

0.48

10.4%

Total

94.62

100.11

5.6

100%

The South Caucasus region reached the $100 billion mark in 2013, with Azerbaijan contributing the lion's share at 73.4%.

Country

2012 ($bln)

2013 ($bln)

Growth ($bln)

% of Total

Lithuania

42.34

43.82

1.48

44.75%

Latvia

28.37

29.61

1.24

30.24%

Estonia

22.37

24.47

2.10

24.99%

Total

93.08

97.90

4.82

100%

In the Baltic region, Lithuania leads with 44.75% of the GDP, followed by Latvia and Estonia. The Baltic economies appear more balanced compared to the South Caucasus, largely due to the absence of significant natural resources and a more diversified economic structure.

Country

2012 ($)

2013 ($)

Growth ($)

% Growth

Estonia

16,887

18,478

1,591

9.42%

Lithuania

14,172

14,688

516

3.64%

Latvia

13,947

14,588

641

4.59%

Azerbaijan

7,394

7,812

418

5.65%

Georgia

3,529

3,602

73

2.07%

Armenia

3,354

3,505

151

4.50%

The Baltic states lead in GDP per capita, with Estonia at the top with $18,478 in 2013. Armenia, at $3,505, lags significantly behind. Lithuania and Latvia follow Estonia, though with a noticeable gap. Azerbaijan, driven by its oil and gas economy, reached $7,812 per capita, outpacing Georgia and Armenia by about twice as much.

Country

2013 ($)

2014 ($)

Growth ($)

% Growth

Estonia

427

480

53

12.41%

Latvia

379

432

53

13.98%

Lithuania

385

391

6

1.56%

Azerbaijan

133

133

0

0%

Armenia

108

110

2

1.85%

Georgia

54

51

-3

-5.56%

Minimum wages also reveal stark differences. The Baltic states have considerably higher minimum wages than the South Caucasus countries, with Estonia leading at $480 per month in 2014. Azerbaijan and Armenia have much lower minimum wages, and Georgia saw a decrease.

Conclusion

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Baltic and Caucasus regions have taken different paths. The Baltic states have integrated into the European Union and achieved more balanced and diversified economies. In contrast, the South Caucasus faces ongoing conflicts and economic disparities.

While Azerbaijan's oil and gas resources have bolstered its GDP, the region's stability remains fragile due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As Georgia seeks closer ties with the European Union, the economic and political landscape of these regions continues to evolve.

My Sighnaghi Travel Guide

9 September, 2014 | Travel guides | 149 seen

Georgia teaches one important lesson—everything is relative. This was especially true during the last weekend of August. Following the trend of getting out of Tbilisi, we decided to book a hotel in the remote village of Napareuli (about 20 km from Telavi). On Saturday morning, we planned to take a marshrutka to Telavi and then a taxi from there.

First things first—I found out that marshrutkas to Telavi leave from Samgori. We took a taxi to the station, but the driver insisted we needed to go to Isani instead.

At Isani, there were no marshrutkas going to Telavi. After advising the taxi driver not to be a smart-ass, we finally drove to Samgori.

Unfortunately, we missed the 11:00 marshrutka and had to wait another 45 minutes. No way were we going to do that. Instead, we quickly found another marshrutka going to Sighnaghi.

My Georgian geography is above average, but not quite good enough to realize that Sighnaghi was not where we needed to go.

Still, we headed to Sighnaghi, as the driver assured us there would definitely be another marshrutka from there to Telavi. So wrong. Never trust Georgian drivers—I confirmed that twice that day.

Sighnaghi Town Square

Sighnaghi was eerily empty. It was already 1:00 PM when we arrived, yet there were hardly any people on the streets.

Tower in Sighnaghi

View from Sighnaghi tower

While some might see Sighnaghi as a charming provincial town, to me, it felt like part of Georgia’s "façade democracy." The town underwent a complete reconstruction, giving it a picturesque, postcard-perfect look. If you only focus on the rooftops, you might think—what a wonderful city. You might even assume people live happily and prosperously there. Wrong! I do believe every Georgian is naturally happy, but when it comes to wealth, that’s a different story.

Inside the Tower

What looks lovely from a distance might not be so appealing up close. In the picture above, you see the same tower—but from the inside, it looks more like a dog shelter.

Speaking of dogs, the animals in Sighnaghi seemed very friendly. We met many of them, and they happily accompanied us throughout our trip. They weren’t afraid of people, which made me think that locals in Sighnaghi must really love animals.

After taking a few city shots, we headed straight to a restaurant for supper. We found a place called Nikala.

Nikala Restaurant Sighnaghi

The restaurant was completely empty, and the hostess was eager to find out where we were from. When I answered "Tbilisi," she seemed unsatisfied, even though I spoke to her in a mix of 50% Georgian and 50% English. After we ordered dolma, I asked her whether it was traditional Georgian dolma or Armenian tolma. She took pity on me and said, "It’s Georgian traditional dolma." Then she asked, "Are you Armenian?" I replied, "Do I look Armenian?" She said, "I don’t know—maybe!" I smiled and said, "Then I’m Armenian."

Georgian Traditional Dolma

We also ordered pork barbecue, some salads, coffee, and lemonade. The hostess was so eager to figure out where I was originally from that she continued speaking to me in Georgian. Fortunately, I can speak Restaurant Georgian quite well, so I understood her without trouble.

Our total bill was 27 GEL. I must admit, the food at Nikala was excellent.

We made a few weak attempts to negotiate a taxi to Napareuli, but none of the drivers would agree to take us for 40 GEL. They all asked for 70 GEL or more.

OK, screw you, Napareuli. We decided to stay in Sighnaghi. Soon, a lady approached us and, after a few polite exchanges, offered us an apartment for 10 GEL. I told her, "We are interested, but definitely not for such a low price." I mean, what can you get for 10 GEL? A place to pitch a tent?

She then offered a room for 30 GEL with Wi-Fi and TV, which sounded tempting, so we agreed to take a look. Damn. The same Soviet-style beds, and the shower was outside. No way—I avoid such places. I may not be wealthy, but I have my standards, and having a shower inside my apartment is one of them.

A few meters away, we found a hotel/restaurant and asked if they had rooms. They offered one for 30 GEL, but it had no windows and no air circulation. No, NO, No. This wasn’t a hotel—it was a homeless shelter.

Eventually, they showed us another room for 50 GEL with a shower inside. Although it still had no windows, it had garage doors. (Yeah, as I later realized, we were staying in a garage.)

Our "hotel’s" garage doors

Despite all that, we made the best of our time in Sighnaghi, enjoying the food, exploring the town, and ending the night with a Turkish coffee on the sidewalk next to our "hotel."

Next morning, we headed back to Tbilisi.

So, in brief, that was my one-day travel guide to Sighnaghi. I’ll say this—Sighnaghi is a lovely town, but there isn’t much to do there except eat a lot of delicious Kakhetian food.

13 Best Dell Laptops - Buy Online From Amazon

8 September, 2014 | Laptop Reviews | 86 seen

Meet 25+ great laptops from DELL available on Amazon.

For years Dell laptops have been known as reliable business computers. Nowadays Dell builds not only business laptops, but also gaming laptops, Chromebooks, and of course simple but powerful everyday-use machines. 

In this post, I've listed some popular user buy choices you might like to consider before buying your brand-new Dell laptop. 

Alternatively see: Top 20 Best Selling DELL Laptops in 2023

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 might earn an affiliate income from that. Prices for laptop computers listed on this page are retrieved using Amazon Product Advertising API and is updated daily. For actual prices please refer on the product page on Amazon.

Newest Dell Inspiron 15 3511 Laptop, 15.6" FHD Touchscreen, Intel Core i5-1035G1, 12GB RAM, 256GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD, SD Card Reader, Webcam, HDMI, WiFi, Windows 11 Home, Black

• 12GB high-bandwidth RAM to smoothly run multiple applications and browser tabs all at once; 256GB PCIe NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive allows to fast bootup and data transfer.
• Intel Core i5-1035G1 Quad-Core Processor (4 Cores, 6MB Cache, 8 Threads, Base Frequency at 1.0 GHz, up to 3.6 GHz at Maximum Turbo Speed)
• 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-glare LED Backlight Narrow Border WVA Touchscreen
• 802.11ac 1x1 WiFi and Bluetooth; 1 x SD Card Reader, 1 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.2, 1 x HDMI 1.4, 1 x Headphone & Microphone Audio Jack; Stereo speakers; SD Card Reader
• Windows 11 Home-Beautiful, more consistent new design, Great window layout options, Better multi-monitor functionality, Improved performance features, New videogame selection and capabilities, Compatible with Android Apps

List price: [amazon B0B338HW3T listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

Dell Inspiron 3583 15” Laptop Intel Celeron – 128GB SSD – 4GB DDR4 – 1.6GHz - Intel UHD Graphics 610 - Windows 10 Home - Inspiron 15 3000 Series - New

• Dell 15.6 HD 1366x768 LED-backlit Display
• Intel Celeron N4020 CPU
• DDR4 4GB memory, 128GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD storage
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Average Salary in Former Soviet Union 2014

7 September, 2014 | Macroeconomics | 18 seen

Some time ago I did a comparison of minimum government set wages in Former Soviet Union republics. Today, I decided to figure out - what is the average salaries in those republics.

I must admit, it was harder to gather data about average salaries, than gathering data for minimum wages. Seems governments are not eager to share such data. So in this average salary table you will find figures for 2012, 2013 and 2014. Unfortunately it makes this table not 100% reliable, but it gives us some overview.

Average Salary in FSU (2014)

Again, Estonia continues to beat all records, in 2014 average salary for Estonian was about $1,065. Rumor has it - Estonia plans to catch up income level like in Nordic countries in next 9-14 years. One is for sure Estonia is a role-model for all other former Soviet Countries.

Now, what comes as a surprise for me - is 2nd placed Russia.

First I'm surprised that Russia has greater average salaries than 2 other Baltic republics - Latvia and Lithuania. Second - western mainstream media is trying to sell Russia as a weak and corrupted country (Yes, I believe there is some true), but c'mmon - if you are calling Estonia a success story, you cannot call Russia a disaster. Those two are not even comparable - I mean tiny country with about 1.4 million population with giant Russian working class of millions. 

So, yes for it come as a surprise.

Surprise for me comes Belarus as well - The so called "Last Dictator of Europe - Lukashenko" seems have managed his country in pretty good average salaries. No, I agree with you net salary of $596 is not so great at all - but speaking of overall economic background of former Soviet Republics, it seems pretty OK + taking in account that Belarus offers social benefits and guarantees. State Run economy - doesn't seems so bad in this case.

Azerbaijan, thanks to it's oil rich fields follows Belarus - and and I guess in close future, Azerbaijan-i's could get more than in Belarus and come closes to Baltic state level.

Again Surprise for me - Kazakhstan, while this country shows pretty good GDP per capita level on background of other former Soviet countries, Kazakhstan average salary is less than in Azerbaijan.

Kyrgyzstan with $383 average salary is another surprise for me - by knowing that minimum wage there is just $16 per month, I taught average should be like around $100 - I was wrong. It just indicates, that these Central Asian countries are less social equal, than other.

Country where I'm currently living - Georgia , the average net salary in 2012 was $413, and I believe in those two years it has raised a little bit. In overall with $400 bucks in Georgia you can live pretty good. 

Armenia has less average net salary than in Georgia, but living there seems cheaper as well.

The less is receiving in Uzbekistan - around $200 in month.

Pretty interesting statistics.

More money not always mean better standard of living. I mean in those countries with average salary of $400 bucks standard of living is pretty OK.

Top 10 Largest Countries by GDP 2013

6 September, 2014 | Macroeconomics | 7,065 seen

Last year I started to pay more attention to the TOP 10 largest economies in the World by terms of Gross Domestic Product. It's time to compare them again.

Top 20 Largest Economies In The World by GDP Nominal (2019)

Gross Domestic Product in TOP 10 Largest Economies 2013

Data source:World Bank

What makes me surprised - Japan. Japan has experienced 17.44% downgrade of it's economy. Since Japan is 3d largest economy of the world - it would mean more troubles for the rest of the world. For quick assumption - I'm thinking it's because of China is continuing to expand it's economy. Actually in terms of what Japan has lost, and what China has gained - it seems almost equal - while Japan has lost around $1 trillion of it's economy, China has gained $1 trillion for its economy.

Here is what I found on Wikipedia:

Japan is the world's third largest automobile manufacturing country, has the largest electronics goods industry, and is often ranked among the world's most innovative countries leading several measures of global patent filings. Facing increasing competition from China and South Korea, manufacturing in Japan today now focuses primarily on high-tech and precision goods, such as optical instruments, Hybrid vehicles, and robotics. 

Could China's increasing rivalry on auto mobile market be one of the main factors of downfall of Japanese economy?

Anyway, Japan has already in past experienced similar falls and rise, so I do believe Japan could recover quickly.

United States continues to be worlds largest economy, if not taking European Union in account. The growth in US in 2013 was 3.42%

China - continues its fantastic race for worlds leader in terms of economy. If China will continue like this - in 7-10 years China will overpass United States. Although I'm more skeptical on this. But who knows!

There is one more country, that experienced recession from Worlds TOP 10 - Brazil. Although it's recession is not as huge as Japan's it's still a recession with 0.13%. Could it be of World Cup?

Read more about my thoughts and findings on BRICS countries.

Germany shows pretty eager growth in terms of GDP reaching 6.10% growth. Could we call Germany a Driving force of European Union? 

Anyway this year in European Union was stable, and smaller economies of European Union could take a breath for a while.

Russia got 3.91% growth (Cant understand why many people are speaking of recession here???) - Time will show, how economy of Russia will look in 2014, after US and EU sanctions on it. But I believe Russia will have positive growth this year. Hard to tell about closer future. One is for sure - Russia will stay in World TOP 10 economies for next decades.

GDP per capita in TOP 10 World's Largest economies (2013/2012)

Top Largest countries by GDP per Capita

-0.26

Data source: World Bank

As we can see from table above, clear leader in terms of GDP per capita are United States, followed by Germany.

It's interesting to observe, that India's GDP per capita has decreased (-0.26%) despite it's overall Economy grow by modest 0.96%. I can explain this just with rising population in India. 

Japan despite it's huge GDP drop, has managed to have GDP per capita approve the same as the United Kingdom.

BRICS countries are underdogs in this table, with Russia being at top.

In Conclusion

World is getting richer, while gap between rich and poor is getting wider. Will see what future will bring on.

Estonia To Catch Up Income Level like in Scandinavia in next 9-14 years

4 September, 2014 | Emerging Markets | 19 seen

Last year I red an excellent article pointing out that income level in Estonia could reach level its in Scandinavia in next 10-15 years. Although this article made me smile, I decided to compare - is it real for Estonia to reach level like that? 

Since its almost a year since  I wrote that article - I decided to compare again and see how Estonia is doing in it's already 9-14 years plan to reach that level.

In my measurements I'm using raw data for GDP, GDP per capita, I could use minimum wage as an indicator as well, but since there is not set a government minimum wage in Scandinavia, it would be harder to compare. Although there is a minimum wage in Estonia - and in 2014 it was set to EUR 355/ USD 480

Let's start with definition - what is Nordic countries? 

According to Wikipedia - Nordic countries are:

The Nordic countries are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It consists of five countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) as well as their autonomous regions (the Åland Islands, the Faroe Islands and Greenland).

For sake of the ease of this measurement experiment for next 9-14 years - I will stick with: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden

As I wrote in 2013 - I'm not sure which countries Estonian masterminds counted as Nordic countries.

GDP Estonia & Nordic Countries

Nordic countries and Estonia GDP $ Nominal 2013 (data source: World Bank)

As we can see from table above - indeed Estonia experienced highest GDP growth (8.57%) compared to other Nordic countries.

Since every country experienced pretty impressive GDP growth - I would say for now this -

Estonia is situated close to Nordic countries (and I believe Nordic capital has over flooded Estonian market) - Estonia's high GDP growth can be explained with high GDP growth in rest of Nordic countries. I'm sure, in coming years, if recession will happen in some or many Nordic countries - it will affect Estonia's GDP growth as well. For now I would say - for Estonia to have GDP growth positive - Nordic countries should be at minimum 2% growth.

Two of the biggest Estonia's partners are from Nordic countries - Sweden (6.09% GDP growth) and Finland (3.77% GDP growth)

2013 - seems was a good year for Nordic countries, and Estonia managed to trade with them and finish year 2013 with  8.57% GDP growth.

GDP per Capita Estonia And Nordic countries

Nordic countries and Estonia GDP per capita $ Nominal 2013 (data source: World Bank)

About Income Levels

Today I found an interesting article on Helsinki Times - where we can learn a little about income level in Finland, according to HT:

International comparisons typically concentrate on the average or median income of full-time employees, which at the end of 2012 in Finland were 3,206 (man) and 2,853(woman) euros respectively.

Source (Räty overlooked hundreds of thousands of Finns)

Again, I have no clue, what is a Nordic Country by standards of Estonian Economists, maybe they counted just Finland? Because of their closer ties?

OK, now we have some estimate data about income level in Finland, now lets see what is an average income level in Estonia?

According to Estonian National Bureau of Statistics, average monthly gross wage in March 2014 in Estonia were 1003 euros what is a 5.8 growth compared to previous (2013) period.

I would say  - not bad, but now lets take a look to Finland's average salary data, count them together (there is inequality for salaries in Finland, men gets more) (3,206+2,853)/2= 3,029 euros

So, right now Estonia stay behind Finland for about 2000 euros. And in next 9-14 years is going to catch up.

It would mean to raise average salaries for 222 euros per year (if 9 years) or 142 euros (if 14 years) and hopping that in next 9-14 years average salary will stay stood in Finland and other Nordic countries.

Estonia - I'm watching you!

My Online Income Report - August 2014

3 September, 2014 | Blogging | 14 seen

This is already my eight Online Income report this year - covering my online income for month of August 2014.

In brief - August so far has been the absolute best in terms of online income. In total I earned $95.03 what is a 343% growth if compared to last month ($21.41) In absolute numbers I earned $73.62 more than in previous month. $95.03 makes average $3.06 per day, what is up from $0.69 last month.

For me such a leap is a great achievement, and I'm very proud of myself.

In fact - last month I earned more, than in previous seven month combined.

Now, there is a one pattern I have noticed - Affiliate pays of more better than contextual ADS like Google Adsense.

In August I have done Google Adsense and three affiliate marketing promotions - Booking.com, Hotels.com and Amazon.

I have found following:

• Google Adsense makes pennies - but I'm fine with that
• Hotel industry is just way too competitive - in hour days it's hard for a small blogger to compete with major brands
• Amazon is my best finding last month, in fact most of the earnings I earned - have been made from Amazon.

My August earnings were around a minimum wage in Ukraine ($104). By making more than 3 bucks a day, I'm officially above poverty line (2 dollars)

Now lets break things down:

Earnings $

 % of Total

Google Adsense

6.87

7.23%

Booking.com

6.56

6.91%

Amazon

81.47

85.84%

94.9

99.98%

As I said at start of this post, and as you can see from table above - my biggest surprise and finding is Amazon. It generated me more than 85% of revenue. That's awesome!

Now I would like to ad a new measurement  - RPM

Those of you who are using Google Adsense, are already familiar with term of RPM - which stands for earnings for 1000 pageviews/impression - Reach per Mile.

I decided to create my blog's overall RPM covering not only Adsense, but all other income streams combined, to measure RPM I must reveal how many pageviews I got this month.

For tracking  website visitors statistics I'm using Google Analyitics, and according to it I got 5,002 Unique Pageviews (not counting in all Pageviews)

My combined RPM Stands for $18.99

That much I earned for each 1000 unique pageviews in average in month of August.

I really like this number!

Last month when I tried to predict my earnings for month of August I hardly could imagine this will turn out so great, this is what I said:

I will stick with my modest forecasts - honestly speaking anything above single digits will be great, but to keep me in shape I will forecast $15-20 for this month.

I have not only got those results, but quadrupled them - awesome!

Now, that leads me back for September predictions - again and again - I'm not willing to get self-fooled and I will not predict anything giant. My overall prediction for September is modest - anything above $45 will be a great result.

Speaking of longer term goals - one of them is to get over $200 in this year. For 2015 I'm already fantasying of goals like $500 and $1000. Hope this September will give a good results and my "dreams" won't be wiped away.